All of You Have Finally Returned

"Drats, Forbes is still outside!" Lin Ke fished out his weapons and rushed out in one big stride.

Forbes was still happily searching the corpses outside.

The Jack Gang thugs didn't have much cash on them, but there were simply too many of them. When put together, it still accumulated to a fairly considerable amount.

Forbes also found many interesting little trinkets on them, especially small squarish boxes. He had also found these things on the Machinery Holy Cult fanatics previously. Lin Ke had even filled him in about their function—they were used to protect firearms—at that time.

"These thugs sure are meticulous. Even though there aren't as many sandstorms in Sand City as there are in the Gobi, all of them still insist on outfitting their beloved guns with protective covers nevertheless. As expected of city dwellers!"

Forbes then stuffed all these still-sealed-in-packaging 'gun covers' into his backpack and mumbled softly, "Boss has quite a few guns. Nothing will go wrong with preparing a few more gun covers."

Forbes had only just stored them all into his backpack when he suddenly heard a series of hasty footsteps coming from the dim alley outside.

Although he was naive, Forbes wasn't a fool. He immediately realized that the people approaching them from outside didn't carry any good intentions. He slipped the backpack onto his back and ran toward the building to inform Lin Ke.

Lin Ke coincidentally also ran out of the building at this point. The moment he spied Forbes, he immediately pulled him inside.

"Boss, there are so many people outside!"

Lin Ke pushed Forbes into the building and instructed, "Hide inside. Without my permission, you're not to come out."

After watching Forbes hide himself in the building, Lin Ke's heart was finally put at ease. He couldn't help but sigh inwardly to himself. Good thing that this fellow's quick-witted!

Right after that, Lin Ke promptly chose to level up and adjust his condition to the most optimal state.

[Leveling up from Lv7 to Lv8 will consume 4,500 EXP. Will you level up? Yes/No]

Yes!

During his exchange of blows with John earlier, John's kick had depleted one-third of his HP.

He might have to face another big battle now, so Lin Ke naturally needed to return to tip-top condition and not overlook any details.

"Boss, it seems like quite a lot of people have come. Will we die?"

"Be quiet!"

"Sob~ Boss, I don't want to die! I haven't even strolled around Sand City much…"

"Since you're so scared, should I deploy some army ants to protect you?"

"No, there's no need to do so at all! Boss, you can focus on your business! No need to bother yourself with me!"

Squeak, squeak!

Treasure Hunter Rat stretched out its little fingers—three on one paw, while its other paw was balled into a little fist.

Lin Ke's brows drew together slightly. "Thirty people? That's so many of them!"

The people outside had come straight for the base with strong and fierce momentum.

"Could it be the Jack Gang's arch-enemy, the Pacinos?"

First of all, the Pacino Clan's turf wasn't far from the Jack Gang's. Only a block stood between the two.

He had gone on a huge killing spree in the Jack Gang base just now. In particular, the last two shotgun blasts at the end of his fight with Jack had sounded fairly distinct. There was a high chance that the Pacinos had heard the commotion and also managed to get information on the Jack Gang's matters. Hence, they had brought their men over to make a killing during the chaos.

Apart from the Pacinos, there were also other small forces in the vicinity—such as the Seven-Man Crowd, the Lumont Club, and etc. All of them coveted the Jack Gang base's extraordinarily good location.

"No matter which force it is, I just hope that there won't be another Elite… If we continue to fight on without any limit, we'll probably fight until daybreak.

"Sand Condor, can you still enter the field?"

Sand Condor—which was lying weakly on the table—curled up its wing and did a 'By myself, I drink myself drunk' action.

"Alright, two red wine and beef steak sessions!"

Upon hearing the reward of two upper-class meals, Sand Condor perked up at once and became full of energy.

…

"F*ck, we painstakingly charged all the way to the little inn only to come up empty. Why is the car showing up at the base's entrance now?"

A man in a gaudy, red suit and wearing shades reached out and stroked the bullet holes on the car hood. He then looked at the front windshield that had totally been shattered as the corners of his lips spasmed.

