Chapter 263 - 28: No Hope

"I’m one of the Foreigners, but I don’t work for my uncle. To be precise, I work for the traditional Mafia in Sisyphus. My true Godfather is my grandfather—my uncle’s father."

Biting open the cap of the rum bottle on the bedside table, the nephew took a large swig and continued, "After my uncle came here, his power expanded too quickly. Before long, he had the second-largest gang. If he continues with the mashed potato business, he’ll likely become the largest."

"Th-that’s..." Cuihua asked nervously.

"Isn’t that a good thing?" Duan Fei voiced the question Cuihua was about to ask.

With a bitter laugh, the nephew said, "Of course it’s great for my uncle, but for the old guard in Sisyphus, it’s unacceptable. They never took my uncle seriously to begin with; sending him here was just a way to get him out of the way. But no one could have imagined he would become this successful."

"But the more successful my uncle becomes, the greater the potential backlash against Sisyphus. They don’t want a branch that grows too big to control, so it’s only natural they’d have me rein him in. So, I burned the warehouse, had someone beat me up, and then claimed I was attacked. By the way, how did you guys know I did it?"

"A guess," Duan Fei said, cradling the doll-like Hancock.

The nephew frowned at Duan Fei, his eyes filled with disbelief.

’Your guess was that spot on? Why don’t you go play the stock market?’

Duan Fei had no intention of explaining that he could basically use cheat codes, so he just continued, "I don’t care about your messy internal politics, and I can’t be bothered to criticize the garbage system in Sisyphus. I only want to ask you one thing: did you see your so-called attackers?"

"I saw them. They were with the Gentlemen’s Association. *Sigh.* My original plan was to have my uncle investigate slowly. Once he traced it back to the Gentlemen’s Association, it would have sparked a conflict between them. A real shame."

"You really are a piece of work."

"I am, but what choice do I have?" the nephew said with a bitter smile. "I deeply respect my uncle, but I can’t disobey the orders from the old guard. Just do me a favor and put a bullet in me. I don’t want to be torn like this anymore."

"You could always convince your uncle to fight his way back to Sisyphus. Once the old guard is locked up, your troubles will be over, won’t they?"

The nephew’s lifeless eyes suddenly lit up.

He clapped his hands together sharply and exclaimed, "Brilliant idea! Why didn’t I think of that? Hold on, I’ll go convince my uncle right now. Thank you so much, Mr. Duan! If you ever need help with anything, just ask."

Then, ignoring his bandages, he threw on some clothes and rushed out the door to go apologize to the Godfather.

When Duan Fei and Cuihua returned to the bar, they were greeted by the sight of the nephew, his face bruised and swollen.

Even though the nephew was already covered in wounds, the Godfather had clearly shown no mercy, having given him a thorough beating with his bare fists.

After having the unconscious nephew carried away, the Godfather looked at Duan Fei, his expression full of apology. "I’m sorry, Mr. Duan. I never expected..."

"It’s all the same to me. Just get me a meeting with the Gentlemen’s Association. I need to get some information from them."

"Uh, does it have to be so urgent?"

"Yes. I’d rather not have any unexpected complications."

"Alright. I owe you one. I’ll contact them for you right now."

Finding a phone, the Godfather personally called a senior member of the Gentlemen’s Association. In a friendly tone, he expressed his desire for a meeting.

Though surprised by the request from the Foreigners, the other party immediately agreed when the Godfather suggested they could all go into the mashed potato business together. They arranged to meet in Chinatown.

After taking a car to Chinatown, Duan Fei and Cuihua were welcomed into a beautiful Western-style mansion. A hostess wearing a cyan qipao then escorted them to the second floor.

As soon as they entered the room, Duan Fei saw a Chinese man sitting at a dining table.

A look of surprise was evident on the man’s face when he saw Duan Fei and Cuihua enter. He rose, clasped his hands in a traditional greeting, and said, "So you are both Chinese as well. A pleasant surprise. Come, please, have a seat."

After inviting Duan Fei and Cuihua to sit, the man said, "I am the chairman of the Gentlemen’s Association. You may call me Chairman Lin. People say our Gentlemen’s Association is full of violent thugs, that we’re a city gang, but that’s just baseless slander. As you can tell from our name, the Gentlemen’s Association wants no part in worldly conflict. We only wish to secure a future for our brothers and sisters who came here with us."

"Chairman, let’s cut the crap. I only have one question. Have you seen a kind of sleazy-looking guy, a certain young lady, or a Maid?"

Chairman Lin’s eyes shifted. He was just about to start fishing for information, looking to leverage the situation for some personal gain, when someone called out, "Duan Someone?"

"Bystander A?"

Bystander A walked in through the doorway and looked at Duan Fei in pleasant surprise. "Didn’t expect to see you here! You’re in this instance too? Hang on a sec, let me turn in my quest, then we can catch up."

Turning to Chairman Lin, Bystander A reported methodically, "Over a dozen types of snacks have been secretly released. Right now, it looks like the Kung Pao chicken and mapo tofu are the most popular. However, the locals here have a sweeter palate, so we’ll need to make some adjustments. From a cost perspective, I think the Kung Pao chicken is more suitable. The problem is, it’s highly dependent on the chef, so scaling up the promotion will take more work."

"Mm, I understand," Chairman Lin nodded. "But between those two and the mashed potatoes, which is better?"

"*Sigh...*"

Bystander A let out a long sigh. "That stuff is on another level. I tried some, and ours really can’t compare. Besides, the Foreigners who make it already have connections to the government, which makes them even harder to deal with. So, we could take a different approach: kidnap or kill their cook. We’d cut off their supply at the source, which would make things much easier. By the way, I forgot to ask, Chairman Lin, how did you get in contact with Duan Someone and Cuihua?"

"They’re the ones who make the mashed potatoes."

"*Hiss...*"

Hearing this, Bystander A could only shake his head and sigh. "Then forget it. This business is dead in the water."

"Not even you, Bystander A?" Chairman Lin asked in surprise.

"The guy’s not all there. *Sigh.* The moment I saw that... unnatural thing, I knew this job was going to be a tough one."

Watching Bystander A sighing dramatically, Duan Fei decided he would kill him the first chance he got.

’That’s what you get for bad-mouthing me!’