The Red Dragon!

In everyone's eyes, the Female Bodyguard might have seemed like a martial artist with formidable skills—capable and ruthless, a chilling reminder of how terrifying the Red Dart Merchant Association was.

She had certainly intimidated everyone present.

But Li Yèlái was sure this bodyguard was a psychic.

When she moved, the light and shadows around her body had subtly shifted. That was a Psychic Barrier!

"A wild psychic... a guard hired by the Red Dart Merchant Association?" Li Yèlái quickly considered. "Are there other psychics they've hired?"

It made sense. The Red Dart Merchant Association's main business was transporting nonstrategic supplies. They had to cross dangerous wilderness, which naturally made them a way out for wild psychics.

The Association needed psychics to protect their shipments, while psychics needed the cover of the Association's identity to get by.

But normally, these psychics regarded the authorities as something to fear and wouldn't enter a Megacity, where they'd be monitored. Instead, they stayed in settlements beyond the wilderness, outside the authorities' jurisdiction.

The Association wouldn't dare bring these psychics into a Megacity, either. If anything happened to them, the Association would be held responsible.

So what was this psychic doing here? Was she connected to that box, which seemed like a Forbidden Item? Or did the Red Dart Merchant Association not know she was a psychic?

As Li Yèlái pondered this, the fingers of his lowered left hand tapped the heel of his palm. It was a signal to the Handler on the other end of his communicator, letting them know he'd encountered a psychic.

There was good news, though. She might be a psychic, but she wasn't very strong.

He'd been able to spot the fluctuations in her Psychic Barrier so easily because she hadn't mastered the technique. She didn't know how to "reject" or "accept," so her Psychic Barrier was constantly defending against everything, making the air around her body thick and viscous. That was how Li Yèlái had noticed it.

That put her on the same level as a Handler before training.

If she hadn't even mastered that, she certainly couldn't Sky Step. The Female Bodyguard was far less dangerous now.

Sky Stepping wasn't just a matter of double-jumping or jumping several times. It opened up more ways to attack and move. In a fight against a psychic who couldn't Sky Step, the advantage was enormous.

"If we fight, I should be able to subdue her quickly. I just don't know how many other psychics there are." Li Yèlái gripped his black umbrella and gauged the distance between them, just in case.

At that moment, Xu Shi spoke up. "Don't rush, everyone. The inspection isn't over yet."

As he spoke, he had someone bring out a table, along with several dice cups and dice. They even brought out several bags of cash.

What was this about?

Gambling?

Li Yèlái was baffled, but Xu Shi smiled and said, "Let's see how lucky you are. Come play a game with my men."

"But this isn't an ordinary game of high-low. The number you roll has to be exactly one higher than my man's for you to win."

"If you win, you take one of these bags of money. If you lose, you won't lose anything. Think of it as making a new friend."

Xu Shi wore a friendly expression, nothing like the man who'd forced a cigar into someone's mouth earlier.

Li Yèlái was even more confused. He had no idea what Xu Shi was planning.

Going by what Xu Shi had said, if his man rolled a five, the other person had to roll a six to win. No matter how high their number was, it wouldn't count otherwise.

What was this supposed to accomplish?

Someone calmly spoke up. "Xu Shi, what are you trying to do?"

It was the Wang Clan's old butler. He frowned at Xu Shi. "One of my men died at your trading post. You said you'd give me an explanation and invited me here, but now you're showing me this? Are you trying to make a fool of me?"

He was the Wang Clan's old butler, after all. Even with the family in decline, he still had some standing.

He'd been the first to speak, and his tone was stern. He'd shown real nerve.

Li Yèlái was surprised, too.

Is this butler always this bold?

Meanwhile, the Handlers from the West City Branch were listening in, and they were just as surprised.

What's gotten into the old butler? Why's he suddenly speaking up?

Wasn't he only willing to go in wearing a listening device? Why's he trying to pry out information now?

What gave him the courage?

While investigating the Red Dart Merchant Association, the West City Branch had recruited the old butler as an informant. But he'd said he didn't dare try to extract information and would only wear a listening device inside the Association. Now he'd suddenly found his nerve!

The old butler's attitude also made the Scavengers surrounding everyone in the room eye him with hostility.

But out of regard for the Wang Corporation's former prestige, and for Wang De's standing among the Scavengers, they held back.

The old butler paid them no mind. Even with his heart pounding, he kept up a calm front.

