In a damp Kowloon alley, Chan Ho Nam ground a cigarette out on the pavement, his expression a cold mask. Beside him, Sa Bi panted, his face pale.
"Boss," Sa Bi stammered. "Your car… it's…"
"Spit it out," Chan Ho Nam growled without looking up.
"It's gone. I just turned my back for a moment, and it vanished."
Chan Ho Nam finally looked up, his eyes holding not surprise, but a dangerous spark. To be robbed on his own turf, under the watch of his own men—this wasn't just theft. It was a provocation. "Find it," he ordered, his voice clipped. "Tear this whole damn district apart if you have to."
The search didn't last long before Chan Ho Nam's phone buzzed with a sharp, unfamiliar ring. He answered.
"Hello?"
A young woman's voice, brimming with unearned confidence, came from the other end. "Is this Chan Ho Nam of the Hung Hing?"
"Speaking. Who is this?"
"The person currently holding your favorite toy," the girl giggled. "It's a beautiful car. Want it back?"
Chan Ho Nam's eyes narrowed. "What do you want?"
"Five hundred and fifty thousand," she said without hesitation. "Wire the money, and I'll give you the address. Don't call the cops, and don't try anything funny, or your little toy becomes a pile of scrap metal."
She hung up. Chan Ho Nam stared at his phone, then let out a cold, humorless laugh. A little brat had just tried to blackmail a Red Pole of the Hung Hing. Interesting.
Through his network, he quickly identified her: Little Bee, also known as Pepper, a member of the rival Fuk Hing triad. This was more complicated than he thought.
The meeting was arranged in a worn-down tea house. Chan Ho Nam arrived with Sa Bi and Bao Bi. Across the table, Little Bee sat beside an imposing man with a square jaw and sharp eyes. This was Brother Ox, a notorious Fuk Hing enforcer.
"Ho Nam," Brother Ox began, his voice a low rumble. "I hear my little sister, Little Bee, caused a small misunderstanding with you."
Chan Ho Nam took a sip of tea, setting the cup down gently. "Brother Ox, I don't think this is a misunderstanding. My car is somewhere it shouldn't be, and your little sister is demanding half a million for it. You call that a misunderstanding?"
"You were careless with your things," Little Bee interjected, fearless. "I just found it."
Chan Ho Nam smirked. "Then consider me here to retrieve my lost property. And no, I won't be paying for it."
The tension thickened. To keep the peace, Brother Ox finally agreed to return the car. But as they arrived at the parking garage, a well-rehearsed play unfolded. While Brother Ox and Little Bee were inspecting the car, Sa Bi and Bao Bi started a loud argument with the Fuk Hing thugs nearby. In the ensuing chaos, Chan Ho Nam slipped into the driver's seat, turned the key, and floored it. He sped out of the garage, leaving behind a roaring Brother Ox and a stunned, hate-filled Little Bee.
Brother Ox could not let the humiliation stand. He went to his own boss, the formidable Fei Hung. Immediately, a summons was sent to Chan Ho Nam's own leader, the legendary Big Brother B.
In a private room at Hong Kong's finest restaurant, the air was heavy. Fei Hung sat across from Big Brother B, his face a thundercloud.
"Brother B," Fei Hung said, his voice a low threat. "I'm not here for tea. Your boy played my people for fools."
Big Brother B, a middle-aged man with a kindly face that belied his razor-sharp eyes, calmly picked up a dumpling. "Fei Hung, you speak in riddles. I heard your girl 'borrowed' my Ho Nam's car first, no?"
Brother Ox started to speak but was silenced by a look from Fei Hung. "It's just a car," Fei Hung growled. "But the way Ho Nam handled it was a sign of disrespect to me and all of the Fuk Hing."
"Is that so?" Big Brother B took a sip of tea. "Then tell me, if someone stole from you and demanded a ransom, would you happily pay, or would you take back what's yours by any means necessary? In our world, the first move defines the conflict. Your girl made the wrong move first. My Ho Nam simply outsmarted her. What do you want me to do? Punish him for being clever?"
Every word from Big Brother B was reasonable, yet carried immense pressure. Fei Hung was speechless. He knew he had lost this round. He stood abruptly, pulling Brother Ox with him. "This isn't over, B!"
Big Brother B just smiled, watching them go.
While the local gangs bickered over face, a new power from Japan had slipped into the city. The Sankō-gumi, led by Aoyama Minami, had no interest in petty squabbles. Their goal was far grander: the complete subjugation of Hong Kong's underworld.
Aoyama, intelligent and ruthless, knew the quickest way to infiltrate was to exploit existing rivalries. In Brother Ox, still smarting from his defeat, he saw the perfect pawn.
One evening, a Sankō-gumi operative approached him. "Brother Ox," the Japanese man said in halting Cantonese. "We heard you had a… disagreement with the Hung Hing. A shame, for a man of your talent."
"Who are you?" Brother Ox asked, wary.
"A friend," the man smiled. "A friend who can help you reclaim your honor, and then some. We are looking for partners in Hong Kong. Our first target is Fat Ba of the Wo Kee triad. If you can persuade him to join us, the rewards will be… substantial."
Brother Ox knew Fat Ba was a tough nut to crack, but the offer was too tempting. He devised a plan. He went to Eva, Chan Ho Nam's beautiful ex-girlfriend.
They met at a quiet café. "Eva, don't do this," Chan Ho Nam pleaded, his voice earnest. "They aren't good people. The money isn't worth it."
Eva shook her head, her eyes red-rimmed. "Ho Nam, you don't understand. I can't rely on you forever. I need to make my own way. Just this once. I'll seduce this Fat Ba, get the information for Brother Ox, take the money, and get out."
Her words were a knife in his heart. He knew he couldn't stop her. He could only watch helplessly as the woman he once loved walked down a path with no exit.
The Sankō-gumi's plan hit a snag. Fat Ba, though lecherous, was cautious in business and flatly refused their offer. Aoyama's patience ran out. He dispatched his Four Heavenly Kings, his top assassins, to act.
In the midst of this, fate intervened. Aoyama's car broke down, and Chan Ho Nam, patrolling his territory, stopped to help.
"Car trouble?" Ho Nam asked. "Let me take a look."
"Thank you," Aoyama replied in English, impeccably polite. "I am Minami."
"Ho Nam."
They shook hands. A brief, friendly moment between two men who had no idea they were mortal enemies.
Days later, tragedy struck. The news of Fat Ba and Eva's deaths spread like wildfire. They had been brutally murdered in a hotel room. Chan Ho Nam raced to the scene, his heart shattering at the sight of Eva's body. The killers were professional, but they'd left traces of a weapon distinct to the Japanese yakuza.
He launched a frantic search, mobilizing the Hung Hing to scour the city for the Japanese assassins. And then, in a dark alley, he found them. He saw two of the killers, bowing to a third man.
The man turned. In the dim streetlight, the familiar face was revealed. Minami.
Aoyama Minami.
Chan Ho Nam's world collapsed. The man he had helped, the polite man he had taken a liking to, was the leader of the monsters who had murdered the woman he loved. The truth was crueler than any blade.
He shrank back into the shadows, his fists clenched so tight his knuckles turned white. Grief curdled into a cold, absolute hatred. This was no longer about gang honor. This was for Eva. He would drag every last member of the Sankō-gumi into the light and make them pay, starting with their two-faced leader, Aoyama Minami. His real war had just begun.