Chapter 32: The Wound of the Gold-Devouring Rat

"No need." Xia Ling watched Lin Qi leave and shook her head slightly. "He is just a small-time nobody. Meat at the level of a Croc-Tooth Rhino is something ordinary factions could never obtain, let alone sell. At most, he is just running errands for people in larger organizations. There is no need for us to offend those forces and end up unable to buy it when we actually need it."

"Miss, what if they are just scavengers?" the Semi-Scale guard asked, clearly unconvinced. "This is Croc-Tooth Rhino meat! It would be a significant help to you, Miss. If we could acquire large quantities of this, breaking through to become a martial artist wouldn't be impossible."

"Scavenged?" Xia Ling tapped her dark tail against the floor and said, quite pleased, "Wouldn't that be even better?"

"Better?" The Semi-Scale guard was bewildered, completely failing to see how that could be the case. In their society, the rule was survival of the fittest. If the weak possessed a treasure, wouldn't it be better to just seize it? Besides, they were unregistered drifters; in the City of Light-Chasing, they had no protection.

"I said, he is just a small-time nobody." Xia Ling shook her head, feeling speechless at the guard’s lack of foresight. "Regardless of whether he scavenged it or not, since he chose to sell at Phosphor Fire, he will likely return to trade again. If this transaction remains safe, he will return for future deals out of his own sense of security."

"Furthermore, this matter must not reach the ears of my 'good' brothers. There is only so much meat; rather than splitting it among so many, it is better to keep it for myself. That way, the chances of our family producing a martial artist will be much higher."

"Do you understand?"

As Xia Ling finished speaking, a pair of golden slit pupils fixed on the guard. The Semi-Scale guard broke into a cold sweat and was about to stammer something, but Xia Ling raised a hand slightly.

"Don't worry, your family will receive the compensation they deserve."

Suddenly, the Semi-Scale guard collapsed to the ground, blood spilling from his mouth, his body convulsing as his combat armor disintegrated.

*Beep!*

*Cleanup procedure complete!*

Elsewhere, Lin Qi was moving quickly, carrying the heavy tricycle battery and three sets of repair tools, weaving through the crowded streets under the cover of night. After turning down over a dozen streets and verifying multiple times that he was not being followed, he finally made his way back to Obsidian Martial Hall.

"It seems as I thought; the gangs operating in the suburbs aren't that stupid. They don't intend to just do a one-off deal." Lin Qi touched the ninety thousand bits in his pocket, his heart surging with excitement.

In reality, he could have carried more Croc-Tooth Rhino meat, but considering the greed of these gang factions, one hundred kilograms was not enough to tempt these suburban gangs into acting recklessly. Moreover, these gangs doing business in the suburbs surely knew that monster meat was a scarce commodity.

Normally, no one would sell it, especially an individual—wouldn't it be better to keep it and eat it secretly? Only large factions could obtain significant amounts of monster meat, which their subordinates would then pilfer to sell for profit.

The quantity taken for sale had to be balanced: enough to make a decent profit, but small enough to avoid detection by the upper echelons. One hundred kilograms was just right. It was a small enough fraction of a monster weighing several tons to go unnoticed, yet it could fetch tens or even over a hundred thousand bits.

Considering this, as long as the other party wasn't an idiot, they wouldn't trade a long-term gold mine for a quick, petty theft. Even if they suspected he had scavenged it, they would instinctively gamble on the idea that he was stealing from a major faction, ensuring a stable, long-term supply of meat. Even if they lost that gamble, it was just a simple purchase—a win-win situation for them.

With this successful transaction, future deals would be much easier. He might even use this to establish a connection with the Phosphor Fire gang, making the future development of Obsidian Martial Hall much smoother.

Outside the martial hall, dawn was breaking—a new day.

"With these ninety thousand bits, I can purchase construction materials and hire some local drifters to help repair the hall."

Looking at the Obsidian Martial Hall, now less than a hundred meters away, Lin Qi had already formulated a plan to expedite the repairs. The hall was massive, covering eighty thousand square meters—the size of a stadium. If he relied only on ten players to fix it, it would take forever. But money changed things; the cost of hiring unregistered drifters was incredibly low—as little as five hundred bits a month.

Hiring one hundred people for a month would only cost fifty thousand bits, but it would increase the repair efficiency tenfold. Of course, to prevent the secrets beneath the hall from being exposed, he would only have the drifters repair the outer perimeter and walls, leaving the interior entirely to the players.

This way, they could likely finish everything in less than a month.

Just as Lin Qi stepped into the martial hall's training ground, he discovered a pile of metal boxes stacked in the center, nearly forming a small hill.

"These are..." Lin Qi looked at the suitcase-sized metal boxes, finding them strangely familiar.

"Hall Master, you're back!" Gods' Twilight, standing by the metal boxes, brightened up upon seeing Lin Qi. He rushed over without hesitation. "You said last time that these treasure chests were useful to you, so we brought them all back this time. Count them and see if any are missing."

"You brought them all back?" Lin Qi was stunned.

Did they completely ransack the Single-Horned Metal-Eating Rats' nest? Those were creatures that even quasi-martial artists found troublesome!

"Yeah, we gave it our all to bring all these boxes over!" Gods' Twilight nodded, clearly expecting praise.

"Are you sure those Single-Horned Metal-Eating Rats didn't have any objections?" Lin Qi asked, his expression darkening.

The rats had an extraordinary sense of smell for metal. Now that the players had raided their home, those creatures would surely search for them like mad. Once they tracked the scent to the Obsidian Martial Hall, he wouldn't even need the White Feather Gang to find them—the rats would level the place themselves.

"Don't worry, Hall Master. We thought of that. After luring them away and moving the boxes, we dug through a waste canal, flooded the area, and collapsed the roof. That fissure is gone now," Gods' Twilight explained with a grin. "When I left, I saw those rats standing there, motionless, as if terrified by the cave-in. They're all buried now, so I doubt they'll be coming around."

"You... did well," Lin Qi said, at a loss for words.

He had to admit, players were the most professional monster hunters. To earn hall points, they were truly relentless. They had handled the very creatures that left quasi-martial artists helpless. Those rats probably never imagined that, for the simple act of collecting some metal, they would not only have their home ransacked but their entire colony wiped out.

"Hall Master, count the boxes and see if anything is missing."

Gods' Twilight pointed to the pile of 2214 National College Entrance Examination textbooks, his tone filled with anticipation.