Tianle Billiards Hall had just opened in Minghai City these past few days. The decor was quite impressive, and even though the facilities were of top-notch quality, the prices were even cheaper than those of ordinary billiards halls. As a result, a lot of people came to play there. Moreover, since it was already past seven o'clock, there were even more people inside Tianle Billiards Hall!

A white Jiancheng Haval H6 parked by the roadside was unmistakably not transporting an ordinary person; it was Ye Xiao!

After getting out of the car, Ye Xiao looked up at the Tianle Billiards Hall and couldn't help but smile wryly. Huang Feng really knew how to get things done—using a billiards hall as a cover. Ye Xiao also noticed that there were quite a few people around, some of whom, upon closer inspection, behaved differently from ordinary people. They walked back and forth, and although they looked like ordinary people on the street, they were anything but ordinary!

When Ye Xiao reached the entrance of the Tianle Billiards Hall, a young man approached, standing with his back to Ye Xiao, and whispered, "Brother Xiao, follow me!"

Hearing the man call him Brother Xiao, Ye Xiao knew for sure that it must've been someone arranged by Zhao Dapeng!

So after the man entered the billiards hall, Ye Xiao followed him in right away!

The inside of the hall was bustling with activity. Despite the large space, there were still many people, so nobody noticed when Ye Xiao walked in!

In fact, it was not only Ye Xiao; no one entering would attract any especial attention from others!

Before long, they reached the very back of the billiards hall, and at a small door in a corner, Ye Xiao entered. After passing through two doors, he finally came into a large hall that was no smaller than the outside area but certainly had fewer people!

This was a casino, a bona fide casino with poker, mahjong, pai gow, and many other games one could think of, including the more popular Baccarat.

After entering, Ye Xiao immediately followed the man to an area off-limits to non-employees, guarded by several elite members of the Heavenly Gate.

"Brother Xiao!" As soon as Ye Xiao walked in, everyone in the room turned to look at him. He then saw that there were four people in the room: Zhao Dapeng, Huang Feng, Zhan Bo, and Wei Yang!

Seeing Zhan Bo and Wei Yang there, Ye Xiao smiled and said, "What are you guys doing here?"

Wei Yang immediately responded with a proud smile, "Brother Xiao, I like it here; I feel this is where society truly is. Now, we are the ones running a casino!"

Hearing Wei Yang's words, everyone in the room burst into laughter!

Wei Yang's dream had always been to become a member of society, and thanks to Ye Xiao, Wei Yang had become a well-known member of the Heavenly Gate, serving as deputy chief of the Dragon Head Team.

The Dragon Head Team was indeed a special presence within Heavenly Gate. Previously, the team's members were all from Minghai, but since the establishment of Heavenly Gate, the Dragon Head Team started extending its influence to other areas. With Heavenly Gate as their support, every hoodlum on the territories where Heavenly Gate's power spread would join the Heavenly Gate Leader Team!

At first glance, the Heavenly Gate Leader Team might seem like an easy target, merely a place where children play house, but that was far from the truth. Although the Leader Team's fighting abilities were not reliable, they had connections. Especially the parents of the members from Minghai—very useful for the development of Heavenly Gate. Their parents were spread out in every corner of Minghai City, and there was another crucial aspect: people like Yang Ming from the regional departments gathered by Ye Xiao had also joined Heavenly Gate and were wholly under the Dragon Head Team's command. Thus, although the Dragon Head Team's officials were young, no one in the entire Heavenly Gate dared to underestimate them, including Zhao Dapeng.

Ye Xiao, with a smile, said to Wei Yang, "Is being part of society that exciting?"

"Of course, it's exciting; it's not just about being part of society, it's about a dream!" Wei Yang said earnestly.

Ye Xiao felt that continuing a conversation with this kind of person would twist his own beliefs!

"When is Mr. Li Cangjie coming?" Ye Xiao asked, looking towards Zhao Dapeng.

Zhao Dapeng replied, "He just called and said he's arrived near the casino!"

At that moment, Zhan Bo approached Ye Xiao and, with some disbelief, asked, "Brother Xiao, are you really going to kill Shi Qiang? Isn't that a bit hasty?"

"That's why we need to find someone to replace Shi Qiang," Ye Xiao said with a smile.

"But we haven't had much interaction with Li Cangjie. Can we really trust him?" Zhan Bo asked worriedly.

Ye Xiao answered, "We cannot!"

"Ah?" Hearing Ye Xiao's response, almost everyone was surprised. If they knew they couldn't, why still engage with Li Cangjie?

"But is there a better way to deal with Shi Qiang if we don't contact Li Cangjie now? At least, although I can't ensure that Li Cangjie will be immediately loyal to Heavenly Gate, at least for now, he wouldn't dare to harm Heavenly Gate. The war between Axe Company and Black Dragon Company, I feel, is not being fought viciously enough!" Ye Xiao suddenly said.

