Chapter 469: Underground Emperor

Meng Chao vaguely remembered that there was a terrifying existence known as the Vortex among the Nine Great Supernatural Entities in his previous life.

Unfortunately, he was just a normal citizen at the bottom of society back then and did not have much information about the Supernatural Entities, aside from the White Spirit and a few others. He did not know how Vortex looked or what sort of skills it had.

But there was one thing he was certain of.

Each of the Nine Great Supernatural Entities had a unique skill set. Since the Demonic Abyss Eye’s skill was to implant thoughts and spread fear, then the Vortex’s skill was definitely not limited to this.

The chaos the previous night was just a gift to Dragon City as a greeting.

The real bloody banquet would start later.

Shen Yupeng might not have known about the Vortex’s existence, but based on the hypnotic vortex, he could sense just how troublesome their enemy was. He could not help but frown. “If the other party can easily implant thoughts in others through a picture, then we have a major problem on our hands.”

“It’s not that the other party can ‘easily’ implant thoughts,” Zhou Chong said. “We’ve asked the hypnotists and neurosurgeons in Universe Corporation to perform preliminary evaluation, and they found that these vortices can turn into photoelectric signals and invade the human brain through the optic nerves, thereby a interfering with human emotions and thoughts, then expanding the negative emotions in the human heart.

“In other words, it can’t create something out of nothing and make people be hostile toward superhumans out of the blue or suddenly want to destroy the current order.

“But if someone already has strong negative emotions, this vortex can infinitely magnify those thoughts. Then, those thoughts will tempt the person to act on all those ugly and evil emotions.

“Besides, the Deification Capsules give people great power and are fatally addictive, so the people who receive the emails will naturally end up as the sender’s puppets.”

While he was speaking, Shen Yupeng received a new email from the adjudicator court.

It was an investigation on the dozens of captured robbers’ identities and backgrounds.

Shen Yupeng quickly scanned it and immediately said, “Superintendent Zhou, you’re right. The secret police investigated dozens of robbers’ identities, experiences, and their recent financial situation, and almost all of them have borrowed money from illegal finance companies in the past year and have been unable to pay by the due date multiple times.

Their interest has been multiplying to the point that it has already reached an astronomical figure that they can definitely not pay back with normal jobs. Besides, it’s not easy for a normal person to find a ‘normal job’ in the current Dragon City.

“These people went to borrow money from the illegal finance companies to buy equipment and receive training to become unlicensed pathfinders, buy a large number of gene medicine and high-calorie nutritional fluid in an attempt to awaken to supernatural powers, or were shouldering an expensive medical fee because they went through spirit energy deviation while they were cultivating and were injured badly.

“In any case, these people were all ambitious and refused to live a life of mediocrity. They had also received relatively professional combat training.

“Their fighting strength is considered at the top among normal people. They’re only one step away from becoming superhumans.

“Besides, most of them have experience fighting in the wild. A lot of them faced attacks from monster hordes in their developing lands and even watched a large number of their friends die.

“First, they have great fighting experience. Second, they might be suffering from PTSD, so their mental strength indices are really unstable. They don’t place any value on their own lives and other people’s lives, so it’s much easier for them to take risks.

“These people are truly the best puppets the mastermind could find!”

Zhou Chong sighed and said, “That’s right. Ever since we won the northern offense, many superhumans and normal people ran off to the wild to test their luck, but at the end of the day, only a handful of people can become famous and rich overnight. Most of the people have to suffer the bitter taste of defeat.

“The strong prey and rule over the weak, this is just how brutal this world is. The bodies and spirits of losers who are in a huge amount of debt then become deformed. It’s inevitable for them to have thoughts like ‘I’m not the one who’s wrong, it’s the world that is wrong’, and they become filled with jealousy and hate toward the victors. They even want to exact vengeance on the victors. This is the dark side of human nature.

“Originally, even if the losers’ minds were engulfed by darkness, since they lacked strength and guidance, they wouldn’t be able to cause major trouble.

“But now, someone is providing these losers with Deification Capsules and temporarily increasing their strength until they’re as strong as superhumans. That someone also helped them plan a series of crimes. Whoever they are, they’re basically teaching them how to rob step-by-step, thus increasing their level of danger by more than ten times in an instant.

“What’s even more terrifying is that the mastermind even stated in the email that if more crimes happen at the same time, the secret police would have to face greater pressure. Once the secret police completely breaks down because they have too many things to investigate but have too little manpower, Dragon City will turn into a lawless, chaotic world again.

“I believe that after the motivation provided by the crimes last night, over the next period of time, Dragon City’s public order will continue becoming worse. The crime rate will skyrocket to a rate that we cannot possibly imagine.”

Meng Chao, Shen Yupeng, and Zhou Chong practically thought of the same thing at the same time. ‘We have to capture the mastermind as soon as possible. The longer this drags on, the more crimes will happen, and the consequences will be unbearable!”

Zhou Chong pondered over something and asked, “Do you know from which illegal finance companies these robbers borrowed money from?”

