Counterfeit Hero

”Make him the President?” Russell and Mihailovich exchanged bitter smiles. This Fatty was good at everything, except for his whimsical behavior. Without pushing him to a dead end, as President, he’d probably spend every day indulging in eating, drinking, and playing.

******************************************

The Third Elder Sankey tightly gripped Fatty’s hand.

The elders and the Branch Director beside them all had amused smiles hanging on their lips, watching the two of them.

In the Tai Sect, everyone knew Sankey hailed from Earth and had a background as a mercenary. After arriving at Mars Free Port, he lived off underground fighting for a long time.

His record stood at fourteen wins and zero losses. Among the fourteen matches, thirteen opponents had died by his iron hands. Another had his spine twisted and broken, resulting in lifelong paralysis.

In the underground fight arena, many had suffered broken spines. It wasn’t uncommon. However, those were usually caused by knees, fists, or elbow strikes, but Sankey had twisted someone’s spine purely with his hands, showcasing his terrifying finger strength.

At least among those present, no one dared shake hands with Sankey when he was angry. His chicken claw-like hands were clearly no longer fit to control Mecha.

Although Sankey’s face was full of smiles now, everyone knew he was angry. Until today, he had always considered himself the best hand-to-hand fighter in the Tai Sect. Although this wasn’t true, due to his respected status, few dared to challenge him.

And this Fatty before him, clearly didn’t understand any of this. Beside them, Kubo showed no intention of stopping them either.

The one who brought him was Kubo, but in the Tai Sect, without strength, it didn’t matter who brought you.

Even Kubo would eventually be replaced by a fiercer and stronger lion someday. That lion might be sitting in this nightclub suite right now.

Such was the tradition of the Tai Sect. Though cruel, it possessed immense vitality. This sect, composed of criminals, pirates, underground fighters, assassins, mercenaries, and various scoundrels, could only be held together in this manner.

If the Tai Sect stopped expanding and oppressing others, infighting would rapidly cause this behemoth to splinter apart.

It was inevitable.

Everyone present knew this, but none cared.

Sankey gripped Fatty’s hand and suddenly applied tremendous force. A sliver of pain appeared on Fatty’s smiling face.

Fatty was in trouble! The elders couldn’t help but glance at Kubo, unclear on why Kubo had elevated Fatty so high.

”Ouch, that hurts! Ahhh, easy, ahhh ohhh.”

As Fatty yelled shamefully, Kubo’s face turned livid, not watching their showdown but rather contemplating something darkly.

Moments later, amidst Fatty’s screams, Sankey, sweating profusely, let go.

”Why did you use so much force for a handshake?” Fatty asked in aggrieved innocence, shook his hand, and handed it to the lady beside him, ”Quick, blow on it.”

Everyone was puzzled. Fatty’s screams were gut-wrenching, but his hand hadn’t deformed as expected. Instead, he seemed lively. Sankey, on the other hand, sat down wooden-faced, devoid of satisfaction when he let go.

The atmosphere in the suite became quiet and eerie. The elders exchanged confused glances.

Ignoring the whispers around him, Sankey stared complexly at Fatty.

Only Sankey knew that just now, he had made a trip to the gate of hell. If Fatty hadn’t shown mercy, his right hand might have ended up like a hammer-smashed chicken claw. If that happened, his position as the Third Elder would have been finished.

Fatty’s hand first broke free from his control with astonishing speed, then lightly bent his five fingers all at once. In the end, only his thumb was truly broken—his strongest and most powerful thumb!

This was a warning!

That hand was the real iron clamp. His proud hand skills were nothing compared to Fatty’s!

”Alright, let’s drink!” Kubo raised his glass with a smile. The Third Elder Sankey, an old hand in the Tai Sect, wasn’t part of Kubo’s core team. Always competitive, often speaking and acting impulsively, Kubo had long been annoyed with him.

Kubo invited Sankey here, planning to instigate some conflict. Now seeing Sankey and Fatty squabble, he felt secretly pleased. If it weren’t for Fatty’s ostentatious look reminding him of events from a few hours ago, he would have laughed out loud.

”I’ll deal with you eventually!” Kubo thought, smiling as he clinked glasses with Fatty. Once things settled down with the Phantom Stream, he’d reduce this pretentious Fatty to ashes. No matter how strong one’s hand-to-hand combat skills were, could they beat Mecha or sniper rifles?!

***********************************

The day after arriving at Mars Free Port, Barbarossa received two news items.

First, the Demon King-level Mecha duel between Phantom Stream and Tai Sect was canceled, with amicable terms reached. The Demon’s Eye Pirate Group would return all property belonging to Phantom Stream and publicly apologize via their leader Steelman, per Federation order.

Second, Tai Sect had a new elder, ranked eleventh. This elder would concurrently serve as the Branch Director of the Mecha Fighting Hall in Puluo Town.

While the first news merely surprised everyone onboard Audrey, the second left everyone dumbfounded.

The new Tai Sect elder was none other than Fatty Tian Xingjian.

After Audrey arrived at Mars Free Port, Audrey handled the sale of the Redbeard Pirate Group’s Californium metals to raise funds, Barbarossa gathered the mechanical manufacturing companies and experts’ list Fatty requested, and Chekov and Helen, along with Barbarossa, used civilian networks to contact Leray Country and relay information.

Everyone had tasks, and Fatty alone dealt with Phantom Stream. Though law enforcement was chaotic in Free Port, they trusted Fatty’s methods. As long as he didn’t cause trouble, anyone challenging him would suffer bad luck.

Fatty’s methods bore a reputation... it made you want to wring his neck! He was unbelievably devious!

To everyone’s surprise, Fatty didn’t return to Audrey that night. After a restless night, Barbarossa received two shocking pieces of news early the next morning.

”You mean...” In Audrey’s captain’s room, Audrey was dumbfounded, ”That guy went out for a day and became an elder of Tai Sect?”

Barbarossa nodded wryly at Audrey. Reflecting on his own experiences, he couldn’t help but pity Tai Sect. Making Fatty an elder was like bringing a wolf into a sheepfold.

”My God, that’s the Tai Sect!” Audrey was nearly hysterical, ”How did he get involved with those people and even become a Tai Sect elder!”

No one responded. At that moment, everyone was somewhat disoriented. They realized they could never predict Fatty’s actions with their mindset.

What about Phantom Stream? What’s the next step? What agreement had been reached with Tai Sect? How did the plan need to be adjusted?

One question after another, stemming from everyone’s minds. Only Fatty could make decisions.

”To find him...” Barbarossa sighed wryly, ”We probably need to send someone to Puluo Town.”

Given Chekov’s monitoring and overall command role, and Barbarossa’s sensitive status, along with Audrey’s identity as a Mingxin Sect disciple, who should go?

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.(To be continued, for the rest of the story please log in to www.qidian.com, more chapters available, support the author, support genuine reading!)