novelraw Chapter 159 : Chapter 159
Chapter 159 : Chapter 159
Volume 2
Chapter 83 : The Beginning of Chaos
“The oriole?”
Muen looked over at the figure not far away and could not help frowning.
The figure was completely hidden beneath a loose black robe, with no visible features at all, yet Muen still vaguely sensed something familiar about him.
This was not the first time he had felt that way.
He had felt the same thing earlier at that shady shop. Strange.
He had only come to browse the black market, so had he really run into nothing but acquaintances?
But Muen quickly threw that thought aside.
The odds of meeting someone he knew in a place like this were simply too low.
It was probably just his imagination. After all, intuition was never all that reliable.
“This…”
Muen’s gaze swept across the figure’s chest.
“Sir, what exactly do you mean by ‘the oriole’?”
The figure suddenly gave a little shudder.
The hand hidden beneath the robe clenched, then relaxed.
For some reason, his tone was no longer as friendly as before.
“Hmph. Still pretending to be dumb? You are hiding here because you are waiting for those people to beat each other’s brains out, then you can swoop in and pick up the leftovers.”
“I am indeed waiting for them to start fighting, but I have no intention of picking up leftovers.”
Muen said,
“There are too many eyes around. It would not be easy to snatch anything in that mess.”
“Liar.”
The figure raised a hand and pointed around them. Quite a few shadows flashed past in the darkness.
“Look around. These people all know better than anyone that this kind of windfall is hard to grab. But has a single one of them given up? No. They all think it is worth trying at least once. If it works, would that not be a massive profit?”
“Oh? So what you mean is…”
“So, my friend, you do look a little familiar. I feel like I have seen you somewhere before…”
The figure rubbed his hands together excitedly.
“And you do not seem weak either. At the late stage of the second rank, you could slaughter your way through a place like the Lower City. How about we work together and pull off one hell of a score?”
“Familiar?”
Muen smiled. “That kind of intuition is not reliable. Besides, how do I know you are not lying to me?”
“We can make a contract.”
The figure took out a sheet of golden paper. “A divine contract. Once it is signed, it cannot be broken. We work together first, and after we get the ancient dragon heart’s blood, we each rely on our own ability. Would that not be wonderful?”
“I see. That is quite tempting.”
Muen nodded, but still refused.
“Sorry, but I still do not plan to make a move.”
“You are still going to wait? Can you not see it? With things this deadlocked, someone has to break the stalemate. Otherwise, the chaos will never start. Or are you seriously pinning your hopes on those cowards?”
The figure was so annoyed that he stamped his foot.
“When you play at robbing the robbers, timing is everything. When it is time to wait, you need patience. When it is time to strike, you cannot hesitate for even a moment. The moment is already here, so what are you still waiting for?”
“Who said I planned to rob the robbers?”
Muen smiled.
“You have it wrong.”
“What do you mean, I have it wrong? If you are not here to rob the robbers, then what, did you come to watch the show? If that is the case, I recommend moving a little farther forward. The fog by the riverside is actually not great for visibility.”
“I am not here to watch the show either. I have another method.”
“Another method?”
The figure paused, then let out a disdainful snort.
“I get it now. You are planning to wait until the very end, are you not? Mm-hmm, you want to be the final oriole. I have seen your type plenty of times. Not an ounce of courage. You think you can make your move at the very end and swallow everything whole, but in the end, you get nothing.”
As he spoke, the figure lowered his gaze, as though he had noticed something, then suddenly understood.
“So that is it. You are just some fledgling who only recently started hanging around the black market? Some noble young master from who knows what family, sneaking out here for a thrill? That explains it. Boy, a place like the black market is dangerous if you do not have enough experience. My advice is that you go home and lift your maids’ skirts instead.”
His tone had now taken on the lofty air of a seasoned senior instructing a clueless junior.
Muen, however, did not mind. He simply followed the figure’s gaze and looked down.
As the sleeves of his black robe fluttered in the riverside breeze, the exquisite cuffs of the clothes beneath occasionally showed through, embroidered with luxurious gold thread.
No one who truly belonged in the Lower City would be wearing sleeves that extravagant.
Looks like next time I need to change the clothes underneath too.
Muen tucked the sleeves back beneath the robe and smiled.
“In that case, let me give you a piece of advice as well, sir.”
“Oh? Why is that?”
“Because the ancient dragon heart’s blood is definitely going to be mine.”
“…Pfft.”
The figure froze for a moment, then burst into ridicule.
“That sort of baseless arrogance reminds me of someone I cannot stand. Though that guy has seemed like a completely different person lately, he is still just as annoying.”
“Forget it. Since you think that way, I will not bother trying to persuade you anymore. Whether you come or not makes little difference to me. Just stay here and watch.”
The figure waved a hand, then turned away confidently. With both hands clasped behind his back, he stood there like some deeply hidden expert, gazing down upon the misty city beneath the night.
“Just watch how I display my talents amid this chaos, win a glorious opening victory, and seize the ancient dragon heart’s blood. And you, you can only hide off to the side, biting your handkerchief and silently drowning in regret! Hahahaha…”
With that, the figure leapt into the riverside fog, agile as a black fish.
“There is something about that person…”
Watching the figure’s retreating back gradually vanish, Muen stroked his chin and thought,
“Why does he seem so effeminate?”
