1973, Hong Kong. In the pouring rain of Kowloon Walled City, young Chen Qihao kneels before his father's cold body. A carefully orchestrated frame-up has cost his family their garment factory and brought them the threat of death. Before he can avenge the blood feud, creditors are already at the door, driving him to the brink.
In this desperate moment, an ancient and mysterious power awakens in his mind: the “Hall of Loyalty and Righteousness” System answers his call. One hundred thousand death soldiers stand ready to serve.
From then on, undercurrents stir along the shores of Hong Kong. In the dead of night in Sham Shui Po, twelve red-pole death soldiers hack the leader of the Wo Shing Hop Gang to death. On a rooftop in Yau Ma Tei, the zero-cost “Meteor Garment Factory” runs day and night, shaking up the industry. Aboard cargo ships in Victoria Harbour, the death soldiers quietly take over the docks, laying the foundations of his logistics empire.
From the bloodshed of Kowloon Walled City to the high-stakes maneuvering of capital at the Mandarin Hotel; from the tangled black-money dealings before the Independent Commission Against Corruption was founded to the stunning reversal during the 1973 stock market crash, Chen Qihao uses his death soldiers as pieces on a chessboard, making calculated moves along the border between light and darkness.
To night-school teacher Fang Wanting, he is a business prodigy. In the underworld, he is the “King of the Walled City,” a name that strikes fear into all who hear it. When his sworn enemy, Ewo Trading Company, finally realizes who is pulling the strings, an ultimate showdown spanning business, gangs, and politics erupts in this neon-lit city of desire.
This is a tale of revenge and rise, of how in 1970s Hong Kong one man used one hundred thousand absolutely loyal lives to forge a legend woven from light and darkness.
