Throw Them Out!

As the sun sets, on this otherwise peaceful afternoon, outside an old high-rise building on the Outer Ring of the East District of Mingyang City.

Three figures slowly appeared here; they were Lü Yuan, Lin Qi, and Wang Yan.

At this moment, what came into their view was one of the four entrances to the infamous "Dark Corner" on the Mingyang City local dark web.

Of course, there are rumors that there is a fifth entrance in the city center, but no one has been able to confirm this so far...

After all, that's where the Bright Yang Tower is located.

In reality, the so-called "Dark Corner" is actually a collective term and unified location for all black market markets in Mingyang City.

Alternatively, it could be said that the "Dark Corner" of today are comprised of black-market industries such as the Dark Tutoring Realm, the Dark Body Tempering Realm, the Dark Air Realm Dark Drug Injection Realm, the Dark Artifact Refining Realm, and the underground weapon-forging industry—all of which have sprung up to profit from the education system.

Its existence is no secret; almost everyone, from assembly line workers to employees at subsidiary companies, has heard of it.

Therefore, there are even fewer secrets here for the company.

So why has this "Dark Corner" been able to persist to this day?

The answer is actually quite simple: the piracy market in the "Dark Corner," which seems to affect all aspects of the company's business, was actually fostered by the company.

The company has never tried to hide it; in fact, it's fair to say that profiting from both sides is their standard practice.

Moreover, eating from both ends gives you lowly animals an opportunity.

Otherwise, without the strong intervention of large companies to regulate the black market supply chain, even if there were pirated products, you still wouldn't be able to afford them!

As for why the company is profiting from both ends...

The reason is actually quite simple: the company itself knows that many of its genuine essential products are expensive, and most of its employees can't afford them.

However, it's impossible for the price to be lowered openly.

This kind of thing will happen once or twice, but compromise is either zero times or countless times.

Therefore, the company certainly cannot compromise with the lower class!

If you dare to ask for a price reduction today, do you still want to work overtime without permission tomorrow?

This is outrageous!

--Of course, this is just the official, consistent stance.

The real reason is much more straightforward: simply lowering prices would make the subsidiary's annual report look bad to the parent company.

After all, it's no longer the era of the Great Leap Forward where "the bolder the subsidiary, the greater the output from the subordinates"...

However, the competition between the subsidiaries has not disappeared.

This is what led to this ridiculous situation.

Every time he thought of this, Lü Yuan couldn't help but sigh that he could never repay the company's kindness...

The company has single-handedly fostered a black market industry that even the poor can afford, providing a free and low-priced platform for those who can't afford genuine products to buy and sell.

The company, on the other hand, acts merely as a visible force extracting profits and maintaining order.

That's so generous!

Before going inside, Lü Yuan gave a final instruction to the two people behind him who were still reeling from the shock of his million-dollar loan:

"You two just need to follow me from now on."

"No need for unnecessary words or actions, just listen to my instructions."

Lin Qi was the first to come to her senses, and upon hearing this, she coughed lightly. "Although I've never been here before, this isn't some particularly irregular place."

Is it really necessary to go this far?

"I saw online that you have to get a business license from the company's business management department to open a shop here. Could there be any danger here?"

It wasn't that Lin Qi was rebellious, but rather that Lü Yuan's words made her feel like she was no different from Lung Wu, who had won without lifting a finger.

How could she, a dignified reincarnation of the Purple Mansion, tolerate such treatment?

Moreover, she felt that if things continued like this, she would become a useless accessory, which is why she spoke up in that way.

Wang Yan also regained consciousness, and he said to Lü Yuan, "I've been here before, and I've tried selling some things to the shops here..."

"Don't worry about me, I can take care of myself."

Lü Yuan gave them a strange look, and from their clear yet foolish eyes, he was certain that they truly didn't know.

It's not about showing off.

His tone became a little strange, and then he chuckled as if he had remembered something amusing.

"Alright, since you've both said so, then I, as your father, must give you the opportunity to grow on your own—"

"Speaking of which, I remember seeing some tangerines for sale on the street just now..."

As he spoke, Lü Yuan rubbed his stomach. "I'm a little hungry, let me go buy some oranges first."

"Go to the ticket booth at the entrance and buy three tickets to enter the Dark Air Realm. Then stand still and wait for me to return."

Is it possible?

After saying that, Lü Yuan stared at the two of them as if they were silly roe deer, then a slight smile appeared on his lips as he turned to buy oranges.

What does that mean?

Watching Lü Yuan's retreating figure as he went to buy tangerines, the two were somewhat puzzled. Could it be that they were having trouble buying tickets?

Lin Qi raised an eyebrow. "Xiao Wang, didn't you come here last time? Did you have any trouble buying tickets?"

As she began to realize something was amiss, she started to regret her earlier arrogant behavior.

"Well... I didn't encounter any difficulties in the Dark Artifact Training Realm, but I don't know about the Dark Air Realm either."

Wang Yan's lips twitched slightly; he and Lin Qi now understood why Lü Yuan had laughed just now.

But the words have already been spoken; they can't just wait for Lü Yuan to come back and start groveling again, can they?

Wouldn't that make them look incredibly useless?

After exchanging a glance, the two sighed helplessly.

Then, gritting his teeth, he decided to take the challenge and see if he could buy the tickets on his own.

Five minutes later, at the ticket office on the basement level of the "Dark Corner" East District entrance—

After stamping a newly printed admission ticket, the ticket seller mechanically repeated the same routine, "Next."

And then the last person in line successfully bought their ticket.

They looked at the ticket seller, who was about the same age as them but clearly hadn't quite figured things out yet and was currently working to save money.

Lin Qi and Wang Yan started playing rock-paper-scissors to decide who should buy the tickets.

Best of three, Wang Yan ultimately lost, and had no choice but to step forward and, as he had said last time, address the ticket seller:

"Three entrance tickets to the Dark Air Realm, thank you."

The air was silent for a second. The ticket seller's gaze shifted from the computer beside her to Wang Yan, as if she had discovered a new continent.

"Name?"

"Wang Yan."

"Age."

Eight years old.

"... Okay, I won't ask you anything else. Didn't you say you needed three tickets? Did you or your friend bring your air trading license?"

Wang Yan fell silent.

He had always focused on his spiritual practice and had never even heard of such a certificate.

The same applies to Lin Qi.

She sighed inwardly, "They even require a certification to enter? No wonder it's called the Dark Air Realm, the ultimate part-time job for elementary school students in the Lower City!"

The ticket seller didn't say much in response to their silence; numb to his work, he simply waved his hand.

He said to the security guard next to him:

"Do me a favor, fork them out!"