Detainment

Jiangnan Main Urban District.

Limitless Headquarters.

The Warfire Squad sat in the VIP reception room, filthy from head to toe. A young, beautiful, capable-looking married woman received them, not daring to show the slightest hint of disrespect.

"Mr. Ning, there are 2,080 monster materials in total. Among them, there are 1,350 Beginner Beast General materials, 612 Intermediate Beast General materials, and 118 Advanced Beast General materials. Of the 583 damaged materials, only the main parts remain. The total value is 21.532 billion Huaxia Coin, along with 10.23 million Contribution Points. Would you like to sell?"

The capable, beautiful woman gave Ning Ze a flirtatious look. If she had been ten years younger, she probably would have thrown herself at him.

"Of course I'm selling. Manager Fang spent half the day helping us—how could I not sell?"

Ning Ze smiled brightly. He had never earned so much money before, and there were also the Contribution Points.

Earning Contribution Points through monsters really was cost-effective. One thousand yuan could be exchanged for one point. Selling 30 billion worth of materials for 10 billion less in Huaxia Coin could earn him 10 million Contribution Points. If he donated money directly, even if Huaxia's richest man gave away his entire fortune, he would only have slightly more points than Ning Ze.

Four-star contribution was already the highest tier, requiring the sale of 30 billion Huaxia Coin worth of materials.

To reach five-star contribution, he needed 100 million Contribution Points! That meant selling 300 billion Huaxia Coin worth of materials!

Other than those Beyond War God, it was extremely, extremely difficult for War Gods to achieve.

The stronger one was, the stronger their life fluctuations became. After devouring them, monsters improved more, and they drew even more hatred from monsters.

Those War Gods did not dare slaughter monsters in the Wilderness Area as recklessly as Ning Ze. Once they unleashed their full combat power, they would be besieged by Lords.

Ning Ze, on the other hand, was strong, but his physical fitness was only at the Warlord level. He was difficult to kill and not worth much effort, unlike a devoured War God, who could help Lord monsters evolve.

Lord monsters were valuable, but setting aside whether they could be killed, killing too many would draw the pursuit of King-level Monsters! That was equivalent to being hunted by a Beyond War God. Ordinary War Gods would not even be able to escape.

Even Ning Ze would find it difficult to repeat this performance. There were only so many top-ranked cities, and his slaughter along the river had included sea monsters. The geography of the other cities was unsuitable.

"Good. Then, happy cooperation." The pretty executive extended her fair little hand.

Ning Ze slowly extended his own hand. "Happy cooperation." The next second, his expression turned strange. This old auntie was scratching his palm.

"I'll apply for the transfer."

The pretty executive released his hand openly and briskly turned to handle the payment.

"Kid, what's wrong? What are you standing around for?" Zuo Xingyuan asked with a beaming smile. Naturally, it was safer to sell such valuable materials. They were about to see the money, so how could he not be happy?

"Tsk, tsk, Manager Fang really has flavor." Xu Liang grinned wickedly. "Kid, stop staring. Do you regret getting married so early? Xiao Guai told us to keep an eye on you."

Ning Ze's mouth twitched as he answered honestly, "I haven't seen my wife for half a month. I do miss her a little."

"Ha ha ha!"

"Ha ha ha!"

A group of old men laughed without stopping.

Ding.

A notification sounded. Ning Ze raised his arm and looked. "Your Limitless Home account has received 21.5 billion. Account balance: 21,502,025,348..."

"Your contribution has risen to four stars. From now on, you may enjoy a fifty-percent discount on most goods in the Limitless Home Mall. You may purchase priority tickets to Base Cities at a twenty-percent discount. You may..."

Without pausing, Ning Ze directly transferred 500 million Huaxia Coin to each of Zuo Xingyuan and the others.

"Ha ha ha, 500 million received!"

"You brat, you're really quick with transfers."

"From now on, I'm someone with a ten-digit account balance too!"

"Honestly, I never imagined I could make this much money in my lifetime!"

Ning Ze smiled faintly. "The remaining batch of materials has already been inspected and marked with tracking anti-counterfeiting seals. We don't have to worry about the Wang Family setting us up."

"However, I'll have to trouble you uncles with negotiating the price. Those Underground Alliance people tell people what they want to hear and tell ghosts what they want to hear. If I go alone, they'll definitely lowball me."

"Of course we're going! I love bargaining. Come on! Uncle Xu will take you!"

Xu Liang swaggered toward the exit. "Those guys can still make quite a profit. If they won't offer the highest price for so many materials, then we won't sell to them. Those material dealers will always grit their teeth and take them, though it'll be more troublesome. We could even start a company ourselves."

Ning Ze shook his head with a smile. "Forget starting a company. I never manage the family business. My dad doesn't want to manage it either, and my mom gets irritated just looking at it. My uncle handles it."

"If I'm not in the Wilderness Area, then I cultivate. Why bother doing business?" Zuo Xingyuan said he was no good at business, but he was skilled at cutting down monsters with a blade.

