Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
Further inside, ten meters to the left was a door guarded by a few men. Under the faint light, they were drinking glasses of erguotou 1 and snacking on fried peanuts, they all greeted Lu Shu with a cold stare.
Before Lu Shu walked to the end of the road, Wang Zhe had rushed back to the gate after he had received a message. But this time, he pulled it widely open.
“Sir, you must be Mr Gao. By the Lord’s command we will show you around the place. Feel free to let us know if there is anything that catches your eyes,” Wang Zhe said with a flattering smile.
A group of five entered the place. The leader’s overcoat was unbuttoned, revealing the white suit inside. He had an air of elegance. Behind him were three Class D fighters and walking next to him was a young lady, whose energy waves could not even be detected by Lu Shu.
Even commoners should have a trace, although faint, of energy waves, because everything in the world consisted of mana. However, it seemed as if the girl had shielded her energy from the outside.
Lu Shu studied the girl carefully. It was perhaps his first time to see such a tall girl. Clad in a red windstopper zipped all the way till right below her nose, it was difficult to tell her gender if not for her feminine facial features.
Lu Shu’s height was 185cm, but the girl looked just as tall as him…
Lu Shu stepped aside to allow the group to proceed inside first. Mr Gao and the girl ignored him completely, while the three bodyguards fixed everybody present with their cool stares.
Walking in front, the girl said softly, “The Lord? I’m afraid they are just little brats who have never seen the world. Nowadays Lords are worthless.”
Wang Zhe and the rest immediately held their breath. They knew they were in no position to offend this group of people. Displeased, Lu Shu objected. “Are you saying you despise our Lord?”
“From Gao Cang’s distress, +199.”
“From Nalan Que’s distress, +269.”
In fact, Lu Shu instinctively felt that Nalan Que was the true leader of the group. Thus, he had purposely provoked her in an attempt to know her name. Who knows, maybe Xi Fei would be of help to Lu Shu in digging out her background.
The group glared at Lu Shu in astonishment, while the latter was perfectly at ease. Wang Zhe was freaking out. Since when did our Lord becomes yours?! He explained at once, “He’s not one of us. Believe me…”
Mr Gao laughed. “He’s not worth our time. Let’s go.” Then, under Wang Zhe’s guidance, the group walked into a hut while Lu Shu followed behind.
Inside, there was a pathway leading downwards at an angle. A slogan was visible in the glow of incandescent lights installed on either side of the passage. It read “The Great PLA 2 “.
Apparently this place used to be a bomb shelter.
Who would have expected that such a place had transformed into the base of a black market nowadays? The noise grew louder as they went deeper inside the tunnel. At this point in time, Lu Shu could even hear someone shrieking, “Bite it! Bite its neck!”
The smell down there was not as nasty as expected, which could probably be due to a renovated ventilation system. Lu Shu became even more curious about the real identity of this mythical Lord.
How did he manage to run such a large-scale black market under the Heavenly Network’s nose?
There were a group of people surrounding a fenced zone. Inside, two dogs were engaged in an intense fight. One of them, a strong dog of an unknown species, was thrown under immense momentum onto the barrier, which growled without breaking. This excited the spectating gamblers even more.
Sensing that something was up, Lu Shu eyed the dogs and realized that they were actually two Class F magical beasts.
Were the customers so rich? Gambling on magical beast fights?
Outside the zone there were staff responsible for recording the details of the bets. The amount of the bet and the gambler’s names were written down clearly.
There were close to a hundred vendors trading in the spacious bomb shelter. Lu Shu suspected that there could be another exit here, for the owners must have taken escape routes into consideration in case the Heavenly Network raided the place. However, he did not see any.
Lu Shu decided to send Little Fury over at night to check out the premise. The rats were the most suitable candidates for digging out all the exits of the shelter.
At this moment, Wang Zhe got impatient seeing that Lu Shu was still following them. “I thought you were a seller? Hurry up, go and do your business!”
Lu Shu smiled and did not talk back. As soon as he found a vacant space to set up his stall, Lu Shu started crying his wares with a stick of Chinese chives in his hands, “Chinese chives, Chinese chives! If men eat them, their women can’t take it. If women eat them, their men can’t take it. If both the men and women eat them, the bed can’t take it…”
Wang Zhe was confused. “Bro, you don’t have to sell your chives here. You can do it outside since it’s not banned by the Heavenly Network.”
“Are you saying you despise my Chinese chives?”
“… Idiot.”
“From Wang Zhe’s distress, +666!”
Wang Zhe had a point. In fact, 10% of all earnings in this black market had to be surrendered to the Lord as a form of sales tax.
Meanwhile, Nalan Que shot Lu Shu a scornful look upon hearing his advertisement. A pathetic chives vendor.
A hierarchy system was widely acknowledged among black market vendors. The top tier sold magical weapons, followed by magical beasts, magical stones and edible products in that sequential order.
A middle-aged vendor beside Lu Shu asked him with an interested smile, “How much are your chives?”
At the moment, Lu Shu was observing Gao Cang and Nalan Que with his peripheral vision. Thus, he answered without much thinking, “300 bucks per stick. 1000 bucks for three sticks.”
“Great. Give me three sticks.”
Lu Shu counted his money and gave him three sticks. After a while, the man realized something was not right. “Brother, did you sell bamboo rats before? Three bucks per rat and 10 bucks for three rats 3 ?”
“From Chen Bokang’s distress, +666!”