"Master Chen, our smuggling routes have all reopened recently. That bastard hasn't been seen for a long time," Bobby said with a chuckle, looking at Chen Che with eyes full of admiration.

Chen Che's lips curled into a slight smile as he said, "He's too busy with his own mess to care about us."

The "bastard" they were referring to was naturally Luo Qingtian.

Ever since Luo Qingtian arrived, he had been causing trouble, seizing various smuggling routes.

Chen Che naturally suffered the most losses.

Many of his smuggling routes were hit, almost every new one got shut down.

However, recently Luo Qingtian had no time to deal with them.

The reason, of course, is simple.

The Apocalypse Society's mad retaliation.

Under Chen Che's persuasive words, Arabic gradually realized that before the Judging Priest arrived in the Ninth Special Zone, the best way was to retaliate against Luo Qingtian in any way possible.

To lessen the Judging Priest's pursuit of him.

The Apocalypse Society began an endless struggle with the entire Judicial Bureau at the same time.

The Apocalypse Society started frantically retaliating against everyone in the Judicial Bureau.

Within ten days since the conflict, Luo Qingtian had faced nearly seven or eight assassination attempts in a short time.

Several times, fanatical followers of the Apocalypse Society strapped bombs to themselves, acting as human bombs, charging towards Luo Qingtian.

Luo Qingtian was thoroughly entangled by the Apocalypse Society, naturally too busy to deal with Chen Che.

Meanwhile, the smuggling routes closed due to Luo Qingtian were reopened, and this time Chen Che was victorious.

Chen Che lit a cigarette, exhaling a long puff of smoke, his eyes flickering as he said, "So far, it's just a temporary fix. Luo Qingtian's power will soon realize the complexity of the situation and come up with a solution.

I estimate he will handle the Apocalypse Society within a month, after all, the other departments in the Ninth Special Zone will not allow a cult to act so recklessly within the Apocalypse Society.

Currently, the Finance Bureau and other departments are just watching. As long as Luo Qingtian doesn't get killed by the Apocalypse Society, no one will intervene.

Because everyone has their own messes to clean up, the Apocalypse Society is buying everyone time.

However, after these departments have cleaned up their own messes, naturally, they will help Luo Qingtian deal with the Apocalypse Society.

So, we have about a month of leeway, where this annoying fly, Luo Qingtian, won't bother us.

But we need to come up with another way to deal with Luo Qingtian within this month."

Upon hearing Chen Che's analysis, Bobby couldn't help but curse, "Damn it, the parliament and those self-serving bastards are using us to fight Luo Qingtian so intensely while they secretly profit in the back, damn it, barely lifting a finger."

"When the snipe and the clam grapple, it's the fisherman who profits. We've played this game many times; being played a time or two is normal," Chen Che saw it openly, pondering with his chin in hand, "I need to think of a way... to solve the headache of Luo Qingtian once and for all..."

"And one more thing..." Chen Che licked his lips, "Our gang is getting too bloated and complicated..."

"We need to find a way to manage it."

Bobby didn't understand what Chen Che meant by bloated and complicated, so he didn't dare to express his opinion.

Chen Che rubbed his forehead, shaking his head, "Forget it, we'll take it slow."

...

"He does seem to have some capabilities." Finance Bureau Deputy Director Guan Ning's red lips curled into a smile, her long legs wrapped in leather pants, deliberately posing in a sensual posture.

Finance Bureau Director Abeisa sipped a cup of strong coffee, saying, "Are the accounts sorted out?"

"Almost, it'll be done in a few more days.

We must thank our Master Chen for diverting attention for so long.

This Luo Qingtian truly is a mad dog, and the Yellow-robed Priest of the Apocalypse Society said kill, and he just kills.

I wonder if he will regret it."

Abeisa looked out the window, gazing over the entire Ninth Special Zone, draining his coffee slowly, "The winds are about to change."

"Director, have you received any new information?"

"You'll know when the time comes, our Ninth Special Zone won't be peaceful for too long."

"You call the current situation peaceful?"

"Haha, you'll soon miss the peace of this time period."

Hearing this, Guan Ning couldn't help but raise an eyebrow.

...

Ant Street.

Inside the Demon Bar, several rough men adorned with tattoos wandered around, exchanging a glance before sitting in a booth.

The Demon Bar, regardless of day or night, was permeated with a unique atmosphere, a blend of male and female hormones, mixed with the scent of sweat and alcohol, extremely capable of evoking passion.

