Chapter 53: Promotion!

After Gunei learned that a member of his squad had been assassinated and that he himself had been targeted by those Blood-Ear Elves,

Gunei's vigilance soared to the extreme.

If not for Veya's protection, he too would have suffered the Blood-Ear Elves' retaliation.

That being the case, what reason did Gunei have not to eliminate those Blood-Ear Elves who secretly coveted his life?

Returning to his room,

Gunei quickly changed his attire: a low hood, an old high-collared black long robe, a pair of washed-out, cheap cotton-linen pants, and a pair of worker's shoes.

After dressing, he entered the underground alchemy chamber, then opened a secret passage and crawled inside.

A few minutes later,

Gunei opened the door at the end of the secret passage and emerged into a deep, narrow alley.

Stepping out of the alley, he was still on Old Stone Street, but now more than two hundred meters away from No. 155.

Taking a roundabout route, Gunei silently came up behind the little homeless girl who appeared to be begging but was actually keeping watch on his door.

Gunei gently tapped the girl on the shoulder.

"Ah!"

The little homeless girl cried out in surprise.

She quickly turned around, her face full of panic.

"Shh!" Gunei hushed softly.

"I'm the one you're waiting for. Take me to 'Rook,'" Gunei said in a low voice once the girl calmed down.

The girl looked at him warily.

"You won't go unrewarded," Gunei said flatly.

Only then did the girl smile.

"This way, follow me." The girl turned and ducked into the alley, speaking quickly to Gunei.

The Blackmap District was a melting pot of fish and dragons.

Many factions interwove there.

Most of these begging children were informants.

In fact, many thieves and pickpockets were trained by them.

Gunei knew the young man named "Rook" he was looking for.

He knew him because Father Cohen was acquainted with "Old Crow," the head of Rook's faction.

Many of Father Cohen's shady jobs were handled by Old Crow.

Even... in Gunei's memory,

the original owner of this body had once spent time with Old Crow as a child.

Later, Father Cohen took a liking to him and adopted him.

The little homeless girl was very familiar with the intricate maze of alleys and streets in the Blackmap District, and she moved quickly.

But Gunei was clearly faster.

No matter how the girl ran, turned, or jumped, Gunei always stayed three meters behind her.

After seven or eight minutes,

the girl finally stopped, panting, in front of a low wooden door.

"We're here," the girl said, looking at Gunei.

Gunei flipped his right hand.

Two Silver Dragons were tossed to her.

The girl caught them quickly.

After glancing at the silver coins in her hand, she knocked rapidly on the low wooden door and then ran off.

The door opened, and a wave of noise hit his ears. A boy of fourteen or fifteen, wearing suspenders and a tattered black shirt, appeared.

"I'm looking for Rook," Gunei said in a hoarse voice.

The boy looked at Gunei, then turned his head.

"Boss, someone's looking for you."

Amid the clamor, a voice said, "Let him in."

"Come in!" The boy pulled the door fully open.

Entering through the door, he saw a stone staircase.

Below the stairs was a large underground hall.

It was noisy and filled with smoke.

A large group of boys and girls were playing cards, drinking, smoking, and even some couples embracing, squandering their youth wantonly.

These youths ranged from as young as twelve or thirteen to seventeen or eighteen.

Most of them were orphans or street children.

Suge Ruins City had a shelter for street children, but there were too many, and the shelter couldn't accommodate them all.

Moreover, some factions needed these young children as their eyes and ears, so the scene before him was not surprising.

Where sunlight doesn't reach, darkness and shadows always walk together.

In a partitioned room within the basement,

Gunei met Rook.

He was a young man in his early twenties, with a thin face, looking very alert and spirited.

Beside the young man was also a girl of seventeen or eighteen, with a pretty face, clean clothes, and a decent figure.

In addition, there were two sturdy-looking young men of seventeen or eighteen, with robust builds.

"All of you, leave!" Luke said, his voice somewhat heavy.

Luke's words clearly carried authority; the three of them rose without any hesitation.

The door closed, but the noise outside still rang incessantly.

After sitting down, Luke began to speak.

"This is all their information, including some details about the house they live in."

As he spoke, Luke placed a paper bag in front of Gunie.

Gunie said nothing, but took the paper bag, opened it, and began to browse through the information inside.

Gunie read quickly; in two or three minutes, he had roughly scanned all the information.

"Not bad."

With a thought, Gunie stored the paper bag and its contents away.

Then a coin purse appeared in Gunie's hand.

Inside it were a full sixty gold pounds.

Seeing the coin purse, Luke restrained his greed well.

The moment he took the purse, Luke's brow twitched slightly.

"There's more than fifty gold pounds in here," he said, looking at Gunie.

"Sixty in total," Gunie said, his voice flat.

"The agreed price was fifty," Luke said, looking at Gunie with slight amusement.

"The extra ten are for stricter silence."

Gunie stood up and walked toward the door.

"If even a hint of information leaks, not even Old Crow can protect you."

"Old Cohen's orders?" Luke looked at Gunie's back.

"No. Mine."

Gunie had already strode away.

Watching Gunie leave, Luke finally rubbed his chin slightly.

"Boss, that kid is pretty arrogant," said a sturdy young man guarding the door, with a hint of teenage aggression.

"Want to teach him a lesson?"

Luke waved his hand.

"Old Crow ordered that this job must be done well and kept quiet."

"If I leak anything, Old Crow himself won't let me off easy. Besides, I have no intention of leaking anything." Luke shrugged.

"Second, if you go after him, you might be the one getting hurt. Old Cohen's men are never pushovers."

At that moment, the girl with the nice figure pressed against him and asked with a coquettish smile.

"What's the news that makes Old Crow so cautious?"

"Want to know?" Luke gave a malicious grin and casually closed the door.

…

Inside the secret chamber.

Flames rose, and the many documents, including the paper bag, quickly turned to ash in the fire.

The information from those documents was already firmly imprinted in Gunie's mind.

"Six people, maybe eight, all of them supernaturals, not weak."

"With my current strength, I might be able to kill them all."

"But I myself could get hurt, or even die, since those Blood-Ear Elves are quite fast."

"To kill all those Blood-Ear Elves more safely, I need to break through and advance to a first-rank Blood Curse Master."

"I've prepared most of the materials."

"It's time to break through." Gunie clenched his fist, thinking to himself.

…

The night had grown deep.

Inside the secret chamber.

Blood mist swirled, and blood energy permeated the air.

The thick, bloody smell was nauseating.

But to Gunie's senses, the smell was like the most perfect delicacy in the world, intoxicating.

"Huff... puff..."

Gunie, breathing in the blood mist heavily, had now reached the final stage of his breakthrough.

Supernatural power had already perfectly fused with Gunie's body, soul, source energy, and self-will.

All that was left was the final step of transformation.

"Ack... Lass... Ack... Lass..."

The low, murmuring whispers, like demonic sounds, echoed in Gunie's ears again and again, reverberating deep in his soul.

Hard to expel, hard to block out.

Even Gunie, during the breakthrough and advancement, found it difficult to suppress the negative influence of the supernatural power itself.

Fortunately, Gunie's soul was strong enough and his resilience tough enough; even with the murmuring whispers lingering in his ears, Gunie steadily began the transformation of his body, source energy, and soul.