CHAPTER 35: CHAPTER 32: WOUND OF THE GOLD-DEVOURING RAT

"No need." Xia Ling watched Lin Qi leave, shaking her head slightly, "He’s just a small fry. Crocodile Rhino Beef of this level is not something ordinary factions can obtain, let alone sell. At most, he’s just a runner for those factions, and there’s no need for us to upset those powerful people. Otherwise, we won’t be able to buy it even if we want to."

"Miss, what if these vagabonds picked it up?" The Half-Scale Race guard said somewhat unwillingly, "This is Crocodile Rhino Beef. It would help you a lot, Miss. If we could get a large amount of this meat, it wouldn’t be impossible to break through to become a Martial Artist."

"Picked it up?" Xia Ling’s dark tail tapped the floor as she said happily, "Isn’t that even better?"

"Better?" The Half-Scale Race guard was very puzzled, not understanding what was good about it.

Their Half-Scale Race’s rule is survival of the fittest. If the weak get a treasure, isn’t it better to just take it? After all, they are undocumented vagabonds and not protected in Chasing Light City.

"I said, he’s just a small fry." Xia Ling shook her head, feeling speechless towards the guard in front of her, "Whether he found it or not, since he chose to sell at Phosphorus Fire, he will likely come back to trade again in the future, considering the safety of this transaction."

"This thing, however, must not let those good brothers of mine know. The amount of meat is limited, rather than sharing with so many people, it’s better to give it to me alone. This way, our family’s chance of producing a Martial Artist will be greater."

"Do you understand?"

As soon as Xia Ling finished speaking, a pair of golden vertical pupils stared at the guard, who immediately broke into a cold sweat, wanting to speak hastily, but Xia Ling raised her hand slightly.

"Rest assured, your family will receive due compensation."

Suddenly, the Half-Scale Race guard fell to the ground, spitting blood, his entire body convulsing, and the battle armor disintegrated.

Beep!

Cleaning procedure completed!

On the other side, Lin Qi was quickly carrying a large tricycle’s battery and three sets of renovation tools, weaving through crowded streets under the cover of night.

After turning ten streets and confirming no one was following, he finally returned all the way to Black Obsidian Martial Arts Hall.

"It seems just as I thought, the gangs stirring in the suburbs aren’t so foolish and don’t intend to just make this one deal." Lin Qi touched the ninety thousand bits in his pocket, full of excitement.

Actually, for this transaction, he could have carried more Crocodile Rhino Beef, but considering these gang factions’ greed, over a hundred kilograms of Crocodile Rhino Beef wasn’t enough to tempt these suburban gangs to take action outlaw-style.

Furthermore, these gangs in the suburbs definitely know the monster meat is a scarce resource.

Normally, no one would sell it, especially an individual; it’s better eaten secretly. Only some powerful factions can get a lot of monster meat, and those under their control privately sneak it out to sell for money.

The amount taken out for sale is enough to avoid the grand factions’ notice and yet earn a lot; over a hundred kilograms is just right. Less, and there’s no need to take risks; more, and it might get noticed. After all, a single monster weighs tons at least, and a missing one or two hundred kilograms isn’t noticeable, allowing one to make tens of thousands, or even hundreds of thousands of bits.

In light of this, as long as the people they’re dealing with aren’t fools, they won’t get greedy over small gains and lose big profits. Even if they know he picked it up, they’ll instinctively bet that he stole it from a powerful faction, ensuring a long-term stable source of meat.

Even if they lose the bet, they’re just spending money to buy, which is a totally win-win deal.

And after such a successful transaction, future ones will be much easier.

It might even help connect with the Phosphorus Fire Gang, easing Black Obsidian Martial Arts Hall’s future development.

Outside Black Obsidian Martial Arts Hall, the sky was getting brighter, signaling a new day.

"With these ninety thousand bits, I can now buy some construction materials and also hire some nearby vagabonds to help repair the martial arts hall."

Lin Qi looked at the Black Obsidian Martial Arts Hall, almost a hundred meters away, already having a plan in mind for quickly repairing the hall.

The Black Obsidian Martial Arts Hall was massive, covering 80,000 square meters, equivalent to the size of a stadium. If just ten players were tasked with the repairs, it would take forever.

But with money, it’s different. The hiring cost for undocumented vagabonds is very low, to the point where you could freely boss them around for just five hundred bits a month.

Hiring one hundred people for a month would only cost fifty thousand bits, yet the efficiency of repairing the martial arts hall would be increased tenfold.

Of course, to prevent the secret underground of the hall from being exposed, hired vagabonds would only need to repair the exterior and walls of the hall; the interior can be entirely left to the players.

With this approach, it might not even take a month to finish everything.

And as Lin Qi walked a few steps into the martial arts hall’s training ground, he saw numerous metal chests, all piled up almost into a small mountain.

"These are..." Lin Qi looked at the suitcase-sized metal chests, finding them incredibly familiar.

"Hall Master, you’re back." Twilight of the Gods, by the metal chests, saw Lin Qi, perked up instantly, rushed towards him without a word, and greeted, "Last time you said these Treasure Chests were useful to you, so we’ve brought them all for you this time. Count them and see if any are missing."

"Brought them all?" Lin Qi was shocked when he heard this.

Did they ransack the Single-Horned Gold-devouring Rats?

Those were troublesome even for quasi-Martial Artists!

"Yeah, we gave our all to move all these Treasure Chests here!" Twilight of the Gods nodded, with a look of ’praise us’ on his face.

"Are you sure the Single-Horned Gold-devouring Rats have no objections?" Lin Qi asked, his face looking troubled.

The Single-Horned Gold-devouring Rats have an extraordinary sense of metal, and now that these players have ransacked them, the rats will definitely go crazy searching.

Once they search to Black Obsidian Martial Arts Hall, they wouldn’t need to wait for the Bai Yu Gang to discover them; the rats could flatten the hall.

"Rest assured, Hall Master. We thought of that, too. So after luring away those Single-Horned Gold-devouring Rats, we moved the Treasure Chests and then dug through an abandoned channel. All the waste water poured in, and the roof completely collapsed. Now that crack is gone." Twilight of the Gods explained with a smile, "I saw the few Single-Horned Gold-devouring Rats standing still, seemingly scared by the collapse. They’re now buried inside, so they probably won’t come looking."

"You... did well." Lin Qi, hearing this, was momentarily speechless.

It has to be said, players are indeed the most professional at fighting monsters.

They’ve also fought hard for Martial Arts Hall Points.

The Single-Horned Gold-devouring Rats, which even quasi-Martial Artists found troublesome, were dealt with just like that.

Even those Single-Horned Gold-devouring Rats themselves didn’t expect that for collecting some metal, they’d not only have their home raided but also face extermination.

"Hall Master, count the Treasure Chests, see if there’s any missing."

Twilight of the Gods pointed to the ground filled with textbooks for the 2214 college entrance exam, his words full of anticipation.