“Congratulations, boss, on breaking through in martial arts. Your divine technique is fully mastered!”

“Big Sis, I knew you wouldn’t be defeated so easily. Let’s hurry up and deal with that despicable sneak attacker!”

“Hmph, who knows which street this person crawled out from. After we take them down, we’ll make sure to give them a proper ‘welcome.’”

Having regained their backbone, the gang members who had been on the verge of collapse and scattering like startled birds once again rallied around their boss. In an instant, the atmosphere inside the warehouse completely changed.

The wind that had once blown them flat now howled back in the opposite direction with twice the force.

And those gang members were nothing more than blades of grass swaying endlessly between the two opposing gales.

“B-boss…”

The unlucky woman whose shoulder blade Li Chen had crushed earlier, leaving her crawling and rolling on the ground in agony, now looked even more wretched. Using every ounce of strength she had left, she slowly crawled over and clung to the boss.

“Save me…”

She struggled to lift her head, forcing out a humble smile, “I—I was wrong. Big Sis, I’m willing to give all my company shares back to you. No, all my assets. Everything.”

As the first person to defect earlier and the one whose opportunism had completely failed, she no longer dared dream of climbing higher. Being able to keep her life at all was already something to be grateful for.

“Big Sis, I was wrong…”

“Boss...”

Several other cadres who had shown signs of wavering earlier now suddenly “found their way back.” One after another, they nodded furiously, expressing their willingness to pay any price to atone.

This was the Lower City.

A filthy mire where loyalty was treated as worthless fluff and survival was the highest creed.

“That’s why I want to leave this dirty garbage dump called the Lower City.”

The Black Tiger Gang boss glanced disdainfully at the fence-sitters before her and silently made up her mind.

“I said it already. Once I become an upper-hive citizen and officially register the company, I’ll eat meat and you’ll all get soup.”

Step by step, the boss walked up to the cadre, gently pulling her into an embrace with a warm, graceful motion, like an older sister comforting a younger sibling.

“Company shares? Assets?” she said softly, “Do you really think those external things can measure the bond between us?”

She swayed elegantly, the jeweled hem of her brilliant gown fluttering slightly in the evening breeze. At that moment, this gang boss who had committed countless ugly deeds somehow appeared light and refined, like a successful entrepreneur attending an upper-hive gala.

With impeccable manners, she took out a handkerchief, removed her black gloves and personally wiped the bruises on the traitor’s face, injuries left when Li Chen had slammed her to the ground.

“B-boss…”

The cadre lowered her head in shame, sniffling. Captivated by her boss’s sudden tenderness, she blurted out, “I—I’ll follow you for the rest of my life!”

“Good,” the boss replied gently, “I said it long ago. Our Black Tiger Gang… will never be separated.”

After helping the woman to the side, the boss turned to the rest of her subordinates.

“What are you standing around for? Hurry up and kill this guy.”

“B-but…”

A heavily armed guard scratched his head awkwardly and muttered, “Big Sis, that person looks like a martial artist. With our strength, isn’t that a bit…”

“Tsk.”

The noblewoman rolled her eyes and casually pulled several vials from her pocket.

“See these?” she said, “Use them and you can become martial artists too.”

“B-become… martial artists?”

The eyes of everyone present lit up.

Before this, they only had a vague idea of how powerful martial artists were. Rationally, they knew martial artists were terrifying, but just how strong they truly were had always felt abstract.

After witnessing Li Chen’s overwhelming performance with their own eyes, however, the obsession with “becoming a martial artist”—gaining power above tens of thousands—had already taken root deep in their hearts.

“But even if I take this and really become a martial artist, I’d only just advance. What if I still can’t beat them…”

Despite their boss laying everything out plainly, years of caution forged in the Lower City’s brutal fighting pits kept the cadres from moving immediately.

“Martial artist? Them?”

Hearing their doubts, the noblewoman looked as if she’d heard a joke, a mocking smile appearing on her face.

“Well, in the eyes of ordinary people, even an apprentice counts as a martial artist.”

She smiled confidently, “I was curious earlier. After you ambushed me and suppressed me, why didn’t you press the attack immediately? Why give me time to breathe? Now I understand.”

Having keenly noticed Li Chen’s earlier hesitation, she gave what she believed to be a logical analysis.

“That slash just now used up all your strength, didn’t it? No, maybe just pulling off that strike already overdrew your life force.”

She glanced at the ground nearby, where the fog had cleared, revealing deep gouges left behind. Fear flashed briefly in her eyes.

She had almost capsized in the gutter, nearly dying at the hands of an apprentice martial artist she wouldn’t normally spare a glance for.

Calling them martial artists was generous. Compared to true martial artists, first-tier apprentices were far closer to ordinary people.

The vast majority of them would never advance further in their entire lives, lingering forever outside the threshold of real cultivation methods, unable to find hope.

“But your cultivation method is indeed interesting. And that slash just now as well.”

Having already “seen through” Li Chen, the Black Tiger Gang boss continued confidently.

