Chapter 62
Thinking of this, Shi Lei took out his phone and called Chen. He thought they wouldn't see each other again during the Chinese New Year holiday, but unexpectedly they would meet again that evening.
More than ten minutes later, a burly man wearing a huge hazmat suit and carrying a hammer arrived, along with fifty or sixty others who had come to the scene.
Seeing Shi Lei standing with his hands in his pockets at the edge of the warehouse ruins, Mudrock Yan immediately removed his hood and deflated. He then approached with a hammer, knelt on one knee, and said:
"My lord, we meet again."
Without removing Originium Arts, his bulky body would be unable to bend over. Mudrock treated him with utmost reverence, just as he had treated Theresia before.
Lord Shi Lei is her faith!
The infected people behind him, not knowing who this man was, whispered among themselves:
"Why is Sister Ni kneeling before him? Who is this guy?"
"Look, his clothes have the Penguin Logistics logo on them, it must be Zhongli."
"Holy crap, Zhongli, why aren't you kneeling down?"
Mudrock knelt down on one knee out of his own will, but the infected people behind him quickly followed suit.
The sight of fifty or sixty people kneeling before Shi Lei at the same time was quite spectacular, leaving the thieves who hadn't been knocked unconscious stunned.
They swallowed hard, their faces contorted with embarrassment, knowing they had offended a powerful figure they shouldn't have.
Limited-time return. jpg
100 The Dragon King Returns?
The Lower City area is inherently cramped, resembling blocks of tofu. Apart from parks, squares, and main roads, other areas are generally not very spacious.
Therefore, the visual impact of Mudrock leading more than fifty infected people to kneel down is much greater than the shock of seeing this scene in an open area.
The thieves who hadn't been knocked unconscious by the rubber bullets looked at Shi Lei, who had his back to them, with fear in their eyes. They had no idea what their fate would be.
Seeing this scene, Exusiai's lips curled into a wide smile. She really wanted to tease Shi Lei and ask him when he had taken in Mudrock and his men.
Perhaps realizing something suddenly, she glanced at Texas with a complicated expression. Then, she slightly twitched the corners of her mouth, forcibly swallowing back what she wanted to say.
Upon seeing this, Shi Lei quickly stepped forward to help Mudrock.
She brought so many people over and they all knelt down, making it seem like the identity of the Crooked-Mouthed Dragon King had been exposed.
Even if this is a Dragon King special, it's still missing a blind old lady, a fiancée who loves to slap people and is ready to break off the engagement, and a hot-tempered Childe.
"Hey, what are you doing? Get up! You're acting like the Dragon King has returned. People who don't know better will think something's wrong with me."
The Dragon King that Shi Lei mentioned was from a very catchy and popular short drama he watched before he transmigrated. Unfortunately, Nian was completely unaware of this reference, and her pupils dilated slightly upon hearing it.
Dragon King?
Is he... a fragment of the Dragon King?
The main element of the year is the dragon. Could there be a king among these dragons?
Good heavens!
What kind of powerful Great Beast must this be?
Having never heard of the Dragon King's deeds before, I was utterly astonished. I must ask that old Doctor about it when I return to the This Ship on Rhodes Island in a few days.
Or wait until you return to the Yan and ask your older brother or sister about the situation.
As for the Si Sui Tai, let's forget about it.
Even if this organization was the most likely to have records about the Dragon King, Nian didn't want to ask for help. After all, she had been under constant surveillance by Si Sui Tai since she first gained personal consciousness. She had experienced that disgusting feeling once and never wanted to go through it again.
If one had to choose the organization that Nian finds most repulsive on the Terra, Si Sui Tai would undoubtedly be at the top of the list.
In addition, something else happened that surprised Nian.
From the pair of black demon horns on the Mudrock, it's easy to tell that she's a Sarkaz girl. But shouldn't her submissive kneeling gesture be directed towards a king?
After Theresia's death, the Sarkaz only had Theresis as their 'king'. Could her kneeling Shi Lei be related to her identity as the Dragon King?
Mudrock was helped up by Shi Lei, but he remained respectful, keeping his head down and avoiding eye contact.
Her gaze swept over the unconscious or terrified thieves not far away, and she asked:
"Sir, what should we do with those people?"
The thieves, upon hearing this, turned pale with fright and were filled with remorse.
Why wasn't I shot unconscious just now?
Leaving aside the female Sarkaz, the Great Herd of people kneeling behind her were all dressed in the Lin family's distinctive black training uniforms. Their kneeling and worshipping her proved that the man's status and identity were far from ordinary.
The warehouse was burned down, the spoils were stolen, and here they were going to get a beating, or even lose their lives.
Damn it, what bad luck!
The reason why the Lower City is called the Lower City is because its infrastructure and residents' income are extremely poor.
Many impoverished people lack mobile phones, resulting in extremely limited and inefficient intelligence gathering. Aside from large local gangs and powerful groups, who can obtain timely information, teams of fewer than fifty people have very limited sources of intelligence. Even if they knew it was Zhongli, they might not be able to recognize him.
Shi Lei glanced at the source of the sound and instructed her:
"Officer Chen from the Lungmen Guard Department Bureau will be here shortly to take these suspected thieves away. You leave a few people behind to keep watch and assist with the handover."
Mudrock nodded and chose ten people to stay.
These people are all infected, and each of them has some knowledge of Originium Arts, making them far more powerful than ordinary people.
With them keeping watch over these thieves and waiting for the Lungmen Guard Department to arrive, it should be a sure thing.