Normally, he wouldn't have said a word.

Since Wang De's death, the Wang Clan had fallen into decline. The Red Dart Merchant Association, a group they'd once looked down on, had become a force they couldn't afford to ignore.

But when he saw Li Yèlái, his fear vanished.

He knew how strong Li Yèlái was. That night, he'd been the one to save the surviving members of the Wang family.

With someone that powerful watching over them, what was there to fear?

And so the old butler found his courage and began cooperating with the listening Handlers, hoping to learn more.

Xu Shi smiled. "Then why don't you and your people go first? It'll show my respect for Mr. Wang De."

"Of course. But you have to tell me why. I need to know how my men died! The Old Patriarch may be dead, but the Wang Clan still can't be insulted with impunity!" The old butler wasn't intimidated. He stepped forward, picked up a dice cup, and shook it casually.

"I'll give you an explanation." Xu Shi inclined his head slightly, ignoring the old butler's words.

The old butler opened the dice cup. Inside were five dice, totaling sixteen points. Xu Shi's man had rolled eighteen.

"And then?" the old butler asked with a frown.

"Unfortunately, you lost. Next," Xu Shi said with a smile.

The bodyguards the old butler had brought forward also shook the dice cups. Every one of them lost. With five dice, the odds of rolling exactly one point higher than the other person were too low.

After the old butler's group had their turn, the others were brought to the table as well.

They all lost—until a woman with a troubled expression was brought up to the table.

Then something strange happened. Xu Shi's man rolled seventeen, and she rolled eighteen.

She was the first person in the group to win.

Xu Shi gave a slight nod and had someone place a bag of money behind the woman, then continued, "Switch hands."

The woman nodded reluctantly and shook the dice with her left hand.

Once again, Xu Shi's man rolled twenty-two, while the woman rolled twenty-three.

She'd won again!

Xu Shi smiled even more broadly. Another bag of money was placed behind the trembling woman. "Keep going!"

The woman was terrified, but she shook the dice again.

Xu Shi's man rolled five ones, for a total of five. The woman rolled four ones and a two, for a total of six!

She'd won again!

"See? We found it, didn't we?" Xu Shi said, smiling broadly.

But the woman suddenly fell to her knees, kowtowing in terror as she begged for mercy. "I didn't rob you! I didn't! On my way back, I found a corpse and took it off him. Really, I didn't steal it from you!"

She raised her arm in terror, revealing a glittering gold coin in her palm.

The moment the coin appeared, greed welled up in everyone's eyes. Their breathing grew ragged.

Gold was always so dazzling and luxurious.

And this coin inspired an overwhelming urge to obtain it at any cost.

Some of the Scavengers were already red-eyed, ready to cut off the woman's arm and steal the coin.

Even Xu Shi's eyes were bloodshot as he stared at the coin. He couldn't help taking a step forward, wanting to get closer.

But the Male Bodyguard behind him gripped his shoulder, snapping him out of the coin's spell.

Drenched in cold sweat, Xu Shi nodded to the Male Bodyguard.

Then the Female Bodyguard approached the woman and reached for the coin.

But the woman held on to it with all her might. Even now, with no way out, she still refused to give up the coin in her hand.

Her fingers clamped down on it, her face twisted with struggle.

The Female Bodyguard frowned, seized the woman's arm with both hands, and wrenched it with all her strength.

She snapped the woman's arm and only then managed to take the coin.

She dropped it into the treasure chest, and everyone finally came to their senses.

"What a beautiful coin," the owner beside Li Yèlái murmured. "So beautiful."

Li Yèlái, however, felt alarm bells ringing in his mind.

Even he could feel the coin's allure, though it hadn't affected him as intensely as it had the others.

A Forbidden Item. It had to be!

All the chaos and killing had been caused by this one coin—no, by this whole chest of coins!

Li Yèlái looked at the treasure chest, lowering the black umbrella in his hand.

He also seemed to notice something strange: Xu Shi appeared to be very deferential to the Male Bodyguard behind him.

At the same time, the West City Branch Handler squad outside the factory grounds scattered into action.

More than a dozen military off-road vehicles drove out of the darkness and quickly blocked every entrance to the factory grounds.

"Confirmed. The Forbidden Item held by the Red Dart Merchant Association is a C-Rank Greed Gold Coin!"

"Damn it! Don't let the last coin go back in the chest!"

