Chapter 19 The Bartender and the Soul-Capturing Talisman

Although the bar business is just a cover, ‘bartender’ Kooncho has always tried his best to do this part-time job well.

He is usually very patient and will try his best to meet the normal requests of normal customers. Occasionally, he will chat with them about life, the future of the fortress, and the terrible shape of their organs after disease.

—Even though he rarely has any customers on weekdays.

Of course, sometimes, drunkards whose brains are numbed by alcohol will accidentally wander in. If the drunkards are rude and shout at Kooncho, Kooncho won’t mind, as it adds a little bit of material to his main business.

Gu Wenting’s ranking within the Blackfire Gang wasn’t very high; at each year-end summary meeting, he could only sit in the seats numbered twenty-four or twenty-five.

But Kouncho has been working diligently for the Blackfire Gang and its predecessor gangs for the past thirty-five years. He is already a veteran of the Blackfire Gang and one of the few members of the Downtown Gang who only needs to wait a few more years to retire at the age of sixty and enjoy a peaceful old age in Midtown.

Therefore, Koun-cho was mostly mild-tempered, and over time, Koun-cho himself began to have a misconception…

It was as if he really was a bartender.

The last time he touched a gun was seven or eight years ago, when the 49th floor was in chaos. A newly emerging gang, with the support of some officials in the upper city, attempted to challenge the Blackfire Gang’s dominant position in the ‘organ trade’ field, and his place was also attacked.

The outcome of that fight was obvious: they won seven or eight years of peaceful life.

The gang has been in turmoil again lately.

Big Mouth Hua died unexpectedly on the thirteenth floor; he ran into trouble when he tried to kidnap a female doctor.

The Blackfire Gang’s greatest strength lies in its abundant medical resources. There are hundreds of medical workers currently working for the Blackfire Gang, and they are shackled with explosives. If they leave a designated area, one of their legs will be blown off.

Even if a doctor loses his entire leg, he can still continue to be of value.

Simply put, kidnapping, training, and controlling doctors is a way to protect the Blackfire Gang’s core interests.

Their boss kept sending people to eliminate the doctor and his henchmen. Gu Wenting could understand it; if he were in their shoes, he would have done the same. He had to ensure that the Blackfire Gang’s core interests were not harmed.

But what Guwen Town couldn’t understand was why the BOSS suddenly sent Night Hawk to the 46th floor to ambush the security captain.

This may be an order from the upper city.

According to rumors circulating within the gang’s management, the captain named Zhou Zhengde is the son of the fortress’s internal affairs minister. Zhou Zhengde was previously demoted to the position of security captain in Midtown for his strong opposition to the human experiments conducted by the Thirteenth Institute of Biology.

‘A young master from uptown.’

Kouncho couldn’t help but grumble inwardly:

‘Once they get caught up in this fortified city, or even in the struggle for interests within the war zone, the Blackfire Gang will be crushed very quickly.’

‘Ugh, these bastards, why can’t they just let me retire in peace?’

‘The boss is far too obedient to the Thirteenth Institute…’

Thinking about this, Koun-cho felt slightly irritated, but then he suddenly heard a young male voice.

“I’d like a pot of Biluochun tea.”

Kooncho stopped wiping the wine glass, habitually revealing a gentle smile, and looked up at the man in front of him.

Kouncho paused for a moment.

He had seen countless people, though most of the time, what he saw were lifeless eyes numbed by drugs.

But the young man before him… his calm, bright eyes, with a hint of aloofness, left a deep impression on Kooncho.

‘This is a young man with a story.’

‘but……’

“What is Biluochun tea?” Gu Wenting asked with a smile.

Wang Jixuan calmly replied, “A type of tea.”

“Tea?”

Kouncho put down his wine glass and the gauze he was using as a rag, and straightened his bow tie with his white-gloved hands.

“I do have tea here. In fact, there are only four or five places in the entire fortress that have tea. Apart from here, you have to go to the upper city to find other tea.”

“But how did you know about this, young man?”

Their conversation attracted the attention of several Blackfire Gang thugs.

Wang Jixuan placed his hands naturally on the edge of the counter, so that the thugs and Gu Wenting did not notice any danger.

Wang Jixuan readily replied, “I’ve heard people talking about this.”

“Oh?” Koun-cho chuckled. “Young man, you seem to know exactly where this place is.”

“Blackfire Gang’s territory.”

Wang Jixuan said calmly:

“There’s a huge cold storage room beneath the tavern, which is also one of the Blackfire Gang’s core assets… This is an almost open secret on the 49th floor; too many people have seen you transporting people here.”

The sound of a bullet being chambered came from the side.

In three corners of the tavern and behind the railing on the second floor, a total of seven men looked in this direction at the same time, and they stopped smoking.

Koun-cho asked, “And what about you? Who are you? Are you here to cause us trouble?”

“I’m here to negotiate.”

Wang Jixuan used a bit of military strategy and continued:

“I was sent here by a security captain from Midtown to talk to your Blackfire Gang’s boss. There are some things I think you already know: the Blackfire Gang’s time is running out.”

