Chapter 330: Fists are the Hard Currency Here
Normally, when a person discovers their opponent is more than 15% larger than them, a sane human tends not to provoke them.
And when facing "monsters" whose height was nearly twice their own, and whose arms were thicker than their waists, the Tiger Maw gang members even forgot to run.
No, it wasn't that they forgot; it was just a subconscious choice.
Humans did not always stand at the top of the food chain during their evolution on Earth.
An ancient survival instinct told them that the first one to turn and flee, exposing their back, would surely become the hunting target of a powerful predator.
Their index fingers were on the triggers, but subconsciously, out of fear of retaliation, everyone resisted being the first to shoot.
Whoosh!
Male God flashed, disappearing into the darkness. The white beam of the tactical flashlight followed his movement, but it couldn't keep up.
“Damn it!”
Like the other gang members, Ding Chui was truly panicked now.
He wasn't clumsy at all!
Such a huge physique, coupled with that level of speed and agility just now, even with guns, they were probably screwed—
“Take that!”
Male God charged out of the darkness at full speed, mimicking a WWE move, leaping into a double-leg flying kick.
This move, usually used for performance in reality, unleashed immense power when he executed it.
Bang!
The unlucky fellow who was kicked flew over ten meters like a cannonball, crashed into a wall, and then slumped to the ground, with probably not many bones left intact in his body.
“Ahhh!”
Immediately after, accompanied by a scream, another unlucky fellow was grabbed by Male God by the ankle, hoisted off the ground, and wildly swung around as a melee weapon.
He only managed to let out that one scream before becoming quiet and pliable.
Under the immense external force, his knees and hips immediately dislocated, bones tearing completely out of their sockets. He fainted from the pain on the spot, his two arms and other leg flailing rapidly like whips, and he began foaming at the mouth.
The Tiger Maw gang members struck by this human nunchaku also either flew or fell to the ground, subsequently entering a baby-like sleep.
After knocking out several people, the human nunchaku's arms, spine, and cervical vertebrae successively fractured, becoming too soft, and its striking power significantly decreased.
—“This isn’t working! Although this weapon has a good weight, its durability is too low.”
Male God discarded the victim and began to scout for his next target.
“Which one of you is a bit sturdier?”
The group was scared stiff.
“Shoot him!!!”
Ding Chui was the first to raise his gun and fire, but he discovered with horror that when the bullets hit the monster's body, they actually produced a shower of sparks.
+... We're finished—
For Male God, gunpowder weapons were just an itch.
“Take my thrown weapon!”
Male God picked up the corpse he had just discarded, then spun around in place, like throwing a hammer, and flung the corpse towards Ding Chui.
Ding Chui saw his comrade flying towards him.
In mid-air, the man's neck and limbs were abnormally twisted, his tongue lolling out, his face purplish-red from congestion, and his eyes bulged like light bulbs, making him almost unrecognizable.
Thud!
The two men's helmets violently collided.
Ding Chui took a heavy blow, fell backward to the ground, his head spinning, a severe ringing in his ears, and his neck nearly snapped.
I can’t breathe!
Something salty and greasy flew into his mouth, blocking his throat. Enduring the severe headache, he coughed hard, spitting out the object, and found it was one of the man’s eyeballs that had been flung out.
Ugh!!!!
Under the dual effects of dizziness and nausea, he crawled on the ground and vomited a large puddle, his fighting spirit completely dissipated.
“Alright, time’s up, 17! Let’s go!”
Ye Xing shouted, leading the other players to join the battle.
It turned out that they had just been watching the show from the darkness, betting on how many Male God could take down bare-handed in 30 seconds.
“Yes! I won! Haha, 3000 credits!”
A player in the distance cheered loudly, then happily pulled the trigger of his grenade launcher, watching flesh and blood fly in the gunfire.
“Remember to leave some alive to clean up the battlefield,” Ma Lou reminded.
The 30 gang members remaining outside, hearing the screams and gunshots echoing from the warehouse, all knew something had gone wrong.
Shit, we've been ambushed! Run!
At the same time, Cang Yuan's outdoor team also began to act.
Bang!
Dan Ta, concealed behind a window, had already found her target through the sniper scope and shot off Eagle Feather's neck from 300 meters away.
“There’s no wind here, it’s just too unchallenging!”
The intact head rolled onto the rooftop; its expensive implants could still be salvaged and scanned.
Afterward, she began to pick off the fleeing gang members below, one by one.
Guo Li Cheng also charged out from a side door with her sword. She sprinted at high speed, not activating the weapon's high-temperature mode, relying solely on impact to skewer a Tiger Maw gang thug through the heart.
Under the cooperation of this eating and drinking duo, the fleeing gang members were quickly all taken down.
Thud!
The last person felt a fierce blow to his back, then fell onto the deserted street.
The next second, a greatsword plunged down next to him.
Four people were impaled on it like candied haws; the earliest one was already dead, while the other three were still spitting blood and struggling in agony. “Don’t kill me! I surrender!”
This sole survivor had no thought of resisting.
In just five minutes, the Tiger Maw gang's hundred-man assault team was completely devoured.
The bodies of the gang members were dragged back to the warehouse by the players and put into the 3D printer's material decomposition chamber, to be used as raw material for cultivating player clones.
The surrendered gang captives were disarmed and, trembling, cleaned the bloodstains from the ground under the players' guidance.
