Affiliation: Dragon and Phoenix Thirteen of H Province, Z Country; Sakura Group of Tokyo, Japan
Record (matches with official witnesses): 511 matches, 509 wins, 2 losses.
"Huh?" Gao Jianfei was taken aback. "A Japanese?"
"No, Mr. Gao, this is a Chinese national, a thoroughly Chinese national. However, among the forces he currently affiliates with is a Japanese underground organization, and he has been stationed in Japan for many years. This person is somewhat of a Westernizer; his real name is 'Mao Shun,' but he has adopted a Japanese name… 'Mao Shun Ichiro.' Mr. Gao, this is an opponent I personally chose for you. His world ranking is 45th. I have already called and inquired with William, the president of the World Gambling Association. Based on the video recordings of Mao Shun's numerous previous matches, his data basically matches the data registered in this document. Therefore, Mr. Gao's intervention will undoubtedly allow him to directly seize Mao Shun's world ranking!" Song Zhui said with a smile.
Gao Jianfei thought for a moment, then nodded and said, "Well, I have a lot of contempt for guys who even change their names to Japanese ones. So, I can try to challenge him, but do I have to go all the way to Japan to gamble?"
Song Zhui shook his head and said, "There's no need for that. Don't worry, Mr. Gao, I will consult with the World Gambling Association as soon as possible and then send a challenge letter to 'Mao' Shun. At that time, it will either be a competition between Dongxing Casino or, at most, a competition between underground casinos affiliated with 'Mao' Shun' in H Province. It won't trouble you, Mr. Gao, to go to Japan."
“Okay. That’s good.” Gao Jianfei nodded.
After leaving the Hushi branch, Gao Jianfei went home to rest.
Flower market.
In the hotel that Hu Zi had booked.
At this moment, both Hu Zi and Tu Dao had their faces and necks wrapped in bandages and gauze. Last night, while they were fleeing in their car, Gao Jianfei shot an arrow through the front and rear windows, and shards of glass cut both of them. However, this was already a stroke of luck amidst misfortune. They should be grateful they didn't die.
"Beard! You have to give me an explanation! A reasonable explanation!" Butcher roared at Beard in an almost frantic voice, "My team has lost 14 members! 14 members! This is an irreparable loss for my Butcher Mercenary Group! You didn't tell me how terrifying our opponent was! He's a killing monster! Bow and arrow? He actually used a bow and arrow with the lethality of a sniper rifle! He's a guy who lives to kill! Foolish! Beard, you're a fool, and so am I! We're both idiots!"
"Enough!" the bearded man roared back. "Butcher, I'm the employer, understand? I'll provide compensation for your dead members! But you need to understand, this has nothing to do with me! Also, you must uphold the professional ethics of a mercenary! More money? I'll give you more money! Double, triple, quadruple! Is that enough? Remember, your mission is to help me eliminate all obstacles in my way!"
Bearded Man's voice completely drowned out Butcher's Blade. Whether it was due to his imposing presence, Bearded Man's agreement to pay more, or perhaps the professional ethics of a mercenary, Butcher remained silent.
In the suite, Tang Wenjun tapped the table a few times and said, "Brother Beard, Butcher Knife, I think we should temporarily abandon our plan to target Gao Jianfei. We analyzed before that Gao Jianfei is one of Feilong's men, so we can change our strategy and target Feilong instead! Feilong shouldn't be any harder to deal with than Gao Jianfei, right? Next month on the 5th is Feilong's mother's birthday, and I'll attend. Well, let's hold back for now and talk about it on Feilong's mother's birthday. If Gao Jianfei really is one of Feilong's men, then I believe he will also attend Feilong's mother's birthday banquet that day. Then, I can personally see who he really is! Also, I still don't quite believe that the archer who kills with a bow and arrow, hitting the bullseye every time, is Gao Jianfei. Brother Beard, do you think there's such an all-around person in this world? Gambling skills, martial arts, throwing knives, and now bows and arrows?"
