Braised Pork Belly with Yuanbao

Mimir Hot Spring Market

--Qingjin Police Department.

The building stands on the northwest side of Sweet Potato Street, backed by the Freud Mine, at a very high elevation, requiring an elevator to reach.

Wen Luo followed the police officers at the station and acted as a tour guide for the three children.

"You must be wondering why the chief architect chose to build the Police Department and the prison here. In the world on earth, it's said that the higher you climb, the colder it gets, and the higher the building, the higher your status—but in Mimir Hot Spring Market, it's the exact opposite."

He gestured vividly as he followed his good brother from the detention center up the stairs, talking as he went.

"The Mimir Hot Spring Market has a very high carbon footprint. More than a million people eat, drink, relieve themselves, cook, and drive every day. Although there is a 70,000 square kilometer underground cavity that is a relatively independent ecological cycle, the higher the altitude, the higher the temperature."

Weng Ge pointed to the Metropolitan Police Department, which is located on a cliff in the mountains.

"This is the highest point in the entire city. If an accident occurs anywhere, helicopters departing from here can reach the disaster area directly from above."

"If a prisoner has an acute illness, or if a female prisoner is about to give birth, it only takes seven minutes to get her to the nearest hospital for surgery."

"The underfloor heating system can prevent prisoners from freezing to death during an emergency power outage, and the thin air will choke them, weakening their fighting ability during a riot."

So,

Just as Weng Ge was vividly introducing the attractions to the guests--

--A Lapis Lazuli Guards, who had been listening the whole way, finally couldn't help but point out. "You're not a prisoner, so why are you introducing prisons to these passengers?"

Wen Luo raised his hands. "That's right!"

Xue Ming showed the handcuffs. "That's right."

Meteor looked completely innocent. "We're not criminals, why are we being handcuffed?"

Jason remained silent. "."

They had just dealt with a beast that had reached the level of a celestial being.

--In Mimir Hot Spring Market, this monster is considered a very serious psionic hazard. If not handled properly, it could run into the settlements of the upper city, feeding and fighting at the same time, resulting in many deaths.

As a result, the good brothers from the Qingjin Police Department arrived at the scene and handcuffed the four of them without saying a word.

Xue Ming understood this approach. Anyone capable of dealing with monsters must possess immense destructive power. Before their origins and backgrounds could be ascertained, it was natural to lock them up and interrogate them.

Jason understood this approach. After all, these Spirit Calamity monsters were brought in by the Skull and Bones Society; they were man-made disasters. If the Lapis Lazuli Guards couldn't find a clear explanation, this kind of near-terrorist attack would definitely happen again.

Meteor didn't understand this approach.

He demonstrated through his actions why he didn't understand.

He slightly opened his arms, and the handcuffs snapped off.

Then he made a series of winks and shrugged indifferently as he sent the applause off.

Wen Luo also didn't understand this approach.

He broke free of his handcuffs along with the meteor, using his soul power to crush the steel lock and buckles.

The armed employees responsible for security escort simultaneously raised their guns, tensing up.

The Lapis Lazuli Guards weren't surprised; after all, they had seen Wen Luo's abilities on CCTV. They didn't say anything and helped Jiang Xueming and Jason unlock their handcuffs—their attitude becoming slightly more amiable.

One of the Lapis Lazuli Guards tried to save face for the Police Department by saying a few kind words.

"Please understand. We're just following the instructions and taking your statement. We won't make things difficult for you."

Regarding the disaster caused by the sacred beast.

The four people took turns providing a detailed record.

Putting aside the mystery surrounding Wen Luo's identity, the man truthfully recounted how he dealt with the beast and demonstrated his Soul Power to the investigating officials without reservation.

He worked alongside the station's vehicle-mounted artillery, fighting alongside the special forces at Guangling Zhixi, providing tremendous assistance during the disaster relief efforts.

--As for the other three children.

Jiang Xueming's confession was clear and logical. Judging from the text, he was just a day-tripper looking for work at the Mimir Hot Spring Market.

Bu Liuxing's confession was vague and ambiguous, and he appeared to be just a person who went to the heart of the disaster area for fun, judging from the content of the text.

Finally, there's Jason Megan.

This person's passenger log and identification were new, and after completing the replacement procedures, they never took a ride again.

