Chapter 190: Night

Li En held a torch, his footsteps echoing far through the pitch-black cavern.

But he didn't truly need light—his Dragon Eyes could see far beyond this darkness.

If it were only him.

"Friend, it's so dark."

Laina tugged at his cloak, uneasy—but the excitement in her pupils was impossible to hide.

Li En turned back, glanced at her dragging her true sword while hurrying forward, and smiled.

His gaze turned ahead—he glared at the lurking figure in the shadows!

"I mean no harm," the thief stepped forward voluntarily, gripping his sheathed dagger downward, signaling he had no intention of causing trouble.

"My team is nearby; I'm just passing through." He slowly retreated, fading into the shadows.

Yet the others in Li En's squad glared at him with hostility—after one incident, they held no goodwill toward thieves.

Even after the thief vanished, they kept their eyes locked on his direction.

"Damn mangy dogs."

"If we're weak, they'll strike. 'Just passing through'? Only a fool believes that."

Li En turned back, slightly surprised.

We've barely entered the underground ruin—already this complicated? Weren't adventurers supposed to get along?

"Precisely because it's the upper layer, they're active—they've got organizations both aboveground and below, specializing in vulture and stray dog work."

Vultures and stray dogs? Feeding on corpses, preying on the weak?

Probably, adventurers returning from the lower levels in poor condition would be robbed too.

"No one stops them? Oh, I'm stupid."

Stop them? Who? The local authorities can't even manage what's above—they've got no control down here.

"They dare not go too far—against returning wounded teams, they'll only demand tolls. But if you die down here, they'll take everything you own. Sometimes, they even steal supplies and loot."

Palna fumed—her injuries this time were mostly due to these thieves.

These bastards deliberately trigger rockfalls and pits to cause trouble for other adventurers.

They wouldn't dare kill outright—at least not murders that leak news—after all, this is still just the upper layer.

If a real murder occurred, relations would turn even more hostile, and then they'd truly lose all chance to make money.

"Actually, Lord Li En could've attacked directly—he approached us while stealthed, which counts as an attack. Cut him down, dead is deserved."

Every region has its own "house rules"—if these thief gangs play like this, don't blame adventurers and explorers for overreacting.

"So that's why he was so terrified."

Li En's Desire Serpent Eyes saw the thief's overwhelming fear and unease the moment he was locked onto.

Li En didn't know—the thief, upon meeting his Dragon Eyes, had been terrified by the sheer lust for slaughter; the thief had even lost the courage to flee, revealing himself and submitting meekly.

In their line of work, that was the most humiliating thing imaginable.

Soon, the upper layer would spread the rumor: "A troublesome figure has entered."

Li En sighed—his original idea of "everyone cooperating to clear the underground ruin" was gone. As always, in most cases, humanity's greatest enemy was humanity itself.

"The lower levels are better—the pressure from monsters is immense, so everyone's relatively kind. Giving others a way out is giving yourself a way out; no one comes down just once. Many even voluntarily warn about traps and mechanisms."

"Pfft." At that moment, the snake on Li En's shoulder suddenly laughed.

"Do you have a better insight?"

"No no—what upper and lower levels? They haven't even broken through the topmost seal. They talk like they've gone far, but they haven't even scratched the surface."

The snake mocked the adventurers' ignorance, but Li En knew he had his own agenda.

"Do you have information about the lower levels?"

"I have the full map—drawn by me myself. Let me tell you this: what they think is the deepest artificial structure? Less than one-tenth of the entire ruin. Below is a completely different terrain—snow-capped mountains, volcanoes, even interdimensional portals. One misstep, and you'll get lost in another world."

The snake flicked its tail, speaking cheerfully.

Li En continued forward, scouting the path, communicating with the snake through mental means.

He hesitated—he knew full well how vital a complete map was to the entire exploration plan.

In fact, just having a full-map cheat would raise success rates by at least fifty percent—maybe more.

But precisely because it was so important—could he bear the karmic cost?

Every favor the snake offered, Li En himself would ultimately pay for.

"What's the price?"

"Hmm… let's see—same promise: say 'I love you, spend your life with me' to a specific person, at a specific time and place."

That's it? Li En grew even more reluctant to agree.

"Dainya?" Only she seemed weighty enough.

"I'm giving you a choice—how nice of me," the snake hissed, tongue flicking, luring Li En to accept.

"Queen or Dainya? Don't tell me the confession's time and place is the day the Queen arrives—I know, I refuse."

