Chapter 15: If Only Her Eyes Were Red

In the gloomy lighting, the Artificial Light Source not far away emitted a dim glow, making it nearly impossible to see the scenery in the distance.

This was a corner of the Underground Black Market. Though it never saw the light of day, it wasn't necessarily underground. In the filthy gutters, several mutated rats the size of human heads stared eerily at the crowd.

They were not afraid of humans. Their fur was matted with sticky fluids, and their claws and teeth were tainted with a cocktail of viruses that even experts would struggle to identify.

There were no tall buildings here. Neon-like lights flickered incessantly, and a few Addicts lay slumped in the corners, twitching uncontrollably.

Li Yu even spotted some freshly dried chunks of flesh and blood. This place was a breeding ground for sin.

The laws of the Star Glory Empire held no sway here; the only thing that mattered was the size of your fists!

The group followed Third Fatty. Their route did not take them near the center of the Black market, merely skirting its edges.

There weren't many living beings around, but they did encounter non-humanoid races, including one with crimson skin all over, possessing four arms, and standing incredibly tall.

"A Four-Armed Titan, a Dominant Race in interstellar space. They possess formidable individual Strength and believe in the law of the jungle." The introduction Old Lu had given him the first time he saw a Four-Armed Titan surfaced in his mind.

There were no laws here, but there were Rules. These Rules were far more draconian than any law, and there was only one consequence for breaking them: death!

The large group trailed behind Third Fatty in a mighty procession. Their tattered clothing and overpowering stench drew exaggerated laughter and mockery from many, yet no one dared to make a move.

That was because, at some point, a flame-patterned Emblem had been pinned to Third Fatty's chest.

The Veteran Scavengers remained perfectly calm, calculating how they should spend their remaining Star Coins. Only the Scavengers visiting this place for the first time felt indignant.

There were not only desperadoes here but also citizens of The Empire seeking thrills. Those people were the most troublesome; even one of them dying here would cause a massive shockwave.

"Third Brother, you are late."

After crossing the street and arriving before a dilapidated three-story building, a burly Man in a Black Overcoat spoke in a muffled voice. The atmosphere here was terrifyingly eerie, making one instinctively hold their breath.

"Haha, Second Brother, I was delayed a bit. For some reason, there are quite a few more checkpoints now..." Third Fatty complained.

"We were just waiting on you. Get your people settled in. Then head upstairs," the man instructed, his face unsmiling.

This was where Li Yu and the others would be staying. It was safe inside, but if they went out, there were no guarantees.

The first floor had many rooms, all of them dilapidated. The floorboards creaked underfoot from years of neglect, and the smell of dust permeated the air, mixed with a foul stench that made one want to cover their nose.

"Wait..." The Man in a Black Overcoat watched Li Yu and the group enter the building, but as his gaze swept over a particular person, his eyes suddenly locked on.

"Nobody fucking move!" Third Fatty immediately bellowed.

The group of Scavengers ground to a halt, looking panicked and uneasy.

Creak! Creak!

The only sound was the man's footsteps treading heavily on the floorboards. He walked up to Mountain Chicken and stopped.

Mountain Chicken hurriedly opened his mouth, "Lord, my name is Mountain Chicken, the 'chicken' as in... my elder brother is..."

"Scram!" The man spat out a single word that exploded by Mountain Chicken's ear. Only then did Mountain Chicken realize the man wasn't looking for him. Feeling as though he had been granted amnesty, he scrambled away in a hurry.

Behind him stood Mo Duo, head lowered and rooted to the spot. The nearby Scavengers were all backing away. Li Yu shot a glance at Mo Duo but did not move from his position.

The man looked down at Mo Duo, his gaze deep and chillingly quiet. "Look up..."

Mo Duo trembled all over, slowly raising her head. Her dark green eyes were brimming with terror and anxiety.

The man slowly reached his hand into his coat. Li Yu narrowed his eyes. 'I have about ten bullets left for the sniper rifle.'

The atmosphere at the scene was incredibly tense. As the man withdrew his hand, he pulled out a palm-sized magnifying glass.

"Don't move," he commanded coldly. He raised the magnifying glass and meticulously examined Mo Duo's eyes.

Third Fatty revealed an imperceptible sneer.

A moment later, the man sighed and shook his head. "They aren't colored contact lenses... What a pity. If only her eyes were red."

Only then did Third Fatty lean in, a curious expression on his face. "Second Brother, what would happen if they were red?"

"If they were red, I would be able to gouge them out..."

He spoke these chilling words in a completely flat tone.

"A few years ago, the price of a Blazing Eye Gem was hyped to exorbitant levels, and the Blazing Eye race was nearly slaughtered to extinction because of it. If her eyes were red, I might have been able to forge a Replica."

