Chapter Fifty-Four: The Assault

Jingmen Safe Zone.

Southeast sector.

This had once been the last area reclaimed by the Jingmen Safe Zone. The surrounding buildings bore the scars of destruction far more deeply, stifling its development over the years. Coupled with historical baggage, it had become the most chaotic and mixed quarter of the city.

Not everyone living in the slums was poor.

Over the past few decades, many explorers who had made their fortunes through blood and sweat did not immediately choose to leave the slums, resulting in a clear class stratification here—sometimes even starker than in other districts.

Take, for example, the Bloodslaughter Guild, which had been surging in influence lately; it was founded right in this area. After absorbing several mid-sized guilds nearby, it had leapt to become the premier guild in the southeast of the Safe Zone and was even beginning to encroach upon the territory of the Big Three guilds.

With the recent upheaval in Peach Blossom Dock, some believed that Bloodslaughter Guild might truly usurp Peach Blossom Dock’s position in the near future.

In one corner of the slums stood an unusually orderly enclave, out of place amid the dilapidation.

The buildings were still old, yet guards were stationed at the entrance. A woman in black leather armor and a deep-blue leather skirt drove a jeep straight through the gate as if it were the most natural thing in the world.

Jiang Jinying entered one of the villas, circled around, and descended into the basement.

The basement was more spacious than expected; three others—two men and a woman—waited in the conference room.

“We can’t make a move anymore. Once Qi Lei stepped in, a lot of old-timers showed their faces too. Jiang He’s people have declared they won’t get involved, and as for Peach Blossom Dock, An Qing’s just a total idiot…” Jiang Jinying dropped onto the sofa, waved a hand dismissively, downed several gulps of water, and cursed outright.

When she finished her own glass, she grabbed another without caring whose it was, and drank it dry just as carelessly.

“I’ve gotten a warning as well,” one man replied, picking up where Jiang Jinying left off. He spoke slowly, unfazed by her brashness—he was used to it by now. “They said we’ve already reaped plenty of benefits lately, so we’d better not stir things up again. Otherwise, if this gets reported up the chain, it’ll be bad for everyone.”

He was Chen Yuan, the president of the Bloodslaughter Guild, but even so, he spoke to Jiang Jinying with considerable courtesy.

In this conference room sat the four current leaders of Bloodslaughter: President Chen Yuan; Vice President Qian Ye; Vice President Jiang Jinying; and Logistics Vice President Shi Yao.

Anyone who had clawed their way to the top of Bloodslaughter was a force to be reckoned with.

Bloodslaughter’s model differed from other guilds. Both the president and vice presidents commanded their own separate factions. It was less a unified guild than a coalition of power blocs. Even Shi Yao, who managed logistics, wielded her own network and considerable influence.

“Isn’t it obvious?” Qian Ye, the other vice president, complained, his fur coat making it seem as if he were still stuck in winter. “Cause a stir in the Safe Zone, threaten their foundations, and they’re bound to clamp down. This time, all they lost was a little skin. We, on the other hand, got the short end of the stick.”

“I still say we should proceed steadily and pick them apart from the inside. Break the rules and nobody wins.”

Qian Ye had never supported this latest operation, even if it had yielded some quick gains; it only put Bloodslaughter in the authorities’ crosshairs, making future growth harder.

Shi Yao, the logistics vice president, said nothing. Dressed in casual clothes, she sat quietly by Jiang Jinying’s side, pouring her another cup of tea and taking her hand—an implicit show of solidarity. The room fell silent; even Qian Ye was at a loss for words.

“And you think you can talk about development, looking like that?” Jiang Jinying retorted. “Bloodslaughter Guild has been stagnant for three or four years now. If we hadn’t orchestrated Peach Blossom Dock’s troubles, would we have had this opportunity?”

“An Qing really is an idiot—he actually killed Zhao Weimin. With so many dead in Peach Blossom Dock, everyone’s eyeing the spoils.”

