The stray dog revealed the hardship of his trade, both overtly and covertly trying to inflate the value of his cargo.
In front of everyone, the stray dog approached a square box covered with black cloth.
He forcefully tore open the black cloth.
Underneath the black cloth was a large iron cage.
The large iron cage held about 20 people confined together, their hands and feet bound by iron chains, and their mouths stuffed with rags.
Some were wide-eyed with fear, their legs shaking, with the pungent smell of urine emanating from beneath them.
Some wore expressions of despair, sitting limply with dull eyes.
Others gazed with fury, staring at each person present, hatred surging in their hearts, longing to rip flesh from those in attendance.
Bobby, witnessing this scene, was taken aback, vaguely understanding Chen Che’s deeper intention.
Couldn’t help but grimace, thinking Chen Che indeed engaged in all sorts of business, even ones as morally bankrupt as this.
However, this kind of business was indeed quick to yield profits.
Was Director An’s bedfellow this desperate for money?
At the same time, Xia Na, who had been standing idly behind Chen Che, upon seeing the scene inside the iron cage, her purple pupils instantly contracted, exuding a potent aura of killing intent.
She locked her gaze onto Chen Che.
Before this, she had no idea about Chen Che’s business.
Only knew that this guy had done many shady things under her sister’s affection.
But she hadn’t expected that human trafficking and slave trading were also part of Chen Che’s business.
Instantly, any goodwill Xia Na had towards Chen Che vanished entirely, her eyes harboring deep disgust and even a hint of killing intent.
[Your retainer Xia Na’s favorability towards you has decreased to -300%.]
Chen Che instinctively glanced back, this was within his expectations.
After all, when Xia Na was young, she almost fell prey to such traffickers.
If not for An Nishang, Xia Na might have been sold off to others, becoming a sex slave, a prostitute in a brothel.
Or even used as experimental material.
Who could say for sure?
Thus, Xia Na had a natural hatred towards human traffickers.
Not out of a sense of justice, but because of her own experience.
After all, outside of the Ninth Special Zone, in the lawless wasteland, murder and human trafficking were commonplace.
Yet within the safe zone, legal restrictions were established for stability, officially prohibiting such illegal human trading activities.
To prevent destabilization of the safe zone.
But as long as the bigwigs don’t cause too much trouble, no one bothers with what they do in private.
At that moment, Xia Na’s goodwill towards Chen Che was completely gone.
Even if Chen Che engaged in smuggling contraband, Xia Na wouldn’t have felt the same way.
But human trafficking, it easily prompted nightmares for Xia Na, recalling her past life.
However, now, despite her tightly clenched fists, Xia Na merely stood coldly behind Chen Che without expressing her emotions.
The stray dog remained entirely ignorant of the atmosphere on-site, grasping a metal rod and forcefully banging the iron cage, emitting a sharp "clang."
The harsh steel clang made those imprisoned inside cover their ears in anguish.
The stray dog grinned proudly and said, "Brother Chen, look at these guys, how healthy they are! Top-notch goods, not a single one is sick. Take a look, there are even a few women with good looks.
Selling them to brothels would fetch a hefty sum.
Several men have muscles too, excellent experimental materials.
This batch of goods could be called premium, right?"
"And Brother Chen, rest assured, the origin of this batch is clean, not from within the Special Zone.
I got them from outside, don’t worry, they’re clean."
The stray dog’s gang were known as detested bandits on the wasteland.
They carried out all sorts of dirty work.
In the post-apocalyptic world fraught with danger, filled with man-eating mutated creatures, unique materials also emerged.
These unique materials could be used to make numerous useful items, highly valuable resources.
To survive on the wasteland, some people formed Hunter groups.
Searching for these materials on the wasteland, collecting them to sell in the safe zone.
Whereas the stray dog and his team targeted these Hunters, ambushing them along the way, killing the Hunter groups, seizing their resources.
Capturing people, they would bind their hands and feet, keeping them temporarily as goods.
Selling them to slavers like Chen Che.
Which fetched quite a sum.
The stray dog chuckled and said, "These guys are from a Hunter team.
Brother Chen, guess how I wiped them out?"
The stray dog spoke with inexplicable pride, stroking the head of a small child beside him.
This small child was very frail, standing only about 1.1 meters tall, resembling a child with undeveloped senses, but his eyes flashed with inhuman malice.
"I starved Turtle Head for three days until he was near death, leaving him by the roadside, and the old man actually took him in.
Hahaha, Turtle Head stayed with this group for three months before they trusted him, and he found an opportunity to drug their water.
That was when I had the chance to catch the old bastard along with their entire team in one fell swoop."
The stray dog’s face displayed a sinister grin: "Damn it, that old guy cost me three brothers last time, losing so many rounds of ammo, I made it all back!
I broke that old guy’s limbs and dragged him behind the car, alive, till death. Damn, it was satisfying!"
While the stray dog spoke boastfully, those within the cage looked at him with deep hatred.
Longing to immediately execute the arrogant stray dog.
"You all can look to your neighboring hell! Think you can avenge that old man? Want to kill me, with what? Hahaha, a bunch of impotent fools still under the drug’s effects, their legs still weak, and you want revenge?!"
Xia Na’s fists were clenched tightly, veins protruding on her hands.
Feeling inexplicably unsettled.
Chen Che glanced over, inside the cage there was a woman, her skin was of a darker wheat color, and her ragged clothes revealed scars on her body, even a small scar on her face.
She had sharp features, exuding a sense of resilience, with a rag stuffed in her mouth.
The look she directed at the stray dog was one of utmost hatred.
Seeing this woman in the next second, Chen Che’s eyes revealed only a gleam of brilliance.
"Brother Chen, don’t be fooled by their languid appearance, they’re all from the old man’s team, even the women are quite capable.
To become a damned Hunter, you need some physique, don’t you?
After all the effort I put into acquiring such quality goods, is it unreasonable to ask for a price adjustment?"
Bobby kept his head down, rubbing his nose, daring not to speak.
Xiong Da and the others all turned their gazes to Chen Che; out of all their collaborators, this stray dog was the most bothersome.
He should have renamed himself Mad Dog.
This person sometimes acted truly like a mad dog.
Chen Che exhaled deeply, glancing at the stray dog, calmly said, "Fair, entirely fair."
Chen Che extended his hand towards Bobby, who snapped back to attention and handed a bag of money to Chen Che.
This was the protection fee collected yesterday.
Inside the bag revealed metallic currency, Beta Coin made from special alloys.
The official currency of the Night Empire.
No one dared to counterfeit this, nor did anyone possess the industrial technology of the Night Empire to replicate it.
Seeing so much money in the bag, the stray dog’s eyes went wide.
Chen Che said indifferently, "Instead of adding 20%, I’ll give you 30%, but this is our last collaboration. After this deal, we’ll go our separate ways."