Chapter 267
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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 267
Chapter Title: It's Common Sense.
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Quetzalcoatl's Hanging Gardens.
In that spot overlooking the whole of Sao Paulo at a glance, Li Chingwei murmured with a hint of regret.
"Sorry for the poor preparation. I should have set up an anti-tank mine corner in the hotel's armament shop..."
"No, hardly any of our hotel guests use that sort of thing anyway. The anti-personnel mine section we have is plenty."
Tailoring to customer needs was service industry basics, but minimizing inventory was commerce basics.
Li Chingwei said lightly.
And with a small smile, she continued.
"More than anything, what we need right now isn't raw destructive power—it's blocking power and impact, so no need for top-shelf quality."
Boom!Kaboom!Kwarrrghhh!
"See? Even if the quality's a bit low, with enough quantity, it's quite the spectacle, isn't it?"
"Yes, it's definitely a sight to behold."
Behind the two women.
A Green Dragon Clan engineer who had just finished installing and checking the equipment overheard them and made a face like he'd seen a ghost.
Gigantic pillars of fire were erupting one after another around Sao Paulo's outskirts with terrifying roars.
How could anyone watch that like it was fireworks?
Even as members of the Seven Dragon Society's notoriously ruthless Green Dragon Clan, they could only shake their heads in dismay.
At that moment.
Li Chingwei's gaze turned to the Green Dragon Clan engineer.
"Installation complete?"
"Y-yes! All done."
"Then let's test it. Tsushian."
"Yes, Princess."
At Li Chingwei's order, Tsushian immediately directed the Black Dragon Clan members into position.
Turning on the video receiver.
Adjusting the tactical situation board.
Operating the complex console.
Once dozens of Black Dragon Clan members had taken their posts and the equipment was fully operational.
No trace remained of the beautiful, serene Hanging Gardens scenery.
In its place stood an operations room, clearly marking the gangs swarming Sao Paulo and the Green Dragon Clan positions scattered throughout.
"System check."
"Video reception normal."
"All comms networks operational."
"BB and drone surveillance nets deployed."
"Green Dragon Clan strike teams confirmed in position."
As if this were routine.
The Black Dragon Clan members reported the status the moment the gear hummed to life.
Tsushian compiled their reports and bowed to Li Chingwei.
"Princess, we're ready."
"Good."
Li Chingwei nodded.
She stepped up to the tactical situation board and opened the box held out by a waiting Black Dragon Clan member.
Click.
Inside was none other than chess pieces.
The king.
The queen.
The rooks.
The bishops.
The knights.
The pawns.
Sixteen carved from wood on one side.
Sixteen jeweled on the other.
A total of thirty-two exquisite pieces nestled modestly in their silk-lined box.
Clack, clack, clack.
Li Chingwei placed the thirty-two pieces one by one on the tactical board.
Some in the forests.
Some in the city center.
Some in odd outlying spots.
As if positions predetermined from the start.
Without a moment's hesitation, Li Chingwei finished deploying the pieces, then slowly turned to check the monitor feed.
She smiled faintly and spoke in a bright, upbeat voice.
"Alright then. Shall we start the war?"
Of the gangs flooding into Sao Paulo, fewer than a hundred had hit mines.
Anti-tank mines only detonated under heavy vehicles.
And after the first few triggered them, everyone knew and stopped their cars.
But the scene those dozens of casualties created was enough to make the tens of thousands charging in hesitate.
"Aaaagh!"
"M-my leg! My leg!"
Legs blown clean off.
Crushed under overturned vehicles.
Writhing with shrapnel in their eyes.
Flesh reduced to unrecognizable chunks.
Seeing the dead and dying amid the mine blasts, the gangs swallowed hard.
"...What the fuck."
"Mines all over the damn city—who the hell's crazy enough to..."
They were gangs, after all.
Bloody scenes and mangled corpses were familiar; many had made them themselves.
Still, few stayed calm.
The mine victims' wounds were a different level of horror from what they knew.
"Quit gawking, you idiots! Move your asses!"
"But boss, there are mines here."
"Those are anti-tank mines—they won't go off if you walk over 'em, morons! So hurry up!"
'What if they do blow?'
The question burned in their throats, but they couldn't voice it.
They knew defiance meant a gun to the head.
They'd do the same in his shoes.
Trembling with tension and fear, they pressed on.
Thankfully, only anti-tank mines—no click-boom underfoot.
