novel-books Chapter 193 The Guild Underground in Jincheng: Guardians of Jincheng
Chapter 193 The Guild Underground in Jincheng: Guardians of Jincheng
He clasped his hands together and bowed to the Yuanshi Tianzun statue by the pool.
"Thank you for your guidance, Celestial Venerable."
"Go."
The figure of Yuanshi Tianzun was once again shrouded in mist, transforming back into the old man in the tattered Taoist robe.
"Your teammates have already brought you trouble."
Lu Yan raised his hand and brought up the tactical terminal.
The light signal representing the first squad is not in the standby area of the Kunlun Mountains.
Those few green dots traveled all the way to Sichuan and Chongqing.
We stopped in a place called Jincheng.
On the screen, a high-priority task briefing is flashing.
The initiator was Wen Yue.
Lu Yan swiped the screen to zoom in on the map.
Jincheng, the underground black market.
The signal for the first squad is right there.
He frowned.
What are you doing in the local black market?
……
Sichuan and Chongqing, the underground black market of Jincheng.
The air was filled with the smells of engine oil, blood, and mold.
The first team changed into dirty civilian clothes and mingled in the crowd.
Zhao Leiguang was tall and wore a tight-fitting work vest. His muscular physique made him stand out from the people around him.
He nearly knocked over the stalls next to him several times, drawing a barrage of curses.
Lin Chuxue followed behind him, covering her nose, her face scrunched up.
"What is this smell? It's stronger than a sewer."
"Bear with it."
Xiao Qianyu, who was walking at the front, didn't even turn her head.
She was wearing a gray jacket and a baseball cap, the brim pulled low.
Wen Yue walked very quietly beside her.
Her gaze swept over the messy stalls around her, finally settling on a stall with a new sign at the very back of the black market.
The signboard has four large, gold-plated characters.
Guardians of Jin City.
This stall doesn't fit in at all with its surroundings.
The table was made of polished solid wood, and the people sitting behind it were wearing matching black uniforms with their collars buttoned up neatly.
There was a long queue of dozens of meters in front of the stall.
They were all low-level awakened individuals who looked malnourished and poorly equipped.
Several guild members in uniform were distributing boxes of items.
It's a Grade B recovery potion.
On the black market, one of these things can sell for an astronomical price, but these people are giving them out like they're handing out bottled water.
Zhao Lei couldn't understand it.
"Are these bastards just throwing money away?"
He lowered his voice and asked.
"Give up a game, and then do charity?"
"There's no such thing as a free lunch."
Wen Yue's voice was very low.
"I checked, they only recruit Awakened individuals with combat talent."
"The people we recruited leveled up their equipment and leveled up incredibly fast within a week, but then we couldn't contact them anymore."
While they were talking, they had already reached the back of the line.
Xiao Qianyu stopped and gave Zhao Leiguang a look.
Zhao Leiguang grinned.
He's good at this.
He stepped out of the line, pushed through the crowd, and walked to the very front of the stall.
The people in line were knocked off their feet by him. They were about to curse him, but when they saw his physique, they swallowed their words.
"Hey, are you hiring here?"
Zhao Leiguang slammed his fist on the table, making a loud bang.
The young man in charge of registration behind the table looked up and glanced at him.
"queue."
"What line?"
Zhao Leiguang snorted.
"I'm here for a job interview, not to collect welfare."
He pointed to the crystal ball next to him, which was used to test talent.
"How do you use that thing?"
The registrar frowned and pointed to a sturdier metal tester next to the crystal ball.
"Defense-type talent, press your hand on it."
Without saying a word, Zhao Leiguang pressed his large hand onto the dark testing instrument.
The tester is not responding.
Half a second later, a beam of yellow light shot up.
The light was so bright that it illuminated the entire black market.
The testing instrument made a creaking noise, the values on the screen jumped around erratically, and finally the screen went black with a wisp of blue smoke rising from it.
The people queuing around were dumbfounded.
That instrument is for testing defensive talents below S-rank.
