“This is Gray Bucket. I’m about to proceed with…”
“I’ve already seen the movement in your funds. Has Target No. 1 appeared?”
Hearing the voice that sounded in his mind, the shopkeeper instinctively straightened his body, then continued:
“Yes. There are three pieces this time, still the same size as last time. They’re still far from a standard unit. Should we make a move?”
“I’ve already notified Falcon. Don’t do anything on your end. Just send all video and audio of him to Falcon.”
“Understood.”
The shopkeeper ended the call and began sorting through the shop’s records. Although the cloak provided cover, as long as one was willing to pay the price, there was still plenty that could be analyzed.
At that very moment, the person on the other end of the call was also waiting tensely for the result.
In truth, after the first transaction, all their arrangements had merely been idle moves. According to their investigation, not long before that crystal appeared, Saint Luotan had once undergone a fairly high-level lockdown, one that had affected all underground forces in both the Street District and the Garbage District. At first, they had all assumed that this crystal was the reason for that lockdown.
But now that the other party had appeared again, that conjecture had been shattered.
After all, if four pieces had been stolen at once, they should have been sold off as soon as possible, then the thief should have changed their identity and cut all ties. They would never have risked keeping such things on hand.
Therefore, these three crystals were probably not obtained together with the previous one.
Selling one piece could have been luck, but four pieces meant there was a high probability that someone had truly discovered a vein!
And that raised a question—
What sort of person could continuously bring out Miuke crystals, yet still need to sell them for money?
Naturally, someone whose backing was not strong enough, or someone hiding it from their backing!
Otherwise, even if they were selling, they would never bring them to the black market!
A target with a vein, no backing, and even a shortage of money—if one did not rob such a person, one would be a bit of a fool. The only reason they had not made a move in the black market was because they were worried about news leaking out. If the other party happened to…
“Beep, beep…”
“Hello?” The man connected the communication, and a voice immediately came from the other end—
“This is Falcon. The target’s information has been confirmed, but there is a high probability that it is fake.”
“…” Hearing this report, the man frowned, his tone darkening. “You only need to obtain intelligence. As for judging whether it is true or false, that is not something you need to consider. Whether true or false, send over all the information you discovered!”
“Yes!” Falcon immediately responded. Along with the encrypted transmission, his report continued:
“The current clues point to a second-generation underworld scion named Theodore, but the flaws the other party left behind are far too many and too stupid. For example, that cup of drink, his tone of speech, his gait while walking… they were all too obvious. There’s a clear difference from his caution the first time, as if he were openly saying, ‘It’s me, hurry up and catch me!’”
“…” Hearing this, the man also felt that it was indeed a little too fake. But after thinking it over, he still accessed the company’s database in Saint Luotan and brought up the intelligence related to this Theodore.
“The Skeletal Iron Society, a Street District gang… Mm, it probably really is fake.”
The man was somewhat disappointed, but his gaze suddenly stopped on that specially marked line of text.
“Tower District… No, there’s no need for the Tower District… Wait! What if someone in the Tower District discovered a mine ‘on their own’?”
The trace of leisure the man had originally possessed vanished at once. He immediately issued orders to the intelligence department, telling them to collect information related to Theodore and his father. At the same time, a large amount of data began surfacing in his mind.
It was perfectly normal for the Tower District to foster gangs, but placing someone with potential for the Master Tournament in the Street District—while not impossible—was still something of a waste of talent. But what if the Street District was a cover, and mining in secret was the true objective?
But if that were the case, the crystals would be even less likely to…
The man frowned, unable to make sense of it no matter how he thought. But just as his mind drifted, he suddenly caught sight of the “game progress” belonging to his own son, displayed in real time on his terminal!
As if electricity had flashed through his brain, he suddenly realized his blind spot—
The trash of the Street District were not like them, arranging all sorts of beatdown-style education for their children!
Therefore, what he needed to consider here was not the boy’s father or his backing, but the boy himself!
His train of thought now clear, he immediately pulled up the files. But for such a minor figure, the company’s database naturally would not record much in detail. Aside from family background, there was only a simple evaluation.
“Cruel, arrogant, spoiled, high expenses…”
“It fits. His father struggled his way up and wouldn’t make such a low-level mistake, but this brat hasn’t. It’s possible he bypassed his father and took one or two crystals from the mining area to sell. And people like this don’t understand the rules of the Tower District at all. In his eyes, a Tower District background is probably enough to make him fearless… The first time he stole behind his father’s back, he was a little nervous, so he acted more cautiously. After succeeding, he felt there was no problem?”