But on foot without vehicles, their advance crawled.
Step by step, sinking into terror like quicksand, unaware until it consumed them.
Clack.
"Monster Lord Gula's using gangs as disposable pawns—still loves his vicious tricks, I see."
"Vicious, but efficient."
"Yes, numbers are power, after all."
Li Chingwei nodded, sliding a wooden pawn into the minefield on the tactical board.
In chess, pawns were the weakest—used up and discarded.
Yet their sheer numbers could decide the game.
Gula's caution in deploying gangs first, despite his grudge, earned points there.
"Unfortunately, the usage is too basic."
Two issues.
One: Treating useful gangs like one-shot meat shields.
And the other...
"Moving tens of thousands of gangs so blatantly—didn't he expect us to respond even more blatantly?"
Clack.
Sliding a jade pawn to block the wooden one's path, Li Chingwei flashed a knowing smile.
Most gangs dithered in the minefields.
But exceptions existed.
Not Forest Guild members, but violence pros—mostly players.
Some with scouting skills like Trap Disarm.
"Hahaha, these morons. Should've used their heads more."
Kapu, boss of a mid-tier gang, strutted after breezing through the mines.
No thought of helping others.
His mind was on looting Quetzalcoatl first.
Meaning clashing with Green Dragon Clan upfront.
Yet Kapu didn't hesitate to lead.
Forest Guild's exaggerated victory reports made HQ look like an unguarded treasure trove.
And he wasn't after just cash and drugs.
The prize: Green Dragon Clan pharmacists.
Capture them as slaves.
Mass-produce high-grade drugs.
Become Brazil's new drug kingpin—that dream spurred him on.
Arms down and prone immediately. Any funny business will result in immediate execution.
But Kapu couldn't even enter Sao Paulo, let alone reach Quetzalcoatl HQ—his bold march halted.
Police blocking the road? A sneer, pay toll.
In bribe-soaked Brazil, cops meant shakedowns.
One problem.
These weren't cops in police uniforms—but something else entirely.
"Army?"
Colorful camo.
Uniform rifles.
Tanks sealing the road.
Worlds apart from crooked cops—this was serious military might. Kapu gaped.
'Why the hell's the army here?!'
Ignoring his shock, the blaring warning repeated.
[Drop weapons and hit the dirt. Non-compliance means instant kill.]
"Kill us? For what?!"
[Reports of rebels aiming for a coup occupying Sao Paulo. All entries being searched.]
"R-rebels? Coup?!"
He just wanted to loot Quetzalcoatl modestly, maybe become drug lord.
Kapu reeled at the absurd frame-up.
The megaphone commander replied coldly.
[If cleared, you're free. Obey if innocent.]
Kapu's face twisted.
Innocent? They were murderers, rapists, thugs—daily.
Their guns alone were evidence; caught meant prison straight.
As boss, Kapu faced decades minimum.
His choice was set.
"Fuck these army pricks! Who're you to order Brazil's future drug king?!"
Rat-tat-tat-tat-tat!
His men gasped at the cursing boss spraying his rifle.
"Boss? What the hell?!"
"What? Wanna rot in jail?!"
"No, but..."
"Then shoot! Kill 'em all, take Quetzalcoatl—Brazil's ours!"
"...Fuck it!"
His men followed, greed blinding them to Quetzalcoatl's riches.
Greed's price was brutal.
[Hmph, confirmed rebels. No need to arrest and waste tax money feeding them.]
Shield item blocking the volley, the commander smirked into his radio.
Whirr...
"Wai—!"
The roadside tank turret swiveled.
Horrified by the massive barrel, Kapu dropped his gun to shout.
Too bad—about thirty seconds late.
BOOM!
Clack.
Blasted away by shells.
Fleeing in panic.
Or surrendering outright.
Gangs smashed whenever they met Sao Paulo's garrison troops.
Watching via monitor, Li Chingwei murmured oddly.
"I thought common sense: tens of thousands armed with rifles means the army rolls out."
Why didn't they think of that?
She shook her head pityingly.
Tsushian smiled at her.
"Brazil's army never touched drug ops before."
"All the more reason to consider it."
Brazil's security was a mess, but it had an army.
Bad policing meant heavy army investment.
Armies guzzled cash—elite, loyal ones especially.
Yet Brazil never cut military spending.
They had a solid backer.
"Suspect the army ignoring drugs? You'd realize Green Dragon Clan controls military and government."