Chapter 2141: Alliances Begin
On Bi'an Bridge, many prisoners stood by the railing and began jumping into the river again!
Only this time, their expressions weren't strained; on the contrary, they looked somewhat expectant!
The effect of Dali lasted for three days, and it was still active now!
Ordinarily, going into the river meant suffering, but now with Dali's effect boosting them!
For the prisoners, going into the river was like training and striking it rich—why would they resist?
With the sound of *plop plop*, prisoners jumped into the water one after another!
They still turned back to look at Jiangnan with envy.
At this moment, Jiangnan, Wang Youzhi, and the other two sat in a row on reclining chairs on Bi'an Bridge!
They had even changed out of their prison uniforms into floral shorts and floral shirts, with sunglasses on their faces!
An umbrella for shelter stood above their heads, and several prison guards were rubbing their shoulders and massaging their legs around them!
Jiangnan casually took a sip of the iced juice placed on the table beside him, looking thoroughly satisfied.
(〃▀̿↼▀̿)
Wang Youzhi and Chong Dajiang wore expressions of bliss—this was what life was all about!
(๑⁼̴ꇴ⁼̴)ຈꇴຈ)
After a brief stint in prison, they had finally turned the tables and come out on top!
Only Hei Gang, lying on his rocking chair, trembled in fear and kept sweating.
(꒪﹏꒪●‧̣̥̇) Hey hey hey!
Do I really deserve such treatment?
Seven or eight prison guards, sweating profusely with bulging veins on their foreheads, surrounded Hei Gang, pounding his face and legs, hammering with a loud clang!
Pinching so hard that sparks flew!
Hei Gang gritted his teeth and endured, not daring to make a sound.
(▼ヘ▼ꐦ) "Bro? You're from the Metal Clan, you should be tough, right? How's my strength? Should I use more force?"
Hei Gang wiped the metallic juice squeezed from his mouth:
(Ϡ)･ˇཀˇ･) "N-no need. This strength is enough, ah-ha, aha-ha..."
Don't you guys have some personal grudge in this?
Is this a back massage or blacksmithing? Why don't you use that force on Boss Nan Dazhi?
Am I really that low on the totem pole?
Meanwhile, Bing Chacha and Ye Hua stood behind Jiangnan, waiting, their teeth nearly ground to powder!
They had never enjoyed such treatment!
Jiangnan reached out his little hand!
(▀̿◡▀̿◦)っ
Bing Chacha forced a dry laugh:
(⌒ㅂ⌒ꐦ) "W-what else do you want?"
Jiangnan glared: (￢～￢) "What do you think? Sunflower seeds, of course! Without sunflower seeds, I can't remember any clues!"
Bing Chacha: ???
What the hell are sunflower seeds? Snacks? Or something else?
In this vast starry sky, where am I supposed to find you sunflower seeds to crack?
(°﹏°〃) "How about lotus seeds? They're pretty tasty too!"
Jiangnan waved his hand impatiently:
(▀̿～▀̿๑)ﾂ "Alright, alright. Make it spiced ones. That'll do for now."
[From Bing Chacha: Resentment +1006!]
"Go! Bring me some Qia Qia lotus seeds!"
After a short while, Bing Chacha brought a basin of lotus seeds.
Jiangnan grabbed his Small Whip and started cracking them, casting a sidelong glance at Ye Hua.
(￢～￢) "Come here and take it. Don't you have any sense of occasion?"
Ye Hua: (ꐦʘ̆益ʘ̆ꐦ)
"That's going too far! You've only got Lord Bing Chacha under your thumb, not me. Why should I—"
Jiangnan: (〃•᷄↼•᷅) "Oh? Want me to get you under my thumb too?"
Ye Hua instantly dashed over in a flash step, dropped to one knee, and raised both hands.
ዽ "Here—Lord Jiangnan, spit the lotus seed skins here. Do you need me to crack them open for you?"
Jiangnan grinned: "You've got the right idea! That's more like it!"
With that, he tossed the lotus seed skin onto Ye Hua's hand.
[From Ye Hua: Resentment +1009!]
Bing Chacha forced a smile:
(⌒⌣⌒ꐦ) "You've vented your anger, and I've agreed to your demands. So how about giving me the clue?"
"As long as you can restore me to my original state, I promise! In this Ming He Death Prison, you're number one, and I'm number two! Whatever you say, I won't say otherwise!"
"From now on, this Ming He Death Prison will be your second home!"
Jiangnan pursed his lips—give? Give my ass! If I give it to him, he'll send me straight to the ICU and throw an ICU resurrection match!
He hadn't had enough of the good life yet.
Jiangnan stood up and stretched lazily.
"Giving you the clue isn't out of the question, but I have to test you for a while to see if you're sincere, right?"
"So, do your best to perform, Brother Chacha."
"I'm going for a swim. Oh, and by the way—when I come ashore in the evening, I want all prisoners to have a sip of iced fruit-flavored beer to relieve their fatigue. That's not too much to ask, is it?"
Bing Chacha's eyes widened—you're cracking sunflower seeds, and now you want beer?
Why don't you just ascend to heaven?
(ꐦÒ益Ó) "It's...it's a small matter! Beer? I'll arrange it right away!"
Jiangnan's lips curled into a smirk:
(๑¯ิ↼¯ิ) "Before bedtime, I want an extra three hours of free time in the male prison ward. That's also not too much, right?"
[From Bing Chacha: Resentment +1009!]
[From...]
