ASER - Chapter 71
Chapter 71: Organization
From XXX +3333!
From XX +1453!
From...
Following that was Willpower from Cui Yong; he must have received the news.
Old Dog Cui is very well-informed; it seems he has quite a few spies in Lingcheng.
+9999!
Lao Wang was driving, evading some surveillance cameras under the highly intelligent guidance of No. 7. However, he heard intense gunfire from a district in the city and was startled. He subconsciously looked at A'Diao, only to see she had already woken up.
She had been awakened by the Toilet's notification sound. Her expression was cool as she gazed at the distant firelight, a thoughtful look in her eyes—this Old Dog Cui was old. It was said his aptitude could hardly compare favorably to the younger generation; after all, he was old, his golden cultivation period had passed, and his assessed aptitude would be diminished. However, his willpower cap was so high, indicating his current strength was formidable, unlike Chen Ran, who was a good-for-nothing merely holding an official position.
He was likely built up by the Cui family's resources. By the same token, Cui Liang would only be more difficult to deal with.
"Third Miss, could that be... the ones who want to kill you over there? No wonder you asked me to give the original phone to Officer Feng."
"Are you scared?"
"Er... As long as I work for you, I will give my all and dedicate myself until death." Thinking of this girl's intricate schemes, Lao Wang's tone was soft yet filled with reverence, as if facing an old ancestor.
A'Diao was amused but said nothing. The car eventually flew to a small resort villa in Lingcheng—this place was very close to Feng Ting's territory.
The Third Miss had him rent it.
She had no intention of returning to the Chen family residence; the small villa was only rented for three days.
Resting when she needed to rest, healing when she needed to heal, A'Diao took a shower and then picked up her phone to contact an online merchant for acquisitions. She was extremely efficient; anything that could be done today would not be postponed until tomorrow.
However, she also knew she wasn't the only one who could get things done today.
Little Tangshan.
After the signal device of the Scarred Man and his group floated downstream along the creek, his organization initially didn't notice anything amiss. They assumed the group had proceeded to find other catacombs as planned. However, they couldn't be contacted later on.
After all, it was an organization built on killing and robbing. The Scarred Man's colleagues and superiors naturally sensed something was wrong. They immediately dispatched people to investigate. As they searched, at five o'clock, under the twilight glow, they found the catacomb and the creek.
It was a brutal scene, clearly the result of a fierce battle between two parties.
But who were the two parties?
The Scarred Man's body was not here.
"Zhang Ze ran away?"
"I'm afraid that dog saw something good, had a change of heart, killed everyone, and ran off with the goods."
Someone naturally suspected this. This was also A'Diao's method as understood by Tian Zhongxiang and the others—to frame the Scarred Man, Zhang Ze.
But at this moment... at the opening above the magma pool beneath the catacomb, a black-haired, seemingly ordinary, and indifferent man observed the surroundings and said faintly, "The body of a Magma Giant Lizard is hidden in the magma pool below. The treasure should be in this pool. However, there are no signs of a direct fight down there or here. It's clear that a clever method was used to steal the treasure. This giant lizard only discovered it later and gave chase urgently. But Zhang Ze doesn't have a flight device; even if he did, his flight speed wouldn't be this fast. He would definitely have been killed by this Magma Giant Lizard—therefore, the people who angered this giant lizard and took the treasure are far superior to them in terms of equipment."
"They are also superior in strength, so it's a case of black eat black."
"They're cunning, even knowing to throw the signal device into the river to divert our attention."
"Investigate thoroughly!"
The man's eyes were cold and sinister, like a venomous snake.
After receiving the order, the subordinates outside began to use some high-end equipment, such as capturing Spiritual Energy residue... but they found that the energy structures were damaged and incomplete, making it impossible to capture them fully. Naturally, they couldn't compare and search for them in the database.
Thus, this group found the situation unusually troublesome.
"There's another way. We can bribe connections to check the traffic data for the Little Tangshan area from the Education Bureau, and trace the other party's hovercar trajectory..."
This would require a lot of money and connections. Moreover, Little Tangshan belongs to Lingcheng. It was easier when that fellow Zhao Yu was in charge; everyone was greedy and easy to deal with. Now that Chen Ran has taken over, the administration is managed like an iron barrel. Those corrupt officials were sent to the guillotine long ago, so thoroughly that there wasn't even a public spectacle.
Therefore, the risk was also much greater than before, and it would take some time to accomplish.
In fact, Zhang Ze only had two or three hundred spirit cores on him. The loss was not small, but not huge either, not enough to make them go to such trouble...
