That was how Dian Aoki, Bronze Orchid's youngest grandmaster, was first introduced to their world.
One would think Dian was as old as the other oldies at the top of the organization, but he was only three years older than Kamman. Or would have been.
Now he should have been exactly twenty years old. The 'should' reminded Kamman that Dian was no longer there and that he was the reason why. The pain started to tug at his heart once again.
Dian had risen to glory at only fourteen. To be fair, his intelligence quotient was remarkably high; he was among the smartest people on Earth if Kamman dared to be slightly biased. It was only natural that he was exceptional at a young age.
But exceptional was an understatement.
Anyone who had him on their side was automatically declared a winner. Chen Yujing, Kamman's father, gained this privilege when he brought Dian in at the age of ten. Dian was a technological genius. He treated computer codes as humans would treat words: naturally.
Additionally, his tactics were unbeatable. He was one of the main reasons why the Chen family remained unchallenged up to the present day. Dian's photographic memory only needed to see something once to retain it. He could recall words on a page exactly as they were just by running his eye through them.
He was also known as a human calculator, accurately calculating very large numbers in his head. Human probability was something he was very good at. People even called him a prophet at some point.
He was rumored to have learnt martial arts by secretly watching a martial arts master practice for months. This master was the head of the Silent Feet, a deadly assassin organization whose name alone was enough to make one's hair stand straight. Even today, they still had that chilling effect.
Weeks later, Dian challenged the master to a bet. The bet was simple: if the master lost, he would withdraw the Silent Feet's protection from the Wang family and dedicate their entire lives to protecting the Chen.
The master of the Silent Feet was against the Chen family; their way of flaunting wealth and dominance got on his nerves. So, even if they were the last family on Earth he could serve, he would rather die.
Moreover, he would never skip an opportunity to go against anyone associated with the Chen and humiliate them. So, when a fifteen-year-old boy, who also happened to be Chen Yujing's most trusted man, appeared to challenge him, he was beyond willing to take on the challenge.
In those days, an organization had suddenly erupted and declared terror on the sixteen great families under the Bronze Orchid. They called themselves the Wangs. They forced every family under the Bronze Orchid to join their organization or face destruction. When a family declined, the Silent Feet, as silently and as deadly as they were, would invade and kill the entire family, including the lowest of servants.
In one night, generation after generation of an entire family would be erased from the face of the Earth. The crackdown had taken the organization by surprise, planting fear into everyone's soul. Even the Chens were not exempted from that order.
'The Golden Families of Asia' was the name given to the sixteen wealthiest and most influential families on the Asian continent. They all allied to protect their businesses, wealth, and prestige, and they named their alliance the Order of the Bronze Orchid.
Dominating almost all trade sectors, even internationally, they were subject to envy and jealousy, thus making them a major target for other world leaders, terrorist groups, and other alliances. They were hit at last. Men from the Golden Families lost their lives in great numbers.
When such battles started, even the authorities kept their distance. The kings of the jungle were fighting, and they had no business getting involved.
Families with lesser influence had bowed to pressure and submitted to their fear, withdrawing from the Order of the Bronze Orchid. But five families remained unshaken. They included the Xies, the Pasatits, the Armans, the Yuns, and the Chens. During that crackdown, everybody expected the Order of the Bronze Orchid to fall, until Chen Yujing sent out his hidden weapon.
Dian was underestimated by both his allies and his opponents. Old Snow, the master of the Silent Feet, had laughed when he heard that a fifteen-year-old boy was waiting outside to challenge him to a duel.
Old Snow was deadly and swift. If he declared war on a whole province, then the whole province would fall. The Silent Feet came and went like wind, leaving dead bodies and blood along their trail, but people did not hear screams or chaos, just silence, followed by death.
As he stared at the pretty boy, seemingly too weak to even throw a punch, challenging him, Old Snow thought the Bronze Orchid was playing tricks on him. He felt a bit disappointed that he would have to destroy such a face. It would be a shame, but the boy had brought it upon himself.
As he was sure he wouldn't lose, he didn't even demand a price if he won. It was an insignificant fight that would be over in seconds. Everyone knew how it was going to end, so there was no need for all that fuss. He was wrong.
He had never been more surprised than he was that day. Dian, who had been secretly watching him train, had used Old Snow's own techniques to beat him.
The fight really did end in minutes, but the winner was not the expected one. Old Snow had mastered the human body and knew where all the acupoints were, so his main technique was to attack them.
Dian mastered the technique even better. All of Old Snow's skills were useless against this boy, and all through the fight, Dian barely broke a sweat, nor did he lose that arrogant smirk on his face.
The news of the duel spread far and wide. With his head bowed, Old Snow and his Silent Feet dragged their feet over to the Chen's side, automatically pacifying the influence of the Wangs. The bet was done.
That was how Dian Aoki, the youngest Grand Master of the Bronze Orchid, was first introduced to their world.
At first, Chen Yujing had thought they would need to present themselves on the battlefield with top-notch weapons to fight against the Wangs, but Dian thought differently. Such a method would cause unnecessary bloodshed.
One needed to understand where the actual power lay. It was not with the Wangs, but with the Silent Feet. The feet had a head, and only by cutting off the head would the feet stop moving. He did exactly that.
As for the Wangs, they hurriedly retreated into their shadows after their weapon left their side, and the families that had joined them were punished according to the Rules of the Order of the Bronze Orchid: give up fifty percent of their family property or face expulsion from the Order.
Expulsion was not favorable, especially to the smaller families, since that would withdraw the Bronze Orchid's protection, making them vulnerable to the cruel mafia world.