Book 3, Chapter 176: Increasing The Price

The motorbikes slowed down after leaving the tunnel and stopped in front of the group. The leader was a woman in a helmet and a stab proof vest.

Once she parked her motorbike, she removed her helmet, revealing her face.

She was around twenty-four years old and had a pixie haircut, sharp gaze, and angular eyebrows. Her jaw was chiseled, and her nose straight. When everything was combined, she looked dazzling.

An air of efficiency oozed out of her pores. Once she got off the motorbike, she gave a few instructions, and her subordinates immediately left to carry out her orders.

Clearly, she had a lot of prestige. After she arrived, the people in the camp seemed to have regained their pillar of strength and started calming down.

“That’s Senior Sister Nan,” Lu Ke said to Chen Chuan.

“She’s Lan Shennan. I was good friends with her father and taught her martial arts when she was nine. Later on, her father passed away, and she came to Central City with her mother, while I went back to Yangzhi City and took Xiao Ke as my disciple,” Yu Gang added.

Chen Chuan nodded. If that were the case, Lan Shennan must have studied martial arts under Yu Gang until she was an adult. They had to be really close.

“She’s naturally gifted and talented. If she had focused on practicing martial arts, she would have become even more successful,” Yu Gang added.

After Lan Shennan came back, she went to talk to the bearded man and a few other people. Lao Zhan was among them.

Soon, they started arguing, and one of the people stormed off and chased away a mechanic fixing a car filled with bullet holes. He got in and drove away.

Lan Shennan said a few more words to the others, and one of them got into a car to chase after the first man. Lao Zhan then said something to her, and she looked over to Yu Gang and Chen Chuan.

She walked over, but first greeted Yu Gang. “Master.”

Then, she turned her gaze to Chen Chuan and observed him closely.

Lu Ke had shown her the video, so she knew that Chen Chuan was a Third Limit martial artist, which was why she was a bit more serious when speaking to him. “You must be Chen Chuan. Hello. I’m Lan Shennan.”

She extended her hand to him, and Chen Chuan returned the greeting.

“Hello, Captain Lan.”

“Sorry, even though it’s rare for us to get guests and we should be giving you a warm welcome, we have a problem right now, and I need to take care of it,” Lan Shennan apologized to him.

Then, she said to Lu Ke, “Be a good host to him for me, will you?”

𝑓𝘳𝘦𝑒𝑤𝑒𝘣𝘯ℴ𝘷𝘦𝓁.𝑐𝑜𝑚

“Don’t worry, Senior Sister. Besides, Chen Chuan isn’t a stranger,” Lu Ke said.

“You’re being too kind, Captain Lan. Whatever problem you have is more important. If you need my help, you can also tell me. Mr. Yu brought me into the realm of martial arts and helped me a lot. Lu Ke is also my friend. If you’re in trouble, I believe that I should be able to help somewhat, considering my current strength,” Chen Chuan said.

Lan Shennan watched him, surprised. In her mind, Third Limit martial artists were all eccentric people who did things their own way, but Chen Chuan was really polite and amiable.

She gave him a nod and said, “Sorry about this.”

Then, she returned to the entrance of the tunnel and used her Realm Pass to talk to someone. A moment passed, and the conversation ended. Then, she called some people over.

“Lao Cao, Uncle Shen, Xiao Ding, Big Sis Yun, a moment.”

When those people approached her, she said, “I’ve coordinated things with Lao Bian. We have to take care of this on our own, but he promises that Toxic Ants’ Third Limit martial artists won’t bother us. For it to work, though, we have to give him a 20% increase in wages and resources.”

“Another 20%?” Xiao Ding, the white-haired young man, snapped. “He’s not even doing anything!”

“Even if he’s not doing anything, Toxic Ant’s Third Limit martial artists won’t attack us as long as he’s here. That’s his greatest use,” Lan Shennan said.

“But he’s too greedy. We’ve lost so many territories, and our business isn’t as good as before, yet he still wants us to give him a 20% increase? How are we going to put food on our table? Do our guys have to work for free now?” Xiao Ding couldn’t hold back his indignation.

Uncle Shen, a sixty-year-old man wearing high-prescription glasses and having a kindly face, said, “Can’t you make Lao Bian lower his demands?”

“He originally wanted 30%,” Lan Shennan said with a shake of her head.

“Let me think of something. If we tighten our belts, we should be able to squeeze out the amount Lao Bian wants,” Uncle Shen said with a sigh.

“Fuck!” Xiao Ding cursed and spat on the ground. “Lao Bian is just too greedy!”

Lao Cao was the bearded man. He crossed his arms and scowled as he said, “Right now, we can only rely on him.”

Big Sis Yun was a woman in her thirties. She was quite round around the waist, but looked really intelligent. “Lao Bian has us figured out completely. He knows that if we don’t take revenge, our group will lose its unity. We need to be able to give him what he wants. It’s not as if we’ll die of hunger.

