Chapter 39: Chapter 35: Major Events
The underground world trembled with an earthquake, and countless people spontaneously took to the streets, heading toward the Valen Armory and the City State Main City.
The news spread like a flood, unstoppable once it began.
When people saw those photos, everyone could feel a deep sorrow from the bottom of their hearts.
Children are the future, the only hope for the survival of the lower class, but even this last hope was being stripped away.
Child trafficking in the underground world was a common occurrence, often heard about, but no one imagined the truth to be so cruel when it was revealed.
These factories were said to be built by the high-ranking officials from above. Were these ‘big shots’ just here to exploit people?
Without the permission of the City State Council, how could they have done this?
People suspected that high-ranking officials in the underground world were directly involved.
Emotions of sorrow and anger piled up together. Countless people stood up, even Mia wanted to join in, but Master Batu stopped her.
Riots like this often came with various criminal activities.
The personnel from the Valen Armory’s ‘secret base’ evacuated, the factory was smashed, and since the retreat was rushed, many weapons were left in the armory. The people who stormed the factory took them, leading to an even stronger riot.
The Law Enforcement Team was attacked and destroyed.
The entire underground world’s order was on the brink of collapse, as if a long-suppressed emotion had been ignited and completely erupted.
Secretary Jin stood at the entrance of the black market, looking at the rioting crowd before him. He felt a chill down his spine, and behind him, Cobra stood there, also afraid.
Cobra had also been involved in the child trafficking, but he didn’t know that these people were being sent for genetic experiments.
This was top secret, likely only known to Secretary Jin here.
“Go inside,” Secretary Jin said to Cobra. He keenly sensed that the black market was full of ambushes now.
All along, he hadn’t managed the black market, with Qin Zhong managing the casino and Cobra developing the black forces. He had always been responsible for the factory’s matters.
He thought the black market was under tight control.
Until he realized there was a traitor, someone close to him, but even so, he still thought it could be easily solved, within his control.
But now, he finally understood, the black market was no longer under his control.
Qin Zhong was the true king of the black market.
In front of Qin Zhong, Cobra was just a waste.
Cobra, fully armed, ran towards the black market like a blade with his mechanical legs. Secretary Jin, clad in Source Power Armor, held a gun, a thick gun with powerful firepower. He had always kept it at home, never needing to use it.
“Bang, bang, bang…” When Cobra walked into the black market, he heard gunfire. His body was blocked, a Mechanical Scimitar protecting him, but the powerful firepower kept hitting his body. Meanwhile, chains flew from the rooms on both sides of the shops, hooks at the ends swirling towards him like scythes.
Cobra’s body leaped away.
“Bang.” A stronger firepower hit his body. Figures in battle armor appeared on both sides of the ground, their chains hooking towards the flying Cobra. Cobra’s body spun in the air, slashing with his Mechanical Battle Blade at both sides, but the blade got hooked, suspending his body mid-air.
“Boom…” A sound rang out, and a figure beside him was shot through. Secretary Jin had fired. His gun emitted a blue light, as if it were firing blue bullets.
Secretary Jin moved forward, continuously shooting. The exposed figures were all shot through, but Cobra was hooked away by the chains. Secretary Jin didn’t intend to save him.
To Secretary Jin, Cobra was just a dog he raised, and a wasteful one at that.
He thought Qin Zhong was also a dog, but Qin Zhong was a wolf.
“Bang.” After killing several people, Secretary Jin’s gun was shattered by a sniper shot, falling to the ground. Another heavy shot struck his body, causing him to step back. Secretary Jin knew the black market was a deathtrap now. No matter how strong he was, he couldn’t break in to kill Qin Zhong.
He never expected to be played so harshly by Qin Zhong.
“Who told you to do this?” Secretary Jin knew there must be someone behind Qin Zhong, otherwise, Lao K wouldn’t dare do this, as it was seeking death, and Qin Zhong couldn’t do it alone.
No one responded. The gunfire continued hitting his battle armor, causing energy auras to ripple. Secretary Jin stepped back. He stared into the black market, then turned and left, no longer with his former invincible demeanor, now appearing somewhat desolate, worried about his and his family’s fate.
He knew he was finished; those above wouldn’t spare him.
As his code name suggested, he was once the councilman’s secretary, sent here to execute tasks for the Valen Factory.
But now, how could the councilman spare him?
Looking at the chaotic crowd on the street, Secretary Jin felt particularly lonely.
His wife, his child, what should he do?
In the black market, Cobra was captured alive. Several fully-armed men in battle armor electrocuted him, locking his body and bringing him to a luxurious box room in the casino.