The fact that he uttered the word "Skull and Bones Society" immediately drew the attention of the Police Department.

Before Jason could react, he was taken to the deeper Freud Exile Zone and sent to a secret interrogation room for questioning.

The warden personally escorted the three guests to the helipad.

"You can leave now."

Jiang Xueming recalled that the four of them were interrogated separately, and only three have been released so far— Jason Megan remains in the Police Department.

Why is that? Could this guy really be a hunter?

"Warden, may I ask a few more questions? Why didn't the person who came with us come out?"

The warden was a large, fat man with a fierce, menacing face. Upon hearing Jiang Xueming's question, he immediately adopted a stern demeanor and barked, "What? You know him well? You think you can just stay here?"

"Hey!" Wen Luo immediately ran to the warden's side, putting his arm around his shoulder. With his other hand, he pulled a cigar from the warden's pocket, showing no hesitation whatsoever. "Good brother, have a smoke. Don't get so angry! These two are my guests, and their logs are very new! They're just curious kids, aren't they? Don't take it too seriously with children!"

In that instant, the warden felt an immense, Inspiration pressure, as if he were being watched by a apex predator. The arm that gripped his neck (if he had a neck) was like the jaws of a shark.

Okay, alright.

"Could you tell us?" Wen Luo's eyes were friendly, his tone gentle. He drew his gun from the warden's waist, lit his cigar, and asked, "Tell us what wrong that kid from Romania inside did?"

The warden took a deep drag, billowing smoke, and immediately felt much better. The burly middle-aged man explained, "That guy has Lapis Lazuli, he's in his thirties, and he's always running around with waiters. He doesn't have a proper job. According to our investigation, he came to the Mimir Hot Spring Market four months ago and took a job at an orchestra. His behavior is suspicious."

Xue Ming: "What's suspicious?"

The warden continued, "If you're capable of being a policeman, why be a vigilante? If you can work for the Police Department, why work for a band? That's why I said this guy's behavior is suspicious—earlier, he was reported for vandalism at Nine Realms Station."

Jiang Xueming quickly searched for relevant information in his notebook and wrote down the new words.

"Is he really a criminal? Is there direct evidence?"

"There's no direct evidence, but we suspect Jason Megan has joined the Skull and Bones Society, and that he's working with them to smuggle these monsters into the city." The warden sneered. "Luckily, heaven has eyes; these wicked criminals can't escape the law."

Jiang Xueming's gaze was intense. "What are you going to do to him?"

"To join Skull and Bones Society, you must kill your servant. If you can't find your servant, it means he's already been murdered." The warden laughed, as if recalling scenes of torture. "We've already sent him to the prison's interrogation department. We'll inject him with truth serum and subject him to electric shocks and waterboarding. That's the only way to ensure that what he says is true. What? You want to bail him out? Only his servant can vouch for him. No one else will help. Even if the boss himself comes to take him away, we will never let this kind of suspect go."

"This older guy on the motorcycle..." Meteor sensed something was off, but couldn't quite put her finger on it. "He personally led us to the giant lion! And when we asked for his help, he didn't refuse!"

"That proves nothing." The warden shook his head, a mocking smile on his face. "Naive kid, do you think cannibals will have a change of heart and stop eating human flesh? I've never believed these criminals will reform. They've suffered terribly in prison. Their process of atonement is like a trainer taming a man-eating beast; they've already tasted the sweetness of human flesh. It's just that their crimes don't warrant death. It's a waste of the Police Department's manpower to discipline these useless pieces of trash who only produce waste and increase carbon emissions."

Cigar smoke fell onto the H-marker line on the tarmac and was swirled into dust by the strong wind.

The warden pursed his lips, his mouth drooping, head held high, revealing a scar on his cheek; one of his ears was missing.

"This ear was bitten off by a criminal. Once these prisoners suffer injustice in prison, they'll only inflict those wounds on more ordinary people when they get out—hey! Cold-blooded kid, you better control this tall, silly guy! The underworld isn't as wonderful as he thinks!"

Although Jiang Xueming and Jason had an old score to settle—a score that could be settled with fifty milliliters of Universal Elixir —at most, Jason would also have to eat a plate of poisoned sweet and sour pork ribs, kneel down and kowtow to A Xing a few times, and go to jail for poisoning under Romania criminal law.

