Martial Arts Livestreaming
Chapter 506 - 470: Already Provoked_2

Chapter 506: Chapter 470: Already Provoked_2

In fact, Xie Ming had agreed so readily to Wu Li’s two conditions partly because he worried about the possibility of Wu Li turning against him. If Le Yuan could kill him, why couldn’t Wu Li?

...

The next morning, at the Shared Guardian Martial Arts Hall.

Xie Ming, He Ye, and a group of top leaders from the Shared Guardian Association were gathered together.

"This is outrageous!"

An elderly high-level member slammed his palm heavily on the chair, his face filled with anger.

Xie Ming had once again recounted what he had said to Wu Li the previous night, informing all the high-level members of the Shared Guardian Association.

"Is Old Li and Uncle Ba still alive?" He Ye asked Xie Ming, his eyes fixed on him.

Xie Ming shook his head, "I don’t know."

He Ye clenched the armrest of his chair, his eyes filled with a murderous intent. He had been seriously injured and taken to the hospital the previous night. Ignoring the physician’s advice, he forced himself out of bed and came here early this morning, only to hear such news.

His several apprentices had died last night. If they had died fighting an external enemy, He Ye could accept their death as honorable. But they died because of their own people, and that filled He Ye with both anger and hatred.

"Old He, and everyone else."

Xie Ming stood up and looked at everyone, "This incident was due to my foolishness, and I take full responsibility! I feel I no longer have the qualifications to continue leading the Shared Guardian Association. Therefore, I now willingly resign from the position of President of the Association and recommend He Ye to take over as the new President."

Upon hearing this, everyone present was surprised, including He Ye who looked at Xie Ming unexpectedly.

Despite everyone being dissatisfied with Xie Ming’s actions, they hadn’t expected him to relinquish his position so promptly, and to He Ye no less.

The Shared Guardian Association was different from Hongmen in that its founding members were Chinese merchants. These merchants teamed up, contributed funds and effort, hired professional bodyguards for their protection, and supported local Chinese Boxers to open schools and teach Kung Fu, thus strengthening their own power.

As a result, most of the high-level members of the Shared Guardian Association were businessmen, not Martial Artists. Few people like He Ye, who had the status of a Martial Artist, were among the high-ranking members. On this matter, Hongmen was the complete opposite, as its high levels were mostly born Martial Artists who had fought their way to the top.

Now that Xie Ming had nominated He Ye as President, it caught everyone by surprise, even He Ye had never considered it, because the nature of the Shared Guardian Association favored business over martial power.

However, when everyone’s gaze shifted to Wu Li, who had been silently sitting aside, they realized that Xie Ming’s decision was very likely related to Wu Li.

"Everyone."

Wu Li, who had been silent, finally spoke, and everyone’s eyes turned towards him.

"Due to Xie Ming’s actions, I had planned to terminate my cooperation with the Shared Guardian Association. But now that Xie Ming has nominated Master He as the President, I will reconsider the matter of cooperation."

Wu Li’s words left everyone with complex expressions; his meaning was all too clear.

Some people looked at Wu Li, struggling to speak, "Master Wu, this matter is ultimately an internal issue of our Shared Guardian Association..."

"Oh?" Wu Li looked at He Ye.

"Since it’s your internal affair, how about I leave now?"

"..."

The others exchanged glances, speechless.

They were all aware of last night’s situation. He Ye and a group of experts from the Shared Guardian Association were unable to stop the Dark Clown. In the end, it was Wu Li who killed one and repelled the other, saving the lives of Xie Ming, He Ye, and others. What if the Dark Clown came back and Wu Li was gone?

Of course, they could choose to cooperate with the Shared Guardian Association, but the focus was that martial artists like He Ye wouldn’t agree. And once they lost those Martial Artists, the Shared Guardian Association would be easy prey. They wouldn’t even need Le Yuan to make a move; the locals in Cape Town would swallow them up.

"Cough!"

A high-level member glanced at Wu Li, then turned to He Ye and raised his hand, "I agree to He Ye becoming the President."

The other high-level members looked at each other and also raised their hands one after the other.

"I agree."

"I agree too."

"..."

In the end, He Ye was unanimously elected as the new Chairman of the Shared Guardian Association.

