Border Market

"Why is there ham in this sandwich when the last one I ate didn't have any?"

Sitting in a small cart used to haul coal slag, Feng Zi stared suspiciously at the bite missing from her sandwich.

In a fairly good mood, Li Wei hummed a tune as he pushed the cart in the direction Feng Zi indicated.

Hearing her question, his expression did not change.

"Maybe the cook got greedy and stole some. Isn't there a saying? If cooks don't steal, the crops won't grow."

Holding her sandwich, Feng Zi blinked.

"What city is that proverb from?"

"Woodysod City."

Tilting her head, she seriously searched her mind for this underground city whose name sounded like it belonged in the West District, but she could not recall where it was.

The biting night wind grew stronger, scattering dust everywhere.

Li Wei pushed Feng Zi along the edge of the barrier. After walking roughly three or four kilometers southeast, they vaguely spotted an enormous structure in the deep night, like some ferocious beast!

It was a complex formed from four or five abandoned high-rises. The exposed concrete walls were covered in obscene graffiti, the unremoved scaffolding was thick with rust, and the ramshackle plasterboard shacks swayed whenever the wind blew.

The first impression it gave was terrible. Dirty, chaotic, and shabby were the best words to describe it.

"Border Market. It's one of Sun City's black markets. Ninety percent of the people living here are undocumented, without Sun City ID cards."

Feng Zi looked up at the ugly, massive building as well and spoke softly.

Grasping Li Wei's arm, she limped down from the cart. It was obvious this was her first time here too, yet an inexplicable loneliness showed in her eyes.

Li Wei did not care. Ugly was ugly; it only meant the art team had a unique design language.

As soon as they approached the building, three or four young men emerged from the shadows at the entrance to the exterior stairway. They wore patched floral shirts, had hair dyed all sorts of messy colors, and carried rusty iron pipes over their shoulders.

Ten liquor bottles lay where they had been sitting, along with cigarette butts and peanut shells scattered across the ground.

"Well, fresh faces."

The yellow-haired leader looked utterly unserious. He merely glanced at Li Wei before turning an amused gaze toward Feng Zi.

"What are you doing at Border Market? Your man short on cash and looking to sell you here?"

Feng Zi did not even look at him. Around anyone other than Li Wei, her gaze was always indifferent, and she never took the initiative to speak.

Li Wei did not look at the yellow-haired man either. Instead, he spat out the cigarette he had been holding in his mouth for ages and casually asked.

"What status does the person we're looking for have here?"

Feng Zi hesitated for a moment before finally answering.

"Feng Yanyi. Uncle Feng. He should... be the leader here."

Upon hearing that answer, Li Wei seemed to know exactly what to do. He scanned the ground, then picked up a rusty steel rebar more than a meter long.

Being ignored like that immediately changed the yellow-haired man's expression.

The two lackeys behind him sensed the shift in the atmosphere as well. They tightened their grips on their weapons and stepped forward.

"Where did this idiot come from? Do you know what place this is?"

Li Wei casually spun the heavy steel bar around his fingertips twice, apparently quite pleased with this new weapon.

"We're here for Feng Yanyi." He looked at the yellow-haired man. "Do you know him?"

Completely enraged by his attitude, the yellow-haired man raised his iron pipe and charged at him furiously!

"I know your fucking mother!"

"Pfft!"

The steel bar slammed heavily into the yellow-haired man's abdomen. He did not last even a second before crashing to the ground and beginning to howl in agony!

Behind him, the two lackeys who had been charging forward instinctively stopped at the sight. Staring at the smiling Li Wei, they swallowed hard, unable to advance or retreat.

"Go get whoever's above you. Tell them someone looking for Feng Yanyi has come to wreck the place."

At Li Wei's words, both the yellow-haired man howling on the ground and his two lackeys turned pale!

The two lackeys did not dare linger and immediately ran into the building!

Even though the yellow-haired man's face was twisted with pain, he still shouted arrogantly from the ground.

"You actually dare say you're here to wreck the place! You're finished! You're absolutely finished today!"

Li Wei ignored him completely. Taking off his bloodstained shirt and exposing his distinctly masculine upper body, he walked over to the yellow-haired man and, under his terrified gaze, stripped off his patched plaid shirt.

It did not fit particularly well, but at least it was dry and neat.

