Chapter 106: Infinite Combo

The thug who had just cursed at Lin Yu was named Wang Hao. He had originally been a student at Bin City Vocational High School but was expelled for fighting. Since then, he had spent his days loitering in this nameless arcade. Alongside a few other petty delinquents, he made a living by extorting students at school and occasionally engaging in petty theft.

Though this gang of theirs wasn’t brutal enough to kill someone on a whim, they frequently beat people so severely over minor disputes that their victims would be bedridden for half a month. In the neighborhood, they were known as a ruthless little crew, notorious enough to be feared.

After Wang Hao finished cursing at Lin Yu, he was quite satisfied with Lin Yu’s somewhat dull-witted reaction and so didn’t get angry, instead returning to his game.

But Lin Yu was no gentle soul.

After being insulted repeatedly, especially with a curse involving his mother, Lin Yu gave a cold smile. Swift as a storm, he grabbed Wang Hao by the collar and slapped him over twenty times in rapid succession before throwing him to the ground.

Then, with disdain, he remarked, “Heh, doesn’t this look like Kagura Chizuru’s infinite combo?”

Wang Hao, who had never taken Lin Yu seriously before, was left stunned, unable to comprehend what had just happened. All he noticed was his nose bleeding profusely.

Meanwhile, seven or eight thugs familiar with Wang Hao quickly gathered around.

“Kid, you’re quite bold, huh? On Long Ge’s turf, you dare lay a hand on his people? You don’t want to live, do you?” One of them, a burly man with black hair, scolded him sharply.

“Why wouldn’t I want to live?” Lin Yu replied calmly, as if unconcerned.

“If you mess with us, that means you don’t want to live! Brothers, come on! Break one of his legs!” The thug gave a cold command.

At that moment, Wang Hao, recovering a bit, also shouted, “Hell, break both legs! If anything happens, I take full responsibility!”

“You make it sound like it’s a done deal,” Lin Yu chuckled.

Faced with seven or eight thugs unarmed, Lin Yu showed no sign of nervousness. However, all the other youths who had been playing in the arcade abandoned their games and fled immediately.

With everyone else gone, only Lin Yu and the seven or eight thugs remained inside the shop.

Then Wang Hao roared, “Brothers, get him! After this, drinks are on me at Phoenix Bar!”

“Alright!” At his shout, the group surged forward, fists and flying kicks aimed straight at Lin Yu.

But they had clearly underestimated Lin Yu’s professional fighting skills. The first thug who charged was met with a fierce kick to his left shin, causing him to collapse to his knees, wailing loudly.

Similar fates befell the second and third attackers; all were struck in the bones, forced to either sit or kneel on the ground, writhing in pain.

Lin Yu grew increasingly exhilarated as he fought, revealing a wild, aggressive side in both his punches and kicks.

Sensing the tide turning against them, Wang Hao, who had regained his senses but not yet joined the fray, dashed to the back room to get reinforcements. Their leader, Wang Hailong, was playing mahjong there with a group.

Within three minutes, all seven or eight thugs lay groaning on the floor, none daring to rise.

Seeing this, Lin Yu calmly took the seat he’d occupied before and resumed playing King of Fighters ’97.

Noticing Lin Yu’s casual demeanor, one of the less injured thugs quietly stood and grabbed a chair, charging at him.

Before the thug could reach him, Lin Yu, usually as still as a statue when gaming, suddenly sprang up like a startled rabbit. Dodging the flying chair, he spun and delivered a roundhouse kick to the thug’s waist.

With a pitiful grunt, the thug was sent flying, crashing into the Taishan arcade machine. His back landed squarely on the joystick, pain bringing tears to his eyes.

After kicking him away, Lin Yu turned back to his game, only to see his characters like Mai Shiranui had been defeated.

“Ah, out of coins. Time to go,” Lin Yu said, clapping his hands and stretching before heading for the arcade’s exit.

“Hey! You think you can just leave after beating people up?” a harsh voice bellowed just as he stepped outside.

The shout was commanding yet, to Lin Yu’s satisfaction, free of profanity. He turned to size up the speaker, who was clearly the gang’s leader.

More composed than the rest, this young man was of average appearance, sporting a short buzz cut and dark skin, standing about 1.75 meters tall. His posture and gait suggested a military background.

“Relatively speaking, a decent opponent,” Lin Yu thought to himself before speaking.

“You don’t leave after a fight? Planning to wait for us to swarm you?” he asked nonchalantly.

“Swarm me? You’re overestimating yourself,” Wang Hailong sneered confidently, proud of his skills honed in the army.

“Then come on, one-on-one,” Lin Yu relaxed and gestured invitingly.

Rarely did he encounter a worthy adversary, and he was itching for a challenge. After all, he hadn’t sparred at the taekwondo gym with those Korean instructors in a long time.

“One-on-one? Fine, but we’ll take turns—you against all of us!” Wang Hailong laughed coldly, motioning for his men to attack.

“Wait, wait, I think this might be a misunderstanding!” a voice hurriedly interjected.

At that moment, several men playing mahjong with Wang Hailong leisurely emerged from the back room. Among them was Liu Jiaoyang, a wealthy, spoiled heir who had been at Hu Bin’s birthday party. He had witnessed the standoff between Zhang Yang and Lin Yu, and had also seen Lin Yu holding hands with Yang Zhilin in plain sight.

Seeing his close friend Wang Hailong about to fight Lin Yu, Liu Jiaoyang’s heart skipped a beat. Subconsciously, he had already ranked Lin Yu on the same level as Zhang Yang and Hu Bin. He thought, if this guy goes down in this alleyway, it would be nothing short of a massacre.

“Stop!” Liu Jiaoyang shouted loudly.

Hearing this, Wang Hailong gave a command to halt and looked at Liu Jiaoyang with displeasure.

“You just beat up my people, and now it’s a misunderstanding?” he asked.

“Well, here’s the thing... this guy has beaten Zhang Yang several times... and then...” Liu Jiaoyang whispered exaggeratedly into Wang Hailong’s ear.

Hearing that, Wang Hailong’s heart sank. “Looks like I really kicked a hornet’s nest this time!” he thought.

Once Wang Hailong had settled down, Liu Jiaoyang smiled and pulled out a cigarette, offering one to Lin Yu.

“Brother Yu, what brings you here to hang out again?” he asked politely.

Lin Yu, though not recognizing him, took the cigarette after confirming no further hostility, produced a lighter gifted by Qi Yue, and lit up. After exhaling a cloud of smoke, he said, “Nothing much. My girl’s over at the stadium; I’m just waiting for her.”

“Oh, I see,” Liu Jiaoyang replied, then glanced at Wang Hailong and said courteously, “Brother Yu, this is my good buddy Wang Hailong. He used to be in the army and is quite the fighter.”

“Yeah, and?” Lin Yu responded indifferently.

“Heh, Brother Yu, we’re not strangers. How about this—let Hailong treat you to a meal and we make peace, okay?” Liu Jiaoyang smiled, trying to smooth things over.

Hearing the usually arrogant rich kid Liu Jiaoyang speak this way, Wang Hao, standing behind them, was so frightened his legs went weak.

“Yeah, it’s our fault. Sorry, Brother Yu,” Wang Hailong also apologized in time. Compared to the wealthy scion Liu Jiaoyang, someone he couldn’t even look in the eye, he had no choice but to humble himself.

After all, the poor can’t fight the rich, and civilians can’t challenge officials. Since Lin Yu could stand up to Zhang Yang, he was clearly some kind of privileged scion himself.