The snake sighed, as if lamenting how clever Li En had grown, avoiding the inevitable death line.

But after walking a while, the utilitarian Li En still felt restless.

"Can I ask—if I actually do this, will I die?"

The snake's deal had already taken effect; Li En felt he might find a loophole.

But this time, no luck—once done, no other path existed.

"You'll be impaled on a trident, from top to bottom, the point bursting from your chest, screaming for ten days before dying. Beside you, a priest sent by the Queen will keep you alive." The snake couldn't directly observe Li En, but newspaper reports and others' reactions would reconstruct that bloody scene well enough.

Li En fell silent. Then why do you want me to do it?

"No choice—this karmic debt is too heavy. To sacrifice for humanity's survival—you'd be willing, wouldn't you?" The snake remained cheerful.

"By the way, confessing to the Queen would be even more interesting. Hmm, what a rare way to die."

"Take your map and get lost!"

Li En sighed—he wasn't noble enough for this. It was a death trap.

The first few hours of travel were dull—the first layer seemed completely cleared out.

Occasionally, thieves moved at the edge of his vision, only to be driven back by Li En's glare.

Finally, they reached a checkpoint blocked by rubble—the passage downward.

It was a large stone chamber, with several merchants setting up stalls—mostly selling supplies and materials from underground monsters, with signs offering to buy such materials.

Their business was poor, but Li En noticed people gathered near some Gray Goblins' stalls.

Getting closer, he realized they sold emergency medical supplies and antidotes.

On their stalls were also maps and intelligence from the lower levels—though prices remained as exorbitant as ever.

Open spaces held scattered mercenaries trying to sell themselves to passing teams—but since they resorted to begging for random squads instead of securing teams aboveground, their reputations and abilities were likely questionable. Li En's group was in good condition and moved on without stopping; when someone tried to block them to pitch services, a single glance from Li En made them silently step aside.

To those with sharp perception, Li En in combat stance resembled a dragon-slaying weapon primed to activate.

This was the result of countless battlefields—he had survived battles against the Motherly One, the Beast Prince, the Hive Mind, the Shadow Dragon, and others, gradually acquiring a battlefield-adapted aura.

After passing this final safe zone, the rest of the squad finally began to work.

A centaur knight, spear in one hand, shield in the other, stepped ahead of Li En—fulfilling his role as vanguard, and also aiding navigation, since the underground ruin ahead had many branching paths.

The werewolf vanished into darkness—she was likely a ranger-thief hybrid, tasked with scouting.

Dungeon exploration and wilderness travel were two different things; knowing potential enemies in advance was immensely helpful.

Watching their coordinated efforts, Li En didn't take over leading the way—since they likely wouldn't encounter enemies on the first day, he fell back slightly behind Palna, chatting intermittently with Dimon.

"How's the dock district? I heard your first shipment went out—no trouble?"

Though he spoke as if discussing something unspeakable, the "shipment" Li En referred to was ordinary textiles.

The first batch wasn't high-end—even somewhat shoddy—but if it proved profitable and sellable, it would validate the route, giving many a stable livelihood.

He'd been monitoring it, and the timing was right—he spoke up.

"There were troublemakers, even protection rackets—but no need for you. I threw them into the sea. Minor issue."

The rest of the squad sweated profusely—weren't these two Holy Knights? Why did they sound like gangsters discussing unspeakable things?

"Alright, if you need help, let me know—what about our boys?"

"Doing great—they've started working the streets, even clashed with local cops. Ha—they beat the bastards senseless."

The dock district police were essentially private property of certain factions—nine out of ten were corrupt.

Dimon wanted order in the docks—these elements couldn't be avoided. Some bastards didn't care about your new order; they only raged because their monthly cut had shrunk.

"What about our lovely police friend?"

"She doesn't want to get involved—used up her vacation early. That's already a statement." With Talia, the top cop in the region, stepping aside, she had implicitly sided with Dimon.

In chaotic times, extreme measures are needed—if the police force actually functioned, the docks wouldn't be this disordered.

"She even has vacation days? Oh, right—there's that noble above the police, that… Baron Pa something—will he interfere?"

"He definitely will. We're planning to deal with him—let him drown in his own washbasin."

Palna trembled—were these really two Holy Knights? What were they discussing?

A scheme to seize the docks? Invade territory? Attack the police station? And dare to plot the murder of a noble blocking their path?

