A rude voice boomed from behind Lu Yu and the others, arrogant and brazen.
The sound of footsteps grew louder and closer.
Everyone turned around. A group of people dressed in pre-apocalyptic JC uniforms, each wearing a standardized star artifact at their waist, was approaching.
This group of people seemed as if they had just finished a meal; some were even holding toothpicks and picking their teeth.
Lu Yu felt that the people in front of him gave off an air of arrogance, similar to the detestable cops he had seen at the port before the apocalypse.
“Are they law enforcers?” Feng Huangwu (Phoenix Dance) sized up these people. At first glance, she rolled her eyes and scoffed lightly, saying, “Back in my era, if law enforcers dared to strut around the streets looking this arrogant, the city’s residents would have already killed them. That would be an insult to the city’s dignity. Hmph, these people still have the nerve to show up—what a face they’ve got.”
Luo Haotian said, “Yes, people nowadays simply don’t understand the true meaning and significance of the city. These people are nothing but a disgrace to it. Those who claim to own this city must have already lost all their dignity.”
Lu Yu curled his lip, showing great disdain for certain people in this city. However, he had never heard of such a thing before, so he couldn’t help but ask curiously, “Do you really value the city that much?”
“Of course,” Luo Haotian said proudly, “Back then, our family controlled no fewer than seventeen cities. In our era, the prosperity and order of a city were considered fundamental. If one couldn’t even manage a single city well, they would only be looked down upon.”
Yang Lie said, “Cities are a symbol of power and strength. When a city thrives, the people living in it feel a sense of security. Tell me, who would want to see their city tainted by a group of trash?”
Phoenix nodded, looking at Lu Yu, and said, “Yes. With your current level of strength, in our era, you would at least control thirty cities, each with a population of a million people. That would be befitting of your status.”
People were talking, completely unaware of the group approaching them.
The group saw these people acting as if they hadn’t even noticed them, chatting among themselves without any regard. Their expressions darkened.
A man with a toothpick in his mouth nodded toward Lu Yu and his companions, exuding an air of ruffian-like arrogance. He said, “Which city are you guys from? Don’t you know the local regulations here? No one is allowed to carry weapons or wear armor when entering this city. Hand over your weapons, and take off your armor to be temporarily sealed away; they’ll be returned to you when you leave.”
A group of people wore expressionless faces, appearing as if they were impartial and unyielding, yet the greedy glimmer in their eyes betrayed them.
A team member sidled up to the leader and whispered with a grin, “Captain Liu, look at us—wehaven’t struck it rich in quite a while. This time—”
The man known as Liu waved his hand, stopping the team member from speaking.
The star-forged weapons worn by Feng Huangwu and the others were the finest weapons crafted by Lu Yu. Although the blades were already sheathed, one could still tell the immense value of these weapons just by looking at the shimmering starlight emanating from their hilts.
Especially those four individuals clad in heavy armor; the armor they wore was clearly a priceless treasure at first glance.
Those who can afford these things are either powerful or wealthy.
Looking again, all these people were young; they tended to prefer the latter.
The four heavily armored warriors were likely bodyguards.
Once the armor and weapons are in their hands, the final decision on how to handle them will be up to them.
Their immediate superior is a seasoned official sent by the military, and he has benefited from them on many occasions, so he will definitely support them.
In an instant, these people had already planned out everything.
“Hmph!” Lu Yu laughed. “Do you think you can take my things? Are you capable?”
“What?” Liu’s eyebrows shot up as he coldly interjected, “This isn’t some lawless city where you can recklessly cause chaos and violence. Let me tell you—”
As he spoke, he pointed his finger at Lu Yu, then swept his hand across the bustling street: “Do you see? This city is peaceful, and the people here can live and work in harmony precisely because of the laws of the Four Nine City and our protection. Without these laws, how would this place be any different from those barbaric cities?”
Lu Yu said coldly, “What a bold claim. Without your protection, I believe this city would be even safer!”
