"Hello, Tyson. In three days' time, the Clifton family are to fight the Steadmans. Please send your best fighter to take part in the battle," Art told him.
Art held his breath while he waited for the gang leader to answer. The war with the Steadman family was the most important thing to happen to his family in years and a lot rested on the man's response.
"Okay, no problem. I'll arrange for Damon Walker to travel to Baltimore tomorrow. Don't worry about a thing," Tyson replied.
That sounds good, Art thought.
The gang leader was about to end the call when Art said, "Tyson, I believe that the Clifton family will send Paul Novak. He's a famous and much revered martial arts fighter. Are you sure that Damon will beat him?"
Art knew that this was a fight that his side had to win if he wanted to increase his control of the underworld. He wanted to confirm that Tyson was sending his best man.
"Are you questioning my judgement?" Tyson asked. He thought that Art asking him such a question was a criticism of his leadership.
"No, of course not, you misunderstood me. I just wanted to confirm that he will win for us," Art said quickly. He was terrified of the gang leader.
"Damon is the first apprentice of Lee Harshaw, the head of our gang's sect in California. Although I haven't seen him fight for a long time, I am told that Damon is unbeatable by anyone except a handful of men. Do you believe me now?" Tyson asked.
"Of course. I'm sorry, I shouldn't have doubted you. I know you'll send the right man," Art quickly apologized again.
"Don't blame yourself, I understand your concerns. And I must remind you that after the Blood Brothers have helped your family take control of the Baltimore underground, you must keep your side of the deal and help us," Tyson said.
Tyson had no other friends in Baltimore as powerful as Art and he knew he needed their help. Their gang wanted to take over a large part of the east coast.
In recent years, the east coast had developed rapidly and has become a prize being fought over by many of the top American gangs.
"Yes, of course," Art agreed, and then Tyson ended the call.
**
Besides a lush birch forest, just outside San Diego, there were several large villas. In the garden of one of them, a middle-aged man was slowly pacing, deep in thought.
As he walked through the birch forest, yellow leaves crunched on the ground beneath his feet.
Finally, he arrived at a blue pool. A younger man in his twenties was sitting cross-legged at the edge of the pool, with his eyes closed. He was deep in meditation.
The water in the pool appeared to ripple under his direction and some pieces split off the stone that was between his legs.
He sensed that someone had approached, and his eyes jittered beneath his eyelids.
He stopped what he was doing and slowly opened his eyes.
He was sitting on the ground. To stand up, he didn't use his hands to support him, but straightened his legs and gracefully stood up. Anyone watching would have struggled to believe what they saw.
The young man looked at the middle-aged man in the black robe and walked toward him. His gait seemed leisurely, but he covered the distance very quickly. In moments, he reached the other man.
"So, your skills have improved even further," the middle-aged man said. He was Lee Harshaw, the leader of the California sect of Blood Brothers, and the young man was his most promising apprentice, Damon Walker.
Looking at Lee, Damon said, "If you still find it necessary to flatter me, that tells me that my skill is not yet equal to yours. I will have to practice harder in order to live up to your expectations."
He had lived with the older man since he was a child. To him, he was both a teacher and a father.
"Very good." Lee patted his shoulder gently.
"I have word from the leader. He needs you to do something." Earlier, Lee had received a phone call from the gang leader, Tyson, who told him about the request from the Steadman family in Baltimore.
"What does he need me to do?" Looking up to the sky, Damon felt a little excited. He regarded each mission as a practical test of his skills.
Generally, the leader sent other people on straightforward missions. Since he was being sent on this one, he deduced that the opponent must be formidable.
The thought made Damon happy, which was a rare emotion for him.
"You are to go to the city of your birth, Baltimore, to help a family there to seize control of the city's underground world," Lee told him. He had found Damon as an orphan more than twenty years previously and raised him as his son and apprentice.
Baltimore? His heart flipped when he heard the name of his hometown.
On the one hand, it was the city of his birth, but he had grown up in California and had no memories of his homeland. The boys he grew up with had always laughed at him because he came from the east coast and spoke so differently.
On the other hand, he hated Baltimore because it was there that he was abandoned by his parents. If it had not been for Lee, who rescued him as a child, he would have died there.
He had mixed feelings about going to his birth city to carry out his mission.
"Do you have any concerns?" Lee asked.
"No." He shook his head and said, "Please rest assured, I will complete the task assigned by the leader."