The others advocated giving up, to cut their losses. But this man didn't think so. He said coldly, "Have you ever thought that this group acts so experiencedly and has high-end equipment? They must have a significant background. But where in Lingcheng's territory would such figures come from? This group must have a powerful backing from Jinling or Danzhou. What if their purpose isn't just to cover their tracks, but they're also thinking of thoroughly investigating our traces and then wiping us out in one go?"
The others were instantly horrified.
The man lowered his eyes, his teeth snow-white, but the words he uttered were exceptionally chilling.
"Coming here to gain experience indicates their own cultivation levels aren't very high. They are likely young disciples. Their current abilities are limited, after all, and they are proud and arrogant. They might not entrust this matter to their family elders right now, but it's only a matter of time. Once they've calmed down and tasted the benefits..."
"So we must strike first to gain the upper hand."
"Investigate again! I refuse to believe they didn't leave any flaws."
Unless absolutely necessary, he didn't want to use his connections with the Lingcheng Transportation Department. That Chen Ran was too cunning, so it was best if they could find clues here.
Ten minutes later, a subordinate finally found a useful clue: a small slip of paper.
The man's expression tensed as he slowly unfolded it, while several of his confidants watched nervously from the side.
Black on white paper... Actually, there were no words, just a drawing of a hand, fingers curled inward, middle finger pointing up.
The strong implication hit them in the face; even a pig would get its profound meaning.
—Moron!
In the evening, A'Diao, who had slept for two hours before being woken by her alarm, stood upstairs in her slippers, watching while munching on a large apple.
During the transaction to sell the goods, she had Lao Wang represent her.
He used the Chen family's identity. Outsiders' investigations would stop at the Chen family, and they wouldn't be certain that Chen A'Diao was capable of acquiring such things. However, if it were Chen Xun or Chen Ran, it would seem much more normal to others, allowing her to hide herself behind the scenes.
She always knew how to exploit Chen Ran's value.
The merchant initially wanted to haggle down the price, but after recognizing Lao Wang's identity, they became more polite, and the price was somewhat fairer. All Level 1, Level 2, and Level 3 eyeballs were priced at 50,000, 200,000, and 3,000,000 per unit, respectively. With one lizard having two eyeballs, it was quite a good deal. The Magma Giant Lizard's bones, sold by weight, also fetched a price of 3,800,000.
The total transaction price was 14.5 million.
The money arrived in A'Diao's account. After receiving it, she suddenly gained some Willpower.
From Shuang Jin +8899!
From Li Zikai +6783!
From...
In an instant, seventy to eighty thousand points of Willpower floated in.
Hmm? A'Diao's expression turned slightly solemn.
As expected, those ruthless bandits were relentless and had found the truth. Moreover, they were numerous and powerful, with many experts among them. This was a bit troublesome.
This group had money and methods. They had secretly plundered so many resources, spreading their operations throughout many areas of Danzhou, yet they hadn't exposed their foundation. They were undoubtedly ruthless and cruel, leaving no loose ends. It was highly likely they would be relentless towards her, aiming to cut the grass and remove the roots.
Chen Ran's title as Cishi alone wasn't much of a deterrent. After all, Zhang Ze couldn't have failed to see that their group came from an academy and had backing, yet he still chose to kill and rob. This indicated that these people had done such things many times before.
If they were to use connections to get the Transportation Department's surveillance footage next... Song Ling and the others would be fine; they were just passengers and might not be exposed. However, the Chen family connection would be revealed.
Although protected by the barrier of an official-ranked family, if she were to achieve something notable at the academy, this group would immediately suspect her.
Toilet: So, you left the note to bait out their names, not for Willpower.
A'Diao was noncommittal. Willpower was a benefit; names were clues.
She took out her phone, which clearly had a photo of Zhang Ze's appearance.
"Now I have Zhang Ze's name and photo, plus the names of this group. There's a certain probability I can find information about them."
"But... I lack the ability in this area."
Her mind wasn't bad, but she hadn't delved into information technology.
So, she currently had a bit of a headache.
Buy a flight device or an intelligent optical computer device?
The next day, when everyone woke up and was having breakfast, they all saw a sum of money credited to their bank accounts.
Tian Zhongye nearly choked to death.
The three of them each received 1.5 million, while A'Diao and Song Ling each received 5 million.
"Sudden riches..." Rao Xueya was still very excited. Although she had earned 500,000 by cooperating in the act before, this time it was through real combat... Alright, there was still some 'padding,' but it could more or less be considered hard-earned money.
