I, the public enemy

Inside the large shipping container, only a few portable light tubes emitted a faint red glow, dividing the space into sensitive, fragmented sections.

The buzzing of ship horns on the river, like the deep breathing of a sleeping giant, echoed back and forth in the silent container labyrinth, igniting all the anxiety and restlessness.

Xiao Su slammed the cash box shut. At that moment, Ren Cui was also on the opposite side of the table. Seeing this, Yuan Jingang immediately released a stream of spiritual energy with his palm, aiming to pull the box containing Ren Cui back.

In the blink of an eye, the Human Essence Box was enveloped by an invisible stream of spiritual energy and moved in response, pulling it back towards Yuan Jingang.

It only moved back ten centimeters quickly on the table.

The bat demon called Qing Er gripped the handle tightly with its claws, and with a chop to the neck, it unleashed a blue arc of light, instantly severing Yuan Jingang's spiritual energy. Due to the momentum, Yuan Jingang staggered back a few steps.

Ali simply couldn't handle this psychological pressure.

Ever since Wang Qing killed Zhou Tong, Ali hasn't had a good night's sleep. Yuan Jingang did it to make quick money, while the others were forced to do it under duress. If they didn't, they would suffer the same fate as Zhou Tong. Wang Qing is a damn serial killer. He killed many people, young and old, in just half a month. Ali helped him collect the bodies, freeze them in the freezer, and dispose of the corpses. On his first day of work, he almost vomited his stomach out.

We were suspicious from the first meeting. After going to Mo Zhenxiong's place yesterday and confirming it completely, everyone knew the truth: Wang Qing was a demonic cultivator possessed by his mother. We didn't know what kind of deity he was before.

Whether you do it or not, you'll die anyway.

"What the hell do you mean?"

Ali's blood was boiling. He had been involved in the underworld for over ten years and had never felt so frustrated. His eyes turned red and he became fierce, setting up a military machine gun and aiming it at Xiao Su's head.

This is an official product sourced from the black market, a rapid-fire weapon manufactured by the Psionic Industry. The recoil alone would turn an ordinary person into a bloody pulp, and the penetrating energy bullets generated by the internal circuitry can kill even those at the Foundation Establishment stage without hesitation.

The atmosphere at the trading location was tense and ready to explode at any moment.

In modern warfare, strategic thinking is secondary; it's all about equipment.

Ali has official goods.

But these people who make a living by selling human flesh are all desperate criminals with money to burn, so how could they not have equipment?

Yuan Jingang was enthusiastic about cybernetic modifications. At this moment, the radar warning module built into the side of his eye was activated. The nine people opposite him all raised their weapons, some of which even had fire control devices with locks. Only then was his module activated.

The eight sword pellets on the fists of his mechanical arms floated up, each surrounded by a sword-path phantom. The eight sword pellets formed a sword array, which could be used to defend against firepower or to kill enemies up close.

Xiao Su knew that even if they were foolish, they wouldn't actually fire. At most, one or two low-level cultivators would die on his side, but they would be doomed. Nevertheless, he quickly raised his hand, "Don't shoot!"

The two groups were facing off.

They've entered the final negotiations; a single misstep could lead to a full-blown conflict.

Yuan Jingang was an amateur and had no idea how good the goods were. He just assumed that these damned bastards didn't want to pay.

"What? Are you trying to double-cross us?"

Yuan Jingang is the gang's deputy leader. Although his cultivation level is at the ninth level of Qi Refining, which is a whole major realm lower than Xiao Su's and their dimensions are different, he is a true tough guy and a cyborg. His cyborg body needs to be charged for an hour every day. If the opponent is not modified, killing a late-stage Foundation Establishment cultivator is not a problem.

"Seven and a half million... that's just a small amount of money for us. You don't understand how much power our buyers have. We'll give you the money, and the goods are fine; in fact, the quality is too good. But I have a small request: I hope to meet the 'chef' who made this batch tonight. Is he one of you?"

Xiao Su rubbed his hands together.

In the southern district of Graycore City, the Spider Gang is Xiao Su's main supplier, but the purity of the human essence they produce is less than 70%, making them substandard products.

The group in front of me probably also had a conflict with the Spider Gang. They accidentally learned about my deal with the Spider Gang and wanted to get involved.

