Picking Up Money in City No. 003

Warfire Squad had just arrived in City No. 003. They had planned to find somewhere to settle down, then scout out the entire city tomorrow.

Unexpectedly, an accident occurred as soon as they reached the outskirts.

Though it was clearly a city, a thick fog like one found only in mountain valleys had risen. The distant scenery was impossible to make out, and even the moon in the sky had become blurred.

Nearby, amid the haze, they could see only pairs of yellow-green eyes the size of light bulbs. Their scattered yellow-green glow resembled flickering ghost fires, hidden deep within the dark mist as though demons dwelled inside some enormous shadow.

They truly were demons—Death Demon Jackals, vicious monsters that even ate their own kind.

After these monsters were born, their parents did not feed them. The creatures from the same litter devoured one another, and only after eating all their siblings did one earn the right to live. Every adult Death Demon Jackal possessed Warlord-level strength, while weaker ones that had not even reached Warlord level were torn apart and eaten!

Looking at the dozens of sickly green eyes ahead, Xu Liang's heart trembled. He asked softly, "Kid, can you handle these things?"

Ning Ze stroked his chin and said thoughtfully, "Of course I can handle them. They're money!"

"Because they devour each other so severely, these monsters are extremely rare. Their numbers have also been steadily decreasing because they constantly hunt other monsters. Many War Gods can't even bear to kill them when they encounter them. Even an early-stage Warlord Death Demon Jackal is worth two hundred million. I just wonder whether there are any Advanced Beast General-level Death Demon Jackals."

The corner of Zuo Xingyuan's mouth twitched. "Kid, don't talk nonsense. War Gods don't kill them because they're highly poisonous! Even War God-level martial artists can't withstand it. If you're attacked by a pack of Beast Warlords, one careless mistake and you'll get injured. Without a specialized antidote, you'll be poisoned to death. Be careful!"

"Oh? So that's how it is?"

Ning Ze was quite surprised, then inwardly found it both funny and frustrating. He had been misled by that post on the Warrior Forum.

Monsters had countless mutation paths, and the school had only covered some common monsters.

When he had been looking into high-value monsters, he had found a post about Death Demon Jackals. It had introduced them in great detail, and he had even felt that the War God who wrote it made some sense. He had not expected it was not that they did not want to kill them, but that they did not dare to.

"Captain, be careful and focus on defense. I'm not afraid of being surrounded by these monsters. I'll draw their attention!"

As soon as he finished speaking, a white blur flashed, and with a whoosh, the figure vanished from where he stood.

Ning Ze had already charged into the fog and arrived beside a Death Demon Jackal. Only then did he clearly see what the monster looked like.

It had a body over two meters long, four legs, a triangular head, and a slightly pointed muzzle. Its appearance was exceedingly savage.

Its entire body was covered in a layer of dark, glossy, coarse mane. The tips of those bristles were extremely sharp and slightly hooked, giving them terrifying defensive power while also making them weapons.

Ning Ze had no doubt that the bristles were poisonous, because he saw several drops of black viscous fluid hanging from their tips.

"Urgh!"

With a short, low growl, its round yellow-green pupils narrowed into slits. The inside of its open mouth was not bright red, but purplish red, and its sharp teeth were coated in purplish-red fluid.

Ning Ze identified the locations where these Death Demon Jackals might carry venom. He tightened his grip on the Light Swan Sword and thrust forward fiercely. Power surged through his body as a force of seventy thousand kilograms erupted.

With a single thrust, the Light Swan Sword seemed to turn into a silver-white beam of aurora that shot straight into the Death Demon Jackal's eye.

Ning Ze lightly flicked his sword, confidently withdrew it, then spun and charged toward another Death Demon Jackal.

Now that he could unleash strength comparable to a War God, no matter how vicious or dangerous these monsters were, before absolute power, their fate was nothing more than instant death. They did not even have time to react.

"Urgh!"

"Urgh!"

"Urgh!"

The short, rapid growls sounded like bubbles rubbing together. If an ordinary person heard such sounds, their eardrums would rupture immediately.

Ning Ze's actions had clearly enraged the Death Demon Jackals. One after another, they rushed toward him.

"Perfect."

Ning Ze smiled faintly, then lightly extended his sword and killed another Death Demon Jackal.

"Xiao Ze, be careful! Don't let them surround you!" Zuo Xingyuan shouted from afar. Only three Death Demon Jackals were attacking over there. These monsters that fought in packs also knew how to exploit their advantage and stall them. Zuo Xingyuan and the others feared the poison and did not dare attack with full force.

"Uncle Zuo, be careful not to get hit. These things are poisonous all over. They're extremely dangerous."

As he spoke, Ning Ze crossed ten meters in less than a second and appeared before another Death Demon Jackal.

He seemed to turn into a gentle breeze, arriving soundlessly before anyone noticed.

Before this Death Demon Jackal could react, only a flash of silver-white sword light passed through its yellow-green slit pupils. Its whole body crashed to the ground.