It's rumored that the ventilation system of the bar has been filled with aphrodisiacs by its secretive owner.

The aim is to let the men and women here freely unleash their desires.

This is a prime spot for illegal activities and intel exchanges.

As long as you pay enough, no one cares what you're doing here.

The men waited in the booth for a long time, finally spotting a frail man in a black robe enter the establishment.

The man in the black robe clearly appeared thin; under the robe, his hands seemed only skin and bones, his skin was incredibly pale, resembling that of a corpse.

Under the gazes of several men, the figure silently sat down in a corner of the booth, squeezing a raspy voice from his throat, sounding deeply unpleasant, as if his throat was blocked by insects.

"Our goods will arrive soon."

One burly man eyed him, rubbing his nose, said, "The price we previously agreed on doesn't count, we need more money!"

The robed man hesitated with his hand holding a glass of water and replied, "Raising the price temporarily goes against the rules of the trade."

The man with a black dragon tattoo on his chest cursed irritably, "You think doing business is easy now? Don't you know that the biggest gang in the Ninth Special Zone, the Wildfire Gang, has monopolized all smuggling routes?

Damn it, there used to be a customs surveillance office keeping an eye on all smuggling, the checks were severe.

Many smuggling routes into the city were caught.

Those of us doing small-scale businesses were almost starved.

The giant bodies are now fiercely fighting, which is why we have the chance to do business again, but it comes at the risk of losing our heads, so the previous price doesn't count!"

The Wildfire Gang almost covers all the smuggling operations in the Ninth Special Zone.

But no matter how big the cake is, crumbs will fall when you take your share.

Those crumbs become food for ants and rats; if you lower your head to lick them up, crazy cockroaches and rats wouldn't hesitate to climb onto your bed and cake.

So for those insignificant gangs, Chen Che almost turns a blind eye.

As long as they're not crazy enough to snatch food from a tiger's mouth, offering a bit of leftovers to small gangs doesn't concern Chen Che.

To enter the whole Ninth Special Zone requires a residential registration check; after all, only with registration can the government collect residence taxes.

Setting up registration costs money, and you have to pay five months' worth of residence tax upfront during the process. Some cannot afford this and look for small gangs to smuggle them into the safe zone.

The cost is much lower than official registration, and when hiding in a slum within the safe zone, sometimes you can avoid paying the wretched residence tax.

Of course, entering the city this way carries risks, but if criminal organizations find you undocumented, they might take an interest, eyeing your organs and everything as profit.

They might sell you off as a slave, and even the Ninth Special Administrative Region Government won't care since you're an undocumented individual evading residence taxes.

Most crime syndicates won't mess with residents who've paid their residence taxes; any tax-paying resident is governmental property.

If you make a move on them, you're messing with governmental assets, and the Ninth Special Zone won't let it slide.

Chen Che doesn't bother with human smuggling; it's not worthwhile.

With the Wildfire Gang under his control, if he indeed did partake in human trafficking, he could smuggle hundreds in a day.

Bringing in many undocumented individuals would indiscriminately increase the Judicial Bureau's workload, upsetting the parliament.

Excessive population would strain the city.

Indulgent people trafficking, once exceeding the city's capacity, could stir chaos within, forcing Chen Che to take the blame.

That's why he's uninterested in such operations.

The small gang with a black dragon tattoo on the chest is called the Black Dragon Gang; the name sounds grand, and its leader, Black Wenlong, has his own routes to get people into the city undocumented.

However, this business has become challenging.

When the gods engage in battles, mortals suffer — during the conflict between Chen Che and Luo Qingtian, the Black Dragon Gang almost starved.

Now, with difficulty, they have secured a deal, the Black Dragon Gang naturally aimed to feast.

Hence, despite the strange and eerie aura of the black-robed figure, Black Wenlong demanded more — he needed to fill his belly first.

Hearing Black Wenlong's words, the robed figure paused, finally said, "We'll offer you an extra 50%, but by the night after tomorrow, our goods must be brought in!"

Achieving satisfaction, Black Wenlong immediately smiled, saying, "Don't worry, we'll ensure people are smuggled in... but I'm rather curious, which organization do you belong to? During this period, checks on undocumented individuals are tight. This isn't about settling safely in the city, is it?"

"Don't ask questions you shouldn't."

"Alright, alright, noted."

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.