Repentance!

"Is this girl brain-damaged or something?"

Qi Zeyu pinched the orange mana crystal in his hand, then looked at the pile of extra First-Order Mana Crystals on the ground.

After buying low and selling high, he had lost nothing. On the contrary, he had made seventy First-Order Mana Crystals?!

Was Xu Xiao here to do charity work?!

Qi Zeyu frowned, feeling that something was off.

To test his suspicion, he opened the world chat channel again and selected a trade request to purchase high-order mana crystals.

Another 250 mana crystals landed in his hands.

Including the previous seventy, Qi Zeyu now had a total of 330 mana crystals.

Following the same method, he drafted a trade request and sent it to Xu Xiao.

[Player Qi Zeyu requests a trade.

Trade contents: 320 First-Order Mana Crystals.

Required payment: 8 Second-Order Mana Crystals.]

Less than a second later, the trade succeeded!

Qi Zeyu then used the Second-Order Mana Crystals he had obtained to acquire even more First-Order Mana Crystals at a high exchange rate, before sending Xu Xiao another trade request at a low rate.

Back and forth it went, and the total number of mana crystals in Qi Zeyu's possession grew larger and larger.

His misgivings were tossed to the wind as well.

At last, the corners of Qi Zeyu's mouth could no longer suppress their upward curl!

"Hahahaha! I ran into a stupid girl! Let's see if I don't clean out your entire stash!"

Qi Zeyu sat down cross-legged and composed a message in the world chat channel—

[Mana Crystal Exchange! Exchange First-Order Mana Crystals for Second-Order and Third-Order Mana Crystals. Exchange rates: 65:1, 260:1.]

He wanted to raise the exchange rate for First-Order Mana Crystals as much as possible!

Meanwhile, at the Zhao Family.

"This is bad, Brother Jin! Several more people have suddenly started buying high-order mana crystals. The rates that had just stabilized are rising again!"

"One of them is Qi Zeyu, the one ranked first on the Ranking List. He's raising the rates the most aggressively..."

Zhao Jin's expression turned livid, but he remained calm.

"They're just a few independent players. They can't buy much! Keep purchasing at the original rates!"

Not long after he spoke, someone in the meeting room shouted again.

"This won't work, Brother Jin! The other families have started raising their prices too. The Lin Family in particular is directly offering 300 First-Order Mana Crystals for one Third-Order Mana Crystal!!"

"If this continues, we won't be able to obtain a single high-order mana crystal!"

"Brother Jin, should we raise our rates too?!"

Zhao Jin's cheek twitched, his brows nearly twisting into knots.

If it were only independent Players competing with him for high-order mana crystals, it would not have mattered.

After all, the Zhao Family had abundant capital and an extraordinary number of First-Order Mana Crystals.

Independent Players could not swallow up many high-order mana crystals.

If they held out, they could simply wear them down until they left!

But the other families were different.

Like the Zhao Family, they possessed ample capital and had a massive demand for high-order mana crystals.

Once they seized the initiative, the Zhao Family truly would not be able to acquire any high-order mana crystals.

Gritting his teeth, Zhao Jin said coldly, "Raise the rates! We must crush the other families!"

"Don't forget that we have Luo Hong! If necessary, we can write IOUs!"

"Only by getting off to a good start now can the snowball keep rolling bigger later!"

Outside Yong City.

Watching the high-rises around them gradually disappear, Luo Hong began to panic.

Ever since that question, Lu Li had not said a single word. He had spent the entire time busy with the Data Panel.

What exactly was Lu Li doing?

Had he never intended to let her go at all?!

The Fear in Luo Hong's heart continued to ferment.

To make herself appear calm, she could only keep repeating to herself, "Lu Li wouldn't dare provoke the Zhao Family."

But after repeating it too many times, even Luo Hong began to doubt it.

Did Lu Li really not dare provoke the Zhao Family?

His surname was Lu!

What if he really was the surviving orphan of that family...

No, that couldn't possibly be such a coincidence!

Even if Lu Li truly was that family's surviving orphan, there was no way he could know the truth behind it!

