Chapter 21

"The Lower Nest really is a den of tigers and dragons..."

After leaving Tark, Alvin rubbed his temples, a bitter expression on his face: "Tark the Jackal—this guy is far too dangerous. I should avoid him as much as possible in the future."

Tark the Jackal is certainly not as simple as he appears.

He can obtain Mid Nest resident IDs, and even acquire weapons and equipment—his background is utterly unfathomable!

Dig deeper, and it becomes clear he doesn’t just know the 'Gold,' but also subtly implies he knows the Upper Nest nobles use gold to make ornaments.

Just this one fact is enough for Alvin to be certain.

Tark the Jackal is definitely not, as rumors claim, someone exiled to the Lower Nest for offending Mid Nest nobles.

What Mid Nest noble would exile someone suspected of having ties to Upper Nest nobility?

Unless... it was an elite Upper Nest noble himself.

Could Tark be a bodyguard from some elite Upper Nest noble family, exiled here after committing a mistake?

That possibility isn’t entirely implausible.

But all of this is pure speculation—there’s not a shred of evidence.

What truly troubles Alvin is... Tark gives him an intensely dangerous feeling.

His enhanced senses—even his sixth sense—when facing Tark, made him feel as if thorns were pricking his back.

It was like a blade pressed against his throat—sharp, icy, as if his life could be snatched away at any moment!

Remember, he is a genuine 'Eta-class' psychic!

Even across the entire Empire, he’s no powerhouse, but in the Lower Nest, aside from the cult’s psychics, Tark is the only one who has ever made him feel such terror.

"Just what is this guy’s origin?"

No matter how hard Alvin racked his brain, he couldn’t fathom why Tark the Jackal had appeared in the Lower Nest.

Fortunately, Tark seems to harbor no immediate ill will toward him—that’s something to be grateful for.

And this isn’t entirely bad: at least Alvin now knows his disguise looks as childish as a child’s play to certain people.

Put on a different coat, wear a mask, lower your voice—that’s disguise?

No, that might fool fools, but to true 'experts,' it’s just showing off in front of Laozi.

"I must find time to learn the art of disguise!"

Alvin silently resolved: being a novice doesn’t matter—as long as he’s willing to learn.

After all, the art of disguise will be indispensable in the future.

After resolving his most pressing issue, Alvin’s heavy mood lifted somewhat.

He glanced at the 'Navigator System' on his wrist—the status bar still read: Searching for accessible Anchor Worlds.

"Looks like I can’t transit between worlds consecutively."

Alvin sighed and shook his head—he’d planned to use the three days Tark was preparing to travel to another world and gather some 'capital.'

But now it was clear he’d been overoptimistic: the 'Navigator System' requires a full re-scan of accessible 'Anchor Worlds' after every transit, and he had no idea how long that would take.

If it were a fixed 'Anchor World,' there’d be no such restrictions.

Too bad he’d stayed so briefly in the Black Robe world—if he’d stayed longer, securing 1000 Source Power would’ve been no problem.

He actually had the chance—kill 'Huey' or 'Butcher,' the two protagonists, and 1000 Source Power would’ve been easily within reach.

But when it came time to act, Alvin rejected the idea.

He could be a scumbag, but not a scumbag without any Dixian —he couldn’t cross that line. That mattered.

"Hey, I’ll tell you—something huge just broke!"

"Huge? What’s huge?"

Suddenly, a conversation by the roadside made Alvin instinctively stop.

Though the two men lowered their voices, Alvin’s enhanced senses still caught every word clearly.

"The Blood Axe Gang in the East Zone... has been wiped out by the Hammer Gang!"

"No way, seriously?"

"Of course it’s true—I saw it with my own eyes!"

"You?"

"Don’t doubt me—I just came back from the East Zone. The Blood Axe Gang’s camp... damn, it was a massacre—blood everywhere!"

"Aren’t the Blood Axe Gang pretty strong? Just a few days ago they were trading blows with the Hammer Gang—how did they get wiped out so fast?"

