59: Chapter 59 A Bountiful Harvest

If Zhang Mu's moral threshold were a bit lower, it would be completely unnecessary for him to specifically seek out arms dealers to buy weapons.

The reason was simple: with his Shadow Technique active, he could find an arms dealer's weapon warehouse and stuff his inventory to his heart's content.

But his long-standing principles did not allow him to do such a thing.

If one does not learn to use 'power' with restraint, they will eventually become a slave to that 'power,' consumed entirely by desire.

Therefore, Zhang Mu was willing to go through the great effort of finding arms dealers and spending large sums of money to purchase weapons.

The prerequisite for doing so was that the other party also followed the rules.

Now, as the black gentlemen before him seemingly had no intention of following the rules, Zhang Mu no longer felt any psychological burden.

Being able to save himself a significant expense in the process was a pleasant surprise.

"I think this gentleman might have been scared witless," the big black man said after a moment of astonishment. He smiled and gestured for the younger men to raise their AK-47s, their dark muzzles aimed straight at Zhang Mu.

"Fellas, now, let's let this 'fearless' gentleman taste the terror that bullets provide."

Living in Mexico City, specifically in the chaotic, gang-ridden Tijuana, these young men were well-versed in the art of reaping lives with the AK-47s in their hands.

Upon receiving the order, the five young men decisively pulled their triggers. Bullets spat from muzzles flickering with sparks, and pungent gunpowder smoke filled the small room.

The old black man wearing a gold necklace waved away the smoke with both hands. Grinning, he lifted his foot to walk toward where Zhang Mu had been standing, ready to collect his easy gold coins.

However, his raised foot froze in mid-air, unable to step down.

"Where's the body?" As the smoke dissipated, the spot where the bullets had struck was empty. The old man blinked and questioned his translator.

The big black man was educated and had seen the world in big cities, yet he still could not explain the scene before his eyes.

He tried to come up with a rational explanation, but after scouring every corner of his mind, his mouth only opened and closed without a sound.

"Over here," a voice said in poorly accented English from behind them. It gave them a fright, and they instinctively spun around.

Seeing Zhang Mu standing there with a smile, the big black man's legs went weak, and he collapsed uncontrollably to the floor.

He wanted to stand up and run, to flee from this place, but several attempts ended in failure.

Zhang Mu took a few steps toward him. He instinctively scrambled backward on all fours, shouting with a trembling voice, "Shoot! Shoot him!"

No gunfire responded; only his tone, bordering on tears, echoed in the room.

After a long while, seeing that Zhang Mu made no move, his shattered sanity finally recovered slightly.

As his thoughts returned, he couldn't help but wonder why no one had listened to the order he just gave.

Why weren't they shooting?

Looking back, the five young men lay in a mess on the floor, each with a hole in their forehead gushing blood.

And the employer who had hired him—the old black man—was the same.

When did this happen?

Why didn't I notice anything?

What is this guy? An Esper? A demon?

The big black man remained silent for a long time, looking back and forth between the old man's corpse and the five young men's bodies, seemingly questioning his reality.

Zhang Mu was in no mood to dally with him. He clapped his hands together and said, "Don't zone out."

"S-Sir..." The big man still couldn't stand up. He remained slumped there, swallowing several times before asking, "Who... who are you?"

"That's not important," Zhang Mu waved his hand. "Tell me where your arms warehouse is. Don't be in a hurry to refuse, or you know what the outcome will be."

"I... I have no intention of refusing. If I tell you the warehouse address, c-can you let me go?"

"Heh."

The corners of Zhang Mu's mouth twitched slightly. He raised his hand, and an Ice Cone appeared, piercing through the big man's arm.

Amidst his shrill screams, Zhang Mu's tone remained indifferent: "One minute, one Ice Cone. Think about it yourself."

Seeing that his painful screaming wouldn't stop, he added, "Screaming counts as time, too."

"Turn right! Out the door, turn right, the eighth room!"

Perhaps terrified by the magical methods before him, or fearing the pain of another Ice Cone, the big man's speech became extremely clear and fluent.

