Chapter 101: The Blood Case in the Imperial Capital

The black market naturally sells things that aren't meant to be seen in the light. Apart from a few treasures of unknown origins, there are also many commodities that violate the empire's laws.

Slave trading is common, whether in the beastman empire or the human empire, but generally, except for foreign slaves, laws prohibit selling one's own race. Regular auctions are strictly law-abiding, but in places like the black market, as long as someone is willing to pay, there are few things they won't sell.

Zhou Tian let Afura leave on her own. Besides the fact that he had grown a little annoyed with her, the main reason was that he always believed Afura's strength was such that no one in the imperial capital could harm her.

Yet the current situation proved that his thinking was overly naive. In direct combat, Afura indeed had nothing to fear, but there were countless ways in the world to bring down someone stronger without a fight. Afura had apparently fallen victim to some unknown trick; captured in the black market as a slave, she was sent to the auction.

Even if conflict arose, Zhou Tian would never permit others to harm his people. Beating or scolding her was one matter; anyone else laying hands on her was absolutely not. Though Zhou Tian's anger had yet to subside, upon discovering Afura's predicament, he still felt a pang of heartache. As for those involved in the incident—the black market auction and the captors—he naturally hated them to the bone.

With a casual swing of his hand, two blades severed the necks of the two servants already slumped in unconsciousness. Zhou Tian seemed familiar with the place and quickly located a mechanism. Once the tunnel opened, he stepped inside from the entrance.

Before truly reaching his destination, Zhou Tian heard a clamor rising from the basement. The sound made his expression grow increasingly cold. Eventually, before he even reached the bottom, he launched an attack on the figures below.

Waving his hand, Zhou Tian's face remained expressionless as he summoned an army of millions of venomous snakes from the Ten Thousand Snake Basin, surging toward the underground auction.

Zhou Tian's actions were not entirely smooth. The professionals he faced now were all of high level. As the snake swarm poured down, before they could strike, some of the professionals below spotted them.

Though not everyone had noticed Zhou Tian, they recognized the snakes' presence and knew they had likely been ambushed.

Naturally, regardless of whether the auction house owner had orchestrated it, the professionals who discovered the swarm immediately launched an assault on the creatures charging toward them.

Magic and battle qi light flashed in rapid succession. Zhou Tian was astonished to discover that his seemingly invincible snake sea tactic had produced little effect that day. No matter how fiercely the summoned swarm tried to break through, under the professionals' defenses, barely a single snake managed to cross their lines alive.

"These fellows aren't bad at all!" Zhou Tian sneered coldly, then gathered the swarm back into the Ten Thousand Snake Basin. He himself then charged forward...

"Crack! Crack!" In mere moments, Zhou Tian felt himself struck at least a hundred times. No matter—Cloud Roamer Immortal Armor proved far tougher than he had imagined. Under the relentless barrage below, only ripples disturbed the air around him, leaving him unharmed.

"Who is it?" When Zhou Tian broke through the defensive line, the professionals below finally caught sight of his figure.

Expressionless, Zhou Tian surveyed the attackers, said nothing, and surged toward them.

"So fast!" The thought barely formed in their minds before many failed to react in time. A sharp pain lanced through their necks, and in their vision appeared the headless corpses of several men spurting blood wildly.

After beheading several professionals in quick succession, the sight left the weaker guests shrieking in terror. Meanwhile, the other professionals, gripping their weapons tightly, turned their gazes toward Zhou Tian with growing solemnity.

"May I ask what business this adult has come to our XX Auction House? If there is anything we can do, we will endeavor to fulfill your request. You need not resort to such measures." Though secretly cursing the man who had come to cause trouble, the auction house's person in charge dared not show even the slightest disrespect. One must bow one's head when beneath another's eaves. If Zhou Tian continued unchecked, the auction house might survive his destruction today, but it would be unlikely to reopen afterward.

"My people were taken by you." Zhou Tian abandoned his earlier pretense of a bloodbath. Though his expression remained calm, he actually began negotiating.

