Chapter 233: Self-Satisfaction and Sudden Sobriety (Part 2)

Chapter 233 -232: Self-Satisfaction and Sudden Sobriety (Part 2)

“Huh?” Shi Tiexin looked up at Miss Red Skirt, surprised. He hadn’t expected her to say something like that.

“You don’t get it? Everything going your way, your rapid rise through the ranks—it’s all superficial. Let me give you a piece of advice: don’t get too complacent.” Miss Red Skirt’s expression was stern as she met Shi Tiexin’s gaze unflinchingly. “You’re about to face a much more dire situation. I’ll explain it if you want to listen. If not, then forget it.”

Shi Tiexin stopped playing pool and straightened up to look at Miss Red Skirt. His surprise faded, but his youthful pride bristled at her sudden admonishment. After a moment of silence, however, he said in a low voice, “Good medicine is bitter, and unwelcome advice is often the most valuable. Please, enlighten me.”

“Alright.” Miss Red Skirt set down her cue, walked over, and stood shoulder-to-shoulder with Shi Tiexin before leaning back against the edge of the pool table. The leather she wore accentuated her long, slender legs.

They stood about two fists’ lengths apart—not too close, yet not distant. Communicating shoulder-to-shoulder like this gave the subconscious impression that they were on the same side. As he caught the faint, pleasant scent wafting from her, Shi Tiexin’s earlier displeasure melted away.

“Tokyo is a lawless place right now, but compared to the truly chaotic regions of South America, it’s far more orderly. The government here has basically lost all control, yet the security situation hasn’t deteriorated to the point of being unlivable for the residents, and shootings aren’t all that common.”

“Do you know why?”

The question Miss Red Skirt posed made Shi Tiexin want to scratch his head.

He had never considered the question.

Even if he had, he wouldn’t have been able to figure out the answer with his limited experience. But Miss Red Skirt was right; Tokyo was lawless, but the level of violence in gang fights wasn’t particularly high. Shootings like those committed by Death Fire weren’t common on the streets, and the members of New Rangyi only carried Samurai Swords, not submachine guns.

A truly lawless place shouldn’t be like this.

Shi Tiexin looked at Miss Red Skirt.

Miss Red Skirt then gave him a very surprising answer.

“Because they don’t dare.”

“They don’t dare?”

“That’s right. There are many reasons for the current state of society. It’s too complex to explain quickly. But a very important factor is mutual restraint and a fear of Eastern and Western military powers.”

“Think about it. Who are the people coming to Japan to get into the underworld these days? They’re all failures who couldn’t make it in their own countries, or they’re just opportunists with no real backing.”

“My words may be harsh, but it’s the truth. The powerful figures here who seem to call all the shots are actually just failures who fled here to survive, or gamblers with worthless lives they don’t mind throwing away. The Ouyang brothers of the Hongshun Society are failures. And your direct superior… heh, he’s a gambler.”

“And failures make up the vast majority of the upper echelons of power here. Because even as failures, they’re still much stronger than rootless gamblers.”

“While the Eastern and Western military powers are in a standoff, Japan might look like a no-man’s-land. But is that really true? This was once the world’s second-strongest economy, a place of immense strategic value. The real players are just making their moves from the sidelines; they haven’t officially entered the game yet.”

“Those failures are just surviving in the cracks. A blade hangs over their heads, ready to fall at any moment. They have to be meticulous and tread carefully. In a situation like this, how could they not be terrified? How could they not be cautious?”

“It’s not that people don’t have guns. They just don’t dare use them, and they certainly don’t dare hand them over to madmen.”

“This is a balance all the failures tacitly understand and mutually maintain. They’re here to take refuge, to survive, to make money—not to fight to the death. They’re definitely not going to make too much noise, afraid of being noticed. Even if they have other ambitions, they only scheme in the shadows, never daring to bring things out into the open. That’s why the order in Tokyo is still manageable.”

Hearing her explanation, Shi Tiexin suddenly understood the Da Xing Squad Leader’s mindset. He thought back to that Squad Leader—always so shady, secretive, and timid. He’d always come across as a mediocre good-for-nothing.

Now, after hearing Miss Red Skirt’s explanation, he was starting to understand how these people thought, and he understood the reasons behind the current state of affairs.

“Unfortunately, someone isn’t playing by the usual rules.” Miss Red Skirt looked at Shi Tiexin. “A high-stakes game full of failures was crashed by a reckless gambler who doesn’t care about his own life. And then that gambler flipped the table. For a while, of course, everything went his way. He looked like he was conquering new lands and winning a total victory. But what do you think happens to that gambler next?”

Shi Tiexin said, a little awkwardly, “He’ll probably be targeted by everyone, I guess.”

Wang Dafu had actually mentioned this to him before, but not with the same clarity and thoroughness as Miss Red Skirt. He hadn’t explained the full cause and effect.

“Getting targeted is only part of it, and it’s the least important part.” Miss Red Skirt gave him a look that screamed ‘you’re still so naive’ and wagged a finger. “The real trouble is that Tokyo is an armory. Now that someone has taken the lead, all those weapons that people were afraid to use will be brought out, step by step.”

“There’s no helping it. A successful gambler sets an example for more gamblers, and a captured failure provides a lesson for the rest. If other gamblers want to seize the opportunity to make a score, they’ll have to be ruthless and cunning. If other failures don’t want to sit back and wait to be destroyed, they’ll have no choice but to pull out their guns and fight back.”

“The situation here is so interconnected that pulling a single thread unravels the whole thing. Now that the first thread has been pulled, the whole thing is bound to move.”

“Do you get it now? Right now, you’re flourishing, like oil on a blazing fire—but on the flip side, fortune often conceals disaster. I’ve watched you build your grand mansion and feast your guests, but I don’t want to see it all come crashing down.”

“Because, as you said yourself, you’re not a bad person.”

Miss Red Skirt reached out and patted Shi Tiexin’s shoulder. Then she stood up and went to get her pool cue, as if she had said all she intended to say.

Shi Tiexin didn’t move. He remained leaning against the pool table, deep in thought.

‘Her words aren’t without merit. Even if I don’t believe all of it, most of what she said seems to have substance and rings true.’

For a moment, Shi Tiexin felt a chilling sense of alarm.

‘All these recent promotions, this new territory, the fame on the streets…’ He had to admit to himself that he’d grown complacent. ‘Whom the gods would destroy, they first make mad.’ The consequence of such complacency could be a plunge into the abyss.

Miss Red Skirt’s words had instantly sobered him. Once the initial calm settled in, he couldn’t help but feel a tinge of retroactive fear. ‘If I had kept acting so smugly… what if I ran into a deadly rival again? What if, instead of trading blows with swords and fists, they just opened up with concentrated machine-gun fire? Would my fist techniques be of any use then?’

After thinking for a long time, Shi Tiexin finally turned to Miss Red Skirt and thanked her sincerely. “Thank you for the warning. Speaking of which, with your level of insight, you can’t be an ordinary person.”

“You flatter me. In these chaotic times, doesn’t everyone need a few skills to stay alive?” Miss Red Skirt said it as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. “Besides, for a woman as beautiful as I am, it takes even more perception to live freely.”