Once Feng Zi had told him the identity of the person they were looking for, Li Wei had figured out the simplest, most straightforward way to find him.

Asking for the name directly had gotten them nowhere; these punks did not know him. That meant either the man named Feng Yanyi had hidden his real name, or this territory had changed hands.

They had neither status nor influence. Expecting these punks to help them find someone was wishful thinking. Even bribing them would most likely only stir up greater greed and make them want to rob everything they had.

Rather than waste time, Li Wei chose the most direct approach.

Fight.

Keep fighting until he was qualified to meet the person in charge here. Then he would naturally find out where Feng Yanyi was.

During the day, he had already learned from Feng Zi that gun control in this city was extremely strict. Other than the company's core security personnel and police officers, no other organization was qualified to carry firearms.

Without guns, ordinary people posed no threat to him at all.

As for scientists, there were only a handful of those pampered big shots in all of Sun City, let alone in a backwater like this.

Soon, the two lackeys who had gone to call for reinforcements came rushing out with more than ten people carrying machetes.

The result was that, in less than a minute, every one of them was lying on the ground like the yellow-haired man before them, helplessly howling in pain.

Li Wei left one person standing and brushed the dust off his floral shirt.

"Keep passing along the message. Let's see when it reaches your real boss."

The survivor was one of the two lackeys who had been behind the yellow-haired man. By now, his legs were trembling, and he scrambled back into the building with a terrified face.

This time, the wait was slightly longer. Li Wei sat to one side, passing the time by tapping empty liquor bottles on the ground with the steel bar in his hand.

Three minutes later, a fat bald man emerged with an unfriendly expression. He wore a greasy apron, was bare-chested, and held two boning knives, looking like a butcher.

This man clearly had some skill. He wielded the two cleavers with exceptional agility, as though they were extensions of his limbs!

Even so, he lasted a full twenty seconds against Li Wei.

Li Wei kicked the butcher lying on the ground like a dead pig, then tipped his chin at the lackey at the bottom of the stairs, who had been scared out of his wits.

"Go report it again."

"No need."

At that moment, an old man in a black suit with a blind left eye emerged from the shadows of the staircase at some unknown point.

He bowed to Li Wei and Feng Zi.

"Sir invites the guests inside to talk."

Having achieved his goal, Li Wei naturally had no desire to keep fighting. Still, he did not discard the steel bar in his hand. Since the wooden stick, it was the most comfortable weapon he had used.

Feng Zi did not say a word the entire time. In the presence of outsiders, she was a cold, lame mute. No matter what was said or done, Li Wei made the decisions.

Following the one-eyed old man, the two entered the building known as Border Market.

The moment they entered this cramped space, like a row of pigeonholes, they could clearly feel its bustling liveliness!

It was already six in the morning. A faint glow brightened the thick clouds, the hallways were piled with all kinds of clutter, and every room had been converted into a different sort of shop. The air was thick with steam from breakfast being prepared.

This was a town housed inside an unfinished building. It sold everything, and there were even butchers, pharmacies, and restaurants. Along the way, Li Wei even saw someone dressed in a black robe and styled like a priest of The Church!

The people living here looked much like the laborers: thin and clearly undernourished. Yet they were far more enthusiastic and positive in spirit.

As they walked, although everyone was busy early in the morning, most wore smiles. Whenever they saw the one-eyed old man leading Li Wei and Feng Zi, they warmly called out, "Master Thirteen."

Master Thirteen led Li Wei and Feng Zi all the way to the top floor of Border Market.

Compared to the other floors, many rooms here had been knocked together and converted into a crude classroom. There was even a group of young children studying inside!

Both Li Wei and Feng Zi could not help glancing at the classroom a few extra times. Finally, they reached the very end of the top-floor corridor.

Master Thirteen pushed open the door at the end, and a wave of scorching heat surged out.

He gestured for them to enter, and Li Wei went in with Feng Zi.

It looked like a blacksmith's workshop. Shelves around the room held all kinds of rough iron blanks, while in the center stood a furnace spitting high-temperature flames!

Behind the furnace stood a middle-aged man with a bare, incredibly muscular upper body covered in scars.

Glossy sweat ran down his bronze skin. In the orange-red firelight, he raised the hammer in his hand high and smashed it heavily onto the iron block in the furnace!

"Clang!"

Scattering sparks illuminated the entire dim space like a meteor shower!