Chapter 938
Chapter 938 - 924 Ignition
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8 min read
The benefit of a lengthy history is that you can always find some similar examples from the news in the past.
"...we’ve really never seen anything like this."
After some thought, the scene before them seemed indeed to be an "exception".
After all, a coup turning into an armed march, going in circles with constant reversals, had shocked all the brothers... ahem, in a city with super strict laws, where there were numerous refugee camps of the Exotic Races, a "law-abiding battle royale" was something Lu Ping’an had never seen before.
Even more subtly intriguing was where they had slipped up.
"The underground pipelines, huh...."
The level of technology in this world had a bit of a Steampunk flavor—just when you think it should be advanced, it suddenly stumbles, and when you think it might not be up to scratch, it suddenly impresses you.
For instance, the underground pipeline system that could be described as a real-life maze, which also served as the city’s water supply and Elements pool system.
The Elements pool was also a piece of fascinating black tech that caught people’s attention; it was one of the perks that came with Lu Ping’an’s house purchase, a kind of inert "pure thermal element".
It resembled a strange element akin to "Inert Lava", within which Lu Ping’an could feel subtle supernatural powers, and what was even more outrageous was that when it came into contact with water, its "inert" state could be undone.
Plainly speaking, the magical technology that used water to boil water was brutally realized.
As long as it was mixed with water, one could get a boiling "pot", and at the same time, there was a series of simple devices powered by the heat source, whose basic principle involved generating a large amount of steam from the hot water to drive the machinery...
"...it’s very punk, very Steampunk."
This was a simple application of deeper supernatural forces and had become a keystone of civilization in this world.
But, consequentially, this entailed an immense network for the supply of water and "Elements", things that the original house seller had made very clear.
With enough history, its subterranean environment had become as complex as the legendary sewers of New York; one only wondered if mutant turtles and mice could be bred....
"There are plenty of mutated Slimes, and when inert elements melt biomatter, they can also mutate. But frustratingly, those things are highly unstable....."
The inspector gave Lu Ping’an a "fly fly" hand gesture, and he instantly understood: it signified "moving bombs".
Those fluid self-destructing Slimes, to some extent, formed a symbiotic relationship with the underground world. They would instinctively attack "outsiders" while also taking on the role of security, cleaning, and maintenance work for the underground pipelines.
It was precisely the presence of those creatures that rendered the vast underground world actually unsafe....
"Are they killing with gusto down there?"
"They’re fighting like it’s red hot, and those Blood Feast people..."
"Back to old tricks, huh? It was expected; the fact that they’ve held back until now has been somewhat beyond my expectations."
The evolution path of the Blood Feast, the classic "you are what you eat," was a road of no return once embarked upon.
Even without others of their kind, at the very least they required beings "considered as equals among high-intelligence life forms", entities that qualified as "human".
"Have the law enforcers responded?"
"They still don’t know about the disappearances. They’re too slow to react; they won’t move unless the dogs bark. Uh, should we help them? Maybe by instigating a minor case to draw them out or something." It seemed that someone was losing patience.
The vast underground world was completely unsafe, but the Blood Feast had ample strength to protect themselves.
Even if the law enforcers on the surface sensed something was amiss, they could only bark madly at the underground pipelines. And even if someone tried to investigate, the complex terrain of the underground maze and the self-destructing Slimes would make the law enforcers’ pursuit exceedingly difficult.
Of course, nothing is absolute; if too many Hunting-dogs sensed that something was off and persistently barked at the underground, the law enforcers would also commence a large-scale search to scour the subterranean thoroughly clean.
As criminals, the Blood Feast was professional; they had already created maps marked with the majority of "surveillance points."
They carefully snatched away the unlucky ones, then took them down to the "Cafeteria," which was at points on the boundary line furthest from the Hunting-dog stations, and then hunted them, minimizing the reaction from above.
Although this method was cumbersome and inefficient, it greatly delayed the possibility of an incident occurring.
The targets selected were those with minimal social contact—people whose short-term disappearance would be hard to notice, such as part-time workers, wanderers, Exotic Races, bachelors, and so on. In such a large city, disappearances happened daily, and a dozen or more each week didn’t seem alarming.
"Don’t startle the grass and scare the snake; we just watch.... we don’t essentially exist."
Lau Ping’an shook his head. Having made up his mind to fish, how could he jump into the water himself?
Short-term gain might be noticeable, but as long as one acts, traces are left behind, which is a bad strategy....
"...No rush, someone will do it for us, someone who is even more eager than we are."
Sure enough, Lu Ping’an’s expectations soon became a reality.
𝗳𝐫𝚎𝗲𝚠𝚎𝗯𝕟𝐨𝘃𝚎𝗹.𝗰𝗼𝗺
A mummified corpse was found beside a Well Lid, instantly becoming the headline of the day.
Who did it? Obviously, it wasn’t done by Blood Feast’s own people....
"Those refugees are ruthless enough; the Blood Feast lost another one yesterday...."
All Lau Ping’an had done was stir up conflict, provide them a reason for committing vendetta, and then placed them in an environment where they must compete and encounter each other at every moment.
The discriminatory treatment of "locals" also made them "recognize each other" internally, gradually splitting into two factions. Accustomed to bullying others, Blood Feast’s way of conducting themselves would further intensify the conflict.
The Dividends and "records" split between two factions were just a catalyst, yet enough to ignite the fire.
Then, they would naturally come into friction, people would die, grudges would form, secret brawls would be arranged, assassinations would happen between them....
"...These days, nobody’s a fool; those who fight and persist in a losing battle to the death are a minority. The Exotic Realm Races outside An Xin resorted to underhanded tricks."
The two forces clashed fiercely below, and understandably, the Refugee Coalition suffered, given that the Blood Feast people were quite skilled.
When they could no longer win, they wouldn’t foolishly sacrifice themselves but would send the "dregs" left in the "Cafeteria" to the surface, becoming today’s headline.
Soon, under the pressure of media and public attention, the sheriffs would get involved.
"...Heh, both sides have become sworn enemies, and the Blood Feast has already accumulated enough murder cases on their backs."
Lau Ping’an nodded in satisfaction, closed the newspaper, and took a sip of tea.
Then he shook the bell in his hand, calling over Decree’s old stager... Gardener.
"You’ve done a good job clearing the weeds. The white flower seeds should have been delivered today; plant them all."
"No space left in the front yard area at the entrance of the main house? Hmm, I would like to see guests walking through flower beds, then... pluck out the fruit trees planted yesterday. Suddenly, I’ve lost the patience to wait for the trees to bear fruit; if I want fruit, I might as well just buy it."
"Oh yes, the exterior wall of the exhibition hall is a bit dirty. Later find a few skilled hands, have them clean it up..."
At the stroke of midnight, he watched those Decree Masters scamper about like monkeys, pulling out yesterday’s trees to plant today’s flowers, and perhaps tomorrow they’ll be pulled out to plant vegetables... In toying with people, Lau Ping’an needed to try very hard to keep from letting his malice show.
But seeing the Refugees striving hard and eager for promotion,
And the occasional hostile glances they shot each other, Lau Ping’an smiled.
"The timing is ripe; perhaps, it’s time to hit them with something big."
— End of Chapter 938 —