Nightmare Despair

Chapter 48 The Canal Gang
The Grand Canal Gang... Ha.

I've heard he's done all sorts of bad things, kicking down widows' doors and digging up graves of childless children.
"Okay, thank you, Brother Du Feng, I understand."

Zhou Kai thanked him, then changed the subject, lowering his voice to say, "There's another question I can't figure out myself, I need to ask my senior brother."

Du Feng shrank back sharply, his eyes instinctively glancing towards the door: "You...you say it."

Zhou Kai stared into his eyes and asked, enunciating each word clearly, "Do the members of the Grand Canal Gang have guns?"

Du Feng chuckled dryly and said, "It's not that bad... Red Star's gun control is quite strict, but... we can't say for sure."

"Anyway...anyway, the quantity is definitely not large, and it's probably all in the hands of those leaders."

Zhou Kai grinned: "Really? That's good."

When it comes to people like the Grand Canal Gang...

As long as not everyone has an AK, Zhou Kai figured it wouldn't be a bad idea to play along with them.

During his university years, thanks to a ruthless roommate, he was exposed to firearms at a very young age.

"Senior brother, I'm leaving now. See you tonight."

Zhou Kai raised his hand and gently patted Du Feng's shoulder.

Du Feng, as if struck by lightning, grabbed Zhou Kai with one hand.

"Are you crazy? I've already put you this far, and you still want to go and die?"

Zhou Kai didn't even look at him, but slowly pried Du Feng's hands apart.

"I take on some side jobs and mentor a few apprentices to earn some extra money."

"Now, it's time."

……

In this era, as long as you are willing to spend money, the effects that medical technology can produce are nothing short of miraculous.

After undergoing a series of expensive and specialized treatments, Wang Jinquan was discharged from the hospital that afternoon.

Xishan City, Xiangping District.

Shangpinzhai Tea House.

The air was filled with the delicate aroma of top-quality Da Hong Pao tea, but unfortunately, it was completely ruined by the cheap smell of alcohol on Wang Jinquan.

"Uncle Yuanzheng, I really don't understand how the world can be so unfair!" He tilted his head back and drank the wine in his glass in one gulp.

"Why should I? I have money and qualifications, but that Falcon Wing Boxing Gym still treats me like a dog!"

"They teach one thing and then hide it away, taking months or years at a time... No wonder ancient martial arts are dying out, they deserve it!"

Wang Yuanzheng glanced at it indifferently.

He held up two fingers and disgustedly pushed the cup his nephew had touched to the corner of the table, frowning as he said, "Jin Quan, just bear with it a little longer. Things from the Falcon Wing Martial Arts School are different."

"What's the difference? It's just boxing, but you still have to take drugs!"

Wang Jinquan's neck was stiff, and the fat on his face twitched from alcohol and anger, making him look even older than his uncle.

"What's the difference between taking medicine and getting an injection? If I had known it would be this troublesome, I would have just gone to use the Lyle Federation's system!"

Wang Yuanzheng's voice suddenly turned stern: "If you want to drink in the future, go somewhere else. Don't come to my teahouse and dirty my place!"

“Wang Jinquan, I’m emphasizing this to you again.”

"Currently, in the entire Red Star Republic, there are only three ancient martial arts schools with complete lineages and a proven track record of consistently reaching high levels: Broken Wing Style, Blue Leopard Style, and Fish Dragon Style."

"Our Wang family needs a true martial artist!"

He lowered his voice and said coldly, "You should know that martial artists and those enhanced individuals who are induced by injections are completely different things..."

Wang Jinquan remained silent for a long while before muttering resentfully, "But even if you become a martial artist, you still have to be transformed into an enhanced human, right? What's the point of all that effort?"

Wang Yuanzheng shook his head, a hint of disdain flashing in his eyes.

"The compatibility of enhancement drugs and various implants varies drastically from person to person. If an ordinary person is directly modified, the best they can achieve is a level 2 enhanced human, which is just a slightly stronger consumable."

"However, as long as a martial artist has entered the True Strength stage, their starting point after the transformation is a stable level 3."

"Level 3, in a place like Xishan, is enough to give the Wang family... a few more years to catch their breath."

Wang Jinquan scratched his hair in frustration.

In his generation, he was the only male member of the Wang family.

He enjoyed everything the Wang family had to offer, and naturally, he also had to bear the Wang family's expectations.

Practicing martial arts step by step, breaking through to true strength, and then, when there is no further progress, one must lie on the operating table and use the human body modification technology of the Lyle Federation to take it a step further.

