strictlysupreme Chapter 284 is currently undergoing urgent outline revisions...
Chapter 284 is currently undergoing urgent outline revisions...
"Did the sparrow cheat you out of your money?"
“No, no. Mr. Baishu, please come with us.”
Qiong's first reaction was that some con artist had been exposed, but the woman said they weren't after Song Que.
Not a pine bird? Then Qiong understands even less.
Whether Qiong understood or not was clearly not within the woman's considerations. At her instruction, several burly men squeezed into the small wooden house—there were still about a dozen men in suits and ties outside who couldn't get in...
"Hey, this is private property. Do you know you're breaking the law?"
Qiong tried to shoo the group away, but they pretended not to hear her.
What Qiong didn't know was that the massive Lamp organization had been involved in everything from fighting the Shadow Monsters to the grassroots governance of Langqiu. The Anhe Republic, which Song Que mentioned as "permanently neutral," was a so-called city-state that had almost abandoned grassroots governance... But power naturally abhors a vacuum, and Lamp, a civilian organization with a decent reputation, had already filled a void, so he was now facing law enforcement personnel.
Seeing that legal means were useless, Qiong had no choice but to take out her baseball bat—although it was a bit embarrassing to say so, it was the bat that had won all fifteen rounds of the Ten Arts War Arena elimination tournament. Seeing this, these people should restrain themselves a little, right?
Seeing Qiong pull out his baseball bat, the burly men didn't panic. Instead, they pulled out knives, spiked clubs, and even pistols from behind their backs. They were clearly confident that their guns were fast and accurate from seven paces away, but in the confined space, Qiong wouldn't have time to swing his baseball bat before he would be injured or even killed by the knives, spiked clubs, and pistols.
"Mr. Baishu, please don't cause us any trouble. We don't want to cause any problems."
"The troublemaker says they don't want to cause trouble?"
The woman didn't reply, but instead directed her men. Under her command, the burly men approached the sky from inside the cramped wooden hut.
"Sora, be careful!"
"I know without you telling me!"
Qiong glanced at the burly man's route out of the corner of her eye, pondering the minimum damage range of the Flame Spear—it was almost inevitable to take out the Flame Spear and demolish the cabin here, but if it really was demolished, when Song Que returned and saw the cabin and her belongings burned to ashes, she would probably have a mental breakdown on the spot...
It's too much of a loss to fight here; it's better to fight outside.
"Okay, okay, they have guns, I surrender!"
"Sora, actually..."
"Don't rush, watch me do it!"
Qiong Chao "Nian Gao" blinked, then with a flick of his wrist, the baseball bat disappeared, and he even gave a French military salute to show his surrender—the French military salute is universal regardless of the planet.
Seeing Qiong surrender, the woman breathed a sigh of relief and pointed to the door.
"You're smart to know what's good for you. Please, Mr. Bai Shu."
Qiong couldn't wait to leave the pine sparrow's nest with "Nian Gao" in her arms.
When he came out, he discovered that the group of people outside were all armed with small handguns...
They were still masked!
Are these people really from the Lamp Organization? Why would an organization whose mission is to end the Shadow Calamity come knocking on his door to cause trouble? Qiong suddenly felt that these people were fake Lamp members—could they be kidnappers using Lamp's name to kidnap him and take advantage of his ability to quickly clear out the Shadow Monsters?
"I have no problem going with you... but can you tell me why?"
Qiong calmly lowered his hand, ready to draw his Flame Spear for defense and counterattack at any time if he wished.
The woman sneered and pointed the gun at the back of Qiong's head.
"Stop playing dumb, Bai Shu, don't you know what you've done?"
Qiong frowned. What had he done? He hadn't done anything but eat, sleep, and hunt chickens these past few days!
"Your activities are so lively!"
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The Lanterns are a vast organization formed by people to combat the Shadow Disaster. And normally, the most important task of the Lanterns is…
Make money.
Even the most noble organizations need funding to operate. Most of the people in the organization are not volunteers who took out loans to work; many are there for the high salaries and pensions. Obtaining funding to keep the organization running is of paramount importance.
Although there are philanthropists like the eldest son of the Bai family who are willing to donate to them, the Lamp Organization needs more money to recruit more people and expand its scale. Only by expanding its scale can it fight more Shadow Monsters and do other things. Therefore, charging fees for eliminating some non-high-risk Shadow Monsters has been put on the agenda.
One hundred thousand lang is a lot, but it's also a little. After all, in Langqiu, where a box of pastries costs two hundred lang and a bottle of drink costs thirty lang, the various expenses, plus the wages and compensation for work-related injuries of the organization's members, are not considered too high by the higher-ups of the Lantern Organization.