Beneath the hazy moonlight, within the dim fog, a white figure drifted as gracefully as an immortal, weaving among the fangs and claws of countless Death Demon Jackals without being struck even once.

Ning Ze casually tapped behind him with his sword. The Light Swan Sword appeared extremely slow but was in fact incredibly fast as it pierced toward another Death Demon Jackal.

Being surrounded might be useful against others, but Movement Technique had always been one of his strengths. It was simply that his Sword Art was more visually striking and more lethal.

As its user, he understood the importance of Movement Technique very well. Now that his Movement Technique had reached the Perfect Level, he could not only control the distances of attacking and dodging to the limit, but also make his evasions maximally efficient.

The reason it was called perfection was that the essence of this realm was battlefield control!

It meant controlling every aspect of the surrounding environment, even grasping the enemy's movements, calculating everything around him, and using anything near his body to evade.

This included, but was not limited to, monster claws, bodies, the moonlight above, the mist on the ground, and even the slightest depression in the earth. Everything was within his calculations. Whenever necessary, he could use the tiniest detail to alter and reverse the entire battle!

He could evade being surrounded by opponents of the same level. How could a pack of mere Beast Warlord-level Death Demon Jackals possibly threaten him?

Before long, more than twenty monsters had all been killed.

Only after Zuo Xingyuan saw the monsters attacking him die did he breathe a sigh of relief and look up.

Ning Ze stood proudly with a sword in one hand. His Combat Suit fluttered gently in the night breeze, his white clothes as pristine as snow and untouched by dust. Behind him, corpses lay everywhere amid the fog. It looked less like he had fought a battle and more like he had completed a painting.

The members of Warfire Squad fell silent for a moment. This combat power seemed a little too outrageous. Did they really need to accompany him here?

It seemed they... were useless?

Noticing their strange expressions, Ning Ze asked in confusion, "Uncle Zuo, how should we deal with these Death Demon Jackal corpses? Which parts are valuable?"

Zuo Xingyuan and the others' eyes lit up. They turned to look at one another, and Zuo Xingyuan burst into laughter. "Kid, we've really found good stuff this time. Death Demon Jackals are valuable from head to toe. Aside from the usual materials, even the poison inside their bodies is extremely valuable. Their fur is made of poisonous hooks! Otherwise, how could one be worth two hundred million? We've made a fortune this time!"

Ning Ze lowered his head slightly, looking a little embarrassed. He had been fooled by that Warrior Forum post. It was also his own fault for only skimming through it without reading the comments below. Otherwise, he would not have looked so ignorant.

"A great start! What a lucky sign!" Xu Liang rummaged through his backpack with a sly grin, quickly pulling out a pair of white gloves. He said proudly, "This is experience. You definitely didn't prepare any, did you, kid? Unlike me—I brought some!"

"I really didn't." Ning Ze gave an awkward laugh.

Ma Yu said admiringly, "I thought this would be an adventure, but it turns out we came here to pick up money. You killed so many Death Demon Jackals surrounding you with such ease. Your combat strength really makes us seniors ashamed. As for this sort of experience and knowledge, you don't need to feel embarrassed. You've been a martial artist for less than half a year, and you've spent most of that time training. Once you've had more time, you'll naturally understand it all."

Ning Ze nodded slightly. "I'll work hard to make time and catch up on this knowledge."

"Haha! We've struck it rich! There's an Intermediate Beast General-level Death Demon Jackal here. It should be worth at least four hundred million, right? It's almost at the limit." Yang Chao shouted excitedly.

Not long after, Xu Liang also shouted in excitement, "Hahaha, I've got an Intermediate Beast General-level one here too."

The members of Warfire Squad cheered happily as they dealt with the Death Demon Jackal corpses.

"There are seventeen early-stage Beast Warlord Death Demon Jackals, along with six intermediate-stage Beast Warlords. One of them should be close to Advanced Beast General level. What a pity—it was just short of it. Otherwise, it would have been worth even more. Selling it for seven or eight hundred million would have been normal." After taking stock, Zuo Xingyuan spoke with a regretful expression.

"Be satisfied! Altogether, it's worth five point eight billion! That's more than what people like us earned in over a decade." Ma Yu could not hide the delight in his eyes. Even if they only received five percent rather than twenty percent, that would still be close to three hundred million. Each person would get sixty million. How outrageous was that?

Zhang Chen said coldly, "It is valuable. But our entire squad couldn't handle even three of them. If they went mad and attacked us desperately, at most one monster would die while our entire squad would be wiped out."

"Even War Gods don't want to provoke more than twenty Death Demon Jackals. If they truly wanted to kill them, over a hundred Warlords would have to join forces and pay a certain price to eliminate them all. Two of them would be enough to trade for one person's life, so at least ten lives would be needed."

Ma Yu's expression turned solemn. "You're right."

