“Y-You…
how dare you—?” He pointed a trembling finger at Li Xiao, but in the blink of an eye, Li Xiao had vanished.
“What’s the big deal?” Li Xiao’s voice came from behind him.
The man in the white suit turned around in shock, as if struck by lightning, his body stumbling and collapsing onto the floor.
His cold, blood-red predator eyes were now filled with panic.
Li Xiao helped himself to a brand new blood cigar from the drawer, sniffed it, and lit it.
“Not bad.
A 99% rarity.” The Tier 4 transcendent in the white suit could not muster the courage to resist Li Xiao’s swift and brutal methods.
“S-Sir, let’s talk this out.
We can discuss it.” “Unfortunately, I don’t like chatting.
Tell me who is behind you, and I will leave your corpse intact.” The man in the white suit’s face turned ashen.
Li Xiao’s refusal to offer any path to survival made him feel profound helplessness and despair.
“Sir, just spare my life, and I’ll tell you everything.
My entire faction will be your loyal dogs from now on.” Li Xiao casually propped his legs up on the desk.
“It seems you don’t value your own body very much.” “Doo doo doo doo—” Hearing these words, which sounded like a judgment, the back of the white suit’s wearer was instantly drenched in cold sweat.
The phone on the desk rang at that moment.
Hearing the sound, the man in the white suit grabbed it like a lifeline, but just as he tried to get up, an invisible force slammed him back down onto the ground.
Li Xiao connected the call with a playful smirk.
“Ske, why hasn’t this month’s ledger been submitted yet?
Don’t say I didn’t warn you.
If you upset Commander Jon, your Dark Cult will cease to exist.” “Jon, huh.” Hearing that name, Li Xiao immediately knew who the Dark Cult’s backer was.
The Commander of the City Defense Force in Eternal Night City was named Jon.
“Hello?” Receiving no response after a long wait, the voice on the other end of the line grew impatient.
“Beep.” Li Xiao hung up the phone and looked at Ske, the man in the white suit, whose heart had already turned to ashes.
“It seems you no longer have any value.” “No!
Wait—” Just as Ske tried to beg for mercy, the immense pressure instantly reduced his entire body to its most primal form, splattering across the floor.
Having finished all this, Li Xiao stood up and vanished from the spot like a ghost.
It would take some time for the gruesome scene at the nightclub to be discovered, and Li Xiao had no interest in admiring his handiwork.
By the time the Public Security Bureau cordoned off the nightclub, Li Xiao had already arrived at the Wish Fulfillment Company.
In the office, seeing Li Xiao appear, everyone stood up.
“Boss, how did it go?” Li Xiao patted Tang Lai on the shoulder, sat down in the boss chair, and gestured for the others to sit.
“The company will open as usual tomorrow.
I have dealt with the Dark Cult, so no one should come looking for trouble for a while.” Hearing this, everyone breathed a sigh of relief.
At the same time, they secretly speculated about the methods Li Xiao had used.
“Boss, there’s something I wanted to talk to you about.” Hearing Tang Lai’s voice, Li Xiao turned his gaze to him.
“It’s fine, speak your mind.
We’re all family here.” Li Xiao’s words brought a warmth to their hearts, giving them a feeling of being trusted.
Unbeknownst to them, the system’s divine power took effect, and the loyalty of the group increased significantly.
Since Li Xiao had given the word, Tang Lai no longer hesitated.
“Boss, we have all only recently undergone Conversion, and our strength is too low.
If you weren’t here, we wouldn’t be able to protect the company at all.” Tang Lai looked at the other three and continued: “I’m not afraid of being laughed at, but even now, I haven’t even achieved Martial Dao initiation.” After Tang Lai finished speaking, the others lowered their heads in shame.
Huang Qiushui clutched a black book in her hand, a sense of powerlessness spontaneously arising within her.
Li Xiao temporarily had no good solution for this problem.
For the average Mixed-blood, the fastest way to increase strength was not through cultivating the transcendent system.
Instead, the speed of increasing racial rank was much faster by absorbing the blood of powerful transcendent creatures.
However, there was a prerequisite: there must be a constant, continuous supply of transcendent blood.
In Eternal Night City, there were quite a few companies that dealt in the blood business.
However, just like resources for Martial Dao cultivation, the blood of these transcendent creatures was not cheap.
Based on a rough estimate: A Tier 1 low-level Blood Kin who wants to advance to a Tier 2 mid-level Blood Kin would need to consume at least 500 catties of Tier 1 transcendent creature blood, plus 10% of Tier 2 transcendent creature blood.
If Tier 2 transcendent creature blood was unavailable, the required consumption would need to double.
Currently, on the market in Eternal Night City, one catty of Tier 1 transcendent creature blood costs upwards of three thousand.
Tier 2 transcendent creature blood costs upwards of ten thousand.
To quickly grow stronger through this method requires consuming vast amounts of wealth.
Although everyone in this world has a chance to embark on the path of transcendence, without substantial financial support, even setting foot on this path means being destined to struggle at every step.
“I’ve heard that those blood companies in the city control many Ranches specifically for raising low-level transcendent creatures.” “However, another portion of the blood supply is purchased from ‘Blood Capture Teams.'” As Li Xiao spoke, his gaze swept over the crowd while he pondered.
If the Mixed-blood legion under his command were just a bunch of weaklings, they would be completely useless to him.
Although this world is dominated by strength, a strong individual fighting alone is nowhere near as comfortable as one who commands a powerful faction.
“I haven’t been in Eternal Night City for long either.
