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Chapter 338: Chapter 276: Forming an Alliance (Seeking Subscriptions!)_1
Half past eight in the evening.
Bangkok.
The residence of Mayor Kun Thai.
In the luxurious study on the second floor, Kun Thai was pacing back and forth with his hands behind his back. At this moment, his mind was filled with thoughts about the recent chaos within the underground forces of Bangkok. Particularly, the fire incident at the archives room of the Bangkok City Police Station today had drawn his attention back to the strange changes happening within the underworld forces. He sensed a whiff of conspiracy in the air.
Despite lacking in hard, factual evidence like Phipa, the succinctly weird situation had allowed him to notice way too many irregularities. But doubts remain doubts and speculations stay as speculation. He only thought briefly about it before moving on. After all, he doesn’t have any significant stake with these underground forces, in fact, they were his opposition. The more of them that died, the better.
Kun Thai had long wanted to clear up the turmoil in Bangkok.
His family was not short of money, and he wanted to achieve something during his tenure as mayor, to punish the evil and promote justice. However, his plans were thwarted right at the beginning, all due to a small trick or a carefully staged scheme cooked up by Phipa, causing his cleansing plan to be prematurely aborted.
The latest news indicated that the conflicts among Bangkok’s underground forces had subsided, and a stable balance of power among four major forces was swiftly established. One of the forces even publicly announced that there would be no more trafficking of contraband in his area, and others were strictly forbidden from carrying out trades in his territory. Those who defied were made an example of, some were injured, some were left handicapped, while others went missing. Such ruthless tactics intimidated many traffickers who harbored intentions to rise from the ashes.
However, this development was just as well, as it fulfilled his initial intention and accomplished what he wanted to do but could not. He couldn’t help but feel a trace of admiration, giving an inward thumbs-up.
That’s one of the reasons why the Command Room dared to act as such. Tang Qing’s orders and power played major roles; however, another critical factor was that Bangkok’s upper class simply didn’t care about such a small-time affair which only caused conflict among the lower class. In the present situation, the upper class of Bangkok would rather sit back and watch the competition. It doesn’t matter who wins or loses.
Just as Kun Thai was preparing to find time to talk to the heads of the opposing forces, the sound of knocking echoed.
"Knock knock knock..."
"Come in," said Kun Thai.
"Master, there is someone outside seeking an audience," the butler respectfully said as he walked into the room.
"Who?" Kun Thai looked puzzled. An unannounced visitor? It had been a long time since someone approached him this way.
"Master, it’s a young man, says he has an important matter to discuss with you. He did not share any details about himself, but anyone who can enter here can’t be an everyday person. He handed me an item, saying that you would meet him." The butler handed over a package that had already been unwrapped, it appeared to contain a videotape. Kun Thai, as the mayor, always had to inspect things sent to him, otherwise, were it not for the tight security here, which ordinary people simply cannot pass, he would never have passed on the item.
What was this?
Kun Thai took the videotapes from the butler, and upon seeing the markings on it, his hands trembled, almost dropping it. That’s because this was the very scandalous evidence that Phipa held. The markings on it were unmistakable. He had seen this very original tape when he was threatened by Phipa before.
Phipa took a deep breath.
Out of the frying pan into the fire, he thought Phipa’s death would mean the evidence would remain hidden. Unexpectedly it had abruptly appeared before him right now, catching him off guard.
"Bring him to the reception room, I’ll be there in a moment," Kun Thai instructed.
"Yes, sir."
The butler afterward excused himself and closed the door behind him.
Kun Thai was left alone in his study, lost in thought.
Examining carefully the videotape in his hands, Kun Thai checked its contents before keeping it in his drawer, planning to destroy it later.
He didn’t know who this visitor was or whether there were more copies of the tapes.
Was he here to ask a favor?
Or ask for a ransom?
Or perhaps he had some other motive.
Kun Thai remained in his study and gave it a lot of thought. In the end, he realized that he had nothing but guesses.
Whatever it was, he would meet the visitor first. He’d cross the bridge when he got to it. 𝓃𝓸𝓋𝓹𝓾𝓫.𝒸ℴ𝓶
After that, Kun Thai headed to the reception room. His two personal bodyguards were sent out as the discussion with the visitor was too confidential for the bodyguards to listen.
As he saw the visitor sitting in the chair, showing neither humility nor arrogance but calmness and confidence, Kun Thai, who was already nervous, became more anxious. Years of experience told him that a calm adversary was the most formidable.
Sitting down, Kun Thai stared at the young man in front of him and said straightforwardly, "Alright, who are you, and what are you looking for from me?"
The visitor was naturally the Fighter. His purpose was to secure Kun Thai’s support. Currently, they were still consolidating their power and needed backing, and Kun Thai was an excellent choice. Apart from him, there were other people who were part of Phipa’s ’legacy’.
Of course, the kind of support the Fighter needed was not assistance, but simply for them to not actively suppress his group. If there were any actions planned against them, they needed to be informed beforehand. As for other matters, there really was no need for people like Kun Thai to step in.
