Chapter 049: [Grim]
Another one wiped out?
Su Jingxing couldn’t help but feel a twinge of sympathy for the Black Tiger Gang.
And the forces behind “Duan Feihong” were simply too brazen. The joint operation between the Town Guard, the Security Team, and the Garrison hadn’t even been called off yet, and now another of Black Tiger Gang’s branches had been annihilated.
Such blatant, reckless actions—they clearly held the Town Guard in no regard!
“Do they really think they’re invincible now?”
Su Jingxing grumbled inwardly but readily agreed, telling Gu Bo to wait by the roadside while he headed over directly.
Fortunately, he had already washed off his disguise and removed the human-skin mask during his earlier bath, saving him precious time.
As he left, he took out his last Spirit-Concealing Pill and swallowed it, increasing his loot range.
Midway, he bought some food to eat in the carriage. It was almost ten at night—Su Jingxing was only now having dinner. Ordinarily, Gu Bo might have shown some curiosity, but tonight his face was grave, his eyes anxious.
Instead, it was Su Jingxing who asked what had happened.
Only then did he discover that the destruction of the Black Tiger Gang’s branch had harmed innocent bystanders.
Once more, barbarian warriors in mechanical armor had appeared, just as before. But this time, they encountered two of the Black Tiger Gang’s enforcers—both sixth-grade experts—who attacked together.
In the ensuing battle, the building’s walls were demolished, dragging the fight outside the gang’s territory. The chaos leveled a swath of structures, causing a commotion that affected hundreds.
Casualties were still unclear, but estimates put the dead at no fewer than thirty.
In other words, this incident was even more serious than before!
Gu Bo’s anxiety stemmed from concern for the innocent. His own elder brother lived right next to the destroyed gang branch, and now his fate was uncertain.
Yet, duty-bound, Gu Bo had to endure and could not go check.
In such circumstances, Su Jingxing found himself at a loss for words of comfort.
So together with Kong Dabao, he simply kept silent.
In the quiet, the corpse transport carriage sped through the night.
When they arrived at the scene, wails and cries greeted them before they even stepped out.
Su Jingxing got off, and was immediately met with the sight of a stretch of buildings—some half-collapsed, some with cracked walls, some pocked with gaping holes.
Nearly half the street’s houses had been destroyed.
The road was pitted and uneven, strewn with broken streetlights, shattered cars, dismembered bodies, and pools of fresh blood.
Devastation!
A battle between two sixth-grade martial artists and a barbarian warrior in mechanical armor had impacted half a street, with hundreds dead or wounded.
Confronted with the cries of the wounded, Gu Bo forced himself to stay calm, leading Su Jingxing and Kong Dabao straight for the Black Tiger Gang branch’s headquarters.
Rescue efforts on the street were already underway: the wounded sent to the hospital by ambulance, the dead temporarily laid aside.
But the bodies inside the headquarters still needed to be cleared out and sent to the crematorium as quickly as possible.
[Corpse detected. Loot?]
“Yes!”
[Corpse detected. Loot?]
“Yes!”
…
Su Jingxing moved quickly, looting cards as he went.
When he reached the headquarters—
[Barbarian corpse detected. Loot?]
“…Yes!”
He answered inwardly, his gaze sweeping swiftly to the towering barbarian corpse in mechanical armor, lying amid the rubble of a collapsed building next to the headquarters.
Su Jingxing passed by the entrance just in time to loot it.
Beyond the ruins, another body had been laid out, surrounded by a group of people.
[Corpse detected. Loot?]
“Yes!”
Though he only glanced at them briefly before following Kong Dabao into the headquarters riddled with gaping holes, Su Jingxing still recognized half the group.
Commander Qi Zhaoshen of the Town Guard’s West District!
Ouyang Qinhu, Black Tiger Gang boss and fifth-grade martial artist!
Sun Ye, chief of the West District Town Guard!
Pan Biming, City Guard of Qinghe City!
Shen Xinlan, head of the Flying Cloud Sect! Chu Weiliang, Commander of the Garrison!
And the city’s number one expert, City Enforcer Li Linzhou of the Town Guard!
A gathering of powerful figures stood around the ruins, quietly discussing the barbarian warrior in mechanical armor pinned beneath the debris.
Activating his “Echoing Ears” skill, Su Jingxing only needed to listen for a moment to learn that the corpse outside the ruins belonged to one of the Black Tiger Gang’s two enforcer guardians who had fought the barbarian.
Of the two sixth-grade experts, one had died, the other was gravely wounded.
The survivor had already been rushed to the hospital, while the dead was left at the scene for now.
In other words, the card Su Jingxing had just looted would yield a significant reward!
Exactly what kind, he’d only find out later, as there was no time to check now.
One reason so many buildings were destroyed was the barbarian’s mechanical armor—its destructive power was terrifying, a single punch shattering walls.
Combined with the barbarian’s own brute strength, demolishing structures was easier than for a bulldozer.
Of course, the real reason the battle’s aftermath ravaged half a street and claimed so many lives was that the Black Tiger Gang’s two enforcers, despite being sixth-grade, were outmatched. As they lost and tried to escape, the barbarian chased them into the street.
Had it been the same as the previous destruction of a branch—had Ouyang Feihu and the barbarian perished together inside—the casualties would not have been so severe.
In short, this catastrophe was partly the Black Tiger Gang’s responsibility.
The mastermind was clearly targeting the Black Tiger Gang!
If only gang members had died, it might have been overlooked. But now innocents had been drawn in, and that could not be tolerated.
The hidden hand behind these attacks had to be rooted out, and the Black Tiger Gang also had to be dealt with!
The consequences were too dire.
One could easily imagine that by tomorrow, the entire West District would be gripped by fear.
The Black Tiger Gang ran seven branches and a headquarters—eight possible targets.
Two had already been destroyed; six remained.
If the mastermind wasn’t caught, everyone living near those six would live in dread of when disaster might strike.
No one could guarantee their safety.
To put it bluntly, the mastermind’s brazen annihilation of the Black Tiger Gang was not just a slap to Li Linzhou’s face, but a humiliation to every official agency in the city.
If they failed to catch and eliminate the culprit, they’d all lose their positions!
Fortunately, the barbarian warrior’s actions this time exposed his trail.
With the authorities fully mobilized, clues quickly emerged.
As Su Jingxing carried out corpses from the building, he overheard someone on the phone nearby.
“We’ve pinpointed the area where the barbarian first appeared.”
Good!
A ripple of excitement passed through the group.
Su Jingxing was pleased as well. He was curious about the mastermind behind the barbarian’s assault on the Black Tiger Gang, but not overly concerned.
However, the barbarian’s corpse was valuable for another reason.
Martial Practice Cards.
These cards were of immense help to Su Jingxing.
Of course, he couldn’t be certain that every barbarian corpse would yield a Martial Practice Card—just that the chances were high.
To know for sure, he’d have to check back home.
And so he waited until the middle of the night.
By the time the corpses were all moved and the records completed, dawn was breaking. Only then did Su Jingxing find time to take out the card looted from the barbarian’s body and examine it.
The result…