Zhang Mu closed his eyes and swept his Mental Energy over the area. He sensed many rectangular objects in the room; the man hadn't lied.

"You can die now," he said, as an Ice Cone pierced the man's forehead.

As the corpse slowly slumped to the ground, Zhang Mu walked out of the room. "If you want to rob someone, you must be prepared to be robbed. Likewise, if you want to kill, you must be prepared to be killed."

He stepped over the body and pushed the door open.

It must have been a characteristic of this place; the intense gunfire just now hadn't drawn a single person to watch. The alley outside was empty.

He strode to the weapon warehouse. The wooden door was locked, so he kicked it open.

Entering the room and seeing it filled with long wooden crates, Zhang Mu was like a mouse that had fallen into a grain bin. His eyes lit up as he frantically stuffed them into his inventory.

After finishing, he activated his Shadow Technique, returned to the previous room, and used a fireball to blast the scene into ruins.

Then he turned and left the city, returning to the small town by the same route. He hailed a car to the downtown area of Jiu Jin Mountain and found a hotel to book a room.

After taking a shower and changing his clothes, he summoned the portal and stepped through.

...

Other World, Bala City, Clover Tavern.

In a second-floor private booth, Frederica sat by a round wooden table, holding a crystal wine glass and sipping fruit wine.

After a while, someone pushed the door open. She looked over; it was Vag returning.

"Your Highness, I still couldn't purchase any magic potions or healing potions. Furthermore, the Shop Owner told me

that due to the scarcity of raw materials, there won't be any stock for a while."

"There's no news from Saldari and Alice yet, but I suspect their results will be the same as mine."

Frederica gave a slight nod to show she understood, then continued sipping her wine.

Seeing this, Vag became somewhat anxious. "Your Highness, if we cannot buy enough magic potions and healing potions within seven days,

we won't be able to enter the dungeon this time."

"Then we just won't go," Frederica said with a smile, swirling her wine glass.

"But..." Vag was left speechless by her leisurely tone. After a long pause, he advised her earnestly,

"Your Highness, before we left, the Grand Elder instructed that you should try to learn what it means to strive while traveling the continent.

You have no reason to miss this dungeon."

"But the potions can't be bought, so there's nothing that can be done," she replied, still maintaining that relaxed manner.

"Your Highness!" Vag grew frantic. "We can go into the wild to gather herbs and commission an alchemist to brew them.

If all else fails, we can just enter directly..."

"Vag." Frederica's cheeks, which always wore a smile, were slightly flushed. She beckoned him to sit opposite her.

Once Vag was seated, she smiled. "I know there are very few Knight Techniques within the clan suitable for you, and you really want to take a risk in this dungeon.

But Vag, striving comes with a heavy price."

"A price so heavy that it might be one's precious life."

Vag didn't care for her persuasion. "Your Highness, you should be more courageous when facing difficulties. How can you proactively give up on finding a solution?"

Being implicitly called cowardly didn't make Frederica angry. She remained cheerful. "News of the dungeon opening has been brewing for months. A large number of Adventurer Groups have gathered in Bala City.

Do you think it's still possible to gather herbs nearby?

There might be some further away, but by the time we finish gathering them and return, the dungeon will have long since ended."

"So you see, I've thought of every possible way, and they really just don't work."

This was a fact Vag couldn't refute. He lowered his head and muttered, "We shouldn't have gone to Kas Town. All our reserved potions were wasted..."

"Vag." It was the same tone and pitch as before, but Vag understood that Her Highness was angry.

"Saving lives—how can that be considered a waste?"

"I'll go check a few more apothecary shops." He didn't want to hear a lecture, so he stood up expressionlessly and pushed his way out.

Frederica watched the booth door close and sighed. Her gaze moved back to the orange-yellow fruit wine in her glass.

She took a small sip, and her slightly low mood lifted. With a face full of happiness, she held the glass with both hands and took sip after sip until she saw the bottom.

"Courage also requires a terrible price. Learn to cherish life, Vag."

Frederica put down her wine glass and stood up to go to the first-floor bar to settle the bill.