The bearded man was Ma Gaoqiang, the Logistics Department's second-in-command and Zhao Tianxiong's staunchest right-hand man.
He took a step toward Lin Feng, jabbing a finger so close to Lin Feng's nose it nearly touched.
"Hey, Zhao Tianxiong's dead. Where the hell were you last night?"
Lin Feng lowered his eyes to the lunchbox on the ground, its contents spilled everywhere. The rice was still steaming.
What a waste.
He got himself another serving.
When he returned with his lunchbox, Ma Gaoqiang was still standing there, five Logistics Department men behind him, all glaring daggers.
"I'm talking to you! Are you deaf?"
Ma Gaoqiang grabbed Lin Feng by the shoulder.
Lin Feng raised his hand.
The entire lunchbox—rice and soup alike—smacked into Ma Gaoqiang's face.
Scalding soup streamed down his neck. With a scream, Ma Gaoqiang stumbled back two steps and wiped rice off his face.
"Ah!!! You son of a—!"
Before he could finish cursing, Lin Feng's fist slammed into his chest.
Bang!
Ma Gaoqiang flew three meters before crashing back-first into a cafeteria pillar. A large mouthful of bloody spittle sprayed from his lips, mixed with grains of rice. It was a ridiculous sight.
He was Martial Disciple Rank 8.
Lin Feng was Martial Artist Rank 2.
That punch had cracked at least three of Ma Gaoqiang's ribs.
The five men behind him charged forward at once.
Lin Feng didn't even draw his blade.
He knocked aside the first man's punch with his left hand, then smashed his right elbow into the second man's temple. The man's eyes rolled back, and he crumpled.
The third man kicked at him from the side. Lin Feng raised his leg to meet the attack.
Crack!
The sound of a snapped shinbone rang through the entire cafeteria.
The fourth man was smart enough to pull out a dagger.
Lin Feng stepped forward, seized him by the throat, and slammed him down on a table.
The fifth man started to move.
Lin Feng looked back at him.
The man's feet rooted to the spot. He couldn't bring himself to take even one step.
Four seconds, start to finish.
All five men were down.
The dozens of people in the cafeteria froze, chopsticks suspended in midair, food forgotten in their mouths.
Lin Feng let go and dusted off his palms.
Ma Gaoqiang leaned against the pillar, clutching his chest, blood still trickling from his mouth.
"You're finished. Adjutant Zhao has powerful people backing him."
"Zhao Tianxiong is dead."
Lin Feng's voice wasn't loud, but the cafeteria was so quiet that everyone heard him clearly.
"He's been selling military supplies on the side for three years. I've already handed the ledgers to Instructor Chen. The transfer records, the buyers' names—every last transaction is in there."
Ma Gaoqiang's face went white.
It wasn't anger. It was fear.
"Last November, he sold two hundred and forty of the three hundred healing pills for 2.4 million." Lin Feng crouched down to meet Ma Gaoqiang's gaze.
"Nineteen men on the front lines had no medicine and died. You knew that, didn't you?"
Ma Gaoqiang opened his mouth, but no sound came out.
"Your signature is on the orders you handled."
At those words, Ma Gaoqiang began visibly trembling.
Of the Logistics Department men around them, two went weak in the knees and dropped to the ground.
"Brother Lin, I had nothing to do with it. I was just a gofer."
"Me too. I've never even seen what the ledger looks like."
Lin Feng stood up and swept his gaze over them.
"Before today's over, hand over all the shady things of Zhao Tianxiong's that you're holding. If you come clean, I won't come after you. But if you hide anything..."
He glanced down at the dagger on the table.
He didn't need to finish the sentence. They got the message.
Chen Lie had appeared at the cafeteria entrance at some point. He leaned against the doorframe, his one arm crossed over his chest, his face expressionless.
He looked at the five men sprawled on the ground, then the two kneeling men, and finally settled his gaze on Lin Feng.
"You went a little hard on them."
"I only came to eat breakfast."
Chen Lie's lips twitched, but he didn't quite manage a smile.
"All right. Finish eating and head back. The people from higher up will arrive at noon."
Lin Feng got himself another serving. This time, no one dared touch his lunchbox.
He sat down and finished his meal in peace.
When he returned to the barracks, Wang Tie was waiting by the entrance.
"I heard you beat up Ma Gaoqiang in the cafeteria."
"He knocked over my lunchbox first."
"Then he deserved it." Wang Tie rubbed his hands together and lowered his voice. "Instructor Chen came to see me just now. He asked about Zhao Tianxiong, and I told him everything I knew. He said they'd send people over to deal with it and told us to keep our heads down for the next couple of days."
Lin Feng entered the barracks and pulled a cloth bundle from beneath his bed.
