Chapter 160 The Way of the Marauders <TOC> Chapter 162 Mysterious Commission
Translator: SumTLMan
A sudden clamor erupted in the streets.
“What’s going on outside?”
Russell motioned for his bodyguard to go and investigate, thinking that yet another marauder had gotten drunk and started causing trouble.
Such incidents were common in Raginbeard, typically resulting in fines and a few lashes as punishment.
A moment later, the bodyguard returned.
“There’s a fire, sir, and it seems to be in our neighborhood.”
Billowing black smoke soared into the sky, visible from a great distance, as a peculiar odor wafted in the wind.
“I wonder which unfortunate soul is responsible. I’ll make sure they lose everything they own!”
Excitement spread across Russell’s face. He was ruthless even when unprovoked, let alone when given a reason.
He felt a sudden lightness, a slight throbbing in his head, as if he were about to float away.
Perhaps this was the sensation of a substantial sum of money about to enter his private coffers.
Russell thought, quite contentedly.
He looked up and noticed that his bodyguard was also giggling foolishly, his facial muscles twitching.
“What’s the matter with you? What are you laughing at?”
He asked, somewhat displeased.
“I…I don’t know, I just feel incredibly happy, as if I’ve inhaled some cocaine.”
The bodyguard was also puzzled, casting a fearful glance at Russell.
“Mr. Russell, you…you’re laughing too.”
Russell became somewhat irritated:
“Have you gone mad? Why would I laugh without any reason?”
“Ev…everyone is laughing… something’s wrong with this smoke!”
The commotion in the street suddenly intensified. Some people raised their rifles and began shooting indiscriminately at those around them, laughing hysterically. Those under attack didn’t hesitate to fight back.
They fought like wild beasts, locked in a vicious struggle.
Others lit torches and threw them into the buildings lining the streets, laughing maniacally as they watched their victims scream in agony amidst the flames.
Cocaine is a liquid extracted from the fruit of the mutated plant erythroxylum coca, which is then purified and processed into transparent crystals.
It possesses a potent hallucinogenic and addictive quality, even ensnaring the awakened. Even addicts with deep-rooted dependencies will dilute the alkaloid crystals fifty times with water before injecting it.
A slight overdose can lead to death from exceeding one’s own tolerance, dying amidst euphoric spasms.
The predators in Avonigarda submit to force and reluctantly follow order, but when inadvertently inhaling copious amounts of alkaloid, their wicked nature is fully unleashed.
The order in Raginbeard maintains a complex and fragile dynamic balance, which is entirely disrupted by the thick smoke drifting through the air. Even the instigator, Li Mu, did not anticipate such an outcome.
The entire neighborhood, with the Black Dragon Breath warehouse at its center, is plunged into chaos.
The bartender hastily locks the bar’s door to prevent the crazed people on the street from barging in.
The bar’s glass shatters from stray bullets, and Russell is drenched in sweat, as if washed in water. A terrifying hypothesis emerges in his mind.
“There’s a large batch of high-purity alkaloid in the warehouse. It couldn’t have caught fire, could it?”
Those responsible for distribution deal with only a few kilograms of the product at a time. Even if they lit it all up and used large fans to blow it, it couldn’t possibly drive so many people mad.
The moment this possibility crossed Russell’s mind, he couldn’t stop trembling, his legs becoming as weak as noodles. The Black Dragon Breath and the ruler of Raginbeard would undoubtedly make him experience true hell for causing such a disaster.
He had always been arrogant, believing that his intelligence could manipulate the brutes who only knew how to flaunt their muscles.
Only when he faced a desperate situation did he realize he was just a sly fox pretending to be a fearsome tiger.
Fear completely consumed him, and at this moment, Russell only wanted to inhale more alkaloid from the air.
“Bang!”
At that moment, a hand pierced through the bar door, reached inside, and opened it.
The bartender immediately pulled a shotgun from under the counter and unleashed a barrage of bullets.
“Boom! Boom! Boom!”
The door was utterly obliterated by the whizzing bullets.
As the crisp sound of spent shells hitting the floor rang out, Li Mu straightened his clothes and walked in.
His newly changed clothes were once again torn.
Seeing him almost unscathed, the bartender immediately tossed the shotgun aside and raised his hands.
Li Mu ignored him and instead greeted Russell with a wave:
“Nice to see you again, Mr. Russell.”
Russell’s lips quivered with fear and excitement.
“You… you… you scoundrel, did you set fire to the warehouse?!”
Li Mu pulled out the chair opposite Russell and sat down. In the next instant, he suddenly grabbed Russell’s collar without warning and slammed him forcefully onto the table.
The solid wooden tabletop was directly smashed through by Russell’s face, his features scraped raw by the splintered wood, blood pooling on the floor.
Had it not been for the nerve-paralyzing alkaloid, Russell would have been knocked unconscious by the pain right then and there.
“Where is the energy cultivation method collected by Black Dragon Breath?”
Li Mu asked with a cold expression, having already inspected the stolen goods from the warehouse and found no energy cultivation methods among them.
The bodyguard roared in rage, attempting to charge forward but was met with a powerful punch to the face, sending him flying backward at even greater speed, knocking over a row of tables and chairs in the hotel.
Several patrons were unable to dodge in time and were also knocked to the ground.
The bodyguard let out a piercing wail, clutching his face as he writhed among the wreckage of the tables and chairs. His facial bones had been shattered by the punch.
Russell, his mouth filled with blood, struggled to speak.
“I don’t know… I really don’t know.”
He was truly terrified.
“Are you trying to deceive me?”
Li Mu picked up a table knife and gestured it towards Russell’s chest.
“I really don’t know. The energy cultivation method is one of the most closely guarded secrets of Black Dragon Breath. Only those who have made significant contributions have the opportunity to be taught. As an ordinary person, I have no chance to come into contact with it!”
Before Russell could finish speaking, his heart was pierced by the table knife.
“Then you have no value to me.”
Li Mu let go, stood up, and walked to the bar with his hands in his pockets.
The bartender trembled, looking at Li Mu as if he were a demon. That was Mr. Russell, who had been slaughtered like a dog.
“Where can I find the energy cultivation method?”
“Nearby, the Silver Python Gang on the nearby streets sell energy cultivation methods.”
The Silver Python was a powerful predatory gang, their strength nearly on par with Black Dragon Breath.
Li Mu picked up a shotgun from the ground, found a box of shells from behind the bar, and loaded the weapon.
“Do they also do business like Mr. Russell?”
“They… they only do business with acquaintances.”
The bartender wiped his sweat, his heart growing anxious.
“How can one be considered their acquaintance?”
“Only those who have completed three tasks for the Silver Python qualify.”
The tasks of the Silver Python mostly involve eliminating troublesome figures for them in the city of Raginbeard.
As the ruler of Raginbeard forbids fighting within the city, many who have offended the Silver Python take refuge there, thinking it would save their lives.
They are too naive. For a powerful faction like the Silver Python, there’s no need to personally carry out the killings.
“I understand.”
Li Mu raised his shotgun and blasted the bartender in front of him.
Patrons in the bar sensed that something was amiss and tried to flee or fight back, but they were all turned into a honeycomb by his shotgun.
They knew too much.
This shotgun had a reinforced barrel, using specially-made large-caliber buckshot rounds, and felt surprisingly good in hand.
Tossing the emptied shotgun aside, Li Mu pushed open the bar door and disappeared into the chaotic streets.
Chapter 160 The Way of the Marauders <TOC> Chapter 162 Mysterious Commission