Chatting and laughing, the group arrived at the HR Alliance Mall building and began selling the remaining batch of materials.

Evening.

The VIP room on the top floor of the building.

"What did you say? Our materials have been temporarily impounded for inspection? Are you joking? What could possibly be wrong with materials we brought from the Wilderness Area? They need inspecting? What a joke!" Zuo Xingyuan roared furiously.

This batch contained even more materials, and the executive had said that testing would take until evening before the price could be calculated.

The testing speed at the Limitless Martial Arts School had not been particularly fast either, so no one suspected anything.

Business relied on trust. The HR Alliance Mall controlled half of the global economy, so its reputation was certainly trustworthy. They knew they had offended Wang Xing'an, but the Underground Alliance would not destroy its own reputation over them.

The Warfire Squad had not remained here to wait. They had gone to enjoy a comfortable bath and dinner before returning to check on the inspection. If it had been completed, they would discuss the price and leave with their money.

Yet when they returned, all the materials had disappeared. This supervisor stammered and refused to explain at first, only admitting in the end that the materials had been impounded for inspection!

Faced with Zuo Xingyuan's questioning, the middle-aged executive who had handled their materials wore a bitter smile.

"I don't know what happened either. I was calculating everything for you when an order suddenly came down from above requiring an inspection. Please don't worry. This does happen sometimes. I simply didn't expect such a large transaction to encounter this situation."

"Don't worry? Wouldn't you worry if 50 billion worth of materials were in your hands?" Zuo Xingyuan immediately lost his temper. "Give us our materials back. If the Underground Alliance won't take them, someone else will. Bullying customers because you're a big store—you truly deserve to be called the Underground Alliance!"

"Th-this..." The middle-aged executive stammered for a while but could not say anything.

Ma Yu frowned and shouted, "What do you mean, 'this'? Give our materials back!"

The middle-aged executive said weakly in a low voice, "They can't be returned. Materials under inspection will be sealed in the monitoring room for a period of time. They will only be released after every item has been checked and confirmed to be normal. Only if all nine Core Member families agree can they be retrieved early."

"What? We can't even take them back?" Zuo Xingyuan was so furious that he laughed instead, sneering repeatedly. He was so angry that he could barely speak.

Xu Liang stared suspiciously and shouted, "You people aren't trying to swallow our materials, are you? There were surveillance records when we brought them here. Think carefully before you answer."

Zhang Chen coldly shouted, "Get your leader out here. Does your Underground Alliance have no one besides executives? Isn't every headquarters managed by a Core Member of one of the families? Jiangnan Base City is mainly overseen by the Xu Family. Where are the Xu Family people? Are you treating 50 billion Huaxia Coin like a joke?"

Ning Ze watched coldly the entire time. He had more or less figured out what was happening. Other than Wang Xing'an of the Wang Family, he could not think of any other reason they would encounter something like this.

The middle-aged executive spoke in an even quieter voice. "The weather has been cold lately. The Xu Family isn't overseeing this place right now. The Wang Family is, and it's one of their young masters."

"The Wang Family?" Zuo Xingyuan froze for a moment, then asked with a frown, "Isn't the Wang Family in Kyoto Base City? Why would they come to Jiangnan Base City? Are you trying to fool me?"

"It really is the Wang Family." The middle-aged executive looked deeply troubled. Clearly, he did not dare say much about the Wang Family.

Ning Ze's face was stern as he said coldly, "I'll ask one last time. Is your Underground Alliance planning to impound our materials now? We first went to Limitless Headquarters and sold some materials. Even though the rest have not been sold, they were still inspected and sorted."

"If you do not return my materials now, then I will consider it your Underground Alliance bullying a customer and impounding my materials without cause. Do you know how much you must compensate me under your rules for such a huge amount? 500 billion!"

"I am recording a video right now. Afterward, I will upload it to the Limitless Home Forum and contact the upper management of the martial arts school to report this matter. Are you still determined to go your own way? You should know the consequences. I hope you can bear this responsibility!"

The middle-aged executive was scared out of his wits and cried out in a tearful voice, "Mr. Ning, I don't want this either, but this isn't something I can decide. I originally thought I could earn tens of millions from this, but who would have expected this to happen?"

"Good."

Ning Ze nodded. "I have your answer. Since your Underground Alliance has done this, you will soon see this video on Limitless Home, and I will report this to the martial arts school."

"Captain, let's go."

Ning Ze turned and walked out. Zuo Xingyuan and the others glared fiercely at the executive before turning to leave as well.

Bang!

At that moment, the VIP room door was violently kicked open. A team of martial artists entered. At the front was a square-faced, somewhat rigid-looking martial artist, who said in a deep voice, "You can't leave yet!"

Ning Ze's pupils contracted. They were actually going to use force!

"Who are you? What right do you have to stop us from leaving?" Zuo Xingyuan would not be intimidated. He shouted angrily in response.

"From the moment you arrived, I noticed something was wrong. After a series of tests, we discovered that most of your materials were counterfeit. Since you dared to defraud us, the Underground Alliance Security Team has the right to temporarily detain and imprison you. Once all the materials have been verified, we will file a lawsuit against you in accordance with the law. Until then, none of you may leave!"