"Really? How much would it be worth?"

"Tens of millions of Star Coins, for just one..."

The two men chatted as they climbed the shuddering stairs to the upper floor, leaving the crowd to breathe a collective sigh of relief.

Mo Duo stood frozen in place, fists clenched tight, unable to stop her whole body from shivering. Her eyes were empty and lifeless.

"Let's go. Time to pick a room, or all the good ones will be taken." Li Yu patted Mo Duo on the shoulder, snapping her out of her daze and causing her clenched fists to relax.

"O-okay..."

"Who is it? Can't you see this room is already taken?"

Pushing the door open, two Scavengers glared furiously at Li Yu. But once they realized who he was, they broke out in a cold sweat.

Wasn't this the demon who tore off people's faces?

"I know it's occupied, but I want to stay here too," Li Yu stated his reasonable request.

After a brief moment of deliberation, the other party decided to embrace the spirit of courtesy and yielded the room to Li Yu.

"Thanks a lot." Li Yu expressed his sincere gratitude. He had stayed in this room the past few times because it possessed a hidden perk.

The faucet in the bathroom still worked, which meant he could connect a pipe to take a shower. Old Lu was the one who had told him about this.

Prying up a floorboard, a white water pipe revealed itself before him. A smile instantly tugged at his lips.

"Finally, I can take a shower..."

"I... I'll step out first..." When Li Yu started to undress, Mo Duo realized something was wrong and hurriedly slipped out of the room in a panic.

Li Yu paused for a moment before continuing to take off his clothes. Beside him, Claptrap's single eye flashed. "Master, I suspect that Mo Duo's feelings for you are not pure."

"If you're already using the word 'feelings,' how could they be pure?" Li Yu was rendered Speechless.

"Aside from races that reproduce asexually or within the same sex, such affections among humans are still prone to sparking gossip," Claptrap analyzed.

"Then have you ever analyzed the possibility that she is a woman disguised as a man?"

Claptrap's single eye simulated a blinking image before replying, "Master, even the most vulgar Galactic Biographies no longer use such cliches."

Li Yu: "..."

"Furthermore, when I scanned Mo Duo with the Infrared Scan, I found no obvious anomalies."

"Neither the superfluous thermal clusters typical of females nor the missing thermal cluster characteristics were detected on his body."

Up on the third floor, past the rotting, dilapidated door, the interior was stark white. The walls were covered entirely in white porcelain tiles, enveloping the entire room.

Around the long white Table in the center, four Seats were arranged—two on the left and two on the right.

The Man in a Black Overcoat sat with a stoic expression. Across from him sat the Pale-Faced Middle-Aged Man in red robes; his deep-set eye sockets gave him a rather terrifying appearance.

Opposite Third Fatty sat an Alluring Woman dressed in a high-slit white cheongsam. Her long, pale legs were crossed, and she hid her mouth behind a Fan, revealing only a pair of sparkling, crystal-clear eyes.

Hum!

A humming sound filled the air as light beamed from the tiles on the wall, casting a blurry Holographic Image of a figure at one end of the long table.

"Let's begin," the blurred figure spoke. The voice had been specially processed, making it impossible to discern its true nature.

"Yes, Lord," the four answered respectfully in unison. The Pale-Faced Middle-Aged Man was the first to report.

"Over the past six months, the volume of human transplantation business has seen a slight increase. Revenue reached forty million Star Coins, with a profit of around fifteen million Star Coins."

"Mhm..." The blurry figure nodded, Noncommittal.

The Man in a Black Overcoat followed immediately. "Lord, the non-human transplantation business has risen significantly. Revenue hit sixty million Star Coins, and profit sits at twenty million Star Coins."

The other three were somewhat surprised by this revelation, particularly the Pale-Faced Middle-Aged Man, whose eyes grew even darker within his deep sockets.

"Not bad," the blurry figure praised, causing varying expressions to flash across their faces.

"I can't compare to my two elder brothers. My profits are around seven to eight million Star Coins," Third Fatty chuckled. His income was very stable, without much fluctuation.

"Hehe," the woman chuckled lightly. "A big shot has recently emerged in the No Man's Land System, kicking up quite a fuss. Quite a few people have come here to Lie Low."

She paused, her enchanting eyes shifting as she continued, "Because of this, my side of the business has been doing rather well. The profit is around thirty million."

Thirty million!

The pupils of the other three shrank, and they froze momentarily. This amount surpassed all of them.

"Excellent." The blurry figure's voice rose slightly, indicating a clearly pleasant mood.

"The usual rules apply. You keep twenty-five percent and hand over seventy-five percent."