Creating human essence is not as simple as killing people and refining them.

It is very difficult to remove the impurities from a cultivator.

People's eyes are greedy for beauty, their ears are indulging in lewd sounds, their noses crave fragrance, their tongues crave sweet taste, their bodies pursue comfort, and their minds are filled with delusions. All six senses are tainted, and their spiritual heart is obscured.

During the refining process, one must have the precise control of spiritual energy, like a CNC lathe, and the sharp blade of divine sense to remove impurities from flesh, blood, and soul. This is just the basic skill. Even a professional chef can only control the purity to around 70% after doing all this. The most difficult thing is to distinguish which are impurities and which are the essence of the cultivator.

More than 90%...

Xiao Su believed that the "chef" who made this batch of goods could only be described as terrifying, and he couldn't imagine any other word. Finding this person was like finding the key to the biggest treasure vault in the makeshift hospital, a step towards heaven!

The standoff has eased slightly.

Yuan Jingang frowned.

Wang Qing is a person who is quite sensitive about his own identity.

There are very few channels to get to the upper levels of the makeshift hospitals. In a selective promotion environment, the most reliable way is to pass the stress test of the education system.

Wang Qing will use every means to maintain his current status.

So I didn't participate in any trading tonight.

He's not here.

Yuan Jingang spoke frankly, saying that the four of them didn't know anything about making human essence; they just did whatever Wang Qing said, and it couldn't be faked.

"Oh, I see. Well then, there might be a tiny bit of trouble right now."

Since he wasn't among the four, Xiao Su deduced that the person who initially contacted him through the Spider Gang was the chef himself. He had Wang Qing's contact number, but he couldn't alert the enemy at the moment, so he couldn't take the initiative to contact him.

"You have two options right now. One is to contact him and ask him to come over within an hour."

The second option is a situation no one wants to see. I must find him tonight, or at least get some useful information from him. I will use every means possible.

Xiao Su already had a plan in mind. Those people were generous and earned a lot of income from purchasing and commissions, but that wasn't enough. He began to think about building a production chain.

After a moment's thought, Yuan Jingang realized that the situation had indeed become more complicated and that Wang Qing's presence was necessary.

He reached inside his clothes.

Xiao Su's people were also very sensitive. The atmosphere, which had been easing, escalated to a breaking point again when the sound of gunfire rang out.

"Stop, let him make the call."

Xiao Su gestured with his hand.

Yuan Jingang slowly took out his phone from his inside pocket.

"Okay! Show me the screen."

Xiao Su originally wanted to use his divine sense to see if he was calling that person, but Yuan Jingang had a device implanted in his body that interfered with his divine sense, so the information he saw around him was somewhat blurry.

Yuan Jingang understood that Xiao Su was worried that he was playing tricks, so he showed his phone screen, selected the contacts, found Wang Qing's number, and dialed it.

The dial tone sounded.

The air felt as if oxygen had been sucked out, so thick that it was hard to breathe, and every second felt like torture.

The dial tone would ring, pause briefly, then ring again, each interval feeling extremely long.

Half a minute later.

The dialing stopped abruptly.

The number you dialed is not being answered. Please try again later.

Yuan Jingang took a deep breath.

"Try it again."

Xiao Su remained unmoved and gestured for Yuan Jingang to continue until the call was connected.

The dial tone sounded again.

Ali couldn't stand the psychological pressure and was already thinking that the worst that could happen was to die a quick and painless death.

Another extremely long half minute passed.

The number you dialed is not being answered. Please try again later.

Sweat was seeping from Yuan Jingang's forehead.

Of course they knew what the second option was; they wanted to extract all information about Wang Qing from him.

Wang Qing stated that for those who leaked his information, death would be the least of their worries.

Yuan Jingang opened his mouth as if to say something, but...

Ali had long been at the breaking point of mental stress, but he had been holding it in and hadn't exploded.

But now it's completely out of control.

"Fuck your mother to death."

Ali pulled the trigger of the military machine gun, and the spiritual energy within it was activated into a powerful penetrating rapid-fire technique through the spiritual energy industrial circuit.

Da da da……

Flames erupted inside the container, and blood and flesh splattered everywhere.