“Hmph!” Luo Haotian’s face darkened as he coldly sneered, “Guardians? You call yourselves guardians of a city? I bet if real enemies showed up, you’d be the first to kneel and beg for mercy. What exactly have you been guarding? I’ve seen people like you before. Probably, the moment you take possession of our belongings, you’ll deny everything, won’t you? After all, this is your territory; you’re not afraid of a few outsiders like us, are you?”
The Phoenix danced and said, “Without the coastal defenses, your rundown city would be this prosperous? Could these people live so comfortably? Your lives have been bought with countless lives. Do you really think people like you can defend anything?”
A middle-aged man passing by, dressed appropriately, scoffed coldly as he walked past. With disdain, he said, “A bunch of country bumpkins, first time in the capital, huh? This is the capital of our nation; it’s only right that the soldiers give their lives to protect it. If even your country’s capital gets breached, what face do you have left to live on?”
“Is that so?” Fang Hua turned to look at Lu Yu and asked, “Can you draw blood?”
“Seeing blood? That’s too easy,” Lu Yu replied expressionlessly.
“Alright then!” Fang Hua chuckled, then suddenly slashed his palm forcefully through the empty space.
The violent force from his palm surged forward, directly impacting the middle-aged man.
“Oh!”
The middle-aged man never expected that the other party would actually dare to lay a hand on him. With just one glance, he felt as if he had already been marked by the Grim Reaper, his face drained of color and filled with despair.
You know, in the city of Four Nine, no one has ever dared to lay a hand on him before.
He was struck by a powerful gust of wind, sending him flying backward to slam against the wall behind. In an instant, he was crushed into a bloody pulp!
“What a piece of trash you are! Who the hell do you think you are to act so arrogantly? If I have to protect someone like you, I’d rather smash you to pieces!” Fang Hua clapped his hands, completely ignoring the crowd on the street.
At first, the pedestrians around were taken aback, all stopping in their tracks to look in this direction.
Then—
“Murder!”
“Someone dares to kill people right in the heart of the city!”
Several men and women pointed at Liu Dui and others, shouting loudly, “What are you looking at? We pay you so much money every month, not for you to just stand around watching. Hurry up and arrest them!”
The street was in chaos.
Team Leader Liu and the other JCs were also confused.
This was the first time they had encountered such a situation since they started working.
A momentary stunned hesitation, coupled with flustered confusion, left them unable to react.
By the time they realized what was happening, a group of people had already placed their hands on their weapons.
Splash! Splash! Splash!
One by one, weapons were drawn out.
Boom!
Yang Lie took action.
He rushed past them like a gust of wind.
The necks of several people were all twisted at strange angles.
“Anyone who dares to draw a sword against us will die!” Yang Lie’s voice was cold as his gaze swept over the remaining men, whose weapons were only halfway drawn.
The remaining people trembled all over, as if they had been marked by the Grim Reaper himself.
“Pushing the weak around and fearing the strong—get lost!” Yang Lie shouted loudly.
The screams and shouts around them fell silent.
No one dared to speak.
They are a bunch of lunatics; you can’t reason with them.
Even JC was killed.
“Wherever you go, there are always a lot of people like this,” Lu Yu said coldly, continuing to walk forward.
A ground soaked in blood, corpses scattered everywhere, as if none of it had anything to do with them.
The dead meant nothing to them.
Several team members, who had wet their pants, collapsed on the ground, exhausted and powerless.
The group passed by a restaurant, where the aroma of food was very tempting.
The two greeters at the entrance, seeing this group of warriors equipped with weapons and wearing armor, who obviously were not locals, stared in astonishment.
Have these lords gone mad?
Walking around the city like that, who does he think he is?
“I’m hungry!” Yang Lie patted his stomach and laughed heartily. “I get hungry as soon as I exercise.”