Upon hearing this, the person in charge exhaled in relief while cursing his subordinates in his heart. Such incidents were rare, yet they occurred. Thus, most auction houses verified the origins of goods upon receipt, accepting what they could and refusing what they could not. Hearing Zhou Tian's stated purpose, the person in charge hated those who had acted without confirming the target's background.

Though he cursed his subordinates who had no idea where they stood now, the man on the surface quickly replied after hearing Zhou Tian's words: "This is likely a misunderstanding. We are merely an auction house and know little of the origins of the goods sent for sale. Since we have acquaintances of yours here, kindly take your subordinate back." Pausing, then remembering Zhou Tian's earlier display, he added, "Of course, while the matter was not ours to begin with, since it occurred on our premises, we will naturally offer an explanation. We will inform you of the captors' identities, and as compensation, we can pay you a sum of money. Still, I wonder—whose subordinate exactly were you seeking?"

"You tell me whose they are. If you're sensible, bring everyone out. Continue dawdling, and I'll take your life instead."

"Yes, yes, yes." Though inwardly furious, the person in charge feigned utmost deference, nodding repeatedly to Zhou Tian before ordering his men to bring out all the slaves prepared for this auction.

Without tricks, as Zhou Tian had seen with the snake swarm, Afura stood among the slaves. Perhaps because the blow she had suffered was too great, she felt too ashamed to face others. Upon seeing Zhou Tian, she did not step forward to greet him but instead shrank back instinctively, as if trying to hide.

Pointing at the slaves below, the person in charge asked obsequiously, "These are the slaves we received this period... uh, people. I wonder which one belongs to you, sir?"

"Ah!"

"Don't!"

"..."

Zhou Tian offered no answer, but the slaves brought forward one after another began to scream in agony. By the end, only Afura remained alive in the slave group.

"What do you mean?" No mistake—Zhou Tian's earlier display of strength had made the person in charge wary. Even if he had been willing to submit, he had no desire to fight Zhou Tian head-on. Beyond fear of his power, they feared that any violence at the auction would cause enormous losses. Yet now, before they could react, Zhou Tian had slaughtered every slave in their auction. Such devastation left the person in charge utterly panicked.

"Slaves must bear slave brands, correct? I do not wish this matter to reach a third person. Therefore, the only way is to ask you all... to die." His flat declaration of intent sent the others into cautious alertness.

"You've gone mad! Most guests in our auction house include nearly thirty percent of the empire's nobility. If you truly dare to do this, do you know what awaits you?"

"You talk too much. I don't care about such things..." As Zhou Tian's voice faded, the person in charge, who had been about to continue, died beneath his attack before he could finish.

Although Zhou Tian had slain some earlier, those had only been the guests' guards. If a peaceful resolution had been possible, they would not have ignored the threat to report it; for their own safety, they should not have acted at that moment. But Zhou Tian's move had made his intention clear. Realizing Zhou Tian intended to leave no survivors, the 'guests' who had been sitting around making light of the auction naturally could not remain seated.

"Kill that man!" While many of the high-status individuals prepared to flee, they pointed at Zhou Tian and issued final orders to their subordinates...

"Have you heard? The XX Auction House in the west side black market was bloodily massacred yesterday."

"You just learned that? I heard it earlier! It's said the one who did it was a church member. I never expected the church's priests to possess such strength—one man wiping out hundreds in an auction house clean. Combat power? One word: formidable!"

"Who said it was one person? How could a single individual pull off a bloodbath shaking the imperial capital? I heard this time more than ten nobles died alone. Considering the guards of those nobles, you think it was a demi-god? I suspect that priest was merely a decoy to draw attention. The true perpetrator of the imperial capital bloodbath must be a powerful organization!"

"..."

While the imperial capital seethed with debate over the bloodbath, the 'culprit' who had carried it out was now living openly in a small courtyard beneath a restaurant, fretting over the Afura he had rescued.