Midnight Massacre

Deep in the night, all was silent. Especially since Black Flame City had implemented a curfew, once the clock struck twelve, the city would fall into a deep slumber, much like a giant exhausted from a day of labor.

Just as birds sing by day and vermin emerge by night, the nights in Black Flame City were far more appealing to certain people than the daylight. This was especially true in the area near the train station, a melting pot of all sorts of characters. Plenty of people were still active after midnight. Of course, if one were unlucky enough to be caught by the patrolling City Guard or the magistrates, they could only blame their own misfortune. What were the consequences of being caught after curfew? A sound beating, a stint of hard labor at Gransburg Prison outside the city, and becoming the laughingstock of the local toughs at their drinking tables—what else could there be? Nothing. To those seasoned rogues who had seen it all, such consequences were truly nothing to fret over.

Many held this view, and as a result, the bar named "Treasure of the Viper," tucked away in a small alley near the train station, was exceptionally lively after midnight. Its atmosphere was thick with the style of the Prospector. An honest, downtrodden youth like Zhang Tie would naturally never understand just how rich the nightlife of Black Flame City truly was.

Hark and Sneider, having just arrived, spent half the night fumbling around the train station before finally finding the "Treasure of the Viper." Only after the curfew had passed did they push open the two doors and step inside.

"Treasure of the Viper" was not large. After midnight, it was at its peak. There were over thirty people in the bar, most dressed as Prospectors. Some were laughing and talking loudly, their hands roaming over the chests of aging prostitutes beside them. Others whispered in the shadows of the bar's dim lights. Occasionally, one could see two people sitting at a table, their hands hidden beneath wide sleeves, gesturing to one another. Those satisfied would nod slightly; those dissatisfied would shake their heads or pull their hands back if a deal couldn't be reached. This was the trading method used by Prospectors—no words, only hands hidden by sleeves. This method was highly discreet; only the two parties involved knew what was being traded and at what price. Even if someone were sitting right in front of you discussing the price to have you killed, you would never know. Prospectors had their own set of sign language and communication methods.

When Hark and Sneider entered the bar, many merely glanced at them before returning to their business. Others, those Prospectors with sharper instincts, seemed to sense the danger radiating from the pair and subtly shifted their weapons, which had been resting on the tables or at their sides, into more accessible positions.

No sooner had Hark and Sneider sat at a table than a barmaid with a hint of charm swayed over to them. She leaned down, intentionally letting her low-cut neckline reveal a pair of breasts to their eyes. "What can I get for you two?"

"Two glasses of Black Pine Wine. What do you have to eat?" Sneider asked.

"Toast, peas, beef stew, and crispy sausages!"

"Bring us one of everything."

"Coming right up!"

The barmaid walked away, and seeing the food ordered by the two strangers, many of the eyes that had been covertly tracking them shifted away. Those who came to a bar to cause trouble rarely had the appetite to eat a full meal beforehand.

The food ordered by Sneider and Hark was soon brought over. Seeing the dishes, Sneider did not eat. Instead, he pulled a piece of dried, withered branch wrapped in silver wire from his bosom and poked each item of food and drink. Only after checking the color of the root and the silver wire did he feel at ease and begin to eat. After a long night, both were truly famished.

This method of testing for poison using the root of a Soul-Eater Thorn wrapped in silver wire was a skill mastered by all Prospectors. The exquisite combination of silver wire and the Soul-Eater Thorn root could detect a vast array of toxic substances, including the "Powerful Rat Poison" that made everyone turn pale at the mere thought of its lethality. This was a pre-meal habit cultivated by almost every Prospector. Thus, seeing them test their food, no one found it strange. The bar owner and the maid were also accustomed to it. In bars where Prospectors gathered, aside from the regulars, many newcomers did the same. It was not an intentional act, but a habit they had already formed.

