Chapter 68: You Disappoint Me

The next day, Su Mu took up his post as the director of intelligence for the Bronze Coffin Company, assuming full charge of the department.

He also met Bronze Coffin's official employees. Excluding himself and Yang Dongqing, there were exactly ten of them.

It was worth noting that while all ten were nightmare apostles, they were otherwise ordinary people.

The third basement level of Bronze Coffin was a spacious subterranean base. While the office building above housed regular employees handling day-to-day affairs, this underground facility was the company's true core—the gathering place for the nightmare apostles.

"Director Su, these ten are the only nightmare apostles currently employed by Bronze Coffin," Murong Mengli introduced. "There used to be more, but they perished in the Nightmare World."

"Everyone, Mr. Su Mu is Bronze Coffin's newly appointed director of intelligence. He is also a powerful transcendent. The man beside him, Mr. Yang Dongqing, is a transcendent as well."

Leaning on his Snakewood Cane, Su Mu calmly appraised the ten nightmare apostles before him.

There were seven men and three women. Their attire varied wildly—some were dressed in flashy clothes, while others wore plain, everyday garments. The only thing they shared was the lingering unease and panic in their expressions.

This was the normal reaction for ordinary people who had experienced the Nightmare World.

The ten of them introduced themselves one by one. As they spoke, their gazes kept drifting toward Su Mu. They were clearly curious about this newly appointed transcendent director who had dropped in out of nowhere.

Once the introductions were finished, Murong Mengli stated her reason for gathering them.

"I called you all here today not just to introduce Director Su and Mr. Yang, but for another important matter. I have decided to assemble a team. In two days, we will explore the Abandoned District."

A restless murmur rippled through the room. Some frowned in concern, while others looked openly terrified.

The Abandoned District?

Su Mu's eyes flickered slightly as information about the area flashed through his mind. Since he controlled the Poisonous Snake Gang, his intelligence network far exceeded that of an ordinary person, and it included reports on the Abandoned District.

Star City was currently divided into twenty districts. Districts one through ten made up the Upper District, while eleven through twenty formed the Lower District. However, a long time ago, Star City didn't have twenty districts—it had twenty-one!

Rumor had it that over a decade ago, a devastating plague had broken out, wiping out almost the entire population of the twenty-first district. To prevent the contagion from spreading, the Empire ordered the district sealed. Over time, the twenty-first district faded from public memory, eventually becoming known as the Abandoned District.

"The Abandoned District is riddled with plague. Sending us to explore that hellhole is basically a death sentence!" a woman wearing heavy makeup argued, her tone agitated.

"She's right. What's even left to explore in a place like that?"

"We joined Bronze Coffin to find ways to survive the Nightmare World, not to throw our lives away!"

The others chimed in with their agreement, clearly rejecting Murong Mengli's proposal. Su Mu also noticed that she seemed to hold little authority over these people.

He quickly thought of Han Yu. When she had first recruited him and Yang Dongqing, Han Yu had deliberately tried to sabotage the meeting. It was entirely possible that Han Yu had secretly stirred up discontent among these people as well.

Facing their protests, the noble lady showed no trace of anger. She maintained her calm demeanor and explained, "The plague was merely the Empire's cover story. The truth is that a Nightmare Invasion reduced the twenty-first district to ruins. The nightmare responsible was slain by the Empire's upper echelons years ago, but the area remained contaminated by its influence. It became uninhabitable for humans and was gradually abandoned.

"In reality, the district isn't completely deserted. Scavengers, fugitives, and people hiding from their enemies still live there."

"That's still incredibly dangerous! Who knows if there are any nightmare monsters left in there?" a burly man with tattooed sleeves shouted.

At the mention of nightmare monsters, the group turned involuntarily pale, clearly haunted by terrifying memories of their own.

"One million," Murong Mengli said, raising a slender, pale finger.

The number seemed to possess a magical allure, instantly silencing the room.

"Everyone who participates in this exploration mission will receive one million. In the event of casualties, the company will provide double that amount in compensation to your families."

Their expressions shifted. A fiery greed sparked in some eyes, while others looked conflicted. Wealth had always moved men's hearts. The moment they became nightmare apostles, they knew they would not live long. Rather than wait for death, they figured they might as well make as much money as possible—whether to spend it on wild nights or leave it behind for their families. That was one of the reasons they had joined the company in the first place.

Su Mu silently marveled at the sheer wealth of a noble. One million per person meant ten million for these ten alone, and that didn't even factor in the appearance fees for himself and Yang Dongqing, the two transcendents.

Even controlling the Poisonous Snake Gang, if he pooled all his available funds, he could only scrape together around ten million. Yet they were dropping more than that on a single mission.

That staggering sum was enough to tempt even Yang Dongqing. He had already swapped his usual attire for a trendy new outfit today: a loose, graffiti-print T-shirt under a black leather jacket, paired with distressed white skinny jeans that left both knees bare. He topped it off with pristine white high-top sneakers laced in neon green, making him look exceptionally flashy.

He had bought the outfit the night before, blowing an entire tenth of his savings on it! He had then spent the remaining nine-tenths buying a backless, form-fitting dress for Jasmine. Now practically broke, his heart pounded wildly at the mention of one million.

'How many dresses could I buy for Jasmine with that?!'

However, being from the Lower District, he clearly underestimated the depths of human greed.

The tattooed man suddenly spoke up again. "I know the Abandoned District. The people living there are ruthless killers who wouldn't blink twice about slitting a throat. Add in the remaining nightmare monsters, and it's every bit as dangerous as the Nightmare World! Sending us in there is equal to a suicide mission!"

Murong Mengli frowned slightly. "I am not forcing anyone. This mission is entirely voluntary. If you don't want to go, you don't have to."

The tattooed man shook his head. "I'm not saying I won't go. I'm saying... you have to pay more!"

"Yeah! Pay us more!"

"I can already feel the next summons from the Nightmare World! I could be pulled in at any moment, and I need enough money to buy an Artifact! You have to pay more!" The speaker was a balding middle-aged man in a white dress shirt and gold-rimmed glasses. He was the most agitated person in the room, the lingering terror etched across his face impossible to hide.

"How much do you want?" Murong Mengli asked coldly.

"Two million! Paid upfront!"

"I want three million!" the tattooed man demanded exorbitantly. "I've actually been to the Abandoned District before. I have more experience than the rest of them, so my price should be higher!"

Someone else immediately objected. "We're all nightmare apostles! Why should your price be higher? If he gets three million, we all get three million!"

Watching the scene spiral out of control, Murong Mengli felt a headache coming on. Her status as a noble meant absolutely nothing to these dying men. They were going to die anyway, and they had long since stopped caring about anything else.

Thump!

The sound of a wooden cane striking the floor rang out. It wasn't loud, but it rippled through the chaotic room like a stone tossed into a tranquil lake.

The chaotic room fell eerily silent, and the ten nightmare apostles instinctively turned toward Su Mu.

Su Mu stood with his hands folded over his Snakewood Cane. Behind his Tinted Glasses, his gaze slowly swept across the crowd, a profound sense of disappointment surfacing in his eyes.

"Colleagues, you disappoint me."

His level tone carried a faint trace of disappointment, like a respected teacher lecturing a class of unruly students.