Chapter 152 True Dragon: Forced Transaction [VIP]

As soon as I stepped onto the street leading to the Black Zone, the air immediately changed, as if I had passed through an invisible barrier. The world outside the barrier was dirty, dilapidated, and disordered, but at least it was full of vitality. The world inside the barrier, even the air was filled with strong resentment, as if I were in the devil's world, and blood and coldness were everywhere.

There were almost no pedestrians on the road, and most of the shops on both sides of the road had their doors and windows closed. Only a few shops were open for business, and the shelves were filled with -

"He, they're actually openly buying and selling human flesh! And even things ripped off people's bodies!"

Flora screamed in fright.

"Aren't you a demon? Why are you still——"

Luke was puzzled.

"I am the Queen of Flowers. I do not eat meat. My food is the juice of flowers, fruits, and various mushrooms."

Flora objected loudly and told Luke sternly, "I'm frightened by these shops selling human flesh, not because I don't eat human flesh, but because most creatures in the world, as long as they have a certain level of intelligence, won't treat their own kind as food. But these people don't even let their own kind go! How terrifying!"

"The people living here are no longer considered human beings."

Luke muttered.

The boy's words made Flora feel a little ashamed. She whispered, "Luke, you must have had a hard time in the past."

"It's not easy for an orphan without parents to survive."

Luke turned and told Xiao Yun in a serious tone, "This street is called Black Street. It not only leads to the deepest part of the Black District, but it's also the only public area in the area. Gangs with territorial ties in the Black District usually negotiate peace on Black Street. So, while this street may look quiet and deserted, anyone who frequents it, or even owns a permanent shop there, is someone to be trifled with."

"I can smell the strong smell of blood in the air."

Xiao Yun said calmly.

His indifference confused Luke, but thinking of the other party's various abnormalities, Boy 7 shrugged and led Xiao Yun into the depths of the black street.

…

“—Stop!”

Suddenly, a sound came from a shop on the left.

Luke, who had been extremely nervous since entering the black street, stopped immediately, his eyes wide open, and reached for the dagger on his waist with his right hand, ready to draw his sword and fight at any time.

"What are you going to do?"

"I'm going to buy you."

A skinny old man in a black robe walked out of the shop. There were three hideous scars on his wrinkled face, and half of his right ear was missing.

"Especially you!"

The old man raised his right hand, which was missing two fingers, and pointed at Xiao Yun: "Take off your hood and let me see your face clearly!"

"Why?"

Xiao Yun asked in a low but clear voice.

"The aura you carry is very special. It's a warmth and brightness that our dark world will never produce, as hot as the midnight sun! So—stay!"

The old man suddenly appeared and attacked Xiao Yun.

"Owner!"

Luke was shocked and was about to rush forward to protect——

Swish!

After the cold front passed, the old man's right wrist, which was already missing two fingers, fell off.

"--you!"

The old man covered his bleeding wound with an expression of disbelief: "Who are you? What's your purpose in coming to the black street?"

"I'm here to buy flowers."

"Buy flowers?"

The old man was stunned.

"Rosa Marie," Xiao Yun said, "I heard that there's a man named Suo Lin in the North City who is responsible for providing the imperial palace with seven large and seven fragrant Rosa Marie. I want to buy a bouquet of Rosa Marie from him."

"you……"

The old man took a breath, took out a whistle from his sleeve, and blew it hard -

Ngh! Ngh! Ngh!

Sounds echoing with the whistles were heard all around.

More than a dozen tall and strong men walked out from different corners, each wearing a strange white mask on his face, holding weapons, such as bows and crossbows, axes, hammers, and swords.

"Old man, what happened? Why are you whistling and calling us all of a sudden?"

"He wants to buy Rosa Marie from Lord Thorin!"

The old man raised his right arm without a palm and said, "He just chopped off my palm."