“Could he really be some queer…”
Muen shivered, then quickly turned and headed off in the opposite direction.
Just as Muen himself had said, he really did intend to be the oriole.
But who said the only way for an oriole to act was by robbing the robbers?
Muen arrived at the bridge and removed his black robe.
This bridge was the largest tower bridge over the Gulaien River, and also a key junction linking the Upper City and the Lower City.
Every day, mounted patrol officers rode across the bridge on patrol.
Muen straightened the elegant collar that had been slightly rumpled beneath the black robe, then walked toward the direction from which the sound of hooves was coming through the fog.
“Halt. This bridge is closed to traffic at night.”
Mounted atop a tall horse, the patrol officer looked down at Muen from above.
But the moment he noticed Muen’s expensive clothing, his expression changed at once. He swung down from the horse and bowed respectfully.
“Young master, have you run into some kind of trouble this late at night?”
“I want to see your superior.”
Muen took out his family crest and flashed it in front of the man.
“The highest one you have.”
…
…
The standoff in the alley was still continuing.
The three gang leaders watched one another warily, none willing to yield a single step.
The temptation of the ancient dragon heart’s blood was simply too great for them.
This was an opportunity that had fallen from heaven itself.
No one wanted to give it up.
And so, as time passed, they increasingly felt more and more eyes gathering around them.
The roaming wild dogs had already converged nearby, poised to strike, waiting for these three most vicious wolf packs of the Lower City to determine a victor, so that they could feast lavishly upon their bones.
Under that pressure, everyone in the alley tightened their grip on their weapons, their nerves stretched taut as bowstrings.
“This will not do…”
Lorenzo, the most anxious of them all, rapidly turned over his options in his head.
He knew that if this continued, the one at the greatest disadvantage would be himself, the man holding the ancient dragon heart’s blood.
He began considering whether he should join forces with the Rat Society first and eliminate the Hyena Gang, those thugs blocking his way.
After all, the Hyena Gang was currently the weakest faction.
And if he and the Rat Society were left without the Hyena Gang in the middle, then neither side would be able to do much to the other.
At worst, he could give the Rat Society five drops of the ancient dragon heart’s blood.
Compared to ending up with nothing at all and incurring his lord’s wrath, that was already the most tolerable outcome.
So what if he had to be the great fool?
For the immortality his lord had promised, what humiliation could a real man not endure?
With that thought in mind, Lorenzo turned toward Sam.
“Sam, how about we—”
Before he could finish, his voice stopped abruptly, and Lorenzo’s expression changed at once.
He had heard the snap of a bowstring releasing, crisp and unmistakable in the silent night.
Before his mind even had time to think, he felt a sharp pain in his arm.
The arrow tore through the air and slammed directly into the magitech armor on his body, sending sparks flying.
Though it only left behind a trivial scratch, that was already enough to flood Lorenzo’s mind with fury in an instant.
He immediately drew his long blade and pointed it at that dwarf-like figure, his eyes bloodshot as he roared,
“Sam, you despicable bastard!”
“N-no, it was not me…”
Sam’s face changed instantly as well.
“I did not give the order—”
But before he could finish speaking, he suddenly sensed something hurtling toward him.
He instinctively twisted aside.
The incoming object flew past him and smashed straight into the subordinate beside him, instantly sending blood spraying everywhere.
It was a spiked club!
In the entire Lower City, aside from the crude thugs of the Hyena Gang, who else would use a tasteless weapon like a spiked club?
“Schulz!”
Sam roared. “Are you looking to die?”
“It was not me!”
Schulz had only just shown a trace of confusion when he saw a figure suddenly dart out from among Lorenzo’s elites and slash viciously at him with a great saber in hand.
Every hair on Schulz’s body stood on end.
Though he was old, he had survived in the Lower City for many years.
He reacted at once, retreating while raising his cane to block.
When he saw that his beloved gold-inlaid silver cane now bore a deep, unmistakable gash from the blade, the last thread of his reason was instantly consumed by rage.
“Lorenzo!”
His roar tore through the night sky.
Though all three men instinctively sensed that something was wrong in that instant, the suffocating atmosphere and overwhelming pressure meant that no further orders were needed.
Like a powder keg, once the fuse was lit, it would naturally explode!
Seeing their bosses under attack, those elites, thugs, and rats whose nerves had already been stretched to the brink could no longer hold themselves back.
They swung their sabers and weapons and pulled their triggers all at once!
The scene plunged into chaos.
Blade flashes, flying bolts, spraying blood, and the roaring shouts of thugs instantly turned that silent alley into a place of deafening uproar.
“This is wrong. Very wrong!”
With a single slash, Lorenzo cut down a thug charging at him, and only then did he finally calm down.
He realized that someone was trying to muddy the waters, because the man who had just rushed out from his side was someone he did not recognize at all!
But when he tried to find that figure again, there was not even a trace left.
It was too chaotic. And amid that chaos, a drifting voice suddenly rang out from somewhere unknown.
“Charge! Whoever grabs the ancient dragon heart’s blood, it belongs to them!”
Lorenzo’s expression changed. He stuffed the metal container into his clothes and tried to use his subordinates’ cover to get away at once, but then another voice shouted from nearby,
“Lorenzo is over here!”