Chapter 1: Revenge

　　D City.

　　James Carter stood in a dark and filthy alley, his eyes fixed intently on the magnificent Datang Imperial Hotel across the street.

　　The Datang Imperial Hotel is the second five-star hotel in D City, a well-established and renowned hotel with forty-two floors. Its grand facade is spacious and imposing, dominated by golden tones, exuding a majestic atmosphere, truly reminiscent of an ancient imperial palace.

　　However, the wealth and splendor of the Datang Imperial Hotel clearly did not extend to the small alley across from it.

　　The alley was long and narrow, dark and damp inside, with dirty water flowing on the ground, trash everywhere, and a nauseating stench of rot filling the air.

　　Standing there, James Carter seemed completely unfazed, his attention focused solely on the hotel entrance across the street.

　　It was already past midnight, and he was waiting here for someone—a man nicknamed Edward King, a notorious local thug.

　　James Carter was just a first-year high school student, while Edward King was a locally infamous gangster. The two of them should have had nothing to do with each other, but now, hatred had brought them together.

　　Thinking of his childhood friend and companion who had died at the hands of Edward King, a terrifying gleam flashed in James Carter's eyes, and his hand instinctively reached into his crossbody schoolbag.

　　Inside was a knife he had bought after school—a watermelon knife.

　　He knew that Edward King was currently inside the Datang Imperial Hotel, with only a few henchmen around him. This was the best, and perhaps the only, chance to avenge his brother.

　　He couldn't be sure if he would succeed; the only thing he was certain of was that the living must do something for the dead.

　　He had already waited here for more than four hours, but he didn't feel tired at all. Or rather, his nerves were so tense and his mind so focused that he couldn't feel fatigue.

　　At half past midnight, there were very few cars and pedestrians on the street. Even the Datang Imperial Hotel, which was bustling during the day, now seemed deserted.

　　At that moment, a group of people walked out of the hotel's revolving glass door—three men and one woman. The woman was dressed provocatively, with heavy makeup, wearing a black sequined tank top and a miniskirt so short it was almost revealing.

　　The three men were all burly and broad-shouldered. The man in the center looked to be just over thirty, not very tall—about 1.6 meters—shorter than the woman beside him, but his build was thick and muscular. His exposed arms were thicker than the woman's calves. Looking up, his shiny bald head was especially eye-catching, with short, bushy eyebrows like two caterpillars crawling on his face, small eyes below, a flat nose, and a lion-like mouth. As he walked, the flesh on his face trembled with each step.

　　After leaving the hotel, the four of them laughed and chatted as they walked to the roadside. One of the men grinned and said, "Second Brother, wait here for a bit, I'll go get the car."

　　"Go on, go on," the bald man waved impatiently, his attention all on the woman beside him.

　　Seeing them, James Carter in the alley immediately clenched his fists, his breathing growing heavier. He narrowed his eyes, not stepping out right away, but quietly watched as the man went to get the car and walked farther away. Only then did he step out of the alley.

　　He strode across the empty street, heading straight for the two men and one woman, his hand in his schoolbag gripping the knife even tighter.

　　The three people across the street glanced at him, but their eyes quickly moved on.

　　James Carter looked ordinary—average height, thin build, fair skin, and young. It was obvious he was a student. Who would pay extra attention to an ordinary student?

　　When he reached the middle of the street, he pulled his hand out of his schoolbag, tightly gripping a watermelon knife wrapped securely in newspaper.

　　At this moment, the bald man was flirting and joking with the woman, while the other man stood by, laughing along and occasionally chiming in.

　　None of the three expected that the inconspicuous student, upon approaching them, would suddenly thrust the bundle of newspaper in his hand at the bald man's abdomen, letting out a hoarse shout at the same time.

　　But what James Carter didn't expect was that, despite using all his strength, the watermelon knife hidden in the newspaper didn't even pierce the man's body, nor did it break through the newspaper wrapping.

　　The bald man first slowly lowered his head to look at the bundle of newspaper pressed against his stomach. Then, he slowly raised his head, his gaze falling on James Carter's face. Without warning, he raised his hand and slapped James Carter across the face, cursing, "Fuck your mother."

　　He put his full strength into that slap, sending James Carter stumbling several steps sideways before he fell to the ground, landing hard on his backside. The watermelon knife in his hand also fell to the ground.