“But I don’t think that we need to rely on Lao Bian.

“Didn’t we have a visitor today? I heard that this Chen Chuan kid is Mr. Yu’s student.”

She looked at them. “Did you know that he’s a Third Limit martial artist? I heard that he’s really strong too. I wonder if we could ask him for help.”

“Third Limit?”

“Really?”

Lao Cao was quite surprised. He had thought that Chen Chuan was at most at Lan Shennan’s level. He wasn’t expecting him to be a Third Limit martial artist.

Xiao Ding’s eyes sparkled, and he immediately stated his stance. “If we have to pay someone, I’d rather pay Chen Chuan, not that greedy bastard!”

But Lan Shennan shot that idea down. “I don’t suggest asking him for help. This is our problem, and we shouldn’t drag other people into our mess. Chen Chuan is part of the upper city district and is a proper citizen. Even if he helps us with this problem, he’ll leave afterwards. If we ask him for help, it’ll just make things more complicated later.”

The group fell silent. This was indeed a real problem.

But Xiao Ding didn’t agree. If Chen Chuan could really help them, Toxic Ants would then know that they were acquainted with a Third Limit martial artist from the upper city district and might stop causing trouble to them. However, he didn’t have much authority in this group.

“That’s settled for the time being, then,” Uncle Shen said.

“Sure. Lao Bian’s greedy, but we’ve always relied on him and gotten through just fine, haven’t we? Let’s give him what he wants,” Lao Cao agreed.

“Look. It was just a suggestion,” Big Sis Yun said.

After the matter was set in stone, Lan Shennan saw Lu Ke bring Chen Chuan back to his RV. Yu Gang remained in place, so she walked over with a smile. “I found a suitable implant that should be a match for you, Master. If it fits you, you’ll finally be able to get rid of that cane.”

“I’ve been going around with a cane for a long time. I’m not in a hurry to get another implant. I told you before that you just need to deal with the problems in front of you. You don’t have to spend too much time and energy on me, not when I’m useless,” Yu Gang said.

Lan Shennan just continued smiling.

“Lao Bian’s calling me,” she said then.

She stepped away and answered the call. The moment she heard the demands, her eyebrows flew up. “You want another 20%?”

“Exactly. Another 20%,” a deep voice boomed.

Lan Shennan scowled. “Didn’t we already agree on 20%? Why did you change your mind?”

“I’m not the one changing my mind. It’s that guy changing his. He’s really firm in his stance too, and I’m not dismissing the possibility of him getting violent if necessary.

“If I fight against him, I can’t guarantee who will win. I’m risking my life here, so I need more compensation.

“You know full well that I don’t need to fight him. I’m only staying and keeping an eye on all of you for your mother and the former group’s sake.

“If you don’t want to pay up, I’m not going to force you.”

“Uncle Bian, I’ve already spoken to the group, and I was only barely able to convince them of 20%. You need to give me more time if you want 40%,” Lan Shennan hissed.

“I understand. I’m sure that things are hard for you too, but don’t take too long. I can wait, but those guys might not,” Lao Bian said.

“Please continue dragging out the negotiations. I’ll try to be quick.”

After Lan Shennan ended the call, she took some time thinking before walking back to Yu Gang.

“Lao Bian changed his mind again, didn’t he?” Yu Gang said.

“Yeah. He has a mole here, so he knows everything. Either he doesn’t want to fight against Toxic Ants, or he’s testing the waters to see whether we’re going to replace him with Chen Chuan,” Lan Shennan answered.

“What are your thoughts on this?” Yu Gang asked.

“Lao Bian is greedy, but I’d rather not use him than offend him. While he can’t accomplish anything, he’s more than capable of ruining everything,” Lan Shennan said decisively.

“And he has never given back anything that he took from us. If I say yes today, we’ll have to keep giving in to his demands from now on.

“I took control of the group so that we could lead better lives. I tolerated his greed in the past for the group’s sake, but now, he’s crossing the line, and I don’t want to listen to his demands anymore.”

She looked up and said frankly, “Master, I didn’t want to bother Chen Chuan, since this isn’t his problem, and we shouldn’t drag him into our mess, but now, I have no other choice. I’d like to talk to him.”

***

Chen Chuan was chatting with Lu Ke in the RV when Yu Gang and Lan Shennan walked over as if they had something serious to say. When they got close, Yu Gang said, “Xiao Nan would like to talk to you.”

Chen Chuan nodded.

“Go on.” Yu Gang then left with Lu Ke.

“I’ll get straight to the point, Chen Chuan. We’re in trouble and might need a Third Limit martial artist to fight for us. That’s why we’d like to ask you for help.

“We’ll pay you a satisfactory price, but I know that this has nothing to do with you, so if you don’t want to, we won’t pester you.”

Chen Chuan looked into her eyes. “Captain Lan, this is no trouble to me at all. I told you just now that since Mr. Yu and Lu Ke are both here, I’ll help if I can. Why don’t you give me the details?”