The man straightened out his thoughts, and the intelligence department had also sent back the preliminary investigation results.
“Oh, before the first crystal transaction, he once went to the Garbage District to set up a gang, but returned to the Street District after only a few days? The reason was that it wasn’t fun? Heh, I’m afraid he was too concerned about face to admit he lost money.”
As a company executive qualified to buy property in the Tower District, the man understood all too well what it meant when second-generation heirs said “it wasn’t fun” after starting a business. With this clue, everything connected!
“Setting up a gang must have cost quite a bit. Heavy losses, returning to the Street District, no money, needing to save face, and still having to maintain expenses within his circle. Heh, it fits. It all fits!”
Although all of this was still merely conjecture, from possibility to motive to timing, there was now a reasonable explanation. That meant—
“It’s worth investigating.”
The man quickly issued orders. On one hand, they were to keep a close eye on Theodore’s spending; on the other, they were to continue following the Garbage District lead. They could not ignore other possibilities just because they had a conjecture.
And while the man was continuously deploying his subordinates to investigate, John, who possessed Mirage, had already completed the exchange with Kong Wu. Kong Wu, who had been filling in for him for many days, finally changed back into his firm-lined Hong Kong comic-style face. However, in order to avoid trouble, he still made some slight adjustments, separating himself from that intermediate tournament boxer who was fighting in some unknown city.
At this moment, Kong Wu should have returned to the Garbage District and gone to the clinic to replace the hidden gun in his right arm with the five-star [Explosive Arm], while also implanting a [Golden Cicada Sheds Its Shell] plugin—
After obtaining the huge sum of fifteen million, Feng Xue had immediately bought the materials needed for the Explosive Arm. It was just that the skill set had not yet been decided.
[Great Strength] was definitely necessary, but for the remaining three slots, [Army Breaker] could be shared across the whole body through the Sword of Hell, so installing it separately was a bit wasteful. [Mirage] and [Stealth-Breaking Strike] were not impossible, but they did not fit Kong Wu’s direct, head-on combat style. It would be better to wait until the affix pool was richer, then specifically craft an assassin.
[Damage Comes from Roaring] was pretty good, and it also matched the combat style. But for the final skill, surely he could not add something like [Maintain Body Temperature], right?
Moreover, if he chose Dark Sword as the manufacturing affix, he could gain an additional trait. But in Feng Xue’s hands, he did not even have a single weapon blueprint worth looking at.
“Anyway, I have money now. I might as well go straight to a finished-goods shop and spend some!”
Regarding the issue of there being too many flaws and the other party not being stupid… Put it this way: if there were a puzzle game in front of you, and clearing it could directly make you, risk-free, one of the few people standing at the pinnacle of the world, while the cost of failure was merely wasting a little time and an amount of money utterly insignificant to you—not even the cost of a meal—and you also had the capital and confidence not to be deceived, would you gamble?
Right now, there was a clue. Although this clue seemed a little too simple and unworthy of the reward, the chain of evidence was still logically consistent. At a time like this, even if there were only a one-in-ten-thousand chance, I think most people would still try. After all, if you were wrong, you would lose nothing, but if you won, that would be ascending to the heavens in a blaze of rosy clouds. Why not gamble?
That dog-ass Lan Meng even dared to bet on becoming Supreme after reading the Huangji Jingshi Shu!
Aside from that, there is also the issue of entrepreneurship. It is still the same saying: people can only think within the scope of what they understand.
Let’s not even talk about Seattle. Even domestically, I have more than once heard remarks like not knowing how anyone could live on two thousand a month.
By the same logic, as a Tower District person, this big shot’s experience is based on the Tower District. As someone who already holds real power, he truly has no concept of money. When buying a Demon Eye or Phantom Dragon costs several million, you probably cannot understand a life where someone has to save even a single point. Naturally, you also would not know how much it costs to set up a gang in the Garbage District. All he knows is how much money second-generation heirs in his own circle burn when starting businesses.
In a certain sense, this thing is like a rejuvenation drug. Even if the vast majority of people feel it is unreliable, if there is truly an opportunity, they will still try it. And the higher one’s position, the more one has to try.