31: Chapter 31: A Head-on Confrontation with David's Men!

The moment Lin Chen's fingertip swiped across the futures market confirmation button, two straight black figures had already blocked the path ahead as silently as ghosts.

Two men, dressed in suits and shiny leather shoes, their expressionless faces beneath meticulous hairstyles. They stood at the edge of the swaying halo of warm yellow lanterns, blocking Lin Chen and Li Wei at Chinatown's somewhat deserted intersection, their postures arrogant and their gazes condescending, filled with cold scrutiny.

The evening breeze blew through the streets, swirling a few withered leaves; the lingering aroma of food in the air hadn't dissipated yet, but a hint of confrontational tension was suddenly mixed in.

Almost instinctively, Li Wei stepped across to shield Lin Chen, his muscles tensed and his eyes sharp as knives: "Move!"

The man in the suit on the left let out a short sneer, his gaze sweeping over Li Wei as if he were roadside trash, finally fixing on Lin Chen's face: "Get lost, small fry. We're looking for Lin Chen."

"I am." Lin Chen raised his hand, gently pushing Li Wei to his side as he stepped forward. His expression was calm, meeting the other party's gaze without flinching, "David's men?"

"I'll give you credit for having some insight." The man on the right tilted his chin, his tone haughty, "I heard you've been buying up a lot of run-down houses in the Slum District?"

"Legal business, why not?" As Lin Chen spoke, his fingertips quickly tapped the side of the phone in his pants pocket, activating a preset emergency contact code. A message was sent: [Encountered suspected interception by David's underlings, two people, testing the waters.]

"Why not?" The man in the suit on the left acted as if he'd heard a joke, taking half a step forward and lowering his voice, full of threat, "You dare reach for something Mr. David has his eyes on? Kid, I advise you to stop immediately and honestly spit out what you've already swallowed. Otherwise..."

"Otherwise what?" Lin Chen interrupted him, his voice suddenly turning cold, "In the Slum District, whoever negotiates a deal for a house gets it. No matter how long Mr. David's reach is, he can't control how I, Lin, spend my money."

"You're fucking looking for death!" The man on the left was provoked and suddenly reached out to grab Lin Chen's collar.

Just a moment before his fingers touched the fabric, a hand like an iron clamp reached out from the side and firmly gripped his wrist.

It was Li Wei. His movements were as fast as lightning, his five fingers tightening with such force that the man in the suit instantly turned pale and cried out in pain.

"Touching Brother Chen? Did you ask me first!" Li Wei's eyes were fierce, his other hand already clenched into a fist.

Seeing his companion restrained, the man on the right shouted and threw a punch at Li Wei's face. Lin Chen was faster, stepping half a pace to the side, seemingly casually raising his hand to deflect the punch and using the momentum to lift and shove the man's elbow.

The man in the suit only felt a clever force transmit through him; he lost his balance and stumbled backward, falling onto the stone road with a "thump," his expensive suit covered in dust, looking pathetic.

"Useless." Lin Chen withdrew his hand, his cold gaze sweeping over the two of them, "With just you two, you're worthy of delivering a message? Scram back and tell David that I'm definitely taking those houses. If he has the ability, let him come and get them himself."

The man whose wrist was held by Li Wei was dripping with cold sweat from the pain; looking at his groaning companion on the ground, the murderous look in his eyes was finally replaced by fear. He broke free from Li Wei's hand, stumbled back, helped his companion up, glared fiercely at Lin Chen, and squeezed out the words through his teeth: "Good... very good! Lin Chen, you wait! Mr. David won't let you off!"

The two supported each other and fled into the depths of the dark alley with unsteady steps.

"Pah! What trash!" Li Wei spat and shook his wrist.

"Don't be careless." Lin Chen's face did not relax. He quickly checked his phone; the emergency code had received a reply, brief and clear: [Identity confirmed, low-level lackeys of David. David is sweeping up properties in the Slum District regardless of cost; conflict is inevitable. Watch out for his subsequent methods, which may be more intense.]

"David is also snatching houses?" Li Wei's face changed when he saw the screen.

"Yes, and he's determined to get them." Lin Chen put away his phone, his eyes sharp, "We have to be one step faster. We must negotiate the intentions for those five houses tonight; we can't wait until tomorrow."

"Go now?" Li Wei looked at the completely dark sky.

"Go now." Lin Chen was decisive, while also glancing at his futures account again—the profit figure had steadily broken through the 300,000 mark, and the upward trend hadn't stopped. This gave him a bit of confidence, but the current land grab allowed for no delay.

The two didn't delay any longer, quickly turning and walking briskly toward the alleys deep in the Slum District that were written on a crumpled piece of paper. The further they went, the darker the lights became and the sparser the voices grew, leaving only the echo of their own footsteps in the narrow passage and the occasional barking of unknown stray dogs in the distance.

"Brother Chen, turn in up ahead and that's the first one." Li Wei lowered his voice, pointing to a fork in the road almost swallowed by shadows.

"I'll take a look first." Lin Chen signaled for him to wait, then slowly approached the alley entrance, listening intently. The alley was dead silent, contrasting with the scattered lights of the nearby Shantytown.

Too quiet.

Just as Lin Chen felt a sense of vigilance and was about to tell Li Wei to back up—

"Argh—!"

A suppressed and painful groan suddenly came from deep within the alley!

It was Li Wei's voice! To scout the way, he had entered the nearby shadows first!

Lin Chen's pupils constricted, and his blood seemed to rush to his head instantly. No longer caring about staying hidden, he lunged into the alley entrance and roared: "Li Wei!"

Under the dim light, Li Wei was seen curled on the ground, one hand tightly clutching his left arm, dark liquid already seeping through his fingers; his face was terrifyingly pale in the shadows. In front of him stood four burly men holding short clubs with sinister expressions. The leader cracked his neck, making a "clack" sound, and grinned, revealing snowy white teeth as he looked at the rushing Lin Chen.

"Lin Chen? We've been waiting for you for a long time." The man's voice was raspy, with a cat-and-mouse-like playfulness, "Mr. David asking you for the houses is giving you face. You didn't want it and even injured our people... then don't blame us for teaching your subordinate a lesson first before having a good 'talk' with you."

The shadows of the clubs flickered under the weak, swaying light at the alley entrance, glinting with a cold light.