Dark Light Chaser.

Chapter 128 Jiuhua City

Jiuhua City is one of the tourist attractions in Qianhua City.

It mainly features modern entertainment industries such as bars, nightclubs, arcades, bathhouses, museums, and water parks.

It is one of the most important sources of tax revenue for Chika City.

It's currently the peak tourist season during the summer vacation, and even though the security situation in Qianhua City has improved somewhat, there are still plenty of tourists visiting the city.

Although it only took an hour to get to Jiuhua City, there was still a queue to enter, which took more than half an hour.

The messenger drove at a snail's pace, and as he passed the pedestrian street, he could see densely packed people, like a school of sardines.

Through the traffic, the messenger began to observe the scene on the pedestrian street.

Like most tourist cities, the streets are lined with all kinds of souvenir shops.

Everyone is spending the money in their bank accounts without restraint.

In this environment, even if you don't want to buy anything, you'll be tempted to do so by the prevailing consumer atmosphere.

People with strict spending plans and shopping lists have it easy; once they've bought everything they want, they only glance at the rest.

Those who are encouraged to consume by their peers and surrounding environment are the ones who have truly fallen into the consumer trap.

At first, I planned to buy some cheap items as a token gesture, but then I kept breaking my own limits and buying more and more.

Buy a little here, add a little there, and before you know it, you have a whole bunch of stuff on your hands.

Comparison is human nature. Even if you can resist the urge to consume for a while, you will eventually give in when you see others buying things, especially when you happen to have some spare money.

At that time, people will find some reason to comfort themselves and then put their money into the pockets of merchants, contributing to the tax revenue of Qianhua City.

Only when you are truly penniless can you escape the terrible vortex of desire.

Just like some pay-to-win mobile games, you won't recharge if you don't have money. But if you see a bunch of stinky seals showing off while playing the game, you will definitely have the urge to recharge if you have money.

As for the reasons to comfort oneself.

for example.

The most common reason that otaku use to convince themselves to spend money on games is: I don't smoke, I don't drink, and I don't need to spend money on anything else. What's wrong with spending some money on games for entertainment?
Then, once I started spending money, I became obsessed and started throwing money around like crazy when I didn't get the character I wanted. I couldn't control myself at all.

The traffic moved forward slowly.

The two left the bustling entertainment district at a snail's pace and headed towards the unfinished development zone.

Unlike the brightly lit and crowded entertainment districts.

The development zone located in the inner part of Jiuhua City is like a ghost street. There is not a single person in sight on both sides of the road. It is full of empty office buildings and shops.

It's only a few hundred meters from here to the entertainment area, but those few hundred meters of street separate the living from the dead.

The only sound on the quiet street was the hum of cars.

From the moment the two of them bypassed the construction warning sign, it was as if they had entered a ghostly realm, where the surroundings were eerily quiet.

According to Jin Ping'an, a local resident of Qianhua City, this construction area has been there for several years.

Tourists who come here for sightseeing usually assume that there is still construction going on and turn away after seeing this empty street and construction signs.

The authorities deliberately halted development, leaving this area to separate Jiuhua City from their destination and prevent tourists from accidentally wandering into it.

Guided by Jin Ping'an, the messenger maneuvered the steering wheel, turning left and right.

After passing through an underground tunnel, they arrived in another world—Jiuhua City Outer Street, also known as Jiuhua Outer City.

Ten years ago, in order to meet the growing demand from tourists, Qianhua City planned to expand Jiuhua City.

This land originally belonged to the expansion of Jiuhua City. Who knew that not long after it was completed, a group of outsiders from Neihua City flooded in.

Although they came here to escape, they had, after all, lived in the infamous crime capital of the world, and their ruthlessness was truly frightening to the citizens of Qianhua City.

If you randomly pick a well-known thug from Nevada and put him in the long-peaceful Thousand Flower City, he could become a big shot in a few months.

After establishing themselves in Qianhua City, they used various means to buy this prime location, seemingly with the intention of turning Jiuhua Outer City into a second Xiaoneihua.

