Chapter 118: Cheng Yi

The appearance of Cheng Yi can just happen to share some of the pressure on Babai.

After all, a robot sometimes cannot handle everything by itself.

Taking Cheng Yi straight to the Hong Sect, he didn't care about the curious gazes of the Hong Sect disciples.

He called Babai over and let Babai and Cheng Yi stay in the same room, wanting to see what kind of reaction there would be between the two robots.

The result was very boring; both robots didn't speak, looking at each other coldly.

The coldness emanating from their gazes seemed capable of freezing the surrounding air.

It wasn't until Cheng Feng spoke to introduce them that the two robots began to introduce themselves.

"I am Babai, an Offering of the Hong Sect." Babai's voice was as hard as steel, devoid of any emotion.

"I am Cheng Yi, I don't have any specific tasks." Cheng Yi's voice sounded a bit raw, as if still adapting to this new environment.

Their conversation was brief and direct, without excessive pleasantries or unnecessary questions. Watching the two robots communicate, Cheng Feng felt a headache coming on.

Cheng Feng had to step in personally: "Babai, can you copy the information you have collected to Cheng Yi?"

"I can, Master," Babai replied.

"Then go do it now." Cheng Feng waited quietly.

Babai pointed his finger at Cheng Yi, while Cheng Yi turned his back, lifted the skin at the back of his head to reveal a silvery-white metal skull, retracted layers of protection, and connected an interface at the back of his head to the transmission port on Babai's finger.

The speed of the information transfer was very fast.

It ended in about ten seconds.

Watching the two robots complete this chilling scene,

Cheng Feng was not afraid; instead, he saw the common ground between them. They were both robots, existing only to complete tasks.

There were no emotions or selfish desires in their lives, only loyalty to orders and their execution.

"I hope you two can get along well," Cheng Feng said with a smile. "Cheng Yi, you are the newcomer, and like Babai, you both play the role of a cold personality; there may be many things you don't understand, and Babai will help you. Furthermore, from now on you are also a member of the Offering Hall, directly under Babai; you do not need to listen to anyone else's orders except mine."

Babai did not speak, but a hint of agreement appeared in his eyes.

Cheng Yi nodded and said, "I will study hard."

Cheng Feng turned and left, though he was still thinking about how they would get along. Perhaps they would become good friends, or perhaps they would maintain this cold relationship forever.

But it didn't matter; what Cheng Feng valued first was his strength, which was invincible below the Blood Refining Realm.

Looking at the current strength of the Hong Sect, it was time to Expand after tomorrow.

A gang without the ambition to Expand would be viewed with suspicion.

After Sui Ran, Cheng Feng had Wang Hu start secretly gathering information on the surrounding small gangs.

A real man stands between heaven and earth.

How can he be depressed and live under others for long?

Not to mention that Cheng Feng had consumed so many resources in the early stages; they had to pay Cheng Feng back.

It wasn't realistic to always rely on Cheng Feng to provide resources.

Isn't the purpose of starting a business to gain more profit?

Cheng Feng wasn't pretending; he just felt he hadn't been fully prepared.

Now that he was fully prepared, he would seize as much territory as he could before those big bosses reacted.

Although the matter of marrying Meiniang was ready to be put on the agenda,

there had to be people there to show support, right?

Previously, Cheng Feng was not an insider and was not very clear about the internal affairs of the gangs.

Now, with Wang Hu, an old hand, Cheng Feng had a deep understanding of the gang situation.

The Blood Wolf Gang in the North City, the Black Snake Gang in the West City, the Red Star Gang in the East City, and the Green Bamboo Gang in the South City.

These were large gangs of a district-wide nature.

But there were still some small, free-roaming gangs in the areas bordering the surrounding gangs.

This created a buffer zone between the gangs.

Similar to small countries between major powers.

They wouldn't resort to weapons directly, and if something happened, they could still talk it out.

