Before long, people started to enter the shop, and the place became livelier. Some of them greeted Alvin and Mozi with smiles as they were acquaintances.
Alvin also chatted and laughed with the people in the shop.
"Hey, everyone seems rather happy today," just then a slightly rough voice suddenly came from the entrance of the shop.
As soon as the people in the store heard this voice, it was as though a switch had been turned off. The hall became so quiet that no one dared to make a sound.
From the entrance, a tall middle-aged man with bulging muscles all over his body entered, followed by a group of men. All of them had faces and physiques that made them look like villains from a gangster movie.
The burly man, who had spoken earlier, ignored the other people in the shop and walked toward a table near where Alvin was sitting.
The person who had originally been drinking tea there hurriedly emptied the seat in fear.
After sitting down, he looked at Alvin and said, "It's been a long time since we met. How have you been?"
Alvin smiled. Unlike the others, who appeared flustered to speak in front of the man, he slowly took the last sip of his tea and said, "I enrolled in college this year. There's nothing special to talk about apart from that. What about you, Brother Derin?"
The burly man's name was Derin. He was the infamous gang leader of the Blood Warrior Gang. Even the police wouldn't mess with his people for fear of being stabbed to death under the cover of night.
Derin remained silent for some time before saying, "Study well. It's good to be educated these days."
He then glanced at Mozi and asked, "Did Mozi tell you why I specifically asked you to join the hunt this time?"
Alvin shook his head. "Uncle only said you guys had found a strange mutated beehive and the hunt was to obtain it. He didn't mention anything about you specifically asking for me."
Derin nodded. "We ran into a problem while trying to approach the area where we found the hive."
"The hive is located on a huge banyan tree near the cliff of Wolf Mountain. The problem is the whole tree is crowded with some type of wild monkeys."
"Yesterday, my men scouted the area, but they could only stay at a distance of 150 meters from the tree. These monkeys are extremely cautious towards outsiders and will attack anyone who crosses their boundary."
Derin hesitated for a bit before saying, "It's as though they're guarding the area. We initially decided to give up on the hunt, but when I showed photos of the mutated hive to a foreign black market dealer, he offered a huge sum of money that's difficult to refuse."
"If this deal goes as planned, there will be enough money for both of us to settle for good."
Alvin raised an eyebrow upon hearing this. "Still, I don't get why you specifically want me for this job."
Derin looked straight into Alvin's eyes and said, "If we want to take that hive, there's only one way: kill all those monkeys. Engaging in a direct fight with them is close to impossible since there are more than 100 monkeys on that tree."
"So, the best way is to kill them from a distance with bows and arrows. And in the entire village, only you could accurately hit the targets from such a long distance."
Upon hearing this, Mozi slammed the table and pointed at Derin angrily. "Are you out of your mind? We are descendants of the Forest God! Even the deity in our temple is in the form of a monkey. How can you speak about killing them?"
Seeing Mozi shouting at his leader, one of the burly men, who appeared to be an outsider, angrily stood up and swung his fist toward Mozi with a sinister look on his face. "How dare—"
Bang!
Before he could even complete his sentence, his face was pinned to the table by a muscular hand. He instantly tried to stand up, but he couldn't even move an inch under the inhuman strength of the arm holding him down.
With a smile on his face, Alvin said to the man while still holding him down with one hand, "You want to touch my uncle right under my nose? Do you really consider me as air?"
Derin glanced at the man struggling under Alvin's hold and said, "Let go of him. He's new to the gang and doesn't know who you are."
Alvin looked around at Derin's gang members with an innocent smile. When he saw all of them standing up, ready to pounce on him at any moment, he chuckled.
But despite their brave front, no one stepped forward. They all knew what would happen once Alvin started fighting.
Seeing that the situation was getting out of hand, Mozi intervened. "Don't make a scene here, Alvin. Quickly let go of him."
Alvin clicked his tongue and flung the man onto the ground with a single hand. Then he sat back in his chair as though nothing had happened.
Derin sighed in resignation upon seeing this. If anyone else had tried to act haughty in front of him, that person wouldn't see the sunrise the next day. But Alvin… it was better to forget about it. Otherwise, it would be him who died for no reason.
As he was cursing Alvin in his mind, Derin heard Alvin speak again. "Even if we ignore the religious beliefs, hunting one or two monkeys can be considered a hunt. But outright killing a hundred of them is a massacre. Are you sure you're aware of what you're asking me to do, Brother?"
Derin was delighted. Alvin not directly declining the offer meant there was still a chance for negotiation.
"Fifty percent. I can guarantee that the hive will sell for at least a hundred thousand dollars in the black market. I'm ready to give you 50%. The rest will be split among the participants of the hunt," he said hurriedly.
Alvin tapped his fingers on the table and remained silent for a long time. Finally, he nodded. "Leave the monkeys to me. Just remember this: if you fail to pay me the promised sum after the work, I will beat the hell out of you until the day you pay."
Derin's mouth twitched. This meant that even if he failed to sell the hive for $100,000 in the black market, he'd have to fork out the money from his own pocket to pay Alvin.