Chapter 288: Bai Lao K

In the Misfortune-at-Heels instance, the dimensional rules suppress not only the players' attributes, but also the attributes of any items the players use.

The defense and damage provided by an item are usually divided into three parts.

The base portion determined by the item's grade, the fluctuating bonus portion affected by one of the player's attributes, and the portion of fixed damage, defense, shield value, and so on brought by a small number of item skills.

Of these three parts, the base portion and the fixed-value portion have likewise been cut by 90%.

Under the suppression of the dimensional rules, an A-grade defensive item might perform worse than an ordinary C-grade or D-grade one, and combined with the player's weakened body after attribute suppression, it makes the players extremely fragile.

Fragile enough that an ordinary large cargo truck can send a max-level player off to be reborn in another world.

Although the intel mass-sent by Lin Jiang touched on this, without experiencing it firsthand, players found it hard to immediately shift their mindset.

For example, the player lying in the middle of the road, run over by a following vehicle into a puddle — surely it had been a long time since he looked both ways before crossing.

The players who witnessed that unlucky soul's death all gave a shudder and stood at attention on the spot.

Only now did they realize this city was far more fraught with danger than they had imagined, and the players' actions immediately became more disciplined.

Stop on red, go on green, don't rush when the yellow light flashes; better to wait three minutes than to scramble for a single second.

If any parent is at a loss over how to teach their child to cross the road, just watch this group of players — guaranteed to be more correct than any textbook.

Wu Chang surveyed the crowd of players and found that Lin Jiang's guide had done quite a bit of good; many hot-headed players set their first goal as a down-to-earth paying job, like a W-brand coffee shop.

There were also a few players whose eyes glinted with vicious light, crouching by the roadside and scanning their surroundings, looking to take an unorthodox path.

Others fear, I covet — when everyone else is safely clocking in at work, that's when you should most go for a shot at getting rich quick; if it works out, you'll be steadily ahead of everyone else.

Wu Chang offered no judgment on these death-defying players whose heads were full of criminal ideas.

Because he was thinking the exact same thing.

To quickly get his first bucket of gold, his real-world experience was useless — he had to draw on the characters he had embodied in previous instances.

From Li Zaishi's memories, he learned how to manage and run the largest gang in the Kingdom of Gao Mu.

When playing Manager Xiao En, he had learned how to use leverage and force to treat the rich as leeks to be harvested.

Combining those two precious experiences, his entrepreneurial path in Sigef City instantly became clear.

First, he needed a gang of his own.

Misfortune-at-Heels is a special instance monopolized by the four great organizations; batch after batch of talent thrown in has let them accumulate vast amounts of intel, and sometimes, to gather information on certain areas, they even send in members who wouldn't otherwise qualify, loaded with missions they've laid out.

Each of the four great organizations has hundreds of pieces of intel, and pooling all four together has almost completely mapped out the distribution of power in Sigef City and roughly explored the general ecosystem.

Except for one place — the Knox Elementary School where An Bo is; even the West Union and Bai Ta, who love kids the most, have pitifully little intel on that school.

It's unclear whether it's because Knox Elementary School isn't well-known and isn't worth exploring, or for some other reason.

Setting aside those few blind spots, Wu Chang, relying on the intel provided by the four great organizations, easily locked onto a gang that suited him.

Bai Lao K.

A gang founded by rednecks and extreme white supremacists, it has a long history — it already existed back when Sigef City was just a small southern town.

If Sigef City had a city museum of its own, Bai Lao K would certainly occupy a vivid, heavy stroke in it.

The stroke they painted, soaked in white pigment, wiped out every black, red, brown, and yellow wherever the brush passed.

For a long stretch of time, Sigef City had only one color: white.

Once the other colors had been thoroughly eliminated, Bai Lao K began subdividing within the white — they would even launch attacks on whites who didn't have blond or brown hair.

It wasn't until the Federation unified and the voting weight held by people of other colors gradually grew that their behavior began to be reined in.

But even so, every year dozens of victims in Sigef City fall to Bai Lao K's brutality over skin color or ethnicity.

As one of the most notorious and most famous gangs in Sigef City, the reason Bai Lao K has been able to persist is that its backers are tough enough — it has plenty of influence in political circles.

A gang that plays both sides of the law, has a high ceiling, plenty of members, puts strength above all, and one you can kill without any psychological burden — what target could be more perfect?

Following the schematic in the intel, Wu Chang arrived at Pulas Street, the nighttime heart of Sigef City; it gathers all kinds of nightlife venues and is a paradise for pleasure-seekers.

Whether legal or illegal, as long as you want it, you can satisfy your needs here.

