I'm probably going to... retrieve what belongs to me?

At 10:07 PM, in the southeast corner of the Black Cave Settlement, lay the lair of Kalleva, the largest gang that effectively ruled the settlement.

A small cargo pickup truck slowly drove in, only to be stopped by the Kalleva gang members guarding the entrance to what looked like a large industrial zone.

The driver rolled down the window and skillfully handed over a pack of cigarettes he had prepared. The guard took them naturally, pulled one out to light it, and frowned at the driver.

"Didn't you just come by at noon today? What? Got new goods so soon?"

"Yes, yes, I got lucky. My supplier caught a few more fish, so I figured I'd rush them over to you right away!"

"What about the guy in the passenger seat? I don't recall you ever bringing an accomplice before."

"Ah! Him? He's, uh, he's my new apprentice. I brought him along to show him the ropes, heh, hehe."

The driver spoke with a slight stutter, forcing an unnatural smile onto his face.

He hoped the gang members opposite him would notice something was wrong, but unfortunately, perhaps because it was too dark, or perhaps because these gangsters never imagined anyone in the Black Cave would dare to cause trouble for Kalleva, they didn't catch on.

The guards at the factory gate burst into laughter, especially the one who had asked the question, as if they had just heard a hilarious joke.

"Hey, hey, hey! Seriously? My ears aren't playing tricks on me, are they? Even Scavengers are taking on apprentices now!? These days, as long as there's money to be made, people will learn anything!"

"Hahaha, that's right," the driver replied with a forced laugh.

Usually, these guards would perform a symbolic inspection, but this time they seemed so amused that they didn't even glance at the back of the pickup, simply waving the driver through.

"You Scavengers really make a killing; it almost makes me want to try it myself. Alright, alright, get in there."

"Thank you. Thank you, boss."

The driver nodded and bowed, putting on a show of gratitude, but inside he was cursing them as a bunch of idiots. He wanted to say something more, but when the young man in the passenger seat glanced over, he quickly rolled up the window and continued driving the pickup into the industrial zone.

A few minutes later, the pickup stopped beside a warehouse.

"B-big brother, this is it. The rest of the process is, after I unload the goods, I go to the head supervisor in front of the warehouse. He pays me based on the value of the goods."

"This warehouse is where they store the stock. If it's high-end cargo, they send people to transport it even deeper inside, but... but that's not a place I'm allowed to go."

The Scavenger tried his best to explain to Liao Ji. He didn't know who Liao Ji was or what he was planning, but he was certain that this young man was insane.

Others were desperate to stay as far away from Kalleva as possible, yet this youth was actively sneaking in. He wanted to escape as quickly as possible so he wouldn't be implicated.

"The cargo you delivered at noon, which warehouse was it put in?" Liao Ji asked abruptly.

"That... that was high-end cargo. They sent it directly to the deeper area I mentioned earlier."

The Scavenger initially wondered why the youth was asking, but soon, when he connected it to the fate of Dr. Fredre, he broke out in a cold sweat, realizing what the youth was doing.

"That nun has nothing to do with me! I-I'm just a middleman driver! It was all that guy Fredre, that black-hearted doctor!"

The man began to back away in fear, trying to distance himself from the responsibility, but when he saw the look in Liao Ji's eyes—the look one gives a dead man—he completely collapsed.

"Y-you can't! You can't kill me! If I don't come out within half an hour, they'll send people to search! Yes! That's right! Then you'll all be exposed! If you let me leave safely, I-I promise you, I won't say a single word to them!"

The Scavenger thought he held a trump card for survival, but the answer he received was a piercing, agonizing pain from behind. The Scavenger looked down to see a sharp dagger protruding from his chest.

"W-why..."

The man died without understanding. Did these two really not fear being discovered by Kalleva?

Only in his final moments did he hear the youth say:

"Half an hour... should be enough. Hmm, don't worry, no one is getting out tonight. Soon, even the gangsters here will be going down to join you."

"You... you lunatic..."

Thud!

The Scavenger spat blood and fell to the ground, his eyes wide with disbelief.

After dragging the body into a nearby grove, Irin continued to slip into the darkness of the night, while Liao Ji hoisted Fredre's body bag from the pickup and headed toward the location the man had pointed out—the office of the head supervisor in charge of the warehouses.

Perhaps because it was late, there were only three gangsters in the supervisor's room, including the man himself. They were all drinking and playing cards, half-drunk. When Liao Ji entered, they didn't even notice his unfamiliar face, assuming he was the Scavenger.

This saved Liao Ji some effort. The girl emerged from the shadows behind him, and within two or three breaths, she had slit the throats of all three gangsters.

After finding the warehouse keys on the leader, Liao Ji and Irin entered the so-called "storage" warehouse.

The moment the door opened, a nauseating stench hit them. With the help of the faint moonlight filtering through the windows, Liao Ji saw a scene as miserable as a concentration camp.

Among the living people captured, there were men and women, all extremely weak; many were delirious, hanging on by a thread. The source of the stench was a corpse that had starved to death in the corner—a child who couldn't have been more than ten years old.

