Chapter 61: The Hick from the Lower District

"What proposal?"

"A stake."

"A stake?" Surprise flickered across Murong Mengli's face. She hadn't expected Su Mu to try buying into her company.

"That's right."

"But I don't need funding."

Su Mu shook his head. "I'm not investing money. I'm investing intelligence. Miss Murong, your company is a startup. Your information network must be rather thin, or you wouldn't have taken this long to find Yang Dongqing.

"I happen to be quite skilled at intelligence gathering. Not to brag, but if I want to know something, there are no secrets in all of District 13."

"Hahaha..." Han Yu burst into sudden laughter. Murong Mengli shot him a glare, but he ignored her and kept right on laughing.

"Sorry, I couldn't help it. Whenever I see a hick from the Lower District bragging with such a straight face, it just kills me."

Murong Mengli's expression hardened. An amused smile curved Su Mu's lips, his eyes faintly visible behind his Tinted Glasses.

The master and servant didn't seem to get along.

"Boy, you run a third-rate street gang and you dare boast like this? No secrets in District 13? A stake? You think a petty gang's intelligence network is enough to buy into an Empire noble's company?"

"Han Yu! Apologize to Mr. Su at once!" Murong Mengli's tone turned unusually sharp.

"Apologize? Boss, you're an ordinary person, so you don't understand the Transcendent Tier. I've seen plenty of greenhorns like him who just gained transcendent power. The sudden strength goes to their heads and makes them think they're mighty, completely oblivious to the fact that they're standing at the absolute bottom of transcendents.

"The Murong Family Head sent me to assist you, so I naturally have an obligation to ensure you aren't deceived."

Murong Mengli's expression turned even uglier. She took a deep breath. "Mr. Su, I apologize for putting you in this position."

Su Mu just waved a hand dismissively, smiling. "You're taking this too seriously, Miss Murong. I'm not so petty that I'd get angry over a dog barking at me by the side of the road."

Han Yu's mocking laughter abruptly died. He stared straight at Su Mu, making no effort to hide the killing intent in his eyes. "Boy, I dare you to say that again."

Faced with Han Yu's threat, Su Mu didn't even glance his way. Instead, he looked at Murong Mengli. "Miss Murong, do you need me to teach your subordinate a lesson for you?"

For some reason, the man's calm smile made her inexplicably trust him.

"You're courting death!" Han Yu roared in fury. As a retainer to an Empire noble and a powerful transcendent in his own right, he hailed from the Upper District. He naturally looked down on anyone from the Lower District, and he had never expected a hick he despised to show him such contempt.

Whoosh!

He lunged forward in an instant. His speed was staggering—his fists arrived in the blink of an eye, aimed squarely at Su Mu's head.

"Stop!"

"Su Mu!"

Murong Mengli and Yang Dongqing shouted at the same time, but... it was too late.

Han Yu's fist slammed viciously into Su Mu's head. As if completely unable to react, Su Mu remained sitting motionless on the sofa.

Just as Han Yu thought he had succeeded, something entirely unexpected happened. The anticipated sound of a shattering skull never came. Instead, Han Yu's fist passed straight through Su Mu's body, as if striking empty air.

A moment later, Su Mu's figure shattered inch by inch like a phantom bubble.

"What!?" Han Yu paled in shock.

Just then, men in black poured out from the doors on all four sides of the hall like a tidal wave. In mere seconds, they had the group completely surrounded. Every single one of them was expressionless, like cold, unfeeling machines.

Faced with the encirclement, Han Yu didn't panic. His expression was dark as his eyes constantly swept the room, trying to find any trace of Su Mu. To him, an encirclement by ordinary people wasn't a threat in the slightest. What truly disturbed him were Su Mu's bizarre methods.

Tap, tap, tap...

The sound of the Snakewood Cane tapping against the floor rang out. Everyone looked toward the noise, only to see Su Mu walking out from among the men in black, a smile on his face.

"Miss Murong, I'm afraid today's matter cannot end peacefully," Su Mu said with a smile. "However, out of respect for you, as long as Mr. Han Yu is willing to apologize, I will consider forgiving his offense."

Before Murong Mengli could speak, Han Yu let out a scoff. "Naive. Do you think you can do anything to me with just a bunch of ordinary people?"

The smile on Su Mu's lips deepened. He enunciated every word: "Who said they were ordinary people?"

Tap!

The Snakewood Cane lightly tapped the floor. As if it were a signal, a bizarre scene unfolded.

Roar!!

Over a hundred men in black erupted into violent roars at the exact same time. The sound seemed to come from the deep Abyss of Hell, filled with endless pain and frenzy. Accompanied by those bloodcurdling screams, their bodies began a grotesque transformation. Ink-black scales grew out from beneath their skin at a visible rate, rapidly spreading across their bodies and interlocking tightly to form an impenetrable scaled armor.

Sharp bone spikes pierced through the skin at their joints, extending viciously like demonic claws. Their bodies grew taller and more twisted, their muscles bulging in savage lines. Even their facial contours were swallowed by black scales, leaving only pairs of blood-red eyes radiating a murderous aura!

A chilling, terrifying aura permeated the entire hall. They looked like Asuras crawling out of Hell, ready to unleash a bloody massacre at any moment.

This sudden, terrifying transformation caused Murong Mengli and Yang Dongqing to pale, to say nothing of Han Yu, who was the direct target.

Stared down by countless pairs of blood-red eyes, Han Yu felt his blood run cold.

"What... what in the world are these monsters!?"

The noble's retainer, who had always thought of himself as highly experienced, was now terrified. He had never encountered anything so bizarre; he even suspected that he had fallen into the Nightmare World.

"Mr. Han, I wonder... can they make you apologize?" Surrounded by the monsters, Su Mu wore the same unchanging smile as he asked politely.

Han Yu's face instantly turned exceedingly grim. He scanned the room nervously, silently calculating whether he could defeat so many monsters. The real issue was that he had absolutely no idea how strong they were.

But judging from their auras and those terrifying black scales, they appeared frighteningly powerful.

When Han Yu didn't answer, Su Mu continued, "It seems I haven't prepared enough. If that's the case..."

Clap, clap...

He clapped his hands. Countless hidden compartments suddenly appeared along the walls of the hall. As they opened, machine guns slowly extended outward, their pitch-black muzzles catching a dreadful, cold gleam under the lights.

That wasn't all. Along the edges of the hall, the marble floor tiles flipped open to reveal even more hidden compartments. Nestled inside were rows of ticking time bombs!