On the sofa sat a masked figure, the spot Secretary Jin had once occupied. But now, the masked person was clearly not Secretary Jin.
The masked figure waved his hand, and the others left the room. The person took off the mask, revealing his true face.
“Qin Zhong.” Cobra stared fiercely at the figure before him. At this moment, he was like a toothless viper, no longer a threat.
Qin Zhong looked calmly at him, still appearing somewhat refined, and said, “Cobra, all your forces in the black market have been cleared. Can you still bite now?”
Hearing Qin Zhong’s words, Cobra suddenly thought of many things. Many of his men had died, and even those related to him. It seemed this was no accident.
“So Tang Sen’s death earlier wasn’t just because of gambling?” Cobra stared at Qin Zhong.
“He deserved to die, so naturally, he died,” Qin Zhong replied.
Cobra looked at Qin Zhong, suddenly finding him terrifying. He had been using the dark forces to eliminate dissent, unknowingly controlling the black market’s power tightly.
“How did you do it?” Cobra stared at Qin Zhong.
“Some people need faith, some need money. Give faith to those who need it, give money to those who want it. Of course, faith is more reliable than money but also easier to backfire,” Qin Zhong said to Cobra, as if reminding himself.
“You planned the whole thing?” Cobra stared at Qin Zhong and asked, “How did you discover Valen Factory’s secret? Was it that family? So, the deaths of my four men were no accident.”
Even he didn’t know the secret of the Valen Factory, only receiving instructions from Secretary Jin to kill two Valen Armory workers. He had wondered why to kill ordinary workers but now he understood.
“No, that was really an accident, and I wasn’t the one who killed them. You should ask your dead men if they cleaned up properly,” Qin Zhong taunted. “Speaking of which, your men did me a great favor, leading to subsequent events. Otherwise, I might have lost this time. By the way, you should check out Batu’s Department Store.”
“What do you mean?” Cobra stared at Qin Zhong.
“You can leave,” Qin Zhong said indifferently. Cobra squinted his eyes, “You’re willing to let me go?”
“Do you have any value?” Qin Zhong smiled at Cobra, making him feel humiliated. He stared at Qin Zhong, then got up and left without being stopped.
Qin Zhong leaned back on the sofa. Cobra’s last value was helping him clean up Hunter. Unexpectedly, Xiao Tie had also left him a hand, letting Hunter go.
But, it didn’t matter anymore.
Qin Zhong stood up and walked outside.
…
This was destined to be an uneventful day. The ‘night’ in the underground world came, not as quiet as usual, but filled with violence and destruction everywhere.
The department store closed its doors early, but people still came to cause trouble, punished by Master Batu.
Bai Wei stayed behind at Batu’s place, resting with Mia, evidently because Batu feared the noise outside would frighten them.
On the rooftop, Master Batu and Xu Mo stood, watching the chaos outside.
“Do you see?” Batu said to Xu Mo.
Xu Mo nodded, the oppressive underground world, some thugs taking advantage of the complete chaos to stir up trouble.
“These days, have you been mixing with those people?” Batu said to Xu Mo. Xu Mo suddenly realized that Master Batu was smarter than he had imagined and knew a lot.
“What does Master Batu know?” Xu Mo asked.
“In the underground world, where is there still room for ideals? All ideals should be extinguished,” Batu said.
“I don’t understand; even if we know these things that violate humanity, should we still allow them to exist?” Xu Mo asked.
“I once thought about it too, but do those idealists really think they can change anything?” Batu asked. “Under absolute power, it’s just another Asura field. As for them, they’re just someone else’s gun.”
Xu Mo looked at Batu’s obese figure, feeling he couldn’t quite see through him.
“History is just a cycle,” Batu continued.
Xu Mo was silent. Had such things happened before?
So the Valen Armory wasn’t the only one?
The entire underground world, was it all an experiment?
What were the humans in the underground world being treated as?
Far off in the streets, a few figures walked toward them. Xu Mo looked over, squinting his eyes. He recognized the person at the front, it was Cobra, and he had found this place.
The last time he had killed two of Cobra’s men, he made sure they hadn’t told Cobra. The deaths of Ryan and Brey, one in the Fighting Arena, the other due to a black-market tailing—
So how did Cobra find this place?
“The black market.”
Xu Mo realized, it was Ye Qingdie’s side that leaked.
“Bang!” A gunshot rang out, Cobra directly firing at the department store’s glass, eliciting screams from Mia and Bai Wei inside.
At this moment, Cobra’s eyes were vicious. He was here to kill!