“Surely…”

The strong men surrounded them, looking at Xiao Yun, Luke, and Flora who was dancing around them with fierce eyes through the white masks.

"One big, one small, and an elf!"

"I want to see Thorin immediately."

Xiao Yun's voice was still low and without any emotion.

"You think—"

"Just because of you, you want to harm the master?"

Flora snorted coldly, and her transparent wings gradually revealed their combat form.

Luke also drew his sword to protect Xiao Yun.

"Who of you dares—"

"I came to the Black Zone to buy Rosa Marie from Thorin. I don't want to have a conflict with you."

Xiao Yun raised his head and took off his hood, revealing a face as handsome and upright as a statue of a god.

"--ah!"

Mo, be silent for a moment——

"Lee, we'll take you to see Thorin now!"

"I feel"

Flora said loudly.

Xiao Yun smiled and said, "It doesn't matter. In the face of absolute power, all calculations are a joke."

…

Led by the strong men, Xiao Yun and his party passed through the lifeless-looking area.

Luke was very nervous throughout the whole process. He always held the whip with his left hand and was ready to draw his sword with his right hand. Flora also fluttered her wings and looked up and down, left and right, fearing that the enemy would suddenly attack.

Only Xiao Yun remained calm throughout, and there was even a smile on his handsome face.

The burly man in the lead couldn't help but ask curiously, "Which noble family are you from? Don't you know fear at all?"

"Why should I be afraid?"

Xiao Yun asked back.

"In my eyes, everything you're showing right now is crude and clumsy. You haven't even figured out the basics of classification and division of labor."

"Who are you?!"

The strong man felt unbelievable.

Xiao Yun did not answer and walked forward quietly.

Without the help of the "Han Xin" card, relying only on the military common sense he had accumulated in the past, he had discovered that the buildings on both sides of the road were natural street fighting fortresses, and almost every terrain could be turned into an ambush and trap. The gang members he met along the way would only occupy obvious terrain to threaten and intimidate others, and wave their weapons from a high position to intimidate others.

(No wonder He allowed these rotten fish and stinking shrimp in the North City area to rot and stink before His nose...)

(These people may seem arrogant and brutal, but they are actually powerless against a professionally trained army. He only needs to send 500 to 1,000 lizard monsters as the main attack force, supplemented by 5,000 regular troops, and he can raze the entire northern city to the ground in a single afternoon.)

(If His Dark Mage Force were deployed, the North City could be cleared even faster.)

…

After walking about one kilometer along the Black Street, the strong men stopped in front of an ancient stone building.

"Lord Thorin lives here."

"Thank you very much."

Xiao Yun raised his hand and pushed the door open.

"—Aren't you afraid there's an ambush behind the door?"

The strong man asked.

Xiao Yun: "If they are not afraid of being killed by me in one blow, they can ambush me behind the door."

“…”

The strong man was stunned.

Creak——

The wooden door slowly opened, and a middle-aged man in a wheelchair, a servant pushing his wheelchair, and a fortune teller appeared in front of Xiao Yun.

"You're the one who's clamoring for—"

The fortune teller's voice suddenly paused, and an incredible expression gradually appeared on his face: "You, you..."

"how?"

"I've never seen anything like this... You shouldn't be here!"

The fortune teller shrieked.

"Let this guy go immediately! He is the god of death! He will bring death to all of us--"

“Do people in the black zone also fear death?”

Xiao Yun sneered and pointed his sword at the fortune teller.

Behind him, Luke and Flor also entered combat mode.

"you--"

"Are you Thorin?"

Xiao Yun looked at the man in the wheelchair indifferently.

"Yes."

The man nodded.

Xiao Yun said, "I want to buy Rosa Marie, the crimson Rosa Marie."

"Crimson Rosa Marie..."

The man named Thorin had a strange expression on his face, as if someone had stuffed a fly into his mouth. "All the rosamarias grown in my garden are exclusively for the imperial palace. They won't appear on the market, and I don't accept private purchases."

