The Rise Of A Porter

In Shanghai, the night sky was aglow with bright city lights. The pale crescent moon hung over the skies like a dragon's claw. Even the stars were afraid to come close to it, yet Arnold found it to be one of the most beautiful moonlit skies he had ever seen. His only regret was enjoying the beauty all alone. Thankfully, it was already midnight, and the city was as lively as ever.

Arnold was enjoying the local brew of tea while absorbing the beauty of the nightlife of Shanghai while comfortably sitting on his armchair on the balcony of his hotel room, waiting for a special person to call him. And just then, Arnold's newly bought communicator went off.

"Just like a script..." Arnold smiled after seeing whose call it was.

Even though the caller ID was hidden, he already knew who would be calling him at that hour. Things were going as Arnold had predicted... well not predicted as he had used his foresight beforehand and he already knew that his uncle had planned quite a big feast to welcome him.

After all, every single warrior in Shanghai was there waiting for him to show up. So that they could slice him to pieces. Since his uncle had put so much effort into welcoming him, Arnold thought it would be rude if he didn't show up. Thus, Arnold obliged and received the call.

"Hello?" Arnold could barely refrain from laughing as soon as he answered the communicator, "Who's this?" 

"Oh, my dearest nephew! It's me, Uncle Chiang. You remember me, don't you?" Chiang's corky voice echoed in Arnold's ear.

"Uncle Chiang! What a pleasant surprise! I mean I was hoping to get in contact with you but I did not think you'll be the one to contact me first." Just behaving all goody-goody with him made Arnold want to puke his throat out, but he had to do it for now, "How have you been uncle, I hope your health is good? And what is cousin Gui doing these days?"

"Haha! see, didn't I tell you my nephew would be worrying about his uncle?" It appeared Chiang wasn't alone on the call. 

Arnold already found it to be obvious that Chiang wasn't alone. If he had to guess, who Chiang was speaking with, Arnold was pretty sure it was Yu Zhung. Who else would be so interested in knowing about the man who killed his brother-in-law?

"Don't worry, dearest nephew. Your uncle is still as fit as a bull! But I'm afraid your cousin has bloated into an elephant. It's no surprise though. After all, he's from a wealthy family! Haha!"

'Of course, he is.' Arnold thought to himself, 'Gotta hide your stolen wealth somewhere, don't you?'

"Either way, Zing told me you were looking for a job?"

"Yes, uncle. Sadly Nicole isn't as strong as yourself and isn't doing well physically..." Arnold mumbled in a sad voice. He wasn't happy about making up that lie but well, he had to come up with a reason to be back.

"Oh dear... what happened to my niece?"

"Andrea syndrome."

"Oh my... did she accompany you here?" Chiang tried his best to hide his disgusting nature while asking the question. But failed miserably.

"She didn't. She is too weak to do anything, to be honest. That's why I'm here to make some money for her treatment."

"It's a shame. You should have brought her here. I could have provided the best treatment to her." Chiang sounded a bit disappointed. It wasn't because he couldn't help Nicole, but because he couldn't feel her up with those vile claws of his.

'If she had been here, this entire city would have been reduced to dust all because of you, you sick basta*d!' Arnold wanted to tell him these exact words but controlled himself at the last moment.

"It's a shame indeed..." Arnold agreed with Chiang's statement before completing the rest of it in his mind, 'It's a shame that we were once forced to call someone like you as their uncle.'

"Listen, Arnold, since you're here. Why don't you come over to our house? We can continue our little chat over drinks, what do you say?"

"I would love to!" 

"Great then! I believe Zing had already given you my address?"

"Yeah, he has. I'll be there soon." Arnold replied before disconnecting the call, "This is going to be fun. Talos, is everything ready?"

Arnold turned around to see a room filled with his summons. Everyone except Grock, Dread and Yan was present there, while the three of them were already on their way to Chiang's mansion.

No, Arnold did not send them on their way without taking precautions. As it would've been troublesome if the civilians saw three monsters walking around as if it was Halloween.

But thanks to Natasha, no one will notice them walking around the streets. She had placed a spell on them why allowed them to mingle between the crowd. Thus even if someone saw them, they would just see three human beings walking the streets. Sadly, her ability only worked on monsters and not humans hence Arnold could not alter his appearance, which would've been helpful.

While the three of them were on their way, the rest of his summons would travel with him inside the domain. But first Arnold wanted Talos to explain his plans to them.

"Yes, master. Everything is ready."

"Just remember that I don't want unnecessary attention on me. Not this time. Unlike when we raged a war against Andrex, I want you guys to be as discreet as possible. Also, I don't want you to massacre those idiotic warriors." Arnold gave the summons some final instructions, "Despite whoever they are or what they do, they are the protectors of this city. Without them, the monsters would invade this place like crazy and civilians would be put in danger."

He continued, "That's one thing I don't want to happen. So refrain from killing and engage to only knock them out, nothing else. Is that clear?"

"Yes, Master!"

Arnold might have given them the instructions to not kill the enemies, but he was feeling like the world's biggest hypocrite. After all, he was the one who killed all those people today. They were warriors as well, but Arnold didn't realise their use until later. That's why he did not want any other warrior to die during their skirmish.

"Alright, then let's move, shall we?"