Honkai Impact 3rd: Don't Die For Me/ Book 1: Promise

Chapter 57 The Beginnings of An Exchange

<Lanshau Unknown>

Fan was carefully examining the merchandise he had acquired over the past few months. Water dripped from the ceiling of this temporary warehouse base of his. If the sale was successful the families promised a more suitable place to operate and other enticing benefits. He scoffed at the thought of their pompous smug faces, in a sense he acknowledged that he was just like them. Greedy and vile but at the very least he had respect for strength. He was just using them as they were using him. The Underground would be restored under one ruler but Fan's ambitions didn't stop there. He wanted to raise a clan, a family, and if he could become the Emperor. He knew it was an impossible dream but such an impossible dream was worth chasing.

Fan footsteps crunched rotten wood pieces that were strewn across the floor. It was irritating, his men were not ones to properly clean the place. As a result, mold had again grown in some places. He would have to spend money to ensure the goods were at the peak of quality and time to clean this place. This was his fault, of course, his crew was hand-picked. Anyone who worked as a cleaner for a living would not get involved with the criminal underground.

Fan pulled donned a face mask that covered his mouth and nose and got to work. Despite having only one arm and having an average height of 175 cm or (5 ft 7 inches) he moved with impossible strength. When the Underground fell the first time he had lost everything. A year of strained hiding and belittlement ultimately caused him to attempt suicide. But in that moment of exposure to beasts, at the moment he was saved by an unknown hero he awakened a divine mark. It mockingly formed on the back of his remaining right hand and granted him the strength he never had before.

He used this newfound strength to recruit a stronger team, as well as bring back old compatriots. He used his mind once more and struck a deal with the two factions that influenced the underground. Things were looking up and while the guards of the city had gotten weaker due to war, he grew in strength. The heavens were blessing him.

But it wasn't all smooth sailing. He crafted a new system of communication involving the lanterns that lit up the streets. At certain times they would be off and would indicate some sort of message he wanted to send to potential customers. In exchange for a nearly indiscoverable system of communication, he sacrificed efficiency. The Underground operated slower than before. To make matters worse, his newfound strength, his divine mark, was of the lowest quality. The families had members stronger than he was. This allowed them to pressure him as they did now. Anxious about the profits of the first auction that was coming in a few days.

His thoughts flowed through his head as he cleaned up the space. A demanding task that took hours of work. The merchandise didn't talk, and the ones that did went silent when he didn't respond. Some had been here for quite a while. It was inexpensive to feed them, he ran a few not-so-discreet smuggling dens that couldn't be traced to him. Only the newer arrivals talked to him. Unlike his thugs, he was a cripple and more nicely dressed. It made him seem like a victim.

"You don't seem to be like the rest of them."

'Right on cue' Fan thought. He wasn't particularly annoyed by their incentives to talk. He didn't care much for the people here. They were just weak unfortunate souls that were easily exploited. The strong preyed on the weak, that was the natural order of life.

"Why did you become like this? To work for a vile system. That would treat you so poorly?"

'Poorly? Woman, you have no idea who I am.' He thought. He snorted out a bit amused. There were many types of merchandise here. Even back then they sometimes talked to him. Begging to be set free, asking for help. It seems this time his goons captured a woman with a strong moral code.