Chapter 163: Chapter 162: Money that Twists Human Nature
The smile had yet to fade from Mike’s face as a look of astonishment filled his eyes.
"Ghk... Ghk..." A hoarse sound escaped his throat as he felt an icy chill on his neck.
The "corpse" that had been lying on the floor had gotten to its feet at some unknown point. Its arm had morphed into a slender metal spike that pierced through Mike’s throat and burst out the back of his neck!
The next instant, another metal spike plunged into Mike’s eye, ending his life for good.
John, standing to the side, turned deathly pale. His breathing grew ragged, but he didn’t dare utter a sound.
The fearsome Emperor of New York’s underworld, Mike, a man with hundreds of kills to his name, the man who seemed like he could never be brought down, was just killed so casually.
It was like slaughtering a chicken.
’Am I next?’
The metal spike pulled out of Mike’s eye socket. His remaining eye was still filled with confusion and incomprehension, as if he couldn’t understand why this youth would kill him so decisively, as if they shared some deep, bitter feud.
Then, the surrounding Nanomechanical Cluster began to break down, flowing like a pool of liquid mercury to envelop Mike’s corpse and begin the process of gray consumption!
"Relax, John. We’re friends now," Shen Feng said with a chuckle. "The New York Emperor Gang will continue to exist, and you will become second in command only to Boss Mike, the true power behind the throne."
John instantly understood Shen Feng’s meaning and said excitedly,
"You mean... You’re saying..."
The Gray Tide on the floor writhed and rose once more. Mike’s body had vanished completely, replaced by a Nanomechanical Robot that was his perfect replica: Mike.
Jingwei quipped in Shen Feng’s consciousness, ’You really like playing this big, bald, black dude... Is it because you’re bald now too? A sort of bald-to-bald camaraderie?’
Shen Feng ignored her and said to John,
"I want you to take control of the entire Emperor Gang for me, to be my eyes and ears. Don’t worry, I won’t treat you poorly."
As he spoke, he twitched a finger. Two drops of Nanomechanical Cluster immediately flowed from the Mike Robot’s hand and into John’s ears.
John felt a cool sensation in his ears as the two drops of Nanomechanical Cluster burrowed inside like insects, then flattened into a thin film lining his ear canals.
Having just witnessed the Nanomechanical Cluster kill a man, John knew instantly that with a single thought from Shen Feng, these two mercury-like droplets could burrow right into his brain!
John felt like crying but had no tears. ’Does he have some kind of misunderstanding of what "I won’t treat you poorly" means?’
"As long as you handle the tasks I give you, all the resources of the Emperor Gang are yours to use. Furthermore, I want you to continuously expand your influence and forge the Emperor Gang into the most powerful underground force in all of Eagle Country."
Shen Feng said slowly, "And then... infiltrate! Infiltrate the police, Congress, the Pentagon, and the White House! If you face any difficulties, you can bring them to me. The people I’m leaving behind are my avatars... Of course, to the outside world, you must maintain the appearance that nothing at all has changed within the Emperor Gang. Let Mike continue to be its public face."
After the assassination attempt by the Purification Society, Shen Feng now understood many things more clearly.
In addition to the Salvation Army, who operated among the elites of human society, he also needed forces that existed in the shadows.
They would help him do things he couldn’t conveniently handle himself.
An organization like the Emperor Gang was an excellent choice.
Having survived the ordeal, John quickly agreed.
"Please, rest assured. I’ll do my absolute best to assist you... No, to assist Boss Mike..."
At that moment, he felt as if he had just fallen into Hell only to be lifted up to Heaven.
This was an absolute windfall.
The man’s intention was clear: he, John, had become the proxy for the entire Emperor Gang. He was essentially the real boss now.
Of course, this mysterious overlord was still above him, and he could be killed at any moment.
But since he was in the business of running an illegal criminal organization, he had long come to terms with that possibility.
’What’s the difference between getting killed by a rival gang or the cops, and getting killed by this mysterious new boss?’
Shen Feng nodded. "Very good. Now, I need a change of clothes."
As he spoke, another mass of Nanomechanical Cluster surged up from the ground and onto his face, quickly reshaping it. The appearance of the boy from before vanished completely, replaced by the face of a slender, rather handsome young Western man.
Another Nanomechanical Cluster settled on his head, simulating a full head of blond hair.
John was even more stunned by this sight. He suddenly began to suspect that the Asian youth he’d been seeing all this time was just another simulated appearance, not the man’s true face at all.
But this wasn’t the time to be thinking about that.
He immediately led Shen Feng to Mike’s private lounge, first taking Shen Feng’s measurements, then ordering one of his men to go buy a new set of clothes at once.
After his man left, John thought for a moment, then made another call to have a new bathtub purchased, along with various toiletries. At the same time, he ordered the kitchen to prepare a feast.
A little over half an hour later, Shen Feng was soaking in the newly installed luxury bathtub, sipping wine. Beside him was a small serving table laden with food: steak, lobster, and even dumplings from a Chinese restaurant.
Shen Feng took a sip of wine, ate a dumpling, and let out a contented sigh as he soaked in the water.
