Chapter 388: Starting Phase
The slums of Free City were like a miniature version of Free City itself, with intermingled forces and extraordinary chaos.
Lin Ye and the others stopped at a remote, abandoned building, using it as a temporary base.
However, they had only rested for a while when two gang members entered the building, claiming the abandoned building was their gang's territory and demanding protection money.
Both gang members were ordinary people without any rank. The young men swarmed them and knocked them down in a few moves.
"Do you know the consequences of attacking us? Our gang has the Adventurer's Association backing us! Just you wait! This isn't over!"
One of the gang members angrily shouted threats.
"Adventurer's Association? Do they even bother with slum gangs? Who are you trying to scare?"
Black Dog forcefully slapped the other man, knocking his face askew.
The Adventurer's Association was a commercial organization established by some high-level adventurers, primarily responsible for safeguarding the rights and interests of its members within Free City, while also handling resource trading and supply work for the association's members.
To put it bluntly, the Adventurer's Association couldn't possibly care about the measly scraps in the slums. The produce from the Bottomless Pit was their main source of income. "They probably have a low-level member from within the Adventurer's Association backing them. They collect money in the slums for that person, who in turn sells them some junk spiritual energy items at a low price."
Just from hearing their claims, Lin Ye could roughly guess what was going on. Those just scraping by in the slums were truly poor people;
mid-level spiritual energy users wouldn't give this place a second glance.
"So, how should we deal with them?"
Hearing they had a low-level spiritual energy user backing them, Black Dog asked with some concern.
"Dispose of them. Letting them go back might invite unnecessary trouble. I need a bit of time."
Lin Ye had no intention of letting them leave.
"Wait! I was wrong! I just wanted to come get some money! Don't kill me!"
The gang member initially felt emboldened, especially after hearing Lin Ye's analysis, but upon hearing Lin Ye's decision to dispose of them, he finally panicked.
The other gang member also began pleading for mercy.
Lin Ye silently absorbed the surrounding spiritual energy, completely ignoring them.
These gang members were no good people;
they probably regularly engaged in murder and robbery, otherwise they wouldn't be so brazen.
Seeing Lin Ye remain silent, Black Dog very decisively used a sharp metal rod to stab the other man's neck several times.
"The boss said to dispose of them. What are you all waiting for?"
Wendy smiled as she used a metal shard to slice open the neck of the remaining gang member. That gang member struggled on the ground for a while before finally dying.
Little Ke took a few of the young men to dispose of the corpses. After this incident, these young men had clearly undergone some changes.
"Hey, I want to take a few people out to get some food. Everyone's hungry;
we can't hold out until tomorrow morning."
Maggie looked at Lin Ye. She didn't know what kind of change had occurred in Lin Ye, but it was a good thing. At least they could survive now.
"No need. In half an hour, I'll go take a walk outside the slums and bring some food back for you all."
For a technical expert like Lin Ye, initial funding wasn't really a problem. He wasn't about to let these young men rummage through garbage piles for food.
After completing one spiritual energy circulation cycle, Lin Ye used scrap materials scavenged from the garbage dump to craft two simple spiritual energy items. Then, he took Black Dog, Wendy, and a few young men and left the abandoned building.
By now, it was late. The slums were full of narrow alleyways. Some gang members hid in dark corners, watching them, but perhaps because their group was large, these people didn't make a move.
"Boss, the slums are a bit dangerous at night. Many gang members here have firearms."
Black Dog whispered beside Lin Ye.
"It's fine."
After enhancing his body with spiritual energy, Lin Ye could now briefly use a certain degree of mental energy.
After the group left the slums, Lin Ye first found a clothing store to change his outfit. The Free Coins used to buy the clothes were found on the two gang members. Together, they had less than a hundred Free Coins. Fortunately, ordinary clothing here was also very cheap.
After changing clothes, Lin Ye found a general store that sold spiritual energy items and sold the items he crafted to the shopkeeper.
The reason for changing clothes was to avoid the shopkeeper mistaking him for a homeless person who had found spiritual energy items, which could potentially cause trouble.
The two spiritual energy items sold for a thousand Free Coins. The spiritual energy items Lin Ye crafted were good quality with clearly visible rune effects. This price wasn't expensive. The shopkeeper didn't even haggle much before completing the transaction with him.
After obtaining the Free Coins, Lin Ye took Black Dog and the others to have a hearty dinner by the roadside, and also packed a lot of food to take back for the others.
"Boss, are you a spiritual energy user?"
Black Dog had personally witnessed Lin Ye turn two pieces of scrap into a thousand Free Coins, which greatly shocked him.
"Not yet, but I will be soon."
Lin Ye didn't plan to enhance this body the same way he enhanced his original body. As long as he didn't care about bodily Alienation, advancing his rank wouldn't be difficult.
Moreover, Free City had many items that could rapidly increase a spiritual energy user's rank. With enough Free Coins, he could soon become a mid-level spiritual energy user.
"Boss, can I become a spiritual energy user too?"
After hesitating for a while, Black Dog finally asked.
"Becoming a spiritual energy user isn't difficult. The hard part is controlling spiritual energy. If you want to learn, I can teach you. I was planning to teach you all how to become spiritual energy users after we got back anyway."
Lin Ye and the others moved through the alleyways. The sky was completely dark now.
A group of gang members appeared at both ends of the alley, trapping them in the middle.
"So, you're the ones who messed with my people?"
The leader of the gang members, the gang boss, spoke.
"I originally planned to give you a chance. It's a pity you came too early. But it's fine. After all, you're just dispensable characters in the plan anyway."
Lin Ye continued walking forward. The gang boss wanted to say something more, but his head had already separated from his neck.
The gang members blocking the way slowly backed away. They weren't fools. Seeing Lin Ye ignore them, these people soon vanished into the darkness.
Returning to the abandoned building, Lin Ye had the young men carrying the food distribute the meals to the others. He himself found a corner to continue his spiritual energy circulation cycles.
After completing one spiritual energy circulation cycle, Lin Ye gathered everyone and began teaching them how to become spiritual energy users. Lin Ye wasn't a very good introductory teacher, because he had first awakened his mental energy before starting to enhance his body. These young men couldn't do that.
However, this didn't stump Lin Ye. Combining information from the Group Chat and his own experience, he created a simple technique using breathing to control spiritual energy and enhance the body.