"Let's go." After circling the room and failing to find Irin's mother, Liao Ji said expressionlessly to the girl behind him, whose fists were tightly clenched.

But anyone familiar with Liao Ji knew that when he was expressionless, it meant things had truly gone too far.

Indeed, in Liao Ji's heart, this was no longer just about helping Irin rescue her mother; he had passed a death sentence on the Kalleva gang.

The Holy Kingdom was built by Stia, and the Black Cave was part of that kingdom. In Liao Ji's heart, Stia was synonymous with everything pure, kind, and beautiful.

Now, with such a filthy, disgusting stain on this land, Liao Ji could not allow himself to stand by and watch. This was not just for Irin, but for Stia.

After finding two sets of gang uniforms in the management office to change into, Liao Ji and Irin continued deeper into the factory area.

Perhaps this was a habit formed by "certain" games, giving every berserker a heart that longed for stealth.

But they hadn't gone far this time—not because they were discovered, but because within Liao Ji's line of sight, not far ahead, a suspicious-looking gangster appeared, constantly looking around with a furtive air.

The girl gave Liao Ji an inquiring look and made a throat-slitting gesture, but the youth shook his head. Instead, he took the initiative and walked briskly toward the man.

Because he hadn't bothered to mask his footsteps, the already vigilant gangster was startled by Liao Ji as he approached. Only after Liao Ji got closer did he see that the man seemed to be clutching something to his chest, which he hurriedly hid behind his back the moment he realized someone was walking toward him.

"Hey! What are you doing sneaking around here all by yourself? And what are you hiding behind your back? Take it out, now! Or I'll call for backup!"

Startled by Liao Ji's stern reprimand and the threat of calling others, the sneaky, lone gangster panicked. He shook his head at Liao Ji and then brought out the items he had been hiding to show him.

Old antiques, clay sculptures, copper coins, and even a rusty copper key?

Liao Ji looked at the junk inside the man's bag and frowned, feeling completely baffled.

On the other side, the sneaky gangster seemed to have regained his composure. He scrutinized Liao Ji's unfamiliar face, furrowed his brows, and began to interrogate him:

"Wait! Hold on a second. Who are you? How come I've never seen you before?"

"Oh, we're subordinates of Lord Simon. Yeah, we were just recruited recently." Liao Ji answered casually; Simon was the name of the warehouse supervisor.

Upon hearing that Liao Ji was just a regular member and a newcomer, the man's face darkened. He immediately pulled back the bag he had been showing off, and his attitude toward Liao Ji changed completely.

"You motherf*er! You scared the st out of me! Didn't that bastard Simon teach you the rules?!"

"What are you planning to do with these things?" Liao Ji ignored the man's cursing and asked directly.

"I... ugh! My luck is f***ing terrible today! Running into two greenhorns like you! Forget it, forget it. Since I've got a bit too much cargo today, you two can help me carry some!"

Cargo?

These things were considered cargo too?

"What are you standing there for? Take them!"

The cursing man divided the trinkets between Liao Ji and Irin, then said with a tone of command:

"Listen up, newbies. You're lucky. There's a way to make a fortune right in front of you. As long as you do as I say, we'll all make a killing. Now, first thing: hurry back to your warehouse and grab any test subject you can find. Remember, be stealthy—don't get caught. You hear me?"

After the man finished speaking, Liao Ji hesitated for a moment before giving Irin a look. The girl nodded and immediately turned back, while Liao Ji stayed behind to prevent the gangster from running off.

"Heh, pretty smart. Not bad, I like it! How about it? Any interest in working for me, Artur, from now on?"

"Sure." Liao Ji replied instantly.

Artur: "Uh..."

It couldn't have been even a minute before Irin returned with a body bag slung over her shoulder. Seeing Irin moving with such speed and agility, Artur quietly swallowed a lump in his throat.

"Your buddy... he's got quite a bit of strength."

"And then? Can you tell us the rest of the plan now?"

"Don't be so impatient! Bring the body bag and follow me. I'll tell you once we're inside the 'factory'."

Just like that, under Artur's lead, Liao Ji and Irin proceeded without obstruction and successfully arrived at a large factory located in the deepest part of the industrial park.

As soon as they approached the factory, both Liao Ji and the girl frowned simultaneously, because they could both feel waves of Corrupt Calamity radiating from within.

Moreover, the level of pollution was definitely not low—at least C-rank. Irin couldn't imagine what kind of terrifying source of pollution must be kept inside to shroud such a massive factory.

The security at this Corrupt Calamity factory was clearly much tighter; even at this hour, several squads of gangsters were patrolling nearby, and a large number of them were guarding the factory entrance.

Fortunately, with Artur there—who had clearly bribed his way in—the guards didn't question them too much. As they let them pass, they handed them three crosses.

"Take these and make sure you wear them. These are life-savers!" Artur turned and handed two to Liao Ji before carefully hanging his own cross tightly against his chest.

Liao Ji examined the cross, sensing a faint aura of Holy Light from within. This was the power of Stia, one of the few forces capable of purifying and neutralizing Corrupt Calamity.

It seemed now that the reason Kalleva could operate such a heavily polluted Corrupt Calamity factory here without many members going berserk or mutating was likely due to these crosses acting as "protective gear."