Kooncho’s expression became extremely solemn.

Although two-thirds of the 49th floor is controlled by the other two gangs, the Blackfire Gang has absolute dominance in its own territory.

The town, inhabited by more than 6,000 humans and over 40,000 material beings, is a strictly hierarchical place.

The words spoken by this young man are known to no more than thirty people in this area.

“I think I should contact my boss first.”

Kouncho, with both hands resting on the edge of the counter and leaning slightly forward, said with a smile:

“But before I contact my boss, you need to answer a few questions for me: your name, your specific identity, the name and power of your boss, and his position in that power.”

“This is our territory. Even if the fortress governor comes, he still needs to abide by the rules here.”

“Now, answer me, what’s your name, young man?”

Koun-cho deliberately squinted his eyes.

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Having spent years gazing up at the entire fortress from a dark corner, he now resembled a venomous snake exuding a chilling aura.

That’s how he felt.

“Is he Mu Liang?”

A slightly surprised shout suddenly came from behind the second-floor railing. A man wearing a top hat, holding a terminal panel in front of him, let out a soft “Eh?”

“The database shows he’s a technician… the Central City technician the BOSS previously issued a kill order on! Mu Liang! That’s him!”

Gu Wenting’s gaze sharpened as he recalled a message that had once popped up on his text-based communication device, which was only provided to the Black Fire Gang’s management.

【04: The person who killed Night Hawk is named Mu Liang, suspected to be a psionicist. The authorities are already investigating, and all information related to him has been censored. Some information about him can be found in the outdated database; he seems to be an ordinary mechanic.】

The headless corpse of Night Hawk flashed past Kouncho’s eyes.

The words “psychic” seemed like a curse, instantly turning his face deathly pale and causing beads of cold sweat to appear on his forehead…

The atmosphere inside the tavern became somewhat eerie.

The young man who came to visit sat on a high stool, smiling as he watched the bartender in front of him;

The old bartender’s slightly sagging skin trembled as he stared into the young man’s eyes.

In the corner, several burly men wearing dark green sweatshirts simultaneously reached their right hands into their clothes;

On the second floor, two members of the Blackfire Gang, dressed in suits and top hats, silently picked up shotguns and tranquilizer guns…

Koun-cho suddenly lowered his head!

He was going to grab the pistol that was stuck under the counter!

As soon as Gu Wending made a move, he felt a blur before his eyes. More than ten long pink paper talismans unfolded almost instantly, and the young man in front of him lunged forward and grabbed his collar!

Bang! Bang bang!

The people nearby immediately opened fire!

Kouncho couldn’t believe what he was seeing:

Those paper talismans suddenly flashed with dazzling golden light. The golden light connected and overlapped to form a thin golden shield wall, which deflected and distorted the incoming pistol bullets!

The young man who had grabbed his collar used the force of the golden light to pounce on him and shove him behind the counter a split second before the golden light burst forth.

Gu Wending slammed the back of his head against the stone floor, and a wave of dizziness washed over him.

In his line of sight, the young man named Mu Liang crouched down and darted forward, his movements as fluid as flowing water, his hands moving in rapid succession like phantoms!

Streaks of dark light shot out!

The gunfire inside the tavern stopped abruptly.

Koun-cho had no idea what was happening outside, but he heard a dull thud as someone fell from the second floor.

They were taken down?

All of my men here have been killed?

Wang Jixuan stood up from his kneeling position, and used his fingers to push the dozen or so talismans that were pressed in his palm back into his sleeve.

Compared to the metal darts he threw wrapped in 【qi】, the bullets were indeed faster.

But it doesn’t matter, Wang Jixuan has already figured out a way to block ordinary pistol bullets. He only needs to use a dozen or so Vajra Talismans at the same time to achieve ‘full protection’ for three or four seconds.

Wang Jixuan looked down at the bartender Gu Wenting and asked with a smile:

Where is your tea?

“You pose no threat to me, young man,” Gu Wen-ting’s breath trembled slightly. “You can kill me now. I’ve had enough of living, that’s the truth. Don’t expect to get any valuable information out of me! They’ll be here in a minute!”

Wang Jixuan raised an eyebrow slightly.

In his perception, there was a huge cavity beneath his feet, and below it were some mottled and faint breaths.

Interrogation was the most troublesome thing for him.

This tavern is located in the northwest corner of the Blackfire Gang’s territory and serves as an important warehouse for the gang’s rear.

Wang Jixuan had to act quickly. Before the Black Fire Gang members in the cold storage below discovered the problem with the tavern, he needed to extract the information he wanted most from this old man.

“I really want to persuade people to do good.”

Wang Jixuan reached into the inside pocket of his jacket with his right hand, took out a blank talisman, bit the tip of his index finger, forced out wisps of energy, and quickly drew complex talismans on the talisman.

“But at the very least, the person I’m advising must first be a person.”

Wang Jixuan raised his right hand and pressed down on the blood-red talisman, striking Gu Wenting’s forehead with force.

Soul-stealing!