Chapter 378: Chapter 378

The earth was still trembling, and no one knew if this land would collapse. Jing Shu truly admired these people for not fleeing for their lives and instead guarding the exit. Newest update provıded by 𝗻𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗹·𝗳𝗶𝗿𝗲·𝗻𝗲𝘁

Little Black raised his hands. "Hey buddy, let’s talk this through. Let’s put down the guns."

The dark muzzles lowered, and the familiar face of George appeared—the man who had acquired the Zombie Hippo a few days ago. He clapped his hands and laughed. "Congratulations, lucky Asians! As the A-grade Mercenary Team that survived this terrible disaster, you will be promoted to S-grade to fight for the Black Market. Every victory will earn you an exorbitant amount of Black Market Coins."

From the distance, an old man’s voice was heard, "Stop wasting time! The people from the new government will be here soon!"

Jing Shu finally understood what these Nobles from the Underground Black Market were planning. They were in a hurry to select the strongest Mercenary Teams from all available squads to compete against the teams from the urban area. The goal was to determine speaking rights and resource allocation based on Combat Power.

Whether it was the Nobles of the Underground Black Market or those in the luxurious urban area of Sacramento, a great battle was finally about to erupt in this border region. The new government, bringing United States soldiers, was coming to forcefully reclaim power. Simultaneously, the Mexican army was pressing on the border, preparing to move into the United States. Sacramento was on the verge of extensive warfare. If these "fat sheep," rich in supplies, did not flee, they would very likely be devoured completely.

Therefore, these two factions had to temporarily cooperate to escape and then seek refuge with the big shot in Austin. Then the question arose: who would contribute how many supplies to this alliance, and what would happen if disagreements arose along the way? The Underground Black Market had over a hundred middle-class Nobles controlling its supplies. Sacramento, however, was a slave society with only one big shot in charge. Both sides ultimately decided to let the Combat Power of their mercenaries decide the outcome.

The entire Underground Black Market had collapsed. Jing Shu didn’t know how many people had escaped—very few, in any case. However, another A-grade team had managed to get out. So, George simply took Jing Shu’s team, the other A-grade team, and two teams the Nobles had cultivated themselves, and set off for the competition.

Rumor had it that this battle would determine the allocation of resources and supplies between the two factions. If they lost, they would have to contribute various mines and assets as a protection fee to their new benefactors. The new government had vowed to eradicate these two "cancers" of Sacramento, so the two factions were undoubtedly scared enough to flee.

"So, what exactly does Old Yang mean by making us an S-grade Mercenary Team for the Underground Black Market?" Tan Ke mused, counting on his fingers as he tried to unravel the scheme. "That’s not right. We’re the enforcers for this side, and they’re the enforcers for that side. Aren’t we going to end up killing each other?"

Little Black sat in a corner, shivering. "Can I quit? I don’t want to go to the competition. I want to go back to the shantytown and just live!"

Just as he spoke, a loud rumbling sound erupted from the entire shantytown, and soon it also began to collapse. Little Black swallowed hard. It was over. He had absolutely nowhere to go. His face fell. "My... my 5,000 Black Market Coins! I hadn’t even spent them yet! And I haven’t packed my luggage!"

Jing Shu was beginning to understand what Yang Yang was scheming. One thing was certain: whether it was the Black Market’s supplies or those from Sacramento’s urban area, Yang Yang planned to pocket them all.

I must practice the Magic Cube quickly, or I won’t get a share of these supplies. Jing Shu took out the Magic Cube and began to practice, forcing herself to constantly use her Illusion Technique, pushing herself to her limits time and again. Through this focused training, Jing Shu touched the threshold of advancement. Soon, she would be just a step away!

Rumor had it that the new government had already crushed the surrounding cities and was fast approaching Sacramento. When Jing Shu passed by the Canal, she saw that dockhands were already transferring large quantities of supplies into containers, preparing to flee Sacramento that very night.

Thus, the competition was to be held on a dock illuminated by floodlights. Both sides had gathered their people and set up two fighting rings. A Mercenary Team could only occupy one ring at a time, and it was said that each ring represented a certain degree of authority.

The rules of the competition were simple: defeat the Mercenary Team on a ring to claim it.

On the way, George told everyone, "Listen, we have to secure the authority represented by at least one ring. If your team wins a match, you’ll get 50,000 Black Market Coins, and you will come with us to Austin. If we can’t secure even one ring... you’ll have no choice but to stay and submit to the new government. Being devoured by them would be better than being consumed by these exorbitant protection fees."

Jing Shu understood. If they didn’t split the teams this time, they could only get their hands on the supplies from the urban area, not those from the Black Market. So, was that why they needed to balance things out?

Jing Shu had thought the conditions in Sacramento’s urban area would be a bit better.

But damn it, she hadn’t expected it to be *this* luxurious!

Yang Yang, whom she hadn’t seen in a long time, was decked out in gold chains, a gem-studded ring on each hand, looking like a typical sudden rich. He wore sunglasses, smoked a cigar, and sipped red wine.

And Hao Yunlai, who usually appeared honest and Zen-like and was said to possess special luck, had a Black beauty on his left and a blonde, blue-eyed white beauty on his right. Outrageously, someone was even massaging him! He still squinted, thoroughly enjoying life.

The Ascetic Monk, who had been banished from Shaolin, was holding a large bucket filled with white rice and a dish resembling beef and potato curry, eating with gusto.

What kind of life had these freaks been living in the urban area all this time?!

The only one who seemed relatively normal was Zhen Nantian. He still wore an aloof expression, as if he didn’t belong in this world, leaning against the wall and calmly observing everything.

In stark contrast stood Jing Shu and her group. To say nothing of their daily hardships, they had just been in the Underground Black Market competition wearing zebra suits—a competition that collapsed before it could even properly begin. They had barely escaped through a garbage chute and hadn’t even had time to clean themselves up before being dragged here to fight. Each one of them reeked. The contrast between the two groups was like night and day.

Yang Yang quietly shook his head, signaling both sides to pretend they didn’t know each other, while Snake Spirit was whispering complaints to Lingling.

As the formidable representatives of Sacramento’s urban area, Yang Yang, Zhen Nantian, the Ascetic Monk, and Hao Yunlai were the first to step onto one of the fighting rings. An A-grade team that had escaped the Underground Black Market went up to challenge them. In their eyes, those 50,000 Black Market Coins were already in the bag.

After all, a team usually consisted of six people, but this side only had four Chinese individuals, who looked fragile and easy to bully. So, securing those 50,000 Black Market Coins seemed like a sure thing.

But they were wrong, terribly wrong. Laughter erupted from the crowd—the mocking laughter of those who had suffered at their hands before. These Mercenary Teams from the urban area knew very well how perverse these few individuals were.

The match began almost immediately. Yang Yang continued to sip his red wine. Zhen Nantian leaned against the wall, unmoving as a statue. Hao Yunlai was still squinting, lost in his enjoyment. Only the Ascetic Monk stepped forward, holding an iron rod.