The music suddenly stopped.

In the dim light, countless fearful and terrified eyes were focused on one person.

The man who took off his cap looked back calmly and met those gazes head-on. Just as the crow had said, he was a rough man who solved problems in a rough way.

His method was to throw a punch first.

The man who had been knocked unconscious was half-buried in the wall. After taking off his cap, everyone recognized the crow's identity, and the boiling crowd fell silent in an instant.

Several men with the same watch tattoo on their arms jogged to the collapsed wall. Someone checked the unconscious man's breathing and breathed a sigh of relief.

He was still alive.

Then, a voice of anger arose from the man's companions.

"Crow, you've gone too far..."

A two-meter-tall, bearded man slowly pushed through the crowd. He was only wearing a black short-sleeved shirt, and his muscular arms revealed a broken stopwatch. The man's expression was dark, and he said angrily, "You dare to act so recklessly in broad daylight... Do you think we, the Southern Hall, have no temper?"

Not long ago, the crow had beaten Chen Jingtang. Chen San had announced that he was going to hunt down the crow in the underground, and even threatened to skin him. Of course, when Mrs. Chen intervened to reconcile, Chen San generously expressed forgiveness and explained that it was just an angry outburst.

But everyone knew that forgiveness on the surface did not mean a real reconciliation.

Chen San was sincerely looking for the unreasonable man everywhere.

But instead of hiding, he became even more arrogant!

"Is that so?"

An unexpected response.

The crow, with his hands in his pockets, slowly raised his head and looked up at the man who was a head taller than him, asking calmly, "This question... I'm only asking you, do you have a temper?"

The bearded man was stunned.

The reason he dared to step forward was that he was convinced the crow was in the wrong, especially in the current situation. If the Southern Hall was so angry, he should have avoided a fight no matter how tough he was.

At the first moment the crow made a move, a message had already been sent to Chen San's men, and someone would arrive soon. If he didn't want to cause trouble, he should leave the scene quickly.

He looked fearfully at the crow's hands in his pockets, sweat beads forming on his forehead, but ultimately chose to remain silent.

Of course, he had a temper.

But he didn't want to take a punch. Although he had a large build, it was predictable that if he spoke, the crow would punch him even farther than the previous guy.

"..."

Song Ci was somewhat disappointed.

He turned to the Transcendents on the third level of the underground and asked, "What about you?"

No one answered.

"I'm really disappointed... Where's your backbone? Those who live in the underground, don't you have any anger in your hearts? It's really a waste of life." The crow slowly approached the unconscious man, and his companions who were checking on him retreated under the domination of anger and fear. They just wanted to keep their distance from this dangerous man.

The crow squatted down and turned the man over, pulling out a small medicine jar from his pocket.

"I noticed something was off about him earlier, and it turns out I was right..."

Song Ci chuckled softly, stood up, and held up the white medicine jar, saying, "This is contraband... You should know that, right? The third level of the underground of the Huazhi Building is a place for Transcendents to practice. It's fine for you to gather and have fun here, but you can't cross the line."

In this world, there were two sets of rules.

One was superficial... such as the third level of the Huazhi Building being a place for Transcendents to practice.

The other set was the unspoken rules.

Transcendents living in the city all knew that the three members of the Sincerity Hall never went to the negative third level of the Huazhi Building to practice. This was where the Sincerity Hall gathered, and the underground Transcendents would gather here to revel and occasionally engage in some unauthorized transactions, deals, and find some unauthorized fun.

The Sincerity Hall was a black knife.

Sharp, but also stained with dirt.

The big shots who held this knife had to ensure that their clothes were clean and that the blade was kept clean. Matters that couldn't be brought to light needed to be taken care of by the people in the underground. Of course, if there were problems, the solution was simple.

Get rid of the problem.

You see, the rules of the city were actually that simple, and it was precisely because of this law of the survival of the fittest that characters like Song Ci were created.

Might makes right.

The members of the Sincerity Hall with the watch tattoos quickly gathered together. They had already realized how foolish their actions were...

Trying to reason with Song Ci...

This guy was ready to throw reason out the window the moment he threw a punch.

"Make way."

"I've got this guy. Let someone else come to pick him up." The crow grabbed the man's collar and said indifferently, "It doesn't matter who comes... Just tell them I'm waiting for them at the riverbank. Once you're all here, I'll release him."

The crowd fell silent, as if under a spell.