The four exchanged glances and nodded. This had always been the rule. The Lord handled the High Echelon of Heavenly Desolation Star, while they managed the matters on the ground.

The blurry figure tapped on the Table, drawing their Attention:

"There's something you need to know. There has been an issue with the next batch of Stowaways. That guy who rose to power in the No Man's Land System has been plundering aggressively. Half a month ago, he blew up several Smuggling Ships..."

"Several Snakeheads got spooked, and they haven't dared to take any business recently."

"How long do we have to wait?" the woman asked with a frown. Their businesses relied on a steady stream of Stowaways to provide fresh blood.

"I don't know," the blurry figure said, rarely uttering those words.

"Lord, you said this happened half a month ago?" Third Fatty's pupils shrank as he carefully probed.

"That's right... Why?" the blurry figure asked.

Third Fatty shook his head, offering an obsequious smile. "It's nothing, I just didn't hear clearly a moment ago."

Boundless rage surged within his heart. He had been tricked!

That brat had no big shot backing him at all!

Previously, Li Yu claimed that the big shot behind him had ordered him to kill someone smuggling into this place ten days later.

Ten days later was exactly when they would be returning from the Black Market with their first batch of Stowaways.

But by that time, the Smuggling Ships had already been blasted out of the sky, and the Snakeheads had temporarily suspended all activities.

If the figure behind Li Yu was truly that powerful, they would have known this news long ago and would never have specified a ten-day timeframe.

Therefore, Third Fatty knew there was a ninety-nine percent chance he had been played. Although he had no idea how the kid got his hands on that Gun, it definitely wasn't the way he claimed.

"That damn Scavenger!"

He kept his head half-lowered to hide his reaction, Gnashing His Teeth. His beady, mung-bean-sized eyes burned with fury!

For the foreseeable future, only the cheongsam-wearing woman and Third Fatty's businesses wouldn't suffer too much, as neither of them were the type to drain the pond to get the fish.

On the other hand, the Pale-Faced Middle-Aged Man and the Man in a Black Overcoat both wore grim expressions. Their businesses were practically at a standstill; without fresh materials, transplants were impossible.

"Don't worry. The new upstart in the No Man's Land System has already drawn the ire of The Empire. He won't be jumping around for much longer..."

The blurred figure reassured them. The group nodded, displaying varying expressions. Only the cheongsam-wearing woman remained sitting calmly on the fishing platform; after all, Pimping was the easiest business to run.

...

After his shower, the refreshing sensation made Li Yu feel reborn. Before, a massive amount of metabolic waste had clung to his skin, making him feel as though he had been encased in a cocoon.

Now, his skin was noticeably fairer. His shoulder-length hair was slicked back, dripping with water, and his well-proportioned muscles harbored explosive power.

After admiring himself in the cracked mirror for a moment, Li Yu picked up his tattered clothes and began to scrub them thoroughly.

Bang!

The door was kicked open, and a rotund shadow was cast into the room. Li Yu didn't even need to look back to know who it was.

"Mr. Third, why are you acting so rough? This is nothing like your usual refined self." Li Yu kept his back turned, completely naked, scrubbing his clothes vigorously.

Hearing this, Third Fatty instinctively restrained his strength. But a second later, he flared up in a raging inferno. Why the hell was he listening to him?

"Scavenger, you've got a lot of nerve." Third Fatty forced a fake smile, squeezing the words out of his mouth as he kicked the door shut with a slam.

"Tra-la-la... Master, the gun is wiped clean!" Claptrap bounded out of the bathroom, its massive mechanical right arm hoisting the purple Magnetic Kinetic Sniper Rifle, coming face-to-face with Third Fatty.

"Threat detected. Warning!" Claptrap's single eye instantly turned a dangerous shade of red as it leveled the sniper rifle directly at Third Fatty.

'This gun!'

'Since when?'

Third Fatty immediately froze in his tracks, his pupils dilating as beads of cold sweat rolled down his forehead. Damn it, he hadn't had a chance to restock his life-saving gadget after using it last time.

"There are two guys upstairs who are even stronger than me. If you dare open fire, you won't make it out either!" Third Fatty issued a stern warning.

"Claptrap, how can you point a gun at a Friend?" Li Yu waved his hand. Claptrap instantly lowered the weapon, reverting to its harmless demeanor.

"What's the matter, Mr. Third? Did you need me for something?" Li Yu stood up, completely stark naked, and looked openly at Third Fatty.

Seeing Li Yu so unfazed, Third Fatty grew confused once more. 'How did this gun appear again?'

'Who delivered it to Li Yu so silently and without a trace?'

'Or does he possess spatial folding equipment himself?'

Eventually, he plastered on a smile and rubbed his hands together. "It's nothing. I just came to check if your accommodations were satisfactory."