I Forged the Myth of the Ancient Overlords
Chapter 409 - 409 408. Pay attention to your image_1

Chapter 409: 408. Pay attention to your image_1 Chapter 409: 408. Pay attention to your image_1 Having witnessed the filth and stench of Black Street and the hardships and struggles of the poor, Lu Ban felt the difference was even greater than traveling to the Foreign Domain when he entered the opulent banquet in the Shangcheng Area.

In the brightly lit hall, men and women in gorgeous attire were singing and dancing on the dance floor; some were conversing on the sofas nearby, while others stood on the terrace, holding expensive cigarettes and cigars, puffing smoke into the air.

Loads of food graced the banquet tables: roast suckling pig with crispy skin and tender meat, sizzling steaks on hot plates, roast chickens, pan-fried fish, and more. Although the food wasn’t as exquisitely refined and artistically shaped as in Lu Ban’s era, it was absolutely extravagant and luxurious by the standards of Abandoned Capital.

“Can I really eat as much as I want from all this?”

Shia looked at the table full of food, feeling as if her wayward soul had already dribbled down from the corners of her mouth.

“You… try to maintain some decorum.”

Cui Siter knew he definitely couldn’t stop Shia—a foodie through and through, she would no doubt drown herself in this sea of delicacies, forgetting the purpose of their mission.

However, he also noticed that near the tables, a crowd of guests were gathered, including a member of the Catania Family, the eldest of this generation, Peter.

“Peter Katanya, he’s more of a gourmet than a gangster,” Cui Siter told Shia. “He loves his food and has little interest in the family businesses. You could use eating as an excuse to keep an eye on him.”

Shia’s eyes had already taken on the shape of roast chicken, and it was unclear if she had understood the instruction.

The moment Cui Siter let go, Shia immediately rushed to the table, heaped a small mountain of food onto her plate, and sat two tables away from the gang elder, gobbling down food and astonishing many onlookers.

Nobody bothered her, though.

Most attendees at this kind of charitable event were rich people, with more money than they knew what to do with, seeking to satisfy their spiritual cravings through donations. Everyone was very polite and wouldn’t speak rudely to a stranger, especially a beautiful girl.

Even if her manners at the table were no more elegant than those of a pig.

Lu Ban, however, had been through such scenes a few times and knew how to handle himself.

He and Cui Siter each took a glass of wine, making toasts and mingling as if they were well-acquainted with everyone, while Cui Siter filled him in on the Catania Family.

The current generation of the Catania Family had two sons and three daughters.

The eldest brother, Peter, was over there savoring gourmet food and wine while casually dealing with flattery from others.

The second son, Corsica, was the most likely successor to the family reign, cold and brutal. With formidable combat abilities, he’d once led a deadly feud against another gang, killing over a dozen men. The man surrounded by many others near the dance floor was him.

The eldest daughter, Carlo, was gentle in nature, teaching at a school in the Shangcheng Area. She was not present at tonight’s banquet.

The second daughter, Talia, was handling the family business with sharp tactics. Her relationship with her brother was strained. She was on the dance floor with another woman, the one in the suit and trousers.

The youngest daughter, Lady Martina, had a passion for drama and was considered a socialite after marrying an actor. She frequented various parties and functions.

Lady Martina was not seen at the banquet, only her husband was there, engaging in exaggerated conversations with several portly businessmen.

Lu Ban looked around and had already forgotten their names.

He simply classified the people present as the gourmet, the second brother, the tomboy, and Lady Martina.

The reason only Martina retained her name was that Cui Siter mentioned her too many times.

Their father, the true head of the Catania Family, Godfather Corleone, generally didn’t attend such banquets, or perhaps he was just in one of the rooms in the banquet hall, holding a cat and listening to people’s requests, making them kiss the ring on his finger.

In Abandoned Capital, there were as many people who wanted to please him as there were who wanted to kill him.

Suddenly, the music by the dance floor changed and a classic melody began to play. Lu Ban looked over to see a woman in a cheongsam-like dress hugging her curves, smiling faintly at the microphone on stage before beginning to sing.

“I don’t know why, but sorrow surrounds me; I pray every day to chase away the loneliness of love…”

Her voice was full of emotion, gentle and low, and paired with the old tune, it easily drew people in.

“Why is it her?”

Cui Siter paused, seeing the singer, he stopped in his tracks.

Lu Ban glanced over, the singer was dressed elegantly and possessed a quite beautiful appearance with a classic charm, far surpassing the internet celebrity beauties of his own world.

“Is she the singer you mentioned?”

Lu Ban was curious.

“Yes, Lady Charlotte, a true singer.”

Cui Siter subconsciously straightened his clothes.

“I didn’t expect them to invite her.”

“Are you going to catch up with old times?”

Lu Ban took another look at the female singer, who, at least in his eyes, had no peculiar physical structure and seemed perfectly normal.

“No, let’s not.”

Cui Siter turned his face away, as if suddenly exposing a vulnerability, yet at the same time, as if he had suddenly put on armor.

The charity dinner officially began a few minutes later.

The second brother was giving the speech, Lu Ban saw that Stone, or shall we say Stone, was standing right behind the second brother, in the shadows. He was like a shadow himself, secretly observing everyone.

“…I hope to build a new and beautiful Abandoned Capital, where we can eradicate poverty, hunger, and crime, improve the living conditions for the workers in the factories, cleanse the air in Black Street of its foul stench, and enable every citizen of Abandoned Capital to find their own happiness…”

The second brother spoke with fervor, displaying a natural gift for oratory. His pauses, intonations, and body language skillfully stirred the emotions of the audience.

When he mentioned the factory workers plagued by overwork and polluted air, some in the audience were moved to tears. And when he spoke of the threats from outside Abandoned Capital, the horrifying monsters and Ratmen, a wave of fear spread among the guests.

If Lu Ban hadn’t known that he was the head of a Gang, he might have believed him.

Donations followed shortly after, and Lu Ban vaguely recalled that a meal under Cui Siter’s building would cost just about ten to twenty per person, but the donations here started in the tens of thousands. He wondered how many factory workers these amounts could feed a hearty meal.

“It’s all fake, they call it charity, but it’s actually forced donations. Many who run factories or small business owners have to follow the lead of the big bosses in donating. The money that actually reaches their hands is fully returned by those bigwigs, with the rest being split with the Gangs, with hardly a tenth reaching the workers.”

Cui Siter whispered to Lu Ban.

“Let’s go find Lady Martina.”

He found a member of the Gang and explained their purpose.

The man then led Cui Siter and Lu Ban to the door of a rest room outside the banquet hall.

Two tall bouncers stood at the door, they glanced at Cui Siter and opened the door to the rest room.

Lu Ban was curious what the eccentric Lady Martina would be like.

But when the door opened, everything shattered.

In that room, on that soft sofa, a woman from the Gang in her thirties, still charming, lay on it in a strange posture, her abdomen, viscera, and bones pulled, twisted, and coiled.

The Glass Flower quietly bloomed.