Great! I'm surrounded by villains!
Chapter 213 - 133: Star Sea Merchant

Chapter 213: Chapter 133: Star Sea Merchant

As Duan Mingyuan had anticipated, once Blue Star made contact with the Chamber of Commerce, they gladly agreed to let him visit the underground trading post in Siyang City, provided that he brought Xing and Zheng Liu with him.

"It’s time to settle this."

Having learned of the Chamber’s request, Xing’s gaze was resolute. Before departing, she informed Duan Mingyuan and Zheng Liu of all the skills she possessed.

Step by step, she had mastered her current abilities under the guidance of her master. She was able to merge her body with her surroundings, and with extended practice, she had become capable of moving freely between objects. This was also related to her dislike for conflict.

She was a person who preferred to evade, thinking first of avoiding combat when encountering an enemy.

"Let me reintroduce myself. My name is Zheng Liu, a rookie cop with only a year’s worth of work experience. My abilities are driving and making coffee."

"Everyone can only awaken one ability."

Duan Mingyuan reminded him.

After pondering for some time, Zheng Liu made his choice, "Then I’ll go with driving."

He felt his skill in driving was somewhat stronger than in making coffee.

And with that, the three of them officially formed a temporary team.

The agreed time was after midnight. According to Blue Star, the underground trading post only opened after midnight, and everyone needed an admission ticket to enter—The card Duan Mingyuan had obtained at the hotel was an invitation to the trading post, intended for the lowest level of members, as a method for the Chamber to attract new clients.

Once admitted with the card, gaining entry to the trading post again would be much more difficult.

The temporary team’s atmosphere was somewhat somber. Duan Mingyuan bought three boxed meals from the supermarket, and they sat on a bench near the plaza, with an air as if it were their last meal.

"The wind howls, and the Yi River is frigid, a warrior—"

Xing interrupted Zheng Liu’s attempt to boost morale with his singing, inspecting a plastic bag instead, she asked, "What flavor do you want?"

"A warrior... wants the braised beef rice."

He received the warm braised beef boxed meal from Xing and couldn’t help but reflect aloud.

The sky was so blue, yet life was so short. He had many unrealized dreams and had still not accomplished the legendary mission set by his grandparents to "bring a girlfriend home for the New Year."

He had heard that completing this mission could earn one a massive amount of experience and item rewards.

"Xing."

Zheng Liu pondered the packaging bag and asked casually, "Besides your master, do you have any other relatives or friends in Siyang City, or perhaps you want to say goodbye to them?"

"No."

Xing’s mood had settled down. Facing a journey where survival was slim, she was no longer anxious. "What about you? Aren’t you going to call them?"

"I don’t know what to say."

While the two chatted sporadically, Duan Mingyuan demonstrated by his actions how to reassure one’s family before a great battle.

He answered a video call from Jiuyue, who had already escorted the Elder Princess back to the Cloud Sea Academy. She was now on the back hill, with the occasional Monster passing by her side.

Jiuyue was also having dinner, holding a bowl filled with her own stir-fried chicken rice.

She deliberately captured the tempting dish in the video to reignite Mr. Mingyuan’s longing for her cooking, urging him to wrap up his work in Siyang City quickly and return to the Cloud Sea Academy to find her.

Zheng Liu and Xing approached with their lunchboxes as they saw the situation.

"Fox Demon!?"

Seeing Jiuyue’s pointed ears, Xing blurted out, at the same time regarding Duan Mingyuan with newfound respect. His master’s library contained a few books about monsters, including those about fox demons.

The fact that one could find a fox demon to marry indirectly proved how delectable Duan Mingyuan was, robust and vigorous.

Zheng Liu, however, looked completely confused. He couldn’t see through Jiuyue’s illusion, only thinking that the girl on the other end of the video was extremely beautiful, even more so than the big stars on TV, probably the most beautiful person he had ever seen in his life.

"This is Jiuyue, the Intelligence Master of the Royal Hunting Court, also known as the Intelligence Jiuyue."

Duan Mingyuan introduced them to each other.

Before setting out, he had sent the information he had gathered from Star River to Jiuyue. Jiuyue calling at this time probably meant that she had already unearthed some clues.

"Let’s talk about the important matters first."

"Alright."

Jiuyue on the other end of the video nodded, speaking seriously, "The boxed meals you’re eating are no good. Eating this kind of boxed meal for a long time will lead to malnutrition. Mr. Mingyuan, you should end your work as soon as possible and come back. I’ll make you some chicken soup. I asked the monsters on the mountain to help me find many free-range chickens. They’ve eaten lots of spirit fruits and grown big and fat."

?

Xing and Zheng Liu had the same question mark appear above their heads simultaneously.

It was clear that this was not the "important matter" they knew of.

"I wasn’t referring to that, I meant the investigation into the underground exchange that I asked you to help with," Duan Mingyuan corrected, observing Xing and Zheng Liu with their staggered expressions. He could only assert that it wasn’t intentional, just a misjudgment of the priorities of "important matters" in Jiuyue’s mind.

"Oh, that matter," Jiuyue said, "You’re dealing with the Shanqi Commerce Association, the most infamous in the universe. Their footprints are all over the cosmos, wherever they go it’s like locusts passing through, situating on different planets but always engaging in the same few activities—establishing exchanges, setting up consortiums, and covertly controlling entire cities, even planets."

That was their good friend the Third Prince’s trenchant comment on the Shanqi Commerce Association.

The Third Prince, normally adept at diplomacy, showed a rare and evident loathing for a certain group, so much so that he couldn’t even bother to feign otherwise, "They are thoroughbred parasites, after blowing up their own planet, they started to wander between stars, and when you discover traces of the Shanqi Commerce Association in one place, it means that place has been contaminated by them."

The Third Prince sent a lengthy critique to Jiuyue, which she was now reading verbatim to Duan Mingyuan.

The following part was her interpretation from another good friend, the Baptism Inspector.

Before leaving the flagship of the Ashen Consortium, Jiuyue had added the Inspector as a friend.

"Having said that, the Shanqi Commerce Association should still be considered the second largest force in the universe, just after the corporate entity. This tribe is very adept at commerce. After the collapse of their planet, a part of them joined the corporations. One-third of the Mandala Consortium’s descendants are from this lineage. The rest scattered across various planets, trying to rebuild an even greater commercial empire... The relationship between the corporations and the Shanqi Commerce Association isn’t good, so you don’t have to worry that the corporate forces will come to Siyang City to seek retribution on behalf of the Shanqi Commerce Association.

"The Baptism Inspector also believes that the reason the Shanqi Commerce Association didn’t dare to expand previously in Siyang City was due to the corporations’ influence. They currently lack the strength to openly challenge the corporations, but don’t underestimate the mercenaries hired by the Shanqi Commerce Association—there are a few among them with strength comparable to ’Long Branch.’

"Lastly, the Inspector pointed out that white feather chickens and onion lemon is a nice combination. This refreshing taste could become the new trend in the universe. The church’s flagship has captured a batch of adult white feathers... uh, I got it wrong, this part doesn’t seem to have much to do with the Shanqi Commerce Association."

Jiuyue cleared her throat.

The essence of intelligence was connections, and Intelligence Jiuyue’s network had burst beyond Blue Star, officially ascending to a cosmic-level intelligence expert.

With the descriptions from the Third Prince and the Baptism Inspector, Jiuyue concluded, "In summary, they’re a pest comparable to cockroaches, and if you come across them, you have to kill them. Otherwise, they will only multiply."