Chapter Thirty: Seeking Justice

  Lao Yang and Xiao Chen had an accident on their way home. Lao Yang had three ribs broken, his head was severely hit, and he is still in a coma; Xiao Chen's leg was broken, the doctor said that the situation is very pessimistic, even if he recovers, he will become disabled.

  The two of them were the pillars of their families, and when they suddenly encountered a great change, everyone in the family was at a loss. Shen Baozi left behind his most trusted partners Xiao Quan and Xing Dazhu to take care of things at home, while he took Lin Xiaotang, Da Tou, and two other partners to buy some nourishing food, and followed Old Yang and Little Chen's families to the hospital.

  It was not easy to calm down the families of the two, and then they took care of Little Chen and Old Yang. Old Yang was still unconscious, and although Little Chen was still awake, he had been beaten like a pig's head and could hardly speak clearly. Fortunately, their families were there at the time, so they roughly described the situation of the murderer.

  Old Yang and Little Chen encountered five or six drunken British sailors, resulting in such an unexpected disaster. It is said that they were soldiers from the British gunboat "Seagull", led by an officer named Big Why.

  Shen Pangzi listened and didn't say anything else, only reminding Xiao Chen to take care of his injuries and that he would send more money in two days, ensuring the treatment for both. Xiao Chen and Lao Yang's family were extremely grateful. ??Reversing the Republic's Special Agent 30

  Shen Baozi's actions made Lin Xiaotang and Da Tou look at him with new eyes. All along, Shen Baozi had been presenting himself as a shrewd and stingy person, but unexpectedly, he showed his righteous side this time.

  Back at the coffee shop, Shen Pangzi ordered his employees to close up early and called Xiao Quan over. The two of them were discussing something in the office.

  Lin Xiaotang and Da Tou returned to their own room upstairs. As soon as they entered, Lin Xiaotang locked the door from inside. Da Tou was stunned.

  Lin Xiaotang didn't say a word, rummaged through his luggage and pulled out a dark-colored half-old suit. This was the clothes Shen Zui gave him when he left the training class, but after coming to Shanghai, he worked in a coffee shop and never had the chance to wear it.

  Big Head watched Lin Xiaotang finish dressing, then pulled out a makeup kit from the military uniform and sat down at the table to start making up. After gluing on a fake beard, he also drew some wrinkles on his face, put on a pair of glasses frames, and looked like he had aged by more than a decade.

  "Lao Qi, are you trying to get justice for Xiao Chen and Lao Yang?" Da Tou asked coldly.

  Lin Xiaotang was busy combing his mustache and turned around to look at him without saying a word.

  "I'm going too!" Da Tou looked at Lin Xiaotang's back.

  Lin Xiaotang was busy with her own affairs, this time without even turning her head: "It's a small matter, I can handle it myself."

  "But...". Da Tou was momentarily at a loss for words.

  Lin Xiaotang stood up, put on a duck tongue cap, turned around and walked to Da Tou's side, patted Da Tou's shoulder: "Brother, don't talk nonsense, the more people there are, the easier it is to get into trouble."

  After finishing speaking, he turned off the lights in the house, opened the window of the room, stuck his head out to see that there was no one around, and agilely slid down along the drainpipe outside the window.

  Ten minutes after Lin Xiaotang left, the back door of the cafe creaked open and two dark figures quickly disappeared into the darkness at the corner of the street.

  On a late autumn night in Shanghai, the cool breeze carried a hint of dampness. Leaves fell from their branches, rustling as they drifted down, covering the streets with a yellowish-brown carpet. Lin Xiaotang lit a cigarette and headed towards the Waterborne Club on Avenida da República.

  The Waterhouse Club was opened by the British and has some history in Shanghai, because the Huangpu River in Shanghai is often moored with warships and gunboats from various countries including the UK and US. Compared to soldiers stationed at other military ports, the British and American sailors stationed in Shanghai were much more relaxed. War was a distant word for them, their lives were very simple and can be summed up in two words: drinking and women.

  When Lin Xiaotang arrived at the Water Soldier Club, it had already entered its golden moment every night. Large groups of soldiers and people of various nationalities gathered here, the noisy sound seemed to be able to lift the roof off. The scantily clad waitresses shuttled among them, delivering all kinds of liquor to the customers' tables. They exposed more than half of their snow-white chests, and their deep cleavage was occasionally stuffed with various banknotes.

  Lin Xiaotang squeezed into the crowd with difficulty and sat down in a corner, ordering a beer.

  The barroom erupted in a sudden burst of cheers, several sailors dressed in white naval uniforms climbed onto the bar and shouted to the crowd in English: "Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome our HMS Seagull's first boxer Major David, tonight he will be fighting against the boxing champion Lieutenant Parker from the USS America!"

  The club was suddenly filled with deafening shouts, the men shouting and banging their beer mugs on the table, while the women stood up, lifted their skirts to reveal white thighs, and threw kisses at two young military officers in the crowd. ?? Counterattack Republic's Agent 30

  A sailor spluttered with saliva, shouting loudly: "Major David has been in service for forty-three wins and five losses since his enlistment. This afternoon, he single-handedly taught a few Chinese people who didn't know the good, and wounded two on the spot. Captain Parker's record is fifty wins and twelve losses..." The sailor also announced the odds of the two men, calling on everyone to enthusiastically place their bets, and for a time, the atmosphere in the club became even more lively.

  Lin Xiaotang sipped her beer while carefully sizing up the naval lieutenant named David, and it was a stroke of luck that she had found the culprit from this afternoon without even asking around.