The rigid-faced martial artist waved his hand, and a group of Warlords surrounded the Warfire Squad. More people rushed in and took positions around the room.

Ning Ze narrowed his eyes. There were more than twenty Warlords. He was confident he could kill them all, but according to the rules of the Base City, not even High-level War Gods could fight within the city. He was only registered as a Warlord. If he made a move, he would surely die!

"Heh!"

"What a joke! What right does your Underground Alliance have to detain us?" Zuo Xingyuan sneered, his heart blazing with rage as he discreetly glanced toward Ning Ze.

The members of the Warfire Squad also warily looked around. Other than Ning Ze, who was still wearing his Combat Suit and carrying his weapon, no one had brought anything. Their belongings were still at the hotel.

Ning Ze narrowed his eyes slightly. These people naturally had no right to imprison them, but if they framed them, then they truly would not be able to leave. If they wanted to go while being blocked, they could only force their way out. But the moment they acted, it would count as causing trouble. He felt these people were deliberately trying to provoke them into acting!

He quietly said to Zuo Xingyuan and the others, "Then we'll wait. Uncle Zuo, sit down and wait a while. I'll send my father a message."

The rigid-faced middle-aged man sneered. "Don't waste your effort. The communications signal here has already been blocked. Until the matter is clarified, none of you can leave!"

Ning Ze's pupils suddenly contracted. They had even blocked communications!

He clenched his fists tightly as his thoughts raced.

They had arrived close to noon, and it was now past seven. If the other side had prepared in advance to deal with them, then in such a long time, people could have arrived from any of the six Base Cities.

Daring to openly impound so many of their materials was not something mere influence could accomplish. Their ability to hunt so many monsters already proved that they were formidable. If the Underground Alliance dared act like this, it must have the power to subdue them!

There had to be a War God here!

Ning Ze slowly loosened his clenched fists, turned, and sat down on the sofa. Zuo Xingyuan and the others said nothing more, merely sitting silently on either side of Ning Ze.

Ning Ze's face was frosty as he stared ahead, though he was actually looking at the System Panel before him.

Host: Ning Ze

Realm: Intermediate Warlord 21,357 kg; Mental Master 12,385 kg

Cultivation Skills: Genetic Energy Cultivation Method "Five Hearts Facing Heaven Style"; Guidance Technique "Seven Spiritual Wind Arts"; Visualization Method "One Sword Sealing Heaven"

Combat Skills: "Swift Steps" Perfect Level 67,195/100,000; "Gale Sword Master" Artistic Conception 13,943/1,000,000

Sitting on the sofa, Ning Ze sank into deep thought.

His ability to kill Beginner Lord-level monsters naturally relied on his own strength.

Beginning on the third day, because the commotion he caused had grown too great, he began coming under attack from Lord-level monsters.

At first, after using Force Generation, he had only 80,000 kilograms of strength, barely reaching the War God level. His strength was somewhat lower than a Beginner Lord's, but his Perfect Level Movement Technique ensured that he would not be injured.

Every clash involved sevenfold Force Generation, and every collision put tremendous pressure on his body. It was precisely because of this that his strength, movement technique, and Sword Art all grew virtually second by second.

Because of his talent differences, the growth of his physical strength was somewhat slow. On the contrary, after fusing several movement techniques and Sword Arts, the improvement rate of his Sword Art and movement technique increased again. The proficiency growth rate during battle multiplied further, allowing him to gain as much as 50,000 proficiency.

Fighting Lord-level monsters every day had made him realize something. Humans were not the only ones capable of Force Generation; monsters could use it too, and monsters could even break through! Their Force Generation could multiply! He had nearly been deceived back then. Fortunately, he had been cautious and never intended to fight monsters head-on.

Even monsters could use Force Generation. Who would believe that War Gods could not?

He had known to buy Secret Manuals the moment he became a martial artist. So many supreme techniques could generate force. How could someone who had become a War God possibly not know Force Generation?

He currently had 21,000 kilograms of strength. After his Sword Art reached Artistic Conception, he could unleash seven additional layers of force, equivalent to the seventh level of a top-tier Secret Manual. Including his own strength, that made eightfold force, allowing him to unleash a final explosive force of 170,000 kilograms.

The strength range of a Beginner War God was 64,000 kg to 128,000 kg, while the strength range of an Intermediate Warrior was 128,000 kg to 256,000 kg.

Even if the person hired by the Wang Family was merely a Beginner War God, once their Force Generation reached threefold, they would not be much weaker than him.

Ning Ze felt that achieving threefold Force Generation was simple. He only needed to cultivate a Secret Manual to the third level to attain 2.8-fold Force Generation.

And that was only a Beginner War God. If it was an Intermediate War God, their Base Strength might not be lower than his. Once Force Generation was used, the strength gap would be too great. He would most likely be unable to defeat such a War God.

Ning Ze chose to endure for now. Unless things reached the absolute worst point, he would not fight within a Base City.