"Maybe that kid abandoned the car and fled. Someone then saw that the car belongs to us, the Jack Gang, so they sent it back."

Thanks to them having a strong and powerful boss protecting the turf, the Jack Gang did hold some influence in the vicinity.

"Hmph, that must be the case! It's just a pity that we let that kid get away!"

The man in the gaudy, red suit smashed his fist against the car hood, causing it to emit a dull thud while he himself grimaced in pain.

"Haha, Old Second, don't put on an act of bravado anymore. Do you think you're also born a natural at martial arts like Boss? All you're suited for is practicing swordsmanship in bed."

"F*ck, don't you think I want Old Crane to take me as a disciple? Wouldn't I have a much higher status and identity than what I do now? It's just a shame that Old Crane doesn't teach bedroom techniques; otherwise, I'd definitely outshine the rest with my aptitude."

"Shh! Stop with your nonsense. If Old Crane hears this, even Boss probably won't be able to save you."

"Don't worry; all the ones here are our men. There aren't any outsiders here," scoffed the man in the gaudy, red suit dismissively.

Then, he stared at the four-eyed fatty and patted his thick, solid belly. "It's you, Old Third, whose name is becoming more and more famous now! That kid, an outsider, even thought that you—Mr. Cong—were the Jack Gang's boss when he called!"

The four-eyed fatty smiled naively and quickly waved him off as he said, "Don't tease me anymore. More likely than not, it's because I have the worst reputation, so he ended up thinking that I'm the boss. Alright, let's hurry back and report to Boss."

At the mention of this, Old Second—the man in the gaudy, red suit—couldn't help but spit again. Gnashing his teeth, he said, "That kid had better not let me get a hold of him! Otherwise, I'll definitely skin him!"

The Jack Gang had lost 17 men in two days straight. This was definitely a blow that had rocked their foundation.

If other gangs knew about this, they would definitely seize the opportunity to make trouble for them. And all this was just because of a damn fatty!

On top of that, the most hateful thing right now was that the fellow had immediately run after killing their men. He didn't even drive the car away.

Trying to find someone in Sand City's slums was practically no different from trying to find a needle in a haystack.

Both Old Second and Old Third unanimously felt that the Jack Gang had no choice but to take the secret loss this time.

"Fortunately, Old Crane has taken Boss as a disciple. When this piece of news is officially announced next month, the Jack Gang's status will rise again," said the bespectacled Old Third as he pushed his black-framed spectacles.

There was no way the news of the Jack Gang losing a bunch of men could be kept under wraps. In that case, he'd have to intentionally spread the news of 'Old Crane has taken a new disciple' these few days. This was to serve as a warning to the gangs eyeing them covetously.

"Let's hurry up and go in. Maybe the fellow that sent the car back saw the troublemaker, and hence, knows a thing or two about his whereabouts?" suggested Old Third.

Having come up empty and returned in low spirits following their failure, the two of them felt great displeasure.

The sight of the returned car at the base entrance had comforted them slightly, and they placed hope in the person who had returned the car in being able to provide a bit of useful information to them.

The Jack Gang wasn't a major gang in Sand City, but they still felt great displeasure at being played by a fatty that had emerged out of nowhere.

They had always been the ones making trouble for others. Since when did it become someone else's turn to make trouble for them? Was this something that they could take lying down?

Especially during this crucial period when Old Crane was about to take their boss as a disciple, causing the Jack Gang's status to rise along with it. It was highly likely that they would have even more business dealings and that they would take over even more turfs in the upcoming period of time. Weren't these events currently happening just purely an attempt to aggravate them then?

Everyone walked into the alley. After they turned the corner, they could now see the base through the railings.

"F*ck, another blackout? Don't that bunch of sh*t-eating fellows know how to turn on the generator?" The bad-tempered Old Second swore at once.

Old Third frowned slightly, sizing up the building as he walked toward it. He couldn't help but have a foreboding feeling. "This doesn't seem right? Why is it so quiet inside there? The atmosphere somehow feels very strange. Is there some kind of ploy going on?"