"Greetings, my identity is not important. The important part is the matter we are about to discuss," said the Fighter.
"What’s the matter?" Kun Thai asked with a frown. Holding this in front of him, he naturally associated it with the force that had taken out Phipa, with nearly a hundred percent certainty.
"Don’t worry, Mayor Kun Thai, we just hope to have your support, and incidentally, we’d like to make friends with you," Fighter said slowly.
"Was it you who killed Phipa?" Kun Thai asked, without answering Fighter’s question.
"I don’t know who Phipa is. This videotape was simply something we happened upon," Fighter nonchalantly lied. A warrior skilled in subterfuge, Fighter didn’t need orders from Command Room. Lying was a basic skill in his repertoire.
Picked it up?
You’re kidding me, right?
"In your dreams! You think you picked up an apple off the side of the road? There’s absolutely no way. Phipa was definitely killed by you lot, a group of murderers," Kun Thai scoffed inwardly.
"Do you take me for a child? You guys killed Phipa and have the gall to come waltzing in here. I won’t submit to you," Kun Thai said coldly. The things he had done for Phipa were all trivial matters, at most a little unpleasant. He would never commit a crime, he had huge aspirations, and didn’t want to be dragged down by these desperadoes.
To think they were trying to threaten me with this little thing?
Keep dreaming.
"Mayor Kun Thai, please be assured, we won’t make things difficult for you. We just hope that you won’t pick a fight with us in the future. Moreover, we’ve only been doing what you want," Fighter explained.
"What I want? What do you mean?" Kun Thai was perplexed.
"Moving forward, in our territories, there’ll be no ’flour’. We’ll make it disappear without a trace," Fighter nonchalantly declared.
"What? So you are the ones..." said Kun Thai, flabbergasted. He honestly never thought that it would be this force that killed Phipa. So, does that mean everything that had happened before was just... muddying the waters?
"Hmm," Fighter nodded, confirming it.
Kun Thai was no fool. Once the pieces fell into place, he guessed the rough course of events. This group had orchestrated all the conflicts in Bangkok during that time. The ones that had died... they were merely pawns, sacrificed to achieve their goal of muddying the waters.
From the looks of it now, they had already tied up loose ends and came to him, wanting to consolidate their interests.
Kun Thai took a deep breath.
He suppressed the faint fear in his heart. Although he too was a master of conspiracy, such a precise, ruthless, and perfect plan gave him palpitations when he thought of it. His gaze at Fighter changed as well - this group was terrifying, that was his only feeling at the moment.
"What is your objective?" Kun Thai asked solemnly.
"Nothing much. We’re just a group of people who don’t want to go on being underdogs. As times change, we also need to change. We also want a bit less evil in this world," Fighter explained.
After hearing Fighter’s words, Kun Thai didn’t say anything. He looked at Fighter’s face and remained silent for a few seconds, then said, "Alright, I believe you."
But in his heart, he was thinking: How can I believe you so easily? No way. However, he couldn’t bluntly express his disbelief either. Now he considered this force even more dangerous than Phipa’s crew. But he wasn’t afraid. They had no conflicting interests, so what was there to fear?
After the conversation, Fighter didn’t mention anything about exchanging benefits with Kun Thai. In their recent investigation, Command Room had begun to understand Kun Thai’s background. He was not lacking money and just as importantly, he was ambitious and yearned for societal change. While not exactly righteous, he was no villain either, hence why they kindly negotiated the terms with him. Unlike with others who were utterly corrupt, which Fighter would deal with fiercely – his methods against them would bring tears to both listeners and tellers alike – anything but sensitive.
Bribery – this low-grade scheme was not suitable for a man like Kun Thai.
After Fighter made his exit,
Kun Thai stood by the window, watching Fighter briskly walk away. A hint of a smile appeared at the corner of his mouth, and he murmured to himself,
"Things are getting really interesting."
Fighter’s composed demeanor and the potential revelation of the group’s unknown motives intrigued him. Especially Fighter’s gait and stride frequency, which were obviously the results of strict training. Many theories started to flash through his mind.
"Let’s see how you manage to stick it out. Even if I and the official bodies don’t cause trouble for you, many others will. Let’s see if you can stand your ground. If you do, you might be in for a surprise," Kun Thai quietly said to himself. Those who were cut-off by this force were desperate fugitives. Although they were initially intimidated, they may be planning their revenge. Whether the other party could weather the storm was still a mystery. He was rather looking forward to seeing this emerging group struggle with the established underworld interest groups.
He really hoped this group would win.
A new era.
Needs fresh blood and new ideas.
He had a hunch that this force was going to bring him a lot of surprises and could possibly even help him further his own ambitions. Hence, he constantly pondered over how he could use them to maximize his own interests.
Utilization, of course, is always mutual.
...
PS: Please don’t take some of the content too seriously. In order to avoid triggering anything, Mouse has had to fictionalize and idealize some things. The third Chapter will definitely be updated around midnight, I don’t want to push it off until tomorrow,