Then, in this increasingly chaotic world, let's prolong the life of the Wang family's wrecked ship for a few more years.

he whispered.

"A level 3 enhanced human... who isn't even afraid of guns? Is it really that incredible?" Wang Yuanzheng was too lazy to answer Wang Jinquan's stupid question.

He just waved his hand coldly, as if shooing away a fly.

"Go back. The smell of alcohol on you doesn't match my tea. Next time you want to come, make sure you're clean."

"Also, I've already had someone deal with the kid who hit you." Wang Yuanzheng spoke calmly, without the slightest hint of emotion.

"You better practice your skills properly, the Wang family won't let anyone stand in your way."

"The only thing that can hinder your progress in martial arts is yourself!"

Wang Jinquan's drunkenness vanished instantly, and he grinned maliciously, the grin widening.

He didn't hear a word of encouragement, but he heard Zhou Kai's reprimand very clearly.

He simply hired a few thugs to vandalize Zhou Kai's house as a warning.

My uncle was far more ruthless than I was.

He could already picture the scene of that Zhou kid being thrown into the Xishan River to feed the fish.

When my uncle strikes, he always leaves only the corpse, never anyone alive.

……

Xishan City Chaomu Camping Park.

The meat sizzled on the grill, dripping fat and igniting a small cluster of fragrant flames.

Zhou Kai was so angry he almost laughed.

He had just met up with Fischl and his group, but it turned out that these rich young masters and ladies had no intention of studying at all; they were just dragging him out for a camping trip.

Zhou Kai didn't have the time to go crazy with them, so he absentmindedly flipped the grilled meat while chatting with his bodyguard Yang Hao.

They were still talking about martial artists and enhanced humans.

Unfortunately, information is heavily censored these days. At most, there are only a few scattered rumors about these core secrets online, and it's impossible to find any systematic information.

Today, Chen Ping has gone missing again. Zhou Kai wants to get to the bottom of his doubts, so he can only ask Yang Hao, whom he met by chance.

Upon hearing this, Yang Hao looked him up and down with a strange expression: "I heard from Miss that you are from the Falcon Wing Boxing Gym, right? How can a martial artist not know the secrets of martial arts?"

"I reckon that little brats like Xiao Ma and Xiao Yuan know the gist of it."

Zhou Kai shrugged, looking completely innocent: "Don't doubt me, I've only been doing this for a few days."

Yang Hao feigned anger: "Don't try to be Versailles here! With your physique and that brute force from the other day... you're not far from mastering true strength, are you?"

"What level have you reached in your practice of the fundamental method? Mastery? Or perfection?"

Zhou Kai was genuinely confused: "What is the fundamental law?"

Yang Hao gasped and looked at him with amazement: "Since you joined Falcon Wing, you must be practicing the Falcon Strike Technique... Well, I get it now, you really don't know anything."

"I don't know how your master trained you."

But Zhou Kai hadn't even become an apprentice yet...

Seeing that the topic was getting further and further off track, Zhou Kai smiled and waved his hand, urging Yang Hao to quickly bring the conversation back to the main point.

Let's talk about the specific methods and techniques of martial arts and enhanced humans.

However, Yang Hao was still quite pleased.

It's true that Zhou Kai is better at fighting than me, but when it comes to experience, he's still a novice.

He took a swig of ice-cold beer, leaned back comfortably in his chair, adopted the air of a seasoned expert, cleared his throat, and began to speak concisely.

"Ancient martial arts are mainly practiced by people in our Red Star Republic. Several small countries in the surrounding cultural sphere also have similar practices, such as Bushido and... Bodhidharma."

"As far as I know, the ancient martial arts realm is divided into two levels. The first level is True Strength; the second level is Qi Induction."

“Generally, martial artists who have reached the True Strength stage have a physique that completely surpasses that of ordinary people. If you throw them into a crowd, it's like a tiger entering a flock of sheep; one punch and they're all dead.”

"Note that I'm talking about being able to defeat ten or fifty people, and that's based on someone like me who's trained. Ordinary people? A hundred of them would just be easy prey."

When the second realm was mentioned, Yang Hao shook his head, his face showing more awe.

"Second Realm Qi Induction... I've only heard the name, but I've never actually seen a living person reach this level."

"Anyway, it's definitely much stronger than the True Strength stage."

Zhou Kai got interested, picked up a sizzling, oily medium-rare steak, stuffed it into his mouth, and the aroma of the meat instantly exploded in his mouth.

He chewed while gesturing for Yang Hao to continue.

"What about the enhanced humans? What's going on?"

(End of this chapter)