Although the public is somewhat dissatisfied with the high price of the lamp, they can't do without it when they need to clear out the shadow monsters—who can blame them when there are so few "spells" and most of the "spells" have found an opportunity to run to Ruimu?
Therefore, the residents of Langqiu had no choice but to accept it reluctantly, since it concerned their lives and there was only one such organization. With the support of the residents of Langqiu, the Lantern Organization grew stronger and stronger, and even showed a tendency to expand beyond Langqiu...
Until a baseball bat-wielding madman named Bai Shu barged into their territory.
At first, Song Que and Qiong didn't care about the Lamp Organization's fortune-telling and "exorcising" services on the streets: there were plenty of swindlers out there, and the Lamp's contribution to law enforcement was ultimately small. They focused their energy on helping residents fight the Shadow Disaster.
But within a few days, the reputation of "the White Magic Master of the Ten Lang Shadows" spread throughout Amber Street. Coupled with a member named Scudder praising Qiong's abilities, the Lantern Organization paid a little attention, but didn't take it too seriously. After all, even if the Ten Lang Shadows were truly doing charity, they couldn't do much; at most, they could help some poor people who couldn't afford lanterns without harming their income… Perhaps they should give this person an award as encouragement.
However, a few days after the start of the Ten Arts War, the Lamp Organization sensed something was wrong—Qiong's cleanup was too fast.
Common sense dictates that clearing out a large number of Shadow Monsters in a short period is virtually impossible, as it would likely be fatal. The Lantern Organization never does that; it would be disrespectful to the lives of its members and also a waste of the compensation money… But what about Qiong? Led by Song Que, Qiong runs around the streets of Langqiu all day long, only receiving twenty Lang per trip (the rest is all "voluntarily exchanged" under Song Que's guidance, amounting to only a few hundred or a few thousand Lang).
The Lantern Organization has lost its initial indifference and even supportive attitude. Qiong's efficient and almost free actions have nearly severed their most important source of income... Yes, the Lantern Organization is indeed large and powerful, but its core income and cash flow still come from its daily work clearing out Shadow Monsters for residents, and Qiong has shaken their foundation. If this continues, the Lantern Organization will be unable to maintain its current scale and may even be forced to cut costs...
Even more terrifying is that as Qiong distinguishes himself in the Ten Arts War, the Lantern Organization is unable to use its law enforcement authority to crack down on Qiong and Songque, who are setting up stalls on the streets. They can only watch helplessly as Qiong's reputation grows. Some people have already tried to visit and befriend Qiong through Songque, including the Bai family, their powerful backers... The Lantern Organization is powerless to stop this—Qiong finishes his arena fights and immediately goes to work killing monsters, with the villagers watching. What can they do?
What happens when a cheaper, more efficient option comes into view?
Mars doesn't have the term "involution," but they do have a "cinema effect": when people in the front row stand up, people in the back are forced to stand up or even stand on their own two feet to see the movie.
Unfortunately, the Light Organization members were sitting in the back row of the movie theater. Compared to Qiong, who is a giant at 1.8 meters tall, they were still just kids.
Since the child can't grow taller quickly and has nothing to sit on, the only way to see the movie is to knock down the man in the front row, take possession of his data, and seal it away for research purposes. Only in this way can the organization survive.
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"So, I cut off your source of income? You sent over a dozen people to deal with me?"
The woman put down her gun, but the others still pointed their guns at Qiong's head.
"No, it's more than half."
Qiong: ...
Qiong sighed. What was all this about? Was he disrupting the market?
"Mr. Baishu, you'd better behave yourself, otherwise we can't guarantee Miss Songque's safety."
"what?!"
"Hey, hey, hey, you guys have gone too far!"
Qiong's eyes instantly turned cold.
"Aren't you supposed to be a good people's organization? How could you do such a despicable thing?"
The woman sneered. A good person? Is there anything in this world that's simply black and white?
Naive.
"Please cooperate obediently, and we guarantee that Miss Songque will be unharmed."
Qiong, who was still considering whether to resolve the matter peacefully, abandoned that option and the next moment, he pulled out his Flame Spear.
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If anyone ever says my book is like a wife cake again, I'll never forgive them (seriously).
I was stunned when I watched the new episode today.
Immortal, Martian computer, dragon... Who, is the ancestor of the Vidyadhara race, the Immortal Star God, or a descendant buried on Mars?
I'm currently debating whether to make minor adjustments or a major overhaul of the outline, and also checking if the Immortal Star God is a billion years old...