Chapter 146: Alliance

Yang Jiekai had roughly heard about the matter He Yuan brought up beforehand.

It was essentially that an external faction from Beihai City had established a firm foothold in Anhai City. The underworld landscape in Anhai City was already a case of too many monks and too little gruel, so the arrival of an external faction trying to grab a share of the pie naturally displeased the local factions.

However, Beihai City was the provincial capital, and the underworld forces there naturally outranked those in Anhai by a significant margin. Moreover, Anhai City's underworld was a mixed bag of good and bad elements without a unified leadership.

Consequently, regarding this issue, everyone chose to adopt a wait-and-see attitude from a safe distance, with no one willing to court disaster or play the role of the protruding bird.

The purpose of this gathering was to discuss how to deal with the external faction that had infiltrated from Beihai City.

"I wonder what views our esteemed seniors present have on this matter?" He Yuan asked the table after finishing his opening remarks.

"What views could there be? They've already bullied their way to our doorstep, so we fight them, that's what!"

A burly man with a full beard lazily piped up. His name was Zhao Shanhu, a notoriously fierce general in Anhai's underworld—reckless, stubborn, and hot-tempered, prone to flying into a rage at a moment's notice, somewhat akin to Zhang Fei from the Three Kingdoms period.

"Right, I agree with Tiger Brother's sentiment. Our city doesn't have many turfs to begin with, and now those bastards from Beihai City are trying to stick their oars in. There's simply no justification for this."

"Exactly! Fight them, we must fight!"

For a moment, everyone at the table expressed their indignation and stance, with only Chen Peifeng remaining silent, gently sipping his red wine.

"Brother Zhou, what's your take on this?" He Yuan asked the middle-aged man sitting beside him.

This man was named Zhou Dongcheng, the helmsman of the Zhou Group. Despite his appearance resembling a country bumpkin newly arrived in the city, when it came to overall strength in the entire Anhai City, he was the only underworld boss who could sit on equal footing with the father-and-son duo He Xiao and He Yuan.

"A fight is definitely necessary, but the crux of the issue lies in *how* we fight."

Though Zhou Dongcheng looked honest and sturdy on the outside, he was far from foolish. Chen Peifeng had briefly introduced him to Yang Jiekai earlier, describing him as a man of unfathomable depth with a mind full of wicked schemes.

Zhou Dongcheng glanced around the room at the people present and continued, "I just heard all the brothers express their stance, and I feel the same way. We certainly cannot sit idly by regarding this matter; the key is the method of attack."

"Boss Zhou, just tell us what to do, we'll all listen to you!" someone shouted loudly.

Zhou Dongcheng nodded and went on, "Regarding this matter, I believe we must unite, form an alliance, and deal with the foreign enemy together. Before we completely drive Beihai City's forces out, everyone present should temporarily set aside past grievances and join hands to face this."

Zhou Dongcheng's words caused everyone at the table to nod repeatedly. One person said, "We all fully support Boss Zhou's opinion—let's unite and form an alliance. But I have another proposal: since it's an alliance, we need to elect an alliance leader to lead everyone in driving that bunch of bastards out of Anhai City!"

After saying this, the man added, "I'll state my position first. I propose that the alliance leader be chosen between Younger Brother He and Boss Zhou."

"Right, I agree too. The only ones qualified to be the alliance leader are the two of them."

The others quickly echoed the sentiment.

To this, neither Zhou Dongcheng nor He Yuan offered excessive modesty. After exchanging a look filled with hidden agendas, Zhou Dongcheng smiled at He Yuan and said, "Younger Brother He is a heroic youth. I believe the leader of this alliance can be none other than Younger Brother He."

"What are you saying, Brother Zhou?"

He Yuan hastily declined, "In terms of seniority, I still owe Brother Zhou the respect of calling you a senior. In front of a senior, how could I dare to act presumptuously? As for the position of alliance leader, apart from Brother Zhou, I don't think anyone else is more suitable."

Following that, the two began exchanging polite pleasantries, each declining the leadership position.

Yang Jiekai watched silently from the sidelines, knowing the score in his heart. On the surface, the two appeared to be mutually modest, but in reality, they were trying to protect themselves. Faced with this external faction from Beihai City, neither wanted to play the role of the protruding bird. The title of alliance leader sounded glorious, but in truth, it was a hot potato.

The two deferred to each other with no conclusion reached for a long time, until Chen Peifeng finally stepped in to smooth things over.

"You two don't need to be overly modest. I actually have a very good proposal," Chen Peifeng said.

"Oh? What good advice does Old Brother Chen have?" The table instantly perked up with interest.

Chen Peifeng smiled at the crowd and said, "The position of alliance leader is of great consequence. I think we can postpone the election for now, but we can first discuss how to deal with that faction from Beihai City."

"Oh, does Brother Chen have any good suggestions?" Zhou Dongcheng smiled as he looked at Chen Peifeng.

Chen Peifeng nodded and said, "Since it's an alliance, it needs to look like an alliance. Everyone present must unite. I won't waste words; I, Chen Peifeng, will state my position first. I have about eight turfs in Anhai City. Whoever takes the position of alliance leader, during the period of external combat, I am willing to hand over all the income from six of those turfs, as well as two-thirds of my brothers, to be placed entirely under the alliance leader's command."

As soon as Chen Peifeng said this, everyone fell silent. With varying expressions, they quickly began calculating their own little accounts in their minds.

With Chen Peifeng having stated his position, the rest of the company found it embarrassing to keep hiding their cards and likewise declared their willingness to hand over the majority of their assets to the alliance leader.

