Chapter 80: Major Movements in the Upper City (Part 2)

“Upper City Tech! It’s always Upper City Tech!”

Shack roared internally in frustration and fear.

He couldn’t comprehend the existence of Mind Control Magic. To him, Lu Yan’s mana manipulation was just a more advanced form of Spirit Energy. But that fear of the unknown only made his reverence grow stronger.

Suppressing his pain with great effort, Shack reached up and reset his half-detached jaw. His towering figure bent slightly, and on his face—flattened by the crushing force—he forced out a fawning smile.

“Sir, you possess something as precious as the Jiulong Power Serum. What you lack is simply a distribution channel for it.

I, Shack, am not just the owner of a minor gladiatorial arena in Sector 33. I am also a registered member of the Lower City Alchemy Association. Every year, millions of units of low-grade Spirit Energy serums are circulated through us.

If you are willing to forgive my offense, I can leverage my connections within the association to help distribute Jiulong Power Serum throughout the Lower City.

With access to major black markets and populated underground sectors, it’s not unrealistic to expect daily revenues in the millions of credit points.”

Lu Yan’s expression remained calm and indifferent, offering no clear reaction to Shack’s offer.

To Lu Yan, credit points were merely tools—just something to pay his Spirit Energy taxes with. Their intrinsic value to him was minimal.

What he truly sought was knowledge of the cyber world. And knowledge—especially the kind he desired—was typically locked behind Upper City clearance and authorization levels. Compared to that, credit points were nearly worthless.

“Not enough.”

Lu Yan uttered the words softly, but they carried weight.

Shack wasn’t surprised. A million a day might sound impressive, but even over the course of a year, that was just a bit over 300 million credits.

To someone Shack presumed to be a former corporate executive from the Upper City, such a figure probably wasn’t even worth considering.

He chuckled and continued, “I understand that your background must be extraordinary, so aside from the serum itself, I can also arrange for a legitimate identification for the Middle City.

This won’t be a forgery—this will be a genuine identity filed in the official Middle City archives. Even the Heaven AI Mainframe won’t be able to detect any problems—”

Before he could finish, Lu Yan interrupted him.

“Heaven AI might not be able to detect it. But what about the Intelligent God that powers Heaven’s computational core?”

Lu Yan had long suspected that the unease stirring in his spiritual sense came from none other than the God of Intelligence.

Across all the versions he had traversed, most adhered to recognizable structures and order. Only the Cyber version had an Intelligent God unlike anything he had encountered—an anomaly among anomalies.

A fake ID might deceive Heaven AI, but if it couldn’t fool the Intelligent God, then it held no value for Lu Yan.

Shack’s pupils dilated in shock. The smirk on his face instantly vanished, replaced by a look of raw disbelief.

The entity behind Heaven AI—the so-called all-knowing, all-seeing God—was said to transcend the boundaries of artificial intelligence entirely.

Even someone like Shack, well-connected as he was in the Lower City, had only ever heard of such things in whispered rumors. He had never once dreamed of touching that level of classified truth.

He had made many guesses about Lu Yan’s true identity… but to hear him mention the Intelligent God so casually?

It made Shack realize that Lu Yan’s status might be far more terrifying than he ever imagined.

His massive figure bent even further, now practically folded in half as he humbly said:

“Your status is far beyond mine. These little tricks of mine are laughable in front of someone like you. If there is anything you require, please tell me directly.”

Lu Yan tapped his index finger lightly on the armrest, eyes growing deeper and darker.

“Can you get me a Cerebrum Core AI? Or at least some Spirit Energy code related to it?”

Shack froze. Then quickly shook his head and said with a wry smile:

“Please don’t tease me, sir. The Cerebrum Core is the literal heart of the city. Every city function is run by it.

Even in the Upper City, they only have stripped-down versions for personal use—and even then, those are strictly reserved for the top-tier elites.

For people in the Middle or Lower Cities, there’s absolutely no way to gain access to a Cerebrum Core.”

Lu Yan wasn’t surprised. That question had been a spur-of-the-moment test anyway.

What he truly wanted… was something else.

“I need information—from the Upper City.”

Shack instinctively wanted to decline, but Lu Yan continued before he could speak:

“Whether it’s Spirit Energy knowledge, ordinary Upper City newspapers, updates on subsidiaries of the Universal Conglomerate, or the latest policy changes in the Upper City—I’ll take anything you have.

Of course, I won’t ask you to give it for free.

The Jiulong Power Serum—I’ll sell it to you at 500 credits per full nine-dose course.”

The rejection stuck in Shack’s throat.

He had personally witnessed the power of the Jiulong Power Serum. It had neutralized the side effects of low-quality Spirit Energy serums and brought the dying Steroid Goblin back from the brink of death. Its value was unimaginable.

And now Lu Yan was offering it at only 500 credits per course?

That price was staggeringly low.

For comparison, even the lowest-quality industrial Spirit Energy serum had a raw material and production cost of at least 30 credits, with a market price of around 40.

Just a dozen doses of such cheap serum could be exchanged for a life-saving Jiulong treatment.

And as the exclusive distributor, Shack could easily inflate the market price to several thousand credits per course.

The profit margin was enough to drive anyone mad.

After a moment of deep thought, Shack clenched his jaw and said:

“If you’re this sincere, sir, then I won’t insult your kindness with hesitation.”

As he spoke, he reached into his chest and ripped apart the muscle, digging into his own flesh to retrieve a small USB device, which he then respectfully offered to Lu Yan.

“Before coming to this suite, I met with another guest at the arena.

He’s a VIP at our venue—a Middle City police officer who’s racked up massive gambling debts and thus entered a mutually beneficial relationship with me.

I paid a hefty price to extract this information from him.

Apparently, the Heaven Computational Center has suffered severe processing power shortages in recent years. Despite multiple crackdowns on tax evaders, the shortfall remains.

So now, the powers across various cities are preparing for a major move targeting the Lower City.

That USB contains some detailed documentation.

I was originally planning to destroy it after reading, but given the tremendous offer you’ve made… I am honored to present it to you.”

Lu Yan’s eyes glinted with interest.

His initial plan had simply been to establish a foundation—prepare in advance in case of future crisis.

But to receive such a windfall from their first transaction?

Lu Yan reached out to accept the USB.

But at that moment—
BOOM!

A thunderous explosion rocked the entire Gladiator Arena.

Everyone instinctively turned toward the sound, only to see dozens of figures charging in at the entrance—each clad in silver-white exoskeleton armor, wielding Spirit Energy rifles.

“Tax inspection by the Enforcement Division!
Everyone, remain where you are!”

(End of Chapter)