Chapter 389 - 250: Combat (2)

Chapter 389: Chapter 250: Combat (2)

"Keep your head down! Don’t look around!"

A scruffy, middle-aged Martial Artist pushed his sister’s head down.

"That might be an auxiliary Martial Artist. You need to be careful."

His sister was confused. "How do you know? With that kind of presence, couldn’t they just be some second or third-generation rich kid here for a cushy post?"

"A cushy post? In the Safety Bureau? Are you daft?"

He then explained, "Didn’t you hear the gunshots? In a chaotic scene like this, you can’t get clean sniper kills without an auxiliary Martial Artist’s help!"

The two spoke in hushed tones, and the woman suddenly grew worried. "Brother, are we going to be taken away and shot? Or sent to a labor camp?"

The man said confidently, "No. We just came to buy some cultivation resources, which isn’t illegal. Besides, we haven’t even bought anything yet!

At worst, we’ll get a fine and be detained for about ten days. But if you dare to resist, then you’re screwed!"

"See those guys running for their lives? Most of them are shopkeepers or staff. Some might have criminal records. We just need to be obedient!

Listen to me, your brother has experience with this stuff. As long as we don’t ask for trouble and just behave, we’ll be fine."

The woman looked indignant. "Brother, we just wanted to buy some cheap cultivation resources. The official prices from the pharmaceutical companies are too expensive! It’s the same stuff, but it’s at least half-price on the black market. The Safety Bureau leaves the big corporations alone and just picks on us poor folk."

The man gave a mysterious smile. "My silly little sister, do you know why the pharmaceutical companies dare to sell for less than half price on the black market?"

"Why?"

"Because when they sell through official channels, they have to pay a sixty percent tax!"

The woman’s expression was one of disbelief. "That high? Who do they pay the tax to?"

"Who else? The Seven Greats!"

The man said with contempt, his eyes full of resentment and envy.

"I heard the Seven Greats’ policies have always looked down on us small-timers. They’re constantly controlling the number of Martial Artists, which is why they price cultivation resources so high. They just want us to serve them for our entire lives and won’t let us improve our strength..."

Just as he was speaking, members of the Safety Bureau’s arrest team reached them. The pair immediately fell silent and respectfully held out their hands, allowing themselves to be tied up.

They were extremely cooperative, so they weren’t attacked.

After the Safety Bureau personnel moved on, the man spat under his breath.

"Pah! The Safety Bureau are just dogs kept by the Seven Greats. Hmph!" 𝒻𝘳ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝒷𝘯ℴ𝓋ℯ𝘭.𝑐ℴ𝑚

"Brother, don’t curse! Didn’t you say there’s an auxiliary Martial Artist? Don’t let them hear you!"

The man relaxed. "Don’t worry. They say auxiliary Martial Artists have great eyesight and can see far, but I’ve never heard of them having any other abilities."

As he spoke, he even glanced provocatively at the silver-armored figure high above.

Yu Fei ignored him. He had heard their entire conversation. Not only that, but because the Safety Bureau’s raid was so sudden, many people, seeing they couldn’t escape, began tossing away contraband and trying to blend in with the black market customers.

They were also constantly coordinating their counter-strategies.

Yu Fei focused his perception on these individuals, continuously guiding the assault teams to prioritize and subdue these dangerous elements first.

Before long, everyone in the entire Half-Mountain Black Market was under control. Song Cheng had mobilized sufficient forces for this operation, and Yu Fei’s greatest contribution was controlling the battlefield and preventing anyone from escaping.

With his powerful mental network and perceptual abilities, the Safety Bureau subdued everyone with almost no effort.

Right now, this group of seemingly taciturn Safety Bureau Martial Artists was already chatting up a storm in the mental network.

Yu Fei had no choice but to partition the communication channels for each team. Otherwise, one person would speak and three hundred would be listening, which was just too chaotic.

Even Taolang was astonished by Yu Fei’s battlefield control. As a former member of the Celestial Pride Class, he had seen his fair share of the world.

Yu Fei’s perceptual abilities were completely different from those of other auxiliary Martial Artists.

For example, right now in Taolang’s vision, every person in the black market had a tag above their head indicating their realm and danger level. Hidden items were also marked in his field of view.

He didn’t need to think at all. Every time he dealt with a dangerous individual, he was immediately guided to the next location.

It wasn’t just Taolang; the other members of the assault teams felt the same way. They didn’t need to think—they just had to follow Yu Fei’s prompts, and the operation went incredibly smoothly.

Many of them had participated in raids on black markets before. In the past, they had to constantly watch the crowds. Quite a few of their colleagues had been injured or even killed by people hiding in the masses, who would then seize the opportunity to escape.

