Chapter 2864: It's Not Too Late to Wake Up Now

Hearing Chen Zhaozhong's instructions, Qiangzi immediately ran out.

Although Chinatown is a very complex small society, after all it's just this small a place, so after staying here for a long time, everyone is very familiar with each other.

Just as its name suggests, this place is nothing more than a street, except that it is a street where a large number of Chinese people gather.

The relationships among everyone here are like those of neighbors in a street; although there are also shameless and cunning people among the neighbors, generally speaking, they still help and support each other.

In the early years when Chinese people first arrived in the United States, they suffered discrimination and could only live together in close-knit groups for warmth, and Chinese gangs naturally developed in this environment.

Initially, for self-protection, the Chinese organized a portion of young and strong laborers to jointly resist external enemies; over time, as society continuously developed, various professions also became increasingly specialized, and a portion of those who occasionally united to stand up for other Chinese gradually turned this into a profession, thus the Chinese gangs were formally established.

From the history of the Chinese gangs, it can be seen that from the moment of their birth, the Chinese gangs were not a gang that bullied the market and oppressed men and women.

However, most gangs in the United States are vastly different in nature from the Chinese gangs; the long-standing gangs in American history mostly developed and grew during the Prohibition era, and their means of making money basically involved opposing the American government, so after decades or even hundreds of years of development, they have formed an instinct: the more the government forbids something, the more they do it, and they do it on a larger scale.

Taking the example of collecting protection fees, the Chinese gangs in Chinatown collect protection fees more like an unofficial property fee, collecting money from every household to serve every household, with reasonable fees, thoughtful service, and prompt response.

However, when gangs like the Burning Angels come to collect protection fees, it is purely and simply of a robber's nature.

Robbers only want money; if you hand over the money, they might spare your life, but if you stubbornly refuse to pay, they will give you a knife or a gun.

You cannot possibly expect that after being robbed, you could ask the robbers to help guard your home; if that were the case, the robbers would probably also loot your house.

A few minutes later, Qiangzi brought along a middle-aged man who looked to be in his forties, running all the way.

As soon as that person entered the door, seeing Chen Zhaozhong, he excitedly said: "Zhongge, you're back!"

This person is Ni Dawei, the boss of the Chinese gangs in New York's Chinatown.

Seeing Ni Dawei with thick bandages wrapped around his neck, Chen Zhaozhong immediately asked: "Dawei, what happened to your neck?"

Ni Dawei sighed: "Don't mention it; on my way home, I was shot at, the bullet grazed my neck; if it had been a bit more accurate, I would have already reported to the King of Hell."

As he spoke, he looked toward the five miserable figures in the corner, shocked and horrified, and asked: "Zhong, what... what on earth is going on?"

Chen Zhaozhong asked him: "Did Qiangzi not tell you?"

Ni Dawei said: "Qiangzi only said you wanted to see me about something urgent, but didn't say what the specific situation was."

Chen Zhaozhong nodded and said to him: "These few people came to the shop to ask Qiangzi for protection money, but were taught a lesson by Mr. Ye."

As he spoke, he said to Ye Chen: "Mr. Ye, this is Ni Dawei, the boss of the Chinese gangs."

Ni Dawei looked at Ye Chen with a shocked expression, unable to imagine that these fierce and evil members of the Burning Angels were actually beaten into such a state by this young man before him.

At this moment, Chen Zhaozhong again said to him: "Dawei, let me introduce you; this is Mr. Ye, and this time he also wanted to see you."

Ni Dawei came to his senses; although he did not know Ye Chen's background, seeing that he could single-handedly torture these five people into inhuman shapes, he also guessed that Ye Chen's origins were certainly not ordinary.

Thus, he hurriedly walked up to Ye Chen, with a touch of respect, and said: "Mr. Ye, hello, I am Ni Dawei, pleased to meet you!"

Ye Chen slightly nodded and asked him: "How many people are there in total in the Chinese gangs?"

Ni Dawei truthfully replied: "Before, there were nearly a hundred people, but now, aside from the dead and injured brothers, the remaining ones have basically all fled."

Ye Chen frowned and said: "You have nearly a hundred people, how could you let these five bastards swagger around in Chinatown?"

Ni Dawei said shamefully: "Mr. Ye... these five people are backed by the Burning Angels, and behind the Burning Angels are the Italians; they actually control over a dozen big and small gangs in New York, with a scale of at least several thousand people; we are simply no match for them..."

