Colluding with Star Bandits

Half a day later, Sha Luo left War God Star.

Inside his own spacecraft, his formerly gentle expression vanished, replaced by the coldness of a slave trader.

Sha Luo's consciousness entered the Virtual Universe...

White Dragon Sea Island.

The universe countries of reality were each transformed into corresponding planes within the Virtual Universe.

Low-tier countries were small islands. Mid-tier countries were large islands surrounded by smaller islands. High-tier countries—such as the present Humanity 996 Universe Country—were continents surrounded by countless large islands.

White Dragon Sea Empire was a mid-tier country, and its corresponding plane was "White Dragon Sea Island."

Though it was called an island, mid-tier countries each had at least an entire starfield as their territory. A starfield generally contained several thousand to over ten thousand star systems, making it unimaginably vast.

The area of such an island was far greater than that of any planet in the real universe!

Sha Luo pushed open the door and strode into a bar.

The interior was empty and dimly lit. Only three people sat around a large table in the corner.

The instant Sha Luo opened the door, all three looked over. Their gazes were utterly cold, as though everyone they saw was livestock awaiting slaughter.

Sha Luo's heart tightened slightly.

Even in the Virtual Universe, where everyone's body was uniformly set at the fourth order of Apprentice Grade, the gazes of the strong still contained powerful will, enough to easily unsettle the weak!

They were all Universe-level, but he was merely average. Compared with three ruthless men who had slaughtered countless people and tempered their wills to an extraordinary degree, there was still a vast gap. Their gazes alone made him feel somewhat fearful!

With just their stares, the three made Sha Luo feel as if he were being watched by three colossal beasts of the starry sky, sending a chill down his back!

Sha Luo forced a smile and quickly walked over.

The man at the head of the table had a massive body over three meters tall. Even seated, he was taller than an ordinary person standing. His muscles bulged all over his body, and his skin was dark red. He was Quinn, known as "Blood Fang," the leader of the notorious Blood Fang Star Bandits!

The other two were both vice leaders. The tall, thin man with a sinister gaze was Harold, known as "Bone Crusher."

The one with delicate, handsome features, like a young nobleman, was Hawthorne, known as "Poison Sting."

Under the cold stares of the three men, Sha Luo nervously pulled out a chair and sat down.

The handsome Hawthorne smiled faintly and said in a somewhat languid voice, "Sha Luo, you said you had a good deal for us. Let's hear it. What kind of deal was worth specifically seeking us out for?"

Harold, the "Bone Crusher," said coldly, "It had better be a genuinely good deal. If you dared waste our time with nonsense... you knew the consequences!"

Sha Luo hurriedly waved his hands, putting on an ingratiating smile. "I wouldn't dare, I wouldn't dare! Leaders, even if I had ten times the courage, I wouldn't dare toy with you!"

"Here's the thing. A new Universe-level individual recently arrived in the Blue Silver Empire, and he seemed to be quite wealthy!"

"How wealthy?" Hawthorne asked casually, resting his head on one hand.

"As soon as he arrived, he deposited ten million Universe Coins in the Cosmic Galaxy Bank on Imperial Capital Star in one go, becoming a One-Star Account holder right away!"

"Oh? Depositing ten million Universe Coins? A One-Star Account? That sounded pretty decent..." Hawthorne chuckled.

"And he didn't just save money. He spent extravagantly too. At my place alone, he purchased a huge number of slaves! The order was worth more than one hundred thousand Universe Coins!" Sha Luo hurriedly added.

"I secretly asked around. He also went to several other businesses in the trade and made sizable purchases from all of them! Altogether, it was likely several hundred thousand Universe Coins!"

"And he was offering three times the market rate to recruit Star-level individuals as instructors, sending them to teach the Apprentice Grade people in his territory!"

"Spending heavily to hire Star-level people to teach a bunch of Apprentice Grade trainees?" Harold could not help sneering, his face full of ridicule.

"What a waste! How long would it take to cultivate them that way? With that money, wouldn't it be easier to just use Star-level slaves?"

"A One-Star Account, and spending money so recklessly... He sounded like he had some assets. So what was this person's strength? What was his background?" Hawthorne lightly tapped his fingers against the tabletop.

"I specifically spent quite a bit of money hiring intelligence brokers to investigate him thoroughly. His name is Wang Yu. He wasn't from any major family, but he was a genius himself," Sha Luo said with a smile.

"He used to be a Third-Class Elite of the Ganwu Dojo. His domain was at the sixth level. They said that Yoda, an established powerhouse of the Ganwu Dojo, thought highly of him and gave him guidance several times. In the preliminary round of the most recent Genius Battle, he ranked over nine thousandth in his world zone."

"I just personally went to his planet to test him out. He broke through to the Universe-level only a few years ago, and he is now already Second-Order Universe Level!"

"Unfortunately, after breaking through to the Universe-level, there were no records of him fighting publicly, so his domain level could not be determined precisely. However, it may have reached the seventh level!"