But today’s mission was going too smoothly. There were no hiccups. The dangers were eliminated one by one, and the enemies they faced were always ones they could easily handle.

’If only... we could get Yu Fei to stay at the Safety Bureau...’

After truly going all-out, Yu Fei finally understood just how monstrous the abilities of an auxiliary Martial Artist could be.

This powerful perception guaranteed absolute control over the battlefield; no subtle movement could escape his notice.

’If two auxiliary Martial Artists were to face each other...’

Yu Fei couldn’t help but ponder. It would probably come down to a head-on battle, unless one had a method to suppress the other’s perception.

As for the siblings’ comments, Yu Fei didn’t take them to heart. It wasn’t just them; after the Safety Bureau stormed in, many low-realm Martial Artists had said similar things.

Combining the information Ye Shuping had revealed with what he was seeing now, Yu Fei understood that the root of the problem wasn’t the Seven Greats in power, but the current predicament they all faced.

Although, it did seem that a series of problems were indeed caused by the Seven Greats’ suppression of ordinary Martial Artists.

Yu Fei tucked these thoughts away. His realm was low, and he currently lacked the ability to solve these problems. For now, he just needed to do his own job well.

In the black market, only human trafficking and enslavement were things he found unacceptable. The others—selling illegal drugs, dealing arms, trafficking intelligence... those didn’t move him much.

As for organizations like assassins, he wouldn’t mind taking them down if the opportunity arose, but he wouldn’t go out of his way to target them.

The entire arrest process went very smoothly, but this was just the initial phase. The subsequent work of screening, sentencing, and dealing with the illicit goods would be the real major undertaking.

For now, it all depended on whether Song Cheng’s side of the operation was successful.

About an hour later, the teams departed, taking everyone from the Half-Mountain Black Market into custody.

The Safety Bureau was responsible for arrests and investigations, as well as the initial screening of personnel. Only the difficult-to-judge cases would be handed over to others for processing.

Yu Fei paid special attention and saw that the shops involved in human trafficking were sealed immediately and the victims were rescued. He asked Taolang about what would happen to them next, and was told the Safety Bureau had its own procedures for resettlement, as this was not the first time such a thing had happened.

Just as they finished loading the suspects into the vehicles, they saw Song Cheng and two others flying in from the east, carrying the mastermind Grandmaster, who was as limp as a dead dog. The man was unconscious, his Qi Sea was empty, and one arm hung limply at his side. It looked like he’d been worn down to death.

"Congratulations, Mr. Song!"

Yu Fei stepped forward to greet them.

Song Cheng was clearly overjoyed.

"Hahaha, my young friend, the primary credit for this goes to you! If it weren’t for you, things wouldn’t have gone so smoothly today!"

Yu Fei immediately demurred. He knew in his heart that the forces Song Cheng had arranged for this operation far exceeded what the Half-Mountain Black Market could handle. Even without his coordination, they would have certainly won.

There just might have been some casualties in the process.

Yu Fei’s contribution was merely the icing on the cake.

"Mr. Song, you praise me too highly. I don’t deserve it. In fact, I should be thanking you for giving me this opportunity to practice my abilities as an auxiliary Martial Artist."

"Oh? Then it’s a deal! I’ll save all future opportunities like this for you. You have to come, you hear? Haha..."

Song Cheng teased.

It was clear that taking down the Half-Mountain Black Market without any losses had brought the old Grandmaster great joy.

"Of course! I couldn’t ask for more!"

It was just some pleasantries, but he did have a very good impression of the Safety Bureau. He was more than willing to help them within the scope of his abilities.

"Then let’s head out. The sooner we get these guys locked up, the less chance there is for complications."

On the way, Song Cheng filled Yu Fei in on some common knowledge.

"Our Safety Bureau has the authority to strike, arrest, investigate, interrogate, and sentence. For some of the hard-to-judge cases, we have to ask the people from the Inspectorate to handle them."

Yu Fei asked curiously, "How do you normally interrogate them? What do you do if they refuse to confess?"

Song Cheng chuckled. "With the spiritual strength of a Grandmaster who has practiced a few Secret Techniques, forcing a Martial Artist below the fourth realm to tell the truth is a piece of cake. This allows us to quickly screen out the ordinary Martial Artists who haven’t committed any major offenses.

For those at Inner Qi and above, it’s more complicated, especially when confirming the crimes of a Grandmaster. Unless the evidence is irrefutable, if we want to dig for more information, we need a Martial Saint who specializes in this or the [Inspectorate] to handle it."