Chapter 52 Factory Deal

Glancing at the time, it was already four in the afternoon. They had to return to school by five, and if they kept playing, there wouldn't be enough time. There was no other way. Even though Ning Xuan pouted and pleaded, “No, I don’t want to go yet, I still want to play,” Chen Mo still dragged her out of the amusement park.

Right at the entrance, there was a milk tea shop.

Ning Xuan made a beeline for it and ordered a steaming cup of strawberry milk tea. Then, with great generosity, she declared, “Brother, what would you like? It’s on me!”

Chen Mo pursed his lips and smiled. “My, my, look at you, Little Xuan. Just look at that smug face of yours—you look like you’ve just struck it rich!”

Ning Xuan lifted her chin proudly. “That’s right! So what if I am? In the future, I’ll be the breadwinner, and you can just be beautiful and charming!”

“All right, all right! I’ll be beautiful and charming, and you’ll be the breadwinner!”

Their playful exchange drew laughter from other patrons in the shop, and someone remarked enviously, “Your sister is adorable.”

The siblings found a window seat, cradling their warm milk teas, savoring the gentle quiet and sweetness that followed a day filled with excitement and thrills.

At that moment, Chen Mo noticed a girl with twin ponytails at another table. She seemed about his age. Though she, too, sipped sweet milk tea, her expression was anything but sweet—tense, even anxious, as she alternated between glancing out the window and checking the time on her phone.

Chen Mo’s sharp instincts told him this girl was no ordinary person. He initiated a data scan.

[Liú Zijūn, Lv. 19]
[Intermediate Warrior]
[HP: 3000]
[MP: 500]
[Physical Attack: 230]
[Magical Attack: 20]
[Equipment: Full Steel Set, Vampire’s Fangs]
[B-Rank Skill: Goddess’s Radiance—boosts allies’ attack by 150% for 10 seconds; C-Rank Skill: Lethal Flying Sword—single-target damage and 1-second stun]

Just as Chen Mo suspected, the girl was powerful—she even possessed a B-rank skill. In all of China, fewer than ten thousand people had such a skill. To randomly encounter someone with a B-rank skill in a milk tea shop was exceedingly rare.

Even more astonishing, she had the Vampire’s Fangs! Chen Mo already possessed the Vampire’s Cloak, Claws, and Mask—just one more piece, and the set would be complete. He had never expected to find the final piece here.

He had spent a month grinding in dungeons for the Vampire set and never found the Fangs. No one on the entire Evolution Forum was selling it. It was clear just how precious this final item was.

Robbery—a dangerous word flashed through Chen Mo’s mind, but he quickly dismissed it. Though five years ago, Liu Kunlong and his gang had so thoroughly humiliated him that he lost all hope in the world and grew cold and detached, it didn’t mean he would harm the innocent. Having been bullied for so long, Chen Mo would never become a bully himself.

“Check, please!” The twin-tailed girl barely finished her milk tea before hurrying off.

From her anxious demeanor, Chen Mo deduced there was something pressing on her mind.

“Xuan, stay here and drink your milk tea. Don’t go anywhere until I get back, do you hear me?” Chen Mo said seriously.

Ning Xuan had long noticed her brother’s furtive glances at the other table. She grinned mischievously, “Got it, bro. Big brothers never stay put, huh? Quick, go after her—otherwise, the girl will be gone.”

Chen Mo’s face reddened. “You little rascal, it’s not what you think. Stay put, I’ll be right back!”

He quickly got up and followed after the twin-tailed girl, enacting what felt like a scene from a noir film, trailing her step by step, slowly and carefully.

Thump-thump-thump—Chen Mo’s heart raced. This was probably the first time in his life he’d tailed a girl like this, and his pulse soared. Several times, the girl seemed to sense someone behind her and glanced back, but each time, Chen Mo’s keen senses allowed him to dodge into the shadows just in time.

They crossed the street and slipped down an alley until the girl arrived at an abandoned factory.

This area used to be an old industrial district, but with the rise of the internet age, the factories had gone bust. The government reclaimed many, building attractions like the World Window to recoup economic losses, but plenty of factories still lay deserted.

The air was thick with the scent of rust and steel.

The girl came here alone—highly suspicious.

Chen Mo leapt lightly onto the factory roof, peering down through a skylight.

Inside, the dilapidated factory was filled with piles of rusted steel and scattered oil drums. Besides the girl, there were twenty bodyguards in black suits and sunglasses, and a young man draped in a white mink coat, cigar clamped between his lips.

Somehow, this group had gotten hold of a solid wooden throne, set in the middle of the factory. The mink-clad youth lounged there, one leg crossed over the other, bouncing his foot in a show of insolence.

“To think the so-called top underground organization in Star City, Nirvana Phoenix, would send such a young and pretty girl to make a deal. Very bold!” The young man’s roving gaze left no doubt as to his intentions.

In this era of global evolution, aside from the official evolutionary organization, Cloud and Mist, countless groups had sprung up. Most were required to register with the Evolution Center, with strict controls on recruitment and expulsion. Thus, beyond these legitimate groups, there existed unregistered underground organizations.

Nirvana Phoenix was the largest such group in Star City, rumored to have a thousand Evolvers—a staggering number.

The twin-tailed girl faced them with calm composure. “Young Master Ye, your Ye Group is the most powerful in Star City. You wouldn’t stoop to bullying a lone girl, would you? But if you do, Nirvana Phoenix will retaliate, and your family will pay the price.”

“Well said! Hahaha!” The youth in mink, Ye Wenbin, laughed delightedly. “I like your spirit. In fact, I admire you. Why not leave Nirvana Phoenix? I know your group is in dire straits—otherwise, they wouldn’t have sent you here to make this deal. Work for me, and I’ll guarantee you ten entries into the Evolution Sphere every day. Within a year, you’ll be among the top one hundred Evolvers in China—no, in the world!”

The girl remained unfazed. “Thank you for your kind offer, Young Master Ye, but I, Liu Zijun, will never betray my organization. Let's not waste words. I’ve brought the item—where’s the money?”

Ye Wenbin sighed dramatically. “What a pity. Why don’t I have a woman like you by my side? It makes my heart itch just to look at you…”

“Young Master Ye!” Liu Zijun’s voice sharpened.

“Fine, fine, I’m done joking.”

With a snap of his fingers, one of the bodyguards brought forward a black case, set it on an oil drum, and opened it to reveal dozens of blue glass vials.

Gene Enhancement Serum!

Chen Mo’s eyes widened in shock. He recognized it instantly—Ning Xuan, as the top student at Pingli Middle School, received a vial every month as a reward. She’d just gotten one two days ago and had shown it off to him. That’s how he knew what it was.

The serum could randomly add an attribute point, but more than that, it could alter one’s genes. Long-term use could lead to qualitative transformation.

To think they were trading this here! On the black market, each vial fetched ten million, and even then, they were impossible to find.

For the first time, Liu Zijun’s calm face betrayed emotion at the sight of the vials.

“Here’s the goods. Now, yours?” Ye Wenbin asked, grinning.

Liu Zijun regained her composure. “See for yourself.”

She opened her palm, and a red glow materialized. Two sinister fangs spun in her hand.

Vampire’s Fangs!

Chen Mo swallowed, excitement surging within him. This was the item he’d been searching for! So this was the object of their transaction—Vampire’s Fangs!