At Tianjing City, within an ordinary residential block, three gangsters were gathered in a circle betting over a game of cards, chatting as they played.
“Boss, we haven’t been doing so well these days. If we continue this way, we might not be able to afford our meals. Continuing on like this daily is not plausible. Why don’t we come up with an idea?” said one of the gangsters.
Usually, these three gangsters didn’t do honest work and idled about daily. They spent their days coveting miraculous free lunches sent from the Heavens. However, there existed few of such miracles in this world. As a result, the more they idled, the poorer they became. The money they usually gained from extortion and blackmail was used to purchase lottery tickets, with the remaining money only sufficient for instant noodles, enough for them to pass their days.
“Indeed, if we don’t come up with an idea soon, our buddies will have nothing to eat. We cannot allow that to happen.” The other nodded his head. “We don’t possess Hong Dali’s luck. Hence, it’s undependable to rely only on lottery tickets.”
“That makes sense.” The boss stroked his chin before throwing his poker cards on the table and suddenly saying, “Indeed, idling around all day is not a credible plan. However, your mention of that wastrel Hong Dali reminds me—perhaps we could pretend to be beggars at the entrance of the Chenhui Building. Perhaps, with good luck, Hong Dali could tip us 1,800 yuan. Then we would be prosperous!”
“That’s a good idea, a good idea!” Upon hearing the boss’ words, the other two gangsters’ eyes lit up momentarily before nodding their heads vigorously. “That’s settled! Let’s set off at once!”
…
Abe Haruta was one of the members of the Hatori Ninjas under the command of Tarō Gohon, Director of the Toyoda Conglomerate.
Within this secret squad, Abe Haruta was exemplary in all fields and was always highly regarded by Hattori Jiro as a trusted subordinate.
This time, after receiving the mission to assassinate Hong Dali, Abe Haruta was also dispatched to the Heavenly State. In Hattori Jiro’s words, everything should be done the moment an opportunity arose—immediate assassination at the key moment. Being one of the sacrificial men of the ninja troop from the Toyoda Conglomerate, Abe Haruta accepted the mission gleefully.
Being dead or alive, these were not things an exemplary ninja considered.
In fact, he was indeed very intelligent. He did not arrive at Tianjing directly. Instead, he took an airplane and, through a transit, reached the East province of the Heavenly State before boarding a train headed towards Tianjing.
This undoubtedly reduced his risks further, increasing the ease for him to make various arrangements.
Onboard the train.
The carriage was packed.
Abe Haruto was cross-armed and sitting in repose with eyes closed. Suddenly, a crack rang out. A man who seemed to be a farmer sat across him, opening a can before throwing the pull-ring onto the table conveniently.
At that moment, a man who seemed to be a gangster sat next to the man, appearing to be bored. He then picked up the pull-ring before fiddling with it in his hands. After a short while, he suddenly shouted, “Wow! The first prize!”
Upon hearing the news that the pull-ring actually contained the first prize, the farmer was instantly agitated. “It belongs to me, it’s mine! You have to return it to me!”
“What the heck, you claim that it’s yours then it belongs to you? Does this thing have your name written on it?” said the gangster.
Their voices were not soft. They were heard by all the passengers in close proximity, all of whom turned to look at them.
“This pull-ring was thrown by me!” The farmer pulled up his sleeves, ready to reason with the gangster. “Let me tell you, this carriage contains more than 60 of my buddies. You had better hand the pull-ring to me happily. Otherwise, I will not be kind to you!”
After finishing his words, he was immediately surrounded by seven to eight men, all of whom were carrying rods while looking at the gangster.
However, he did not consider that the gangster was unwilling to admit to defeat. “You have backup. Did you think I wouldn’t?” Sure enough, after the gangster shouted, seven to eight people appeared at his side.
At this moment, the surrounding passengers were evidently frightened. The situation was about to snap! Of course, expectedly, the surrounding passengers crowded around them already believed that the pull-ring indeed contained the first price. Momentarily, they began gesticulating.
Instead, Abe Haruta remained at his seat and continued to rest in a state of repose while cross-armed before humphing in disdain. “What a joke.”
Upon hearing his words, the gangster and farmer suddenly glared at him. However, seeing that his eyes were closed, they decided not to bother with him.
As expected, seeing as the situation was about to snap, it was not going to be a small spectacle. At this moment, a quick-witted passenger faced a man who looked like a scholar before saying, “Sir, you look like a scholar. Could you be the judge of this situation, or else they will start fighting.”
“Mmm…” The scholar adjusted his spectacles, hesitating. “I’m a university professor. Since both of you believe in me, then let me be the judge. Yes, pass me the pull-ring first.”
He was a skinny man, so everyone doubted that he would dare to snatch it away. Hence, the gangster passed it to him at once.
The scholar placed the pull-ring in front of his eyes and looked at it thoroughly before saying, “Indeed, it’s the first prize. Where is the can? Let me see how much the prize money is.”
The farmer passed the can to him.
The scholar continued, “The amount is close to two million—quite a large sum of money. The both of you could redeem the prize money then split it in half. If you can’t trust each other, I can accompany you after we alight.”
Upon hearing this, Abe Haruta laughed coldly. “Good acting.”
