Forty Millenniums of Cultivation, page 1274
The Land of Sins was terribly barren. Other than the mutated beasts that were everywhere in the wilderness, there was barely any yield. Everybody's life depended on the blessings from the angels.
When the angels sprayed the relief assets, they were often highly imbalanced. It was often the case that daily necessities were thrown to different coordinates that were very far away from each other.
Therefore, a strong demand for resource communication had been generated, which resulted in the prosperity of business and commerce. Even the atrocious Bloody Worlds could not stop the commercial teams from travelling all over the world. Or rather, in the Bloody Worlds, commercial teams and gangs were essentially the same thing, and the role could be switched at any moment.
Since the Double Dragons City was a hub that connected the Thousand Lakes Area and the Bloody Plateau Area, countless commercial teams inevitably had to pass the place. Although the strong experts did not fear the magnificence and steepness of the two mountains, it was impossible for them to carry the goods that weighed hundreds of tons while they climbed the mountains.
The many gangs lurking in Double Dragons City at the center of Double Dragons Valley, taking the advantage of the terrain, were themselves large commercial groups that sold dangerous assets. They had also deployed checkpoints to levy a steep tax on the passersby. The black markets that were of a reasonably large scale attracted the sinners from the Thousand Lakes Area and the Bloody Plateau Area to trade. In such a case, the daily income was already astronomical. An abnormally prosperous city was gradually built on the devastated, disaster-stricken Land of Sins.
At noon, the sunlight was so dazzling that it was practically impossible to keep one's eyes open.
However, even if the sunlight was ten times stronger, it would not be able to illuminate Neltharion, which was lurking in midair in the stealth mode.
Li Yao's soul and the mental devil both crammed into Neltharion and observed Double Dragons City from above. The iron shell that was strengthened and modified with the components of the crystal suits had been hidden inside an inconspicuous ravine.
Double Dragons City must have been an enormous center of trade a thousand years ago. Although it had been completely destroyed in Judgment Day, a lot of splendid buildings were still left behind, reminding the offspring of the city's past glory and prosperity.
A large area of buildings inside Double Dragons City had been abandoned, but the central district had been greatly upgraded. All the buildings there had been strengthened with rebar and iron plates, and a lot of bunkers and shooting holes had been installed, transforming them into dense iron fortresses. It could also be seen that countless tanks, shuttles, and unmanned crystal cameras were patrolling everywhere.
Looking from the above, Li Yao also discovered a lot of brawny, intimidating men who all carried blades and guns. They could not have looked more ferocious.
Han Te had told Li Yao that there were more than ten gangs in Double Dragons City and almost ten thousand elites. They were all well-trained, fearless bandits. People like Fei Zhong were everywhere there.
Li Yao had also learned that there was also the classification of the Refinement Stage, the Building Foundation Stage, the Core Formation Stage, and the Nascent Soul Stage in the Land of Sins. The experts in the Core Formation Stage were not rare in the Bloody Worlds, and those in the Nascent Soul Stage were not just tales, either.
Also, what the sinners in the Land of Sins trained themselves with were the most dominating and risky arts. While the odds of injury and death were appallingly high, the power of such arts was often much greater than the regular arts if the trainers miraculously grasped them.
Therefore, the combat ability of the sinners in the Land of Sins could not simply be classified by their levels. It was possible for experts in Core Formation Stage to have some ultimate skills or some powerful but highly unstable magical equipment, which could be a fatal threat for both their enemy and themselves once activated.
In other words, the Bloody Worlds were places where the lunatics who practiced 'evil arts' gathered. Li Yao naturally could not rush into Double Dragons City blatantly to confront almost ten thousand such lunatics.
Moreover, besides the almost ten thousand tough bandits in Double Dragons City, countless commercial teams passed by the place every day. Those 'commercial teams' who travelled among the Bloody Worlds openly were certainly unparalleled bandits themselves.
