At the same time, in the auction of the Unmanned Black Market, 30 lavagold bullions were sold at a sky high price to a mining company. This was the purest lavagold anyone had ever seen in the Unmanned Black Market. No one knew how the 30 lavagold bullions were extracted to produce with such high purity. The auction may not be particularly well known, but those who participated were all aristocrats.
In fact, the aristocrats were not interested in the 30 lavagold bullions themselves, but the method of extraction. However, identifying the seller in the Unmanned Black Market was more than difficult.
In Guilar city, a thousand-strong battalion were advancing fast in the deserted plains. All of them wore a silver mask. Fortunately, many of the people in Guilar city wore masks too, so they did not particularly stand out. Even so, the deathly aura coming from them was conspicuous.
That said, anyone who could survive in Guilar city would be intimidating.
The hotel where Ye Chong settled down was already crowded. There were many who still were quickly making their way towards the hotel.
Greda was already much calmer by now. He knew that he could not win, and so he said, "Fine, you’re the man. Humph, we’ll do it your way!" He spoke venomously. The guards around him all relaxed at that.
Ye Chong could hear the grudge in Greda’s voice, and his eyes gleamed coldly. Ye Chong was in no habit of leaving potential threats alive.
"Capture them all," Ye Chong pointed at Greda and his gang.
Of all the spectators in the hotel’s main lobby, a masked man pointed at Greda, and immediately, seven figures appeared in the room.
"Jie experts!" Someone gasped. Just like that, all the observers were thrilled. They kept their eyes wide open, unwilling to miss anything.
The seven figures moved so quickly that they only appeared as an afterimage. One could hear the dull sound of punches coming from Greda and his gang. The spectators could barely see the shadows of the seven figures as they attacked.
The crowd was riled up. These must be the legendary Jie experts! No one paid attention to Greda. The playboy was notorious in Guilar city, and everyone had only tolerated him because of his father. Now that he had met his match, many were happy that he finally got what he deserved.
In less than half a minute, Greda’s gang were all rounded up. Greda suffered the worst, his body covered with patches of green and black. Sang Tie had vented all his anger from hearing the fate of the White Streak tribe on Greda.
The arrogant gangsters were now all curling into themselves on the ground, moaning in pain. Old Chief Guo whispered into Ye Chong’s ear, "Boss, the Jin Gui tribe is rich, how about we …" As he spoke, he rubbed his right thumb and middle finger together.
Ye Chong’s eyes brightened, and he nodded. "Okay, I leave it to you."
Old Chief Guo signalled his understanding, and approached the gang. He gave them a few kicks here and there, like he was teasing some animal.
"Alright, it’s you." Old Chief Guo pointed at a guard on the ground, and the guard turned paled, thinking that he was about to be finished off. "Get up, get up," Old Chief Guo ordered impatiently. "I’ll let you go now. You’ll go to your tribe leader, tell him that your Young Master has offended our master. Tsk tsk, not only that, he even wanted to harm our master. So, your Young Master’s staying with us. However, our master is mindful of the good relationship between your side and mine, and doesn’t want to make things worse. As long as your tribe pays up, your Young Master will be returned to you all safe and sound. Understood?"
Knowing that he was safe for now, the guard was overjoyed, and quickly nodded. "Understood, understood."
"Alright." Old Chief Guo seemed satisfied. "Every guard will cost you five million credits. We’ll let you off free of charge as a sign of goodwill. There are 12 guards here, so 60 million credits should be good. The Young Master is a man of status, so, let’s make it 20 million credits." Old Chief Guo abruptly spoke with deep menace, "The total is 80 million credits. You have two hours. Hehe, there will be no deal after that. Understood?"
The guard swallowed heavily and nodded vigorously. "Un - understood …"
"Then scram! Remember, two hours!" Old Chief Guo glared at him.
"Yes, yes …" The guard bowed and nodded, and quickly turned to leave, like he was pursued from behind.
Sang Tie sidled up to Old Chief Guo and walked around him, studying the man curiously as he tsk-tsked in awe. Old Chief Guo looked at Sang Tie oddly, feeling his face for a moment as he asked in confusion, "Tie, what is it? Something on my face?"
Sang Tie replied jokingly, "Old Guo, I didn’t expect you to have a few tricks yourself, been breaking the law before haven’t you? Heh, what a daring sum, five million credits for one person, you’re quite the greedy man."