The C-Rank Forbidden Item, the Greed Gold Coin, had originally been contained in the West City Branch's Black Prison.

It was also known as the Lucky Gold Coin.

Its true form was a treasure chest containing one hundred gold coins. Each coin carried a powerful karmic connection to wealth.

When someone carried a coin, their luck with money would steadily improve. They'd win every bet!

It seemed like a wonderful ability, but it came with an incredibly terrifying downside.

Along with their tremendous luck, the coins had an equally tremendous allure.

People who saw the coins would often be consumed by greed and erupt into bloody fights over them.

They'd stop at nothing to get a coin.

Before the authorities contained the Greed Gold Coin, it had already caused many massacres.

People in the wilderness had killed and injured hundreds of others fighting to claim the coins.

That was the price of good fortune!

Only by collecting the coins and putting them back in the chest could most of the greed be dispelled.

But if, before that happened, many people had already killed one another over the coins,

then collecting them all and returning them to the chest would cause the Forbidden Item to go completely out of control!

The Greed Treasure Chest would turn into a monster and attack every human it saw!

This was already an extremely dangerous Forbidden Item, and what made it even more dangerous was that the Red Dart Merchant Association didn't know how deadly it was!

Meanwhile, the room fell silent after the coin appeared.

Only the Female Bodyguard moved among the injured they'd captured earlier, searching their bodies—even inside them. One of the men had hidden a coin inside himself, but she still dug it out.

Whenever a coin appeared, everyone present stared with bloodshot eyes, desperate to rush forward and seize it.

But each time the Female Bodyguard put a coin in the chest, that urge faded.

Only then did Xu Shi, drenched in sweat from holding himself back, speak. "Then there's just one left."

He looked around at everyone and smiled. "Take it out. Right now, I only want the coin. If you make me find it myself, I won't stop at the coin!"

Someone in the crowd trembled all over before finally speaking up. "I-I didn't kill any of your people. I got it from someone else who'd been robbing people. I never did anything to you!"

Xu Shi's smile grew even brighter. "Good. Hand over the coin, and we can still be friends. I won't lay a finger on you!"

Under threat of death, the man eventually pulled a coin from his coat.

What choice did he have? He was surrounded by Scavengers, and with the dice game, there was nowhere he could hide.

After hesitating for a moment, he suppressed the urge to flee and tossed the coin straight to the Female Bodyguard.

As the coin glinted in midair, Xu Shi's smile grew more frenzied. The Female Bodyguard spread her hands, ready to catch it.

But in the next instant, a hand snatched the coin.

It rolled between his fingers before he finally closed his fist around it.

Xu Shi's expression darkened, while the Female Bodyguard's face tightened.

The one who'd intercepted the coin was none other than Li Yèlái.

Li Yèlái instinctively felt that something terrible would happen once that last coin landed.

He didn't know the Forbidden Item's name, but his instincts were warning him.

"What are you doing? Xiao Ye, put the coin down! People are going to die!" the owner cried in terror.

The other Scavengers also rushed forward, drawing their weapons.

Li Yèlái didn't answer. He slipped the coin into the inner pocket of his windbreaker.

Then, in full view of everyone, he walked over to the gambling table from earlier.

He began shaking a dice cup. The Scavenger opposite him looked to Xu Shi.

Xu Shi glanced back at the bodyguards, then gave a slight nod. The Scavenger shook his dice cup as well.

Then they opened their cups at the same time.

The Scavenger had rolled seventeen; Li Yèlái had rolled eighteen!

But one of the dice suddenly cracked and broke apart.

The original eighteen became thirteen.

He'd still lost.

Xu Shi and both bodyguards looked shaken. The effect that made him win every bet had actually failed?

Could the coin be fake?

The coin was real, of course. But Li Yèlái had always been unlucky. A die breaking seemed perfectly plausible.

"Looks like this coin isn't all that powerful after all." Li Yèlái took out an identification card and smiled at Xu Shi. "Why don't we just—"

"Hand all of them over to me!"

Xu Shi was stunned into silence. He'd never met anyone so brazen.

Not only had this guy taken the coin right in front of all his men, he was demanding every last coin as well!

But when the Male Bodyguard saw the identification card, he said quietly, "I'm afraid not, friend from the authorities."

"Then I guess..." Li Yèlái sighed.

The black umbrella slammed down, and the Chilong Ji flashed with a cold gleam.

You've got some nerve!