"There are about ten famous gangs in Double Dragons City. The Red Fire Gang and the Black Water Gang are certainly the best," the mental devil said. "The Red Fire Gang is a seasoned gang with decades of history. Their main business is the black market and the arena in Double Dragons City. When the tough bandits have nothing better to do, they always gamble and fight in the arenas. Such businesses are endless sources of wealth that cannot be stopped.
"The Black Water Gang, on the other hand, only rose in recent years. They only grew under the nose of the Red Fire Gang due to trading in exhilarants and slaves.
"It is said that the Black Water Gang has connections with a few major cities in the Bloody Plateau Area. One of them is even an Elysian World that leads directly to the Heavenly Rails. They have imported abundant exhilarants from the city, which could drive anyone crazy and even significantly build up their bodies!
"I estimate that the exhilarants are intentionally sent to the Land of Sins for testing by the Immortal Cultivators. However, the life in the Land of Sins is difficult and hopeless. The sinners who struggle to survive have a high demand on the exhilarants.
"The Black Water Gang get countless exhilarants from the cities in the Bloody Plateau Area and send sinners from the Thousand Lakes Area to the Bloody Plateau Area as slaves. How can they not be rich?"
Chapter 1984: Infiltration and Control |
The mental devil had piloted Neltharion to tour around Double Dragons City and gathered a lot of information. "All in all, the Red Fire Gang and the Black Water Gang both covet each other's businesses. Not a single moment goes by without them hoping to swallow their enemy and monopolize Double Dragons City. As a result, all the other gangs are divided into two sides who are at loggerheads. Right now, they are still maintaining an ostensible peace, fearing each other's strength. But this place is like a dry powder keg, and any spark will be enough to detonate it."
"Is the Village of Peace the spark?" Li Yao asked. "Are they capturing the young warriors from the Village of Peace because they are going to wage a war on each other? That doesn't make sense. If it is a civil war within Double Dragons City, it seems unnecessary to capture slaves from the Village of Peace on a large scale. Wouldn't the enemy learn about their entire plan? The thing about gang fighting is that you have to be quick and stealthy!"
"It is indeed quite unusual," the mental devil said. "When I investigated the city just now, I discovered that the atmosphere was grave but not too intense. Neither the Red Fire Gang nor the Black Water Gang seemed prepared to attack each other."
After thinking for a moment, Li Yao asked, "Have you figured out the critical locations in the city?"
"Of course!" the mental devil said. "The nests of the Black Water Gang and the Red Fire Gang, as well as the warehouses where they keep their assets and ammunition, have all been located. Also, I have found the most important thing."
Li Yao grew anxious. "What is it?"
"The ventilation tubes!"
"Ventilation tube my ass! I'm now a legendary expert in the Divinity Transformation Stage, and I am just dealing with a bunch of ignorant bandits in the Land of Sins. You think I need to crawl into ventilate tubes? Are you serious?"
"I thought that you had a special quirk and would not feel comfortable until you crawled through some ventilation tubes."
"Let's focus," Li Yao said. "All in all, I vaguely feel that the Red Fire Gang and the Black Water Gang were not hostile to each other but more like a team when they dealt with the Village of Peace. Otherwise, the attacks from the front and the back would have been too coincidental.
"Here comes the question. What kind of reason can make the two gangs let go of their grudge and join hands to attack the Village of Peace? Logically, both gangs have important channels of wealth, and it is unnecessary for them to plunder a barren village in the Desolate Worlds!
"It seems that we will have to capture a few gang leaders for interrogation."
"Then, how do we know who are the leaders of the gang?" the mental devil asked.
"Idiot!" Li Yao said. "Look at the shuttles down there and the heavily-guarded fortresses. The fanciest ones that are surrounded by dozens of bodyguards are certainly housing the leaders of the gangs."
Ripples spread out of the void but disappeared in 0.1 seconds. Neltharion cut into the lower altitude of Double Dragons City and patrolled among the streets and alleys.