’Dumplings and wine... the more you have, the better it gets. The ancients certainly didn’t lie to me.’
’The dumplings tasted average, but they were passable.’
’This John guy is actually quite capable.’
Ever since returning to this world, Shen Feng had been caught up in the Emperor Gang’s assassination plot. Only now had things finally calmed down, giving him a chance to organize his thoughts.
The first priority was to prevent the Gray Tide apocalypse from breaking out in this world.
Although surviving the Gray Tide apocalypse had been incredibly arduous, preventing this world’s collapse now should be much simpler.
After all, Arthur Seldon should still be just tinkering away in his company on the brink of bankruptcy.
He was just an ordinary man.
Next, he had to continue searching for clues about the Purification Society and the Whisperers to find Cthulhu.
He now had a lead on the Rattlesnake Company and had also tasked Jingwei with constantly monitoring its CEO, Brendan, via the internet. It shouldn’t be long before he had a breakthrough.
There was also Faulkner’s pair of eyeballs, still sitting in the vault, which required careful study.
And finally, he needed to return to Hua Country as soon as possible.
Eagle Country was, after all, the birthplace of the Purification Society. And even though the Purification Society was likely just a small branch of the Whisperers—a group of mere underlings—they still posed a significant threat to Shen Feng.
Even though he now controlled his own Gray Tide, his physical body was still too fragile. A single sniper bullet or an RPG could easily finish him off.
It wasn’t wise to stay here for long.
Comparatively, the stable and prosperous society of his home country, Hua Country, was a much more suitable place to live.
Besides, he was getting a little homesick.
But before he could leave, there was still a lot to be done...
After spending the night in the Emperor Gang’s den under the guise of being a friend of the boss, Mike, Shen Feng left early the next morning wearing the face of a random gang member.
His Quantum Backpack was also camouflaged on the surface, making it look like an ordinary black backpack.
John escorted him the whole way, assuming this harbinger of doom was headed for the airport. To his surprise, the man went on a shopping spree, buying dozens of houses.
The properties were scattered all across Eagle Country and were all registered under the names of various Emperor Gang members. Every transaction was paid in cash.
Using the Emperor Gang’s money, of course.
Although he had no idea what Shen Feng wanted with so many houses, John didn’t dare show the slightest hesitation as he made the payments.
After all that, John established several shell companies at the man’s request. Everything was above board and legal, all using the Emperor Gang as a cover, leaving no loopholes.
Only then did the man finally depart, saying only that he would contact John when he was needed.
John touched his ear and returned to the Emperor Gang’s lair. He entered the basement behind the bar, pushed open the door to Mike’s office, and went inside.
The Mike Robot was standing motionless beside the desk, like a sculpture.
John didn’t stand on ceremony. He plopped down into the chair that had belonged to Mike and let out a long sigh.
Everything that had happened over the past two days was simply unbelievable. He could only finally relax now, his taut nerves instantly going slack.
He muttered to himself, "He’s finally gone... What the hell is he? An alien? A robot? Or Satan himself?"
Just then, the motionless Mike Robot suddenly smiled and spoke in Shen Feng’s voice.
"None of the above. I’m just an ordinary human."
A jolt went through John’s entire body. He shot to his feet, trembling as he spoke.
"B-Boss?"
’These damn robots can be controlled remotely!’
’This is the work of Satan himself!’
Shen Feng, controlling the Mike Robot, said, "Relax. You just need to know that I’m always by your side, silently supporting you."
John’s face was ashen. "Thank you, Boss," he said in a low voice. "Please forgive my audacity."
"It’s fine. Sit wherever you want. As long as you get the job done, this seat will be yours eventually."
After the Mike Robot finished speaking, its expression went blank again. Shen Feng had clearly gone offline.
John let out a long breath and wiped the sweat from his forehead. Not daring to act so presumptuously again, he hurried out of the office to handle the gang’s affairs.
...
In a dilapidated garage in the suburbs of San Francisco, a gaunt, red-eyed white man stared at a machine before him and let out a hysterical roar.
"How could this happen! Why... Why did it fail again? Why can the Nanomechanical Insects only maintain stability for thirteen seconds!?"
On the floor in front of him lay several scattered documents and printed letters, all from investors.
Some were withdrawing their funding, others were refusing to invest, and a few were filled with nothing but ridicule and mockery, calling him a madman.
On a nearby table lay a long bill—a medical bill for a little girl named Lisa.
The listed medications and treatments were all related to leukemia.
A shattered picture frame lay on the floor. Inside was a photo of a family of three, but it seemed those days were gone forever.
The immense pressure made the man tear at his hair, his eyes fixed on the experimental data on the computer screen, nearly driving him insane.
He was running out of time.
Just then, a phone rang. The man assumed it was another call from a debt collector and reflexively moved to silence it, but then he noticed it was an unknown number.
On some strange impulse, he answered the call.
A low voice came through the line.
"Is this Mr. Arthur Seldon?"
Arthur Seldon paused, then said in a hoarse voice, "This is he."
The person on the other end said slowly,
"Good. I want to give you money. A lot of money."
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