The service elevator doors slid open with a soft metallic chime, revealing the gray concrete of the plaza’s underground loading dock.
A sharp smell of diesel exhaust and crushed autumn apples drifted across the damp floor. Lin Mo stepped out of the elevator, pushing a mahogany cart loaded with twelve luxury watch boxes alongside deaf janitor Old Wu (Goodness: 89/100).
Fifty yards ahead near Loading Bay Three, angry shouts bounced off the concrete pillars.
“Break his good leg too! How dare a crippled night guard stop my cousin from collecting stall fees!”
Crooked Security Captain Biao raised a heavy solid-steel riot baton high above his head. His black security uniform jacket hung open over a beer belly, and his greasy face was flushed with ugly rage.
Four of Captain Biao’s cronies in plaza security vests stood behind him, blocking the rest of the morning sanitation crew from stepping forward.
In the center of the loading bay, a thirty-four-year-old man in a faded night-watchman coat stood like an iron tower in front of an overturned wooden fruit tricycle.
It was Tie Niu—nicknamed “Old Bull” by the dock workers.
His right knee was locked in a rusted steel orthopedic brace. Five years ago, he had paid that permanent price when he pried open the doors of a burning municipal school bus barehanded and pulled three trapped children to safety before the fuel tank exploded.
Despite his crippled right leg, Tie Niu’s broad shoulders remained squared as he shielded seventy-year-old fruit peddler Grandpa Liu.
Grandpa Liu knelt among hundreds of bruised red apples scattered across the oil-stained concrete. The old farmer’s rough hands shook as he tried to wipe diesel grease off the fruit with his sleeve.
“Captain Biao, Grandpa Liu has delivered fresh apples to the mall staff canteen every Tuesday for ten years,” Tie Niu said, his voice booming, gravelly, and military-precise. “The plaza charter states zero entry fee for canteen farmers. Your cousin demanded two thousand yuan at the ramp and kicked his tricycle over when he couldn’t pay.”
“The charter is whatever Vice-President Zhao and I say it is, you one-legged stray dog!” Captain Biao spat. “My cousin runs the underground gate now! Every peddler pays two thousand yuan, and since you dared to block his hand, you can crawl home on two broken knees today!”
Captain Biao stepped forward and swung the solid-steel baton in a vicious two-handed swing aimed straight at Tie Niu’s uninjured left kneecap!
Grandpa Liu cried out in horror. Tie Niu couldn’t pivot fast enough on his locked brace, so he braced his forearm to take the bone-cracking blow himself.
Above the loading bay, Lin Mo’s [Pure-Heart Eye] locked onto the three figures in an instant.
[Target: Biao Hu (Security Captain Biao) | Goodness Score: 11/100 (Extorts delivery drivers and elderly farmers, henchman of Mall Vice-President Zhao).]
[Target: Liu Dashan (Grandpa Liu, Orchard Farmer) | Goodness Score: 88/100 (Honest grower, never sprayed toxic chemicals, raising his orphaned grandson alone).]
[Target: Tie Niu (Retired Special-Forces Sergeant & External-Body Martial Artist) | Goodness Score: 93/100 (Heroic veteran, crippled saving schoolkids, shares half his night-guard wages with disabled comrades).]
Ninety-three points, Lin Mo thought, his eyes narrowing as his Rank 1 Early Martial qi surged into his legs. A special-forces hero who ruined his knee saving kids is getting beaten with an iron rod by an eleven-point parasite? Not on my dock.
Lin Mo moved like a phantom.
Thirty feet vanished in three silent strides across the concrete floor.
Before the two-inch-thick solid steel baton could touch Tie Niu’s arm, Lin Mo reached out with his bare right hand and caught the descending steel shaft in midair!
CLANG!
The sound echoed across the underground dock like a blacksmith’s hammer striking an iron anvil. A ring of dust blew outward from beneath Lin Mo’s sneakers, yet his arm didn’t dip by a single millimeter.
Captain Biao’s wrists went numb from the rebound shock. His eyes nearly popped out of their sockets as he stared at the young man in the plain white shirt holding the tip of his steel baton.
“Who the hell are you?!” Captain Biao barked, throwing all two hundred pounds of his weight backward to yank the weapon free. “Let go of my baton, you little punk!”
The steel baton didn’t budge.
“Strictly speaking, swinging steel rods at disabled veterans violates workplace safety,” Lin Mo said deadpan. “Also, the quality of this steel is terrible.”
Lin Mo closed his five fingers and squeezed.
SCREEEE—CRUNCH!
In front of Captain Biao’s horrified eyes, Lin Mo’s bare Rank 1 grip bent the solid-steel riot baton slowly and effortlessly into a tight U-shape, like a twist of warm taffy!
The four security cronies behind Captain Biao gasped and stumbled two steps back, rubbing their eyes in sheer terror.
