Chapter 10 A Chance Encounter with a Paranoid Lone Wolf in the Black Market: I've Taken a Fingertips of This Man

12:00 AM.

An underground parking lot converted from an abandoned bomb shelter in the Western Suburbs.

This was the city's largest grey area—the Black Market.

Lin Xingwan lowered the brim of her baseball cap.

Her black slim-fit leather jacket outlined her sleek silhouette.

Her military boots made dull thuds as they stepped on the damp concrete floor.

She passed through two heavy metal security doors.

Deafening bass music and the mixed scent of cheap tobacco and alcohol instantly washed over her.

The "Nightingale" bar was the intelligence trading hub of the Black Market.

Lin Xingwan walked up to the bar and casually tossed down a stack of cash.

"Give me a glass of ice water."

The bartender was a bald man with a scar on his face; he took the money and pushed over a glass of purified water with ice.

"A new face, huh? What are you looking for?"

The bald man sized her up, his gaze sweeping twice over the curves wrapped in the leather jacket.

Lin Xingwan's eyes turned cold, and she tapped her fingers against the bar with measured force.

"I'm looking for a construction team that can build a bomb shelter—the shadier, the better."

The bald man grinned, revealing a mouthful of yellow teeth.

"That kind of work isn't easy to find; the heat has been intense lately..."

Before he could finish, a loud "bang" suddenly erupted from the corner of the bar!

A solid wood round table was smashed to pieces.

The music stopped abruptly.

Everyone turned to look at that dimly lit booth.

Lin Xingwan followed their gaze, and her eyes suddenly narrowed.

In the booth stood several burly men covered in tattoos.

One was lying on the ground, clutching his wrist and rolling around, letting out a blood-curdling scream.

"You motherfucker, you dare to cheat! Brothers, take him out!"

The leader roared, pulled a switchblade from his waist, and viciously stabbed toward the man sitting on the sofa.

The man didn't even bother to dodge.

He sat in the shadows with an imposing air, his long legs spread out casually.

Facing the incoming blade, he only slightly raised his hand.

His movement was too fast for anyone to see clearly.

"Crack!"

A teeth-grinding sound of bone breaking rang out.

The man had actually grabbed the burly man's wrist with his bare hand and snapped it at a ninety-degree angle!

"Ah—!"

The burly man screamed and fell to his knees, his knife clattering to the floor.

"So noisy."

The man's voice was deep and hoarse, exuding a careless coldness.

He leaned forward slightly, and the bar's dim spotlight finally illuminated his face.

It was an extremely stern face.

With sharp contours and deep-set brow bones, a faint scar ran from the corner of his eye to his temple, adding a touch of wildness.

Especially those eyes.

Dark and dead, like a lone wolf that had just awakened, ready to feast on blood.

Seeing this face, Lin Xingwan's heart skipped a beat.

She knew this man!

To be precise, she knew him from her previous life.

Huo Yuan!

The one who, in the freezing The Apocalypse, led a mercenary squad and carved a bloody path forward.

He established the "Sky Wolf" base and became a top-tier madman who made all the major official shelters tremble with fear!

It was rumored that his methods were extremely cruel, and he killed without blinking.

Lin Xingwan never expected to encounter this formidable figure in the Black Market before the natural disasters broke out.

"What are you still standing there for! All together now!"

The remaining tattooed thugs were enraged; they grabbed beer bottles and machetes and rushed forward.

Huo Yuan didn't even stand up.

He picked up a pool cue from the table and swung it backhanded.

"Bang, bang, bang!"

Three clean, crisp thuds.

The three burly men flew backward like ragdolls, slammed into the wall, and went silent instantly.

The whole place was deathly silent.

No one dared to step forward and provoke this god of plague.

Huo Yuan tossed away the broken pool cue, fished a cigarette from his pocket, and clamped it between his lips.

From the shadows behind him, two fully armed bodyguards emerged silently.

They wore black tactical gear, and their waists were bulging—they were clearly carrying real hardware.

"Boss, do you need us to clean this up?"

