After the dock massacre, the city settled into uneasy quiet.
No syndicate dared challenge Lian Xuan's authority — not after he dismantled his second-in-command in full view of dock surveillance.
But Yu Zhen noticed the cracks forming.
Criminal empires didn't stabilize through violence alone.
They metastasized.
Yu Zhen slipped fully into his dual role:
• Physician by night• Strategist by day
He began advising Lian Xuan on syndicate restructuring — subtle changes in shipping routes, redistributing veteran lieutenants, neutralizing volatile underlings without bloodshed wherever possible.
Lian Xuan watched him with dangerous intensity.
"You command criminals like generals," he said one evening, studying Yu Zhen across a chessboard."Feels familiar."
Yu Zhen smiled faintly. "I was always good with fragile armies."
His words struck oddly true.
[MEMORY FRAGMENT 4 — ECHO RESIDUE] [DIVINE STRATEGIST TRAIT RESTORED — LOW LEVEL]
Lian Xuan began trusting Yu Zhen with private security decisions.
Fear rippled through the underworld:
"The Don listens to the doctor."