About twenty of us squeezed into the cramped dorm room, making it feel incredibly crowded.

“Show your faces! Show your faces!” “Hurry up, you’re moving like turtles!”

The students in the dorm were clearly terrified, nervously showing their faces and looking at us, the uninvited guests, in fear. I shone my flashlight on each of their faces, but none of them were the ones who ambushed me tonight. Of course, I didn't expect to find them right away; that would be too miraculous. “Sorry to disturb your sleep,” I said as I backed out of the room. Ye Zhan and the others followed me, and as I shut the door, I added, “Remember, I’m Wang Hao, the one who took down Maizi.”

Then, we headed to the next dorm. Boys’ dorm rooms rarely had their doors locked at night, so it was easy to push them open.

As usual, I said, “I’m Wang Hao, here to check for a few people. Show your faces.”

This night, rather than just looking for those guys, I was here to increase my notoriety and establish my authority.

My name was already well-known, but not quite at Old Dog’s level yet.

In a short while, we had pushed open the doors of over a dozen dorm rooms. With nearly twenty of us causing a ruckus on the second-year floor, quite a few students poked their heads out to see what was going on. At one point, I pushed a door, but it was locked from the inside. I politely knocked and said, “I’m Wang Hao from the first year. Open the door.”

There was no response. I stepped back and pointed at Dai Zude, “Break it open.”

Dai Zude charged forward and kicked the door open with a heavy blow, causing chaos inside as students hastily sat up to see what was happening.

I shone my flashlight on their faces and suddenly laughed. Although they weren't the ones who ambushed me tonight, they were all former lackeys of Maizi. “Heh.” I patted one of them on the head and said, “Don’t worry, Maizi is done for. I won’t trouble you guys anymore. Just stay out of my way in the future.”

I left that dorm and headed to the next. Liu Zihong suddenly ran up in a panic, saying, “Hao Ge, it looks like someone reported us. The dorm supervisor is on the way.”

I immediately took out a pack of cigarettes and handed it to Gong Ning, “Handle it.”

Gong Ning nodded and went off with Liu Zihong.

I pushed open the next dorm door. As soon as I entered, I felt the atmosphere was off. Unlike the other rooms where students were clearly scared of me, the guys here were just doing their thing, some picking their feet, some swatting mosquitoes.

“I’m Wang Hao, here to find a few people.” There was no need to tell them to show their faces since they were already sitting up.

I shone the flashlight on their faces. One student near the window, annoyed, said, “What are you shining at? It’s the middle of the night, can’t you let people sleep? Think you’re hot stuff, Wang Hao? Took down Maizi and now you’ve forgotten your place?”

Ye Zhan quickly came to my side and whispered, “That’s Feilong, a well-known second-year bully.”

I walked over, continuing to shine the flashlight in his face. He was indeed fat, with his belly bulging out.

“Ye Zhan, Dai Zude, Hu Jianmin…” Feilong listed off seven or eight names. “You guys are pretty bold, huh? Coming to the second-year floor to cause trouble? Following Wang Hao has made you forget your place?”

Ye Zhan said, “Feilong Ge, we’re just here to find a few people. If they’re not here, we’ll leave. No need to be so harsh.” Feilong slammed his fist on the bed with a loud bang, “I’m giving you face, aren’t I?!”

I continued to shine the flashlight in his face, his features contorted with anger.

Find this and other great novels on the author's preferred platform. Support original creators!

“Shine it on your mother!” Feilong reached out to grab my flashlight. It was clear he had no respect for me.

I dodged his hand and then swung the flashlight, hitting him hard on the head.

“Damn!” Feilong cursed, his massive body lunging at me. I grabbed his neck and yanked him off the bed. Ye Zhan quickly kicked him hard in the ribs.

“Who’s giving face to whom now? Who's this disrespectful now? Damn it.” Ye Zhan cursed fiercely. Encouraged, Hu Jianmin, Dai Zude, and the others joined in, kicking and punching Feilong. I stepped back, quietly watching as Feilong screamed in pain.

The other students in the room were stunned, not reacting the way I had expected. They didn't rush down to fight us. Fear of the strong is a natural instinct.

“Enough,” I said, and Ye Zhan and the others stopped.

Feilong lay on the ground, unable to get up, gasping for air, his previous arrogance gone.

I squatted down and continued to shine the flashlight in his face. He squinted, unable to keep his eyes open, and kept lowering his head.