With a smile, the man in the gaudy, red suit replied, "Old Third, you've read too many conspiracy theories. With Boss in there, what can go wrong? Have they all gone to help because the smuggling ship is here?"

Old Third is certainly adept at coming up with plans and strategies, but he also has a really big fault. Every little thing is a conspiracy and the end of the world to him. He's really very timid.

"Who knows? Boss's martial arts are certainly very strong, but it hasn't reached the point where he's unbeatable, right? The current situation is indeed very strange…"

Rather annoyed by what Old Third was saying, the man in the gaudy red suit asked as he walked on, "Who's carrying a torchlight? Pass one over."

After searching around for a while, someone finally found a torchlight and passed it to Old Second.

Coincidentally, everyone had also walked over to the main entrance at this point.

With the torchlight in his hand, Old Second cast a glance at Old Third and said, "I'm going to take a look and see just what kind of conspiracy there is."

Just as he was about to switch on the torchlight, a gust of sand suddenly swept toward them. A sandstorm howled and raged out of nowhere, trapping most of them within it.

"Pooh, pooh! What the hell is this?"

"F*ck, why is there suddenly a sandstorm?"

"It might be a huge sandstorm! Hurry, gather first! Grab one another's hands so that you don't get blown away!" As the brains of the group, Old Third reacted the quickest and hastily shouted, resulting in him getting a mouthful of sand.

In the face of the sudden sandstorm, everyone quickly gathered and huddled together, lest the raging winds blow them away.

A dozen seconds or so later, the sandstorm weakened and gradually abated.

The 30 men—all huddled together—slowly opened their eyes to see that they were still where they had been. Incredibly relieved, all of them felt as if they had just escaped the jaws of death.

"F*ck, that scared me to death! What's with the sandstorm in the middle of the night!" Old Second was so terrified that his legs were shaking. Out of everyone present, he was the lightest, and he was practically a stick. If not for the fact that he had grabbed onto someone else tightly, he'd have been blown away.

Old Third spat out the sand in his mouth and gave his black-framed spectacles a push, somewhat smug. "This happened 20 years ago as well. At that time, the sandstorm had engulfed the greater half of Sand City and caused quite a number of casualties and deaths. If not for my quick reaction this time, we probably would've died."

"Fine, fine, fine! You're impressive, Old Third! I really take my hat off you this time!" Old Second switched on the torchlight as he spoke and shone it into the open-air hall.

At once, it became dead silent!

Old Second quickly switched off the torchlight; his eyes had widened to their limit and beyond. His entire body was frozen stiff as if he'd just seen a ghost and been immobilized by it. Then, he turned his 'rusty' neck around with much difficulty and asked, "Did… all of you… see… that?"

Old Third had also received a pretty serious shock. The visual impact from that scene just now was simply too great, and his legs were shaking intensely.

Every single one of the thugs behind the pair was also sporting deathly pale faces.

The visual impact from the scene—which had entered their sights when the torchlight was switched on—was simply too great. For a moment there, their brains couldn't quite process the visual data.

A trembling Old Third reached out and pointed at the still-in-construction terrace at the side as he said, "Just now, I seemed… to have seen… Boss's… corpse over there…"

"F*ck, shut the hell up!" Old Second bellowed, his voice hoarse. He had also seen it, but he didn't dare to voice the truth.

The boss was the Jack Gang's banner and pillar of support. If he died, one could say that the Jack Gang would be destroyed in a mere instant and split among the other forces covetously eyeing them in the vicinity.

What made it even worse was that with the boss dead, the thugs would enter a state of disunity.

Everyone's minds were completely blank now. They only had one thought in their minds now: Just what had happened… in the Jack Gang… after they had left?!

Old Second was the boldest among them. He stepped forward and took a stride toward the hall.

Right at this point, a voice rang out in the dark. "All of you have finally returned."

The voice directly caused everyone's incredibly tensed up emotions to snap and break.

Whoosh!

Practically at the same time, all the Jack Gang members pulled out the pistols resting at their waists. At the same time, everyone's countenances drastically changed once more!

On top of fear and alarm was still fear and alarm!