"Strength like that was already fairly good, but the key point was... the intelligence broker found that he had joined the Ganwu Dojo and become a One-Leaf Qian Wu Adept!"

"Oh? Ganwu Dojo? A One-Leaf Qian Wu Adept?" Hawthorne's gaze shifted slightly.

"What was there to fear?" Harold sneered, his face full of disdain.

"So what if he was a One-Leaf Qian Wu Adept? If he had been operating in the Ganwu Dojo for thousands or tens of thousands of years and built up deep roots, then we would need to be somewhat cautious."

"But a newcomer? He had just joined and hadn't made a damn bit of contribution. If we swallowed him, who would stand up for him?"

As the two vice leaders spoke, their gazes both turned toward Quinn, "Blood Fang," who sat in the seat of honor.

They thought this deal could be done, but the final decision still had to come from their boss.

Quinn swept his gaze over the three of them and slowly said in a cold voice, "A newcomer One-Leaf Qian Wu Adept was indeed nothing special. Killing him would be no issue. No matter how powerful the Ganwu Dojo was, it could not possibly stand up for every single One-Leaf Qian Wu Adept."

"That Yoda... as a Giant Axe Warrior, was someone we needed to be wary of. But he had only given him some casual guidance a few times. There was not much of a relationship there. He probably would not insist on searching the vast universe for us over this."

"This Wang Yu sounded like he had encountered some opportunities in the past and gained quite a lot from them. He was a fairly fat sheep, worth us making a move on."

Upon hearing this, Sha Luo was delighted. He felt that the matter was settled!

But Quinn abruptly changed the subject and looked down at Sha Luo. "However, we have another major deal underway right now, and it is at a critical stage of preparation. We cannot spare the manpower or energy. That deal is the top priority at present."

"Keep dealing with him. Get closer to him, probe into his background, and see whether he had connections to any truly powerful forces or major figures besides the Ganwu Dojo..."

"Once we finish the major deal on our hands and free ourselves up, we'll handle him."

Sha Luo froze. He had not expected these three to have another major deal, and he could not help feeling disappointed.

But he did not dare show it on his face. He merely nodded with a forced smile. "Yes, yes, yes. Everything will be as Lord Quinn says!"

"Boss, I think... there's no need to wait that long." Hawthorne suddenly spoke.

At those words, everyone looked at him.

"Even if he was a genius, and his domain had improved to the seventh level... he was still only Second-Order Universe Level. His power was too low. No matter how high his domain level was, he could not be all that strong. Either Harold or I could easily take care of him," Hawthorne said calmly with the smile of a languid young nobleman.

"Since that major deal still needed preparations for a while, why not slaughter this ready-made fat sheep first? It would not take much effort."

"Mm, that works too. So, would you go, or would Old Harold go?" Quinn glanced at him.

Harold's expression shifted slightly as he stared coldly at Hawthorne.

Hawthorne smiled and said casually, "Boss, I won't fight over it. Let Harold go. He spent a great price cultivating his Moyun Vine, and he's short on funds. He can take some profit from this job to make up for it."

Harold's expression grew even darker.

Hawthorne claimed to be giving him the profits, but that remark about how "cultivating his Moyun Vine cost a great price" was clearly meant to call attention to him in front of the boss!

Once the Moyun Vine was fully cultivated, it would greatly increase his combat strength. That bastard was deliberately reminding the boss that his strength had recently improved and that he needed watching!

He would rather not earn from this job than miss the chance to poison the boss's opinion of him. How sinister!

Quinn took in both men's expressions and said indifferently, "Then Old Harold, you go. Any problem with that?"

Harold was furious inside, but he answered readily on the surface, "Fine! Boss, I'll go!"

Though he was indeed extremely displeased...

To cultivate the Moyun Vine and raise it to the Universe-level, he had spent more than half his fortune. His finances really were tight now.

Since Hawthorne had already brought it up, refusing at this point would only make things worse.

"Good." Quinn nodded slightly and looked at Sha Luo again.

"When the time comes, lead Old Harold there and lend a hand. Don't let that little fellow get a chance to escape."

Sha Luo wore a fawning smile and nodded repeatedly. "Yes, yes, yes! It is this one's honor to serve Lord Harold!"

"Mm." Quinn responded casually.

Harold stared gloomily at Hawthorne, while Hawthorne merely met his gaze with calm composure.

Sha Luo could not help groaning inwardly.

Originally, he had merely found a fat sheep and wanted to lead the Blood Fang Star Bandits into pulling off a job. He would get a share of the spoils as well.

Killing a wealthy Universe-level individual would earn him more even if he received only a small portion than selling tens of thousands of Ninth-Order Star Level slaves!

But who could have expected the Blood Fang Star Bandits to have this kind of internal mess...

The two vice leaders were scheming against each other, and Hawthorne had dragged him into it with just a few light remarks!

These people were completely unreasonable. Since Harold could not do anything to Hawthorne, he might very well blame this whole matter on him!