"Good."
Damon looked up to the sky and told himself, So I'm going to Baltimore. Not only do I need to help that family gain control of the underground world, but also promote the prestige of the Blood Brothers gang. He told himself that he would ensure that everyone in the city saw how powerful and prosperous the gang now was.
**
The Blood Brothers had been founded in Los Angeles a hundred years previously by a Chinese immigrant and martial arts expert named Hu Juli.
At that time, he was a member of a New York gang, the East Coast Dragons and the city was rife with turf wars between rival gangs in the cities. Rumours were deliberately spread by a rival gang that Hu Juli had betrayed his gang to seek glory. As increasing numbers of gang members heard and believed the rumours, his gang launched a crusade against him and his family, vowing to find him and kill them all.
On the night of the crusade, more than one hundred and twenty members of his family, servants and workers, men and women, old and young, were massacred.
Hu Juli was also seriously injured. Just as he was about to be killed, a rival gang charged into his house to attack his enemies. They inadvertently saved his life.
By the end, all of his attackers were subdued by the rival gang members, who were determined to kill or capture everyone from the East Coast Dragons.
Hu Juli managed to stay out of it, but he knew that people would say that he had betrayed his gang and cooperated with the enemy. Only then did he understand that he and the rest of the East Coast Dragons had been fooled by the rival gang.
He realized that the rumours of his treason and collusion with the enemy had been spread by the rival gang. The purpose was to stir up chaos amongst the East Coast Dragons with the end goal being to completely annihilate them.
But by that time, Hu Juli no longer cared who was responsible or what their motives were.
His family had been killed, and he vowed that one day he would avenge them.
He fled to the other side of the country and lived the rest of his life on the west coast. He founded the Blood Brothers and always promised himself that one day he would return to the east coast and settle his blood debts with the East Coast Dragons.
**
Lee handed the information about the Steadman family to Damon. At eight p.m., Damon took a cab to San Diego International Airport and caught a flight to Baltimore.
The next morning at nine o'clock, his plane landed in Baltimore.
The passengers stepped down from the plane. The last passenger to step off the plane was a very tall man with blond curls and a brown leather jacket.
Although he was born on the east coast, it felt like he had landed in a foreign country. It was much colder, and he noticed that everyone dressed differently from where he was from. Their accents were different, and the buildings looked cramped and grey.
He slowly made his way down the gangway.
Art and Chris were waiting for him at arrival. Chris stepped forward and said, "Hello, Damon. I'm Chris and this is Art."
The previous night, Tyson had sent Chris and Art a picture of Damon so that he could recognize him. To show his respect, Art personally came to the airport to meet him.
"Hello," Damon said coldly.
The only person he ever showed respect and humility for was Lee. He had no time for politeness with others.
Art wasn't impressed with Damon's attitude, but he continued to smile. Damon had travelled all this way to help them defeat the Clifton family and he couldn't afford to offend him.
They left the airport terminal and climbed into Chris's car.
Art told him, "You've been travelling for several hours, so you must be tired. I've reserved a room for you in a very good hotel. You can have a good rest first, and then I will have someone tell you everything you need to know about your opponent."
"Who is the opponent?" Damon asked.
"We think it will be Paul Novak, the best martial arts fighter that the Clifton family has. I'll give you his information later," Chris said.
"No need," Damon replied with a chuckle. He felt no need to know more about his opponent. He was supremely confident in his fighting ability and knew he could beat almost anyone. He ordered, "Take me to see him now."
"Now?" Art was slightly surprised and explained, "But the fight will not start until the day after tomorrow."
"Isn't it better to get everything resolved sooner? Take me to see him now," he demanded again.
Damon believed that ignoring the agreement that had been made, taking your opponent by surprise, and finishing things early was the biggest insult possible to the other party.
Of course, he wanted not only to insult the Clifton family, but also the other martial arts fighters on the east coast. Because he had grown up in the Blood Brothers gang, he remembered that one of the most important missions of the gang was to seek revenge on the rival gangs on the east coast.
"How confident are you that you will beat him if you don't take time to prepare?" Art asked sincerely. He could see that the young man was taking the mission very seriously but didn't want him to underestimate the opposition.
"There will only be one result from my mission," Damon said as he looked at Art. His eyes sparkled with excitement, and it was clear that he was ready for battle. With a trace of a smile, he said, "That's the death of my opponent."