Zhao Dapeng was very surprised to hear Ye Xiao's words and said, "Brother Xiao, their battles have been extremely intense already, the police have been forced to patrol every night these past few days!"

Ye Xiao said, "Although Nie Zhen has a good relationship with us, his ideas are ultimately different from ours. What we want to do is to unify Minghai City under Heavenly Gate, but Axe Company will certainly be a stumbling block. To achieve unification, Axe Company must disappear!"

"But doing such a thing, isn't it a bit..." Wei Yang heard Ye Xiao's words and immediately frowned.

"A bit like burning bridges?" Ye Xiao smiled slightly.

Wei Yang didn't speak directly, but his expression indeed told Ye Xiao that that's what he meant.

Ye Xiao chuckled and said, "Of course, I understand. But as the saying goes, 'those not of our mind must not plan with us.' We can assure Nie Zhen of wealth and glory for the second half of his life, but we can't allow him to share the empire with us!"

Wei Yang nodded at Ye Xiao's words and said, "Brother Xiao, I understand now!"

"What should be done? Just discuss and handle it amongst yourselves. Since Heavenly Gate is in your hands, when you're in this society, don't think of yourself as some kind of good guy. You are a bunch of bad guys, of course, a bunch of bad guys with loyalty. I don't need to repeat who I'd be loyal to!" Ye Xiao said.

Zhao Dapeng and the others nodded, enlightened.

At that moment, Ye Xiao looked at Huang Feng and smiled, "Huang Feng, can you tell me how you managed to get the casino to open so much earlier?"

Huang Feng immediately chuckled and said, "Two reasons. The first is connections; even Sun Bin, the second in command, and Yang Ming, the head of the Guard Bureau, are members of our Heavenly Gate. Opening a casino is a piece of cake for us. The second is money; with money, you can make the devil turn the millstones. So, we worked overtime day and night, and the pay for the renovations was very high, which is why the workers worked so quickly and with good quality. This allowed us to open much earlier. However, since it's a casino, we haven't advertised it widely. Otherwise, business would certainly be even better!"

Ye Xiao was caught between laughter and tears. You just can't go too far or be too high-profile; after all, society is such that one can be destroyed by too much exposure, even with the support of Ye Xiao's Flame Dragon Team. If a reporter ever exposed it, the casino would inevitably have to close, with the internet's public opinion being so influential!

Ye Xiao greatly appreciated how Huang Feng had utilized money to its fullest extent.

After talking with these few people for a while, a lackey came in and told them that Li Cangjie had arrived!

Li Cangjie was about forty-five years old and seemed jovial at first glance. But his shrewd eyes told Ye Xiao that Li Cangjie was anything but simple!

Li Cangjie didn't recognize Ye Xiao, but he did recognize Zhao Dapeng!

"Boss Zhao, couldn't we have discussed whatever it is over the phone? There was no need for me to come over!" Li Cangjie said with a laugh to Zhao Dapeng, while completely ignoring Ye Xiao standing by his side.

Seeing this, Zhao Dapeng quickly stepped forward and said, "Mr. Li, let me introduce someone to you."

"Oh?" Li Cangjie was very puzzled when he heard Zhao Dapeng say he wanted to introduce someone. He had seen Huang Feng before, knew he was one of Heavenly Gate's leaders, but he didn't think the other three young people were worth Zhao Dapeng's introduction.

Zhao Dapeng walked up to Ye Xiao, first paying him a respectful greeting, and after getting a nod from Ye Xiao, Zhao Dapeng then looked at Li Cangjie and said, "Mr. Li, this young man is a student at Minghai Academy and also our 'Brother Xiao' from Heavenly Gate!"

Zhao Dapeng initially said Ye Xiao was a student at Minghai Academy, which made Li Cangjie somewhat scornful, but when he continued on to say Ye Xiao was 'Brother Xiao' of Heavenly Gate, Li Cangjie's shrewd eyes couldn't help but size Ye Xiao up and down!

Ye Xiao smiled and looked at Li Cangjie, saying, "Mr. Li, hello, I am Ye Xiao!"

"Ye Xiao?" Li Cangjie was a bit slow to react; was this the very same Brother Xiao of Heavenly Gate who had risen like a rocket? Even BOSS Zhao Dapeng called him Brother Xiao and had just greeted him with a bow, indicating respect for this Brother Xiao!

Suddenly, Li Cangjie recalled hearing a name inadvertently mentioned by Shi Qiang these past few days, that name was 'Ye Xiao.'

"You are Ye Xiao?" Li Cangjie asked in surprise, looking at Ye Xiao.

Ye Xiao chuckled and said, "Yes, that's me!"

"So it was your idea for me to come here today?" Li Cangjie asked, probing.

"Yes!" Ye Xiao replied calmly.

As Ye Xiao confirmed with two yeses Li Cangjie, despite usually being very calm, was greatly shocked; could the real boss of Heavenly Gate be this young man in his early twenties?

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