Tie Niu’s gravelly jaw dropped half an inch. Having practiced External-Body Martial Arts in the special forces before his injury, Tie Niu knew exactly how much finger strength it took to bend cold-rolled solid steel barehanded.
That’s true Rank 1 Martial force! Tie Niu’s heart thundered in his chest. Who is this twenty-two-year-old kid?!
“You—you monster!” Captain Biao let go of the bent baton handle and reached into his belt for a stun gun. “Boys, get him! I work for Vice-President Zhao—”
Lin Mo didn’t wait for him to finish drawing the stun gun.
He tossed the U-shaped steel rod onto the floor and delivered a clean, crisp front snap-kick straight to the center of Captain Biao’s tactical vest.
THUD!
Captain Biao flew backward fifteen feet through the air like a kicked sack of wet cement. He sailed clean over the loading dock railing and landed headfirst inside an open green industrial dumpster full of rotten cabbage leaves!
The steel dumpster lid slammed shut on top of him with a loud clang.
Lin Mo dusted off his palms and looked calmly at the four remaining security cronies (Goodness: 19–26/100).
“Would the four of you like to join him in the cabbage bin,” Lin Mo asked politely, “or would you prefer to climb in on your own?”
The four cronies didn’t dare breathe. They dropped their rubber truncheons on the spot, dragged a groaning, cabbage-covered Captain Biao out of the dumpster, and bolted up the exit ramp as fast as their legs could carry them.
Only then did the morning sanitation crew (Goodness: 82–86/100) and Old Wu hurry forward with cheers of relief.
Lin Mo stepped over to Tie Niu first, steadying the big veteran’s elbow before looking down at the rusted steel brace digging into Tie Niu’s swollen right knee.
Even through the thick canvas trousers, Lin Mo could smell the bitter herbal plaster Tie Niu used to numb the chronic bone pain during twelve-hour night shifts.
“Are you alright, Brother Tie?” Lin Mo asked with genuine respect.
Tie Niu straightened his broad back and gave a crisp military nod, his booming voice full of gratitude.
“Report, sir! Only a scratch on the brace,” Tie Niu said seriously. “Thank you for stepping in. My name is Tie Niu, night-shift loading dock guard.”
“You shouldn’t stay down here long, young brother—Captain Biao is the nephew of Vice-President Zhao’s wife. He’ll run straight upstairs to bring the plaza’s twenty private security thugs down on you.”
“Let him bring them,” Lin Mo said mildly. “I was already planning to have them thrown out before lunch anyway.”
He crouched down beside Grandpa Liu (Goodness: 88/100), who was wiping tears from his weathered cheeks as he looked at the four hundred pounds of crushed, diesel-stained red apples on the floor.
“My whole autumn harvest from the mountain orchard...” Grandpa Liu choked out, holding two split apples in his trembling hands. “My little grandson’s primary school tuition and winter coal money were all in this cart. Now they’re soaked in motor oil...”
“Grandpa Liu, don’t pick up the oil-stained ones,” Lin Mo said gently, helping the old farmer stand up. “How many apple trees do you have left in your mountain orchard this year?”
Grandpa Liu wiped his eyes. “Fourteen mu of hillside red fuji trees, young man. About thirty thousand jin of apples still hanging on the branches. At three yuan a jin wholesale, it’s worth ninety thousand yuan, but without a tricycle or a buyer, they’ll freeze on the trees next month.”
“Our company, Taichu Benevolence Group, is opening employee canteens across the city,” Lin Mo said without hesitation. “We need fresh, chemical-free mountain fruit every day for our workers and hospital patients. I’m buying out your entire orchard harvest for the whole year right now—plus replacing your three-wheeled cart with an enclosed electric mini-truck—for five hundred thousand yuan upfront.”
Grandpa Liu froze, his mouth falling open. “Five... five hundred thousand yuan?! Young master, all my apples for three years wouldn’t cost five hundred thousand yuan!”
“The extra is our organic quality bonus and exclusive farm retainer,” Lin Mo said deadpan. “Strictly speaking, if my employees eat crispy apples, they work faster. You’re doing me a favor.”
He turned back to Tie Niu, whose rough face had softened as he watched Lin Mo rescue the old farmer’s livelihood without a shred of arrogance.
“Brother Tie,” Lin Mo said, looking at the veteran’s braced leg. “When you pulled those three schoolkids out of the burning bus five years ago, your right knee’s severed tendons were never properly reconstructed. That’s because you spent your military disability pension paying for your old squad leader’s dialysis, didn’t you?”
Tie Niu stiffened in shock. “How... how did you know that, sir?”
Lin Mo’s [Pure-Heart Eye] had read every word of Tie Niu’s 93/100 golden-green biography floating above his head. It included the six hundred thousand yuan in family medical debts still weighing on the proud soldier’s shoulders.
“My company does thorough background checks on heroes,” Lin Mo said simply. “A Peak Rank 1 External-Body Martial Artist shouldn’t be limping around an underground garage taking orders from scum like Captain Biao. I’m wiring one million five hundred thousand yuan right now.”
