Really? I Don't Believe You

Su Xiao raised his Power Gauntlet.

The bullets ricocheted off the Power Gauntlet.

He fired another shot.

It finished off the Vortex Gang member who had dared to fire back.

Blood sprayed from his face, splattering his companion.

The last Vortex Gang member did the stupidest thing possible, and one of the most taboo things in combat.

He turned and ran, exposing his back to the enemy.

He scrambled out of the narrow alley on all fours.

Before relief could even cross his face.

Suddenly.

A blade burst out through

his chest.

He froze.

Slowly, he lowered his head.

He wanted to do something else.

But all strength had already left his body.

Su Xiao pulled the Katana out of him.

He collapsed like a heap of sludge.

He did not even have the strength to move a finger.

His fading eyes reflected Su Xiao's graceful silhouette as he flicked the blood from his blade and sheathed it.

Su Xiao returned to the factory compound.

V, Jack, and Lucy had already killed the few Vortex Gang members left behind.

"I've checked the compound's cameras. The two Black Market Dream editors are inside, and they still don't know what happened out here."

"Come on. Let's give them a surprise."

Gottfried's Black Market Dream editing studio was in the deepest part of the compound.

Apparently, making Black Market Dreams really did pay.

Besides hiring the Vortex Gang as bodyguards.

They had also installed two Sentry Turrets along the only route to the studio.

When they entered the studio, Gottfried and his son, Frederick, were still immersed in editing Black Market Dreams.

They were completely oblivious to the four strangers who had entered their studio.

Jack was about to go over and wake the father and son.

But Su Xiao suddenly reached out to stop him.

He walked between the two of them and approached the display cabinet against the back wall.

Everything in the cabinet was a Black Market Dream edited by the father and son.

He casually glanced over the labels.

They included, but were not limited to, animals and humans, forced penetration, suicide through overstimulation, death by bondage, and more.

While Su Xiao browsed the Black Market Dream labels in the display cabinet.

The father and son, immersed in editing their Black Market Dreams, suddenly began talking.

"Stop. Stop right there."

"But he hasn't..."

"What are you thinking? Doesn't it feel like stabbing a pillow?"

"All right, go back one frame. Enhance the pain feedback and the lingering taste of rust..."

"Freddy, you've really got a gift!"

"Cut out the sweaty part."

"No, leave it in. Some people are into that... we'll make two cuts, one with the sweat smell and one without. Heh heh."

"Brilliant, Dad."

Su Xiao nodded to Lucy.

A red light lit up in Lucy's eyes.

Inside Gottfried and Frederick's dream world, a large line of scarlet text appeared-

"Time to get up, gentlemen. Rise and shine!"

Only then did the father and son jolt out of their Black Market Dream editing.

They saw four strangers standing in the room.

Frederick screamed for security in fright.

The older Gottfried was much more composed.

"Stop shouting, Freddy. If security were still around, these people wouldn't be here."

After calming his son, Gottfried immediately identified Su Xiao as the leader. "If you wanted us dead, you could have done it without waking us. You're after something, aren't you?"

"Is this a father-and-son business?"

Su Xiao had seen plenty of sons following in their fathers' footsteps.

But it depended on the circumstances.

Dragging your son into editing Black Market Dreams was rather like taking him along to manufacture and sell drugs.

It was not unheard of.

But no parent with a conscience would do it.

Gottfried defended himself. "People want to buy them, so we make them to sell. That's all. It's just business. Even if we didn't do it, someone else would."

Anyone with a remotely sound moral compass could not stomach Black Market Dreams.

And Jack, who believed in God, was even more furious.

"Not everything can be treated as business! It's bad enough that people record this stuff, and you help them edit it? How are you any different from accomplices?"

Gottfried did not dare argue and could only back down verbally. "Y-you're right. You're absolutely right."

The four of them put immense pressure on the pair.

Frederick could barely breathe under that pressure and instinctively tried to ease the tension. "Do you have any special requests? Or are you looking for some real hardcore stuff?"

Gottfried hurriedly silenced his son. "Freddy!"

Seeing them trembling like this, Su Xiao decided not to beat around the bush any longer.

"A Black Market Dream of a pastor's son being murdered. Ring any bells?"

"Which pastor? We just received a batch of material featuring little boys, but it didn't say who their fathers were... can you give me another hint?"

"Bryce Stone, News 54's traveling pastor. His son was Bobby Stone. He was twelve when he died."

"How old did you say the kid was? And... what did he look like, and how was he killed?"

"You motherfucker-!!"

Su Xiao stopped the enraged Jack.

Otherwise, he might beat Gottfried half to death in his fury.

"Dad, I know which one he wants. BD_9430."

Without a word, V walked between them.

She found the chip Frederick had named in the display cabinet.

"That's the one. Take it and leave. We... we won't tell anyone you were here. We swear!"

V returned to Su Xiao's side.

A faint smile appeared on Su Xiao's face.

"Who said we were leaving?"

Gottfried wanted to walk over and shield his son behind him.

But he feared that moving might provoke Su Xiao and the others.

So he did not dare move.

He merely spoke with a mixture of confusion and unease.

"You've got what you wanted. What else do you want?"

Su Xiao took the raw-footage chip from V and waved it in front of the father and son. "Who killed the pastor's son? And who gave you this raw footage?"

Gottfried answered almost immediately. "We only care whether the footage has any flaws. We don't care who shot it."

"So you won't tell the truth?"

Su Xiao stepped away from Jack, no longer holding him back.

Jack lunged straight at Gottfried.

He tackled him to the floor.

Then he raised a fist the size of a cooking pot and hammered it into the man's head.

Just three punches left the old bastard's face twisted and blood pouring everywhere.

Frederick wanted to step forward and help.

But after looking at Jack's arms, which were thicker than his own thighs, he lost his nerve.

He only dared beg from the sidelines.

Chapter 52: Really? I Don't Believe You

"No! Please stop! Don't hit him! Stop hitting him! You'll kill my dad!"

"You like editing Black Market Dreams, don't you? You enjoy it, don't you? So why can't you suddenly stomach it when what's in those dreams happens to you?"

Jack was not a complete violence junkie.

Although he despised Gottfried.

He stopped after just three punches.

Not because he was softhearted.

But because he feared killing Gottfried would leave Su Xiao unable to question him.

Ignoring the blood flowing into his mouth, Gottfried hurriedly begged for mercy. "Don't, don't hit me. I'll talk. I'll tell you everything!"

With a contemptuous look, Jack hauled him up from the floor.

Gottfried backed away two steps and wiped the blood from his face.

"I really don't know who delivered the raw footage... wait, wait, don't hit me again. I really... I don't know."

"Are you messing with me? This thing couldn't have fallen out of the sky."

"Please, you have to believe me. We found the raw footage on the ground in the compound a while ago, but we don't know who tossed it in."

Su Xiao folded his arms. "What about the cameras? You've got cameras everywhere here. Don't tell me you don't have recordings."

Gottfried gave a bitter smile. "Checking the cameras won't help. Before tossing it in, they hacked the surveillance system and remotely shut down every camera. There's nothing in the footage."

It seemed they could extract no more useful information from the father and son.