  David had a head of curly brown hair, was at least 1.9 meters tall, and yelled as he took off his white naval uniform, revealing a sturdy physique like a young bull, instantly provoking another round of shrill cries from the women.

  His opponent was a similarly robust black man.

  The crowd in the club shouted and moved the tables and chairs away, clearing out a space, apparently this was to be the venue for tonight's match.

  The crowd's betting lasted for about half an hour, and with a command from an American military officer, the match officially began.

  David's reputation was indeed well-deserved, his footsteps were steady, and the speed and frequency of his punches were extremely fast. As soon as he came up, he launched a round of rapid attacks on the black American military lieutenant. The black officer was clearly unadapted to this attack like a storm, and soon took two heavy blows, with a bruise on his face.

  The two men's strength differed too much, and in less than two rounds, the black officer was beaten down by David and couldn't get up. The American officer who was judging had no choice but to declare David the winner. David raised his arms high and circled the entire arena, roaring with anger at the audience. The club erupted again in a deafening cheer, and two blonde girls even ran out of the crowd and jumped onto David's body, kissing him wildly, which further ignited the passion of the on-site audience, cheers and whistles filled the air.

  David, with lipstick marks on his face, swaggered back to the bar with two blonde girls, put on his uniform, took a big gulp of beer, and stuffed a large wad of cash into his breast pocket without even counting it.

  The heat of the club slowly subsided, and those who had won money were busy hooking up with the women they fancied, while those who had lost money sat drinking silently with a look of disappointment.

  At this time, a figure approached David's side. When David saw the person clearly, his face suddenly showed displeasure. The two people whispered to each other for a few words. David seemed to be angry and slammed two banknotes on the bar, put on his coat, and took the two blonde girls out.

  That person occasionally turned his head, Lin Xiaotang saw his appearance and was stunned for a moment. The man was actually the black-haired mixed-blood Hong Chawei he had met in Nanjing.

  Seeing David walking out of the club with two women, Lin Xiaotang couldn't care less about thinking about why Hong Zhawei appeared here. He also put on his coat and quickly squeezed out of the club.

  David hugged two women and walked towards the Bund, Lin Xiaotang looked far away, in front of which was a tall building with neon lights flashing strangely, like a hotel, David and the three were walking towards there.

  Lin Xiaotang wrapped her clothes tightly, raised the collar of her coat, lowered the brim of her hat, and closely followed behind David's three people.

  David and two blonde girls walked into a deserted alley, which was the only way to the hotel. David didn't think much of it, in his mind, in Shanghai, no one dared to mess with foreigners, especially not someone like him, an officer.

  Lin Xiaotang pulled out a bottle of Japanese sake, took a sip, and poured the rest all over his coat. Then he quickly followed, but his footsteps didn't make a sound.

  Shen Pangzi and Xiao Quan hid at the other end of the alley, both wearing dark coats, with black cloth covering their faces, holding iron clubs over a foot long, watching David and two women walk into the alley.

  Xiao Quan was about to take action, but was pressed down by Shen Pangzi: "Wait, there's someone behind!"

  Lin Xiaotang was within five meters of David and the others when her feet suddenly felt light, and she stumbled. Before she knew it, she had bumped into David's back.

  David was caught off guard and knocked forward several steps, while the two women also cried out in alarm, nearly falling over.

  David suddenly became furious, turned around to look, but saw a bearded drunkard standing behind him, holding a bottle of wine in his hand, full of alcohol, swaying back and forth towards himself. But the man's hat was pressed very low, and it was impossible to see clearly in this dim alley. ?? Counterattack Republic's Special Agent 30

  David didn't say a word and let go of the two women. He threw a straight punch at Lin Xiaotang.

  Lin Xiaotang's footsteps were elusive, and with a slight shift in her stance, David's blow went wide.

  Lin Xiaotang muttered in Japanese, his mouth not clean, David couldn't understand what he was saying, but knew it wasn't anything good, and cursed back: "Damn Jap pig, looking for death!"

  David took off his overcoat, revealing a naval uniform underneath, and rushed towards Lin Xiaotang with fists flying.

  Lin Xiaotang cursed in native Japanese while dodging and weaving, David's combination of punches fell empty, and fine sweat beads appeared on his forehead: "You damned Japanese pig, don't dodge if you have the guts!" David shouted loudly.

  Lin Xiaotang seized the opportunity, taking advantage of David's momentary distraction, and suddenly appeared in front of him like a ghost.

  David was shocked and hastily swung a punch, Lin Xiaotang also met with a punch. With a "crack" sound, David's right fist phalanges were shattered, he let out a muffled groan and retreated backwards.

  Lin Xiaotang stepped forward, her foot kicking David's abdomen, sending him flying several meters away. David felt a sudden, unbearable tearing pain in his abdomen, and his face turned purple.

  Two blonde women shrieked and turned to run, but their high heels made them unable to move quickly.

  Lin Xiaotang rushed up behind the two and struck out with two consecutive knife hands, the two women didn't even have time to cry out before falling to the ground unconscious.

  Lin Xiaotang stumbled over to David's side. David backed away in terror: "Demon, you're a demon!"

  Rin Shōtō let out a cold laugh: "That's right, our Greater East Asia is your devil, in Shanghai, no one can oppose the Great Japanese Empire!"

  He finished speaking, lifted his foot and kicked David's calf hard.

  Two crisp cracking sounds echoed through, and David fainted from the pain.