However...

Crosses, huh?

If it were just a few crosses, it might be explainable as coming from special channels. But if they were being used as consumables like this—potentially burning through hundreds every day—

The gangsters themselves had absolutely no way to manufacture these. There was only one organization capable of producing crosses imbued with Stia's power.

The Church.

Thinking of Stia's power being used in this manner, the look in Liao Ji's eyes as he stared at the factory turned even colder.

After the three of them successfully entered, Artur, familiar with the layout, spotted a corner and ducked in, pulling Liao Ji and the girl with him. This was a blind spot in the field of vision; it would be difficult for anyone in the factory to notice them tucked away in this corner.

"Alright, now you just need to take out all those trinkets I gave you earlier. I hope our luck is good this time and we can catalyze a few good items!"

Catalyze?

Could it be...

Only then did Liao Ji finally begin to understand.

This factory was filled with dense Corrupt Calamity pollution, but from another perspective, this was also a resource. If one could sneak external items inside and deliberately keep them away from the crosses, letting them become tainted by the Corrupt Calamity pollution here, they might just turn into...

Corrupt Calamity items.

No, looking at the man's demeanor, it didn't even matter if they were true Corrupt Calamity items. As long as the items were stained with the aura of Corrupt Calamity, he could take them back out and sell them on the black market for a huge profit!

This was the "way to make a fortune" he had mentioned to Liao Ji at the start.

Beside him.

Irin stood there, stunned.

The young girl stared blankly at the "mud sculpture" item she had been handed; how familiar it felt, and how ironic.

Because six years ago, that was exactly how her father had been, full of joy, thinking he had unearthed a "precious" Corrupt Calamity item on the black market, only to become a Corrupted and trigger the series of tragedies that followed.

Irin had never imagined, never once thought.

So this was how it all was.

"Artur, have you ever thought about it? If you taint these items with Corrupt Calamity and they circulate into the settlements outside, what kind of disaster will you cause?" Liao Ji asked, taking a deep breath.

"Ha!? Are you telling me there's something wrong with your brain? You got a problem with making money? What happens to the people who buy the goods is none of my ** business! If something actually happens, I'd say they deserve it, they brought it on themselves!"

"Have you ever thought that if you didn't do these things, many tragedies could be avoided?"

"Tsk, you really are a funny guy, looking for trouble, aren't you! I don't do it? You think I'm the only one doing this? Bullshit! There are plenty of people in the whole of Kalleva just like me, making extra money on the side doing this sneaky stuff!"

Artur seemed a bit annoyed; he had kindly brought them along to get rich, and now these two were turning around and asking him if he had a conscience?

Is a conscience useful? Can a conscience make him rich?

Conscience, my foot.

Pah!

"Come on, let me tell you, if you really have a conscience and want to be a saint, then go ahead and wipe out this factory in one go, so we won't have anywhere to work even if we wanted to. But do you have the ability? Do you even know what's stored inside this factory? If you don't have the ability, stop spouting this *** nonsense at me!"

"What is it?" Liao Ji asked.

Seeing the young man across from him still being stubborn, Artur sneered.

Immediately after, the gangster mocked Liao Ji with a tone full of pride and arrogance:

"Heh, listen up, newbie. What's stored here is the biggest trump card that makes us in Kalleva powerful, the reason we can be the masters of this Black Cave!"

"It's the relic of that legendary 'Great Emperor' that we dug out from the [Relic Cave]!"

As he spoke, a look of fanaticism and longing appeared on Artur's face. No one could help but go crazy over anything associated with the words "Great Emperor," let alone an actual relic.

He was currently only drinking a tiny bit of the "relic's" broth, and yet the profits were so immense that countless Kalleva members were willing to risk violating regulations and dying just to get a taste of it.

One could only imagine what a massive fortune it would be if one could actually possess the main body of a "Great Emperor's Relic"!

Unfortunately.

That kind of thing was just a fantasy. After all, even Kalleva hadn't figured out how to use the "Great Emperor's Relic" they had dug up yet; otherwise, they wouldn't have built such a large factory, scouring everywhere for "test subjects" just to try and awaken the "relic."

However, Artur believed that one day, Kalleva would surely succeed in activating the "relic" and awakening the true power of the "Great Emperor's Relic."

And when that time came.

Heh heh.

Forget about the Black Cave; they would be on their way to becoming the biggest gang in the entire Holy Kingdom.

Just as Artur was still lost in his fantasies of a bright future, the young man beside him, who had been silent for a moment, spoke up again.

"I see... no wonder." Liao Ji sighed with complex emotions.

"What do you mean 'no wonder'? Hey! Wait a second, where are you going! Don't just wander off!"

Watching Liao Ji stand up and turn to leave, Artur panicked. The fact that they were drinking the "relic's" broth was an unspoken rule within Kalleva; if they were caught red-handed, they would still face severe punishment.

But who would have thought that in response to his anxious dissuasion, the young man would turn his head back, seem to think about it seriously for a moment, and finally say:

"I suppose I'm going to... take back what belongs to me."

A super-sized chapter!