Chapter 61: Unexpected Discovery
Upon entering the basement warehouse, Chen Rui found out why Silva hesitated. The fluorescent stones were stored in several boxes in the warehouse, but there were actually dozens of people locked up in jail beside the warehouse. Among these people, there were succubi, dark elf, centaur, and even two female great demons, all of which were women and children. They were all naked, restrained by magic handcuffs and dispirited.
Chen Rui suddenly recalled that Dark Moon often had incidents of missing women and children in Shea’s estate logbook. He thought about it and suddenly realized it. He said calmly, “No wonder you can earn so much money. It turned out that the unpopular business like the fluorescent stones is just a cover. Where will these demons be trafficked to? What’s the price?”
Silva saw that Aguile seemed to be interested, so he took a sigh of relief and replied, “Sir is truly an understanding person. These demons will be trafficked to Blue Lava Estate as their bidding price is really high. If sir is willing, it can be our Cloak Gang’s biggest source of income…”
Blue Lava Estate! Chen Rui originally inferred that it might be Red Spirit Estate’s doing, but the truth was unexpected. He immediately thought of a problem. The Blue Lava Estate was at the south of Dark Moon. The passage is long blocked by the bandits; it has been inaccessible. How are these demons trafficked over?
Silva’s sense of immersion was very strong; he immediately regarded himself as a member of Cloak Gang, hoping to be recognized by this nemesis. He just wanted to stay alive for now, so he flattered again, “There are quite a few virgins among these women. If sir like any of them, enjoy as you wish! From my personal experience, the young girl of the dark elf race is the best, sir should give it a try. I’m sure…”
“The little dark elf girl? Is it?” Silva’s flattery made Chen Rui glance at him with murderous intent, and he said, “I have long wanted to be involved in such business. I never expected such a coincidence. It is truly a godsend opportunity. As far as I know, the bandits on the path to the Blue Lava Estate is quite powerful. This path seems to be inaccessible. You won’t be lying to me right!”
Before dealing with this scum, it was necessary to clear this problem.
“No!” Silva explained quickly, “There is a badge among the item that was offered to sir earlier. As long as you show the badge, the bandits will naturally let you pass.”
Badge? Chen Rui moved his mind and immediately found the badge among the icons in the storage. He moved his mind slightly, then a palm-sized blue badge appeared in his hand. There was a black dragon image on it with two heads, “Are you talking about this badge? Where did you get this?”
Silva saw it clearly that Aguile had no space equipment on the wrists or fingers. The badge appeared out of nowhere. He was more certain that his opponent possessed the lost space magic; he must have a remarkable background. So, he dared not to lie and answered honestly, “When I was smuggling herbs at the Blue Lava Estate previously, I met a Great Demon named Lavat. The badge was given by him, and the business of demon-trafficking was also introduced by him. When I meet the bandits on the road, I only need to say Lavat’s name and take out the badge. It is best to offer some wealth, then the route would be unimpeded back and forth whether it was transporting herbs or demons. The demon-trafficking business usually trades once half a year. The last deal was less than 2 months ago, so sir can enjoy these women as you please. It’ll be alright even if you play until they die.”
Chen Rui asked for more details. He finally confirmed that the bandits at the south came from the Blue Lava Estate. Judging from various factors, the bandits might actually be dispatched by the government. In Shea’s data, the Blue Lava lord had been greatly favored by the Crown Prince, Grimm in his early years. They were one of the forces that secretly supported the Dark Moon. He never thought they would be the ungrateful demon who had hidden agendas behind their smile.
The development of an estate was inseparable from the resources of funds, construction, population, etc. Over the years, the Blue Lava Estate supported Shea on the surface, but they had been taking away huge amounts of herbs and population resources quietly through such a method at the back. At the same time, they dispatched “bandits” to blatantly block the trade route and achieve the purpose of pleasing the imperial city. Silva was most likely not the only one involved in such trade in the Dark Moon. To some extent, the Blue Lava Estate that had benefited from both sides was more wicked and ruthless than the Red Spirit Estate.
It was definitely an unexpected discovery, and it was quite important.
After Chen Rui probed a lot of information from Silva, he patiently asked, “Recall carefully. Is there anything that you didn’t mention clearly?”
Silva pondered carefully for a while, then he shook his head and said, “I’m certain there’s no more. I’ve said everything that I know; I dare not to hide; I will do my best under sir and play my role to make Cloak Gang rise to another level!”
“Very good!” Chen Rui nodded with satisfaction. The next sentence made Silva’s sneer froze on his face, “Unfortunately, you have no value now.”
That was the last sentence that Silva heard in his life.
The No. 4 street in the southeast block had always been Silva’s territory. It could be regarded as one of the biggest forces within the southeast block. However, after a change, Silva’s old house had changed its owner into a small organization called Cloak Gang. A number of Silva’s men also defected to the Cloak Gang.
Weirdly, Najib, the leader of the law and order of this area couldn’t care less about this. He expressed his support for Cloak Gang in a tacit manner. In fact, Najib had gotten a substantial benefit secretly.
After witnessing Chen Rui eliminating Grau with <Aurora Shot>, Jesse had been quiet. Until Chen Rui gave him the 300 black crystal coins, he asked, “Did you really want a whetstone the other day or were you just pitying me?”
