Colluding with Star Bandits

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

Inside his own spacecraft, his originally 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.

Lower-tier countries were small islands; middle-tier countries were large islands surrounded by small islands; higher-tier countries, such as the present Humanity 996 Universe Country, were continents surrounded by numerous large islands.

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

Though it was called an island, middle-tier countries each occupied at least an entire starfield. A starfield typically contained thousands to tens of thousands of star systems, making them incomparably vast.

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

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

The place 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 exceedingly 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 eyes of the strong still contained powerful will, easily making the weak tremble!

They were all Universe-level, but he was merely average. Facing three ruthless men who had killed countless people and tempered their wills to an extreme degree, the gap was enormous. Their gazes alone still filled him with fear!

Their eyes alone made Sha Luo feel as if he were being watched by three starry-sky behemoths, sending a chill down his back!

Sha Luo forced a smile and hurried over.

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

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

The one with a delicate, handsome appearance, like a noble young master, 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 Poison Sting Hawthorne smiled, his voice somewhat lazy. "Sha Luo, you said you had a good deal for us. Let's hear it. What kind of deal was worth seeking us out specifically?"

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

Sha Luo quickly waved his hands, smiling ingratiatingly. "I wouldn't dare! Three leaders, even if I had ten times the courage, I wouldn't dare toy with you!"

"It's like this. A new Universe-level arrived in the Blue Silver Empire recently, 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 at the Cosmic Galaxy Bank on Imperial Capital Star in one go, becoming a One-Star Account holder immediately!"

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

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

"I secretly asked around. He also approached several other dealers at the same time, and the orders were all substantial! Altogether, it was probably several hundred thousand Universe Coins!"

"Furthermore, he was offering three times the market rate to recruit Star-level instructors everywhere, to teach the Apprentice Grade cultivators in his territory!"

"Paying heavily to hire Star-level cultivators to teach a bunch of Apprentice Grade brats?" Harold could not help sneering, his face full of mockery.

"What a bore! How many years would it take to train them that way? With that money, wouldn't it be easier to just use Star-level slaves?"

"A One-Star Account, and he spent money so recklessly... He sounded like he had some assets. So what was his strength? What background did he have?" Hawthorne lightly tapped the table with his fingertips.

"I specifically spent quite a bit of money having intelligence dealers investigate him thoroughly. His name is Wang Yu. He isn't from some great family, but he is a genius himself." Sha Luo smiled.

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

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

"Unfortunately, after breaking through to the Universe-level, there was no record of him fighting publicly, so it was impossible to determine his domain level precisely. However, it might have reached the seventh level!"

"Such strength was already quite decent, but the key was... the intelligence dealers found that he had joined the Ganwu Dojo and become a One-Leaf Qian Wu Adept!"

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

"What was there to fear?" Harold sneered with utter disdain.

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

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

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

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

Quinn swept his gaze across the three of them and spoke slowly in a cold voice. "A newly joined One-Leaf Qian Wu Adept was indeed nothing much. Killing him was just killing him. No matter how powerful the Ganwu Dojo was, it couldn't possibly stand up for every One-Leaf Qian Wu Adept."

"That Yoda... a Giant Axe Warrior, was someone we needed to be wary of. But he merely gave him casual guidance a few times, with little real connection between them. He probably wouldn't insist on searching the vast universe for us over this."

"This Wang Yu probably obtained some opportunities in the past and made some gains, leaving him rather wealthy. He was a fairly fat sheep, worth us making a move."

Hearing this, Sha Luo was delighted inwardly, feeling that the matter was settled!

But Quinn suddenly 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 can't spare the manpower or attention. That deal is our top priority at present."

"Keep dealing with him. Get closer to him, probe his background, and see whether he has latched onto any genuinely powerful factions or figures apart from the Ganwu Dojo..."

"Once we finish the major deal at hand and free ourselves up, we'll take care of his deal."

Sha Luo was stunned. He had not expected the three of them to have another major deal, and he could not help feeling disappointed.

But he did not dare reveal it on his face. He merely smiled apologetically and nodded. "Yes, yes, yes. Everything will be as Lord Quinn says!"

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

As soon as he finished speaking, everyone looked at him.

"Even if he was a genius, and even if his domain had improved to the seventh level... he was ultimately only Second-Order Universe Level. His strength was too low. No matter how high his domain level was, he couldn't be that formidable. Either Harold or I could easily deal with him alone." Hawthorne smiled like a lazy noble young master, speaking with perfect composure.

"Since that major deal still needs some time to prepare, why not slaughter this ready-made fat sheep first? It wouldn't take much effort."

"Mm, that works. Then will you go, or will 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 compete for it. Let Harold go. He paid a huge price to cultivate his Moyun Vine and was short on cash. Let him skim some profit from this trip to make up for it."

Harold's face darkened further.

Hawthorne claimed he was giving him the profit, but that remark about the huge price he had paid to cultivate his Moyun Vine was clearly meant to draw the boss's attention to him!

Once the Moyun Vine was fully cultivated, his combat strength would increase greatly. That bastard was deliberately reminding the boss that his strength had recently risen 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 their expressions and said blandly, "Then you go, Old Harold. Any problem with that?"

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

Though he really was unhappy about it...

To raise his Moyun Vine to the Universe-level, he had drained more than half his savings. He really was short on funds right now.

Since Hawthorne had already pointed it out, refusing now would only make things worse.

"Good." Quinn nodded slightly, then looked at Sha Luo again.

"When the time comes, you'll lead Old Harold there and lend a hand. Don't let that brat have any chance to escape."

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

"Mm." Quinn answered casually.

Harold stared at Hawthorne with a dark gaze, while Hawthorne merely returned his look calmly.

Sha Luo could not help lamenting inwardly.

Originally, he had merely found a fat sheep and wanted to lure the Blood Fang Star Bandits into taking the job, so that he could get a share of the spoils.

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

But who could have expected this mess within the Blood Fang Star Bandits...

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

These people were completely unreasonable. Since Harold could do nothing to Hawthorne, he might very well pin this whole matter on him!