Did this guy get wrecked with one slap?
The curtain inside the stall was lifted.
A man in a black suit and gold-rimmed glasses came out.
He looked to be in his thirties, refined and polite, with a smile on his face.
The man had a silver badge pinned to his chest.
The badge is shaped like outstretched wings.
Xiao Qianyu, who was mixed in with the crowd, stared at the badge for two seconds.
Others might not notice anything.
But she could see it clearly.
A ring of holy light runes is engraved around the edge of the emblem's wings.
That's a pattern worn only by the highest-ranking priests of the European Papacy.
Her right hand reached for the short knife at her lower back.
The vice president ignored the scrapped equipment and walked straight up to Zhao Leiguang.
"Sir, our guild needs someone like you."
His Chinese is very standard, but his tone is a bit strange.
He took out a rolled-up parchment from his pocket and pushed it in front of Zhao Leiguang.
"By signing this contract, you will become a core member of our 'Guardians of Jincheng' guild."
"A-grade armor set, S-grade shield, the choice is yours."
Zhao Lei glanced at the parchment.
He has a natural dislike for Western things.
He unfolded the parchment.
The terms and conditions were very attractive, with benefits even better than those of regular troops.
Zhao Leiguang continued reading.
At the end of the contract, there was a line of small text written in blood-red ink.
"Voluntarily offer up your entire soul, throw yourself into the embrace of the Lord God, and bask in eternal glory."
The surroundings became quiet.
Zhao Leiguang's face turned cold.
He gripped the edges of the parchment with both hands.
"Sizzle—"
He tore the contract that could be exchanged for A-grade divine equipment in half.
"To hell with the glory of the supreme god!"
Zhao Leiguang threw the shredded paper at the vice president's face.
Then, he kicked the solid wood table in front of him.
The table, along with everything on it, flew out and overturned several stalls behind it.
Whoosh!
wow-
The curtains around the stall fell down in unison.
The heavy canvas blocked out the noise and light of the black market, turning this small area into a closed cage.
Dozens of dark gun barrels emerged from hidden doors and corners, their bodies wrapped with energy lines emitting a ghostly blue light—these were standard-issue magic-powered guns of the Europa Alliance military.
Dozens of guild thugs in black uniforms rushed out of the shadows and surrounded the first squad.
The man with the gold-rimmed glasses adjusted his glasses and slowly picked up the parchment that had been torn in two from the ground.
He rubbed the blood-red signature with his fingertips, and all the businessman's affability on his face vanished.
"A bunch of barbarians who don't understand God's grace." His Chinese was still standard, but his tone became sharp and cold. "Originally, you could have basked in the Lord's glory and become His most devout servants."
"Now, your souls are only fit to light the altar."
"Is that all the show of force?"
Zhao Leiguang grinned.
He raised his chin and glanced at the nervous thugs, their palms sweating, and the magic guns in their hands.
"I thought it was some big event, but it turns out they just called a bunch of idiots."
He pointed at the vice president, "What did you just say? The Supreme God? This is Chinese territory, how dare you foreign lackeys run wild?"
The vice president's face twitched slightly.
He didn't expect that in this desperate situation, the other party would not only show no fear, but would instead mock him.
This was completely different from the script he had envisioned.
"Stubborn to the end." The vice president took a step back, retreating into the protective circle of the thugs. "The majesty of the gods is beyond the comprehension of lowly races like yours. Move them! Break their limbs and take their souls back as sacrifices!"
Upon receiving the order, the thugs' magic gun barrels glowed brightly as they began to charge.
A buzzing sound of electricity filled the enclosed space.
Xiao Qianyu didn't even lift her eyelids once from beginning to end.
Her gaze never left the vice president.
Wen Yue's finger had already been placed on the trigger of the World-Destroying Thunder Crossbow at some point.
Lin Chuxue even yawned.
"Captain," Zhao Lei cracked his wrist, "what do we do with these bastards? Should we just flatten them, or leave them alive for questioning?"
Xiao Qianyu finally spoke.
"Clear the area."