“Six hundred thousand clears your family and squad medical debts. Four hundred thousand is your signing allowance as Commander of Taichu Security, and five hundred thousand books you into the hospital’s VIP orthopedic wing this afternoon!”
Tie Niu stared at Lin Mo, his massive frame trembling as five years of swallowed grievance and exhaustion hit him all at once.
“Chairman Lin,” Tie Niu said hoarsely, shaking his head. “The doctors at the military hospital told me three years ago that my right knee’s meridian channels and patellar tendons have calcified. Even with five hundred thousand yuan, ordinary surgery can’t restore my martial arts. Hiring a cripple as your Commander of Security is throwing your money into the river!”
“Ordinary surgery can’t fix calcified meridians,” Lin Mo said with a calm smile as he pulled out his phone and scanned both Grandpa Liu’s payment code and Tie Niu’s salary bank card. “Good thing I have a special bone-mending medicine waiting for you at the hospital.”
Beep—Beep!
Lin Mo transferred ¥500,000.00 to Grandpa Liu and ¥1,500,000.00 to Tie Niu (¥1,000,000 direct debt-clearance & signing grant + ¥500,000 VIP orthopedic recovery deposit)—spending an exact total of ¥2,000,000.00 RMB!
The instant both transfers cleared, the golden ledger inside Lin Mo’s mind blazed like a furnace:
[Ding! Heroic Veteran & Honest Farmer Benevolent Rescue Verified!]
[Host spent ¥2,000,000.00 RMB clearing Retired Special-Forces Hero Tie Niu's (93/100) medical debts, funding his orthopedic recovery, and buying out Honest Farmer Liu Dashan's (88/100) annual orchard harvest!]
[Deep Heroic Gratitude & Livelihood Salvation Generated: 100% Qualified!]
[Triggering 100x Pure-Heart Cashback Multiplier!]
[+¥200,000,000.00 RMB (Two Hundred Million Yuan, Tax-Cleared Sovereign Funds) deposited into Host's Personal Vault!]
[+200,000 Benevolence Merit Points (BMP) awarded!]
[Cultivation Breakthrough Triggered: Accumulated Benevolence Qi advances Host from Rank 1 Early Martial to Rank 1 Mid Martial!]
[System Mall Unlocked: Host may now spend Benevolence Merit Points (BMP) to redeem Rank-1 Martial & Medical Treasures!]
[Current Personal Liquid Vault Balance: ¥2,257,680,000.50 RMB!]
[Good People Network Updated: 27 Verified Beneficiaries & Allies!]
A deep, resonant roar echoed through Lin Mo’s bones and tendons as a torrent of warm Golden Benevolence Qi washed through his body!
As he advanced from Rank 1 Early Martial to Rank 1 Mid Martial, his muscle fibers braided like steel cables beneath his skin. His reaction speed doubled, and his punch force surged past one thousand two hundred pounds!
In front of him, Grandpa Liu stared at the ¥500,000.00 arrival notice on his old phone and dropped to his knees in tears of joy. Beside him, the twelve loading-dock sanitation workers (Goodness: 82–86/100) cheered and received the remaining twelve luxury watches from Lin Mo’s cart as their shift-timekeeping gear.
Beside the cart, thirty-four-year-old Tie Niu looked at the ¥1,000,000.00 bank SMS that had just lifted five years of crushing debt off his mother and crippled squad mates.
The scarred iron giant didn’t say a single flowery word.
With a heavy thud, Tie Niu dropped straight onto his good left knee on the concrete floor, slamming his right fist against his chest in a solemn military oath.
“Chairman Lin!” Tie Niu’s gravelly voice echoed off the loading dock ceiling like rolling thunder. “Tie Niu’s life was supposed to rot away in this basement! You saved Grandpa Liu, paid off my dead brothers’ hospital bills, and treated a crippled soldier like a general! From today until the day my heart stops beating, my life and my fists belong to you and Taichu Group!”
He looked up, his eyes blazing with fierce loyalty.
“And I’m not alone, Chairman Lin! I have thirty-eight retired special-forces brothers across Jiangcheng—all honest men who were discharged with combat injuries and are working as bullied night watchmen! Say the word, and all thirty-eight of them will stand at your gate!”
Lin Mo reached down with both hands and lifted Tie Niu up by the forearms.
Thirty-eight retired special-forces veterans with eighty-five-plus Goodness scores, Lin Mo thought, his heart skipping a beat at the sheer value of that treasure trove. That’s thirty-eight walking 100x cashback machines who can also flatten an army of thugs!
“Call all thirty-eight of your brothers to meet us at the hospital’s VIP orthopedic wing in an hour,” Lin Mo said, clapping Tie Niu’s shoulder as he unlocked the [Rank-1 Bone-Mending Marrow Liniment] in his System Mall.
“Let’s heal your shattered knee today so you and your thirty-eight brothers can personally throw Vice-President Zhao out of this mall!”