Chapter 372 News of Death

"Did something happen?"

After Li Mochen retracted the antenna of his mobile phone and returned to his seat from the back of the school bus, William, sitting on the other side, looked over with confusion: "A-Mo, did something happen?"

He was gradually finding it harder to understand this buddy, feeling he was becoming more mysterious and more distant.

But when he thought that Li Mochen had already amassed hundreds of millions in assets just from endorsement fees, William felt relieved. A billionaire's life was naturally different from an ordinary person's.

Besides, he could still feel Li Mochen's respect for him.

"Just some small matters."

Li Mochen didn't intend to discuss business disputes in front of William; it would be too difficult to explain clearly.

"Let's continue our previous topic. William, you said the war between the Bloodfang Gang and the Black Prison Skulls has escalated, right?"

"Wow, it's more than just escalation—it's a full-blown bloodbath. You know, ever since it was confirmed that Dragon Might fell into the hands of the Fenrir Wolf, the Black Prison Skulls made a comeback. They were restrained at first, but after the Magic Tower Array was activated, they went completely crazy."

William looked troubled: "Can you imagine? There are thirty gunfights a day over there. Three entire apartment buildings in the Wanderer District have been riddled with bullets. They even used rocket launchers. Even the place I used to live got sprayed with bullets yesterday. Lucky for us, we've already moved out."

Nathan Sports Group valued him highly and sponsored a residence near Unicorn Apartments, where William had moved his whole family. That had saved them from disaster.

"That is indeed crazy."

Li Mochen was somewhat startled. He hadn't been paying attention to that area recently, but Jeremy Burt had mentioned the war between the Black Prison Skulls, Bloodfang, and several South City gangs. Even at Unicorn Apartments, they occasionally heard gunfire and explosions from over there.

The problem was that the gunfire and explosions had been going on since he first arrived in this world, so Li Mochen had grown accustomed to them.

It wasn't until William brought it up today that he realized how serious the situation had become.

Lina was also surprised: "Don't the police and FBI do anything?"

She wasn't foolish enough to ask why the Magic Tower Committee didn't partition the combat zone. Temporary space segmentation cost a lot of money.

Generally, the Atlanta Magic Tower Committee wouldn't intervene in wars involving fewer than ten outlaws. And with the city-wide anti-magic field in effect, the committee wasn't worried about large-scale casualties.

"They do. In a month, they've arrested over seven hundred people, including many leaders. But it's useless. Those neighborhoods have plenty of people. They can easily throw around money to recruit more hands and buy more guns."

William shrugged: "Now it's even worse. The heads of both gangs and several mid-level bosses were killed in the past few days. So both sides have new leaders, but they can't back down now. This is a blood feud. If they stop, they can't face their brothers below—they'd be called cowards and get shot in the back."

Both the Black Prison Skulls and Bloodfang bosses were dead?

Li Mochen's expression turned grave. Why hadn't Jeremy Burt reported such an important matter to him?

But then he realized Jeremy hadn't deliberately ignored it; he simply didn't think it was important enough to warrant a special report.

For the rapidly rising Rising Sun Company, these local gangs posed little threat. Currently, only seven of Rising Sun Electrical Retail's stores were in South City, all in prosperous areas under police protection. With the deterrent of having crushed the Blood Hand Gang within a month, no one dared to cause trouble at their doors.

And after acquiring the Georgia Post, Li Mochen's influence had extended into media and politics, making the gangs even less inclined to provoke him. The two sides were no longer on the same level.

So whenever Jeremy reported to him, he only briefly mentioned the South City stores in passing.

Due to the continuous gang wars, those stores had the worst performance. Despite the generous promotions, the highest daily sales for the seven stores was only over nine million.

But Li Mochen viewed the issue from more than just his own business perspective. He sensed that beneath the surface of Atlanta, several dark hands were manipulating the situation.

The Anomalies, the Dragon Witch Cult, the Fenrir Wolf, and those gangs—Li Mochen felt that the people and forces behind them were not as simple as they appeared.

Someone was plotting something here, engaging in covert maneuvers. The entities currently stirring up trouble on Atlanta's stage might just be pawns.

Li Mochen didn't dwell on the matter further. He had too little intelligence to analyze it properly.

But regarding the gang situation, he would make a couple of calls later to have Jeremy Burt and Ms. Drew pay close attention.

...

At 1:30 PM, the Linden Academy bus arrived at Storm Stadium on time.

As with Li Mochen's previous state individual competitions, half a kilometer from the stadium, the streets were already packed with crowds and roaring chants, but they were sharply polarized.

The left side of the street was a scenic line, filled with Li Mochen's fans, seventy percent of whom were young women. Signs reading 'Lucky Andre, you will be invincible,' 'Andre, you are my eternal dream lover,' and the like were everywhere.

The crowd on the right was smaller but more imposing. Besides signs with words like 'crap,' 'trash,' 'you're a fraud,' and 'you're going to lose today,' they chanted in unison: "Cheater! Cheater! Cheater!"

The roar was deafening, drowning out the cheers of Li Mochen's fans.

"Are those the gamblers who lost again?"

Angela's expression also turned sour. Actually, both sides of the street annoyed her, but the right side bothered her more.

She thought, how could people be so stupid? Did they still believe that A-Mo's consecutive wins in the ring were manipulated?

"They lost too much and can't accept reality."

Carl Holton behind them shrugged: "But there weren't this many people before; A-Mo's fans had the advantage. This time, the major TV stations and newspapers are all hyping it up, and the veteran commentators and analysts all think your Linden Academy is doomed to lose. That's got them excited—they think they'll finally see Lucky Andre stumble, and they can party tonight."

Carl had accompanied Li Mochen to his previous state competitions and knew the situation.

"Party?"

Angela's lips twitched, then she fell silent. But Lina beside her noticed that her mistress's small chest was heaving slightly—she was clearly angry.