Chapter 1489 Excitement
“And me!”
The limping superhuman jumped onto the counter and stood shoulder to shoulder with the bald man.
He also tore his clothes, revealing his thin body. It was as though the surface of the moon had been corroded by sulfuric acid, leaving potholes in his flesh.
“I’m the leader!”
The superhuman, who was extremely furious, straightened his chest, which had been torn to pieces by the monster. He pointed at his beating heart. “I don’t think I need to trouble all of you to send me to the Supernatural Tower to be judged. Don’t all of you have the right to kill me first before reporting it? Just ‘judge’ me right here!”
The two superhumans’ indignant behavior completely ignited everyone’s anger.
“And me!”
“I was the one who instigated it!”
“Don’t listen to them. I’m the leader. Come, judge me. Right here, right in grandpa’s heart!”
“What the f*ck are you talking about? What the f*ck are you talking about? You want to stop a superhuman from committing a crime? The nine great cultivation families have been h.o.a.rding cultivation resources. Logically speaking, that should be considered a superhuman committing a crime, right? Why don’t you secret police investigate, arrest, and stop them?”
“They don’t dare to investigate the nine great cultivation families. They’re the lackeys raised by the nine great cultivation families, to begin with!”
“What judge are you talking about? Judge my a**!”
Everyone tore off their tops one after another, revealing scars that were as shiny as medals.
They held each other’s strong arms and formed a human chain that surged up and down. It was as if they were determined to face death and charge at a beast horde.
Some of them even took off their artificial limbs and threw them at the secret police.
Although the secret police did not get hit, their faces were “bruised.” It was hard to tell if they were angry or ashamed.
Meng Chao did not join the commotion.
He narrowed his eyes and scanned the scene with his eagle-like gaze. He realized that there were seven or eight people in the crowd who had different expressions from the others.
These people’s attention was not focused on the secret police or the Supernatural Tower staff.
Instead, they were secretly observing the angry crowd around them out of the corner of their eyes.
Their gaze reminded Meng Chao of the thieves on the bus, who were looking for prey.
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These guys seemed as angry as everyone else.
However, when Meng Chao read their micro-expressions, he realized that their eyes were sharp and the corners of their mouths were slightly curled up. The expansion of the capillaries on their faces did not reach the level of “rage.” Instead, they felt relaxed and satisfied as if it was none of their business.
Meng Chao told Ai Lei about his discovery.
Ai Lei was not surprised. She explained to Meng Chao that these guys were most likely subordinates of the black market’s big shot, Giant-toothed Crocodile. They were looking for customers there!
In any case, no matter how much trouble the superhumans caused, running out of stock meant running out of stock. There was nothing they could do about it.
Once the mid-level to low-level superhumans had enough trouble, they would stop. They did not want to see their spirit meridians shrink day by day, and the cracks on their bones increase day by day. At that point, they could just lower their heads and go to the black market, where they would spend seven to eight times or even more.
Based on half a day’s worth of observation, Giant-toothed Crocodile’s subordinates would find the most anxious and profitable customers among the mid-level to low-level superhumans. Then, they would bring them to the black market to trade.
That was the reason why Ai Lei brought Meng Chao to the Monster Market.
“They’re that cautious?”
Meng Chao was slightly taken aback. “The black market doesn’t have a fixed trading place. Isn’t everyone allowed to go?” “There was originally a fixed trading place that everyone could go to. However, you’ve also seen it for yourself, Senior. Ultimately, the descendants of wealthy families are extremely low. Now, the vast majority of people in Dragon City’s circle of superhumans are all curious about h.o.a.rding. Black market trading is something that they abhor. The Supernatural Tower is under tremendous pressure, and it wants to destroy some of the black markets to kill this evil trend. They have no choice but to be cautious in the black market.”
Ai Lei said, “Unless it’s a regular customer who has done business with them many times, it’s slightly less efficient for the underlings to personally pick and lead new customers to their homes. The advantage is at least it’s safer this way. Even if something happens, Giant-toothed Crocodile can ‘cut off the gecko’s tail as soon as possible and make it a clean cut.”
“That means that it’ll be very difficult for us to find Giant-toothed Crocodile’s lair. Even if we do find it, Giant-toothed Crocodile might not be around?” Meng Chao frowned slightly.
“Judging from today’s scene, yes.”
Ai Lei handed Meng Chao the newly bought crystal communicator, letting him see a few of Dragon City’s influential social media and short video platforms.
It was currently the era of self-media.
The town gossipers buying vegetables in the Monster Market were not the only ones, who posted the short video that they had just recorded, online.
Many mid-level and low-level superhumans, who could not contain their anger, did not forget to raise their eyebrows and start a live broadcast at the same time.
In just a few minutes, the riot in the Monster Market had become the talk of the whole Internet.
Tens of millions of citizens in the city all heard a thunderous roar.
“We have shed blood for Dragon City!”
“We want to cultivate!”
“We just want to buy cultivation resources that should belong to us!”