The Transcendents of the Sincerity Hall had already prepared for a big battle here, and a few of them even covered their watch tattoos to avoid becoming the next unlucky person.

But now, it seemed that this fierce man didn't want to cause more trouble...

Was he just trying to provoke them?

What did this mean?

...

..."Seeking them out is too much trouble. Better to have them come to me."

Dragging the man by his collar, away from the Huazhi Building, the crow turned its head to look at Gu Shen and grinned, "Your gaze is quite interesting right now, like you're looking at... an idiot."

Gu Shen's expression was complex.

"Is this what you call the brute's way? Drawing the entire Chengxin Society's southern hall to the riverbank and sparking a firestorm?" He sighed softly, "What does this have to do with Shi Li's case..."

"Although the Chengxin Society is an underground organization, often referred to by me as a trash can... the so-called trash can naturally means it's filled with garbage," Song Ci said, lowering his gaze. "But getting into the Chengxin Society isn't that simple. Every Transcendent who enters needs a nominally 'introducer'."

"...Introducer?"

"Most of the information in this world can't escape Deep Sea's legal eyes. I believe every member of the Chengxin Society is on record. But something like an 'introducer', hidden in the deepest unwritten rules, is beyond Deep Sea's comprehension and record-keeping," Song Ci said indifferently. "It exists only in our minds. The introducer pushes the Transcendent into the Chengxin Society, the usher is responsible for a simple assessment... Unlike the assessments for the three institutions' members, we only need to ensure that those joining the Chengxin Society are alive, controllable, and that's it."

The Tribunal, the Prison, and the Command, they all recruit elites and talents.

The Chengxin Society... obviously has no choice, those who join the underground organization are often those eliminated in competition or "inferior products" abandoned upon awakening.

Although people shouldn't be classified into ranks.

The fact is... these people are "defective goods."

Why need so many assessments for selecting defective goods? Alive and usable, that's enough.

"I understand what you mean..."

Gu Shen's eyes brightened. Shi Li was a pawn of the Longevity Foundation, a fact that had been decided before he joined the Chengxin Society.

And the person who introduced Shi Li into the Chengxin Society... was the target.

He re-evaluated Song Ci.

This guy, indeed, was rough yet refined.

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"The south is Chen San's territory. Before the trouble, maybe I could have thickened my skin and asked, but now..." Song Ci chuckled, "You know, those guys are madly looking for me. If I go to their turf, it's like a meat bun hitting a dog."

"Those people are already rushing to the riverbank." Gu Shen rubbed his temples, "You're not really planning to fight, are you?"

"I was... thinking of taking action before."

Song Ci cursed with a smile, "But I'm not an idiot. If a hundred guys really swarm over, do you think I can beat them? Most importantly, even if I win, what's the use if the introducer's matter isn't settled..."

"As far as I know, the Chengxin Society's important data is stored offline to prevent theft and for safety insurance," Song Ci said, lowering his gaze. "Because those two council members are very aware of Deep Sea's power, the underground organization they personally created... uses the oldest method. The data is engraved and shrunk, usually read only when disconnected, written into."

"If one day, the Chengxin Society needs to disappear... then these data will also disappear forever."

He looked up at Gu Shen and said softly, "Huazhi Building, Nanwan Building. The Chengxin Society's north and south actually know each other's lairs inside out. This is also where the important data offline mainframe of the Chengxin Society is stored, with strict guards and patrols. Scattered data is kept by different individuals, but the most important core is definitely within the building."

"You're telling me this because..." Gu Shen's scalp tingled.

"Relax, this has nothing to do with you. It's just..."

Song Ci raised an eyebrow, speaking in a very relaxed tone, "The guys from the Chengxin Society's south side should all be busy trying to kill me now. The guards at Nanwan Building will be much more relaxed... perhaps the most relaxed in years. It's a rare opportunity, and the introducer's information might be in the mainframe of Nanwan Building. Don't you want to know?"

"These are just your speculations..."

"And!"

Gu Shen said angrily, "Even if the guards are relaxed, is Nanwan Building a place you can just waltz into? What if you sneak in and don't get the introducer's information?"

"It doesn't matter."

"What you heard about the north and south joining forces is pure nonsense. A war between the two sides... is inevitable."

The crow patted Gu Shen's shoulder, coaxing with force, "If you get the data from that mainframe, even without the introducer's information, it'll be enough to give Chen San a hard time. Young man, when you come to the big city, you have to choose the right thigh to cling to... Help me with this, and after tonight, the lady will become your most solid backing."