One of the bodyguards asked in a low voice, his tone devoid of any warmth.

"Throw them out; don't dirty the place where I'm drinking."

Huo Yuan lit the cigarette and took a deep drag.

Through the swirling smoke, his gaze inadvertently swept across the bar.

In an instant, it collided with Lin Xingwan's inquisitive gaze.

Huo Yuan paused slightly.

In this Black Market, he had seen plenty of women who screamed at the sight of blood.

But this woman in the baseball cap not only lacked fear in her eyes.

Instead, she looked as if she were appraising a satisfactory piece of merchandise.

Interesting.

Lin Xingwan set down her ice water, the corners of her mouth curling into a faint smile.

She had been worrying about not finding a top-tier construction team and armed forces.

A ready-made mercenary leader who could not only fight but surely had professional talent under his command.

If she could tie Huo Yuan to her chariot.

Her The Apocalypse The Fortress would have the hardest shield and the sharpest spear!

Lin Xingwan pushed past the bald bartender blocking her way and walked straight toward Huo Yuan's booth.

"Stop!"

She had barely gotten within three steps when the two bodyguards immediately stepped forward.

Two dark submachine guns were pointed directly at her chest.

"One more step forward, and you die."

The bodyguard's voice was as cold as a machine.

The onlookers gasped, silently cursing the woman for having a death wish.

Lin Xingwan didn't even twitch an eyebrow.

Not only did she not retreat, but she also took another half-step forward, meeting the gun barrels.

The leather jacket on her chest pressed directly against the cold gun barrels.

"Is this how Boss Huo treats guests?"

She looked up, took off her baseball cap, and revealed a face that was stunningly beautiful yet cold and arrogant.

Huo Yuan leaned back on the sofa, his hand holding the cigarette pausing slightly.

He looked at Lin Xingwan as if scrutinizing prey.

"I don't do business with dead people."

"And I certainly don't do business with women."

Huo Yuan exhaled a ring of smoke, his voice devoid of any inflection.

"Stand down."

The bodyguards immediately lowered their guns and retreated into the shadows.

"What's wrong with being a woman?"

Lin Xingwan chuckled and pulled out the chair opposite Huo Yuan, sitting down of her own accord.

"In my opinion, with Boss Huo's skills, fighting in this underground Black Market is a waste of talent."

She leaned forward, crossed her hands on the table, and looked straight into Huo Yuan's unfathomable eyes.

"You were the one who sent me that anonymous text message, right?"

A flash of appreciation crossed Huo Yuan's eyes.

Smart enough.

"Miss Lin, you just cashed out 12 billion in cash."

Huo Yuan stubbed out his cigarette in the ashtray.

"You bought a mountain in the Western Suburbs and are searching the world for a team capable of building anti-nuclear explosion engineering projects."

He leaned forward slightly, closing in on Lin Xingwan with an overwhelming sense of oppression.

"I'm curious, which country's military did Miss Lin offend to need such an exaggerated shelter?"

The distance was too close.

Lin Xingwan could even smell the faint scent of tobacco and the lingering smell of blood on him.

But she didn't flinch.

For someone who had already died once in a previous life, what was this little bit of pressure?

"There's no need for Boss Huo to worry about that."

Lin Xingwan parted her red lips, speaking clearly.

"I'm not just going to build an underground The Fortress; I'm also going to fill it with the most advanced heavy firepower in the world."

"Furthermore, I need a private armed force that is absolutely loyal."

She held up a fair finger and shook it gently.

"I have a 1 billion deal—are you in or not?"

1 billion!

The sound of people gasping could be heard faintly in the surroundings.

In the Black Market, this number was enough to buy hundreds of lives!

Huo Yuan looked at the woman before him, who was confident to the point of arrogance.

In those deep eyes, a ripple of amusement finally emerged.

"1 billion to buy the lives of my Sky Wolf?"

He laughed in a low voice, his chest vibrating.

"Miss Lin, my life is very expensive; 1 billion, I'm afraid, is not enough."