"I can pay in gold."

"I won't sell it no matter how much gold you pay!"

"Are you not afraid that I will kill you in a rage?"

Xiao Yun said lightly.

Man: "Rosa Marie belongs to His Majesty the Emperor. I was ordered to grow Rosa Marie for His Majesty. If you kill me, you will be hunted down by His Majesty's 'Dragon Tooth Soldiers'!"

"Even if I don't kill you, He will send the 'Dragon Tooth Soldiers' to find me."

Xiao Yun smiled and told Thorin: "By the way, I still haven't seen the 'Dragon Tooth Soldiers'. What do they look like?"

"them--"

Everyone present showed horror without exception.

Luke yelled, "The 'Dragon Tooth Soldiers' are a bunch of bastards who sold their souls to the Devil. They were originally normal humans, but to rise to prominence, they abandoned their humanity and underwent horrific transformations through the Dark Arts, becoming inhuman monsters!"

"A head similar to a lizard, over three meters tall, and covered in dark green scales?"

"How do you know?"

Everyone exclaimed in unison.

"Where I come from, these things are called lizard monsters—my companions and I have led armies to eliminate thousands of them."

“…”

"Stop your surprise and let's get on with the subject of Rosa Marie."

Xiao Yun looked at Thorin kindly: "Mr. Thorin, I need the crimson Rosamari. Can you sell it to me?"

“I, I, I…”

"Thorin, the master commands you to sell him the Crimson Rosamaria."

A strangely hoarse and low voice sounded.

Xiao Yun noticed that the expressions of everyone present changed again because of this voice.

He raised his head and looked towards the source of the sound, and unsurprisingly saw the strange, slender black shadow unique to the "Assassin's Order".

"Did Alans send you?"

"The master is not in North City at the moment. He will arrive in the Imperial Capital to meet you within three days."

The black shadow bent down and saluted Xiao Yun.

This action made everyone stunned again.

What is his origin?

They completely disregarded the White Ghost Gang, whose power in the North City was second only to the mysterious "Assassin's Order," spoke rudely to His Majesty the Emperor in public, calling the awe-inspiring "Dragon Tooth Soldiers" lizard monsters, and claimed to have led their troops to defeat thousands of "Dragon Head Soldiers." Now—

Even the messengers of the "Assassin's Order" treated him with great respect!

“——Who are you?!”

Thorin asked Xiao Yun in panic.

Xiao Yun glanced at the messenger of the "Assassin's Order".

The messenger nodded and told Thorin: "He is the most important enemy of your Emperor, and also the most distinguished guest of our 'Assassin's Order'. You must give him whatever he wants!"

"But……"

"Are you going to break your Black Zone oath?"

After saying that, the tall and slender black figure left like a ghost.

Thorin took a breath and asked desperately, "Can I ask you to come to the study and talk about Rosa Marie in detail?"

"Can."

Xiao Yun nodded.

Luke tried to follow, but was grabbed by Flor.

"Owner--"

Luke looked at Xiao Yun pleadingly.

Xiao Yun shook his head, walked into the study with Thorin and closed the door.

…

After entering the study, Thorin's expression became even uglier.

He looked at Xiao Yun with an almost prostrate look in his eyes: "How many crimson Rosamaria do you need? When will they be delivered?"

"How much do you have?"

"His Majesty the Emperor doesn't like the crimson Rosa Marie, so in my Rosa Marie flower garden greenhouse..."

"No crimson?"

"No, but..."

Thorin gritted his teeth and said, "I have a way to turn light-colored Rosamari red in a very short time."

“How short is extremely short?”

"About……"

Thorin estimated: "Five days."

"Okay, in five days, send one hundred red Rosa Marie to the Grand Palace."

"What!"

Thorin gasped, "His Majesty the Emperor doesn't like crimson Rosamaria! You asked me to send a hundred crimson Rosamarias to the palace. That would mean... I, I... I would die... I would be killed by the 'Dragon Tooth Soldiers'!"