If any of you know of any connections or shortcuts, feel free to mention them.” “Boss, I was just about to bring it up.” Li Xiao turned his attention to Tang Lai, slightly surprised that Tang Lai, who had only recently arrived in Eternal Night City like himself, would know of any connections.
“Big Brother Tang, why don’t you tell us?” “Boss, do you remember that manor interview we both attended previously?
I wasn’t selected.” “Of course I remember.” Li Xiao nodded.
It had only been a little over a month ago; he wouldn’t forget.
“After failing the interview, I contacted an old acquaintance and joined the Yongxing Company.” “Yongxing Company…” Li Xiao certainly knew it was a large corporation, but he felt there was something crucial about it that he couldn’t recall immediately.
“Yes, Yongxing Company.
It’s one of the largest blood corporations in the city, but they don’t deal in the low-end market; they focus on the high-end market from Tier 3 to Tier 5.” The trade of high-level blood is practically monopolized by Yongxing Company.
Hearing Tang Lai’s words, the others were somewhat confused.
They had all heard of Yongxing Group, but only knew some basic information about it.
However, they still didn’t understand why Tang Lai brought up this corporation.
A flash of insight crossed Li Xiao’s mind.
“Yongxing Group?…
It seems to be the Situ Family’s business, right?” “I didn’t expect you to know that.” Tang Lai was also surprised.
“I know, I know.” Li Xiao nodded, but was still a little confused.
“But how does this relate to what we are discussing?” The reason Li Xiao wanted to find connections was simple: he didn’t want to buy through official channels, as that would cost a lot of money—a bottomless pit.
Furthermore, although he had a feud with the Situ Family, as long as he didn’t possess absolute strength, he couldn’t openly steal from them.
Doing so would be tantamount to declaring war on all forces in the city, and the Federation’s laws wouldn’t ignore it.
Li Xiao was not yet ready for that.
“It is related, it is related.” Tang Lai quickly stood up, looking somewhat flustered.
“Boss, there’s something shady about Yongxing Group’s business.” “Shady?” Hearing this, Li Xiao instantly became interested.
He really wanted to know what kind of secret could solve his urgent need for a large quantity of transcendent blood.
“Keep going.” “Boss, although Yongxing Group doesn’t involve itself in the Tier 1 and Tier 2 transcendent blood market, a massive amount of low-level blood is transported into the Situ Family’s manor every day.” “My acquaintance in the corporation works in transportation; he’s a small team leader.” “He casually revealed all this during a chat.” “Yongxing Group has been purchasing large quantities of low-level transcendent blood for a long time, but only a tiny portion appears on the market.
Conversely, Yongxing Group is able to mass-produce high-level transcendent blood, which they barely purchase, to the point of almost monopolizing this market.” Having heard this far, Li Xiao understood what Tang Lai was trying to convey.
“So you suspect that Yongxing Group might possess some kind of technology or magic that can convert large amounts of low-level blood into high-level blood?” “Yes, yes, yes, that’s exactly what I mean.” “In that case, this is indeed news worth investigating.” “What about the rest of you?” Li Xiao looked at the others.
“Do you know of any similar information or connections?” The remaining people all shook their heads.
Fine.
Li Xiao wasn’t demanding.
The fact that Tang Lai had already provided such valuable information was an unexpected surprise.
Before their Conversion, the others were merely at the bottom rung of Eternal Night City society; he couldn’t force them to know information that ordinary people couldn’t access.
“Let’s leave it at that for now.
I will personally investigate Yongxing Group.” Li Xiao shifted his gaze to Huang Qiushui.
“Qiushui, you are managing the company’s accounts.
Calculate the balance shortly.
Subtracting salaries and essential daily operating costs, the remaining money will temporarily all be used to purchase transcendent blood.” “Understood, I will handle it.” Huang Qiushui nodded in agreement, firmly keeping Li Xiao’s instructions in mind.
“I trust you with this.” “And the rest of you, starting tomorrow, each of you will have an ample blood supply.
Don’t disappoint me; increase your strength as quickly as possible.” “Don’t worry, Boss, we will.” They all stood up and agreed.
They had never dared to dream of such favorable treatment.
The kindness shown to them and the gratitude in their hearts converted into loyalty.
“That’s all for today.
If you encounter any trouble you can’t handle in the future, remember to notify me immediately.” Just as Li Xiao stood up, Huang Qiushui, who was beside him, couldn’t help but step forward and grab his shoulder.
“Won’t you stay here for the night?
The thing I promised you, I still…
I still haven’t fulfilled it—” Looking at the enchantress who was actively inviting him to ‘team up,’ Li Xiao felt a rush of heat.
Fortunately, he still understood the priorities; now was clearly not a good time.
“Not tonight.
I must go back to avoid being discovered.” Huang Qiushui was sensible.
She nodded and released his arm, though her slightly flushed cheeks showed a hint of disappointment.
With matters arranged, Li Xiao didn’t linger.
Under the cover of darkness, he hurried back toward the manor.
In the manor’s study, Thorne closed the laptop in front of him.
He now knew all the information regarding the blood cup from the USB drive.
“I didn’t expect it to be in the Situ Family’s possession.” He picked up the stemmed glass on the table, took a sip, and pondered what means he should use to obtain the blood cup from the Situ Family.
“The commotion cannot be too large.
If the Federation’s high-level officials are alerted, things will become very difficult.” Although Eternal Night City is a city-state “autonomous” to the Blood Kin, it is still subject to the supervision of the Human Federation’s laws.
After all, Eternal Night City is also a part of the Federation—