The Zhao Family had handled everything cleanly back then.

They had taken care of all the connections. Nothing could go wrong!

Just as Luo Hong was consoling herself, the speeding vehicle suddenly slammed on the brakes.

Thrown forward by inertia, her entire face smacked into the back of the front seat.

The aching pain made tears and snot stream down Luo Hong's face, and she instinctively wanted to curse.

But when Luo Hong saw where they were outside the window, the obscenities at the tip of her tongue were immediately swallowed back down.

Her body began to tremble slightly.

They had stopped in front of a desolate villa.

Its grand architectural style and spacious entrance spoke of its former splendor;

the overgrown courtyard and surrounding chorus of insects told of its present decay.

Luo Hong knew this place. She knew it all too well.

Yet she still had to put on a surprised expression and ask Lu Li in confusion, "Where is this? Why did you bring me here?"

Lu Li did not answer. He opened the car door and silently walked toward the villa.

Chen Hao got out from the other side and dragged Luo Hong from the car.

Luo Hong struggled desperately, trying to break free.

But how could her strength possibly contend with Chen Hao's?

Before long, Luo Hong was dragged into the villa.

Having been abandoned for so long, the villa was a complete mess.

Thick dust and dense cobwebs covered every corner.

Lu Li found a broom and dustpan, then began cleaning the living room on his own.

The dust was swept away bit by bit, revealing the color of the floor beneath.

Watching everything before her, Luo Hong trembled even more violently.

If she had still been able to deceive herself before, forcing herself to believe that Lu Li was not that orphan, then it was completely impossible now.

Because the spot Lu Li had cleaned was precisely where that couple had been tortured!

Even after so many years, traces of that time still remained on the floor.

The wooden boards were blackish-red, the result of being soaked through with blood;

they were pitted with holes, marks left by steel nails piercing flesh;

as for those scratches, they had been unconsciously clawed out by fingernails in extreme agony!

After Lu Li finished cleaning, he put away the broom and dustpan, then looked at Luo Hong.

"Kneel and repent."

Before Luo Hong could speak, Chen Hao fiercely kicked the woman behind the knees, forcing her to crash heavily to the floor.

Lu Li sat cross-legged opposite Luo Hong. With one hand, he opened the Data Panel; with the other, he pulled a palm-sized bottle of solvent from his pocket.

Ignoring Luo Hong, Lu Li sent Xu Xiao a message:

"How is the mana crystal collection going?"

Xu Xiao quickly replied:

"Almost done. I still have 12 Second-Order Mana Crystals and 3 Third-Order Mana Crystals on hand. I'll be able to trade them out soon."

"Good. Send me the First-Order Mana Crystals first."

Xu Xiao did as instructed.

A trade request soon popped up on Lu Li's Data Panel.

``` [Player Xu Xiao requests a trade, Trade contents: 98,978 First-Order Mana Crystals.

Required payment: None]

The moment Lu Li accepted the request, it was as if a hailstorm had descended inside the silent villa!

Nearly a hundred thousand First-Order Mana Crystals piled into a small mountain on the floor, an utterly spectacular sight.

Luo Hong stared dumbfoundedly at everything before her. Her lips moved as she was about to ask something, when Chen Hao delivered another vicious kick to her back!

The force was so great that Luo Hong nearly lost her breath.

"Boss told you to repent. Can't you show a little sincerity?!"

"...I-I don't know anything. Where... where is this place? What do you want me to repent for?"

"Zhao Jin clearly already gave you the mana crystals and met your demands, so why are you still refusing to let me go..."

Luo Hong writhed painfully on the ground, like a leech thrown into salt.

Though she had no idea how Lu Li had learned the truth, before the facts were exposed, she still had to insist that she had nothing to do with what had happened here.

Otherwise, even if Luo Hong had ten lives, it would not be enough for Lu Li to kill!

Hearing Luo Hong's groans, Lu Li raised his head from behind the small mountain of mana crystals, his expression indifferent.

"If you admit to the sins you committed back then and repent properly, I can let you go immediately."