Chapter 97: Where Duty Calls, I Claim the Lead

"What...?" Guan Tianxiong froze, momentarily at a loss for words, his face full of embarrassment.

After all, he and Lin Le were not even acquainted. To be exact, they had once been enemies. Now he truly had to ask Lin Le to stand up for them, and he could not quite bring himself to swallow that pride.

"In truth, I have come because I am utterly cornered and have no other recourse, so I am asking Mr. Lin to take action. This Crimson English Society has come in with overwhelming force this time. The damage is not limited to our Southern City; even the Northern City, and the neighboring cities of Su City and Hang City, have fallen under their influence. What they want this time is not merely Haizhou, but the entire East Sea region!"

Lin Le had no interest in taking part in gang warfare or the like. Still, he also did not wish for a ruthless, bottomless organization like the Crimson English Society to control the underworld of Haizhou, or even all of East Sea.

The former Sky Tiger Gang and Dark Flame Society, under Xue Beichuan's discipline, had at least been somewhat restrained. But if the Crimson English Society were allowed to grow unchecked, even Xue Beichuan might be unable to suppress them. Then would not all of Haizhou be thrown into chaos by them?

"Of course, this is only my hope. If Mr. Lin is unwilling to help, I will bear no resentment." Though Guan Tianxiong said as much, disappointment had already begun to show on his face.

Huo Niu and the others seemed no longer to hold much hope that Lin Le would step in.

"I can help you," Lin Le said suddenly, just as everyone was sinking into disappointment.

"Really?" Guan Tianxiong exclaimed in great delight.

"That's wonderful! Mr. Lin, rest assured, so long as you are willing to act, I am prepared to offer five million as thanks, whether this succeeds or not." Guan Tianxiong said excitedly.

"I don't need your money. I only hope that after the Crimson English Society is driven out, your Sky Tiger Gang can keep its people in line when they are out in the world." Today, watching those shopkeepers have their businesses smashed by the Crimson English Society had deeply moved Lin Le, and he did not want such things to happen again, at the very least not here in Haizhou, right under his nose.

Guan Tianxiong naturally understood what Lin Le meant, and hurriedly replied, "Rest assured, Mr. Lin. From now on, I will strictly rein in my men and never allow them to go out and stir up trouble again!"

In fact, with Xue Beichuan keeping watch these past few days, far fewer people in Haizhou had dared to cause trouble openly.

"Did you all hear what Mr. Lin said?" Guan Tianxiong turned and said in a low voice to his subordinates.

"We heard!" they answered in unison.

"Good. Where is the Crimson English Society's headquarters? Take me there now," Lin Le said lightly.

"What? Now? To the Crimson English Society's headquarters?" Guan Tianxiong could hardly believe his ears.

If anyone had said this to him before he knew Lin Le, Guan Tianxiong would surely have thought the man insane, wanting to charge straight into someone else's headquarters. Was that not a trip to die?

But now, after seeing Lin Le's true strength, Guan Tianxiong did not dare look down on his words in the slightest.

On the contrary, he felt that Lin Le truly possessed such power.

"This... this matter had better be discussed more carefully. Most importantly... sigh, I am ashamed to say that even now, we still have not figured out exactly where the Crimson English Society's true headquarters is..." Guan Tianxiong was also quite helpless.

To be fair, this could not really be blamed on Guan Tianxiong. The Crimson English Society had always been extremely cunning in its dealings. Within the organization itself, very few people truly knew the location of headquarters; likely only those at the very core of the society were aware of it.

"How about this: I have already invited the leaders of Dark Flame Society from the Northern City, as well as the underground bosses from Su City and Hang City, for tonight. We can discuss things with them shortly and then decide on the next step. I wonder what Mr. Lin thinks?" Guan Tianxiong asked cautiously.

"That will do," Lin Le said.

Although he felt that gathering those people might not be of much use, they did not even know the Crimson English Society's lair. It seemed there was no better option.