Plus, the government didn't want to see one local force dominate, and some officials and Captains accepted bribes openly, so some superficial appearances were maintained in this stalemate.

But these local organizations like gangs always had to earn silver.

Thus, they would occupy some streets and markets, and things would be settled with some protection fees and stall fees.

Large gangs were different; they had direct dividends.

They even ran their own businesses—gambling dens, brothels, transport, manual labor—wherever there was money to be made, their presence could be found.

Cheng Feng was still doing small-time stuff; ten or twenty catties was not even worth mentioning compared to the vast market.

Moreover, the route was going outward, not within the county, otherwise, it would be discovered sooner or later.

But if he continued to grow, that might not be the case.

Cheng Feng would not forget that there were also Martial Arts Halls, which also had their own profit divisions within the county.

The intricate network of relationships made Cheng Feng feel a bit dizzy; this was really not what Cheng Feng was good at.

Dealing with relationships was truly too troublesome.

Fortunately, Wang Hu, that old hand, knew Cheng Feng's character and could offer strategies to keep things simple.

The buffer zone between the gangs provided Cheng Feng with a rare space for survival. He could use the small gangs in these areas as his allies to jointly resist the oppression of the large gangs. Although these allies had limited strength, their existence gave Cheng Feng more bargaining chips and forced the large gangs to think twice when taking action.

He could also directly replace them; with the current strength of the Hong Sect, those small-time gangs were easy to handle. It was just that if the large gangs squeezed in later, it would be difficult to deal with; sooner or later, a fight would break out, and he would have to bear the consequences of the casualties himself.

Cheng Feng chose the second option directly; he had raised these people for so long, and if there was no territory and no silver, then what was the point of doing anything!

The opportunity had been given to them; if they wanted to get ahead, they had to risk their lives to fight, to grab, and to seize.

Since they are already Martial Artists in the Strength Refining Realm, if they still couldn't defeat those amateurs, they would truly be unworthy of Cheng Feng's cultivation.

Cheng Feng's goal was very clear; to truly gain a foothold, he must possess sufficient strength. Now that he had the strength, how to take the next step, how to set the strategy, and how to proceed were the problems at hand.

He began to consider setting out to expand his sphere of influence, as well as the future manpower, income, and salaries of the gang.

The Hong Sect was essentially built upon the corpse of the Hutou Gang.

They took over the legacy of the Hutou Gang.

The Hutou Gang started out in freight transport and also had two gambling dens and one brothel. As for business dealings, most were transactions with other gangs or merchants, among which there was no lack of shady dealings.

In Cheng Feng's view, those shady dealings were completely unnecessary, such as secretly hacking someone to death or those bounty rewards.

In Cheng Feng's view, they were simply not presentable, so he stopped them after taking over.

Knocking people out with clubs, hitting them with bricks from the shadows, and the whole one-stop service of killing and burying people.

What an old routine! And the profit wasn't even high.

A new gang must have new ideas.

The territory must be large, the subordinates must be many, the profits must be high, and the business must be stable.

Cheng Feng envisioned that in the future, the Hong Sect would not only increase its income through the traditional collection of protection fees and stall fees, but also begin to venture into some legitimate businesses.

Although these businesses did not need to be large in scale at the beginning, Cheng Feng believed that as long as he persisted, one day he would be able to accumulate sufficient wealth and resources.

At the same time, Cheng Feng also realized the importance of maintaining a good relationship with the government. He knew that although the government was unwilling to see a local force become too dominant, it would not sit idly by and watch small gangs be swallowed up by large ones.

But this area required someone to make contact; whether by giving money or using schemes, there had to be someone in the imperial court who could speak for them. This was a blind spot at the moment; Nie Yuan had never thought about this point at all, and Wang Hu had thought about it, but lacked the strength to realize it.

The Martial Arts Hall and the large local clans all had their own stable businesses; as long as they didn't get involved or rely on them, these would not be problems.