Beard gripped his hair tightly. "I'm a mess right now! I'll ask the family for help. This is too chaotic! Alright, Wenjun, let's switch to dealing with the Flying Dragon! The 5th of next month, right? I've got it."
11 p.m. that night.
Gao Jianfei took a shower and lay down on his bed in the bedroom. He had just had a passionate encounter with Chen Xian that morning, so he didn't do anything intimate with her that evening. Besides, he had important business to attend to.
A quick scan on the virtual display screen revealed that the progress of piecing together the soul of the awl was 99% complete.
"Hmm. That's about enough. The mastermind behind this will soon be revealed!" With a thought, Gao Jianfei entered the Ghost Den.
Chapter 136 It was Tang Bao all along!
Chapter 136 It was Tang Bao all along!
At 11 p.m., Gao Jianfei had already entered the Ghost Den.
Currently, the soul of the professional assassin, Cone, has been 99% pieced together. This means that Gao Jianfei will be able to see Cone after entering the Ghost Den and waiting for about half an hour!
Gao Jianfei wasn't particularly interested in the assassination techniques employed by the awl. What he truly wanted was to find out who was behind it all, hiring someone to kill him! Gao Jianfei had previously analyzed the situation and concluded that the mastermind was unlikely to be Hu Zi. After all, Hu Zi had taken a completely different approach to dealing with Gao Jianfei… starting with Chen Xian!
Intuitively, hiring an assassination doesn't seem like something a guy like Hu would do.
So who exactly is it?
Gao Jianfei smoked and waited in the Ghost Den. He wandered around the first floor of the Ghost Den for a while. Not long after, the AI program's voice rang in Gao Jianfei's ears… "Congratulations, esteemed user, the soul of the Level 2 Ghost Cone has been pieced together. He is waiting for you in room 2-10 of the Ghost Den! You have thus gained 300 experience points and 300 exorcism points. Please continue your efforts and bring more Level 2 ghosts into the Ghost Den!"
Gao Jianfei agreed and teleported to the second floor of Ghost Nest.
Along the way, I opened the virtual display screen to scan...
"The Exorcist: Gao Jianfei"
Age: 22
Level: 2
Exorcism Point: 0/7905
Experience: 7900
Experience required to upgrade to Level 3 Exorcist: 92100
Seeing this data, Gao Jianfei was also somewhat sullen… “It’s been quite a while since I upgraded to a Level 2 Exorcist, and now I’ve only accumulated about 8,000 experience points. That’s just a fraction of the total experience points needed for the software upgrade! It’s really bad! Unless, of course, that mission system can actually give me a large amount of experience points in a short time…”
At this moment, Gao Jianfei placed great hope in the task system that was being repaired!
Without further ado, Gao Jianfei arrived at room 2-10 of the Ghost Den. The door was ajar. He pushed it open and entered.
An extremely ordinary living room came into Gao Jianfei's view.
It really is just an ordinary living room. Old furniture from the 90s, a set of faux leather sofas, a wooden coffee table. A very ordinary-looking man named Zhui Zi is sitting on the sofa drinking tea.
"Hello, Xiao Gao." After noticing Gao Jianfei enter the room, Cone put his teacup on the coffee table and stood up with a friendly smile.
In this situation, it's as if a hospitable and approachable middle-aged man welcomes a colleague, comrade-in-arms, or classmate.
Gao Jianfei felt somewhat awkward upon seeing the awl!
The reason is simple. Imagine you see the person you killed standing in front of you, smiling and very friendly. How would you react?
"Come on, Xiao Gao, come sit down," Cone said warmly.
Gao Jianfei hesitated for a moment before walking over and sitting on the sofa. Zhui Zi immediately busied herself making tea for Gao Jianfei.
"Um... I'm sorry, I'll kill you," Gao Jianfei stammered.
"Oh?" Cone placed the steaming hot tea in front of Gao Jianfei, then paused for a moment. "Xiao Gao, I'm just an assassin. My mission failed, which means I deserve to die. You don't need to feel sorry for me. Besides, I'm already very grateful that you brought me here."
