Sphinx Street is a notorious chaotic street in Newdale City.
It's filled with all sorts of low-end pubs, casinos, dance halls, and billiard halls.
Naturally, many street thugs and gangs have sprung up along with these establishments, resulting in violent incidents almost every night.
For example, at this moment, a billiard hall's floor-to-ceiling window was smashed from the inside, and a bloodied and disheveled figure tumbled out.
Immediately afterward, a muscular figure stepped out from the broken window.
This figure was almost two meters tall, and with a single step, he snapped a piece of rough wooden windowpane on the ground, indicating his considerable weight. However, judging from his physique, he wasn't bulky, but rather a robust and imposing type; his mere physique exuded an overwhelming sense of power.
He stepped on the tumbling, disheveled figure, the streetlights illuminating his face. His features were rugged, angular, with large eyes and thick eyebrows; at first glance, he seemed fierce, yet upon closer inspection, he possessed a heroic air.
Ignoring the ongoing street turmoil in the pool hall behind him, he stopped the rolling figure and immediately plopped down on the unfortunate fellow.
He nearly made the poor guy cough up blood again.
Seeing the unfortunate man beneath him faint, the man didn't care. He casually picked up a discarded newspaper from the ground, ignoring the stains, and opened it to read.
"Sodis Resistance Army Defeated, Empire's Westward Expansion Successful Again!"
"The Capital Opens Unknown Transcendent Gate Again, Vanguard Team Annihilated, Gate Expected to Close in Three Days."
"A series of horrific cannibalism cases have erupted in Vandir City, suspected to be related to a malfunctioning interdimensional portal that suddenly opened here six months ago."
"This world is getting more and more chaotic," Bane sighed, shaking his head.
Bane, this fierce general, wasn't a local; he had inexplicably transmigrated to this world two weeks ago.
Whenever he recalled the situation, he felt extremely frustrated.
Originally, he had been thriving in his own world thanks to his handsome face, humorous personality, and some special talents.
And not long ago, he had even won over his young, wealthy, beautiful, and well-built landlady.
Having finally secured a free stay in his landlady's mansion, Bane had already envisioned his future. But the moment he opened his eyes in her approachable embrace, he found himself transformed into a street urchin, a burly man struggling on the streets.
While his physical attributes were undeniably impressive, the sudden fall from grace was a shock.
He felt his transmigration was far from ideal.
Fortunately, Bane's mental fortitude was relatively strong, and he had largely accepted this reality.
The original owner of this muscular body seemed to have died in a chaotic street fight; a scar behind his ear remained, not yet fully healed.
The original owner wasn't an ordinary person, but a special individual with superpowers, registered and labeled as an 'E-level' ability user by the Imperial Special Abilities Administration! This ability was physical strength.
Simply put, his physical attributes far surpassed those of ordinary people; his strength, muscle density, bone strength, and so on all exceeded normal levels.
Yes, this burly man was a genuine prodigy!
Even so, he could only be considered E-rank. The empire had existed for millennia, and countless E-rank ability users had appeared during that time. While not ubiquitous, you could find a few every few blocks; they weren't exactly rare. Especially in recent years, the unexplained appearances of interdimensional portals across the world had brought unimaginable changes to the empire. Various strange and unusual powers from other worlds were beginning to impact and alter the old order! Therefore, even though Brother Meng was an ability user, he wasn't considered a particularly powerful figure. His ordinary ability only allowed him to become a leader in a street gang.
"As expected, my transmigration wasn't ideal," Bane thought to himself with a self-deprecating laugh.
In the short ten minutes or so that followed, the chaos in the pool hall behind him gradually subsided.
Soon, a slender but ruthless henchman emerged from the house with a group of thugs, dragging a man who had been beaten beyond recognition and was covered in blood.
"Boss, the debt's collected."
Along with this report, a sensible henchman handed over a bag of cash.
Bane casually took it without counting it, glancing back at the wrecked pool hall, where people lay scattered about.
Ignoring the scene, Bane patted the man's head and sneered, "On Sphinx Street, no one can owe me money. You think you can just pick a bunch of scum from somewhere and tell me you won't pay?"
A moment later, receiving no response, Bane felt a little embarrassed.
Just as he was about to teach this guy another lesson, he seemed to remember something. He reached out and touched the man's nose, waited a moment, and then cursed angrily, "I told you to go easy on him, didn't you hear me? You just killed him! People will think I'm some kind of ruthless killer!"
The henchmen seemed a little surprised, but after a moment, one of them said nonchalantly, "Boss, this is New Dar. A man or two dying is nothing, nobody will care."
"That was before. The newspapers said the Empire has defeated the Sodis resistance, and the westward expansion has achieved new success. Next, the Empire will definitely continue to establish itself on the front lines. New Dar will no longer be the front line; it will become a supply depot. Therefore, order will inevitably be rebuilt. There won't be such a lenient environment for us gang members anymore," Bane shook his head.
But after saying that, he felt it was pointless; explaining it to these people wouldn't necessarily make them understand.
He decided not to explain further, casually pulled out two bundles of cash from the paper bag, and picked out a henchman he didn't like, saying, "This life is on your head. Here's 20,000 yuan. Take it and run away. If you need more money, go ask for more on the street. Come back when things calm down."
Running away to avoid trouble was commonplace for the street thugs of Xindaer. After all, the local investigation bureau wasn't much of a deal. If a case dragged on for ten days or half a month without progress, no one would care anymore. They could just come back then.
Even with street brawls like this, it was questionable whether anyone would report it. They might just get 20,000 yuan for nothing.
So the henchman happily took the money and said, "No problem, boss."
But soon, he realized something and asked in confusion, "But boss, what do you mean by asking for more on the street if you need more?"
"Figure it out yourself," Bane put away the paper bag, stood up, and casually replied.
He had decided to quit street life. Being a gangster was a dead-end business. He'd only been going along with the crowd for the past two weeks to familiarize himself with the world and make some money on the side. Now, it was time to find a more promising path. After letting his underlings go off to have some fun, Bane left the street and headed towards his home.
Yes, as one of the gang leaders, he did have a house in Newdale City.
However, he planned to sell it and leave this godforsaken place to start over. After all, too many people here knew he was involved in the underworld. Wherever he went, someone might call him "boss," or two enemies might suddenly appear ready to fight him. How could he start a new life under such circumstances?
As Bane pondered these things, he entered the building. Just as he turned the corner to go upstairs, a strange energy fluctuation suddenly emanated from his chest, making him feel a chill and his strength rapidly draining away.
Before Bane could even figure out what was going on, a void gate, shimmering with multicolored light, suddenly appeared before him.
Instinctively, Bane exclaimed, "A portal to another dimension!?"
(End of Chapter)