Inside were the Magic Cores he'd collected over the past few days—nearly a hundred, big and small—along with Zhao Tianxiong's black short sword and the nine Body Tempering Pills he had left.
"Old Wang, is there a Black Market in the Northern Territory?"
Wang Tie blinked.
"Looking to unload these?"
"Keeping this stuff is asking for trouble. The Body Tempering Pills came from a source that can't see the light of day, and having too many Magic Cores draws attention too. The Base Camp's in chaos right now, so we should sell them while we can."
Wang Tie leaned over to look inside the bundle and sucked in a breath.
"Nine Body Tempering Pills? You still have this many?"
"Yeah."
"If we sell all of this, it'll fetch at least a million."
Wang Tie swallowed, his eyes darting back and forth.
"There is a Black Market. There's an abandoned mine twelve kilometers northwest of the Base Camp. They hold a market every three days, and today's market day."
"Let's go."
"Wait." Wang Tie grabbed his arm. "That Black Market is a snake pit. There are all sorts of people there. Taking the goods in won't be hard. Getting out alive with the money is the tricky part."
"Last time, an old soldier went in with an E-Rank Magic Core to sell. He went in fine, but when he came out, all that was left of him was one shoe."
Lin Feng slung the bundle over his shoulder.
"Then we'll see whose life is tougher."
Wang Tie sighed, turned around, and pulled an old, battered cloak from beneath his bed. He tossed it to Lin Feng.
"Put this on. Black Market rules: no showing your face once you're inside."
They changed into different clothes and slipped over the western wall while the Base Camp was in an uproar.
Li Ming ran to the entrance, but Wang Tie promptly pushed him back.
"You stay here. If anyone asks, tell them we went out on patrol."
Li Ming nodded, looking like he wanted to say more.
"Be careful, Brother Lin."
Lin Feng waved without looking back.
Once they were outside the Base Camp, the two of them hurried along the edge of the Wilderness.
After about an hour, a huge abandoned mine came into view.
The mine was at least several hundred meters across and more than ten meters deep.
Lights blazed at the bottom.
Wang Tie stopped and pulled two iron tokens from inside his shirt, handing one to Lin Feng.
"Entry passes. I got them through an old contact, one for each of us. Once we're inside, keep your mouth shut. Don't haggle too hard when you make a deal. Those people have tempers."
Lin Feng took the token and turned it over in his hand.
A crooked symbol was engraved on the iron, like some sort of secret code.
They descended the steps carved into the mine wall.
The farther down they went, the more people there were.
Figures in all kinds of cloaks moved between the caves. Some carried cloth sacks, others lugged crates. Every so often, the aura of a Martial Artist swept past them.
The open space at the bottom was crowded with stalls.
Magic Cores, elixirs, weapons, spiritual materials—there were even people selling information.
Wang Tie turned expertly into a side passage and stopped in front of an unremarkable cave.
"Old Qian, you in there?"
A hoarse voice came from inside.
"Who is it?"
"Your grandpa Wang Tie."
A clatter came from within.
A scrawny old man poked his head out of the cave, looked Wang Tie up and down, then turned his gaze to Lin Feng.
"You brought a stranger?"
"He's one of us."
Old Qian hesitated, then stepped aside.
The cave was much more spacious inside than it looked from outside. The walls were hung with all kinds of weapons and material samples. A stone table stood in the middle, with a precision scale and a device for testing goods on top.
Lin Feng set the bundle on the table and opened it.
Old Qian leaned in. His eyes went straight to the nine Body Tempering Pills.
His hand reached out, then drew back. He did this twice.
"Body Tempering Pills? Where'd you get them?"
"That your business?" Wang Tie propped a leg up on the stone table.
Old Qian took another look at the black short sword.
He picked it up, turned it over, and tapped the blade with a fingernail, listening to the sound.
"Good stuff. Forged from Black Iron Bone. An E-Grade Short Sword. Market price is three hundred thousand."
He set the sword down and began inspecting the Magic Cores one by one.
When he finished, Old Qian fell silent for more than ten seconds.
"Nine Body Tempering Pills, worth nine hundred thousand at market price. I'll give you seven hundred thousand. One Black Iron Bone short sword, two hundred and fifty thousand. Ninety-eight Magic Cores of various sizes, eighteen thousand for the lot."
"That's 1.13 million total."
Lin Feng spoke up.
"1.2 million."
Old Qian looked up at him and frowned.
"Little brother, I'm already being very fair..."
Lin Feng pushed back his hood, revealing half his face.
"1.2 million. Cash on the spot."
Old Qian looked at his strikingly young face, then sensed the aura around him.
Martial Artist Rank 2?
He tapped his fingers on the table a few times.
"Deal."
Before you continue