It's that simple.

Xue Ming just couldn't understand many things, and couldn't make sense of them.

--I don't think Jason Megan is really a heinous cannibal.

Because Jason's waiter was reluctant to part with his employer.

According to A Xing, the bearded man who was waiting outside the toilet and chatting with A Xing was Jason Megan.

At that point, Jason could have simply taken the phone and logbook from Meteor's clothes; there was no need for such a roundabout way.

Castor's convenience store is famous for its signature dishes; would he really go to such great lengths to do something so simple?

If you want my log, you want my life.

On the only road leading to the Bu Family on Chima Avenue, I have nine ways to use dump trucks to create fatal car accidents from different angles.

According to the warden, Jason has extensive travel experience and should be much more cautious than I am. Unless he never intended to kill me, there wouldn't be so many mysterious and complicated things going on.

I hate complicating simple things. Just like mechanical structures, the more complex the machine, the more prone it is to malfunction.

Brother Wen Luo is right--

--There's no need to avoid the storm. If Jason Megan's target is me, I should investigate his background, his skills, his strengths, and his weaknesses, and then completely eliminate this feeling of unease.

I told the boss that I wanted to make these hunters live in constant fear and sleepless nights. There are now two organizations specifically designed to deal with these people.

One of them is the Lapis Lazuli Guards —I don't think I can go there; I'll be bogged down by the complicated and redundant procedures. I might even be sent by the BOSS to guard the prison as soon as I get in.

The other is Guangling Zhixi – it's the station's rapid response force. With my current strength and knowledge, I'm far from being able to reach its threshold. In the disaster caused by the Holy Beast, I can hardly help at all. If you want me to do observation work on the train, or be a half-baked artilleryman, I'm afraid I'll have to study ballistics for a very long time.

This kind of disaster can't be solved by a single dump truck.

"Ming Ge? Ming Ge!" Bu Liuxing waved his hand. "What are you thinking about? You're frowning, starting to get anxious again?"

"Let's go." Jiang Xueming stopped thinking about it and decided to save his spiritual essence and brain cells for the transformation.

The three boarded the helicopter, Wen Luo continued to chatter on, pointing out various districts from the air, looking very happy.

Jiang Xueming had no interest in traveling. While preparing for interviews and trying to find a stable job, she was also calculating another expense in her mind.

To fulfill the shooting star's wish and open a café in the underground world is probably not such a simple matter.

First, there's the location. According to Meteor, the cheapest shopfront in the area near the main train station costs 17,800 Brilliant Stones per month, with a deposit of one month's rent and three months' rent paid upfront, and a minimum lease term of one year.

Including the costs of decorating the storefront and purchasing various items, at least 200,000 shards of gemstones are needed as start-up capital.

If you rent in a large city that is relatively remote from the train station, such as Mimir Hot Spring Market, the rent will be much cheaper, but the security will be a major problem, and the logistics costs will increase dramatically.

For cold chain logistics like Nine Realms Station, and for food and beverage shops like cafes that mainly sell desserts and snacks, Qi Ge's Volga can be used for transporting goods, saving a lot of money.

Moon Lane is only about 50 kilometers away from Hung Hom, and I can make about ten trips a day.

Jiang Xueming finally made up his mind—to earn at least 400,000 Radiant Stones at the Mimir Hot Spring Market, pay off the money he owed Xiao Qi in one go, and then return to the Nine Realms to open a shop.

Based on the stakes of a gun duel, I must defeat four hundred opponents in this life-or-death duel.

Based on the salary of the most popular barbecue stalls in the Mimir Hot Spring Market, I would need to work in the water preparation position for eighteen months, responsible for gutting and processing raw meat.

If there's an opportunity to be promoted to head chef, it only takes ten months.

But here's the problem--

These salary standards were all told to me by Brother Wen Luo.

In this city, chefs are paid shockingly high wages.

The monthly income is comparable to the salary of a new passenger survey task.

Why is this happening?

"Brother Wen! Why are the chefs at the Mimir Hot Spring Market paid so much? The cooks there earn between 18,000 and 27,000 a month?"

"The 'water dish' I'm talking about might not be the simple water dish you're thinking of," Wen Luo smiled and explained. "This job of gutting and processing lettuce starts from the tundra hunt and ends the moment the prey becomes a side dish."

