Iron Fortress City, Back Street in the slums.
This was an abandoned factory district. Aside from the overgrown weeds, the enormous courtyard was piled with many rust-covered cargo crates. Yet in this courtyard, which should have been deserted, quite a few ferocious-looking, languid Beastfolk were standing around.
Some of them were orcs, some were snakefolk, and some were berserk beasts standing upright like humans. There was even a Treebloom Clan member taller than the factory buildings sitting on the wall.
Between the Treebloom Clan member's branches, which resembled the shape of a giant hand, was a nearly one-meter-long "cigarette" as thick as an arm. After taking a deep drag, he did not exhale. Instead, green smoke rose from between the branches on his head.
Not far away was a combination of a bull and a horse. More precisely, a Centaur was speaking quietly with a Minotaur. Their gazes occasionally drifted toward a nearby snake girl, but neither dared to approach her.
The snake girl belonged to the Toman branch of the Snakefolk. Aside from the venomous fangs in her mouth, each fingertip of her right hand concealed a venomous fang resembling a cat's claw. The Toman branch's poison was incurable.
The reason so many people of all kinds had gathered here was the assistance of the local kingpin, Erguin. It could be said that more than ninety percent of the capable but notorious figures in the slums had been summoned through various channels.
This showed how strong Erguin's traitorous streak was. He clearly planned to gather more of his own people and constantly test Su Xiao's methods. If Su Xiao had eyes and ears everywhere, Erguin would not easily harbor rebellious thoughts. But once he discovered that Su Xiao was strong only on the outside, Erguin's traitorous side would gradually