Jiang Jinying’s curses, delivered with fiery vigor, contrasted sharply with her striking figure. She couldn’t resist cursing An Qing once more.

“The energy surge in Moonlight Territory has revealed many Peach Blossom Dock corpses. Looks like they all perished inside. An Qing’s the only lever left for Peach Blossom Dock, but Jiang He and Jingbei Industries must have their eyes on the prize, too. In the end, whoever offers the highest price will win.”

The authorities had delayed their announcement for twelve days—largely to give Peach Blossom Dock’s people a chance to make it out.

But now, with no news at all, their fate seemed sealed.

Judging by Peach Blossom Dock’s current state of fracture, An Qing was no longer in control. His only option was to seek protection from another faction before the guild’s industries collapsed entirely.

When Jiang Jinying had previously contacted An Qing, that was exactly his intention.

The only difference was that, after the announcement, An Qing had more options—and even began reaching out to members of Jiang He and Jingbei Industries.

This was why Jiang Jinying was so infuriated: even in such dire straits, An Qing still wanted to hold out for a good price, to sell Peach Blossom Dock to the highest bidder!

“Yi Qinfeng’s wife is still with us,” Shi Yao—who had remained silent through much of the discussion—finally spoke. She looked the most tranquil of them all, but was, in fact, the most senior member of Bloodslaughter. Her presence here was almost solely because of Jiang Jinying, which gave Jiang Jinying great sway within the guild.

“If An Qing refuses to cooperate, perhaps we could try to support her as a potential leader? Many of those who oppose An Qing are Yi Qinfeng’s old subordinates; they might heed Lin Grape’s words.”

Lin Grape, as Shi Yao referred to her, was Yi Shen’s mother. After the incident, she had been brought to Bloodslaughter at once, and treated with respect. Had Yi Qinfeng emerged from the Domain, his standing would have far surpassed An Qing’s, making him a much more desirable ally.

“We can ask her what she thinks,” Chen Yuan, the president, replied. “She probably doesn’t want to see Peach Blossom Dock dissolve either.”

“I already did,” Shi Yao said, shaking her head. “She insists her son’s safety must be guaranteed first. Jinying says that someone from Jingbei Industries may have taken Yi Shen, but I’ve checked every contact in Jingbei Industries—none of them have seen him.”

“If we can’t negotiate, so be it,” Qian Ye interjected, waving a hand dismissively. “Uniting those who oppose An Qing is still possible. Yi Qinfeng’s dead—his wife and son aren’t much use now. The boy just started at the martial academy, right? He’s been missing for so long; for all we know, he’s already dead in some godforsaken corner.”

The discussion continued.

But it wasn’t just Bloodslaughter. After the authorities’ announcement, guilds large and small had fallen temporarily silent, as if steeling themselves for the next storm.

Yet almost all had a clear goal: to carve as much profit as possible from the dying giant that was Peach Blossom Dock.

This was a massive feast.

When the whale falls, all creatures prosper.

Peach Blossom Dock was that dying whale; some small fry were so eager, they’d latched on before the whale had even stopped breathing.

But what none of them knew was that, at this moment, Yi Shen had already arrived in the western district of Jingmen Safe Zone. From the highest vantage point, he gazed down at the Peach Blossom Dock stronghold, as if trying to see every detail.

He leapt down, vanishing in an instant, heading straight for the stronghold of Peach Blossom Dock’s East Third District.

It was on Zhao Zhilong’s orders that the long-faced fatty had been lying in wait for Yi Shen in East Third District.

Now, with his power increased, Yi Shen’s first target was naturally Zhao Zhilong.

“Zhao Zhilong.”

After receiving information from Bai Hongjiang, the long-faced fatty, Yi Shen had already investigated the new district chief of Peach Blossom Dock’s East Third.

From what he’d gathered, Zhao Zhilong had been hastily promoted by acting president An Qing after the previous chief died unexpectedly two months prior. At first, there had been some objections within the guild, so he’d only been named deputy. It wasn’t until after Peach Blossom Dock’s fall and An Qing’s rise to power that the “deputy” was finally dropped.

