Chapter 2
North of New York City, Night Entertainment City.
“Bang!”
A finely carved crystal ashtray smashed into pieces.
“Trash! All fucking trash!”
Gray Snake Party boss James stood in front of his desk, raging and roaring.
Night Entertainment City was the hottest nightclub in the north of the city, and the Gray Snake Party’s main business. In New York, the Gray Snake Party controlled a third of the underground scene in the north, and James, as the boss, was the undisputed king of that turf.
James was nearly seven feet tall, built like a black bear, with a fierce black dragon tattoo coiled around his neck. He looked mean as hell.
The guy had a nasty habit. Every night he’d hunt for pretty women drinking alone in his own bar, then drag them up to his office to play groom. Last night he’d set up a trap to take down the fiercest woman in New York—Evelyn—but the cooked duck flew away.
“Boss, calm down, calm down…” one of his men begged on the floor, shaking.
James’s face was twitching with rage. He suddenly bent down, grabbed the man by the hair, and ground his lit cigar into the guy’s cheek.
Sizzle—
The smell of burning flesh and a scream filled the room at the same time.
“Tell me,” James snarled, staring at the man’s twisted face, “who ruined my night? Say it! Who the hell took Evelyn away?!”
“Boss, we found him!”
A low-level member rushed into the office, not even bothering to wipe the sweat off his forehead. “The guy who took Evelyn last night is a young man named Rhode Stark. And… this guy’s been coming to our bar downstairs every night for the past few days.”
“Rhode Stark?”
James shoved away the half-naked woman trembling in his arms. He blew out a thick cloud of smoke, stood up to his full height like an iron tower, and his eyes burned with fury. “Where the fuck did this nobody come from? He even dares to steal my woman?”
“Boss, what do we do now?”
“What do we do? Do I have to teach you?” James slapped the guy across the face so hard he spat blood. “Tell everyone to keep an eye out. The second he shows up tonight, bring him up here. I’m gonna skin him myself!”
…
Neon lights flashed in front of the Night Bar. The two huge pink glowing letters of “Night” stood out sharply in the dark.
“Creak—”
Rhode pushed open the heavy glass door and walked in.
Deafening bass hit him right away. In the dance floor, men and women were twisting wildly. The air stank of alcohol, perfume, and raw lust.
Rhode kept a blank face and headed straight for the bar.
“Handsome, the usual?” the young bartender who knew him gave him a quick wink while mixing a drink.
Rhode raised an eyebrow but before he could answer, heavy footsteps came up behind him.
“Mr. Stark, our boss wants to see you.”
Two big, mean-looking men in black closed in from both sides. They said “wants to see you,” but their eyes and the way they boxed him in made it clear they weren’t giving him a choice.
Rhode understood.
He slowly picked up the whiskey that had just been poured, took a sip, and said without turning around, “Gray Snake Party boss, James?”
The man on the left’s face darkened. His right hand quietly reached for his waist, revealing the tip of a cold metal barrel. “Since you know who our boss is, don’t waste time. Come with us or you’ll get hurt.”
“Click.”
Rhode set down his glass, a cruel smile tugging at his lips. “Interesting. I haven’t even gone looking for him yet, and he’s already coming to me. Go tell James to come down here himself.”
“Courting death!”
The man’s eyes flashed with violence as he yanked out his gun.
But his hand had barely touched the grip when Rhode’s fist arrived.
“Boom!”
A heavy thud.
No one saw how Rhode moved. The nearly six-foot-three, two-hundred-pound man flew backward like a broken kite, crashed through a booth in the middle of the dance floor, and passed out without a sound.
“Holy shit!”
The other man’s soul nearly left his body. He turned and bolted for the stairs.
“Running?”
Rhode snorted, grabbed the man’s shoulder, and slapped him hard.
“Crack!”
The sound of breaking bone. The man’s shoulder blade snapped. He collapsed, screaming like a pig.
The once-noisy, wild bar fell into dead silence.
The DJ stopped the music. Everyone stared at Rhode like he was crazy.
“Who the hell is this guy? Is he insane? Smashing Gray Snake Party’s place in their own bar?”
“Tsk. One punch and one slap took out two guys—his skills are real. But this is the Gray Snake Party’s main base in the north. If he walks out of here alive tonight, I’ll eat two pounds of fresh shit on the spot.”
While people whispered, heavy, steady footsteps came from the second-floor stairs.
“Thud… thud… thud…”
James had arrived.
He walked down like a tiger, every step from his seven-foot frame pressing on everyone’s nerves. He was shirtless under a black coat, the black dragon tattoo on his neck shifting with his chest muscles like it was alive.
His eyes locked onto Rhode with raw violence. He stopped five meters away and said straight out, “Kid, you’ve got guts. Yesterday you stole my woman, today you beat my men on my turf. Don’t you think you owe me an explanation?”