“My guess is that you’re a newcomer from some other district who stumbled upon a special cultivation method, got lucky becoming a martial artist and now thinks you’re invincible. But in the face of absolute power, everything is meaningless.”

She twisted her arm and the cane in her hand howled through the air, whipping up a violent gale that sliced the thick warehouse wall cleanly in half like a melon, exposing steel and concrete within.

“See? This is what real martial artist power looks like.”

She waved the vial enticingly.

“If you hadn’t followed me for so many years, I wouldn’t even bother giving you these benefits.”

Seeing her subordinates still hesitate, the boss sighed, realizing she needed to drop heavier bait.

“Fine, fine. I’ll spell it out. These drugs aren’t like the defective batches you were selling earlier. These are the real deal — cutting-edge products synthesized using data from those earlier experiments.”

Hearing her speak so plainly, the Black Tiger Gang cadres finally relaxed, looks of understanding appearing on their faces.

‘If those drugs were really good stuff, how would they end up with street trash?’

“I wonder who’s been supplying our company all this time. Being able to fool the Public Security Bureau means their background isn’t simple.”

“So what if they’re powerful? Don’t they still need our Black Tiger Company to complete their research? No wonder they’re giving the boss upper-hive citizenship. Honestly, I think the boss is being too polite.”

“Still, who exactly are they? Could they be competitors? I heard rumors they might be connected to underground criminal organizations…”

As everyone talked over one another, the warehouse filled with a cheerful atmosphere, to the point that Li Chen’s presence was completely ignored.

‘New-type drugs?’

Human experimentation, then.

Li Chen wasn’t surprised at all. He fixed his gaze on the vials in the boss’s hand and given what he already knew about their origin, he quickly formed a hypothesis.

‘Mass production… are these meant to boost military combat power? Some kind of super serum to mass-produce martial artists from ordinary soldiers?’

It was insane.

If Xiao Mengya really pulled this off, it wouldn’t be impossible for the entire Hive City order to be turned upside down.

‘But what’s the price?’

Li Chen didn’t believe in miracles falling from the sky. Given the planners’ twisted sense of balance, there was no such thing as a perfect product with only benefits and no side effects, only varying costs.

No matter what, he had to get his hands on those drugs.

Raising his blade, Li Chen watched as the upper ranks surged toward their boss in a frenzy.

“Big Sis! I knew you wouldn’t abandon us!”

Gulp, gulp.

The female cadre Li Chen had beaten down earlier, her face deathly pale and on the verge of passing out, was pulled into the boss’s arms. Seizing the advantage of proximity, she grabbed a vial before anyone else and downed it in huge gulps.

“Ooooooh!”

Her eyes instantly turned bloodshot, veins bulging beneath her skin as she let out a feral roar.

“This is… this is the power of a martial artist?”

She laughed maniacally and twisted her previously shattered shoulder with brute force.

Crack.

The arm that had been twisted into an unnatural shape instantly recovered and judging by the bulging muscles, looked even stronger than before.

“I want some too! I want some too!”

Seeing the drug really work as promised, the remaining cadres fought like mad. Several lucky ones drank theirs immediately.

Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh.

A martial artist’s aura erupted from one Black Tiger Gang executive after another.

First-tier apprentice. Second-tier quasi-martial artist…

The pressure finally stabilized at second-tier peak, just a step away from third-tier.

‘Pre-civilization singularity technology…’

Li Chen couldn’t even imagine what kind of upheaval this would bring if such drugs were widely distributed.

“Kill him,” the boss ordered coldly.

“Yes!”

The female leader who had taken the drug first leapt forward eagerly, shooting toward Li Chen at a speed utterly unlike before, appearing beside him in the blink of an eye.

“Hehe, dear martial artist. Weren’t you pretty arrogant just now?”

She grabbed Li Chen’s shoulder blade with her thick arm, intending to repay him in kind.

“The humiliation you gave me earlier… I’m returning it all!”

Bang!

A crushing force slammed down on Li Chen, pain ripping through muscle and bone…

Or at least, it should have.

“Hm?”

Hearing no screams of agony, the woman blinked.

“The power has increased, but your combat awareness is still stuck at the level of an ordinary person.”

Li Chen casually brushed her hand aside.

“How is that possible?!” Her eyes nearly popped out.

“There’s nothing impossible about it.”

Looking at the so-called “powerhouses” around him—all brute force with zero battle sense—Li Chen felt exhilarated.

“This counts as fighting above my level, right?”

Facing enemies whose strength had leapt several tiers, Li Chen only felt more alive.

How long had it been since he’d thrown himself fully into battle like this?

‘Sorry, Xiao Wei…’

He glanced at the pristine white clothes beneath his cloak and murmured apologetically, “Your new clothes are probably going to get stained with blood, but… but…”

This… this was the martial artist life he truly longed for.

Extreme Fire Concept. Red Lotus Saber Art.

Slash!

The blade light that the boss had sworn was Li Chen “overdrawing his life force” erupted again this time with far more terrifying momentum.

Boom—

The unfortunate cadre didn’t even have time to scream before being completely engulfed by flames, leaving only a distorted, struggling silhouette reflected in everyone’s eyes.