Li Yao's telepathic thoughts spread out in all directions like vague smoke while he searched for the luxury shuttles with the most bodyguards. Soon, he locked onto his targets.
However, the 'targets' made him hesitant.
It was not because the targets were few but because there were too many. Almost thirty luxury shuttles that had been installed with composite armor and mobile turrets had been parked in front of an iron fortress at the center of Double Dragons City that looked like a pyramid.
According to the messages that the mental devil had intercepted, the iron fortress was the most extravagant hotel in Double Dragons City, which was specially used to entertain honorable guests from the major forces of the Bloody Plateau area. Naturally, it had the most thorough safety measures.
As for the shuttles parked in front of the hotel, some were painted with the emblem of the Black Water Gang, some with the mark of the Red Fire Gang. The emblems and marks of another ten or so major gangs of Double Dragons City could be found there, too.
"What's the meaning of this? Are those scumbags having a meeting inside?" Li Yao grew more and more curious. After piloting Neltharion to circle around the hotel three times, he found no gap to infiltrate through at all. His soul could not help but cough lightly. "Cough, cough. Cough, cough, cough, cough."
"Does a soul need to cough?" the mental devil asked with great curiosity. "Why have I never realized that?"
"Well," Li Yao said, "about that. Did you search for the ventilation tubes of this extravagant hotel?"
"…"
"The sewer will do, too."
"No, I didn't. However, I seem to have found another luxury shuttle."
Li Yao and the mental devil locked onto a luxury shuttle in the south district of Double Dragons City at almost the same time. Neltharion appeared above the stranger's head immediately.
The south district was where the black market was located.
Right next to the traditional black market that was under the control of the Red Fire Gang was the 'human market' controlled by the Black Water Gang.
In the Land of Sins that was seriously short of resources, people, especially vigorous warriors and beautiful women, were a very important asset.
A large batch of slaves that had been captured or purchased by the Black Water Gang was imprisoned in a giant iron cage that had been embedded with sharp thorns facing inward. The stains of blood on the thorns were telling their destiny in silence.
The Black Water Gang was adept at the usage of drugs. Most of the slaves had already been injected with tranquilizers. Crouching in the yellow weeds, their eyes were lackluster and drowsy.
The few slaves that were to be displayed soon, however, had been injected with a minimal amount of exhilarant. They were bellowing passionately and pacing inside the cages like leopards and tigers.
Some other slaves, who mutated into bizarre shapes, were locked in tiny cages alone, with heavy shackles on their hands and feet. Dense runes had been carved on the shackles and were releasing electric arcs and sparks now and then, indicating that they were all dangerous species.
A lot of merchants in brown or gray wind coats and respirators were pointing at the slaves and negotiating.
From the luxury shuttle that Li Yao and the mental devil spotted at the same time, a giant fatty that was about two meters tall but weighed at least two hundred kilograms walked out.
The man was wearing a well-shaped silk rope, with gold lace stitched to the sleeves. There was also a silver mask on his face, making it impossible to tell what he looked like. His fingers, which were as thick as carrots, wore a few glittering gems, indicating that he was a man of great fortune.
Li Yao smiled. "A man who wears such a delicate robe and so many rings must appreciate his life very much and absolutely not want to die for no reason."
"Also, since he is a merchant from afar, he must be very informed and probably knows things that even the tough bandits here don't," the mental devil observed.
"Right now, all the tough bandits of Double Dragons City are having a meeting together, and nobody cares about the fatty. I hope that he is idiotic enough to leave one, no, half an hour's time alone with us."
The poor fatty in fancy clothes had no idea at all that two grim reapers had got their eyes on him.
He seemed to be there specifically to purchase female slaves as a regular customer of Double Dragons City. The moment he got out of the shuttle, a few members of the Black Water Gang greeted him and escorted him to a secret room.
