"This is..."
Swoosh!
The sound of the wind breaking whooshed as three more mechanical arms attacked from both sides. The surrounding environment was too dim, causing Ma Wu to completely miss the mechanical arms behind Li Ming at first.
Thud!
His arm was directly pierced by a drill bit, emitting a piercing scream. The pincers at the end of the other two mechanical arms clamped down on one of his legs, and then Li Ming, with a push from behind, sprang up like a spider, taking Ma Wu with him.
The process was fluid like the passing clouds and flowing water. A few people at the entrance of the alley stomped their feet in confusion and peered inside, but the shadowy lanes prevented them from seeing anything. They were soon distracted by women beckoning for customers.
On the rooftop, Ma Wu, who had been confident of victory during the day, now lay on the ground like a dead dog, his chest heaving violently, soaked in pools of blood.
Both arms were left in mere stumps, and the intense pain turned his face pale, but the close proximity of the buzzing metal saw blade kept him from making any sound.
He had more endurance than Wang Bo and barely managed to speak, "Who are you, Wild Dog Gang? Or Blood Rose? We've been minding our own business for a long time, do you really want to start a war?"
These two names were other underworld forces of Silver Grey City, constantly at odds with the Fierce Tiger Gang.
Li Ming took his smart terminal and personal belongings off him. In his wallet, there were nine hundred Star Coins and a metal short blade.
[Kor Short Dagger: An unremarkable dagger, forged from steel.
Control Conditions: 2 points of metal energy.
Control Effect: Close combat - Entry level
Control Ability—Puncture: Swift action, bolstered by a 20% increase in speed.]
This close combat ability seemed interesting, Li Ming glanced over it.
His attack was too fast for Ma Wu to even have the chance to use the item.
"What do you know about Li Changhai's situation?" Li Ming inquired.
"You..." Hearing this, Ma Wu's pupils dilated suddenly, staring blankly at the man bandaged in strips, and that slightly familiar voice sparked an unbelievable thought in his mind.
"Is it you!?" Other than Li Ming, he could not think of anyone else who would know about this.
However, the terrifying strength of the other party made it hard for him to believe it was possible, and those mechanical arms, only high-precision mechanical modification techniques could integrate them into a human body.
"Damn you, Wang Bo, you're going to get yourself killed!" He cursed inwardly, how could the man in front of him be the one bullied by that kid Wang Bo to the point of dropping out of school?
The ruthlessness and decisiveness of his actions made even him feel ashamed.
"I'm asking you a question." Li Ming squatted down, stepping on Ma Wu's wound, "If you dare make a sound, I will cut your flesh off slice by slice, each no more than a millimeter thick."
Ma Wu's temple throbbed painfully, veins bulging as he clenched his teeth tightly, "Quite a few people know, spare me, I can help you keep it a secret."
"Quite a few?" Li Ming's eyes narrowed, "Who are they? What are their surnames, their names, where do they live, what are their statuses? Speak clearly."
Ma Wu's face became rigid as Li Ming's foot pressed harder, the pain almost preventing him from thinking.
Li Ming pressed further, "Since many people know, does that mean the money I gave you has to be shared? How is it split? What is everyone's share? How much should you get?"
"Who planned this? Where? At what time?"
Blood vessels filled Ma Wu's pupils, and he opened and closed his mouth but could not speak.
"It seems, indeed, not many people know." Li Ming let go of his foot. Ma Wu gasped for air, looking at Li Ming as if looking at a demon, with fear in his heart reaching its peak.
Almost no one knew; he had found out by chance. Yet if he answered truthfully, he knew that being silenced was inevitable.
However, Li Ming proved to be much more troublesome than he had imagined. In the throes of excruciating pain, it was nearly impossible for him to fabricate a perfect logical loop.
"Let, let me go..." he pleaded, watching as Li Ming raised his foot again, his eyes nearly shrouded in despair.
"Would you rather die in extreme agony, or just close and open your eyes?" Li Ming asked leisurely, "How did Li Changhai die?"
Soon, Li Ming had thoroughly drained Ma Wu and decisively slashed his throat, shattering his head just as ruthlessly.
"It really wasn't their doing?" Li Ming frowned deeply, confirming through Ma Wu that the Fierce Tiger Gang knew nothing about Li Changhai's death and simply thought he had been killed in a car accident.
But Li Ming knew this was impossible. The only answer was that the secret Li Changhai carried led to his demise.
The reason Ma Wu knew about this was entirely due to the fact that Li Changhai had dealt with a middleman who was a relative of this guy. It came up during a drunken conversation a couple of days earlier, where the topic was discussed in great detail.
The other party hadn't cared, but Ma Wu had taken it to heart.
"They wouldn't eradicate all traces, would they?" Li Ming worried, but then shook his head. They would have acted much earlier if that were the case unless he had touched upon something he shouldn't have, which might lead to action if discovered.
Setting aside that matter for now, there were more than ten thousand Star Coins in Ma Wu's Star Network account, and there was no way to transfer out that money transparently.
However, Li Ming had just found out another method—the Black Hole Network.
It was a shady side of the Star Network, a place where many illegal transactions took place. Its unique nature meant it wasn't afraid of scrutiny—registering only required knowing the website address, and it didn't require real identification.
Once the webpage was closed, all traces would vanish without a trace.
Over the years, the Black Hole Network's credibility had become as solid as the Star Network's.
Activating Ma Wu's smart terminal, Li Ming entered a series of website addresses, quickly redirected to a page permeated with a bloody atmosphere, and promptly registered an account following the prompts.
He transferred Ma Wu's money into his Black Hole Network account first, then into his own Li Ming account, the entire process lasting no more than two seconds.
However, while transferring in was easy, transferring out was difficult. Monitoring organizations could easily trace the source of the money. To launder money from the Black Hole Network, one had to pay a 40% handling fee.
Moreover, even legal items sold in the Black Hole Network were much more expensive than market prices. As for illegal goods, it goes without saying.
He browsed briefly, overwhelmed by the vast array of goods, which included various weapons, addictive substances, gene seeds, and even interstellar species for sale.
It also supported the posting of bounties, but he couldn't access the bounty section just yet—Bounty Hunters were by recommendation only.
"A lot of metal materials, I'll study them when I get back…"
Interestingly, he found some conversation messages in Ma Wu's Black Hole Network account—very intriguing...
"Receiving goods... human trafficking... delivery..." Li Ming's eyes sparked, taking note of the relevant information.
He didn't overlook the two thousand from Wang Bo either, making sure to tie up loose ends without leaving any obvious traces.
"Time to head back."
As night claimed its victims, his task was complete.
Li Ming tracked his way back the way he came, reaching home before dawn, disposing of the clothes he had worn today into the High-Temperature Furnace, reduced to ash.
Li Changhai often manually worked on parts, naturally possessing such a device.
After using a range of abilities and traveling for an extended period, his eyes felt dizzy. Inserting the security chip, he lay in bed, drowsy.
Until the next morning, as it began to brighten, he was awakened by Xiao Huang's voice.
"Master, Yang Boming is knocking at the door."
"Old Yang is back?" Li Ming said, massaging his temples, looking at Old Yang's anxious face on the screen before getting up to open the door.