Chapter 035: Gear Four

How to get money quickly? First of all, anything that violates his moral bottom line—such as robbery, kidnapping, or extortion—was out of the question. Otherwise, with Su Jingxing's current strength, acting as a bandit wouldn't be difficult at all.

Second, borrowing from acquaintances was also not an option. The reason was simple: among the people Su Jingxing knew, not a single one was wealthy.

As for selling Vitality Pills, that was too slow. Selling Spirit-Nourishing Pills wasn't worth it. Joining a particular faction? He had no interest.

To sell himself for this one million—unless he had lost his mind, Su Jingxing would never consider it.

At worst, he could wait until next month, and when he hacked into the lottery system again, just siphon a bit more.

Yes, take the crooked path!

Not crossing the red line, but treading the gray!

Suddenly, Su Jingxing remembered a phrase: "thieves robbing thieves."

And as it happened, there was a ready-made target.

The Dagger Society.

After the annihilation of the Dagger Society, any industries and cash they left behind, if nothing went wrong, would ultimately be taken over by the Black Tiger Gang. Fixed assets didn't interest Su Jingxing; he couldn't handle them anyway. But cash was a different matter.

Among the three vices—gambling, prostitution, and drugs—nearly every underground gang had their hands in all of them. Of these, gambling dens always held the most cash reserves.

The Dagger Society must have controlled quite a few underground gambling operations.

With the deaths of Chen Dagger and the others, the cash in those gambling dens' safes would, without question, become ownerless.

Instead of letting this dirty money fall into someone else's hands, why not take it for himself?

At this thought, Su Jingxing's eyes lit up.

He didn't gamble, but he knew someone who did.

Feng Ironblade!

That guy indulged in every vice—eating, drinking, women, gambling, you name it.

He could go ask him, find out the locations of a few Dagger Society gambling dens—there shouldn't be any problem.

With this in mind, Su Jingxing didn't rest. He packed his cards, locked his door, and prepared to head to Feng Ironblade's dormitory.

He'd just reached the doorway when he remembered that Feng Ironblade, like himself, had also been busy all night and was surely fast asleep by now.

So Su Jingxing turned back inside and decided to wait until evening to find him.

He didn't waste the waiting hours; instead, he circulated his inner energy, stimulating the area around his eyes, slowly awakening his night vision.

Soon, night fell.

Su Jingxing left home and headed straight for Feng Ironblade's dormitory. When he arrived, Feng Ironblade had just woken up.

Following the principle of seeking advice, Su Jingxing took Feng Ironblade to a small restaurant in the western suburbs for a stir-fry dinner.

At the table, Feng Ironblade was in high spirits, describing in detail where the best food was, which places had the most enthusiastic women, and where the most exciting entertainment venues could be found—including, naturally, the gambling dens.

With a few subtle prompts from Su Jingxing, Feng Ironblade revealed without reservation the locations of several Dagger Society gambling dens.

Indeed, these underground gambling dens openly advertised which gang backed them.

Previously, with the Dagger Society leaning on the Black Tiger Gang, few dared to cause trouble at their gambling dens, which made them quite well-known—anyone who enjoyed a little flutter knew where they were.

Thanks to Feng Ironblade, Su Jingxing now had the addresses as well, saving him a lot of work.

After dinner, parting ways with Feng Ironblade, Su Jingxing immediately set out for the first location.

Unexpectedly, he drew a blank.

The first underground gambling den was already deserted—no people, no money. The safe in the back office had long been pried open, and the cash within had vanished without a trace.

Clearly, someone else had the same idea as Su Jingxing: to take advantage of the chaos and make a quick fortune in dirty money.

Realizing this, Su Jingxing hurried to the next gambling den.

Again, he found nothing.

The underground den was a mess; not only was there no cash, but even the fancier light bulbs had been taken.

A third den—also empty.

A fourth—

At last, he didn't come up empty-handed, but still found no cash. The money in the safe had turned into a pile of worthless scraps during a fight between two rival groups.

When Su Jingxing arrived, the floor was littered with shredded Dayu bills.

No one would want this, of course.

Su Jingxing quickly slipped away and headed for the next den, moving at his fastest speed.

At this rate, all the Dagger Society's underground gambling dens might be cleaned out before he could reach them. He had no intention of leaving empty-handed.

Fortunately, his luck turned. This time, he caught two thieves still in the act, not yet escaped.

Su Jingxing waited outside, listening to their movements. When they had finished and stepped out of the den, slipping into the nearby alley with their loot, he suddenly unleashed the "Eight Steps Ascending Dragon," darting forward like lightning and snatching the bags slung over their shoulders.

Whoosh, whoosh—

In a flash of wind and blurred motion, the two delighted thieves didn't even see what happened; the bags vanished from their shoulders in an instant.

“What the…” The two were dumbfounded.

One, terrified, glanced wildly around and stammered, “Boss, what… what do we do?”

“What else? We run, of course!” The other, eyes wary, spun and dashed for the alley’s exit.

“Wait for me, boss!” the frightened one cried, hurrying after.

They weren’t even ninth-rank martial artists. Being targeted and losing only the dirty money was already lucky.

For the unlucky, it could have cost their lives.

With that in mind, escape was all that mattered.

…

On his end, Su Jingxing found a secluded corner, opened the bags, and counted the cash.

Over 1.1 million!

Just enough to buy a Wall-Breaking Pill.

For a small underground den like this, a night's cash flow was just over a million. Having scooped it all up, his luck was truly good. No doubt, even the usual reserve funds had been emptied by those two thieves.

Now that the cash had fallen into Su Jingxing's hands, it solved a major problem for him.

If he tried to spend this dirty money at a legitimate pill shop, there would naturally be repercussions. But at the black market, there was no problem at all.

Without delay, Su Jingxing took the bags home, changed into a black cloak and mask, loaded the cash into a case, and headed straight for the black market.

After paying the entrance fee and strolling through the main street as usual, he finally entered a shop.

A black market store specializing in pills, with a formidable background.

“Boss, do you have any Wall-Breaking Pills?” Su Jingxing asked, deepening his voice as he entered.

“Yes,” replied the shopkeeper, a man with a small braid, putting down a porcelain bottle and looking over at Su Jingxing. As he answered, he asked, “Which price range would you like?”

“…What price ranges are there?” Su Jingxing inquired with curiosity.

“There’s one for three hundred thousand a pill, one for five hundred thousand, one for eight hundred thousand, and one for one point one million,” the braided shopkeeper explained in detail. “Which type would you like?”

Su Jingxing was speechless.

So he was out of touch. He hadn’t expected the Wall-Breaking Pill to come in four different tiers.

Even a pill for three hundred thousand Dayu bills existed!

He couldn’t help but wonder if a pill at that price would have any effect at all.

Suppressing his thoughts, Su Jingxing kept his voice steady, “Give me the one for one point one million. I’ll pay in cash.”

“Certainly.” The braided shopkeeper bent down, rummaged beneath the counter, and produced a small box, sliding it across to Su Jingxing. “A fair price—one point one five million.”

Hmm?