For Cheng, innocence and young love are shattered by circumstance, wrongful imprisonment, murder, and escape. He finds himself in the crime gangs of Shanghai and apprenticed to the local tycoon (Sammo Hung). As the years pass, Cheng rises to the upper echelons of power and finds himself torn between the love of two women, the murderous plots of the secret service, and the looming threat of war that may destroy the entire city.