"Who knows? Just stay away from the East Zone for now—it’s not safe."

Alvin heard every word of their private conversation.

The Blood Axe Gang... wiped out?!

The news reignited his previously calmed anxiety.

"Damn, the Blood Axe Gang is that weak? Wiped out so fast?" Alvin was shocked—and alarmed: "With such a bold move, isn’t the cult afraid of being noticed by the Enforcers?"

But upon reflection, it made perfect sense.

The Hammer Gang is closely tied to the cult, and with that psychic they’d seen that day aiding them, wiping out a minor gang was child’s play.

And the collapse of a single Lower Nest gang? The chance of drawing Enforcer attention is about as likely as winning the lottery.

The Enforcers protect Mid Nest civilians and Upper Nest nobles and elites—what about the Lower Nest?

Filth and trash, bottom-tier scum—unless they die in droves, the Enforcers won’t even notice!

"I can’t go back—not for now!"

Alvin immediately changed direction and headed south, toward the South Zone, outside the Hammer Gang’s current control.

He did this for two reasons.

First, he couldn’t be sure whether the cult’s psychic had clearly seen his face that day.

Second, judging from the hundreds of scavengers slaughtered in the East Zone, the cult has already begun preparing for a 'sacrifice' ritual—returning now would be like walking into a lion’s den.

With that decided, Alvin pulled his hood tighter, trying to avoid drawing attention.

The Bone Gang, currently controlling the South Zone, is one of the two strongest forces in the Lower Nest—on par with the old Crusader Gang. Even with the cult’s covert aid, the Hammer Gang couldn’t possibly eliminate the Bone Gang in the short term.

Though the Lower Nest has no formal zoning, to travel from one gang’s territory to another, you must pay a 'protection fee.'

Several Bone Gang members guarded the entrance to a dilapidated, abandoned pipe.

Normally, few scavengers chose to cross into other zones—no matter where you went, the gangs exploited you equally.

"Stop! You—what’s your business?"

A tall man with ashen skin and a gas mask raised his rifle a few inches, aiming it at Alvin’s ragged appearance.

"I—I’m a scavenger from the East Zone, trying to get to the South Zone... sir."

Alvin feigned fear, fumbling with his dirty hands to pull out a nutrient injector: "This... this is the toll. I know the rules~"

The man glanced at it, lowered his rifle, snatched the injector, and sneered: "Not enough. Price just went up—30 kroner."

Bullshit—you just raised the price on the spot!

Beneath his hood, Alvin’s face twisted with violence—but he suppressed it instantly.

No—he couldn’t start a fight here!

Surveillance cameras were nearby. Killing these two bastards would guarantee the Bone Gang hunted him down—exactly what he wanted to avoid: drawing attention and delaying his plans.

He feigned pleading, speaking in a humble tone: "Sir, I only have this much—please let me pass. I promise I’ll repay you next time, okay?"

"Fuck off, no money? Get lost!"

To his surprise, the man’s face twisted with rage as he kicked straight for Alvin’s face.

Alvin moved swiftly, dodging the kick—but this only enraged the man further.

The man nearly split himself in half from the dodge, mocked by his companion behind: "Hah! Tiva, did you use all your strength on a woman last night?"

"Fuck you! Who the hell told you to dodge?!"

Tiva, furious, leveled his rifle at Alvin and snarled: "You trashy scavenger dares to mock me? You want to die?!"

"Why can’t you just let me pass?"

Alvin pulled a cheap cigarette from his pocket, lit it, took a drag, and glanced at the two men: "How about this—you let me go, and we pretend this never happened?"

Tiva felt his authority challenged, his face contorting, veins bulging on his forehead: "You piece of trash—I won’t call myself Tiva if I don’t kill you today!"

Alvin exhaled a smoke ring: "True. Got so caught up smoking, I almost forgot to smoke you."

Psychic energy—activate!