"If you don't deliver one hundred red Rosamaris to the palace in five days as agreed, I will use the Assassin's Order to take your life."

"I--"

Thorin's expression was close to despair.

“But if you can deliver one hundred red Rosamarines to the palace in five days, not only will you not lose your life, you may even receive His reward.”

Xiao Yun added.

“…W-why?”

"That's not the question you should be asking."

“…”

Thorin lowered his head. "I understand. I will obey your orders completely. I will prepare one hundred red Rosamaris and send them to the Grand Palace in five days."

"Um."

Xiao Yun nodded, walked out of the study, and said to Luke, who was waiting for him anxiously with a nervous look on his face, "Let's go back."

"yes!"

…

…

After leaving the black street, Xiao Yun suddenly said to Luke, "Can you take me to the Wild Dog Gang headquarters?"

“Master, you…”

"You actually want to go back to the Wild Dog Gang, right?"

"I……"

Luke's eyes moistened slightly, as if he was trying hard to suppress his emotions. "Master, how did you know me, I... I didn't mean to lie to you. It's me... I'm very, very inferior in front of you. I don't dare to admit that I'm the boss of the Wild Dog Gang..."

"—Ah! Boy, you actually lied to us!"

Flora was furious and raised her fist to—

"Don't interrupt!"

Xiao Yun grabbed the furious Flora and continued, "I guessed it a long time ago."

"ah?"

Luke was stunned.

Xiao Yun looked at the boy gently.

"You said you were originally planning to have the Wild Dog Gang redeem you after being captured by the Dragon Tooth Soldiers in South City and taken to a shelter. The Wild Dog Gang is a small gang that only holds territory on the outskirts of North City. Why would you go to a shelter to redeem an ordinary member who had already left the gang?"

"The shop owner told me that you used the money I gave you to buy more than twenty pieces of clothing for children in their early teens. And—since entering the North City area, you've been searching the crowd for something, looking anxious and uneasy."

"……Owner!"

Luke hung his head in shame.

"You're already very capable of surviving in such a chaotic place like North City with a group of kids younger than you. There's no need to feel inferior."

Xiao Yun raised his head and touched the boy's hair.

"Let's go."

“Yes! Yes!”

Luke raised his head excitedly, put Zuo Yu in his mouth, and whistled clearly and loudly.

soon--

“Woo woo!”

“Woo—”

A voice echoing Luke's whistle echoed from the empty street, and two young faces, no older than thirteen, emerged from behind a dilapidated wall.

"Boss!"

The boy jumped out of the wall and ran happily to Luke.

"You're finally back! The black gang has been looking for you lately, threatening to skin you and eat your flesh!"

"No one in the gang was implicated in this matter, right?"

"No, everyone listened to the boss and hid underground early on. Only in the past two days have we sent two people back to the surface every day to scout out the situation and wait for you to come back."

"It's good that everything is fine. It's the best."

Luke breathed a sigh of relief.

Afterwards, he introduced Xiao Yun to the two teenagers: "This is our master. With our master, we will no longer be the unwanted stray dogs of North City!"

"Boss..."

The young men all looked confused.

"He called me 'Master' just to thank me for saving his life."

Xiao Yun smiled and patted Luke's shoulder. "Last night, I saw the 'Dragon Tooth Soldiers' from South City trying to take him to the shelter. I told them I was my servant and asked them to let him go. Since then, he has started calling me 'Master' to repay me for saving his life."

“Ohhhh!”

The boys nodded as if they understood, and then excitedly expressed their desire to take Xiao Yun and the others to their underground headquarters.

"Wait a moment."

Xiao Yun took out a few golden beans from his waist bag: "Take it."

"Gold, gold!"

The boy's eyes almost popped out of his head in shock.

