YANG YI watched them for a moment, then said with a faint smile, "Come now, you two don't need to be so tense. It's just a casual question."

"Damn it, Big Brother," XU MING said at the same time as YE XIAOHOU, their voices overlapping in urgency, "we're not joking around here. We mean business!"

"All right, all right," YANG YI sighed, exasperated by their antics. He leaned back and continued, "The truth is, this entire mess was sparked by just one person."

"Who?" XU MING frowned.

"CHEN DONG," YANG YI said, sipping his coffee. "He's the nephew of CHEN HU, one of the four lieutenants in the Wolves' Hunger Gang - that gang which controls one-third of A City. It was him who hired assassins to take me out, and I suspect his real target is LI QIAN."

"LI QIAN?" XU MING mumbled the name, glancing between YE XIAOHOU and LIN ZHIFAN. They all knew CHEN DONG had a reputation for being petty-minded. "So Big Brother, what's your plan?"

YANG YI chuckled, his voice carrying an unsettling warmth.

"Isn't this perfect timing? All along I've been waiting for the right excuse to make Black God Gang known. Now we have our opportunity."

A chill settled over XU MING and YE XIAOHOU at his words. Only LIN ZHIFAN and FENG SHI remained unruffled - YANG YI's smile seemed harmless enough, but there was a predatory gleam in his tone that hinted the Wolves' Hunger Gang would be Black God's first victim.

"I've heard little about their operations," XU MING said carefully, "but their strength should not be underestimated. Are you really going to target them first?"

"Of course there is no doubt about it," YANG YI replied, his eyes flashing cold steel behind the mask of civility. "They must learn what happens when an assassination fails."

YE XIAOHOU interjected quickly, "So should we storm in headfirst or..."

"No," YANG YI cut him off with a sip of coffee. "A direct assault would be theatrical at best. I already have my plan in motion."

XU MING leaned forward, intrigued. "What kind of plan?"

YANG YI smirked and asked them, "Have you ever taken over someone's territory before?"

"T-Territory takeovers?" The brothers exchanged bewildered glances, clearly caught off guard.

"Seems like not," he said mischievously. "Then tonight we'll make it a reality." He took another sip of coffee as the group shared uneasy smiles, each silently calculating what this might entail.

While these four men plotted their evening's escapade in their booth, inside the dimensional bar another drama was unfolding. A burly middle-aged man with broad shoulders and a rounded belly sat regally on his private room sofa. His piercing eyes glowed with menace as he stared down at the kneeling youth before him.

This was CHEN HU - the "Tiger Uncle" of Wolves' Hunger Gang, a legend in the underworld. Seated across from him was a woman in an ornate qipao who clung to his lap like a vine, her ample curves rubbing suggestively against his thighs while he languidly fondled between her legs as if savoring some illicit delicacy.

The scene reeked of decadence until the man finally spoke. "Come now, Donger," he said after a long silence filled with sensual tension, "care to explain this mess? Hmmm?"

"I..." The kneeling youth was indeed CHEN DONG himself.

"Still can't talk it out?" CHEN HU tilted his head back with cruel amusement. The woman in his lap visibly shuddered at the sudden chill rolling off him like toxic mist.

CHEN DONG's voice trembled as he stammered through an explanation about how a single woman had driven him to make reckless decisions.

CHEN HU listened without expression, sipping imaginary tea in a show of feigned nonchalance. When his nephew finished, he merely said, "Didn't I warn you not to lose your composure over women? Now look what's happened."

"Y-yes..." CHEN DONG's voice quavered as he instinctively recoiled from the danger signals in his uncle's expression.

CHEN HU suddenly shoved the woman aside and strode toward him. A sharp slap echoed through the room as he sneered, "You had to use SHÉ GUÍ for a woman? Didn't you know howly SHÉ GUÍ died? And don't forget - he was my man."

"I know," CHEN DONG whispered, face burning from both shame and the stinging blow.

"Hmmph!" CHEN HU coldly assessed him before a new voice shattered the tension.

"Tiger Uncle! The investigation is complete!"

"Good," CHEN HU muttered as he turned back to his nephew with final judgment in his eyes, "You should know by now that I trained you for succession. Yet look how disappointing you've become."

CHEN DONG flinched but said nothing, merely crouching lower in abject submission.

"Tiger Uncle... it's all my fault..." he whimpered.

"Be grateful this time," CHEN HU said through gritted teeth, "but should you ever fail me again, don't expect mercy."

"Yes Tiger Uncle!" CHEN DONG bowed his head as relief washed over him - until the words came next:

"GET OUT!"

As soon as the door closed behind him, CHEN HU exhaled heavily and leaned back. The woman resumed her position with feigned innocence, asking in a sultry tone, "Are you really going to let that brat go unpunished?"

"Nations have laws," he said darkly, "families have their rules. Just because he's my nephew doesn't mean he can break them." He smiled like an executioner admiring his blade, "Besides... I've already cracked the code from him. Why not use this incident as a convenient excuse to get rid of that deadbeat?"

The woman purred as her hands danced toward his crotch, "Ahh, you're becoming more dangerous each day. Scary yet sexy..."

"Of course," CHEN HU laughed wickedly, grabbing her bouncing breasts like trophies before calling out, "You there! The psychiatric hospital still has vacancies. Take a few men and make it... permanent."

"Yes Tiger Uncle!" the subordinate replied with eager understanding.

After confirming his nephew's fate was sealed, CHEN HU finally turned to his latest report.

"Speak," he ordered.

The young man complied respectfully, "The target is YANG YI - a senior student at First High School. SHÉ GUÍ died by his hand..."

CHEN HU stroked his chin with growing interest as the name sank in. He'd heard of that assassin's reputation - unmatched skill and years of underworld experience. The fact that even his men couldn't uncover complete information on this teenager only fueled his curiosity.

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