“You’ve got two more years before you graduate,” I said. “In those two years, you’ll keep hearing my name. By then, you’ll realize how lucky you were tonight, just getting a beating.”

After saying that, I stood up and shone the flashlight on the others. This time, no one was picking their feet or swatting mosquitoes. They all sat quietly, waiting for the flashlight to pass over their faces.

“It would’ve been easier if you cooperated from the start. No need for all this trouble.” I shook my head and left the dorm.

“That was awesome!” Hu Jianmin said excitedly, rushing to my side. “I never thought I’d dare to hit an upperclassman. Hao Ge, I regret not following you sooner. Ye Zhan had the right idea!”

“Actually, I don’t like fighting,” I said, shaking my head. “But that guy seemed to really look down on us first-years. Does being in school for an extra year make you that great? Being humble doesn’t hurt…”

After beating up Feilong, entering other dorms became significantly easier. At the very least, those who weren’t as tough as Feilong didn’t dare to act up anymore. One dorm even opened the door for us before we could knock, and a student greeted us with a smile, offering cigarettes, “Hao Ge, right? Come on in, take a look.”

When people respected me, I respected them back. After checking that room and not finding who I was looking for, I sat down and chatted with the students there. The one who offered the cigarettes was quite good at lightening the mood, making everyone laugh several times.

“Alright, guys,” I said with a smile. “Get some sleep. Sorry for disturbing you tonight. Something came up, so we had to wake you. If you ever need anything and respect me, Wang Hao, I’ll do my best to help you.”

“Goodbye, Hao Ge!” “Come visit us again, Hao Ge!” “Hao Ge, rest well!” “Hao Ge, come back anytime…”

This world works like this: when you greet others with a smile, you receive smiles in return; when you act arrogantly, you encounter even greater arrogance.

There are about three hundred second-year boarders, and it took us nearly an hour to check all thirty or forty dorm rooms. Most of the dorms cooperated, though a few, like Feilong, were defiant at first but settled down after we dealt with them.

Previously, the second-year dorms were Maizi’s territory. Now that Maizi is gone, no one dares to challenge me. We moved smoothly through the second-year dorms that night, and I could sense that their fear of me had reached a certain level. My prestige was gradually growing, and my reputation was spreading. Although we still hadn’t found those few individuals, I wasn’t worried. The main goal was to establish my authority, and the "Broken Net" plan was being executed systematically.

When the time comes to confront Su Xiaobai, we’ll see who dares to support him.

We left the last second-year dorm without any success.

“Hao Ge, still nothing?” Hu Jianmin asked, frowning.

“No rush,” Ye Zhan said. “We’ll find them eventually. We still have the third-year dorms to check, right? It’s even more challenging than the second-year ones, and with all the athletes looking to boost their college entrance exam scores, each one is more violent than the next...”

Hu Jianmin said worriedly, “It’s not just the athletes; the third-year dorms are Old Dog’s territory. If we accidentally offend him, it won’t be good. Our gang has just formed; we can’t afford to let Old Dog break us up.”

I nodded. “You’re right. We’ll check it out and be polite if we run into Old Dog’s people.” Now wasn’t the time to antagonize Old Dog, as my current enemy was Su Xiaobai. I didn’t want to get tangled up with Old Dog. I turned to Ye Zhan, “You know a lot of the third-year thugs, right? Can you tell if they’re with Old Dog?”

“Yes, don’t worry,” Ye Zhan replied. “I’m quite familiar with them. As long as we don’t act too arrogant, we should be fine.”

Hu Jianmin added, “Just hypothetically, Hao Ge, if you find those guys and they happen to be Old Dog’s men, what do we do? Should we still...”

This question brought a hush over everyone. Clearly, they were all worried about this. Ye Zhan also looked at me, concern written on his face. This was a critical moment; one wrong move and our newfound unity could dissolve.

“No,” I said. “The ones who ambushed me tonight, trying to drive a wedge between Ye Zhan and me, aren’t Old Dog’s men.”

“Why?” Hu Jianmin asked. Not just him, but the others also looked puzzled.

“If Old Dog wanted to mess with me, he has the strength to come at me directly,” I said with a sly grin. “He wouldn’t bother sending a few guys to stir up trouble between Ye Zhan and me. Don’t you think?”

Ye Zhan was the first to speak. “Right, Old Dog wouldn’t stoop to such tactics.” The others nodded, reassured by this. With their doubts eased, we were set to move on to the third-year dorms.