Pulas Street in the daytime isn't as lively as at night; the Magic K Bar stood with its doors open, and two blond, white-skinned lackeys were leaning in the parking lot in front of the bar, blowing smoke.

The whites of both their eyes were bloodshot, and they gave off a sickening oily smell — they were probably smoking leaves.

The two were right in the middle of a good high when they suddenly felt the sky go dark.

Who the f**k turned off the lights.

Looking up, they finally saw a broad, massive body that had, at some unknown point, appeared beside them.

To make joining Bai Lao K easier, Wu Chang used his Sea Giant ability to bulk up his frame a bit, turning into a muscle-bound hulk over two meters tall; to match the gangster vibe, he also made subtle adjustments to his face, making it a touch more affable.

The two lackeys gaped, forgetting the cigarette dangling from their crotch, and stared at the tough guy who looked like he could eat at least three kids in one sitting, who was sweeping his gaze over them with a murderous look; instinctively grabbing each other's hands, they began to tremble.

"Can we help you?" one of them, sporting a punk hairstyle, asked.

Wu Chang replied in a deep, hard-man tone: "Just got out from inside, need some cash, looking for work — you guys still taking people?"

The two nodded frantically. "Yeah, of course we are!"

Hearing that Wu Chang wanted to join rather than cause trouble, the two immediately breathed a sigh of relief.

They looked at Wu Chang's frame — broad enough to stuff both of them inside — and his fists the size of sandbags, and the punk-haired one asked:

"Big guy, can you fight?"

Wu Chang said nothing; he swung a hand-chop at the speaker, the blade of his hand grazing just over the top of the other's scalp, and by the time he pulled his hand back, the punk-haired one saw a large swath of blond hair fall before his eyes.

The punk-haired one rushed to the rearview mirror and found a huge bald patch shaved above his forehead by the hand-chop; with a haircut like that, he'd at least pass for a beyle in the Qing dynasty.

"F**k!"

Wu Chang: "Hmm?"

The punk-haired one shifted his tone at once: "Your technique is amazing — I was just thinking of shaving my head, you saved me a lot of time."

Wu Chang: "You're welcome."

The punk-haired one nearly ground his teeth to dust; using the excuse that a hair had fallen into his eye, he wiped the corners of his eyes with the back of his hand, then said:

"Big guy, our boss loves guys who can fight — perfect timing, there's a bare-knuckle match today, and the boss will be there too."

"Aren't you short on money? If you can win two matches, you'll earn at least 5,000. Interested?"

Wu Chang raised an eyebrow and immediately said, "Let's go!"

Two thugs sat in the front and passenger seats; Wu Chang curled up in the backseat. As soon as he got in, the car sank noticeably, barely avoiding collapsing the already near-dead vehicle.

The punk head cranked the engine twice before it finally started, then drove Wu Chang slowly toward the dock.

Halfway there, at an intersection, Wu Chang saw a player speeding away on a motorcycle, with seven or eight police cars chasing behind him.

The motorcycle rider flipped the middle finger at the pursuing cars, then turned toward the three of them, seemingly planning to use traffic as cover to escape the police.

But the player didn't notice his wanted-star count was too high. With the roar of rotors, an armed helicopter swooped in from the side, its mounted machine gun unleashing a barrage at the player. In barely two or three seconds, the player, who had just flipped off the police with a sneer, was riddled with bullets, his stolen motorcycle exploding into a ball of flame.

The punk head cursed, "Bai Chi," then swerved around the burning motorcycle and kept driving.

As they passed the beehive, Wu Chang shook his head slightly.

In Sigef City, never break the law unless absolutely necessary.

With a player's current stats, it's impossible to fight back against the city's violent departments. Robbery in broad daylight is pure suicide.

Even if the armed helicopter couldn't kill him, the waves of follow-up armed helicopters and ground-based heavily armed special police would have crushed him.

That's why he chose Bai Lao K—he only breaks the law if he's not caught.

The punk head drove for an hour, bringing Wu Chang to a warehouse marked with a "K" at the dock.

The roller door was half-open; three muscular men in flower shirts sat outside, lifting iron weights to build muscle.

The moment Wu Chang stepped out of the car, all three noticed him.

!

One asked, "Here for the fight?"

Wu Chang looked at the punk head, who immediately explained: "He wants to join the gang. I saw he can box, so I brought him to meet the boss."

The man sized up Wu Chang. Normally, he'd test the newcomer's strength.

But when he saw Wu Chang casually pick up the bench press barbell he'd been using and perform a single-arm curl with ease, he instantly lost all desire to test him.

It wasn't that he was scared—he'd just missed his last insurance payment last month and wanted to save the boss money.

He pulled the roller door up higher and waved them in. "Go ahead."