With Li Yao's Cultivation, such a secret room naturally did not have any secrets.
He could sense the fatty's breathing and heartbeat clearly and hear him talking about the deals of the female slaves with the gangsters in all kinds of profanities.
Twenty minutes later, the fatty returned to his luxury shuttle, but there was an additional 'good' in the vehicle—a woman that had been tied up and fed with secret drugs.
The fatty chuckled eagerly below the respirator and commanded the luxury shuttle to return to the hotel that he lived in. Perhaps because the major gangs of Double Dragons City were negotiating inside the pyramid-shaped luxury hotel, he lived in another hotel not far from the slave market.
On the ground was a thick, woolen carpet. Crystal lamps dangled from the ceiling. The wall was also decorated with the most lascivious paintings. An enticing fragrance was floating in the air. If one did not see it with their own eyes, it would have been impossible for them to imagine that there was such an extravagant place in the hellish Land of Sins.
The fatty said something to the bodyguards before he slammed the door and threw the woman who was breathing heavily and wriggling like an octopus on his shoulder onto the bed.
The woman's plump breasts were shivering like jelly.
The fatty took off his mask, revealing a giant pale face. Fiery brilliance beamed out of his small eyes as he mumbled, "The new medicine this time is truly powerful. Even I almost can't bear it anymore. F*ck!"
He lunged at the woman who had lost her will and only had primitive instincts. However, instead of feeling the warmth and softness that he expected, he felt as if he had just jumped on an iron bed that was embedded with nails, and his body seemed to be minced apart.
The fatty bulged his eyes, only to discover that the woman was still lying on the bed, but she was breathing evenly and fast asleep.
However, he was being held in the air by some uncanny force, his arms and legs spread apart. He was unable to move at all!
He wanted to scream, but a bucket of magma seemed to have been poured into his throat. It was burnt through from the inside, making him unable to utter any sound at all.
No, he could actually utter a sound, which was the sound of the spurting blood when his carotid artery was cut!
The fatty watched his own blood spurting out like water arrows and condensed into a round red ball in midair before it was burnt up by a red fire without leaving even any stink.
Such a creepy and terrifying scene devastated him.
Dying! I'm dying!
Why? Who's killing me? Who dares to kill me in such a place?
Sensing that his life was fading away crazily together with his blood, and seeing the world before his eyes losing color, the fatty could not have felt more frightened, confused, and regretful. His mental defenses were completely shattered.
Chapter 1985: The Fist King! |
His heart had never been colder, and his death had never been clearer. His every organ, from his fingers to internal organs, did not seem to belong to him anymore. All the senses over his body were gone, except for the hotness and stinging when his blood was spraying into the air through his carotid artery!
Right when the world before the fatty's eyes was about to fall into an infinite abyss, his neck suddenly ached, and the bloody was stopped abruptly.
Huchi! Huchi! Huchi! Huchi!
The fatty breathed heavily, with cold sweat popping up nonstop. His lips were still dry and withered, and his body was trembling.
He knew that he was still on the verge of death. If his blood was to be released for a couple of more seconds, he would certainly die from the blood loss.
Tides of darkness came at him, and he felt as if he was about to pass out.
But a stream of cold, sharp spiritual energy pierced through his head from his back, making his brain cells more excited than ever. He could not have been more awake.
Then, an indifferent voice echoed next to his ears, which almost made him burst into tears. "Don't be scared. I'm not here for you."
The fatty's Adam's apple protruded from his fat and rolled hard, but he did not know what to say.
The voice continued. "I'm here to kill the leader of the Red Fire Gang. But after I arrived, I noticed that all the gangs in Double Dragons City were gathered for a meeting, and there were few opportunities for me to attack. That's why I decided to find a random person for intelligence. Fatty, judging from your clothing and your shuttle, you must be a big shot in the Bloody Worlds. I do not want to kill you unless it is absolutely necessary because it will cause a lot of trouble.