"Oh," Jiang Xueming finally understood; so that's what the water case meant.

Wen Luo tossed the two large metal chunks of his Magic Wand to Jiang Xueming: "In this city, the four most important things are clothing, food, shelter, and transportation—fire-resistant clothing for extreme cold and heat, warm hunting attire, refreshing Guangling San buns, expensive off-road motorcycles, a warm hunting camp, and pheromone tents to ward off monsters. Jobs related to these industries are all very, very lucrative. Your file says you used to be a chef, right?"

Jiang Xueming carefully put away the broken pieces of the Magic Wand and nodded.

"Victor told you to come here to look for work, you've chosen the right place!" Wen Luo said, then immediately turned around and shouted, "Sir, do you have a POS machine? I need to transfer money!"

A sticky, foreign object, resembling a fleshy ball, was immediately thrown in front of the helicopter's crew cabin.

Wen Luo caught it, gripping the fleshy ball tightly, and pried open its six limbs to reveal neat teeth and a narrow cavity.

Jiang Xueming and Bu Liuxing felt their scalps tingle and hid to the side.

Bu Liuxing: "What the heck is this?"

Xue Ming: "Although the door-to-door salespeople promoting credit card POS machines are disgusting, they're not as intriguing as this thing."

Wen Luo explained, "You didn't write this on the new entries page of your passenger logs?"

"Maybe we're still newbies, the kind of bright and cheerful high school students the boss sees. To prevent things like student loans from happening, the boss hasn't mentioned this kind of payment tool in our logs," Meteor admitted. "This thing looks so ugly, is it really a POS machine?"

Wen Luo wiped the slime off the fleshy ball, carefully explaining, "This is an immortal Chaos Egg. This species has a vast pheromone network, which is extremely convenient for keeping accounts. Just hand it your HC bank card from anywhere on Earth, and..."

As he said this, Wen Luo flipped the ball of flesh over, revealing the digital dial on its back.

"And once the transfer amount is entered, they will send the transaction back to the Council of Five Kings's accounting desk—it doesn't go through the World Wide Web, there's no electromagnetic interference, and no hacker can break into this financial system; it's extremely secure."

"My goodness. So Bitcoin is made of flesh." Meteor chewed on her handkerchief, wrinkles forming on her face.

"It uses pheromones to match with corresponding financial institutions, so any bad debt, fraudulent account, or erroneous account can be traced back to the individual." Wen Luo inserted his HC and said to Jiang Xueming, "Here, I'll transfer the money to you."

"Huh? Brother Wen, you have money?" Xue Ming asked in surprise. "What about before when you said you owed your landlord a lot of money and had to work to pay it off?"

"That's right. My landlord saved my life, so I have to repay that debt. My job is to attract customers to his Happy Town Barbecue, and to do so by building up his reputation, I can get people to rent rooms." Wen Luo answered truthfully, "The boss asked my landlord to find me and asked me to be your tour guide, so I have to complete this task well."

Immediately afterwards, Wen Luo pointed to Jiang Xueming's large backpack.

"I broke your Magic Wand, gave me a Universal Elixir, and lent me Mingde's remains to slay the giant lion beast. I have nothing to repay you with, nor can I offer myself in return, so I can only offer you some mundane gifts."

"Oh," Jiang Xueming said, suddenly becoming uneasy at the mention of the Magic Wand, unsure if he could repair the staff that had been his companion for life.

He handed the HC to Brother Wen Luo: "Just give me whatever you think is appropriate, I won't do the math."

He genuinely couldn't calculate how much these things were worth.

Two magnetic cards were stuffed into the mouth of the Chaos Egg.

Wen Luo pounded on the fleshy ball's back, then turned it around and gave it 418,888 shard coins.

There are also two Blood Butterfly Shopping Coupons.

Meteor's jaw almost dropped to the floor.

Brother Wen is really too kind; he's so generous.

"Brother Wen." Xue Ming took the card back, wiped the sticky saliva off HC, and before he could figure out what was going on, he had already achieved his small goal of "earning 400,000".

"This city will not let down the heroes who protected it." Wen Luo laughed happily and tossed the POS machine back to the maintenance personnel in the cockpit.

"We defeated a formidable foe, a calamity that only appears once every seventy years. At least six streets and fourteen residential buildings in the Upper City escaped the calamity. This is its reward to us."

