Chapter 941
Chapter 941 - 927 Big Fish
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Seeing the "workers" again, it was already a day later.
"...I really didn’t expect that one of us would turn out to be a villain, sneaking away with your engineering equipment. As his compatriots, we are very sorry..."
The sincere apology, the earnest look in their eyes, Lu Ping’an almost believed them, well, almost.
But, after hesitating briefly, he merely smiled and nodded slightly.
"Yes, it’s quite frightening. Fortunately, you all are unharmed..."
And Lu Ping’an’s "easy-to-get-along-with" demeanor made the representatives of Blood Feast breathe a sigh of relief.
This Mr. An Nan in front of them, despite his reputation for being "petty" and having a "wicked sense of humor," was already seen as a rare "great guy" in this city, willing to use "refugees."
Even knowing that his motives might not be pure, and he seemed to be playing a publicity stunt, both parties were using each other... Now that this incident had occurred, it would be completely understandable if he really changed his ways.
But now, it wasn’t clear whether he was truly daring, or if "Mr. An Nan’s mission" had become too difficult to back out from.
The "exhibition hall" had become famous for its legends, and perhaps Mr. An Nan, present here, wanted to continue his publicity to expand his business, willing to take on a suitable risk.
"Thank you for your understanding..."
Chi Shengzi bowed deeply with heartfelt gratitude. This bow was probably more devout than when facing a Rule-level boss.
After all, the Feather Tribe before them was probably their only hope... Otherwise, it was indeed time to consider escaping again.
Lu Wang, the "Water Wolf," was dead for good. He had to die; he carried the "Avenger" mark, and the pursuing law enforcers had seen his species... If he hadn’t died, it would drag everyone down with him, as law enforcers would pursue all of the "hairless monkey tribe."
Most species have habitual blindness towards the Exotic Races, identifying them primarily by hair, pupils, and other colored markers. If, in a territory dominated by one species, a foreigner commits a crime and escapes, a pursuit is inevitably going to spread, and with time, as the news travels, the entire city will grow more hostile towards that foreign ethnic group.
Lu Wang was killed by Dao Zhong’s own hand. From their somewhat peculiar names, it was evident that these names were not only pseudonyms but also had the same origin as "brothers" (each serving as reserve food for the other).
Only he, as the team leader, could easily track down the fully-escaped Lu Wang by using special restraining methods from the "Church" and, with his exceptional Silver-tier peak strength, killed the unfortunate fellow, who had gone mad, within a short period of time, turning him into a dried corpse.
At this moment, across from him, Lu Ping’an was smiling rather enigmatically.
Back on Earth, the man before him would certainly have been a district bishop, a boss-level character.
Even now, this short old man in front of Lu Ping’an was exerting more pressure than the three Silver-tier peak individuals had at the beginning.
Level is always just a reference. Even if they’re all just one step away from Silver, their strength, experience, and combat skills might not be on the same level at all.
The "Chi Shengzi" Dao Zhong before him was clearly the strongest among them, and Lu Ping’an estimated that in a direct confrontation, he might be defeated in an instant.
But now, he was bowing his head and acting very submissive, with a full face of apologetic smiles, hoping that Lu Ping’an would pretend to be oblivious and not pursue the matter further... Lu Ping’an certainly wouldn’t pursue it, as he wasn’t done yet—the people of Blood Feast had not died enough.
"Has the case been closed?"
"It has been closed. It’s all that bastard’s wanton actions. He was messing around underground, trying to take revenge on society..."
Chi Shengzi spoke words that he didn’t even believe himself, trying to offer an explanation and hoping that the other party wouldn’t pursue it further.
Actually, compared to placing a large amount of explosives underground, killing someone didn’t seem like much... The latter was a criminal case involving an individual, while the former was an act of terror.
The truly despicable part about Lu Wang wasn’t that he accidentally killed that law enforcer, causing a manhunt by the security forces.
To others, his more outrageous action was, after realizing he had become a "public enemy," directly detonating Blood Feast’s contingency plan for that location—the "bomb depository" they had all stored together.
He attempted to create chaos and then escape... But if he had genuinely gotten out of the city, then it would be Blood Feast’s turn to be targeted relentlessly by the law enforcers.
Unfortunately, perhaps because the bomb stockpile wasn’t sufficient, the blast hadn’t achieved the expected effect of "toppling" half the city, and the resulting chaos wasn’t enough.