These people were obviously part of the same gang. The farmer was party A, the gangster was party B, and the scholar was hired to be in collusion with them.
However, it had evidently surpassed Abe Haruta’s predictions as he did not consider that things would have developed as such—both parties were completely against sharing the money equally. The farmer shouted, “Why should I share half of the money from my pull-ring with him? Buddies, let’s reason with him properly!”
The gangster was not willing to back down. “F*ck, I’m not afraid of you. If you want to talk, we will oblige!”
Hence, the two groups hustled together at once.
As a group of 17 to 18 people hustled against each other in the carriage, pushing against each other, it quickly turned messy.
The surrounding passengers could sense that disaster was about to strike and all shrunk in their seats. However, the problem was that the carriage was too packed. Even if someone wanted to retreat, it was impossible. Yet, there was an advantage to that. The two groups who wanted to fight were unable to display their skills, ultimately having to resort to a verbal argument.
Fortunately, such a situation did not persist for long. The train reached Tianjing Station.
“Let’s go, let’s alight and reason this out!” “F*ck, if I was afraid I wouldn’t be a hardass! Buddies, let’s alight and f*ck him up!”
A group of people left the carriage slowly and walked away into the distance, probably to find a place to duel it out.
Abe Haruta left the carriage before rubbing his chin and muttering, “Could it be that I misjudged them? Perhaps they aren’t swindlers?”
Upon exiting the train station, Abe Haruta adjusted his bag before coming to a realization. “F*ck, my wallet! It was too packed just now, I was focusing only on their performance…”
On the other side, the group of people with the farmer and gangster walked together, shoulder to shoulder, laughing as they walked. “That Japanese idiot was still pretending to have a high IQ while not even realizing his wallet went missing, hahahaha! If he wants to pit himself against us, he’s too soft!” “Indeed, indeed. Let’s go, let us buddies go and have a drink! All my life, I have hated pretense. This is the way to eliminate him. Aiya, so relieving!”
…
Even though he lost his wallet, Abe Haruta felt that it was no big deal as he was a distinguished member of the Hattori Ninjas.
“For the noble Japan Empire!” Abe Haruta silently muttered in his heart, before saying, “Since the wallet is lost, perhaps I should pretend to be a beggar and use it as a disguise to conceal myself at Hong Dali’s Chenhui Building. This way, as long as he appears, I can beg him for money before killing him in one shot!”
A sudden glimpse of hope in the dark mist of bewilderment!
Disguising himself as a beggar before using the opportunity to assassinate was a perfect strategy. The success rate would definitely be 100%!
As for having no money to hail a taxi, Abe Haruta felt that it was no big deal as he was a distinguished member of the Hattori Ninjas.
Hence, a few hours later, Abe Haruta finally reached the vicinity of Chenhui Building. Looking at the setting sun, Abe Haruta breathed in deeply before scanning his surroundings. Soon enough, he spotted his target—an old beggar with only a few teeth left.
Five minutes later, Abe Haruta breathed deeply as he managed to swap clothes with the beggar…
Afterward, he lay on the road and, for the sake of improving his disguise, gradually shifted towards Chenhui Building…
In actuality, his entire strategy did not have any flaws. It was just a pity that his target was Hong Dali, who was able to transfer disaster and escape death from calamities several times. Hence, he was unlucky…
He barely made it to the front of the Chenhui Building by shifting forward gradually. However, before he was able to prepare himself, the other two beggars at the building fixed their eyes on him…
They were relatively young beggars. The moment one of the beggars saw him make his way over, he leaned over and said lowly, “Buddy, this place has already been occupied by us. If you want to come over, you have to wait till tomorrow!”
What the heck, this is your territory? Did you know that I am tasked with the mission to assassinate Hong Dali? How could I give up such an important position for you?! If you are displeased, *let’s take this outside?! *
Abe Haruta’s mood was not quite pleasant after losing his wallet, to begin with. After hearing what the young beggar said, he naturally felt more depressed and said hoarsely, “No, I’m definitely not leaving!”
“What the heck, I’m doing you a favor but you don’t want that, do you?!” The two young beggars, originally from the group of three gangsters, had been planning to rip money off Hong Dali. How rotten was it as they watched as someone unexpectedly came to steal their job?! As humans die in pursuit of wealth, birds die in pursuit of food. They snapped without any words.
Hence, half an hour later, the four of them sat in the police station with bloody noses and swollen faces.
Actually, given Abe Haruta’s skills, the three gangsters would have been easy to deal with—just a few moves and they would definitely have been solved.
The real problem lied with the law enforcers…
It had been mentioned previously that Hong Dali’s resources had always been underused. He placed his most loyal soldiers as urban management enforcers and among them, many kept watch at Chenhui Building’s ground floor.
Originally, Hong Dali was quite a nice man. Whenever he met a beggar, he would usually tip them 1,800 yuan provided that the surroundings of the Chenhui Building were peaceful, with beggars coming and going all the time.
Honestly, it was nothing. Yet, the problem lied with the fact that these beggars actually fought over the territory! One of them even had pretty good skills. But who would become a beggar with those skills?!
Hence, ultimately, Abe Haruta subdued the group of three gangsters before getting battered by the law enforcers, which caused the four of them to be sent to the police station…