Hearing this, Li En was surprised.

"That won't do—we're Holy Knights. We don't commit murder."

Now you remember you're a Holy Knight?! Didn't you just describe crimes?!

Several in the squad wanted to retort but dared not.

"He's a scumbag—he takes money from the slave market, is a shareholder and local protector of it."

"Is the information confirmed?"

"Confirmed. We found the transaction ledgers—that's also why Talia just gave up; she was even thinking of handling it herself."

"Then good. Since it's evil, eliminate it. If you need my help, just say the word."

In a certain sense, Kuku was absolutely right.

Excluding their somewhat noble motives, in terms of conduct and methods, many Holy Knights were hardly different from ruthless bandits—some were even more direct and unreasonable than thieves.

Especially these two who walked the Path of Judgment, they had no intention of following the local nobility's "unwritten rules."

Li En asked further about the textile mill's operations, and Dimon answered each point in turn.

These details eased the surrounding squad members—they realized it was legitimate business after all.

The first batch of textiles from the mill had all been sold, and the prices were acceptable.

But they mainly relied on Labol's commercial channels, and Dimon wasn't fully confident about it.

"I'm not doubting the Lari brothers—I just don't trust Labol."

"It's good you have this suspicion. Labol truly isn't trustworthy—but as long as Dainya remains on good terms with us, he'll treat us with considerable friendliness."

When the topic turned to Her Highness, Li En lowered his voice, but Palna still froze, too frightened to turn around.

Could this towering knight really be the legendary Princess Black Glove?

Dimon still hesitated—he felt Labol wouldn't so easily abandon this market segment. Li En gave a brief explanation: Labol no longer cared about this industry at all; what he craved was to become a powerful noble, entering the kingdom's high echelons.

The low-end textile industry they abandoned wouldn't cause them pain—on the contrary, it would please them.

"I've inquired before—they themselves find the returns from low-end textiles too meager, wasting their manpower. Their main business is still magic fabrics, industrial textiles, and high-end fabrics."

The fabric used in noble robes and commoners' clothing weighed roughly the same, yet the material and finished product cost five to ten times more—and the finished goods easily surpassed a hundredfold.

If you truly sold clothes priced in copper coins to nobles, they'd feel you were insulting them.

So it's perfectly natural for the same labor to prefer producing high-value goods—it's merely another form of phasing out outdated production capacity.

Meanwhile, flags, armor linings, interior decorations, high-end tablecloths, and carpets—all were part of Labol's supply industries, but…

"Labol doesn't even want to touch these mid-tier products—they only want to make noble attire and magic fabrics."

Some matters, even Li En only knew fragments of—even Lari, a family member, didn't fully understand.

Labol's main capital had long shifted into lending, targeting the high-end market; their physical industries were merely a facade for credit guarantees—their operational funds already exceeded ten times their family's total assets. This was one of the main reasons they needed support from the kingdom's high echelons.

Li En's words put Dimon's mind at ease.

He was caught in a delicate position: wanting to expand production but fearing he'd overextend and offend his "allies."

It wasn't that he feared Labol—it was that too many people were tied to this industry; breaking with Labol now would be too costly.

Li En and Dimon chatted casually, but when it came to the docks, certain things couldn't be avoided.

"Senior Li En… couldn't you just ask Princess Dainya to shut down the slave market? If you truly need economic returns, the underground ruins are far more profitable. The kingdom doesn't even need to maintain this anymore." Dimon finally forced the words out.

The slave market at the docks was a terrible eyesore—an irredeemable tumor.

Dimon knew the slave market was entangled with the Grand Priest and high nobles, but if the royal family intervened directly, could they eradicate this tumor?

Li En shook his head. Dimon likely had too little communication with Dainya, and Lari had never properly explained the situation to him (later confirmed: Lari himself didn't fully understand either).

"Dainya hates the slave market—but she lacks the power to shut it down." Li En sighed, noticing the adventurers all had their ears perked up.

After a moment's thought, he spoke out—he didn't want these youngsters to underestimate the weight of this information.

"The largest shareholders of the slave market are transnational organizations and churches. Three major churches hold over forty percent of the shares—they're the de facto rulers. They need people to do dirty work and a steady supply of 'human resources.'"

Seeing the adventurers' shocked expressions, Li En was surprised—did you really find this shocking? You're far too naive. You don't actually believe those so-called benevolent churches have no stains? They all employ professionals to do the dirty work.

(End of Chapter)