"It’s beautiful, isn’t it?"
Birdman stared, srized, at the beautiful crystal glowing with an azure light and sighed with genuine admiration. "The essence of nature, a crystallization of the ocean, a magnificent treasure born from the Endless Sea..."
On the dark web’s trading platforms, one gram of Canaan Blue sold for 1.9 million, and a standard Canaan Blue crystal weighed ten grams.
Besides its ability to heal the Soul, Canaan Blue could also be used as an Alchemy Material for Advancent rituals. It had a 13.7% chance of granting a Water Type Ascender a Derivative Ability.
For this reason, countless Water Type Ascenders would bankrupt themselves just to acquire one, but it was often a product that was listed but never available.
Zhou Chen stepped forward and unceremoniously snatched the Canaan Blue crystal to examine it closely. He didn’t sense any signs of a Curse, and Jiang Che’s voice ca through the comms channel, confirming that the instrunts hadn’t detected any harmful substances either.
SNAP. Birdman snapped his fingers crisply. A subordinate pushed a mobile changing room over. "Please, it’s best to consu such a treasure as soon as possible. If you happen to lose it, we won’t be offering a replacent."
"Thoughtful of you." Zhou Chen entered the changing room, drew the curtain, and lifted his mask slightly to pop the crystal into his mouth.
At the sa ti, he quickly made five identical wishes in his mind—to restore an equivalent amount of his Soul.
In an instant, five motes of starlight flew out from the Wish Bottle, transforming into brilliant light that rged with his Soul. The oceanic power contained within the Canaan Blue crystal surged through his body, wave after crashing wave, seeping deep into his Soul and filling the seemingly endless void like a floodgate bursting open.
Zhou Chen felt as if he had beco a soft feather, or a tiny speck of dust under the warm sun on a sumr beach. The solid, grounding feeling of the hole in his Soul being filled was so comfortable he felt like he was lting.
After a long, long ti, he let out a deep breath. The hollow pain from his damaged Soul, which had plagued him for so long, had mostly subsided. At the sa ti, he perceived the World with greater clarity than ever before—as his Soul was repaired, his Extraordinary Abilities, Essence Capacity, and Spiritual Power all improved along with it.
Within his Spiritual World, vast areas of Darkness were now dotted with dazzling, brilliant stars, like a circuit board being re-lit and springing back to life.
He estimated that he had restored a full 15% of his Soul this ti.
’I restored 5% through wishes, and the other 10% ca from the Canaan Blue... That’s a lot to recover at once. I wonder if I can bluff my way through an inspection. It should be fine... My Soul is now at about 68% integrity. Under normal circumstances, I can live to be thirty or forty. At least I’m not just waiting to die anymore...’ Zhou Chen breathed a sigh of relief, gathered his thoughts, and pulled back the curtain to step out.
"How do you feel?" Birdman asked.
"Good." After a pause, Zhou Chen added, "Better than ever."
"Congratulations. You’ve taken a great step toward success." Birdman smiled and applauded as if congratulating him.
"Now then, I have a new mission for you."
He unbuttoned his suit jacket and took it off. A subordinate promptly handed him a more expensive and formal one. As he changed, he said, "Tonight, we’re making another deal with ’Snow White.’ You’re coming with us. No fighting, no killing. Just show your face, and the mission will be considered complete."
Zhou Chen froze for a mont. Birdman, however, leisurely buttoned up his new jacket and continued, "Our last deal was sabotaged. The big boss was quite displeased and punished both and Snow White. He also warned us that collaborating is non-negotiable, so we have no choice but to attempt another joint transaction.
"Ah... and I suppose I have you to thank. I was quite unhappy about it at first, but after Iron Python and Lady Grey fell, their positions opened up. The cake, with so maneuvering from the big boss, was carved up by and Snow White. I must say, for that, both Snow White and I owe you our thanks.
"What’s that saying again? Oh, right. ’With adequate profit, capital is very bold.’"
Birdman chuckled. "With ten percent profit, they’ll be eager to move.
With fifty percent, they’ll take bold risks.
With one hundred percent, they’ll trample on all the laws of the Mortal World.
And with three hundred percent, they will commit any cri, even at the risk of being hung from a lamppost."
"To be honest, after carving up Iron Python and Lady Grey’s cake, our profits will reach four hundred percent. In the face of such imnse gains, hatred is nothing but smoke from the past."
Birdman adjusted his cuffs and said with a smile, "So, none of us oppose the collaboration anymore. In fact, we’re quite looking forward to it."
Zhou Chen nodded in understanding, maintaining his calm and detached deanor. "Understood. Are we leaving now?"
"Yes, right now."
·
·
A sleek, black Floating car cut across the night sky, heading toward a destination Zhou Chen never would have expected.
—The Eternal Comrce Association.
’This is Fu Qing’s territory. No one would dare cause trouble here. By holding their eting here, Birdman and Snow White are sending a powerful ssage to the entire criminal underworld of the Jinzhu Region: they need to know who the new boss is...’ Zhou Chen analyzed silently. ’Fu Qing is ruthlessly ambitious. Is he planning to unify the entire criminal underworld of the Jinzhu Region?’
Ten minutes later, two Floating cars landed in the open-air parking lot on the roof of the Eternal Comrce Building. Twelve people were attending the deal this ti, including Han Laohu and several other survivors from the last mission.
Led by a manager, the group took a secret passage to one of the floors. Zhou Chen observed that this floor didn’t have a single window.
’Was the floor hidden using so special construction thod? Or is there a large-scale Alchemy Matrix in place?’ Zhou Chen sent the question over the comms channel, but it was t with total silence.
’The signal’s gone...’
Beneath his mask, Zhou Chen raised an eyebrow. ’They must have an Advanced jamming device here. It’s blocking not only electromagnetic signals but also the fluctuations emitted by Alchemy Creations.’
’All this secrecy... this doesn’t seem like a place for legitimate business.’
He followed the group into a huge, opulent private room. Inside, "Snow White" had been waiting for so ti. Among her retinue was Li Ergou, whom Zhou Chen recognized—after spending a few days with Birdman, he had been ransod back by Snow White.
The room was luxuriously decorated and brilliantly gilded. In the center was a long jade table, flanked by opposing pairs of leather sofas with carved wooden fras. A woman wearing a masquerade mask was seated on one of them, with Li Ergou and other n and won standing respectfully behind her.
’If I’m not mistaken, this has to be "Snow White."’
People in the underworld said her heart was blacker than coal and her product was whiter than snow. They said she was a ruthless murderer and arsonist, a truly wicked old crone. But the woman before him looked like she was in her twenties, a young lady in an expensive evening gown. Her exposed skin was fair and smooth, and her figure was exquisite.
At any respectable party, she would have been surrounded by countless admirers, like bees to a flower.
Once Birdman was seated, the negotiations officially began.
User Comments
0 comments from readers