Netherworld Retrograde
Chapter 371 - 177: Strange Shadows in the Abandoned City

Chapter 371: Chapter 177: Strange Shadows in the Abandoned City

As the door was pushed open, Li Yelai saw a room swirling with smoke and littered with liquor bottles.

Sitting inside were four men, and four women whose clothes were in disarray.

"Er... you guys seem busy?" Li Yelai paused before continuing, "Got a moment?"

"Brother, why are you here?" Xu Shi stood up enthusiastically, nodding and bowing, changing his expression at an overwhelming speed.

He quickly cleared a path, inviting Li Yelai to enter the room and take a seat.

Even though he was already in his thirties, he addressed a man in his early twenties as ’brother.’

This stark contrast left the senior members of the commerce with peculiar expressions on their faces.

Nevertheless, they dared not complain and tried to display friendly smiles as much as possible.

Some offered cigarettes, some offered lighters, some opened bottles of liquor, and some asked the bar to bring more women...

However, upon seeing Little Mad King at Li Yelai’s side, they promptly changed their tune and had the women in the room leave.

In any case, they were as cordial as if they were meeting a close brother.

They had also encountered this young man before.

He was an employee from the East City Antiques Store, officially involved, and specialized in handling that sort of matter—a fierce man more formidable and aggressive than the Guard Hall and the City Defense Army.

In their eyes, this man was almost akin to an Iron Guard.

Back then, he alone with a spear had defeated several illegal Spiritual Ability Users of the Red Dart Commerce.

Some of them had been there, controlled by Brother An’s ability and forced to attack him. Had it not been for Li Yelai’s kind heart, they would have been dead.

Having such a ruthless person come to the wilderness meant even greater danger. The wilderness was inherently lawless, often ruled by the might of fists.

Spiritual Ability Users usually had the upper hand, something they had experienced.

Even if he attacked everyone present now, they would have no means to respond.

In such circumstances, not to mention calling him ’brother,’ even calling him ’grandfather’ would do!

Xu Shi was internally in agony, having experienced a roller-coaster of events.

Previously, they had accidentally encountered greed coins, then were manipulated by Brother An’s ability, controlling the commerce members to attack Li Yelai.

This directly infuriated the officials, who severely reprimanded them, and the illegally hired Wild Spirit Ability Users were arrested.

Had it not been for the commerce’s past assistance in transporting food for the Giant City, and since the main instigator was Brother An, the Red Dart Commerce might no longer exist.

But since then, the commerce had not been able to recover, and after the incident with Disaster Fog No.71, the officials needed the commerce to transport a large amount of materials.

The Red Dart Commerce also took advantage of the situation to slowly recuperate and once again secretly hired Wild Spirit Ability Users in the wilderness, starting to tread some dangerous but highly rewarding trade routes.

Just when things were starting to look up,

they encountered yet another problem during this transport mission, losing two Wild Spirit Ability Users. They couldn’t use that trade route for a while.

Xu Shi could only turn back to find a gathering place’s pub to drink some sullen drinks and talk tough.

But before he finished his tough talk, the person involved showed up.

Luckily, he hadn’t completed his harsh sentence.

Xu Shi was internally relieved.

At that moment, he noticed Little Mad King behind Li Yelai.

Little Mad King’s indifferent gaze made Xu Shi’s heart skip a beat, as if his ulterior motives had been seen through, making his smile somewhat stiff.

"This is my teammate," Li Yelai introduced and continued, "It’s fine, Mr. Xu Shi, no need to call me brother, I should be younger than you. Just call me by my code name, give us a quiet environment, I’ve heard you guys ran into some trouble."

"Okay... okay!" Xu Shi was momentarily stunned, then nodded repeatedly with a bit of surprise.

Aware of Li Yelai’s identity and strength, if Li Yelai intervened,

they might be able to resolve the issue and continue their transportation.

Seeing how polite the Red Dart Commerce people were, Little Mad King thoughtfully remarked, "It seems your relationship is quite good..."

Li Yelai thought, if he were to beat up this group and arrest their Spiritual Ability Users, it too would be considered ’quite good’...

"It’s through adversity that friends are found," Xu Shi explained with a forced smile.

Soon, everyone moved to a clean private room.

After Li Yelai and Little Mad King settled in, Xu Shi, rubbing his hands, shared the predicament he faced.

This time, the Red Dart Commerce’s convoy was not small, comprising ten large trucks and twenty-three off-road vehicles.

Over eighty people, most of them experienced Scavengers equipped with firearms, pistols, and even rifles.

They had also hired two Wild Spirit Ability Users at a high price in one of the gathering spots.

This level of scale and firepower was usually sufficient for them to move unhindered in the wilderness.

The dangers in the wilderness typically came from bandits, wild beasts, or some strange entities.

There wasn’t much to say about bandits. Given the firepower of the Red Dart Commerce, it was hard to say who would eat who.

The same went for wild beasts. Wild beasts only posed a threat to individual Scavengers who lacked proper equipment. In the face of firearms, whether it was a grizzly bear or a Siberian tiger, they were just meat.

This confidence also formed the reason the Red Dart Commerce dared to take long-distance trade orders.

In the post-Calamity world, due to technological disruptions, communication between the Giant Cities had become incredibly difficult.

Those within the same city circle could still manage some contact, but those from different city circles found it challenging to reach each other.

The severe environment coupled with the radiation ranges of the Forbidden Zones made travel between different city circles a life-and-death matter.

Numerous Disaster Forbidden Zones were scattered across the vast lands, with Forbidden Zone Creatures and Extraordinary Creatures also active nearby. Humans venturing close often never returned.

Over time, humanity had discovered relatively safe trade routes through trial and error.