After receiving Lin Le's assent, Guan Tianxiong sent his men to hurry the East Sea bosses along.

In the East Sea region, Haizhou was the largest city and also the most economically developed. As one of Haizhou's top underworld figures, Guan Tianxiong still believed he had some standing in front of the other bosses, apart from Dark Flame Society in the Northern City, which could stand on equal footing with him.

While waiting for the East Sea bosses to arrive, Lin Le suddenly thought of something and asked, "A-Xiong, there is one thing I do not quite understand. Since the Crimson English Society has such great power, it could not have appeared out of nowhere. Where were they before? And why have they suddenly begun meddling in East Sea's affairs?"

"Mr. Lin is right. This Crimson English Society did not suddenly pop out of nowhere. As far as I know, it first appeared on the Jinling side. It is said that in Jinling, the Crimson English Society was once one of the most powerful groups there, and in those days it was a very arrogant presence, practically ruling Jinling. It was only later that the authorities struck hard again and again, suppressing its momentum. From then on, the Crimson English Society moved underground."

"As for why they suddenly swarmed into our Haizhou this time, I truly do not know. But I suspect their sudden frenzy may have something to do with the backer behind them..."

"Guan Tianxiong seemed to recall something.

"A backer? Who is the Crimson English Society's backer?" Lin Le asked with interest.

"I have heard that the former boss of the Crimson English Society, Miao Qianren, had a master from the Hongmen Overseas. When the Crimson English Society was founded, it also received considerable funding from Hongmen Overseas. The current head of the society is Miao Shouren, Miao Qianren's son. I have been wondering whether their sudden outburst this time was also incited by Hongmen Overseas..." These were only Guan Tianxiong's guesses, and even he sounded somewhat uncertain.

"Hongmen Overseas?" Lin Le could not help but startle at the name.

He had heard of it before. It was said that Hongmen Overseas was the largest brotherhood among overseas Chinese communities, and very famous abroad. Lin Le had not expected this Crimson English Society to have any ties to Hongmen Overseas.

However, although Hongmen Overseas was powerful, its influence was limited to places with poor public order. In China, Hongmen had long had no foothold. Otherwise, there would not be so few reports nowadays about Hongmen on the mainland.

What Lin Le found curious, however, was why the Crimson English Society, which had lain low for so long, would suddenly emerge, and aim its spearhead so deliberately at the areas surrounding Haizhou, as though there were something here worth seizing.

Yet even now, Guan Tianxiong, a local from Haizhou, had heard nothing of the sort. This was indeed hard to make sense of.

Soon after, one of his men came over to report to Guan Tianxiong, "Boss, the people you invited are almost all here. Only the Northern City's Dark Flame Society has not arrived. Should we wait?"

"Forget it. Do not wait. Dark Flame Society has always been at odds with us, and this time they probably still will not give me face." Guan Tianxiong swore irritably.

"Mr. Lin, let's go over," Guan Tianxiong said respectfully to Lin Le.

Then Lin Le followed Guan Tianxiong out.

At that moment, the entire corridor was already packed with dense ranks of people, all the subordinates who had accompanied those East Sea bosses to the meeting.

At a glance, there were nearly a hundred of them. The corridor, which had originally been fairly spacious, now felt much more cramped.

Seeing Guan Tianxiong come out, they all seemed to recognize him and quickly pressed themselves back against the wall.

"Mr. Lin, please go ahead," Guan Tianxiong said with great deference, inviting Lin Le to take the lead.

This was clearly a gesture of placing Lin Le above all else. It left everyone in the corridor stunned, all eyes falling on Lin Le, eager to see what kind of distinguished figure he must be to make the mighty Boss Guan of Haizhou regard him with such reverence.

Lin Le did not care about any of this. Since Guan Tianxiong had invited him, he accepted without hesitation, hands in his pockets, strolling calmly toward the meeting room at the end of the corridor.

Behind him, Guan Tianxiong and the higher-ranking men followed closely, honoring him as their superior.