The patrons talking loudly in the bar were discussing the Black Flame City municipal government's decision to once again increase the bounty for exploring and mapping the black zones to the north and west of the city. The price for a rough map of those black zones had now risen to 46 gold coins per square kilometer, with a five percent increase for every kilometer extended. In the past few days, several groups of Prospectors who considered themselves superior in strength had formed teams to go and strike it rich, but how many of them would return alive remained a mystery.

After finishing their meal, Hark and Sneider pretended to listen to the bar gossip for a while before making a move to leave. They signaled the maid to settle the bill. When Hark took out his money, he accidentally let his coin purse fall to the ground, spilling two gold coins. He quickly gathered the purse, paid the bill, and left the bar with Sneider.

Just as the two stepped out, a guy who had been sitting in a corner of the bar stood up. As he downed the last of his drink, he intentionally spilled some on himself, then followed them out.

Everyone in the bar remained indifferent to this.

"Grey Rat Pound has finally found his prey for the night, heh... heh..." someone in the bar laughed maliciously. Then, everyone cast the three who had just left out of their minds. In this world, everyone had their own rules for survival. As long as others didn't affect them, many chose to turn a blind eye to what was happening around them. This was one of the survival rules of this era.

Once Grey Rat Pound stepped out of the bar, he looked left and right, spotting Hark and Sneider heading toward the alley on the left. Pound's eyes narrowed, and he began to follow them with a stumbling gait, like a drunkard. The two men glanced back when Pound drew near, but seeing his drunken state, they didn't seem to care. As Pound slowly approached Hark and stumbled, reaching out toward Hark's chest, his fingers had barely touched the fabric of Hark's clothes when he heard a cold sneer.

"Too slow!"

Before Grey Rat Pound could even react to what had happened, his hand was seized like a pair of iron pincers. Just as he was about to pull his old trick of feigning drunkenness and shouting, a cold dagger was pressed against his throat. The blade sliced into his flesh, drawing a thin line of blood. Grey Rat Pound broke into a cold sweat instantly. He was then grabbed by Hark like a chick, his mouth clamped shut, and dragged into a dark, blind spot in the alley.

"Take us to your boss. We have business with him!" The burly man holding him seemed to have little patience. He threw him to the ground and got straight to the point.

"I don't know what you're talking about, I'm just... ah..." Grey Rat Pound, unable to scream with his mouth covered, looked down in disbelief at his right hand. Just a moment ago, he felt a chill in his right wrist, and looking down, he saw the artery in his wrist had been slashed by the dagger and was spurting blood. The wound looked like the mouth of a monster spitting blood, scaring Pound so badly he nearly fainted.

"Before you bleed out, you have less than ten minutes to waste!" Sneider, playing with his dagger, smiled at Grey Rat Pound.

"Our boss is Bries, a level six Black Spider. We have over a dozen brothers. If you offend our Black Hand Gang, you'll regret it..." With things having reached this point, Grey Rat Pound shrieked viciously, failing to notice the trace of disdain on Hark's face as he listened.

"Perhaps. But now you have only two choices: wait here to die, or take us to your boss and let him save you..." Sneider said indifferently.

Half an hour later, in the lair of Bries, the boss of the pickpockets near the Black Flame City train station, Hark and Sneider were surrounded by over a dozen hostile members of the Black Hand Gang wielding weapons. The battle qi of Bries, the boss, surged continuously, slowly condensing into a hazy, two-meter-tall shadow of a giant black spider behind him. The gang members and Grey Rat Pound—who was pinned to the ground by Hark, his hand still pinching his own wrist—looked at Bries with envy and excitement. A warrior who had already stepped into the sixth rank, a level six warrior who had condensed battle qi, was enough for Bries to lead the Black Hand Gang to thrive near the train station and tear anyone who dared to challenge them to shreds.

"What now?" Hark asked Sneider.

