After Beating the Game, I Became the Villain BOSS-Chapter 157 - 136: Viper Ambush
Ever since Haywood took over the territory of the Red Blade Association last time, his power instantly doubled.
He was originally just a small-time gangster, making a living by arranging citizenship and smuggling contraband, avoiding any slightly larger groups.
But now, he holds several blocks, thriving, and is somewhat renowned in the Border District.
Su Mo rode out of the city to the Border District and parked his bike outside Haywood's mansion.
As he entered, he looked at the hooligan guarding outside and said with a smile, "Yo, new guy? Work hard, Haywood won't treat you badly."
The hooligan merely glanced at Su Mo and said nothing.
Su Mo walked through the courtyard and into the mansion's main hall: "Yo, Haywood, what good stuff have you prepared for me..."
Seeing the situation in the main hall, he fell silent.
There were more than a dozen men in leather jackets inside, some smoking, some holding weapons, all with cold stares at him.
Tank lay in the center of the hall, his entire body of cybernetic parts damaged, covered in bruises, unconscious.
Haywood was being stepped on the ground, with a sobbing tone, he said to Su Mo, "Brother, I'm really sorry... my family was kidnapped by them, I had no choice..."
Su Mo did not feel angry.
If he were betrayed by a companion, he would definitely be furious.
But he and Haywood were in a cooperative relationship, not really companions, and calling each other "friends" was just a polite term.
Their relationship was always based on mutual benefit, so he could understand Haywood's choice.
Su Mo looked at the bald man stepping on Haywood's head: "What's the meaning of this?"
The bald man, with a swollen face and a bloody nose stuffed with cotton, also had injuries on his body, surely from a fierce battle with Tank earlier.
To beat Tank this badly proved he was a tough character.
The bald man removed the cotton, sniffed, spat out a mix of blood and saliva, and looked at Su Mo indifferently: "Su Mo, mercenary from New Moon City, you took down the Red Blade Association, didn't you?"
Su Mo retorted: "So, did that bother you?"
The bald man sneered coldly: "The Viper Gang had no ties with the Red Blade Association, but you stirred up the Border District's balance without a word. Are you mercenaries overreaching yourselves?"
Su Mo remained expressionless: "Viper Gang? Oh, I remember, you're the minions of Raven Nest. Did they send you?"
The bald man signaled his restless comrades to hold still with his eyes.
He kicked Haywood aside and approached Su Mo, wiping his nosebleed-stained hand on Su Mo's coat, treating it like a rag.
Soon after, he took an invitation out of his jacket, waved it in front of Su Mo, and said menacingly, "Kid, I have a good temper; I won't fuss with you. But if you act this cocky in front of Brother Simon, you'll be dead."
He then tossed the invitation at Su Mo's feet and waved his comrades to leave.
"Stop." Suddenly, Su Mo's voice came.
The bald man turned his head, and his vision suddenly blacked out as a piece of clothing slapped onto his face.
Fumbling to get it off, he realized it was the very coat he had just used to wipe his nosebleed.
Su Mo's gaze and voice were calm: "Wash it clean, now."
The bald man bit the dead skin on his lips, his eyes wide like saucers.
Initially, he endured, but eventually, he couldn't hold it any longer, shouting, "Cao Nima," and called for his mates to take down Su Mo.
Members of the Viper Gang started drawing their machetes.
The bald man was about to rush at Su Mo when again his vision blacked out. A bizarre weightlessness spread through his body, making him feel like a kite with its string cut, soaring off the ground.
"Bang!" A fierce impact hit from behind the next moment, nearly making him spit blood.
The bald man struggled to open his eyes, finding Su Mo gripping his face with one hand, pinning him to the wall, almost embedding him in it.
Seeing their leader subdued in an instant, coupled with the web-like cracks on the wall from the massive impact, the Viper Gang's members looked horrified, none daring to come closer.
The bald man looked into Su Mo's cold eyes, feeling an overwhelming chill.
He wasn't careless; he truly was ready for a fight, not underestimating his opponent.
Even so, his eyes couldn't keep up with Su Mo's speed!
From Su Mo's rapid acceleration, to grabbing his face, to pinning him against the wall, the entire sequence happened in an instant, his cybernetically enhanced nervous system unable to react.
The intense pain throughout his body was suffocating; the bald man realized he had kicked a steel wall.
Gasping, he signaled his comrades against a backstabbing attempt, his voice softened: "Brother Su Mo, calm down, let's talk this out, why use fists?"
Su Mo sneered: "Sometimes, I really despise cowards like you, acting tough before a fight, then immediately cowering when it starts; even stray dogs have more spine."
The Border District is a world where the strong devour the weak.
When you can't beat the other, can't run, and don't want to die, you can only play dead.
The bald man had long mastered this, thriving to this day.
He clasped his hands together, smiling fawningly at Su Mo: "Brother Su, you're right, stray dogs have more spine. You're generous; please don't fuss with trash like me."
"Oh right, I dirtied your coat, I'll wash it for you right away! I'll wash it spotless! May I... lift your hand?"
Su Mo let him go.
Quickly, he picked up the jacket from the ground, scrubbed the blood-stained spot repeatedly with soap at the sink, washing it to spotless condition, then dried it with a hairdryer and draped it over Su Mo's shoulder.
Bending down, he picked up the invitation, dusted it off with his own clothing, and reverently handed it to Su Mo with both hands: "Brother Su, Brother Simon would like to invite you for a meal. The time and place are on it. What do you think?"
Previously, with a "never offend easily, but once offended, destroy utterly" mentality, Su Mo would never have let them leave alive.
In the Border District, it's not the mouthy hardheads who were scary; it's the ones who can swallow their pride.
They may humble themselves today, but when they return, you'd be the first they'd settle with.
However, Su Mo didn't touch the bald man because he had ties with Raven Nest.
Raven Nest is the largest violent group in the Border District, acknowledged as the "King of the Borderlands" for 8 consecutive years, so massive that even New Moon City's authorities had to give them some respect.
You have to watch who you hit.
Su Mo was not fully fledged now. If he fell under Raven Nest's pressure, it would be extremely dangerous.
Even if he had to offend Raven Nest, it had to be for a worthwhile reason, not for trivial matters.
So, people like the bald man just needed a lesson, no need for a death blow.
Su Mo snatched the invitation from the bald man's hand, coolly saying, "I've received the invitation, I'll attend, you can leave."
The bald man nodded and bowed to Su Mo, quickly signaled his comrades to leave.
Soon, the hall was left with only Su Mo, the unconscious Tank, and the bruised Haywood.
Su Mo first checked Tank's injuries.
Tank was littered with exposed cybernetic parts, looking like a dismantled machine.
But for a heavily implanted person like Tank, as long as the vital life signs remained, severely damaged cybernetic parts weren't a big problem, all could be replaced.
After checking, Su Mo found that Tank's injuries looked frightening but weren't life-threatening, and all vital signs were stable; he just needed an experienced cybernetic doctor to repair him.
Haywood, wiping blood off his face, shakily apologized to Su Mo: "Brother, I'm truly sorry... I had no choice..."
Su Mo shook his head: "Enough, before I got on my feet, you looked after me so many times; I owe you one, even if you've wronged me once."
"Take Tank into the Inner City immediately for refuge, and take those brothers of yours who still want to follow you, stay in the city from now on, don't come back."