This was mainly due to the lack of time; they hadn’t collected enough "Slime explosives" and hadn’t managed to "compress and purify" them... In this regard, they were indeed experts, with the right specialization.
As researchers of "liquid Life" from Blood Feast, they were quite interested in those "explosive liquid Life forms." If not for the limited time and even more limited funds, they would have embarked on a proper research project... In fact, they already had the technology to "disassemble and compress" to obtain bigger and stronger "Slimes."
It wasn’t only Lu Ping’an who could transform the wealth and resources of the Exotic Realm into his newfound strength. Even in such a downtrodden state, Blood Feast still had its own gains.
However, they had messed up now and was simply hoping to extricate themselves from the situation as much as possible.
"...Do a good job, I still need your help. After such a terrible incident, we need artwork to comfort the wounded souls of the citizens, I have a few small commissions..."
Lu Ping’an knew that the simplest way to disrupt distrust and unease was to give them something to do.
He picked out a few commissions that required leaving the city... This seemed to give them a chance to escape, but if they really intended to escape, it would be hard to stop them. This was actually still to ease their minds.
"Thank you so much, I am immensely grateful."
Dao Zhong couldn’t help but bow deeply in thanks, moved almost to tears.
After sending off this "demon," Lu Ping’an rubbed the back of his head and casually asked.
"I remember a Water Wolf is worth one Silver-tier item, how much is this worth?"
Lu Ping’an remembered the marks on the bounty notices for the bounty-hunting Big Bosses.
Back then, each one was quite exaggerative, all kinds of credit-points, rare resources, and physical rewards piled up.
"It starts with one Rule-Level item."
"Uh, that’s really not the same level, this is a Big Fish..."
Lu Ping’an nodded, but was already quite satisfied, after all, the Water Wolf was "in the bag."
The report was well written, the causes and consequences were fully recorded, once he returned and submitted the report, and then signed a contract "guaranteeing truthfulness," it would be his "capture."
On the way, Lu Ping’an had already prepared several reports, ready to submit them together upon return.
The value of the Water Wolf was already quite high, one Silver-tier Taboo item, a three-month opportunity to study at the Proper God Church (including resources for 4th-tier Profession Advancement), various odd bits and pieces... Even a large sum of credit-coins was only a small addition, not included in the official form.
This time Blood Feast had incurred public wrath, and the bounty for Decree-level offenders started with Silver-tier Taboo items, while other Churches and factions had put up additional bounties, adding up to a total value that might well be several times that of "equivalent Taboo items."
Some Churches even offered wild starting bids like "a piece of land in my Secret Realm" or "a manor in a certain area"...The land itself was not expensive, what was valuable were those lands that could regularly produce Cultivation resources.
But among the many temptations, Taboo items were always the hardest currency. If the emergence of places like the Silent Mountain Range hadn’t increased the overall number of Taboo items on the market by at least tenfold, possibly just one Silver would have been enough to make Rule-level combatants take action themselves.
A Rule-Level item? In the past, even Divine Envoys and Quasi-Gods would be tempted, leading to fierce confrontations.
That "Chi Shengzi" Dao Zhong, the bounty starting from "Rule-Level items" revealed that he was treated as a Rule-level Big Boss.
And his presence was also the reason many didn’t dare to "play tough."
Lu Ping’an estimated that even an ordinary attack by a group of Decree-level combatants on him would likely end up being easily counter-killed... Blood followers were very good at endurance battles, inadequate opponents were merely supplying them with resources.
To deal with them, one must be few in number yet elite, at least, there must be enough power for self-protection.
The apparently humble man before him was clearly the most valuable Big Fish, but how to take him and his group down was quite challenging.
𝗳𝗿𝐞𝕖𝘄𝗲𝕓𝗻𝚘𝚟𝕖𝐥.𝚌𝕠𝕞
"Let’s change our approach. How many foes does Blood Feast still have, how many powers want them dead..."
The security forces certainly counted as one, but Lu Ping’an didn’t want to rely on them, because in the end, they might just drive Blood Feast out of the country, which for them might be the start of another escape, but for Lu Ping’an it would be an unbearable additional cost.
The "opponents" in the Refugee Camp...Actually, Lu Ping’an’s original plan involved them, only to be interrupted by sudden events.
"That’s right, there’s also a third-party force, they would also like these people dead..."
Lu Ping’an thought for a moment, then called for a "messenger bird," it was time to activate his Black Hand scheme.
"Let the ill-fated compatriots... let the Elite hunters go first."
— End of Chapter 941 —