From that time onward, the crime rate in Chika City began to grow exponentially.

But those who fled were, after all, just fleeing. Apart from Cateye and Crippled Wolf, none of the real big shots in Nevada City managed to escape alive.

Those who manage to escape are mostly slackers with sentences ranging from indefinite to over ten years.

Although this group was difficult to deal with, they weren't so difficult that the Chika City police were helpless.

Their living space was tightly controlled within the outer city of Jiuhua.

Although these monsters and demons from Nevada City cannot harm people, many young people in Thousand Flower City are curious about this mysterious land.

This indirectly led to a gradual increase in the number of thugs and hooligans outside.

As the messenger drove into the outer city of Jiuhua, a sinister aura greeted him.

Unlike the touristy entertainment area we just passed by.

The entertainment area is mainly lit with warm-colored lights, while here there are colorful neon lights everywhere.

The young people with unusual hairstyles, under the lights, transformed into all sorts of monsters and ghosts; an outsider might mistake them for the underworld.

After parking the car, Jin Ping'an led the messenger into a small alley.

At the end of the alley is a tattoo shop.

As soon as Jin Ping'an stepped into the alley, he felt a dull ache in his skin, but he still gritted his teeth and walked toward the door of the tattoo shop.

"Do you have any money in your bag?" the messenger asked.

"I brought some, but not much... Are we going to use money to pry him open? But this man is very greedy."

Jin Ping'an took out the 20,000 yuan he had originally prepared for Ai Liang from his bag and handed it to the messenger, but the messenger did not take it.

"Just bring it. Keep the money safe. I'll take it myself."

The messenger raised his hand and pushed open the door to enter.

As night fell, there were no customers in the shop, only two apprentices sitting in chairs playing on their phones and smoking.

The sound of the door opening startled the two apprentices. They quickly put away their phones, intending to steal customers and earn commissions, but when they saw the face behind the messenger, they immediately lost all interest.

"Why are you here again, you little brat? Itching for a beating, aren't you? Didn't you get enough last time?"

One of the apprentices was on the phone informing the boss, while the other was making threats at Jin Ping'an.

"Get your boss out here and say you have business to discuss."

The messenger glanced sideways at the apprentice, hooked his right foot onto a chair, sat down, and propped his legs up on the recliner, completely ignoring the man.

Seeing the messenger's confident and fearless demeanor, the apprentice was unsure of his background and dared not make any rash moves. He swallowed the trash talk that was about to come out of his mouth and obediently sat back down to wait for his boss to come over.

In this line of work, the biggest taboo is for a subordinate to speak carelessly when the boss isn't around.

If the other party is a big shot, and you use foul language to upset them, their boss might come and beat you to a pulp.

Looking at the confident messenger, Jin Ping'an looked mournful.

The differences between people can sometimes be greater than the differences between people and dogs. I was beaten up the last time I came here, while the messenger acted like a big shot.

Perhaps it's just a difference in aura! I'll be able to do that in a few years.

Jin Ping'an comforted himself in his heart.

After waiting for about five minutes, the tattoo shop owner emerged from behind the curtain.

Upon seeing the letter, he began to introduce himself: "I am..."

"I'm not interested in who you are."

The messenger interrupted the shop owner's self-introduction: "I'm here to do business with you."

The shopkeeper was somewhat annoyed by the messenger's behavior. He grinned and asked, "What kind of business?"

"A big deal."

The messenger beckoned Jin Ping'an over. He opened his satchel, took out an envelope containing money, and slammed it onto the recliner: "This is the deposit. I'm just asking if you're in or not."

Golden banknotes emerged from the envelope, making the two apprentices stare wide-eyed.

The boss was slightly calmer than the apprentice, but his undisguised greedy gaze betrayed his thoughts.

The boss picked up the envelope, squeezed it, subconsciously licked his lips, and then put the envelope into his pocket.

(End of this chapter)