Seeing the group's nervous expressions, Ye Fei felt a bit more at ease. Returning to his calm demeanor, he said, "Alright, let's discuss your next steps. Have any of you been to Linhai City?"
Despite Linhai being quite close to Wanghai, the group wasn't from wealthy families and had never ventured far. Only the bald man nodded and said, "I've been there once with my father."
"There's a power vacuum in the underground scene there now," Ye Fei began, explaining the situation in Linhai City. "What I need you to do is take control of those underground forces and make it our territory."
"Boss, are you going too?" The group, despite their newfound strength, was still just teenagers—eighteen or twenty years old at most. The idea of going to an unfamiliar place and facing underground factions left them feeling uneasy. They hoped Ye Fei, who had become almost god-like in their eyes, would go with them.
"I can't. Wanghai isn't exactly stable right now," Ye Fei said, shaking his head. He saw the apprehension in their eyes and reassured them, "Don't worry. With your current strength, as long as you don't face a full-scale army, you'll be fine. Ordinary firearms can't hurt you anymore. I'll give you a detailed plan and provide some start-up funds.
When you arrive, start by buying off some smaller factions. Once you have people under your command, things will get much easier."
The group nodded in agreement, though one of them, Zimao, voiced a concern, "But if we do this, won't we end up in fights and potentially harm innocent people? Is this really the right thing to do?"
Though they had a rough past, bullying classmates and getting into trouble, they weren't inherently bad. Ye Fei's words had excited them earlier, but Zimao's question made them pause. They suddenly realized that in pursuing underground dominance, they could become like the gangsters they'd seen on TV. Hesitation flickered in their eyes as they looked to Ye Fei for guidance.
Ye Fei wasn't upset by their doubts; in fact, he was pleased. He had feared that the sudden power boost would make them reckless, but it seemed they hadn't lost their sense of morality. They were still the same boys they had always been, despite their new abilities. He smiled and asked, "Which city do you think has a better living environment, Linhai or Wanghai?"
Even though everyone knew they ran the city's underground, they were respected rather than feared. Their security company was considered the best in the city, and even businesses and schools sought their services.
The more they thought about it, the clearer things became. There was no rule that said controlling the underground meant being a villain. If anything, the Ye family was proof that one could run an underground empire while maintaining a good reputation. They weren't like the corrupt officials who preached morality but practiced none.
"Boss, we understand now. Just tell us what to do, and we'll make sure to succeed!" The bald man and the others, now fully committed, were eager to make their mark and repay Ye Fei's trust in them. They were impatient to get started.
Ye Fei smiled. "There's no rush. You'll have to drop out of school and move to Linhai. For now, focus on talking to your families. I'll finalize the plan over the next few days, and once everything is ready, you'll set off."
"Understood, boss!" the group responded eagerly. Their admiration for Ye Fei only deepened. If they had called him "boss" in jest earlier, now they truly meant it.
"Alright then, let's head back. It's getting late, and school might already be over by the time we get there," Ye Fei said, though his mind was preoccupied with thoughts of his sister and Lin Ling.
He had called them in the morning to let them know he'd be absent from school, but he hadn't seen them all day, and he wondered what they were thinking.
The group nodded but didn't leave immediately. They waited for Ye Fei to lead, clearly relying on him for direction. Though Ye Fei now considered them his brothers in life and death, he understood that maintaining some level of hierarchy was necessary.
After destroying the large box they had worked on all night and tossing the remains into a trash can, Ye Fei and the others left the hotel and caught a taxi back to school.
Little did they know that their seemingly ordinary gathering would ignite a series of events that would shake the world. None of them could have predicted that this day would mark the beginning of Ye Fei's rise to dominance, a path that would ultimately lead him to the top of the world.