Inside Cell No. 3.
Beneath the large bunk bed, five burly men covered in tattoos were kneeling neatly in a line.
Each one of them was a notorious thug outside these walls, but right now, they were as obedient as lambs.
Their heads were bowed low, not daring to utter a single word or make the slightest move.
Even when the guard opened the door, not one of them lifted their head.
Their fear for the man lying on the upper bunk was bone-deep—genuine and absolute.
Two of them were even trembling uncontrollably, beads of sweat rolling down their foreheads.
Among the kneeling men, one with flashy white hair stood out like a sore thumb.
Seeing that familiar white-haired lackey kneeling there, Huang Yu's mouth twitched.His so-called chief dogleg—the number one lackey of the "Tianhai Playboy"—was actually locked up here as well.
But gone was his arrogant and wild attitude from before he got arrested for trying to beat up the Crooked-Mouthed Dragon King.
Now he looked utterly defeated, head drooping, spirit broken.When the cell door opened, he instinctively glanced up—only for his eyes to widen in shock at the sight of the familiar Huang Shao.
The panic vanished instantly, replaced by relief and excitement, as if he'd just seen a savior descend from heaven.
"Master Huang, this is Cell No. 3," the police officer said. "Just following orders, you understand."
He glanced uneasily at the row of kneeling men inside, clearly helpless about the situation.
The man lying on the bunk was a real tough nut to crack.No punishment seemed to work, and even the guards had suffered under his hand.
But since he rarely picked fights unless provoked, most of them had simply learned to turn a blind eye.
Still…
The officer gave Huang Yu a sympathetic look.The poor guy had offended Deputy Captain Feng—and made him eat "Special Homemade Hamburgers," no less.He was bound to suffer for it.
The officer sighed and turned to the man lying lazily on the bunk—thin, cropped hair, sharp eyes.
"Ning Xiao, behave yourself. Don't cause trouble."
He still gave a warning out of formality.
After all, the Huang family's influence in Tianhai's political and business circles was no joke.If anything happened to Huang Yu—the heir to that family—inside the detention center, it could spark an earthquake across the city.
"Got it," the man on the bunk replied casually, waving his hand as he turned over to continue sleeping.
He didn't even bother to open his eyes.
The officer could only sigh again and let it go.
Huang Yu, however, immediately recognized who the man was.
Ning Xiao—the Crooked-Mouthed Dragon King Xiao Zhan's right-hand man.
Though Huang Yu already knew this world was a chaotic fusion of multiple Dragon Ao Tian-style novels, only Xiao Zhan's storyline had begun unfolding so far.
The others—the "Fated Sons of Heaven"—hadn't yet appeared.
Still, Ning Xiao was not someone to be underestimated.
In the original novel, he was Xiao Zhan's most trusted subordinate, known as the Blood-Handed Butcher, feared throughout the Dragon King's world.
If this had been a more old-fashioned tragedy-style story, Ning Xiao could've easily been the protagonist himself.
His background was tragic to the extreme.
An orphan with only his younger sister left, he scraped by collecting trash to pay for her schooling.
Then one day, his sister fell gravely ill.
Desperate for money, he saw an ad on a lamppost offering a large sum for a "special job."
Naively, he contacted the number, drank a bottle of water they gave him—and woke up in Southeast Asia.
After enduring unspeakable suffering and finally escaping a certain compound, he became a mercenary, taking on suicidal missions for local warlords.
He mastered iron-body techniques and earned the title Blood-Handed Butcher for his ruthless efficiency.
But for his sister, he was endlessly gentle.
When he finally earned enough to return home, he discovered she'd been thrown out of the hospital for being unable to pay—barely clinging to life.
He killed the attending doctor in a rage and fled with her, seeking treatment everywhere, but to no avail.
That was when he met the Crooked-Mouthed Dragon King, Xiao Zhan.
Predictably, Xiao Zhan miraculously cured his sister.
And under Xiao Zhan's "guidance," Ning Xiao became utterly loyal, his sister hopelessly infatuated with Xiao Zhan.
A complete melodramatic mess.
And according to the original plot, Ning Xiao was the one who would later kill Huang Yu.
Thinking about that made Huang Yu want to cry.
Why the hell did everyone he ran into have ties to that crooked-mouthed bastard?!
"Master Huang," the officer whispered, "please be careful not to offend that man. Once Captain Han returns, you'll be released soon."
Clearly unwilling to provoke the dangerous prisoner further, the guard shut the cell door with a heavy clang.
Silence fell.
Only Ning Xiao's steady breathing echoed through the cell.
The men on the floor didn't even dare to breathe too loudly.
Huang Yu rubbed his neck, muttering to himself.
Damn it.
According to the novel, Ning Xiao shouldn't have even returned to Tianhai yet.
He'd only just transmigrated—how was the plot already going off the rails?
But there was one person in the cell who wasn't terrified.
White Hair.
The moment he saw his young master, confidence surged back into him.
Ignoring the horrified glances of the others, he stood up straight, eyes blazing with excitement.
"Master Huang! You've finally come to save me!"
White Hair's eyes were wet with emotion—but more than anything, he looked thrilled.
Straightening his back, his dark-circled eyes glared at the bunk bed as he pointed furiously at Ning Xiao.
"You damn bastard! Get off that bed and kneel! That's Young Master Huang's spot!"
"You're dead, you hear me? DEAD! Better crawl over and apologize right now, or I'll break your legs myself!"
He puffed up his chest, full of misplaced confidence.
After all, with Young Master Huang's status, a mere inmate should kneel just from his presence alone!
But as soon as he finished shouting, the air in the cell froze.
All the kneeling men shuddered violently, their faces turning pale as they shut their eyes tight.
Huang Yu's expression twisted.
For a second, he almost coughed up blood.
Goddamn it!
You useless white-haired idiot—are you determined to get your young master killed or what?!