Zhao Zhilong’s reputation in Peach Blossom Dock was poor.

According to Bai Hongjiang, during his tenure, Zhao Zhilong had taken plenty of kickbacks. East Third had once been a resource-rich area, but in recent times, many people had been forced out. Bai Hongjiang had always operated in East Third, and only pledged allegiance out of desperation.

Whether or not that desperation was real was debatable. Yi Shen was already preparing to make his move on Zhao Zhilong.

From all the information he’d gathered recently, the chaos in Peach Blossom Dock was largely due to An Qing. Not only that, but An Qing was the one who had spread rumors implicating Yi Shen’s father as the mastermind behind the attack and was actively purging and splitting the guild, prompting many old members to seek new allegiances.

With his current strength, Yi Shen knew it would be difficult to deal with An Qing directly, but Zhao Zhilong would be no problem.

Night was falling. Yi Shen drew near the East Third’s stronghold.

He had two aims tonight: to extract more inside information from Zhao Zhilong, and to seize some materials to further enhance his own abilities.

For days, Zhao Zhilong had been holed up in the stronghold. That afternoon, Yi Shen had observed various vehicles coming and going—not all belonging to Peach Blossom Dock. Each time, three to five vehicles, accompanied by armed escorts, would transport goods to the vault of a merchant guild called Forgotten West, which had even more guards on duty.

According to Bai Hongjiang, Forgotten West often did business with Peach Blossom Dock. While Peach Blossom Dock had its own vaults, such large-scale transfers were unusual and likely private deals—or outright theft.

Without a direct assault, it would be difficult for Yi Shen to silently dismantle these shipments.

But now, he didn’t need to be silent. The ten-kilometer route from the stronghold to Forgotten West could become his stage.

As darkness deepened, Yi Shen stood atop a bridge along the convoy’s route. Others might fear reprisal from the Four Great Guilds, but Yi Shen had come to flip the table. He donned a hat and mask from home, and when a large truck rumbled by, he unleashed Fireblast.

With a roar and a wave of searing heat, a massive fireball struck the truck dead-on. With all his buffs active, Yi Shen’s Fireblast packed devastating power.

The driver, caught completely off guard, barely had time to react before the explosion caved in the truck. Yi Shen’s interface registered over a thousand points of damage. The driver, just caught in the shockwave, lost a third of his health.

But Yi Shen had no intention of holding back. He followed up with a barrage of Fireblasts—over a dozen in rapid succession.

Three vehicles followed the truck: two cargo vans and one escort. Some of the guards were of fairly high level, but under the onslaught of Fireblast and Storm, none survived. The aftermath was utter ruin.

Yi Shen blinked in, swiftly clearing the battlefield and dismantling the loot. In less than two minutes, he was gone. The haul, rich in high-level items, boosted his attributes by over fifteen hundred points—much higher than what he’d gained at the materials plant.

Alarms began to sound in the distance. No one had expected someone to dare attack so brazenly after today’s announcement, risking the wrath of the Four Great Guilds. Even though responders arrived quickly, they found no trace of Yi Shen.

And this was only the beginning. Yi Shen soon targeted other convoys.

Any shipment leaving Peach Blossom Dock became a target of his interference. With his father declared dead and his own whereabouts unknown, and with others plunging Peach Blossom Dock into chaos, Yi Shen acted without hesitation.

His mobility was so terrifying that, to outsiders, it seemed as if Peach Blossom Dock was under attack from rival factions. After each strike, he left behind scraps of evidence pointing to Bloodslaughter and Jingbei Industries.

While some hoped for a peaceful end to Peach Blossom Dock, Yi Shen was determined to muddy the waters even further.

With the convoys under attack, Zhao Zhilong, as the person in charge, was immediately informed. He’d hoped to make a few quick deals during the lull, never expecting someone to dare defy the ban and strike.

He reported to An Qing at once and set out with a team of his own, determined to see which faction was brazen enough to rob him in broad daylight.