Li Family

Li Xiang felt a wave of despair. He knew he couldn't escape now.

His opponent hadn't killed him outright only because they wanted information.

And even now, he had no idea who had caught him. The night was too dark, and the lack of oxygen was making his vision go black. The person gripping his throat had stayed behind him the whole time; all he could tell was that they were incredibly strong.

"Ask whatever you want. Just make it quick."

His constricted throat let out a faint sound.

That was what he said, but whether he'd actually answer honestly was anybody's guess.

"Why did you go there at night? What do you know?"

Tao Yu asked in a hoarse, low voice.

Tao Yu's question made Li Xiang's heart skip. Huh?

They don't know?

His thoughts gradually cleared, and a new idea came to him.

Right. That kid and his family couldn't have taken us down without giving us a chance to fight back!

It's a third-party faction!

That kid spent the whole day at the stockade today. Did he bring in outside help?

Li Xiang immediately found what seemed like the best explanation. Someone this powerful in the Outer City couldn't possibly be a nobody!

There's a chance!

"I don't know what that kid told you, but we know the same secrets he does. We were going to take him away and silence him, but we didn't expect him to have already told you."

Tao Yu nodded as the words came haltingly.

"You know about that thing?"

"We do. Sir, we're actually the better people to work with. The South City Li Family—you've probably heard of us. What could that country bumpkin possibly promise you? Why not work with us instead?"

"The Li Family..."

The low voice sounded somewhat wary.

"Hmph, you're lying! You came from the Inner City. If you really wanted to cooperate, why would you approach a faction from the Outer City?"

The voice seemed almost indignant.

Hearing that, Li Xiang was even more delighted.

A faction from the Outer City through and through? That's perfect! There's a chance!

"Sir, please don't be angry. Everything I said is true. The profits from this venture could give us a chance to return to the Inner City, so this time our patriarch decided to develop it himself.

"That's why the two of us who came to take action are both direct descendants. The patriarch has called back every important family member who can take part, just to make sure nothing goes wrong."

"Really?"

"Absolutely! If we had connections in the Inner City, we wouldn't have grabbed that kid. We'd have simply brought him into the fold. After all, a B-rank Combat Talent is pretty rare in the New Frontier, and there's no way he'd refuse."

To save his own life, Li Xiang sounded utterly sincere.

Tao Yu listened and thought, Damn, he really does have a point!

Why did they come after me? Because they were afraid they couldn't keep me under control!

If they really had backing in the Inner City, why would they worry about that? They could've just paid me and brought me into the fold. Wouldn't that have been great?

Would I really have refused?

And more importantly, the other man had let something slip without even realizing it, revealing just how limited their capabilities were.

A B-rank talent...

Only a day had passed, but Tao Yu hadn't made any effort to keep it secret. He'd been completely open about it.

And yet this was still old information. Their intelligence-gathering really was limited.

He'd sold the news to the Starlight Recycling Station more than half a day ago, and they still knew nothing. All things considered, that one statement seemed fairly credible.

"To show your sincerity, hand over some of your Wish Power."

Tao Yu pulled a magnetic card from his pocket. He'd received it after selling his goods. It could be used repeatedly, storing a little over four thousand points of Wish Power at a time—far more convenient than those Wish Power fragments.

Under the World Will's restrictions, methods like illusions and mental control couldn't transfer Wish Power. But it could be transferred willingly.

He'd gone to the trouble of catching someone he could keep under control. He couldn't afford to waste the opportunity. After all, he'd taken a risk just to get some information.

The muzzle that had burst out of Yosef's mouth before he died, and his final self-destruction, were still vivid in Tao Yu's memory. So even though this time he was only dealing with people from the Outer City, he'd stayed behind his opponent the whole time, broken his limbs, and held him by the throat, just in case things went wrong.

But when Tao Yu said this, Li Xiang fell completely silent, his face turning desolate.

"Please, Your Excellency, just make it quick."

He'd asked for Wish Power points. Li Xiang had done the same thing himself, and the moment he heard that, every last hope he'd had vanished. He stopped entertaining any more wishful thinking. There was no chance!

Why?

Why?!

"If you won't give it to me, I'll toss you alive into a pile of rats. That won't be quick."

Tao Yu dropped the pretense and threatened him.

But all he got in return was silence.

I'm supposed to pay the man who killed me? I'd never rest in peace!

Li Xiang had clawed his way up through the hellish conditions of the Outer City. When he'd asked for a quick death, he'd been ready to give up some information, mixing truth with lies. But now, there was no chance at all.

Seeing that it probably wouldn't help, Tao Yu tightened his grip and snapped the man's neck.

Then he hurled the body toward Garbage Mountain as well.

Tossing him over alive would mean a lot of screaming and might cause trouble. Since scaring him hadn't worked, Tao Yu couldn't be bothered to waste any more effort...

"My family has always worked hard, earning every bit of our three hundred a month. We've always treated people well and helped anyone we could. Why? Why do you have to force us into this..."

Hearing the rat swarm stir behind him again, Tao Yu turned and headed toward the Inner City wall.

The Li Family wanted to keep the profits all to themselves and return to the Inner City?

So it's just you...

The Li Family was a clan that had retreated from the Inner City to the Outer City.

They might have been unable to remain in the Inner City, but after coming to the Outer City, they were still a prominent faction.

Their retreat had mainly been caused by the death of the family's strongest figure—the clan's backbone—and a group of its core members during an expedition into a world fragment.

For the Li Family, leaving the Inner City had been a way to cut off a limb to save their life. Overall, they had managed to do so with some dignity.

As a result, they quickly established themselves in the Outer City and became a formidable force.

The current head of the Li Family, Li Hui, was one of the Security Team's four deputy captains, in charge of the South City area.

Among the four deputy captains, Li Hui was also the only one with no signs of mechanical modification. He was somewhat like the Security Team captain, Zechuan.

To hold this position with nothing but his flesh and blood—without mutated implants or mechanical modifications—showed that he had pushed his body far beyond its limits by other means. He could match, or even surpass, the mechanical enhancements common in the Outer City.

The Security Team's residential compound consisted of a three-story wooden villa with a small courtyard, along with twelve other buildings nearby. Together, they formed the Li Family's settlement in the Outer City.

Compared to the ramshackle, scrap-built homes common in the Outer City, every house belonging to the Li Family was fairly conventional, most of them built from the same kind of wood.

With a dozen or so houses clustered together, the place looked quite different from the rest of the Outer City.

The ground was covered with compacted gravel, making it much cleaner, too.

While most of the Outer City had gone quiet for the night, the central three-story wooden villa was still brightly lit. It seemed to be hosting some kind of banquet that hadn't ended yet.

When ordinary people couldn't even bear to use their kerosene lamps, this villa was lit by electric lights. It seemed to belong to another world...