What the hell is the "kill line" when you're in America?

Derek sat in the beat-up Toyota.

Behind him followed five newly recruited "subordinates".

They squeezed into the open space of the back seat and trunk.

"Boss, where do we go now?" the man called Skinny Monkey asked, leaning over with a fawning smile.

His eyes kept glancing at Derek's black backpack.

Derek instinctively pulled the backpack closer to his chest.

He glanced at Li Ang in the passenger seat.

Li Ang leaned back in his seat with his eyes closed.

"Let's go to the next block," Li Ang said.

Derek nodded in response to Li Ang.

He started the car, and it slowly drove out of the abandoned basketball court.

"See that bar over there?" Derek pointed to a shop with a neon sign on the street corner.

"That's scorpion territory."

"Scorpion?" Li Ang asked.

"A madman, a Mexican, with a dozen or so men under him," Derek said. "They used to hang out with Marcus, and now they've started their own gang."

The car stopped on the street opposite the bar.

Four men stood at the entrance of the bar, their waists bulging, clearly carrying weapons.

"Boss, they have guns." Derek's voice trembled slightly.

"So what?" Li Ang asked back.

Derek didn't dare to speak.

"Get out of the car," Li Ang said.

Derek opened the car door, and his five "henchmen" followed him out in single file.

They looked at the bar across the street with a hint of fear in their eyes.

"Boss, Scorpion's gang is not to be trifled with," Skinny Monkey whispered.

"Shut up," Derek hissed.

He glanced back at Li Ang.

Li Ang had already gotten out of the car and was leaning against the door, quietly watching him.

Derek knew he had no way out.

He carried the black backpack, led his men, and crossed the street directly towards the bar.

The guards at the gate immediately became alert.

"Halt! Who are you?" A Mexican man with a small mustache reached out and stopped them.

Derek tried to make his voice sound calm.

"My name is Derek. I'm here to discuss a business deal with your boss, Scorpion."

The bearded man sized up Derek and his men, who were clearly drug addicts, with a disdainful smile.

"Talk business? With your abilities?"

"Get lost, you're not welcome here."

Derek did not roll.

He unzipped his backpack.

A bag full of white pills gleamed enticingly in the dim light at the bar entrance.

The expressions on the faces of the guards at the entrance changed instantly.

"What is this?" The man with the mustache frowned.

"Something that can make you rich," Derek said.

He took a pill of bliss out of his bag and threw it over.

"Have your boss try some, and tell him my name is Derek."

"If he wants to cooperate, I'll wait for him here."

The bearded man caught the pill, held it in his hand, and examined it.

"You just wait here."

He turned and walked into the bar.

The others at the door had their hands on their waists, ready to draw their guns at any moment.

Derek stood there, his palms sweaty.

The skinny guy and his men behind him were so nervous they didn't dare to breathe.

They could feel malicious gazes coming from the shadows around them.

A few minutes later, the bar door opened.

The man with the small mustache came out.

"Our boss wants you to come in."

Derek glanced back at Li Ang behind him.

Li Ang didn't move; he just stood there watching the guards.

Derek gritted his teeth and stepped into the bar.

The bar was filled with smoke and the music was deafening.

A man wearing a floral shirt and a scorpion pendant around his neck was sitting in a booth.

He was toying with the Elysium Pill that Derek had given him.

"You're Derek?" Scorpion raised his eyelids and sized him up.

"Yes."

"You call this business?" Scorpion threw the pill on the table.

"This is better than anything on the market," Derek said.

"Is that so?" Scorpion laughed. "Why should I believe you?"

"You can try it yourself."

Scorpion looked at Derek

"My men told me you just took in those trash Viper and his cronies." Scorpion chuckled for a moment, then his expression turned serious. "Do you think you can finally establish yourself in Ninth District?"

Derek did not speak.

"Alright then," Scorpion leaned back on the sofa, "you hand over the formula for this stuff, and I'll make you my deputy."

"How about it? This deal is fair."

Derek's heart sank.

He knew that this was going to be a tough time.

"I don't have the formula," Derek shook his head. "But I have stock, lots of stock."

"Is that so?" Scorpion's eyes turned cold. "It seems you don't want to cooperate."

He clapped his hands.

A dozen or so men in the bar stood up, holding machetes and iron pipes, and surrounded them.

Derek's five men turned pale with fright and instinctively shrank behind him.

Derek was also afraid.

But seeing that Li Ang still didn't make any move, Derek felt reassured.

An inexplicable courage rose from the bottom of his heart.

"Scorpion, I advise you to think this through." Derek's voice was still trembling slightly, but his eyes no longer darted away. "My goods can allow you to unify the entire Ninth District."

"Hahahaha!" The scorpion seemed to have heard the biggest joke in the world.

"Kill him!" He slammed his hand on the table.

"Bang!"

A gunshot rang out.

It didn't come from outside the bar.

Instead, it came from behind him.

Derek suddenly opened his eyes and looked back.

Leon had already drawn his Beretta from his waist, the muzzle still smoking.

The man closest to Scorpion behind him had a bloody hole in the center of his forehead.

His expression froze just before he raised his gun to aim.

His body swayed, then he fell straight backward.

The bar was in complete chaos.

Scorpion turned around abruptly, staring incredulously at his subordinate lying in a pool of blood.

He turned back to look at Li Ang.

Li Ang's gun was already pointed at him.

The scorpion was the first to recover from its shock.

The music in the bar stopped.

Scorpion's gaze slowly shifted from his subordinate lying in a pool of blood back to Li Ang's face.

"you......"

Li Ang ignored him.

He simply looked calmly at Scorpion, whose remaining dozen or so men also snapped out of their shock.

They gripped their machetes and iron pipes tightly and slowly surrounded Li Ang.

But no one dared to be the first to step forward.

"Don't fucking move!"

He wasn't yelling at Li Ang, but at his own men.

Those people stopped in their tracks, looking at each other in bewilderment.

He's been in this business for so many years, he's killed people, and he's also been held at gunpoint.

But to be honest, if that shot had been aimed at his head, he thought he would be dead!

He looked into Li Ang's eyes, but he had never seen such a gaze before—calm, indifferent, and devoid of any emotion.

"Friend, you've crossed the line," Scorpion said slowly, trying to make his voice sound calm. "In Ninth District, no one dares to touch Scorpion's men."

Li Ang didn't speak, he just looked at him.

"Do you think you can walk out this door with just a gun?"

Scorpion continued, saying that he was testing the waters and stalling for time.

"I have dozens of brothers outside, and they will soon surround this place completely."

"If you kill us, you won't survive either."

Li Ang looked around and saw that those who had heard the commotion outside had come in.

These people had completely surrounded them.

"How much is your life worth?" Li Ang asked the scorpion. "I'm asking, how much is your life worth?"

"What?"

Li Ang repeated, "Or rather, how many of the people behind you do you think would be willing to take a bullet for you?"