"You arrogant little brat, don't you get it? Losing money is better than losing your life!"
A burly Raider slapped the palm of his other hand with the club he was holding, his round helmet unable to hide the menace in his expression.
"Enough talk."
Zane's gaze was cold. With a turn of his wrist, a long blade formed from Ether crystal materialized and hovered horizontally in front of him.
The blade was pitch-black, its edge razor-sharp. Fine green threads pulsed faintly with blue and green light along its surface.
The next moment, Zane vanished from sight.
The Raider only caught a blur of motion before Zane appeared right in front of him.
The Raider, caught off guard by Zane's speed, flinched and instinctively raised his weapon to strike.
He wasn't holding back—this blow was meant to kill.
Zane's expression grew colder. He didn't shift his stance—he simply slashed upward, breaking the Raider's guard and forcing his arms open.
Then the blade plunged forward.
In the blink of an eye, Zane passed by him, blade back in hand, a crimson spray arcing in the air.
The Raider stood frozen, then collapsed backward with a heavy thud.
"Looks like I really do need to train under Senior Qingyi."
"If I were more skilled with the sword, I wouldn't have had to rely on brute force to break through. With so many openings, there had to be easier ways to land that blow."
Zane glanced at the Ether blade. Perhaps due to its unique composition, the blood didn't cling to it—just slid off slowly in beads.
The surrounding Raiders stiffened. Those nearest to Zane instinctively took a few steps back.
Too fast.
Everything had happened in an instant. Before they could react, one of their own was down.
"What… what the hell is this guy?"
One Raider spoke in a trembling voice. Zane's sheer presence had already shaken his resolve.
Then again, who in the underground black market could be considered simple?
"Looks like we've run into a real tough one today. But don't panic—he's just good with a blade!"
"Hah! The guy's loaded. Even if we split it, that cash could set us for life!"
"All of us—go! Take him down!"
From inside the tea shop, a tall, heavily armored Raider emerged. His gear was clearly superior—the leader of the group.
He raised his arms, both equipped with reinforced mechanical gauntlets, and slammed them together with a thunderous clang.
Earlier, the tea vendor had told him just how much was on Zane's card—2.1 billion Dennies.
He couldn't believe his luck. He'd just used one of the bigwigs' channels to fence some goods, and now he'd run into the perfect mark.
Once Zane was down, he'd tell the others there were only 200 million Dennies on the card, divvy that up among the crew, and split the remaining 1.9 billion with the shopkeeper.
Thinking of the fortune awaiting him, the leader grinned under his helmet. The red glint in his eyes deepened as he stared at Zane's calm expression.
It irritated him.
"Take this!"
He charged, leaping high and slamming a massive fist down at Zane.
Around him, the gun-toting Raiders trained their weapons on Zane, ready to finish the job after their leader landed the blow.
But to Zane, the strike was sluggish.
He sidestepped smoothly, the attack missing by a wide margin.
"No form. No control."
As the leader stumbled from the failed strike, Zane twisted around and smashed an elbow into his back.
A sharp crack rang out.
The leader let out a pained grunt, his face twisting. He staggered several steps before managing to stay upright.
"Damn it! Cheap shot! You shattered my spine!"
His body had been strengthened by combat drugs—otherwise, that blow might've left him paralyzed for life.
"What are you standing around for?!"
"Get him!"
The leader, now partially crippled, was growing scared. He shouted furiously, and the rest of the Raiders charged in.
...
In a shadowed corner near the tea shop, Jane watched the fight unfold with wide eyes, torn between surprise and hesitation.
She'd only just made contact, hadn't even had time to play her part or discuss joining—and then this broke out.
Should she pretend to help the Raiders?
That might win their trust. Then, in a tight spot, she could secretly help the masked guy and keep her cover.
This guy with the Bangboo didn't strike her as a bad person, not like the rest of the underground black market crowd.
Her instincts told her that.
And her instincts were rarely wrong—it was part of her professional reflexes.
Wait...
She looked back at the fight. That masked guy—he wasn't even struggling.
Right. She hadn't considered the possibility that he was a hidden powerhouse and that the Raiders weren't a match for him at all.
If that was the case, jumping in might only get her beaten—or worse, force her to reveal her own strength.
Neither sounded good.
Forget it. Better to just watch.
Decision made, Jane shrank deeper into the corner, poking just half her head out. Her eyes were focused, her tail still and low behind her.
Just then, something flew straight at her.
Jane's eyes widened, and she quickly dodged.
Bang! A Raider slammed into the wall where she'd just been. He was out cold.
"Why the hell did he fly this way?"
Jane patted her chest, relieved she hadn't been crushed.
She was about to move to a new hiding spot and keep observing when—
Another shadow flew her way.
"Again?!"
She barely rolled out of the way—and before she could even relax, she looked up and saw more shadows flying at her.
"Come on, seriously?!"
...
Ten seconds later, Jane crouched behind a wall, panting, and peeked out again.
The fancy tea shop had been reduced to rubble under a pile of Raider corpses.
She exhaled sharply. So she hadn't been discovered—they were just getting thrown around like rag dolls.
That guy was no joke. The Raiders looked like baby chicks in his hands.
Even under concentrated fire, he still moved with ease—barely breaking a sweat.
"I need to get out of here before I get caught in the crossfire."
Seeing the masked man weaving through gunfire and closing in on the armed Raiders, Jane relaxed a little and slipped away into the shadows.