Just then, the AI program's voice rang in Gao Jianfei's ears... "Respected user, any ghost you collect into the Ghost Den, if they had a grudge against you in life, will have all their hatred wiped away after death! They will not hold any resentment towards you. But just as you cannot mistreat any ghost!"
Gao Jianfei suddenly realized. He quickly adapted, handed Awl a cigarette, and asked bluntly, "Your nickname is Awl, are you a professional assassin?"
"Yes, a registered professional assassin with the World Assassin Association. My rate is 5 million RMB per mission," Cone answered frankly.
"The World Assassin Association?" Gao Jianfei asked in surprise.
"Yes. It's a huge and mysterious organization. In this world, anyone who works as an assassin and considers themselves excellent can register with the World Assassin Association and join after passing the selection process," Cone said.
“Screening?” Gao Jianfei frowned. “In other words, are all the assassins who can register with the World Assassin Association the most outstanding and terrifying assassins in the world?”
“Absolutely right! Of course, even registered assassins of the World Assassin Association have different rates. For example, my rate of 5 million RB per assassin only places me in the middle tier of the assassin world's pyramid. Not the highest, but not the lowest either. The genius who assassinated you with me had a lower rate of 1 million RB, making him a lower-level assassin.” Cone recounted readily. In fact, he felt relieved after his death. He could finally pour out his secrets. That's one of the advantages of being a ghost over being a human.
Gao Jianfei was secretly amazed... It seems that in this world, any industry, or rather, the elites of any industry, will spontaneously organize themselves into a specialized organization!
World Folk Martial Arts Association;
World Gambling Association;
World Assassin Association;
Therefore, it can be inferred that there should also be the World Chefs Association; the World Male Escort Association; the World Association of Fallen Women, etc.
“Uh, Cone, well, I’m not particularly interested in the World Assassin Association right now. I just want to know, who paid you to kill me?” As soon as he said that, Gao Jianfei’s pupils contracted to needles, and he stared directly at Cone. “Who wants to kill me?”
If this question had been posed by Conezi while he was alive and captured by Gao Jianfei, he would absolutely never have given Gao Jianfei the answer! After all, it concerned an assassin's reputation and professional ethics. But now, Conezi is just a ghost; he will answer whatever Gao Jianfei asks.
“It’s Tang Bao of Zheng Bang.” Cone took a sip of tea. “Tang Bao is currently the head of Zheng Bang. He’s willing to pay 8 million RMB to recruit me and Genius to come and kill you. Heh, to be honest, before accepting this assassination mission, I analyzed it. Although your world gambling skills ranking is very high, you are ultimately only affiliated with a city-level underground force. Assassinating you shouldn’t be too difficult. So, I accepted this mission without a second thought. Now that I think about it, I was wrong. So, I’m dead.”
"Tang Bao? Uncle Tang?" Gao Jianfei stood up abruptly!
He simply couldn't believe his ears!
"Uncle Tang, how could he possibly kill me? How could he spend so much money to hire a professional assassin to deal with me?"
Gao Jianfei's mind was truly in turmoil. "Awl, you're not lying?"
Cone shrugged. "Xiao Gao, do you think a dead man would lie to you? Also, I have to remind you, Tang Bao's desire to kill you is very strong! Since Genius and I failed, Tang Bao will definitely continue to hire assassins to deal with you! Furthermore, the World Assassin Association will also follow up on this matter and intervene forcefully! Because the World Assassin Association's reputation is very valuable. They will not allow any operation to fail, and even if they fail, they will try every means to salvage the situation! Xiao Gao, you'd better watch yourself."
Gao Jianfei left the haunted house in a daze.
I went back to the bedroom and lay down on the bed.
I tossed and turned, unable to sleep.
Tang Bao was arguably the first relative Gao Jianfei encountered after arriving in G Province! His kindness towards Gao Jianfei was genuine, heartfelt, and completely unpretentious.
He had no reason to kill Gao Jianfei.
but……
Suddenly, a flash of inspiration struck Gao Jianfei… “No! Uncle Tang Bao isn’t after me! He’s after the world’s number 51 gambling expert, ‘Little Gao’!”
