Chapter 46: Mo Shijiu the Sharp-Tongued, Bone-Stripping Dong Goes Mad

"Ah-Yiu, the Dragon Head of the Eastern Union is praising you. Why don't you thank him?" Stirring up trouble? Bone-Stripping Tung wanted nothing more than to laugh; he was practically wishing he could hand his position over to Wang Yaotang.

"Thank you for the compliment, Dragon Head Mok," Wang Yaotang said with a smiling fist-and-palm salute. "Wo Shing Yee has Uncle Tung and all the other senior uncles to lead. As a mere foot soldier, it's enough for me to just mind my own business. As long as everyone in the syndicate focuses on their own duties and doesn't aim too high, the organization will naturally flourish."

"Heh... hehe," Mok Shiju said, nodding with a forced smile. "Good, very good."

Damn it, this kid had a foul mouth; he was taking jabs at him even now.

"No way, Bone-Stripping Tung. A promising young man like Ah-Yiu is still just a Yee-Hing?" Mok Shiju laughed with an exaggerated expression. "Are you completely blind to talent?"

"Wang Yaotang, as long as you agree to switch sides to the Eastern Union, I'll personally give you two million for the transfer fee, promote you to Red Pole on the spot, and let you call all the shots in the Tsim Sha Tsui turf!"

"Mok Shiju, I fuck your old mother, you family-destroying bastard, shut your damn mouth—" Bone-Stripping Tung finally lost his temper completely, bursting into a stream of curses.

The Red Poles and uncles of both syndicates stared blankly at their respective Dragon Head bosses, unable to figure out for a moment whether the world had gone mad or if they had lost their minds.

Was this a joke?

A performance?

Officer Sam was shaking uncontrollably, though whether from anger or terror was impossible to tell.

Mok Shiju completely ignored the outburst. "You know that Shark Kun's useless death had nothing to do with me. Who in the underworld doesn't know that I, Mok Shiju, love making friends? Rest assured, I harbor absolutely no malice toward you—only an unquenchable thirst for talent!"

"Wo Shing Yee is too small a pond; they don't have the capacity to help you climb higher."

"Mok Shiju, shut your trap, I fuck your old mother's stinking cunt!" Bone-Stripping Tung kicked viciously against the iron door, creating a loud clanging echo.

He desperately wanted to stop Wang Yaotang from listening any further, but he didn't dare.

Some things only backfired the harder you tried to block them.

He desperately hoped Wang Yaotang would refuse on his own, but putting himself in those shoes, even he would find it hard to turn down Old Man Tung's offer.

What ties did Wang Yaotang really have to Wo Shing Yee?

Was it just five years of being a low-level soldier?

"What the hell is all the racket!" A police officer pushed the door open, raised his baton, and roared, "You think this is your gang's headquarters? Keep making noise and I'll ship you all off to Lai Chi Kok!"

That single shout forced Bone-Stripping Tung to quiet down.

Lai Chi Kok Reception Centre, No. 3-5 Butterfly Valley Road, Kowloon.

Watching Bone-Stripping Tung's reaction, Mok Shiju was overjoyed from the bottom of his heart. That'll teach you lot to curse at me earlier...

Huh?

Come to think of it, you know what?

On second thought, to build such a massive enterprise without syndicate backing—the exact profits were beyond him, but to make Shark Kun throw himself into it headfirst meant the monthly profits must be at least several hundred thousand.

With that realization, what started merely as an attempt to sow discord suddenly felt remarkably viable.

Shark Kun had the backing of the Eastern Union, a dignified Red Pole, yet he was snuffed out by a mere low-ranking soldier from a small-time syndicate. The difference in capability was like heaven and earth!

Looking at Wang Yaotang again, so young yet entirely composed in front of him, and considering that he himself didn't dare to casually push him around, the boy undeniably had an immeasurable future.

"Ah-Yiu, you don't mind me calling you that, do you?" Mok Shiju's smile grew even more amiable. "You don't need to have any psychological resistance about switching sides. In the underworld, transferring between syndicates is completely normal. Luen Sing, Sun Yee On, Wo Hop To, Shui Fong—which of them doesn't have members who transferred over?"

"To put it bluntly, today's underworld is different from the past. Ever since Uncle Lui Lok fled far away to Taiwan and the ICAC was established, in just ten years, over fifty syndicates have had their names wiped out."

"Times are tough, the police force has modernized, and their power is growing rapidly, making survival harder and harder for syndicates. Take the cop who just walked in, for example. Ten years ago, would an ordinary beat cop dare talk to us like that? We would have beaten him until even his own parents wouldn't recognize him! And now? With a single word, Bone-Stripping Tung doesn't dare let out a single fart."

"Fuck your mother, you old bastard Tung, you've got such big prestige, why don't you go beat him until his parents don't recognize him!" Bone-Stripping Tung cursed with a dark face.

Ten years ago, he was a syndicate Red Pole; beat cops back then would go miles out of their way just to avoid him.

Damn it, morals were degenerating day by day!