Ding Chui, identified as a cadre, was escorted to the interrogation table that had already been prepared.
“Sit still, don’t move.”
Male God, who was on guard, didn't handcuff him, but Ding Chui had no intention of escaping.
Having experienced the battle just now, he trembled all over and nodded obediently.
“Come on, let’s chat.”
Ma Lou and Ye Xing sat opposite him.
Ding Chui felt a little relieved. Compared to the three-meter-tall monster behind him, these two at least seemed more amiable, more… “elegant!”
What Ding Chui actually thought of was "refined," but his level of education didn't support such an advanced vocabulary.
“No problem! Whatever you want to know, I’ll cooperate fully!”
“Then let’s start with you and your gang.”
Ma Lou pushed a glass of water towards him.
“No rush, have a drink first.”
“Thank you—”
Ding Chui rinsed his mouth, intending to spit it out directly, but in the end, he didn't dare.
After an ideological struggle, he still gulped it down.
Ding Chui claimed to be a middle-level cadre in the organization. Through his introduction, the branch players learned that the gangs on Paradise Island were roughly divided into three types. First, street thug groups, who made a living by oppressing civilians, collecting protection fees, and acting as enforcers and desperadoes.
People who joined these small gangs typically didn't live longer than 6 months.
Second, large and medium-sized gangs like the Tiger Maw gang, with thousands of members and accumulated strength, usually did dirty and arduous work for the city's crime magnates. They also controlled some industries, such as food processing, drinking water, construction, and the pornography industry.
Third, on average, one out of every ten such gangs would evolve into a top-tier gang on Paradise Island.
Top-tier gangs would receive the approval and appreciation of the 【Seven Deadly Sins】, and all their members would essentially gain “underworld official status,” beginning to own large industries on Paradise Island such as prosthetic factories, power armor factories, gladiatorial arenas, large casinos, and pharmaceutical factories, thereby acquiring more lucrative ways to make money.
These gangs generally had their own space fighters, gunboats, or even battleships. They either escorted the 【Seven Deadly Sins】' transport convoys or went out to act as pirates, killing and plundering.
When Paradise Island entered a state of war, they transformed into mercenaries hired by the 【Seven Deadly Sins】.
For the vast majority of Paradise Island residents who did not want to be poor laborers and work hard all their lives, this was their only way to climb up.
Even local technical personnel who were naturally intelligent and showed academic talent had to choose one of the many gangs to seek protection if they wanted to survive.
As for Paradise Island's port operations, urban management, shipbuilding, and zero-gravity mining, these were firmly controlled by the 【Seven Deadly Sins】.
These were the true lifelines of the city.
It's no exaggeration to say that on Paradise Island, every industry, every enterprise, and even the management of municipal affairs and security, were, and could only be, run by gangs.
A true city of crime.
“There are also a small number of people who are strong enough and lucky enough to attract the attention of professional intermediaries, who introduce them to very high-paying but also very dangerous jobs,” Ding Chui said.
“They are adventurers, rangers, mercenaries! They don't need to join a gang to live well, but they still have to maintain good relations with the surrounding gangs, otherwise, hmph hmph—no matter how powerful a lone wolf is, they are defenseless when they sleep.”
“Many little punks think they are exceptionally talented and can become such people. After buying a replica jacket of a legendary mercenary, they go around the streets looking for intermediaries, telling them how special they are, begging for work.”
“These kids will definitely be used as cannon fodder. If they’re unlucky, they’ll be sent directly to the mines or for human experimentation, usually not surviving more than two weeks.”
“Then how can one truly be recognized by an intermediary?” Ma Lou asked.
“Either you single-handedly kill the boss of a reasonably powerful gang, or you make a name for yourself in the gladiatorial arena; the latter is faster.”
Ma Lou and Male God exchanged glances.
This path of gladiatorial combat had been confirmed twice by Captain Carter and the local villagers, so it seemed indeed viable.
“How does one become a gladiator?” Ma Lou continued to ask.
“Just sign up for the beginner tournaments; they’re everywhere on the streets,” Ding Chui replied.
“Where’s the nearest one? One that’s a bit higher level, where you can rise through the ranks faster.”
“In our district—that would be the Inverted Cross Plaza, three days from now!”
Good, now they could finally participate.
Although Captain Carter enjoyed watching gladiatorial combat, he had never actually participated. “Last question,” Ye Xing began, “As a middle-level cadre of the gang, do you have any dealings with the ‘Seven Deadly Sins’? Answer truthfully, as this might determine whether you live or die.”
“Yes!”
Ding Chui quickly nodded.
“I have to work two days a week at the Tower of Original Sin, acting as security there! Watching the place! This is what our boss promised Mr. 【Wrath】!”
“Oh? You can pass through their security checkpoints?”
Ye Xing knew that the Tower of Original Sin was the lair of the seven crime magnates.
Its building diameter and height were more than twice that of other skyscrapers in the city, like a giant overlooking all beings.
“I can pass, but—only during my shifts.”
“That’s enough.”
Ye Xing smiled.
“Congratulations, you can temporarily keep your life. Next, you need to tell me your specific work procedures in the Tower of Original Sin, who your colleagues are, what you usually chat about, the more detailed the better. Oh, and also, you need to demonstrate your movements when watching the place.”