“It’s naturally the illegal finance companies in Golden Tooth Lair. More than 90% of the gray industries in Dragon City are gathered in the three lairs, especially Golden Tooth Lair. It’s basically the main base for gray industries, and it’s the same for illegal finance companies,” Shen Yupeng said. “Superintendent Zhou, do you think that this matter is related to the gangs in the lair?”

Zhou Chong fell into silent contemplation for a while, then shook his head slowly. “Chances of it being a direct connection aren’t big.

“The lairs might be gray areas that give shelter to all sorts of evil things, but under the management of the gangs, there’s still basic order in there. Many of the gangs have to rely on the resources and spaces provided by the mega corporations to continue surviving.

“The gang members are very smart. They know the limits of tolerance from the Survival Committee and the Supernatural Tower. Unless it’s absolutely necessary, they won’t publicly declare that the outside is the enemy.

“Besides, I just can’t see how this series of robberies will benefit the gangs in the lairs. Last night, a lot of the robbers fled to the lairs after they successfully stole a large number of resources. To the secret police and other armed forces of the mega corporations, this might have increased the difficulty of investigation and capture them, but to the gangs in the lairs, so many malicious robbers suddenly coming into their midst mean bloodshed. The order itself in the underground world might change.

“I just can’t think of a reason why the gangs in the lairs would want to cause such a stir out of the blue, not when they’re enjoying life in the lairs.”

Shen Yupeng narrowed his eyes and said, “The gangs in the lairs might not be doing anything, but this doesn’t mean that the enemies aren’t hiding in the lairs.

“If the mastermind wants to get the blacklist from various illegal finance companies and look for valuable puppets, they have to go to the lairs. To create the Deification Capsules, the mastermind needs a secret lab and illegal workshop with a complete set of equipment. The lairs have all of that. The lairs also have black markets offering all resources as well as allow people to buy and sell stolen weapons and equipment. Besides, after so many robbers were successful, they fled to the lairs. It’s most likely that the mastermind’s nest is in the lair, too!”

“Golden Tooth Lair, huh?”

Man-eating Shark Zhou Chong scrunched up his face. He looked like he was suffering from constipation.

Shen Yupeng also fell silent.

Meng Chao knew that Golden Tooth Lair was a very unique region in Dragon City.

It was the largest slum, and plenty of areas there still retained their look from decades ago. The people in the lair had their own effective laws of survival, and it was difficult for external forces to affect the depths of the lair.

The one in control of Golden Tooth Lair was not the Survival Committee, either. Instead, it was a number of gangs, and among them, Golden Tooth Gang was the strongest.

The leader of Golden Tooth Gang was Jin Wanhao. He belonged to the same era as Thunder God Lei Zongchao and was among the first batch of people in Dragon City infected by the zombie virus to survive. Not only did these peerless fighters not become zombies, they awakened to supernatural abilities.

In the past, Jin Wanhao had yanked out a golden horn from a beast and made it into a saber, then used it to create a reputation for himself. He was known as Golden Flare Saber.

If they had not died, most of the powerful superhumans who once shared the same status as Saber Jin Wanhao had created mega corporations or cultivation families and became the fathers and mothers of the nine great cultivation families. They also set up the Survival Committee when Battle God Lei Zongchao made the call, which set them up as the rulers of Dragon City.

Jin Wanhao might have chosen a different path from them, but he was still someone who ruled over a territory in Dragon City. He controlled more than 30% of Dragon City’s gray industries and was known as the Underground Emperor. He was influential and had a great foundation, so his position could not be easily shaken.

Even so, Meng Chao could not understand it. “Big Brother Peng, is the Underground Emperor really that amazing? I heard that he’s old and has not appeared in public for a long time. I think it’s because he has sustained many hidden injuries when he was cultivating and fighting in the past. He should be in his twilight years and just struggling to live right now.

“Since the enemy might be hiding in Golden Tooth Lair, why don’t we just gather our forces and the matchless fighters in Dragon City to take care of the enemies and the problems in Golden Tooth Lair together? We can’t just let this tumor keep hiding evil people and evil practices, then grow into some deformed monster in our heart!”

“Things are not as simple as you imagine them to be.” Shen Yupeng smiled wanly. “I know that Saber Jin Wanhao is just one person. He’s in his twilight years and at his last breath. Even if he has really reached Deity Realm, there are plenty of other Deity Realm elites. If everyone attacked together, they could take down even ten Jin Wanhaos.

“The problem is, Golden Tooth Lair is the largest slum with the longest history in Dragon City. The official data shows that there are at least six hundred thousand people in Golden Tooth Lair. In truth, based on the synthesized food, recycled drinkable water, and filtered liquid medicine that we send to Golden Tooth Lair every month, it’s likely that there are more than one million citizens in Dragon Tooth Lair.

“If we want to take down Saber Jin Wanhao, suppress all the gangs, ruin the order underground, and even dismantle all of Golden Tooth Lair, we can definitely do it.

“The problem is, what will we do next? After we take down Golden Tooh Lair, how are we going to solve the problem of the citizens who had been living for decades in the slums having no homes now?”