Wu Power nodded in satisfaction. He had no intention of manipulating the Association, but if they were to confront ’Le Yuan,’ the Association needed a strong leader. Clearly, Wu Power trusted a martial artist like He Ye far more than a bunch of profit-motivated merchants, since the matter was closely related to martial artists. As long as He Ye and his peers didn’t want to be dragged away by ’Le Yuan’ for experiments, their stance would always be aligned with Wu Power.

"Congratulations, Chairman He," Wu Power said.

He Ye sighed wryly, "It is I who should thank you, Master Wu."

Wu Power: "Now that we have selected our Chairman, let’s discuss how to confront Le Yuan."

"Master Wu," a high-ranking member suddenly spoke up, "Actually, as long as we don’t cooperate with Le Yuan, there’s no need to confront them directly, right?"

Upon hearing this, Wu Power sneered and looked at the individual: "Although I don’t understand Le Yuan, their way of doing things in this incident shows that they are very domineering. At the very least, the Shared Guardian Association has no standing to ask for their courtesy."

The others fell silent. As awkward as it sounded, it was the truth. If they can kidnap your core members at will and kill your Chairman as they please, what standing do you have to ask for their courtesy?

Wu Power: "Since Le Yuan has no reason to be courteous to the Shared Guardian Association, do you think they will back off just because you say you are unwilling to cooperate?"

"Definitely not!"

This time, He Ye was the first to echo Wu Power, "I know everyone is reluctant to confront a major power like Le Yuan, but the fact is, if we are unwilling to cooperate, they will definitely resort to force!"

"The people from Le Yuan spoke nicely before, saying that they needed our cooperation for their experiments to be most effective, which is why they didn’t resort to force. I believe that’s true, but if we refuse to cooperate, a lack of test subjects would be a more serious issue than having less effective experiments. Even if we don’t cooperate, they will ultimately take action!"

The others looked at one another, and a high-ranking member spoke up: "Old He, ahem, Chairman, that’s just your speculation. What if the experiments that Le Yuan wants to conduct don’t need that many people? If they find enough people elsewhere to experiment on, they might not need us."

"Yeah, how many people would they need for experiments?"

"I heard from Old Xie that Le Yuan has also approached many other Chinese organizations. Maybe some of those organizations have agreed."

"Now that we have Master Wu and have established Hua Jian Security, we already have the ability to protect ourselves. Le Yuan might not necessarily resort to force, as long as we don’t provoke them."

"..."

The group’s comments revealed an underlying reluctance to openly conflict with Le Yuan.

He Ye felt a chill in his heart as he looked at these merchants.

These people were the ones who initially supported cooperation with ’Le Yuan,’ and they agreed to He Ye’s ascendance to keep Wu Power involved and strengthen their self-protection, but they were not willing to confront ’Le Yuan.’ Even after ’Le Yuan’ had killed so many martial artists from the Shared Guardian Association, these merchants remained indifferent.

"Le Yuan kidnapped Old Li and Uncle Ba, and they sent people to kill so many of our brothers, and now you say to just let it be?" He Ye’s gaze swept across the group, filled with a murderous intent.

The crowd averted their eyes from He Ye, not daring to meet his gaze.

After a moment of silence, someone spoke up: "The kidnappings of Old Li and Uncle Ba, along with the casualties of our brothers, are mainly Xie Ming’s responsibility. He let Le Yuan take action and draw their attack. I understand your anger, He Ye, but you can’t be impulsive, especially now that you’re Chairman. You’ve lost several disciples, but there are still many who are alive. You have to consider the living."

He Ye clenched his fists, radiating a chilling killing intent, yet he could not speak.

If it were just him, he would certainly seek revenge against ’Le Yuan’ without hesitation, but they had hit the nail on the head—he was not alone; he had so many disciples and brothers behind him. He could not act solely on his emotions.

"Are you all done?"

It was Wu Power’s turn to speak. "If everyone has had their say, then it’s my turn now."

"Cooperating with the Shared Guardian Association and protecting its members through Hua Jian Security comes with a condition—the Shared Guardian Association must declare war on Le Yuan!"

"..."

"Master Wu, Le Yuan’s power is unfathomable. Why must you provoke it?"

"Yes, Master Wu, even Hongmen are unwilling to provoke a force like Le Yuan. Why do this?"

"Master Wu, your kung fu is indeed powerful, but it is difficult for one to fend off many."

The crowd began to dissuade him in turn.

"But the problem is, he has already provoked them."

At this moment, a voice suddenly came from outside the door.