(ꐦÒ口Óꐦ) "How is that not too much? That's outrageously too much! Jiangnan, don't get too cocky—"
Jiangnan: (O•̫᷄•᷅) "Oh? Didn't someone just say that I'm number one and he's number two, and whatever I say, he won't say otherwise?"
"What? I've barely made a few tiny requests, and you can't handle it? Seems like your heart isn't all that sincere."
Bing Chacha's face nearly turned green:
(︶益︶ꐦ) "At most! My authority allows at most two hours! From 10 PM to midnight! Is that acceptable?"
Jiangnan smiled: "Deal! In exchange, I can clearly tell you that I can restore you to your original state, but only I can do it."
With that, Jiangnan performed a 720-degree forward somersault dive into the water with zero splash.
Seeing Jiangnan jump into the river, Bing Chacha's expression completely darkened.
Wang Youzhi broke out in a cold sweat and quickly led Chong Dajiang and Hei Gang into the river too—otherwise, if Brother Chacha got furious and took it out on them, that would be bad.
Before leaving, he even grabbed a few handfuls of lotus seeds and stuffed them in his pocket.
Ye Hua pounded his chest in frustration:
(damn itꐦ) "Sir! Are we really going to go along with Jiangnan? He's obviously playing you for a fool!"
"Damn it, I want to beat him up so badly! Even if we do what he says, he might not give it back! This..."
Bing Chacha's eyes burned with hatred: "What else can we do? Can't kill him, can't hit him!"
"This kid has too many secrets. Just the Dali formula alone has already hooked the warden's heart!"
"But the warden's patience has limits. Jiangnan can't keep it bottled up forever. If we can't get it, we might as well destroy it!"
"Let him be arrogant for a few more days. As long as he's in this Ming He Star Domain, no matter how amazing Jiangnan is, he can't stir up any waves!"
"Go! Get that beer! What flavor did he say he wanted again?"
...
After getting rid of Bing Chacha for now, Jiangnan jumped into the water. Instantly, his body was washed with Stygian energy and blood, dyeing the river red.
But Jiangnan didn't care; he was about to proceed with the next action.
Then he saw Sa Mo and Bo Deng leading a group of Bully Gang underlings, surrounding Jiangnan.
Jiangnan grinned: "What? Haven't had enough beatings? Want to test your skills again?"
Bo Deng said gloomily: "Come on! Boss Nan Shen, please spare us. At this point, we can still tell who's the big boss and who's the little guy!"
"Brother Ta Luo invites you over—he has important matters to discuss!"
"This talk is quite critical, so it's better to keep it discreet."
With that, he gestured with his eyes toward Bi'an Bridge on the Styx River.
Jiangnan's lips curled into a faint smile—using the word "invite," huh?
Leaving aside everything else, he liked this attitude.
"Then...shall we go?"
With that, the group swam toward the undercurrent whirlpool in the depths of the Styx River.
At the center of the whirlpool, Ta Luo and Suo Na were already waiting.
Action-figure-sized Ta Luo sat on Suo Na's head, looking somewhat uneasy.
Seeing Jiangnan approach, he let out a long sigh of relief.
Jiangnan got straight to the point:
(๑•̌～•̑)ˀ̣ˀ̣ "What's up? I heard you wanted to see me?"
Ta Luo opened his mouth but then started stammering on the spot.
ጿ "I...well...actually before...you he...I still..."
Jiangnan: (≖_≖)...
Did you forget your lines?
Suo Na rolled his eyes:
(꒪ัд꒪ั♫) "Forget it. Three mouths can't get out a complete sentence."
"Here's the deal: after some contact, my boss thinks you're pretty badass and he can't beat you, so he wants to apologize for earlier."
"He wants to know if you'd consider letting bygones be bygones, and then see if there's a chance to cooperate."
"He's too embarrassed to say it outright—can't swallow his pride. Right, boss?"
Ta Luo's face darkened—did you have to be so blunt?
He hasn't even agreed yet, and you're already calling him boss?
Are you that eager to become his underling?
Don't I have any face left?
Ta Luo blushed on all three faces: "That's about it."
Jiangnan burst out laughing.
"This underling of yours is pretty good—straight to the point! To be honest, there was never really a grudge. Even if there was, it's settled."
"We're all here doing time. Fellow sufferers have nothing that can't be overcome."
"Uniting against external threats is always better than internal conflict. Under the current circumstances, we have a common enemy, don't we?"
Hearing this, Sa Mo and Bo Deng breathed a sigh of relief—there was hope for their happiness!
Wang Youzhi chuckled darkly, knowing that Jiangnan was about to stir up trouble again.
Forging alliances—that was Jiangnan's specialty.
After all, he himself had been tricked onto Jiangnan's boat back then.
Suo Na's eyes lit up: (♫✧∇✧) "Boss Nan Shen? You mean we can cooperate now?"
Ta Luo gritted his teeth and slammed a fist on Suo Na's crown.
(งᵒ̌皿ᵒ̌)ง "Shut up! Let me talk! Am I the boss or are you the boss?"
Suo Na held his head, shrugged, and gestured for him to proceed.
Ta Luo opened his mouth, then finally raised an eyebrow:
(๑◔д◔ิ) "Mm...hm?"
Jiangnan: (≖_≖)
Mm-hm your sister!
Jiangnan shook his head and grinned: "Sorry. I'm not talking about cooperation. I'm talking about incorporation!"
"From today onward, I'll be the boss of the Bully Gang. How about that?"
The moment these words were spoken, Ta Luo's gaze sharpened, and Sa Mo and Bo Deng's hearts leaped into their throats!