Privately, Song Ling sent A'Diao a message, "The Flame Spirit Pupil, I'll value it at 40 million for you. I'll transfer it to you once I return to my family and sort things out, alright?"
40 million!
A'Diao had originally planned to ask for 15 million. This was so sudden; was Song Ling this charitable?
"Song Ling."
"?"
"Are you secretly in love with me?"
From Song Ling +8888!
A'Diao: See, she really is secretly in love with me!
Toilet: "..."
Song Ling, who was drinking congee, didn't know how to reply to this person, but she still unhurriedly typed back.
"This Spiritual Vessel is different; it has growth potential and is very valuable. If traded on the black market, it would probably fetch fifty to sixty million. But at a proper auction, if there's competition, the price would soar much higher, likely maintaining a high price of eighty million. For my psychic-type talent, it's an enhancing advantage. Competing for it would involve both opportunity and risk. Moreover, I already possess an Ice Spirit Pupil, so the advantage is multiplied several times over. Its value to me is far more than eighty million."
"However, I don't have that much capital at the moment, so I can only pay this price."
"Is that acceptable?"
Logical and well-reasoned, refined and courteous, neither excessively like a fool with too much money nor overly calculating.
In Toilet's view, the price Song Ling offered was very appropriate. It didn't put A'Diao at a disadvantage, nor did Song Ling herself lose out. Most importantly, she could afford it, and it wouldn't involve such a large sum of money that others would find out.
Grasping the right measure in dealing with people is very important.
IQ often determines the level of achievement, but EQ is genuinely linked to the length of one's life.
"Alright." A'Diao liked doing business with clear-headed people, so naturally, there was nothing more to say. She estimated that Song Ling would sell spirit cores and other gains; after some maneuvering, forty million wouldn't be much pressure for her.
Everyone had their own gains and was eager to return home. They all decided to leave today, but this time they would take separate spacecraft back, not together.
Maintaining a low profile after getting rich is also a skill.
But A'Diao said her family was in Lingcheng and she had to go back for a visit, so she wouldn't return directly to Jinling.
This reason was very legitimate, and no one thought much of it, so they parted ways just like that.
Once they left, A'Diao experienced Toilet's Spiritual Energy release efficiency, comparable to a "Little Spirit Gate." Coupled with the effects of 101 and 201, her total Spiritual Energy recovered quickly. Moreover, by the second day... both her spirit masses had broken through to the F-grade quantity.
The fighting was probably too intense, which was conducive to breakthroughs.
Two F1s combined equaled an F3. Adding other methods... Eh, she didn't have many methods left now. Her talismans were used up, leaving only her "silk-drawing gaze" and "little fists."
Her methods were still too few.
The most important thing was, how could she earn a massive amount of Willpower?
She was still fifty thousand Willpower short of the 300,000 needed to redeem Talisman Proficiency.
The Cui Clan wasn't dealt with yet, and now she had fucking provoked a ruthless bandit group. Moreover, she still didn't dare to collect the Old Daoist Priest's body for burial. It was so hard; why was her life so difficult?
Toilet soon saw this person searching for public toilet locations on her phone again... completely focused, as if obsessed.
When in Jinling, search Jinling; when in Lingcheng, search Lingcheng.
Unbelievable, this damned freak!
However, in the end, A'Diao didn't bomb any toilets because she found a less risky method.
She privately messaged Qu Jiangnan, "Teacher, does our class have a group chat?"
Qu Jiangnan: "No."
A'Diao: "Create one, please~ Otherwise, I'm so afraid of being isolated by the other classmates."
Qu Jiangnan: "Speak normally."
A'Diao: "I'm begging you~~~"
Qu Jiangnan, who had just finished dinner, lightly pressed her stomach and said faintly, "What camaraderie can there be after only nine months? Speak. What's your real purpose? If you don't tell me, I'll delete you to save myself the daily annoyance."
Damn it, this 'big sister' is really hard to deal with, not cute at all.
A'Diao: "I think the current learning atmosphere in our class isn't good enough. It's too comfortable. Sooner or later, Class 2 will catch up, and then, Teacher, you'll lose face."
The reason was quite legitimate and did indeed hit her soft spot, but Qu Jiangnan didn't believe at all that Class 2 could surpass Class 1, except for a few underperformers who were easily replaceable.
But this wouldn't affect her status.
However... Qu Jiangnan still created the group. There was no other reason than she felt it would be beneficial for the class.
Er, alright, actually, she just wanted to know what kind of mischief this little troublemaker was planning.
Get instant access to all the chapters now.
Comments
Post a Comment