The Steel Alliance was a dominant power in the coastal region. According to Huang Qisheng, it had only entered the Demon Capital this year, but its influence was not much weaker than that of the Ancient Coin Merchant Association or the Cloud Sea Merchant Association.
More importantly, the Steel Alliance's leader, Gang Yan, had entered the Profound Connection Realm at the start of the year, expanding the alliance's strength several times over. Though he had only recently advanced, he still bore the title of Martial King, and there was a qualitative gulf between him and those in the Viscera Refining Realm.
With a Profound Connection Realm Martial King backing it, the Steel Alliance was bound to grow somewhat arrogant. Otherwise, Lin Shuguang's goods could never have been stolen so brazenly.
Lin Shuguang could not quite understand it. He did not seem to have any grudge against the Steel Alliance. Robbing him so openly felt rather like deliberate provocation.
Something occurred to Huang Qisheng, and he lowered his voice. "We've never had any contact with the Steel Alliance, so there shouldn't be any bad blood between us. But not long ago, I did hear rumors that the Cloud Sea Merchant Association had formed an alliance with the Steel Alliance..."
"The Cloud Sea Merchant Association..."
The moment Lin Shuguang heard the name, he understood.
Several months earlier, he had killed members of the Cloud Sea Merchant Association during the dispute over the Medicine Garden. He had even slain Hong Jianglong before the eyes of the world when the man tried to storm in and kill him.
That had cemented his feud with the Cloud Sea Merchant Association.
So much time had passed without any action from the Cloud Sea Merchant Association, most likely because it feared the Special Management Bureau backing Lin