Ye Chen said coldly: "What does it matter if there are several thousand? I have never heard of a gang battle involving several thousand people in the United States; could he still bring several thousand people to storm Chinatown?"

Ni Dawei said embarrassedly: "Mr. Ye, you don't know... these people are extremely ruthless, openly and secretly killing several core members of our Chinese gangs; the brothers are terrified, each one has lost the will to fight..."

Ye Chen asked him: "How many of your people have the Burning Angels killed?"

Ni Dawei blurted out: "They killed eleven of our brothers!"

Ye Chen frowned again and asked: "How many of them have you killed?"

Ni Dawei wearily shook his head: "Not a single one..."

As he spoke, Ni Dawei hurriedly added: "After all, we in New York are an outsider minority gang, unable to match these local snakes, so from the beginning we never thought of fighting them head-on; moreover, they have warned us that if we dare to move against their people, moving even one, they will kill ten of ours..."

Ye Chen frowned and said: "What's wrong with being a minority gang? The gangs of Korea, Vietnam, and Algeria are also composed of minorities; are they also running away with their heads in their hands after being beaten by the Burning Angels?"

"This..." Ni Dawei avoided Ye Chen's piercing gaze, stammering: "So far, I haven't heard of them having any conflict with the Burning Angels..."

Ye Chen pointed at those five people and asked Ni Dawei: "Have you thought about it? Why don't these people dare to bully the Korean gangs or the Vietnamese gangs, but instead come to bully you?"

Ni Dawei pressed his lips together, ashamed, and lowered his head.

Seeing that he remained silent, Ye Chen turned to Will Johnson: "Come, Will, tell me, why don't you go to Koreatown to seize territory? Why come to Chinatown instead?"

Will Johnson said tremblingly: "Because... because the Koreans have too much firepower... since 1992, we have rarely had direct confrontations with Koreans..."

Ye Chen nodded and then asked Ni Dawei: "Do you know why they haven't dared to provoke Koreans since 1992?"

Ni Dawei said shamefully: "I... I know... the Koreans indeed made a name for themselves in America back then..."

Ye Chen said coldly: "You also know that they earned that name by risking their lives; as the boss of the Chinese gangs, why don't you dare to lead your brothers to fight them to the end? Don't forget, behind you stand not only your nearly a hundred brothers, but also the entire Chinatown compatriots who rely on you for protection; they have paid you protection fees, and if you run away when trouble comes, what are they supposed to do?"

At this moment, Ni Dawei's face flushed red, wishing he could bury his head in the ground.

And Ye Chen continued to question: "Have you thought about it? If you retreat, the entire Chinatown merchants will only be left to be slaughtered by them; afterward, everyone will know that Chinatown merchants are easy to bully, and everyone will treat them like a dish! Today it's the Burning Angels wanting to carve out a piece; tomorrow it might be the Frozen Demons wanting a share; in a few days, even those despised stray cats and dogs might come over with bowls to snatch a bite!"

"Moreover, even if you retreat, will they let you go because of it? If that were truly the case, you, a towering seven-foot man and boss of the Chinese gangs, why would you need to hide in a woman's hair salon?"

Ni Dawei was nearly driven to mental collapse by Ye Chen's relentless questioning.

These past two days, Ni Dawei's heart has been constantly tormented; his brothers have encountered misfortune one after another, and he himself nearly died, but as the boss, he has never been able to muster the courage to fight the Burning Angels to the end; because he was hesitant from the start, the Burning Angels have become increasingly arrogant, repeatedly killing many key members of the Chinese gangs, directly shattering the mentality of the entire Chinese gangs.

And these past two days, Ni Dawei has also deeply regretted not immediately going all out to fight the Burning Angels to the end; if he had fought them desperately back then, perhaps they would have retreated due to the difficulty, and so many brothers afterward would not have lost their lives...

Thinking of this, shame and self-blame overwhelmed Ni Dawei, and he choked back tears with red eyes: "It's all my fault; I am too weak, only thinking that since I cannot afford to provoke them, it's better to retreat one step for vast skies and open seas; but I didn't expect that retreating one step would make them push me to retreat all the way, until I reached the edge of a cliff and still they wouldn't let go; but now, waking up is already too late, the dead brothers can never come back..."

Ye Chen looked at him and said lightly: "It's not too late to wake up now."

As he spoke, Ye Chen inserted the magazine in his hand into the pistol, then handed the pistol to him, and said: "There are still five bullets in here; if you have truly awakened, think well about how Ah Chong died, and then think about how to avenge him!"