Old Chief Guo was embarrassed by the tease, and explained reluctantly, "I did it for the squad, we’re poor after all. Besides, to these people, five million is just a speck. Look at him," he pointed at the moaning Greda, "It’s probably just his casual annual allowance."
Sang Tie looked at Greda, and felt angry all over again. The Sang tribe members had to go through so much to earn a little money, but this b*stard’s annual spending was already in the millions. He could not help but gave Greda a few "extra gentle" kicks.
"Hiss!" Greda inhaled sharply in pain, his body contorted backwards like a bow, and his eyes bulged like a fish’s. The guards around him quivered in fear as they looked nervously at Sang Tie.
Sang Ling could not help but let out a little laugh as she watched Sang Tie and Old Chief Guo doing their thing. Her cold eyes instantly melted into a blooming spring, and Sang Fan could only stare dreamily from her place.
The hotel was crowded, but no one dared to step into the empty space before the entrance. They all believed in the absolute strength of Jie experts. Besides, wasn’t there a rumor a few days ago of a Jie expert crushing a mech’s armor with only bare hands?
Shi Xin watched indifferently, unmoved by the fight. The only thing that confounded her was the fact that Ye Chong and his group had actually demanded ransom. The Shi family and the Jin Gui tribe were close. While the Shi family had a wide and more superior influence, both sides had cooperated with each other on even ground. In any case, she still had to pay her dues.
After some pondering moments, she made up her mind. Shi Xin stepped forward alone, bowing in the direction of the hotel’s entrance and hailed, "I am Shi Xing, from the Shi family of Tian Xing Cove. Greetings." She greeted the way a junior would a person with higher seniority.
The Shi family was well known. The crowd that had only quieted down now came to life again.
"Shi Tiancheng has a respectable daughter!" Amidst the crowd, a middle-aged man commended as he watched Shi Xin with interested. A woman who could act so calm and dignified before a large crowd was stately and impressive.
"Shi Xin, female, age 24. Went for external training at age 17. Her outstanding performance led the tribe leader and her father, Shi Tiancheng to recognize her as a talent worth nurturing. She was involved in a series of significant events such as the Shi and Jin family alliance and the Shi family negotiation. Besides that, on March 20th last year, she was secretly engaged, her partner remains unidentified." A fair-skinned and handsome young man who stood beside the middle-aged man commented swiftly. The middle-aged man wore a mask, and was surrounded by guards.
The middle-aged man smiled and said nothing.
Old Chief Guo stepped forward at Ye Chong’s signal and said, "Well met, well met. What can we do for Miss Shi?" Initially, he was quite uptight, but he soon played his role smoothly. Life was truly mysterious. A few months ago, he was still in the lowliest ranks of society. Now, he could speak on even ground with the likes of the aristocrats like the Shi family.
Shi Xin spoke respectfully, "Begging your great indulgence, Uncle Roland had always took care of me, and Greda is like a sibling to me. His offense to you and your own was most disgraceful. However, he is also young, rash, and ignorant. Please consider forgiving him. He would definitely see the error of his ways and make amends."
The middle-aged man could not help but applaud, "She can speak well." The young man beside him did not look so impressed. The middle-aged man sighed to himself and explained, "The girl is discreet. She’s not familiar with the other party, so she chose not to speak in the name of the Shi family. She spoke only of herself, about her gratitude to Roland, and asked for mercy based on their sibling-like relationship. This way, not only would she not offend the other party, they might even commend her for her willingness to repay another’s kindness, and chose not to make things difficult for her. Impressive!"
Seeing the middle-aged man being so generous of praise, the young man could not help but feel unconvinced. "These social etiquettes are common."
The middle-aged man took a glance at him and said plainly, "To act decisively and appropriately before thousands of people, before 20 Jie experts, is that something you can do?"
The young man was silent for a long moment in deep thought, as he finally felt shame. "I’ve underestimated the situation."
While Old Chief Guo did not like the aristocratic arrogance in Shi Xin, the girl was still alright in other respects. He laughed and said, "Miss Shi, no need to worry, you’ll find out in a moment."
Shi Xin realized then that the other party did not intend to kill Greda. She bowed again respectfully and said, "You have my sincerest gratitude," and retreated into the crowd.
With his part done, Old Chief Guo heaved a sigh of relief and made to return to the hotel. Just then, another person emerged, leaping out from the crowd.