"Let's not talk about such discouraging things. They're all lying in our backpacks now. Kid, how do you want to hunt next? We'll follow your lead."

Zuo Xingyuan turned to Ning Ze. With this kind of combat strength, their entire combat approach had been overturned, and he, the captain, no longer had much of a role.

Ning Ze pondered briefly before saying, "Well... Uncle Zuo, where are there more monsters? Or how can we lure those monsters over? More is fine. As long as your safety is guaranteed, leave the monsters to me."

The corner of Zuo Xingyuan's mouth twitched. He turned and exchanged helpless looks with Ma Yu.

Everyone else tried their best to avoid places with many monsters. Any normal martial artist would think that way. One careless mistake and getting surrounded would be extremely dangerous.

Yet here they were, deliberately seeking places packed with monsters.

Actually, they were perfectly normal. The safest method was simply not to go.

But after seeing Ning Ze's strength, there was no way they could refuse. Going to pick up money and refusing to go would make them fools!

Zuo Xingyuan said gravely, "Before the Great Nirvana, there was a place in City No. 003 called Lu Yazui..."

A night passed.

Zhai Yanko got up early from the hotel and arrived before a luxurious detached villa.

This villa was three times larger than his family's villa. But his family lived in Yangzhou District, while this place was in the city center. The difference in housing prices was at least tenfold, making them impossible to compare. The villa here was not something money alone could buy. More importantly, one needed status and position.

Living here was Wang Xing'an, a direct descendant of the Wang Family, one of the Underground Alliance's nine great families.

In fact, Zhai Yanko had come here last night as well, tentatively asking for an audience.

But the only reply he received was one word: "Get lost!"

It had been said by the night-shift security guard.

Zhai Yanko did not dare say another word. After forcing a smile, he turned and left. Even Hong Quan, an Advanced Warlord, silently departed, enduring the other party's arrogance.

The Limitless Martial Arts School, Thunderclap Martial Arts School, and Underground Alliance were all enormous powers. Anyone with even a little status within any one of those organizations stood high above ordinary martial artists, much less a direct descendant?

Today, Zhai Yanko had come again. In truth, this was not his first visit—he had come many times. Naturally, the reason was to curry favor, and his method of doing so was to give Wang Xing'an what he liked: women.

As a direct descendant of the Wang Family, Wang Xing'an's greatest hobby in life was collecting beautiful women.

This collection was not merely playing around with them. If that were all, many women would gladly spend a night with this Wang Family descendant and might even consider it an honor.

But his collection meant truly turning people into wax figures and keeping them as collectibles!

His background allowed him to do such things, because not only was he a member of the Wang Family, his mother also had connections in the main military district.

Ordinary people had no room to resist. Even those with slightly weaker backgrounds could only beg for mercy. Being able to escape disaster was already fortunate; resistance was utterly absurd.

Because the Underground Alliance controlled half the world's economy!

Even the state tried its best to maintain good relations with the Wang Family. The rules of the Base City indulged Wang Xing'an, and even the security forces served as his shield and accomplices.

He could not be judged!

This was the era of martial artists. The law of the jungle and the Rule of survival were laid bare. The higher one's status, the fewer restraints one faced.

Standing before the guard booth, Zhai Yanko politely greeted the person inside. "Sir, is Brother Wang at home?"

"Heh."

A snort of laughter served as the response.

He was a young man in his thirties, sitting in a chair and playing with his phone. He merely glanced outside before lazily replying, "Young Master isn't here."

Anyone who could serve as a guard for the Wang Family was exceptionally good at reading people. He actually called him sir? Then he was clearly nobody important.

If he were truly someone with status, he would have directly ordered him to open the gate. He might even have taken action.

Zhai Yanko was furious but dared not show it. Smiling, he handed over a card and said politely, "Just ten million, a little something for you brothers to buy some drinks. This time, I've brought some excellent goods for my cousin. I'm sure he'll like them."

The young guard's expression changed. Beautiful women were Young Master's hobby, so he did not dare stop him any longer.

Taking the bank card, he said with an apologetic smile, "Young Master usually isn't awake at this hour, so he instructed me not to let guests in until after ten. It would be best for both of us to wait a little longer."

The money still had to be accepted. It was an entrance fee, another rule Wang Xing'an had established! Not just any stray cat or dog could come here. Once the entrance fee was taken, and if the other side had something that interested him, only then could they meet.

"Alright."

Zhai Yanko said nothing more. This guard only handled matters outside.

At ten o'clock, the guard received a reply. He turned around and said, "Young Master says you can go in."

"Thanks."

Zhai Yanko was about to head inside with Hong Quan when the guard behind them hurriedly stopped them.

"You go in alone! This man waits outside!"

Zhai Yanko turned to Hong Quan and said, "Uncle Hong, wait outside."

"Alright." Hong Quan naturally did not dare say more. This was not a place where he could act recklessly. Even that guard possessed Warlord-level strength.