Chapter 78

Su Peng walked towards the private room hidden behind a screen. At the entrance of this private room stood four large men, all armed. Seeing Su Peng approach, two of them immediately stepped forward, blocking his path.

"Stop right there. Is this a place for you? Do you recognize this?"

The man blocking Su Peng's way crossed his arms, holding a sheathed long sword. He brandished the sword in his hand and spoke to Su Peng.

"I recognize that thing, but do you recognize this?"

Su Peng said, and as he spoke, he took out Han Tuo's badge and waved it in front of the two large men.

The large man with the sword looked at the badge Su Peng showed, and was momentarily stunned. He turned to look at his brother, the other large man who was also blocking Su Peng's path, who was also at a loss, unsure of what to do.

"Wang Long, Zhao Hu, who's outside?"

At this moment, the person inside the private room seemed to have heard the commotion, and a somewhat lazy voice sounded.

"Reporting to Master Kun, it's a military officer who wants to see you. He has the badge of the deputy commander of the Black Water Army."

"Deputy commander?" The person inside the private room seemed hesitant for a moment, then said, "Please invite this military officer in."

The large man stepped aside and waved to Su Peng, "Please come in, sir."

Su Peng nodded. This was his first time dealing with a gang member in the game, but he wasn't particularly concerned. Entering the private room, he saw four people inside. Two of them looked like merchants, flanking a man in his forties who was dressed in a short-sleeved robe suitable for martial arts practice, holding two iron balls in his hands. Another alluring woman sat in this man's lap.

"Is this the Hall Master Tang Kun of the Four Seas Gang?" Su Peng asked, looking at the scene. He knew that the two merchant-like people had come to seek help from Tang Kun and were discussing matters with him. Su Peng ignored these two and directly asked the man holding the iron balls.

"Of course, it's me, Tang. Military officer, since you've come to the Drunken Immortal Tower, you must have something important to discuss. Please, tell me what I can do for you." Tang Kun said, holding the alluring woman in his arms.

"Very well, I'll be straightforward. I am Su Peng, and I have been ordered by the deputy commander of the Black Water Army to investigate the recent murders of wealthy people in Jiangning County, committed under a false name. I have recently received some intelligence suggesting that the culprit might still be in Jiangning County. My men are insufficient, so I am asking Hall Master Tang Kun to lend me some people to help find suspicious individuals in the city."

Su Peng said to Tang Kun.

"Lend people..." Tang Kun looked up at Su Peng. He seemed to know about the murders of the wealthy merchants in Jiangning County and the murderer who left the name 'Su Peng.' He was now considering whether this man claiming to be Su Peng had a strong enough background to be given such a task, even if someone was framing him.

After a moment's thought, Tang Kun said, "Military officer, if you want me to lend you people, we need to be clear about a few things. I am the Hall Master of the Four Seas Gang, but the Four Seas Gang is not my personal property. There are branch leaders above me and brothers who need to eat below me. I can go hungry to help you, but my brothers can't. I also need to report to the branch leaders. Military officer, can you show some strength and sincerity so that I can help you with confidence?"

"Money?" Su Peng thought, a cold smile forming in his heart. These gang members were just as expected.

"Hall Master Tang Kun, what you're saying is not right. You are an old-timer in Jiangning County, and the Black Water Army is based here. When has the master of Jiangning County ever paid for help?" Su Peng said coldly, not being polite to Tang Kun.

"If that's what you say, I'm afraid I can't help you. Please leave." Tang Kun's eyelids drooped as he spoke to Su Peng.

"Is that so... Ha... I've heard that there have been quite a few conflicts in the western part of the city recently, involving some unknown people and the Pai Gang. I see that the Pai Gang members are all poor and oppressed. It just so happens that some of my Black Water Army brothers have seen these injustices and can't help but want to intervene. How about we go to the western part of the city tomorrow and see who is so unrighteous, bullying these poor people?" Su Peng sat down, poured himself a cup of wine, and said casually.

Tang Kun's drooping eyelids immediately opened, and he glared at Su Peng, "What do you mean?"

Tang Kun was feeling guilty. In the past year, the western part of Jiangning County had expanded, adding thousands of new households. The Four Seas Gang was currently competing with the Pai Gang for control of this new area. Tang Kun had been sent to secure this territory, and the conflict with the Pai Gang was intense, with a few dead bodies found in the sewers every day. He was in a stable position, and once the fighting was over, he could negotiate with the Pai Gang leaders. However, if Su Peng intervened and captured his men, the new area would be handed over to the Pai Gang, and he would be blamed for a major mistake.

"I don't mean anything. I'm just telling you, Hall Master Tang Kun, that while I might not be able to arrest you, Jiangning County is still the territory of the Black Water Army. With any excuse, I can have hundreds of your Four Seas Gang members thrown into the county prison. And you can't even think about resisting; resistance is rebellion. Do you believe I can flatten your Four Seas Gang?"

"You dare!" Tang Kun slammed his hand on the table, furious.

"I do dare. Don't believe me? But can you afford to take the risk?" Su Peng sneered, and Tang Kun was speechless. He himself wouldn't dare to take such a risk, and he didn't know if Su Peng would really do it.