Chen Rui couldn’t bother to explain much and asked, “Did you lose your courage to be the whetstone now?”
That sentence provoked the dark elf and his eyes also became sharper, “At this time of the next month, I will challenge you!”
“Good! Before that, you stay at Cloak Gang.” Chen Rui nodded. To deal with this kind of person, he had to provoke him; he could also get a fighter as the second master and the like for the Cloak Gang.
“Don’t be complacent for killing Grau by sneak attack. Balrog, Reka is regarded as the king of Intermediate Demons. A weak character like Grau is incomparable. The effect of your ultimate move might do only a little to him. Reka’s offense and defense capabilities and his abilities were close to horrifying. If you rely on speed, you will not be able to beat him. If you fight him head-on, you’ll probably be killed within a few minutes with your current strength.”
Is this guy reminding me? Chen Rui looked at the dark elf with a strange look and smiled, “Maybe you are right, but that is just my current strength.”
The dark elf replied with a cold ‘Hmph’.
Chen Rui didn’t spend too much time at Cloak Gang. He left the specific affairs to Jesse and the old dwarf, and he returned to the palace’s lab. Although the Cloak Gang replaced Silva, it was impossible to actually be involved in demon-trafficking. The women and children who were caught were sent back, and the homeless individuals stayed at Cloak Gang.
Silva’s foundation was very thick; it had its manpower and territory. With Chen Rui’s ability, he could definitely make good use of these conditions to do some legal business or develop in other ways. However, that wasn’t his current priority as everything had to wait after the 2-month test.
The harvest from the ancient house was considerable; in contrast, the injuries suffered were negligible. The pile of fluorescent stones alone provided more than 30,000 auras. Together with the rest of the available magic materials in the warehouse and the original 9,000 auras, the total had exceeded 70,000 auras. He didn’t specifically count those black crystal coins; he simply gave the old dwarf two bags as the funds of Cloak Gang.
There were less than 20 days left. If Chen Rui were to compete with a high-stage with his current middle-stage strength, he would definitely lose. Jesse said that Grau’s strength was incomparable to Reka, the king of Intermediate Demons in the arena. It was just like today’s battle where he could easily knock down the fighters of the same stage. What’s more that <Aurora Shot> could only be used twice a day. For each shot, more than half of Star Power would be gone. If he didn’t look for the right timing, it would be counterproductive, so he must fully utilize the time rule of the training ground.
During the gap of rest and recovery, Chen Rui finally couldn’t hold his curiosity and selected the construction of “exchange center” among the building at the throne. Now that he had 70,000 auras along with the estimated more than 100,000 black crystal coins in total, using 1000 auras to activate the exchange center seemed relatively insignificant.
Unlike the architecture of the training ground and storage warehouse, the exchange center looked mysterious and gorgeous. After entering the exchange center, the light screen displayed: Star Collector, exchange capped at 1 Star. There were several major categories; Except for the potion category, the rest were gray. It seemed that 1 star could only exchange for potions.
The first page was just Sober Potion, Healing Potion, Antidote Potion, Stamina Recovery Dust, Spirit Recovery Dust and other common goods that a usual potioneer could brew. The following were the white potions that could only be brewed by master level, such as Strength Potion, Wind Walk Potion, Iron Wall Potion, Spirit Potion etc, as well as the high difficulty Stamina Recovery Potion, Spirit Recovery Potion, Single Elemental-enhancing Potion, etc.
After the page was turned, there were 10 potions on the second page. All of which were black potions. The name made Chen Rui really surprised:
True. Strength Potion! True. Wind Walk Potion! True. Spirit Potion! True. Iron Wall Potion! True. Earth-Enhancing Potion! True. Water-Enhancing Potion! True. Fire-Enhancing Potion! True. Wind-Enhancing Potion! True. Dark-Enhancing Potion! True. Light-Enhancing Potion!
If white potions were a symbol of potion master, then the black potions represented an almost insurmountable gap – the potion grand master!
Demon Realm hadn’t had any grand master for thousands of years. If any 1 of the 10 black potions was taken out, not only the pharmaceutics field, but also the alchemy field and the entire Demon Realm would be shocked.
Compared to the white potions, the “True” potions had the word “True” added literally. Both were used to enhance strength, but their effectiveness was poles apart. For example, Strength Potion could increase strength by 30% and last for 10 minutes. After 10 minutes, one would enter a weakened state which was the so-called side effects. After ingesting 1 bottle, it required 2 hours before ingesting another bottle, otherwise it would be ineffective.
True. Strength Potion was more effective and longer-lasting. It could increase strength by 60%, and it would last for 20 minutes. After the effective period, there wouldn’t be any side effects, and the cooldown was shortened to an hour.
The “True” potions were merely the introductory potions as a grand master. As it went further, there were also the “Eternal” potions that permanently increased various abilities. In addition, there were also the potions that resembled a potioneer’s highest achievement, Longevity Potion, and Resurrection Potion!
Coincidentally, these potions alone would be able to let Chen Rui back up his identity as a grand master’s successor. Besides, it was just an item available for exchange within 1-Star.