The maniacs from the Wildfire Gang couldn't get into the alley for ages, and in frustration, they threw two grenades over.
But the distance was too far, so the grenades didn't do much—just kicked up a cloud of dust and blocked their line of sight.
The next second, gunfire erupted.
I heard Wildfire Gang guys shouting, "Move it! The cops are here!"
The roar of motorbikes echoed.
The Wildfire Gang had no choice but to ditch a few bodies and bolt like hell.
Chen Che poked his head out—it was Bobby and his Special Ops team finally showing up.
Bobby might have the IQ of a potato, but damn, the dude could shoot. With a flick of his wrist, he shot a Wildfire Gang rider right in the kidney as he tried to escape on his bike.
All we heard was some gut-wrenching screaming.
Bobby led his men rushing over.
"Where's the pretty boy? Still alive?"
When he realized the possible consequences, Bobby damn near shit himself.
He wanted to help the boss save face, sure, but if it meant screwing himself over, then sorry boss, you're on your own for now.
Seeing Chen Che all dusty but otherwise fine, Bobby finally let out a sigh of relief.
Chen Che got up from the ground, dusted himself off, and the next second punched Bobby right in the face.
"Idiot!"
Crack! Crack!
The Special Ops guys immediately pointed their guns at Chen Che, while Xiong Da and his people snapped to attention, raising their guns and aiming at the special squad.
A tense stand-off.
Bobby spat blood to the side, licked the blood from his lips, looked up, and honestly didn't look all that pissed.
"Fine, man, I owed you, so I'll take that punch. We're square."
Bobby was scared shitless too—if Chen Che had really died here, he'd be screwed beyond repair.
Right then, Chen Che felt totally in control; he shook out his fist and barked, "Put the guns down."
Bobby and his crew hesitated, then dropped their weapons. Bobby even smacked one guy on the head and snapped, "What the hell! I just saved his ass, you wanna kill him now? If he dies, we all die, idiots."
The special ops team lowered their guns too.
"Let's go. Don't waste any more time..."
Chen Che barked a couple orders at Xiong Da and his guys, then followed Bobby's team to the Judicial Bureau on his own initiative.
The gunfight had rattled the security teams; patrols from every district rushed over for backup.
But the Wildfire Gang had already vanished without a trace.
Chen Che shot a glance at the bodies on the ground.
The Wildfire Gang thugs looked just like those crazy Scavengers he used to wipe out in Cyberpunk 2077.
Blue veins bulging on their necks, deep red bloodshot eyes, and black rings around their sockets.
Classic symptoms of long-term abuse of psychoactive drugs.
And odds are, it was all illegal shit.
Psychoactive drugs stimulate your nerves, pump out dopamine, make life on the Wasteland suck a little less for a while.
The illegal stuff is banned—way too addictive, rots your body, fries your brain. Brutal shit.
People who take it easily lose control.
That's why it's outlawed.
The regular stuff didn't cut it for these street-level gangsters anymore.
With their lives all violence, blood, and murder for hire, they're hooked on the strongest stuff they can score.
"Wildfire Gang... An Nishang, did you send these guys, or did someone else?"
Chen Che muttered to himself as he hopped into a convoy with Bobby and the others, heading full throttle for the Judicial Bureau.
That shootout made a hell of a mess.
Now with police escorts, there was zero chance of more assassins showing up on the road.
Chen Che rubbed his forehead in the back seat.
Suddenly, his brain pinged with a system notification.
[Congratulations on completing the mission "Close Encounter With Death"!
You've earned: Profound Cuisine Product [Candy of Listening to the Heart] x10.
[Candy of Listening to the Heart]: Eat this sweet candy, and you'll randomly hear the private thoughts of people around you for the next three hours.]
On the system's backpack interface—which only Chen Che could access—ten colorful candies appeared.
So this is Profound Cuisine...
Without batting an eye, Chen Che summoned a candy into his palm and popped it into his mouth.
Grape flavor—sucked on it, tasted like fresh grape juice exploding across his tongue.
Absolutely delicious.
Bobby, still looking jumpy, sat right next to Chen Che—it was obvious he meant to personally guard the guy.
Chen Che suddenly heard Bobby's inner voice.
[Boss, I'm sorry, man. Really. But there's no choice—I can't kill this pretty boy next to me, 'cause if he dies, I'm toast too.
If I die, then won't sis-in-law be left all alone for good?
If you won't think of your daughter, I gotta think of my son... Boss, if you really don't make it through this, both those kids are mine anyway!]
"Ahem..."
Chen Che stared wide-eyed at Bobby.
Nothing better than dumplings, nothing more fun than—what, exactly?
Jesus.
He always thought Bobby was Moore's die-hard loyal dog.
But that random snippet of mental chatter made it clear: Bobby's loyalty was all about his own interests tied up with Moore.
He wanted Chen Che dead—not to avenge his boss, but just because Chen Che had screwed up Bobby's thing.
Bobby had been banging the boss's wife for ages; Moore only promoted Bobby because she'd been whispering sweet nothings in bed.
Hell, even Moore's son was actually Bobby's kid.
As long as Moore was alive, Bobby's son got taken care of, Bobby could keep sneaking over to "take care" of sis-in-law—no money, no hassle, just some cardio and he's earning his keep.
If Moore went down...
Bobby wouldn't just lose his backup—
He'd have to feed both the kids and take care of them himself.
That's why Bobby was pissed at him.
What a loyal underling, huh!
Screwing your own boss's wife, this Bobby...
Suddenly he caught another snatch of Bobby's thoughts.
[Shit, why's this guy looking at me? Man, I'm such an idiot.
I should've found a new boss, not gotten mixed up avenging this black man.
I just climbed into sis-in-law's bed, but this guy climbed right into the boss-woman's.
Fuck.
Judging by the situation, that black man's probably done for.
Heard the boss-lady's nuts about this pretty boy—he just has to whisper in her bed and I'll be totally screwed.
Come on, I still gotta look after sis-in-law...
Is it too late to suck up to him? At least get him to not badmouth me to the boss-lady.]
"Ahem..." Bobby gave a couple awkward coughs and suddenly broke into a fawning grin, all that earlier anger gone, and said to Chen Che, "Uh, bro Chen, we had a bit of a misunderstanding at the start. Nothing serious happened, right? Let's let bygones be bygones, all right? Don't hold it against me..."
Chen Che's lips curled into a mock smile. "That's not the attitude you had before, Bobby."
"I was being stupid! In our Special Ops team, the Queen's the real boss—Moore used to be my boss 'til he betrayed her.
Now that she's turned on him, how could I still call Moore boss?"
'The Queen' was the code name Special Ops used in private for An Nishang.
At least, that's what they called her to her face.
Behind her back, who knows how many times they called her a hormonal psycho witch.
Chen Che raised an eyebrow, catching the key phrase. "What do you mean, the Queen turned on that black man? What happened?"
Bobby sighed. "Who knows? The Queen suddenly just took down my…Moore. Supposedly he did something he shouldn't and ended up in the pen, with the Queen personally grilling him. Brutal.
Then rumors started that it was your bedroom pillow talk that set him up, you brought the heat down…
So now they're dragging you in to confront her."
"Moore did help me out a bit, so that's why I acted the way I did before. Don't take it personally..."