“Then let’s eat,” Lu Yu smiled. “It’s my first time dining in Sijiu City, and this hotel looks pretty good. Let’s go with this one.”
“Okay then.” Everyone laughed and rushed towards the hotel entrance.
The receptionist fainted.
They didn’t have a rule saying “no weapons, no entry.”
Moreover, judging by their appearance, they were definitely not ordinary people.
Let them in, and the law enforcement team will definitely come. That would affect business.
By the time he hesitated for a moment, everyone had already entered the tavern.
However, the four puppets didn’t understand what a revolving door was and directly shattered two of the glass panels.
“This is the entrance fee,” Lu Yu said, personally handing over an eighth-grade star spirit stone to the receptionist, and asked, “Is it enough?”
“Uh, this—” the receptionist felt dizzy, took the Star Soul Stone with both hands, and kept saying, “Enough, enough.”
This door is only worth about a thousand or so grade-one star spirit stones; a single grade-three star spirit stone would be enough to repair the door.
Even though high-grade star spirit stones are being produced in larger quantities now, the exchange rate for converting high-grade star spirit stones to first-grade star spirit stones has dropped significantly.
Grade-eight Spirit Stone, this is also worth over ten thousand Grade-one Spirit Stones.
Not a small number!
“Huh, you don’t have a star soul,” Phoenix Wu said, passing by the receptionist and staring in surprise. “It’s rare to see someone who hasn’t awakened their star soul.”
The receptionist watched the phoenix dance, momentarily entranced, then smiled bitterly. “I was born after the apocalypse, and I’m a Starless by birth. My friend here was born with a half-broken stellar soul, unable to cultivate, so we can only work here as receptionists.”
Lu Yu handed the receptionist another grade-nine stellar spirit stone and said, “Go find Liu Xing in Fanggang. If you pass the evaluation, it might be your chance.”
After Lu Yu finished speaking, he turned around and walked into the tavern.
The receptionist, holding two Spirit Stones, was left stunned.
“Who is this person, asking me to go to Fanggang?” the receptionist muttered to himself, “Who wouldn’t want to go to Fanggang? But I’m just an ordinary person without star soul or skills, what good would I do there?”
Another receptionist looked at his companion enviously and said, “Go ahead. Even if you don’t pass the review, don’t forget that you still have a ninth-grade star spirit stone—it’s worth three years’ salary! If you really get the chance to go inside, just don’t forget about your buddy here.”
The greeter thought for a moment, made up his mind, and tucked the ninth-grade stellaron crystal into his robe. Then, holding the eighth-grade stellaron crystal, he also entered the tavern.
…
In the restaurant, well-dressed people were toasting each other with cups, laughter and cheerful conversation filled the air, and the aroma of food spread everywhere.
This doesn’t resemble a city at the end of the world; instead, it seems like a secluded paradise.
When Lu Yu and others entered, the people in the hall all stopped what they were doing.
They heard the sound of armor and the clashing of weapons.
Even the people in the tavern were surprised to see someone daring enough to walk around the city wearing armor.
Several security guards at the restaurant saw it and felt a chill run down their spines at first glance.
It takes some skill to land a security guard job in the heart of Beijing.
However, as soon as these individuals entered, they sensed an aura of someone who had walked through mountains of corpses and seas of blood, sending a chill straight to their bones.
They are not the kind of people one can afford to offend.
A security guard approached the lobby manager directly and whispered, “Don’t provoke these people. You can’t handle them, and neither can we.”
The lobby manager glanced at the security guard and coldly snorted, “Do you think you know who owns this hotel? Do you really believe that the person who runs a hotel right under the imperial city’s nose is someone these people can mess with?”
The security guard, seeing how arrogant the lobby manager was, didn’t know what to say.
“I’ve said all I needed to say. Don’t think that we security guards, not even ten times more of us, could stand a chance against that person alone.”
“Hmph!”
The lobby manager looked disdainful but still walked over with a professional smile.
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