Since Shi Lei had no leads on the motorcycle, he briefly explained the whole story to Mudrock.
These thieves couldn't find the arsonist, and asking the children probably wouldn't help, so they had to ask the locals for help.
After pondering for a moment, Mudrock proposed the following idea:
"People who steal motorcycles don't keep them for themselves. As you just mentioned, this is a limited edition model sent from out of town, which makes it even more distinctive. If the thief wants to sell it, the black market is the best option."
Shi Lei nodded in agreement, his eyes showing approval.
"Great, you seem to be adapting very quickly."
Mudrock lowered its beautiful eyes, its attitude humble and devout:
"No, it's all thanks to you, sir."
This attempt at flattery almost backfired. Shi Lei has absolutely no interest in these dregs of officialdom.
"Your current life is something you earned with your own hard work, and it has little to do with me."
"But..."
"Stop, let's not talk about this anymore."
Having determined their next destination, the group immediately set off. The four had originally planned to take a car, but considering the large number of people around, they decided to walk instead.
Texas was hesitating, wondering whether to drive to the black market and wait there. She glanced up and saw him and Mudrock setting off on foot, and immediately followed.
"By the way, where did you get these men? They're all wearing matching uniforms, they look so professional."
Mudrock knew that Shi Lei was a low-key person, so in public he only addressed him as "Master," and in private he called him by his name.
"Lord Shi Lei, these are not my men."
"So they're still following you?"
"Last time Miss spent 300,000 Lungmen Dollars on the black market to buy me an inhibitor. We have always remembered this kindness. Later, her father came to the base and hoped that I would help manage these infected people. The reward was 150,000 per month, plus room and board. I really didn't have the money to repay him, so I agreed. You don't need to worry, my willingness to follow the Lord's will has never changed."
Wow, that's quite a show of loyalty...
Shi Lei took the initiative to change the subject, asking about the current situation of the mercenaries, women, and children.
He learned about the general situation of the different countries on Terra from books. He knew that Kazdel was a country that had been in a state of constant war. People like them, alone in a foreign land, must be living a very miserable life.
"Please wait a moment."
After finishing speaking, Shi Lei ran straight to the back of the group. Reaching Texas's side, he lowered his voice and said:
"The New Year is just around the corner, and Mudrock and his team have had a tough time. I was thinking of inviting them over for dinner that afternoon. What do you think?"
Exusiai burst out laughing upon hearing this, and quickly stopped and distanced herself to avoid being discovered laughing.
Texas's wolf-like eyes gleamed as she stared at the man before her. It was unclear whether she genuinely didn't understand, or was feigning ignorance.
"It's your house, you can invite whoever you want, why are you telling me?"
"Well, it's just that... I'm a little short on cash."
She gave Shi Lei a disapproving look, paused for a few seconds, and then nodded in agreement.
"Alright."
Seeing this, he thought to himself that Texas's statement that she would keep an eye on him was not unfounded.
101 It is better to resolve enmity than to create it.
Shi Lei and his three companions, along with a group of infected individuals, set off in a large procession to the black market in the Slums.
As you wander through the streets and alleys, you can see many residential buildings along the way with low red lanterns hanging out. Some families with poorer means simply hang red cloth as flags.
Although the conditions in the Lower City are simple, the New Year's atmosphere is just as good as that in the Upper City.
As eight o'clock approached, the group arrived at the black market. The large number of people quickly attracted the attention of many merchants.
The group had walked less than thirty meters when they heard a woman's pleading voice coming from inside a shop:
"Boss, please, can you put the price back to last week's? This price increase is really unaffordable. My son is turning 18 tomorrow, and he really wants this."
"What does it matter to me if you don't have money? Do you infected people have a lot of spare cash? Why are you coming here to buy toys?"
Shi Lei walked alongside Texas until he saw Mudrock stop, then he stopped as well.
The woman's legs and hands were wrapped in thick white bandages, clearly indicating she was infected. She pleaded with the shopkeeper again not to raise the price.
So many people, yet they were met with merciless insults.
Mudrock was very sensitive to this and knew that she was being treated differently, which is why she stopped outside the store.
A moment later, she turned her head and apologized to Shi Lei:
"Sir, please wait a few minutes."
Having said that, Mudrock led a dozen or so infected henchmen into the shop in front of them. She approached the woman, concealed the hammer behind her back, and asked gently:
How much does the gift you want cost?
The woman was taken aback at first, then answered truthfully:
"I sold it for 1,500 Lungmen Dollars last week, but today the price has jumped to 4,000. I really can't afford it."
"Okay, I understand."
Mudrock remembered Officer Chen's teachings and would not resort to violence first. She turned her head and looked at the person next to her.
The infected person whispered a few words.
The news spread like wildfire, and the infected people who heard about it began to quietly take out their money.
5 yuan, 10 yuan, 20 yuan...
More than fifty infected people pooled together a wad of loose change of unknown amount, which Mudrock handed to the woman.
"Didn't you want to buy a birthday present for the child? These should be enough, right?"
The woman noticed that these strangers all appeared to be infected. Tears of emotion welled up in her eyes.
"Thank you, thank you all..."
This heartwarming scene disgusted the boss, who made no attempt to hide his revulsion.
"The price has gone up by 10,000, I won't sell it for 4,000."
This action immediately angered the infected individuals. They clenched their fists and threatened the boss:
"What the hell do you mean? Trying to raise the price on the spot?"