30

While deeply enjoying his meal, suddenly a thug was pushed over by others. He was facing away from Lin Fei, but the thug was quite tall, whereas Lin Fei was sitting on a very low stool. Directly, the thug's bulky buttocks were right in front of Lin Fei's face, and Lin Fei was holding his mashed potatoes while that large buttocks kept squeezing towards him. It's quite disturbing to have someone's buttocks right in your face while enjoying your food, especially when they're so close. Probably no one could continue eating, even if they were holding the finest delicacies.

So, naturally, Lin Fei elbowed that large buttocks, trying to push him away.

The thug felt something was off and immediately turned his head around, and he was immediately enraged.

"Fuck your mother!! Looking for death, huh!!"

Lin Fei, already in a bad mood, was instantly furious. He stood up, and smashed the mashed potatoes mixed with red pepper right onto the thug's face with a slap, then hit the side of the thug's face with a sideways elbow. The man didn't even have time to react before he passed out and collapsed on the ground.

This instantly ignited a powder keg, and about twenty thugs roared towards Lin Fei, amidst shouts of "beat him up."

Just then, another group of people charged toward this side aggressively,

"Move!! Move!!" A young man with a crew cut, his muscular physique visibly tense, started hitting anyone he saw, swiftly clearing the crowd in front of him.

"It's Big Brother! Big Brother is here!" Someone shouted from within the crowd.

Suddenly, all the thugs gradually stopped their movements.

The young man didn't care about the large crew-cut man and his girlfriend who approached him. He headed straight to Lin Fei's location, followed by a group of sturdy-looking thugs who seemed much more imposing than the ones initially here.

Chen Yuanyuan and Nannan, among others, were stunned by the sudden chaos, but they quickly realized what was happening. They exchanged glances, planning to sneak away while these people were distracted.

"What's going on?" the young man said in a deep voice as he arrived in front of Lin Fei, pointing at Chen Yuanyuan and the others who were trying to sneak away. "Your friends?"

Lin Fei recognized the young man the moment he appeared, as someone he had encountered at a Shueisha branch office. They had met once before.

Hearing his question, Chen Yuanyuan and others knew that sneaking away clearly wasn't an option. A few thugs stepped forward, and stealthily hit them. Nannan moaned softly, obviously having been hit hard.

Lin Fei, following his gesture, saw the girls there gazing at him desperately.

"Kind of," he admitted reluctantly. After all, Chen Yuanyuan's father often took care of his family, so he felt obliged to help. Clearly, the young man from the same society wanted to give him some face, though he didn't know why.

The young man nodded, called two brothers to help the fainted thug away. The previously indignant thugs didn't dare defy his word, moved the guy away obediently, clearing a large area.

"Alright, let them go," the young man directed at Chen Yuanyuan and the others. They, relieved, quickly left without uttering a word. The thugs laughed and cursed loudly, but dared not retort.

After these people had left, the young man turned to Lin Fei, "I have something to discuss with you, come with me."

This made Lin Fei uncomfortable. That tone, was he treating him like an underling?

"Why should I go with you?"

"Hmm?" The young man was taken aback, not expecting Lin Fei to refuse his request. It was apparent he was not often refused. "What? I gave you face, won't you give me face? Don't push your luck!"

Lin Fei suddenly laughed. A trace of coldness appeared in his eyes. It was a subtle change in his demeanor that had naturally occurred after he had killed Sun Chengbin.

"Your mother!!" He suddenly lunged forward, his right elbow smashing into the young man's chest in an instant. The latter was quick to react, blocking with his hands.

"Crack! Ah!!" He clearly underestimated Lin Fei's short-range strike force. Following the crisp sound of breaking bones, the young man's hands twisted unnaturally inward, his defensive stance instantly broke. Lin Fei stepped around and fiercely kicked the young man's side.

"Bang!"

The two gangsters on the left were knocked to the ground by the young man. All three collapsed to the ground.

In an instant of combat, silence fell around them. No one spoke, and all the gang members were stunned.

In just the blink of an eye, their seemingly tough leader was struck twice and critically injured. Almost everyone shivered involuntarily. If they had been standing in front of that man instead of the boss, the thought chilled everyone to the bone.

Lin Fei chuckled, stepped forward, and squatted down, patting the face of the young man who was struggling to get up.

"What makes you think you deserve any respect from me?" he scoffed disdainfully. "You're nothing! Killing you would be like squashing an ant."

Lin Fei suddenly turned around and threw another punch.

With a loud thud, a tall gang member who tried to sneak attack him from behind was struck by the punch and slid far away on the ground, unable to get up again.

"Okay! You've got guts! Today, I admit defeat, but you just wait...." The young man was about to throw out some more fierce words, but upon seeing the sudden coldness in Lin Fei's eyes, he involuntarily shivered and dared not continue. That kind of look, he had seen only in big-time gangsters who had actually killed people before.

"That's enough, you two. I knew there would be trouble," a familiar voice came from outside the crowd.

Turning toward the voice, Lin Fei saw the newcomer dressed in a signature white suit—it was Lu Jun.

"Haven't seen you in a few days, and you've become stronger," he sighed while looking at Lin Fei. Although the young man on the ground was far weaker than him, just based on Lin Fei's performance a moment ago—the speed and strength—if he hadn't sparred with him recently and known his true strength, Lu Jun himself might not have believed Lin Fei had grown so much stronger in just a few days. He was almost on par with himself now.

*****************

Lu Jun called medical staff to handle the young man's situation and left the snack street with Lin Fei alone. As for those gang members, they didn't dare to block their path and obediently cleared a way for them.

Walking on the checkered sidewalk, with a steady flow of traffic moving past them on the right.

Lin Fei and Lu Jun walked side by side.

"I need a sword. The agency should have them for sale, right?" Lin Fei said lightly.

"That's easy. Just so happens, there's news about your mission the day after tomorrow. That drug dealer who wasn't caught seems to have appeared again in the suburbs south of the city. As part of the mission personnel, you're to go and check it out. Come to the branch tomorrow; coincidentally, there's a sword expert there, and you can exchange some tips."

"There's another sword user?" Lin Fei was surprised. "Is there still Actual Combat Sword Technique nowadays?"

"Of course, why do you ask that question?" Lu Jun looked at him strangely.

"Every day, on TV, it's all fancy forms and choreographed performances; it feels like Actual Combat Sword Technique should have almost disappeared by now," Lin Fei remarked.

"It's not like you think. Real Actual Combat Sword Technique is very sharp, very fast. I've seen that sword expert in actual combat before. When the longsword moves, a flurry of silver light surrounds him, making it impossible to get close. For a close-combat expert, it's practically a nemesis," Lu Jun said somewhat wistfully.

"That impressive?" Lin Fei mused.

"Yes, very impressive! If you're interested in swordsmanship, go and ask him yourself when the time comes. Traditional martial arts are now facing a crisis of discontinuation. There are simply too few young people willing to calmly commit to learning it. If this continues, maybe in a few decades, what we call 'traditional martial arts' will only be a simple legend," Lu Jun said, shaking his head regretfully.

"We'll see when the time comes," Lin Fei nodded. "I'll come to the branch tomorrow. Didn't you say I would have a partner? Who was assigned to this task before, and why haven't I seen them?"

"You knocked him out just now," Lu Jun said helplessly.

"...."