"You two, we've asked everything we needed to. Our Black Hand Gang doesn't have the black-haired kid you're looking for. None of the pickpockets near the train station match your description. Now, you've hurt my men; isn't it time you gave the Black Hand Gang an explanation? Want to regret it? Too late!" Bries sneered. With a wave of his hand, the thugs and hoodlums of the Black Hand Gang, their faces twisted with malice, slowly closed in on Hark and Sneider with their weapons.

"Kill them all. They've seen us; it'll be troublesome if even one escapes!" Sneider said.

Hearing this, Bries's expression shifted, and he roared, throwing a punch at Hark's head. As Bries moved, all the Black Hand Gang members attacked Hark and Sneider with their weapons.

Hark stepped forward and crushed Grey Rat Pound's head like a watermelon with a single stomp. He then threw a punch to meet Bries's fist. At the moment their fists were about to collide, Bries's face changed, for behind Hark, in a fleeting instant, a similarly massive figure appeared. Unlike his own Black Spider, the figure behind Hark was a giant centipede with countless legs.

"Thousand-Legged Centipede, a level seven warrior, impossible..." Bries screamed in terror. Then, their fists collided. Hark's fist shattered Bries's entire arm with unstoppable force before slamming into his chest and punching right through his back.

With a single move, the pillar of the Black Hand Gang collapsed. The gang members in front didn't even have time to react, while those in the back, realizing what had happened, had only one thought: drop their weapons and run.

Sneider's figure twisted eerily like a snake, slipping through the gaps of the incoming weapons. He instantly appeared behind two fleeing gang members, his dagger passing gently across their throats like a viper's tongue. Before they could even fall, Sneider appeared beside several more members, his dagger slicing their throats in almost the same instant. After a few flashes, the one who had run the furthest hadn't even made it seven steps before everyone stood frozen, including those who had attacked Sneider first. Blood began to spurt from the throats and windpipes of all the Black Hand Gang members, and they collapsed almost in unison.

From the start of the fight to the end, it took less than five breaths. In the Black Hand Gang's house, only two people remained standing. A thick, bloody stench began to permeate the room.

"What now?" Hark, having just killed a pile of people as if it were a trivial matter, asked Sneider the same question again.

Sneider, at that moment, was blissfully licking the blood off his dagger with his tongue. "Let's deal with these bodies first. We need to make sure no one finds them for at least two days!"

"Wouldn't it be easier to burn them?"

"The people at that bar saw us tonight. Unless we can kill everyone there, if something happens to the Black Hand Gang tonight, someone will definitely link it to us. But if we wait two days and then set a fire, no one will suspect us!" Sneider said, cautious and seasoned. "These guys hang out near the train station; this is their lair. They must have hidden quite a bit of loot here. Let's search it; we might find something good. That black-haired kid dares to run around the streets near the train station at night, so he must be very familiar with this place and come here often. We'll guard the train station for the next few days, and as soon as we see him, we'll seize the opportunity to take him down!"

"And if we can't find the kid?"

"If we can't find him in a week, then we run. Flee the Andaman Alliance, flee the Blakerson Human Corridor, and run as far as we can. Don't let the leaders find us, or we'll die a miserable death!" Sneider said gloomily.

"Fine!"

An hour later, Hark and Sneider left the Black Hand Gang's lair. Before leaving, they locked the front gate to make it look like the place was abandoned. They believed that, given the reputation of the Black Hand Gang, no one would dare break in to see what was inside for a while. A fire two days later would completely erase the Black Hand Gang, leaving no evidence behind. Following the common way of thinking, who would suspect that the Black Hand Gang had been wiped out two days before the fire?

The Black Hand Gang—what were they worth? As he left the lair, Hark spat fiercely at the Black Hand Gang's base.

At the moment the Black Hand Gang was wiped out, Zhang Tie was igniting his Divine Palace Bright Point. Zhang Tie himself did not realize that because of an inconspicuous little wooden plaque, he had already been dragged into a massive crisis.

At this moment, Zhang Tie only felt that his life was full of hope, and his youth no longer seemed so bleak...

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Black Iron has reached the Sanjiang list. Thank you all for your strong support!