A small yellow car pulled to a stop, and two youths emerged. One was rather handsome, though delicate in feature; the other was somewhat plump but carried his build naturally. These two were undoubtedly Yang Yi and Lin Pangzi.

After eating breakfast, they hailed a cab and followed the address here.

The Li family residence was not as luxurious or grand as anticipated. The address led them to what was, in reality, just a simple, modest three-story building. Arriving at the gate, Yang Yi pressed the doorbell.

"Who is it!" a voice, sounding rather aged, projected from the speaker.

The house might be humble, but the doorbell itself seemed far from it—it could actually speak? Yang Yi mused inwardly.

"Hello, I am Yan..."

"Wait a moment..." Before Yang Yi could finish, the aged voice exclaimed with a sudden burst of excitement.

"Okay!" Yang Yi responded.

A moment later, a man who looked middle-aged yet appeared quite old stepped out. He stared at Yang Yi with an expression of excitement and agitation. After opening the door, he said, "You're finally here. I've been waiting for you for a long time."

"You've waited for me? You knew I was coming?" Yang Yi asked, perplexed.

"Yes, I knew you would come, and that you absolutely would," he said to Yang Yi, pausing before continuing, "Oh, right, my name is Han Zhong. You can call me Uncle Zhong. Let's discuss this inside."

"En, alright." Yang Yi paid little mind to the peculiarity and nodded his agreement.

As Yang Yi and Lin Pangzi followed Han Zhong into the house, Han Zhong suddenly knelt before Yang Yi, crying out, "Han Zhong pays respects to the Young Master."

"Eh?" Yang Yi was stunned. Young Master? Yang Yi was extremely confused. He quickly helped the man up, asking, "Get up. Why are you performing such a grand gesture for me?"

"It is required for a subordinate to pay respects to the Young Master in this manner," Han Zhong stated as he rose with Yang Yi.

"Young Master? What Young Master?" A chill ran down Yang Yi's spine. He thought, Are we filming some Wuxia movie right now? Young Master? Good heavens!

"Young Master, you don't know?" Han Zhong glanced at Lin Pangzi with evident confusion.

However, Lin Pangzi’s expression seemed slightly unnatural. This time, Yang Yi appeared to notice, frowning as he asked, "What don't I know?"

"Brother Yi...!" Lin Pangzi suddenly shouted.

"Shut up," Yang Yi snapped. It was only then that Yang Yi realized Lin Pangzi had been hiding something. When he saw Han Zhong looking at Lin Pangzi earlier, it was only slight confusion, but observing Lin Pangzi’s expression and hearing his outburst now, Yang Yi was certain: they were definitely keeping something from him.

"Old man, tell me, why are you calling me Young Master?"

"Young Master...!"

"Let me tell you!" Before Han Zhong could finish, Lin Pangzi spoke up. He took a deep breath, realizing the thing he feared most had finally happened. "Brother Yi, he is actually a subordinate of Grandpa."

"A subordinate?" Yang Yi asked, his heart starting to race.

"Yes. I think I should start from the beginning," Lin Pangzi murmured, and then recounted everything to Yang Yi.

In truth, Yang Yi’s grandfather, Old Man Yang, was a king who made a name for himself in this territory twenty years ago. He had established the formidable Black God Gang here. Twenty years ago, the Black God Gang created many miracles, but perhaps because there were too many miracles, Old Man Yang, who had the stature to dominate the national underworld, suddenly retired. Subsequently, the Black God Gang vanished without a trace. The substantive reasons for this retreat remain unclear to this day.

As for Yang Yi, Old Man Yang adopted him from an orphanage eighteen years ago. Perhaps at the time, and perhaps even now, Old Man Yang’s ambition to rule the entire underworld, his inherent nature as a powerful schemer, was constantly strong. He knew he was getting old, and even if he wished to conquer the nation, he lacked the strength to do so. Therefore, he placed all his hopes and aspirations onto Yang Yi. As a result, Yang Yi was, unequivocally, the Young Master of the Black God Gang—this was common knowledge within the organization, something even Lin Pangzi was aware of.

The Black God Gang was a mysterious organization. No one knew how many members it comprised. In the underworld, it was a legend, a bottomless abyss. No one knew the true extent of their power, nor why they suddenly disappeared twenty years ago. What they were even less aware of was that the likely resurgence of the Black God Gang would usher in a massive revolutionary upheaval across the entire national underworld.

"Grandpa was a legendary overlord?" Yang Yi was deeply shaken and increasingly unsettled. It felt as if everything about him had been arranged by his grandfather long ago—the people around him, the circumstances—almost entirely set up by the old man. He felt like a marionette, controlled by strings held by others.

"Why did Grandpa keep hiding this from me? And you too, Pangzi."

Hearing Yang Yi’s slightly flustered tone, Lin Pangzi grew deeply worried. He had often feared how Yang Yi might react upon learning the truth.

"Tell me, stop beating around the bush," Yang Yi stated coldly.

"Actually, Grandpa just didn't want you to carry such a heavy burden from childhood. After all, this was just his dream. He even considered many times abandoning the idea of making you his successor, but..." Lin Pangzi seemed unable to continue.

Indeed, this was somewhat selfish. But the primary reason was that Old Man Yang could perceive that Yang Yi possessed a spirit unwilling to settle for mediocrity, an inherent arrogance that only those born to command could exude. Thus, Old Man Yang didn't want to suppress that pride. Those destined for greatness must be born with something innate; as for what that 'something' was, they would surely discover it in time.

"What about you? When did you find out? When did you start hiding it from me? Do you still consider me your brother?" Yang Yi’s face was pale, his voice laced with coldness. He asked himself, Am I angry? No. Frustrated? No. Do I not want to be the successor? But can I really refuse to fulfill my grandfather’s wish? Besides, I was already planning on dabbling in the underworld anyway, but...

In reality, Yang Yi was just feeling a momentary surge of anger—angry that they hadn't told him directly, angry that even Lin Pangzi kept it secret.

"Brother Yi, actually, I... I knew a very long time ago," Lin Pangzi said tentatively.

"A very long time ago? A very long time ago?" Yang Yi collapsed onto the sofa in the room like a deflated balloon, closing his eyes slightly. He seemed to be deep in thought, or perhaps deliberately choosing silence. The standoff lasted a full two hours.

[Brothers and sisters, this is the third spot on the rankings! Please push hard, your little brother is deeply grateful. Your support is my motivation. Keep it up, rise up!]