Gao Jianfei reacted instantly!
It's important to know that after Gao Jianfei joined the gambling circle, his official registration was not under his real name, but under the code name "Xiao Gao".
Gao Jianfei usually kept a low profile and never frequented the Dongxing Casino. Even some of the Dongxing gang's henchmen probably didn't know what Gao Jianfei looked like. So, it's not surprising... that the Zheng Bang gang and Tang Bao couldn't possibly know that Gao Jianfei was the legendary gambling king "Little Gao"!
Flower Market and Lake Market are adjacent. The Zheng Bang and Dong Xing triads have always been locked in a fierce rivalry. Now, Dong Xing has produced a gambling king. Zheng Bang is definitely very nervous!
Casinos are a decisive factor in maintaining the economic chain of an underground force!
Therefore, Tang Bao is determined to eliminate "Xiao Gao" before Dongxing forces sweep through the casinos in G province!
"So that's how it is!" Gao Jianfei slapped his forehead. "What do I do now? Reveal my identity in front of Uncle Tang Bao?"
Gao Jianfei felt conflicted.
Originally, Gao Jianfei's father, Gao Jin, had made Gao Jianfei promise that once he came to G Province, he would work honestly and diligently, and wouldn't engage in any crooked or dishonest activities. Tang Bao and Fei Long were actually responsible for monitoring Gao Jianfei on behalf of their father.
However, it has now been revealed that Gao Jianfei's actions are indeed "crooked and heretical".
Telling Tang Bao the truth means Fei Long will soon find out as well. So, will they tell their father, Gao Jin?
However, if Gao Jianfei is kept in the dark, Tang Bao will stop at nothing to continue assassinating him.
This is so frustrating!
These two people, who were like uncle and nephew, actually misunderstood each other and killed one another!
"Then I'll go see Uncle Tang Bao tomorrow and we'll talk about it!" Gao Jianfei thought for a while and finally made his decision! After all, secrets can't stay hidden forever. Now that he's already embarked on this path, he can't expect Feilong and Tang Bao to never know!
"Now, my only hope is that Uncle Tang Bao and Brother Feilong can keep this a secret for me, at least so that my dad doesn't find out about all this!" With this thought in mind, Gao Jianfei finally fell asleep.
Early the next morning, Gao Jianfei got up, washed up, ate breakfast, and then called Tang Bao directly.
As soon as the call connected, Tang Bao roared, "Nephew! What's wrong with you lately? Last time Feilong said you resigned, I talked to Feilong about it. He told me not to contact you and to let you calm down for a few days. Have you thought it through? How about going back to work at Feilong's company? Or, your uncle can give you some capital and you can start your own small business. What do you think? If you don't like working for someone else, then go into business!"
Tang Bao's tone, as always, was filled with genuine concern.
Chapter 137 The Avengers!
Chapter 137 The Avengers!
"Oh, Uncle Tang, thank you for your concern. It's like this, I have some things I need to tell you in person. Well, it's hard to explain over the phone, I have to say it to you face-to-face!" Gao Jianfei felt a warm feeling in his heart when he heard Tang Bao want to give him money for his business. However, it was true that some things couldn't be explained clearly over the phone in just a few words.
"You little rascal, what are you playing mysterious with your Uncle Tang for? Saying it to his face... Ha! Fine, Uncle Tang hasn't seen you in a long time, and I'm curious to see how you're doing. Okay! We'll ignore Feilong's three rules for now. Damn, let's meet, uncle and nephew!" Tang Bao said casually. "However, your Uncle Tang has some things to take care of right now... Having something come knocking on my door so early in the morning is really annoying! Here's what you're doing, my dear nephew, just take a taxi and come find me. Flower Market, Zheng Bang Workers' Club, just tell the driver. Uncle can't leave, otherwise, I'd drive over and pick you up. Or, I could send two of my men to pick you up?"
"Oh, Uncle Tang, no need, I'll take a taxi right away," Gao Jianfei said repeatedly.