Chapter 20: Legendary Warrior
7 PM, Free City, District 4.
The public security here could no longer be described as terrible. Along the way, Su Xiao encountered five pickpockets, and when passing through an alley, he was robbed three times.
Interestingly, after Su Xiao encountered a robbery, the process went as follows:
The robber rushed out from the darkness → drew a blade → locked eyes with Su Xiao, and then the robber began using the freshly drawn blade to shave his beard.
Ghosts fear the wicked, the wicked fear those more vicious than themselves, the ruthless fear those who don't value their own lives, and those who don't value their own lives fear those who dare to kill their entire family.
The rules of the dark world are just like this, nothing more than who is fiercer. The situation in Free City, District 4, is the same.
Tonight, Su Xiao came here only with Baha and Dorothy. Amu went outside the city, as their base camp fortress had stopped 10 kilometers away.
Lie Chao had gone on a long trip. Planting Li Xiniwei'an into the "Tribunal" as a mid-level official there was no simple matter.
This matter went through several layers of connections. First, Kaiser sought out his business partner, the merchant Azba, more commonly known as the slave trader Azba.
Azba was of the human race, specializing in selling pig-heads, aberrant beasts, and vassal races or humans sentenced to penal servitude by the Tribunal.
This guy had the cunning of a businessman and the ruthlessness of someone from the dark world. His biggest trait was that every time he arrived at a new place, this bastard would find somewhere to whore around, to the point of going missing.
Logically, with his status as a slave trader, he didn't need to whore around. In his own words, he sold commodities. Whatever state the goods were in when purchased was how they were when sold. This had nothing to do with conduct or character; it was about rules. Doing business required rules, especially in the dark world.
Through Azba's connections, Kaiser used the active ore provided by Su Xiao as leverage to contact a mid-to-high-ranking official of the Tribunal. Not one of the top few grand judges, but that old man still held considerable power.
Getting a mid-level official position in the Tribunal was simpler than imagined, and also more expensive. That greedy old vampire demanded 3000 kilograms of active ore. After learning this news through Kaiser, Su Xiao immediately understood what was going on.
Buying a mid-level Tribunal position for 3000 kilograms of active ore didn't seem expensive, but this was only the initial deposit. The position that old vampire arranged for Li Xiniwei'an was under his direct jurisdiction.
For Li Xiniwei'an to maintain his current status, he would have to continuously pay tribute to that old vampire until his wealth was drained dry. Then the old vampire would kick Li Xiniwei'an aside and arrange another fat sheep in this position to continue sucking blood.
Su Xiao had been wondering why this connection was so easy to buy. Now it seemed this was also a fishing operation, no different in essence from that hunter group using the [Cataclysmic Solution] to fish.
Regarding the Tribunal side, Su Xiao really didn't care about being fished. Li Xiniwei'an wasn't a fish; he was a bomb. Let that old vampire and Li Xiniwei'an clash with each other.
If Li Xiniwei'an lost, it meant he was nothing special. If he won, the situation on the Tribunal side would open up.
Lie Chao's mission this time was to escort Li Xiniwei'an to the Tribunal to prevent accidents along the way. After that, she could return.
Su Xiao walked between streetlights and pedestrians. District 4 at 7 PM was very lively. Dorothy, who had recently gained power, found everything novel and was inevitably a bit cocky.
"My dear friend, I've been waiting for you for a long time."
Kaiser sat at a roadside stall not far away. After Baha paid the bill, Kaiser sat there for a while before slowly standing up. Knowing someone would treat him, Kaiser had to eat until the food reached his neck to be satisfied.
Together with Kaiser, Su Xiao arrived at the inner side of District 4. Here, he saw many guards wearing semi-metal combat suits and night vision helmets, carrying firearms. The guards' leader scanned Kaiser's sclera with an instrument before letting them pass.
Continuing forward, the road became quiet. At the end of this road was a sloped passageway resembling an underground parking garage. The passage was entirely metallic, with anti-slip patterns on the downward slope.
Descending along the ten-meter-wide passage, faint voices came from ahead.
The heavy double metal doors automatically opened, and a wave of heat rushed out. Along with it came noisy voices, including shouts of vendors, wild laughter, and even the sound of small-caliber pistol shots.
The harsh fluorescent light came rushing towards them, making people squint. Re-examining everything ahead, one would find this was an underground space so vast its edges were invisible. It was like a market, with a ceiling over ten meters high exposing steel beams and supports. A huge row of endless light tubes was fixed to the ceiling, each 20 centimeters thick and over 3 meters long.
Iron cages of various sizes were stacked, leaving three-meter-wide pathways. Various vehicles were parked everywhere, each with long cargo boxes.
Vassal races or humans reduced to penal servitude were locked in iron cages. Aberrant beasts received similar treatment. Pig-heads all wore neck shackles, each connected by iron chains.
Yes, this was the underground market, the place in Free City with the largest nightly wealth flow and the darkest.
"Kaiser, where have you been? Over here."
A dwarf wearing small round sunglasses stood on an iron cage. He was the slave trader Azba, the manager of Free City's underground market, the boss here.
Azba's small round sunglasses and suit were his standard attire. He was potbellied, with a pointed nose that made people suspect he had bloodlines from other races besides human.
When Azba stood together with Kaiser, honestly, if someone said they were old friends, people would definitely believe it.
Su Xiao checked the time. It was already 7:20 PM. Bubu Wang was about to make a move. That hunter group was in District 2. Tonight, Bubu Wang was acting alone.
Aside from the 3000 kilograms of active ore spent on the Tribunal side, and the purchase of pig-head residences and premium food, Su Xiao still had 5281 kilograms of active ore remaining. Among this, 1000 kilograms had to be reserved for the fortress's upgrade to T4 level.
The usable active ore amounted to 4581 kilograms. Su Xiao planned to use all of this to purchase pig-heads.
"White Night, are you satisfied with my goods?"
Azba came to a pig-head's side. Due to his height, he could only forcefully pat the pig-head's leg.
This pig-head opened his eyes. There was no numbness or confusion like other pig-heads. This was a pig-head with intact subjective thinking and skilled in combat. He was a warrior among pig-heads, specifically sold to various ring-city arenas.
An ordinary strong male pig-head laborer was worth about 2 kilograms of active ore. An older one was 1 kilogram. Female pig-heads were also priced at 1 kilogram of active ore.
Pig-head warriors were different. The cheapest cost over 30 kilograms of active ore. The most expensive had a price tag of 58,600 kilograms of active ore: the legendary warrior, Oink.
Legendary warrior Oink didn't die in the arena. He died on the road leading pig-head warriors to stand up and resist. In the end, he was sentenced by the Tribunal and executed immediately after leaving the courtroom.
That year, the vassal races were truly afraid. All pig-head laborers had to wear shackles while mining. All pig-head warriors were imprisoned. All arenas were shut down.
This situation lasted for 6 months. Then, the underground market merchant alliance led by Azba and others stopped providing financial support to the Tribunal.
At that time, the Tribunal wanted to drink milk but didn't want to let the cow out of the barn. They feared offending the "Clock Tower," the "Vassal Alliance," and the "Aurora Council." They were both greedy and unwilling to offend anyone.
In the end, two grand judges died. Over half of the underground market leaders like Azba died. Azba himself lost a leg. After that, everything returned to normal.
The arenas resumed business. The pig-head laborers' shackles were removed. The name legendary warrior Oink was gradually forgotten. Only his axe remained displayed in the Tribunal's treasury. This axe had once killed 3 grand judges, 57 alliance officers, 62 believers, and a total of 19,492 vassal race members.