Capítulo 24: Godblood
"Hey, White Tiger speaking. It's been a while...Black Tortoise…"
Father Lin sighed at the mention of that name. It had been a long time since anyone brought it up.
"It's just Lin Bo now, no Black Tortoise."
"...I see. Lin Bo, it's been 18 years since you called."
"I know…" Father Lin's melancholic voice traveled through the phone.
White Tiger sensed this and hesitated before asking, "So, what made you call all of a sudden? Want this life back?"
"No, I really don't. You know how hard I've been trying to escape that life. I never want to go back." Father Lin could still remember the amount of cruelty and blood that had been shed back then. He never wanted to return there. "But...if I have to, then I will."
"Have to? Something happened?"
"My son, assassins are after him." Father Lin answered. "Some bastard scheming for a big company thinks my son's an eyesore."
"...what scale are we talking?"
"Conglomerate."
White Tiger took some time to think to himself. This predicament Lin Bo was in, it could be a chance. A chance to get Black Tortoise back into Godblood.
Godblood had existed for 20 years already, establishing its position in the first few years. Years later Godblood had become City A's ruler, it's network diverse but members few. There were only a few true members, and they could all fight a hundred men easily. They beat enemy gangs and absorbed their members into subsidiaries, then made use of them for things they themselves couldn't do.
Like in the early fight, the clean up crew were actually subsidiary members. They did menial tasks such as cleaning up a battlefield, dealing drugs, smuggling weapons, etc. They were basically the workers who provided income to the true members of the Godblood gang.
The true members were all elites who had diverse skills. It was very hard to become one actually. Most of the true members were there since the gang was founded and didn't amount to more than 20 members. Then these true members were all under four people, the Four Gods.
The Four Gods were the true leaders of the Godblood gang, each having their own jurisdiction. They had code names after the four mythical beasts, with White Tiger and Black Tortoise being two of them.
White Tiger was the battlefield dictator. He was always there when Godblood was fighting, having a body as tough as steel and able to take down numerous men. His favorite weapon was the bat in which he had created his own combat style.
Black Tortoise was the strategist. With his intelligence, he planned the development of Godblood and theorized strategies. It was actually him who allowed Godblood to rise so quickly among the top in only a year, before getting rid of all rival-level competitors the next few months.
The current subsidiary system was actually devised by Black Tortoise in order to allow the true members to focus completely on fighting and their own passions. It was also because there were so many gangs running amok in City A that Godblood couldn't just up and kill everyone. That would be a genocide, which would obviously have the whole government after them. So, they made use of the defeated enemies.
After Black Tortoise left, Godblood's meteoric rise plummeted until they grew slowly. They had been stuck in their current situation for a decade at least. Now, they were just short of expanding to a new city.
If what Black Tortoise said was true, that someone from a Conglomerate level company was targeting his son, then Godblood could take this opportunity to expand to that city and absorb the company.
The process would take a while though, considering it was a conglomerate. Say for example, if Godblood was the criminal mastermind of City A, then a Conglomerate would be the ruler of a city's economy. One commanded the underworld, while the other controlled the political world.
If Godblood could incorporate such a political power into their own, they could have control of both the black and white world. Black Tortoise, a top strategist, was an indispensable resource.
With a smile, White Tiger's voice traveled through the phone. "How can I help?"
"Just send someone to protect my son, preferably in secret." Father Lin answered. "I want him to live a normal life...hopefully. In exchange, I'll return to Godblood." If someone like White Tiger could think of the pros and cons of this situation, naturally Black Tortoise could too.
With his abilities, he could naturally protect Lin Shen on his own. However, there came a risk of his true identity being revealed, so it was better to have Godblood protecting Lin Shen. They were a big gang and had many men. Amongst them were a few who could protect Lin Shen without compromising their identity.
"Alright, I'll arrange for it." White Tiger said. "I'll send someone to protect your son. Also, you can stay in your city, we'll come to you instead." With that said, White Tiger hung up the call.
He put out the cigarette and told the driver, "Open the windows."
The driver did as he was told, finally catching his breath. The cigarette smell had completely dispersed as the car moved along the highway, leaving the interior with only the cool breeze.
The scenery outside the car consistently moved about as White Tiger stared at it. His heart was palpitating in excitement for the future to come. "After a long time, we're finally moving forward."
White Tiger couldn't wait for the reunion with Black Tortoise. He was also quite interested in meeting Black Tortoise's son.
'The result of Black Tortoise and her...I'm curious…'
~+++~
Father Lin gazed at the screen on his phone. There was an image of a newly wed couple and their baby. The husband in the image had black hair and deep dark eyes, with his hands wrapped around his wife's waist as he smiled at their baby.
His wife's red hair laid peacefully down her back as her hands held her baby tenderly.
Naturally the family in the picture was his. This was the only memory left of her that made Father Lin feel truly blessed, but it was also one that made him feel pained.
His eyes focused on his son, who back then was just a baby. 'I'll protect you at all cost.'
He put away his phone after one last glance. It was at this time that Lin Shen finally got out of the shower. So far, only 15 minutes had passed.
Lin Shen came out wearing a short-sleeved red t-shirt with black shorts. Honestly, his closet was almost out of clothes. 'I've dirtied too many this week and even lost a shirt.'
He never placed clothing on the top of his list and didn't have many, so his closet could only last him a week before they needed to be washed. These were his last pairs of clothes left.
"Dad." Lin Shen sat down besides his father as he waited for the 'discussion'.
"Hm." Father Lin nodded as he scrutinized Lin Shen. "Your face is all wounded, I'll give you some ointment later."
Indeed, after the shower, Lin Shen's face was in full view. The wounds on his face had closed up and now just looked like a swollen mess. His Qi had naturally recovered quite a bit and he had enough to recover his wound completely.
The only reason he didn't heal his wounds was because he didn't want his father to be suspicious. Even if he did heal himself, how would he explain the blood?
Father Lin spoke up. "While you were showering, I've thought it over and decided that you should stay home for a while. You will have to miss your exams and probably can't get into college."
Lin Shen couldn't believe his ears. If he couldn't take the exam then wouldn't he be unable to complete the mission?
"Dad, it doesn't matter if I don't get into college or not, but I have to take that exam no matter what."
'What?' Father Lin was puzzled. What kind of person took a college exam but didn't want to go to college? Had his son become a fool?
Father Lin shook his head. "Stop fooling around. Your safety is much more important than some college exam. If you miss it, you can retake it next year."
By the looks of it, Father Lin was adamant about his stance. It would take quite a bit of persuading to convince Father Lin to allow him to take the exam.
'Do I have to tell my father about cultivators?' Lin Shen weighed the pros and cons of that situation and wasn't very hopeful. His father was very protective of him since he was his only son.
With the way cultivators lived, constantly fighting, shedding blood, and going against the heavens, such a dangerous lifestyle, Father Lin would never allow Lin Shen to become one.
Lin Shen was stuck in a dilemma.
PENSAMENTOS DOS CRIADORES 
EternallyDust
EternallyDust Obviously I’m a bad author.
It’s also obvious the places in this novel are made up. I’m legit bad with geography so I guess this modern world is a different reality modern world?
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