Wu Chang and the punk head entered the warehouse. The interior spanned at least tens of thousands of square meters—half stacked with Bai Lao K's smuggled goods, half used for gang activities.

Near the activity zone, Wu Chang could clearly smell sweat and blood in the air.

In the center of the activity zone, eight cars formed a circle; inside, two bare-chested, muscular men were fighting.

No gloves, no mouthguards, no banned target areas—this was pure bare-knuckle combat.

The only rule: stand to win, lie down to lose.

This was the largest underground fighting tournament in Sigef City: KO Bare-Knuckle.

When Sigef City was first founded and Bai Lao K's influence peaked, there weren't enough ethnic minorities left for them to torment, so they started an internal boxing club to vent their destructive urges.

Unexpectedly, the boxing club became wildly popular—not only did over ninety percent of Bai Lao K members join, but after opening to the public, it turned into a citywide competition.

But as Bai Lao K declined, the bare-knuckle matches sank underground with it.

Though underground, the bare-knuckle matches still had a massive loyal fanbase, and Bai Lao K still held them in high regard.

If you fight well in bare-knuckle, you can easily rise to gang leadership.

Precisely because of this, Wu Chang immediately chose Bai Lao K.

The area hosting the bare-knuckle matches was a dedicated fighting space—the warehouse was divided into three levels.

The bottom level was the standing viewing area, surrounded by the city's underclass spectators gathered around the car ring.

The second level had proper seating, with higher ticket prices, chosen by the city's middle-class families.

The third level, of course, was the VIP boxes—where social elites, billionaires, and politicians watched, along with Bai Lao K's boss, Kent.

Access to the third level was guarded by gang members armed with heavy weapons; guards patrolled the corridor and the VIP rooms, making a frontal assault impossible.

This detail wasn't in Hou Jingchuan's intel—it came from the faint red resentment surrounding him.

Bai Lao K was such a perfect target that Wu Chang wasn't the only one watching. Before him, many skilled fighter players had chosen this place as a stepping stone.

Through the surrounding red resentment, Wu Chang saw players attempting to strike Kent at every possible moment.

One barged in straight from the entrance and was sprayed dead by a shotgun-wielding gunman hidden in the stairwell shadows.

Another won multiple fights in a row, then struck as Kent approached—killed instantly by a sniper's bullet to the head from above the third floor.

One infiltrated the VIP box, but as he moved to attack, his invisibility was detected, and he was gunned down in a hail of bullets.

…

Around the arena, over a dozen faint red resentments lingered—each death bizarre and unique. No matter the angle of attack, the assailant was always shot down.

The reason was simple: Kent trusted no one—not even the VIP guests on the third floor or the fighters he was about to meet.

Anyone who came within ten meters of Kent was already targeted by at least three gunmen.

Under the instance's stat suppression, guns were deadly accurate and fast within ten meters.

But after examining the dozen or so resentments, Wu Chang wasn't empty-handed.

Among them was one single bright red resentment—the only one whose owner had reached Kent's side and nearly wounded him.

That man's method: win match after match, demonstrating absolute dominance, and after being summoned by Kent multiple times, suppress the urge to strike.

Once he won ten straight fights, Kent promoted him to gang leadership and had him participate in a special match.

The match took place in the same arena—but at dawn.

His opponent was a Mexican client who dealt flour with Bai Lao K; the Mexicans arrived with enough flour and three skilled bare-knuckle fighters.

Best two out of three: if Bai Lao K won, the flour got a ten percent discount; if the Mexicans won, Kent had to pay ten percent more.

In this special bare-knuckle match, there were no extra spectators, no additional members present.

Neither Kent nor the Mexicans watched from the third-floor VIP box—they stood just seven or eight meters from the car ring.

Before the two bosses stood crates of flour and cash.

The master of resentment seized that opportunity, aiming to kidnap Kent and seize the flour and cash being traded.

Relying on the explosive power granted by his class-change skill, he sprinted off the arena and, before the gunmen could aim at him, snatched a gun and rushed to Kent's side.

He was moments away from pressing the gun barrel against Kent's head, but he never expected that the fat man, with his bloated belly and head so low he couldn't even see little Kent, possessed stats equivalent to a level seventeen or eighteen player.

In a normal A-rank instance, like the Silent Voyage, such stats would require connections just to join the Star Chroma Guild as a low-tier member.

But this was a cursed instance; with these stats, he could crush the vast majority of players.

Kent effortlessly snapped the master of resentment's arm, shattered his front teeth with the gun barrel, then blew his head apart with a single shot.

This death was not dignified, and the master of resentment was deeply dissatisfied—this was evident from his blood-written last words.

【Crush Kent's skull—I want him to see his own brains splattering!】

(End of Chapter)