At this, the expressions of both He Yuan and Zhou Dongcheng suddenly shifted.

If the previous alliance leader position was merely titular and came with the trouble of being the protruding bird, the current alliance leader position came with real, hard cash and manpower!

"Younger Brother He, what do you think of this?" Zhou Dongcheng looked at He Yuan and asked.

He Yuan leisurely picked up his wine glass, took a small sip, and said, "How about this? Since the brothers think so highly of the two of us, I think neither of us needs to decline anymore. How about the two of us jointly serve as the alliance leaders?"

Zhou Dongcheng smiled. "Younger Brother He's suggestion is quite good. I was thinking the exact same thing."

After saying that, he turned to the crowd and asked, "I wonder if anyone has any objections to Younger Brother He's proposal?"

Yang Jiekai, who had been sitting quietly in his chair all along, silently cursed them as old foxes!

The moment these two heard there were profits to be gained after taking the leadership, their attitudes changed instantly. Without giving anyone else a chance, they began carving up the position of alliance leader between themselves. The two of them playing off each other like this—wasn't it just a double act?

Asking the people present if they had any objections? Nonsense! They were the two biggest underworld factions in Anhai City; since they had both stated their positions, who would dare to have any objections?

In short, the matter was settled just like that. This alliance would have two leaders: He Yuan and Zhou Dongcheng.

Once the matter was finalized, the table resumed its lively atmosphere of drinking, laughing, and chatting.

Underneath the table, Chen Peifeng kept discreetly nudging Yang Jiekai. Yang Jiekai knew Chen Peifeng was hinting at him to hurry up and offer a toast.

The whole purpose of bringing Yang Jiekai along to this gathering in the first place was just that—to give him, Yang Jiekai, an opportunity to show his face in front of these underworld bosses.

However, Yang Jiekai simply couldn't bring himself to toast these people, so he gave Long Xiaoman a gentle tug under the table, deciding to pass the hot potato to her instead.

Long Xiaoman was a person of the underworld anyway and didn't decline. She picked up her wine glass and began to toast the underworld bosses one by one.

"Let me introduce everyone."

Chen Peifeng smiled, stood up, and pointing at Long Xiaoman, said, "This is my friend Long Xiaoman, currently the boss of the Dragon Hall."

"Dragon Hall?"

The underworld bosses present were all heavyweights in Anhai City, so none of them had ever heard of such a small-time outfit like the Dragon Hall.

"Which Dragon Hall? How many turfs do you control, and how many men do you have?" one underworld boss asked bluntly.

Long Xiaoman smiled. "We're just starting out and currently developing mainly in the suburbs."

Upon hearing this, the crowd instantly burst into jeering laughter. Looking at Chen Peifeng, someone joked, "Haha, Old Brother Chen, you really have a sense of humor. Everyone gathered here today has at least seven or eight turfs under their belt, and yet you brought along a village girl from the suburbs."

"Hahaha, indeed! Old Brother Chen, is this woman your mistress? She is quite pretty, though."

The table erupted in laughter, but no one was willing to pick up their glass.

Long Xiaoman raised her glass, feeling somewhat awkward when no one clinked glasses with her.

"Come, I'll have a drink with you."

At that moment, He Yuan suddenly raised his glass, looked at Long Xiaoman, and said, "I know your Dragon Hall. You've been developing very fast lately—not only did you wipe out four suburban areas, but you also took out Blind Wu recently. Come, I'll have this drink with you."

"Thank you, President He." Long Xiaoman raised her glass and drained it in one gulp.

After finishing his drink, He Yuan didn't sit down. Instead, he poured himself another glass, raised it, and suddenly looking at Yang Jiekai, said, "Brother, I'll have a drink with you too."

Yang Jiekai picked up his glass, uncertain whether He Yuan genuinely didn't remember him or was just pretending.

"Thank you for the honor, President He. I'll drink to this." Although Yang Jiekai held little regard for He Yuan, in an occasion like this, he couldn't afford to make him lose face. He picked up his glass, stood up, and drained it.

He Yuan, however, didn't drink. Instead, staring at Yang Jiekai, he asked, "Brother, I wonder where you hang out."

Yang Jiekai casually replied, "I don't hang out anywhere. I'm just a small-time minion in the Dragon Hall."

Actually, Yang Jiekai wasn't lying. He truly didn't hold any formal position in the Dragon Hall, and whenever he showed up, it was indeed as a minor minion.

After staring at Yang Jiekai's face for a few seconds, He Yuan suddenly loosened his grip. The wine glass in his hand shattered against the table with a loud crash, splashing wine everywhere.

"President He, what is the meaning of this..." Chen Peifeng quickly stood up, attempting to smooth things over.

He Yuan sneered at Yang Jiekai and said, "I thought he was some kind of big shot, but it turns out he's just a small-time minion. What am I, He Yuan? How could I possibly drink with a mere minion?"

With that, he looked at Chen Peifeng and said, "Old Brother Chen, you must know what kind of gathering this is. Bringing small-time characters like those from the Dragon Hall might be tolerable since she's at least a boss, but how can a lowly minion be present here? Doesn't this disregard the face of every senior present?"

Chen Peifeng opened his mouth, but didn't know what to say. He hadn't expected Yang Jiekai to introduce himself as a lowly minion, which certainly put him in a difficult position.

Right at that moment, a calm, lingering voice came from nearby:

"Face is something people give each other. Some people, even if they occupy high positions, don't understand how to conduct themselves—in which case they have no face whatsoever, and are worth even less than a small-time minion!"