Ai Lei quickly opened seven or eight screens and scrolled through them. “The Monster Market in the south of the city is under Giant-toothed Crocodile’s territory. Although this matter has nothing to do with him, since he has run into it, one can only consider it part of his bad luck.
“I think Giant-toothed Crocodile must be in a terrible situation right now. He probably doesn’t know how to explain this to the bigger boss behind him.
“At such a critical time, how dare he show up in the black market to get himself caught?”
Meng Chao was silent.
Shen Yulin had been blown up by the Blood Alliance. All the clues on him had been burned away.
If he wanted to catch the Blood Alliance’s tail, he had to find the mysterious informant who had a conflict with Shen Yulin and hired Ai Lei to investigate things.
If he wanted to find the informant, he had to find the broker, Tailless Monkey.
And if he wanted to find Tailless Monkey, he had to find the black market boss, Giant-toothed Crocodile.
That b*stard better not be hiding during such an important time!
Right then, Meng Chao noticed one of Giant-toothed Crocodile’s subordinates.
This guy was different from the others.
His temperament was exceptionally steady, and his gaze was sharper.
However, what really attracted Meng Chao was his hands.
He was clearly a rough man who had endured the sun and rain.
Yet, he had a pair of fair, delicate, and slender hands that looked like they belonged to a young girl.
His hands were so fair, as though milk would flow out instead of blood if they were lightly poked by an embroidery needle.
It was obvious that these were the hands of a Reaper.
On top of that, they were the hands of a veteran Reaper with superb skills. Upon careful consideration, that seemed like a reasonable conclusion. Black market transactions were not merely simple extortion.
They also included buying all kinds of natural treasures at a low price from customers.
After all, the Monster War had only ended a little more than a year ago.
Many ordinary-looking mid-level and low-level superhumans possessed a few good items that they had obtained in exchange for their blood and even their lives in the depths of Monster Mountain Range.
Many heavenly materials and earthly treasures would not be of much use in the hands of mid-level and low-level superhumans.
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In fact, they were not even sure if these items were heavenly materials and earthly treasures or how valuable they were.
Nevertheless, in the eyes of those who knew the value of the items, they were priceless treasures that could only be found by chance.
It was not surprising that Giant-toothed Crocodile had arranged for a veteran Reaper to be stationed there to be in charge of appraising and receiving “distinguished guests.”
Meng Chao thought quickly and instantly came up with a solution.
As long as this veteran Reaper’s foresight was sharp enough, his chances of success would be high.
“Give me five minutes.”
Meng Chao said to Ai Lei, “I’m going to the grocery store on the first floor to buy something!”
Without waiting for Ai Lei to respond, he squeezed out of the crowd.
Ai Lei could not catch up in time. Besides, as a media person, her professional sensitivity pushed her to focus more on the “big event” in front of her.
Ka-cha, ka-cha, ka-cha.
Ai Lei took a large number of photos and videos without batting an eyelid.
She captured the helplessness, anger, and outburst of the low-level superhumans from the most professional point of view.
She switched out a few memory cards in succession.
Then, she hid the memory cards in different places on her body, and even in a crack in the wall nearby.
She was having a great time.
Someone squeezed in from behind and nudged her.
This person had rough skin, and his bones were very hard. He reminded Ai Lei of a fierce beast with thick skin.
She subconsciously tensed up and looked back. She saw a short man in his forties with disheveled hair and a sinister look on his face.
Ai Lei’s job was to deal with people.
She moved her eyes slightly and scrutinized the short man’s appearance.
Judging from his tough skin and hard bones, he was a powerful superhuman.
Judging from his messy hair that looked like a bird’s nest, his slightly chapped lips, and his dirty jungle camouflage outfit that had several holes in it, he was an unkempt man.
Judging from his dark skin and traces of scabies that had healed on his skin, he must have been in the depths of the jungle all year round, dealing with all kinds of deformed and mutated snakes, insects, rats, and ants.
Judging from the wine stains on his collar, the yellowing marks on his fingers, and the pungent smell of alcohol and tobacco on his body, this superhuman did not seem to be doing well. He appeared to be drowning his sorrows with alcohol all day long.
As for why he did not seem to be doing well recently, Ai Lei quickly found out—there was a blood-colored scar that looked like a centipede on his right arm. It ran from the back of his hand to his shoulder.
Affected by this, his right hand, which was full of calluses and supposed to be for holding swords, was curled up like a chicken claw.
No, it did not just extend to his shoulder.
The extremely ugly scar extended further up, winding around the small superhuman’s neck.
From the looks of it, not only did it injure his cervical vertebra, it caused his head to turn slightly. It also damaged his central nervous system, causing the left corner of his mouth and the corner of his eye to twitch every few seconds.
The small superhuman seemed to be very sensitive to the scars on his arms and neck.
Sensing Ai Lei’s gaze, he immediately glared at her.
Ai Lei was startled.
She felt a cold sensation as if someone had cut her throat.