The atmosphere became tense.

Su Peng smiled, poured himself a cup of wine, and took a sip, his expression softening. He spoke in a gentle tone, "Alright, Hall Master Tang, I was just joking. Don't take it so seriously... But in Jiangning County, you should know that the City Lord is the most powerful person, and the Black Water Army is his power. We are all under the same roof. Helping others is helping yourself. If you are willing to help, I will do my best to return the favor when I need it. Whether we are friends or enemies is up to you, Hall Master Tang. Think about it, isn't this just a matter of your word?"

As he spoke, Su Peng took out a piece of paper and placed it on the table, pushing it towards Tang Kun. "The characteristics and key points of the person I'm investigating are all here. What do you say, Hall Master Tang?"

Tang Kun closed his eyes, his eyelids twitching. Finally, he opened them, took the paper, and said in a low, angry voice, "Does Tang Kun dare not to? I'll have news for you in three days at most."

"Very well, Hall Master Tang is indeed a man of the world. I admire you. I have other urgent matters to attend to, so I'll take my leave. When you have news, send someone to the Black Water Army camp to find me." Su Peng nodded, stood up, and gave a casual bow before leaving.

Now, only the two merchants, who were at a loss for words, and Tang Kun, holding the alluring woman, remained.

Tang Kun's eyes were filled with anger. He grabbed the woman's chest, and she felt as if it was being torn off, causing her to scream in pain. Tang Kun was unmoved, and his hand continued to apply pressure, eventually causing the woman to faint from the pain...

Su Peng walked out of the Drunken Immortal Tower, shaking his head and smiling. Subduing a gang leader didn't make him feel proud. To ordinary people, such a gang leader might be someone important, but with the Black Water Army as his backing, it was like a regular army facing a gang, which was laughable. Bullying him gave Su Peng no sense of achievement; his smile was self-mocking.

"I didn't expect I could also bully people with power. It's just that this task of investigating the murderer is a bit tight, otherwise, I wouldn't need these gang members... Well, there's one more."

Su Peng mounted his horse and headed for the Qingxiang Courtyard...

After dealing with the Pai Gang's Hall Master Sun Haichao in the same way, the two largest gangs in the city were now working for Su Peng, fully investigating suspicious individuals. This level of investigation was even more effective than the Black Water Army's search of the docks.

Su Peng found a place to log out of the game, checked the time, and saw it was only a little past eight in the evening.

Stretching, Su Peng felt a bit tired. He remembered that Sun Shijia and Ji Ming had invited him to the lounge to play billiards. He thought he had been under a lot of stress lately and could use some relaxation.

With that in mind, Su Peng left the computer room and headed for the lounge.

When he arrived at the lounge, he found that it was quite crowded, almost full. He saw Sun Shijia sitting on a sofa, drinking a beverage, and watching Ji Ming play billiards with someone he didn't recognize from the company.

Su Peng went to the bar, took a half-dozen beers, and placed them on the coffee table where Sun Shijia was sitting.

"Brother Su!" Sun Shijia greeted Su Peng, who replied, "Aren't you playing?"

"Not enough tables. We take turns. Whoever loses has to step down. I lost a round earlier, so I have to wait for him to finish before I can play again." Sun Shijia said, his face slightly red, indicating he had already had a few drinks.

"Okay." Su Peng nodded and sat on the sofa next to Sun Shijia. Just as Sun Shijia was about to say something, his pocket beeped.

Sun Shijia fished out a phone, the one issued by the company, fiddled with it for a while, and then looked at Su Peng, smiling. "My personal phone has no signal in the company and can't connect to the internet, so I'm using this one. This phone is pretty good, just a bit big."

Su Peng nodded, seeing Sun Shijia place the phone on the table. Su Peng also took out an identical phone from his pocket and placed it on the table, saying, "It is a bit big and not very convenient to use."

In his heart, Su Peng thought that without the size, the weak electrical induction device and other components wouldn't fit.

"Right..." Sun Shijia said. At that moment, Ji Ming called him, and Sun Shijia immediately stood up, saying, "I'm coming," and walked over without even putting his phone away.

Su Peng drank his beer, watching them play a round. Sun Shijia, who was a bit drunk, lost again. He shook his head and said, "I can't do it. My eyes are blurry. Brother Su, you play. I'm going to bed."

"Okay." Su Peng responded, and Sun Shijia picked up a phone from the table and left.

Su Peng didn't plan to play billiards and continued drinking. Suddenly, he heard the 'beep beep beep' of a communication message from the phone on the table.

"Huh?" Su Peng picked up the phone and saw that it was logged into QQ. He realized it wasn't his phone but Sun Shijia's.

"I took the wrong one..." Su Peng thought, but he wasn't in a hurry to get his own back. Although he had modified his phone, it looked the same from the outside and had the same weight, so Sun Shijia wouldn't notice for a while.

Holding Sun Shijia's phone, Su Peng suddenly had an idea and opened the QQ page to see the chat content.

As he read, his eyebrows gradually furrowed...

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