Wen Luo raised his phone--

--The above shows a transfer notification from Bai Le Men Company.

Hunting a Saint-level beast was a large order worth 880,000 Radiant Stones.

Xue Ming and Liuxing received slightly less than half of the original amount.

"And I need your help with a few things, my two partners!" Wen Luo crossed his legs and rested them on the helicopter window. "Besides the four industries of clothing, food, housing, and transportation, I wonder if you are interested in the metallurgical industry, and if you would be willing to..."

Soul Power launched an attack in an instant--

--The dark arm snatched the rhinoceros revolver from Xue Ming's body.

It only takes a breath.

Jiang Xueming is vying with the incarnation of a deity for ownership of this weapon.

With a swift movement of his fingers, he dismantled the cylinder of this specially constructed revolver with a sunken barrel, wedging the hammer and barrel into two bent steel needles used for mending clothes, thus preventing it from firing immediately if it fell into enemy hands.

Almost instinctively, Xue Ming was driven to perform these safety actions as the gun left his hand.

"Would you be willing to modify a new gun for me, Jiang Xueming?" Wen Luo looked at the Rhino revolver, now completely unusable and no longer firing, his eyes filled with satisfaction and admiration. "You're such a skillful boy. No wonder Victor likes you so much, risking exposing his dark past to send you here as his apprentice."

"If there are specific engineering drawings and design requirements, it shouldn't be a problem. I can't say for sure, though." Jiang Xueming nodded.

"In return, I will reforge this staff for you. Like your corundum, you'll find it very, very difficult to wield it with one hand. It needs to be in pairs." Wen Luo smiled and shouted loudly, "Brother Qingjin! Give me some wealth and prosperity! Today is a good day! I've met a very important partner in my life!"

Immediately, fast food packaging bags flew over.

Wen Luo accepted the three bags of snacks, all of which contained braised pork belly in gold ingots, and distributed them to Xue Ming and Liuxing.

"This is the best local snack. It's packed with energy, and you'll feel like your body is filled with fire the moment you eat it!"

Xue Ming tore open the packaging bag, took out a [Gold Yuanbao] from inside, and put it in his mouth to chew it carefully.

He remained persistent, wanting to find more clues from this mysterious man.

"Brother Wen, you must be [JOE], right? Your name is [LOE], but it's only one letter different."

"But I really can't remember." Wen Luo bent down and looked at Xue Ming. "If you can help me remember, I'll send you some more money?"

At this very moment, the shooting star could see it clearly.

--When these two people hunched over and looked up, their dark eyes revealed no light, making them look like a pair of extremely similar twin brothers.

"Ooh ooh ooh! Ooh ooh ooh ooh ooh!" Bu Liuxing popped a piece of braised pork into his mouth and suddenly started yelling, "Ooh ooh ooh ooh ooh! Ooh ooh ooh!"

The little genius seemed to have thought of something, but was too shocked to believe it—was it possible that Brother Xue Ming and Wen Luo were related by blood?

Jiang Xueming: "I know what he's thinking."

Wen Luo: "I guessed it too."

Jiang Xueming: "Is there any possibility?"

Wen Luo: "No way, we've only known each other for a short time."

Jiang Xueming: "Yes, you can't be my father."

In fact, Xue Ming and Wen Luo look very different.

The only similarity is that pyroxene has similar properties.

Xue Ming speaks very, very little.

Wen Luo had a lot to say.

But that unwavering, steadfast demeanor is exactly the same.

Xue Ming continued.

"Brother Wen Luo, you've given us so much compensation. Besides fixing up your new gun, there must be something else you need our help with, right?"

Wen Luo nodded.

"Based on the information I've gathered so far, I've arranged a series of popular tourist spots for you to visit: the central square, the human resources market, bars, and dance halls—go to these places to search for traces of the Skull and Bones Society. This city is in trouble, and its warriors won't stand idly by."

Xue Ming: "Will my life be in danger?"

Wen Luo tossed the braised pork into the air.

"Even if you're not sick, you could be taken away by a speeding dump truck while you're just walking a few steps on the street."

Xue Ming opened his mouth to catch it, feeling his body warm up, as if flames were burning in his chest, and his fighting spirit soared.

That makes sense.