As Mok Shiju spoke eloquently, Bone-Stripping Tung stopped making a fuss and actually listened to the lecture.

In less than ten years, this fellow had climbed from a grass-sandal foot soldier to a Dragon Head. In an era when all Hong Kong syndicates were on the decline, he had managed to revitalize the flagging Eastern Union and make it grow. He truly had grasped the pulse of the times and had his own way of doing things.

The Twelve Alliance had been pulled together purely by this man's silver tongue.

"Times are different now. Syndicate business models have to change with the times. Ten years ago, syndicates survived on vice, gambling, drugs, and protection money. Who collects protection money anymore? Vice and gambling are kept low-profile, and every syndicate is searching for new revenue streams. Those syndicates whose names were wiped out all failed because they couldn't keep up with the times."

"Go back ten years—no, five years, Ah-Yiu. No matter how business-minded you were, it would have been useless. The moment you struck a good business, Wo Shing Yee would have snatched it away immediately."

"You're talking bullshit, we at Wo Shing Yee only protect our soldiers' businesses!" Bone-Stripping Tung cursed again, utterly furious. You could make your point without constantly smearing Wo Shing Yee along the way.

"Bone-Stripping Tung, you don't call the shots. Aren't the uncles in the syndicate green-eyed with envy? Aren't the Red Poles and White Paper Fans of every turf green-eyed? Why should a tiny Yee-Hing control such a massive enterprise while the syndicate takes the loss if something goes wrong? Does a low-level soldier even have that kind of capacity?"

Mok Shiju fired right back. "Your Wo-headed faction selects Dragon Heads through elections. If you can't safeguard the interests of the syndicate uncles and turf bosses, you, the Dragon Head, will be sidelined immediately, and the next election will put someone in power who knows how to make money for everyone. By then, it will be hard for you to extricate yourself, Ah-Yiu!"

Bone-Stripping Tung turned to look at the uncles beside him. Uncle Sze, Uncle Lam, Uncle Ng, and Uncle Ting all had flickering gazes.

Previously, none of them had any idea that Wang Yaotang had built such a massive business.

Bone-Stripping Tung was fuming, but right now he had no way to placate them. He could only point at Mok Shiju's nose and curse, "Damn your ancestors, and just how much better is your Eastern Union!"

"Ah-Yiu, see that? The Wo-headed faction inherited the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom's policy of equal distribution of land." Mok Shiju burst out laughing. "Let me tell you, according to the old rules of the Wo-headed syndicates, an enterprise like yours would be confiscated by the organization because you initially borrowed the syndicate's status. The uncles would naturally be happy to split an extra tens of thousands every month. Do you think you can fight the entire syndicate? Do you take family law for a joke?"

"Of course, a small syndicate like Wo Shing Yee can't hold onto a major enterprise; larger syndicates would step in to carve it up. Wo Shing Yee might keep a portion, but it wouldn't matter if you, the creator, refused to accept it. They'd let you keep running it just to squeeze out whatever they can get."

Wang Yaotang nodded inwardly. This was pretty much identical to future startup companies: a good project catches the eye of capital—Angel round, Series A, B, C, D—until the founder is left with only a sliver of shares or gets kicked out of the company altogether.

Though, of course, they would walk away with plenty of money.

Seeing Wang Yaotang nod, Bone-Stripping Tung panicked on the spot. "Ah-Yiu, you have to use your own judgment. Don't listen to that dog's nonsense."

Mok Shiju laughed heartily, not interrupting and letting Bone-Stripping Tung have his say.

"How could there still be a possibility of confiscation by the syndicate? You registered a company; the law has completely blocked that loophole."

"Elder, I understand. I have deep feelings for the syndicate," Wang Yaotang said with a smile.

"Having feelings is good," Mok Shiju said, clapping with a smile. "Who doesn't like someone who values loyalty? Nobody likes a selfish person, right, Bone-Stripping Tung? You can't be too selfish in life, only caring about yourself and the syndicate without ever considering the development space of the people under you. You can't be the kind of person who does nothing except hold everyone back."

"I fuck your mother's stinking cunt, why don't you just drop dead!" Bone-Stripping Tung was so enraged his eyes turned red.

Wang Yaotang lowered his head to suppress a smile: Lies don't hurt; it's the truth that cuts like a double-edged sword.

"As for my invitation, you don't need to rush. In the Eastern Union, I am the supreme Dragon Head, and nobody can oppose my word. The moment you switch sides, I'll promote you on the spot and give you your own independent turf!"

Bone-Stripping Tung: Ahhhhh, I'm going to kill you, I'm going to kill you!

"In the Eastern Union, my word is law. I've always upheld a strategy of cooperative win-win and mutual development, which is why the Eastern Union has risen again and formed the Alliance of Twelve Power Heroes. Everyone in the underworld knows my reputation."

"Old Man Tung, I fuck eight generations of your ancestors!!" Bone-Stripping Tung completely lost his mind. "Promote me, promote me right now! Promote me right here! Right inside the police station."