The Almighty Ring

As they bellowed in each other’s ears over the sound of the deafening jet engine roars, they proceeded towards the hotel.

“Have you rich folk gotten tired of fancy cars and upgraded to fancy jet planes?” said Jiang Fei, a little curious.

“That’s… not it. But close. We’re not really here to show our wealth, but our power. Mind you, this is a meeting of weapon manufacturers. We should turn up in the best of the best tech. It’s only natural in this line of business.”

The island was undoubtedly a private island, but hotel staffs were lined up in the front of the hotel to greet new arrivals. Not long after, a man stepped out and led Jiang Fei and Han Tianyu into the hotel. These guests were regulars. Hence, everyone had long been designated to their own rooms.

“Brother Yu. Are there any rules here… anything that I should keep in mind?” said Jiang Fei nervously. It was his time participating in a meeting of such level.

“Hm… Nothing in particular. Well, but there is something for you to bear in mind alright. We’re here to pick a fight,” said Han Tianyu as he smiled deviously.

“Pick…a…fight?”

“That’s right. Pick a fight. Well, not physically of course. That’s fine too but… Remember what I said about technological evolution? We’re here to look for my direct competitors and make them feel like they’re a decade too obsolete! All we need now is the trigger!” said Han Tianyu.

“Huh.” Jiang Fei nodded his head. The longer he mingled with Han Tianyu, the more weapon manufacturers turned out to be ruthless in his mind.

“I heard from old man Hai that your body Hardening skill is pretty well-developed,” said Han Tianyu, out of the blue.

“Just so… ”

Jiang Fei had no idea what Han Tianyu was planning, and merely nodded at the statement. Even so, he could take the threat of bodily harm out of his mind.

“Alright. In that case, I want you to find that bastard Tokugawa and pick a fight with him. I want you to bring up the case of the Tokugawa assassins. No one was allowed to bring too many bodyguards for this meeting, and that bastard doesn’t know any martial arts. Let’s not forget the fact that his sons are all cowards, so you would not need to worry about being hurt. Just provoke him into throwing the first swing. When that happens, I want you to go all out and beat the living hell out of them. If you don’t have the guts to harm them, just pretend to be offended. I’ll handle the rest,” said Han Tianyu with a smile that sent shivers down Jiang Fei’s spine.

“Deal.”

Jiang Fei immediately agreed. He had a bone to pick with the Tokugawa, anyways. The assassination attempt was more than enough for Jiang Fei to hate and despise the entire family. Jiang Fei was not the kind of guy who preached nor practiced the virtue of forgiveness. In fact, because of watching too much anime and playing too many games, he often resorted to the most barbaric means to vent his anger. Physical revenge. If you are nice to me, I’ll be nice to you. But sweat talk is not going to save your butt this time. Sending an assassin to kill me would only earn you a good butt whooping! Now that Han Tianyu had given him the green light, Jiang Fei would never miss out on the opportunity to enact his revenge.

After a short break in the room, both Jiang Fei and Han Tianyu went down to gather at the hotel lobby.

Nervous and jumpy, Jiang Fei observed his surroundings. The hotel was designed and decorated based on high-class, western architecture. No one would ever suspect that this was where arms dealers met and greeted each other.

“Well well well! Brother Yu! What took you so long?”

Just as Jiang Fei and Han Tianyu and walked down the stairs, a caucasian young man came over to greet Han Tianyu. Try as one might, everyone would end up agreeing that the man looked just like a generic villain.

“Careful. This man is from China, like us. He is one of the five family members of the Shi family. His name is Shi Dan. A cunning bastard. Keep your guard up at all times when dealing with him. Never allow yourself to be controlled during a conversation.”

Han Tianyu froze and whispered into Jiang Fei’s ear. After the warning was given, Han Tianyu expression changed a full 180 degrees, and he greeted Shi Dan with a warm smile.

“Haha! Hey, Shit Dung, did you come with your third uncle or your father?”

“F*ck. Brother Yu. Give me some face please…”

Shi Dan immediately piped down. Even the master of trickery, Shi Dan quickly fell silent. His family name may have played a role, but Shi Dan was very rarely made fun of, when it came to the social circle where he and Han Tianyu shared their roots. At most, such names were only exchanged behind each others’ backs. Han Tianyu was probably the only one who spouted such names right in their faces.

“Huh? Shit Dung… or perhaps you had your name changed? Remember, there are some things that you can never bury even if you change your name,” said Han Tianyu coldly.

“Brother Yu. Please forgive me. Do not put the blame on me for the previous mistake. How would I know that your cousin-brother modified your car just to harm you!” said Shi Dan with an innocent face.

“Huh?”

Jiang Fei was flummoxed.

“Hoho. Do not fret. That weasel has no guts to pull off such a stunt. Let’s not dwell on the matter any longer. Some things are best kept in smoke. People could easily see through them anyway.”

Han Tianyu smiled.

“Brother Yu! You must believe me! I have no idea what happened to you!” Shi Dan retained his innocent expression as he spoke.

“Enough already. Where’s your father?” said Han Tianyu as he quickly changed the topic.

“Oh. My dad is not here. I’m with my third uncle!”

“I see. In that case, let’s have a chat together when your third uncle is free. I’ll be right there!” said Han Tianyu as he pointed at an empty seat and dragged Jiang Fei away.

“Brother Yu. Do you have some unresolved matters with that man?” said Jiang Fei.

“Hmm. Let’s just get to the bottom of it. Do you still remember our first meeting, unofficially?”

“You mean the hospital or the car accident?”

“The car accident.”

It all dawned upon Jiang Fei. He recalled the conversation between Han Tianyu and Shi Dan and understood something.

“From the looks on your face, you do remember. The rules of the game cannot be broken. Since they made the preemptive move to break the rules, the ball has rolled, and there is no stopping it. It’s my turn.”

Han Tianyu smiled coldly. He and Jiang Fei may have the same concept of vengeance but they were heavens apart. It would be a blessing if Han Tianyu left someone intact. To think that someone would actually go for such a man’s life…

More and more people started to fill the lobby and in no time at all, more than fifty people were gathered. At that moment, an older white gentleman stepped to the center of the room and used a spoon to clink his tall glass.

Ding Ding Ding Ding…

The crisp sound of the glass lingered in the air as the room fell silent.

“Welcome, all of you to this little meeting. We, the Locksters, welcome you! Please help yourselves and have a good time!”

“Brother Yu. Who’s that?” Jiang Fei whispered.

“That man is one of the big shots from America. The representative of the Locksters. This is old news, but they were once our main competitor in terms of jets.”

Han Tianyu emphasized the word “were”. He appeared to be confident that his own tech would triumph over the others.

“Han-san, word has it that your spies have done a good job lately. Did you really manage to get the recipe to create your own Hyperactive Cell Regenerators?”

Just as Han Tianyu was about to finish his last sentence, a soft, yet shrill voice of a man tore his attention away from Jiang Fei.