"What do you mean?! You can insult me, but you can't abuse me! I can climb fifteen floors in one go without getting out of breath!"

Zhang Xiaojuan paused for a moment, then puffed out her chest with a defiant look, tensing her arms to show off her barely noticeable biceps.

The proprietress rolled her eyes at him, then swayed her hips and gracefully walked up to Xiao Yu and Xu Yi, looking them up and down.

"This one is alright. Recently, a lot of young and wealthy ladies have been coming to the auction house, and they like this kind of dark-skinned, well-built woman."

"I've got my eye on this one, keep it and don't take it with you."

The proprietress's alluring eyes finally settled on Xu Yi's cold and handsome profile. Her slender, fair fingers were about to touch him when Xu Yi's sharp gaze stopped her in her tracks.

She wasn't angry. Instead, she turned around with a half-smile, took out more than fifty intermediate-level crystal cores from the counter, and handed them to Xiao Zhu. "I'll take these two. You can take the rest."

Xiao Zhu awkwardly rubbed his hands, "Sister Meihua, this is my teacher..."

"What do you mean? Do you want more money?"

The proprietress raised an eyebrow, her tone slightly coquettish, "Fine, I like it, so I'll give you double the price."

After saying that, she grabbed a small handful of crystal cores and threw them on the table, saying, "Consider this my treat for you to have some tea."

"No, what do you mean?! There are only three of us and you're going to throw me out? Don't you know what's good for you? I'm the dream girl of all the girls in the surrounding villages!"

"If you're so capable, then buy me! I'll make up the difference if you lose money!"

Zhang Xiaojuan was still red-faced and furious about being kicked out of the game.

This concerns his dignity; he can't swallow this insult!

"Sister Meihua, it's a misunderstanding. They're here at the West Market looking for someone." Xiao Zhu felt incredibly awkward and quickly pulled the proprietress aside to whisper a few words to her.

"Why didn't you say so earlier?"

The proprietress pouted with regret, her gaze lingering on Xu Yi's face.

"Tell me, who are you looking for? Half the population of the West Market comes from my shop. I can find you as long as I have a name."

The proprietress confidently turned her laptop screen towards Lu Sheng and the others.

"I never imagined human traffickers could be so professional..." Sun Tiantian looked at the information on the screen in surprise.

The information file shown by the proprietress was a special system that not only recorded the name of each slave sold to the shop in detail, but also photos, height, weight, and three-dimensional data, as well as the buyer's information.

Some male slaves with a particular skill even provided detailed usage reports and personal reflections, making Lu Sheng and the others blush with embarrassment.

Unfortunately, we couldn't find any information about Sun Zhe, but we unexpectedly found information about Li Song.

Where is this person now?

Lu Sheng frowned and pointed to Li Song's name in the human trafficking system, asking a question.

"Huh? You're looking for him?"

The proprietress glanced at the photo on the monitor, then pouted with disdain. "He's a stubborn mule. I've been trying to train him for half a month, but he still won't listen. He was just delivered to the slave market this afternoon."

Although she spoke lightly, one could guess that the so-called "training" was most likely some kind of torture that was worse than death.

"I want this person."

Lu Sheng took out a handful of crystal cores and slammed them on the table.

Since Sun Zhe came to the West Market with the Desert Eagle team, Li Song must know about Sun Zhe.

Although the proprietress coveted the crystal cores, she helplessly shrugged, "No, since the people have been sent to the slave market, they must go through the auction process. I can't break the rules."

"The slave market will open in a few minutes. If you want to find him, just go and take a picture of him."

Lu Sheng tossed out ten intermediate-level crystal cores as a fee for the information, then turned and led his men out of the store.

"Let me explain, I'm really not a human trafficker."

Knowing that Lu Sheng and the others had misunderstood because of the landlady's words, Xiao Zhu hurriedly went out to explain, "I have never done any such heartless things."

"So you brought people in, and the proprietress quoted a price without even asking a question?" Han Rui glared angrily at Xiao Zhu.

Xiao Zhu scratched his head awkwardly, "Only half of the slaves in the shop were trafficked; the other half are voluntary prostitutes. I used to work as a broker for a while, specifically introducing these voluntary prostitutes to Sister Meihua's shop."

"It's similar to those job placement companies that recruit people into electronics factories before the apocalypse, earning a commission."

"There are even people who voluntarily sell themselves into slavery?!" Sun Tiantian exclaimed in surprise.

"Sister-in-law, you're just like the well-fed who don't know the hunger of the starving." Xiao Zhu gave a bitter smile. "What kind of world is this? So many people can't survive. If you could be sold to a rich family, at least you could at least get some food."

"You should be glad that you awakened your superpowers and became superior people. Those ordinary people without superpowers can only sell themselves for 5 low-level crystal cores."

The remaining people remained silent.

Five crystal cores can only buy a pound of rice on the black market, but can buy a living person in the slave market.

As they spoke, the group had already arrived at the gate of the slave market.

Xiao Zhu was a regular here. He greeted the security guard at the entrance and got Lu Sheng and his group exempted from the entrance fee.

The slave market was very large and was divided into several sections according to the different items being auctioned.

In addition to ordinary adult slaves, there are also special sessions for underage slaves, sessions for mixed species, and sessions for mutated beasts.

According to the information provided by the landlady, Li Song will be auctioning off adult slaves at the market today.

When Lu Sheng and her group entered, the venue was already packed with people.

In the center of the circular auction hall, there was a three-meter-high lifting platform, on which more than a dozen iron cages covered with curtains were placed.

The area closest to the stage is the VIP area, behind which is a barrier, and further back are the inner area and the general area.

The setup was somewhat like a concert; you had to buy tickets and take your seat before entering.

Xiao Zhu got a few tickets for the inner field from a security guard he knew, and the group finally found seats in the corner of the second row.

Some iron cages that hadn't yet been moved onto the platform were piled up in the aisle near the wall, just a few steps away from Lu Sheng and his group.

"Boss, choose me! I'm honest and quick to work!"

"Brothers and sisters, please choose me! I don't eat much!"

"I...I have many positions!"

As soon as Lu Sheng and the others sat down, the women in the cages next to them used all their charm to actively promote themselves.

Some people even ripped off their clothes, revealing their beautiful body curves.

The male slaves in the cages next to them weren't much better off.

Upon seeing young and beautiful female bosses like Lu Sheng, they all struck poses and flaunted their figures, with some even using exaggerated, bubbly voices.

"Get out of here, you clip!"

Han Rui's arm hairs stood on end, and she couldn't help but whisper a reply.

"Am I wrong? A lot of people did it voluntarily."

With a look of relief and exoneration, Xiao Zhu whispered a reminder to the others, "Never sympathize with any slave. Apart from those who were abducted or captured, the rest are just people who don't want to work hard to make a living."

“These people have no dignity left. If you feel sorry for them, they might bite you hard at any time.”