Seeing this, Luke snorted in dissatisfaction: "Why are you making such a fuss over such a small matter? No wonder everyone says that our Wild Dog Gang is a bunch of unreputable thieves!"

"But--"

"Hurry up and follow the master's instructions. Use this gold to buy everyone some delicious food and drinks. Remember, go to the central square to buy normal food, not go to the black streets to buy strange things!"

"Yes! Yes! Yes!"

The two boys nodded repeatedly, held the gold in their hands tremblingly, and ran away.

Under Luke's guidance, Xiao Yun walked through the narrow and winding alleys that were filled with debris on both sides and looked like a maze, and came to an abandoned building overgrown with weeds.

"This is our hiding place..."

Luke said to himself, "We are weak and helpless. We search for food like wild dogs during the day and live in holes in the ground like rats at night."

"You are not weak."

Xiao Yun looked at Luke encouragingly. "In such a dire situation, not only did you survive, but you also managed to help a group of children weaker than you survive. This is something only a very strong person can do."

"At least—if I were you, I certainly wouldn't do better than you."

Xiao Yun added.

"Owner--"

Because of Xiao Yun's affirmation, Luke's face flushed slightly: "I, I..."

"Come in quickly, they are all waiting for you."

"Um!"

…

Luke pushed open the hidden door and took Xiao Yun into the underground part of the building, where the ground part was completely in ruins.

——Although it is underground, because the above-ground part of the building has long been dilapidated, the sunlight outside shines in through the gaps in the walls and floors, making the entire area appear bright and not giving people a dull and dark feeling at all.

"The underground part of this house is very large and can accommodate at least a hundred people. There are five exits, so no matter what happens, there is no need to worry about not being able to escape."

Luke happily introduced to Xiao Yun the various mechanisms and ingenuity underground.

"The ground area looks like ruins, but it's actually equipped with many small mechanisms. We can tell who's on our side or the enemy just by listening to the sounds... It's very difficult for children without parents to survive in the North City, but as long as everyone is united, we can always find a way."

"You've managed this place very well."

Xiao Yun said approvingly.

Along the way, the Wild Dog Gang members he met were basically between ten and fifteen years old, and the oldest was no more than sixteen. Everyone looked at Luke with admiration. When they learned that Xiao Yun behind Luke had rescued their boss from the "Dragon Tooth Soldiers", they all expressed their gratitude.

"Boss! You're finally back!"

"We've been worried about you these past few days!"

"Thank you! You saved the boss! You are our benefactor! No, you are our master!"

"From now on, we will all follow our master!"

“…”

Luke silently pushed aside the crowd and led Xiao Yun into the innermost room known as the gang war room.

The light in the room was very dark, like a cellar.

Xiao Yun then took out a magic lighting ball and illuminated the dark room.

By the light, he saw Luke crying and muttering to himself, "Why are we so weak... Why do we have to be born into such a world..."

"Luke."

Xiao Yun patted the boy's shoulder: "You have tried very hard. This is not your fault."

"No, I was wrong! I made a terrible mistake!"

Luke bit his lip and said sullenly, "I deliberately concealed my relationship with the Wild Dog Gang from Master before... It wasn't because of inferiority or self-esteem, but I wanted to take this opportunity to get rid of the Wild Dog Gang... Just now, when they looked at me with admiring eyes, I felt so ashamed that I didn't even dare to look them in the eye. I, I want to apologize for my selfish behavior..."

At this point, Luke shed tears.

"...I understand your pain. You're just a teenager, yet you're burdened with responsibilities that most adults are unable to shoulder. It's inevitable that you'll feel tired and want to escape. You accidentally told a lie, but you don't know how to make up for it."

"Owner--"

"In fact, the person I'm looking for is very similar to you. Like you, he was forced to bear a burden that his shoulders could not bear at a very young age. However, I was a child younger and more powerless than him at that time. I could only watch him... Fortunately, I have grown up now and can be his support and share his pressure and pain."