377: Chapter 377: Chaos (Two in One) 377: Chapter 377: Chaos (Two in One) Killing Yates had always been part of He Ao’s plan.
This Copy World was a bit more difficult than the ones He Ao had experienced before, both in terms of the difficulty of the investigation and the challenges he encountered during the investigation.
Rock City was a brand-new map; most people here had never heard of K, and Dawn City in the south seed like another world to them.
The Mining Consortium and the city governnt controlled by it were their entire world.
This city was very similar to Kaye City; the only difference was that in the Copy World of Kaye City, he was the uncrowned king of Kaye City, while in this Copy World of Rock City, he had to confront the uncrowned king of this city.
In fact, the Mining Consortium’s control over Rock City far exceeded that of Nolanka Group, playing both sides of the law, and the de facto controller of the consortium was the mayor of Rock City.
Therefore, He Ao had to try to ally with forces worth allying with, because to receive, one must give.
However, assassinating Yates turned out to be a bit more perilous than He Ao had imagined.
The leap from D-level to C-level is significant, and the leap from C-level to B-level seems to be significant as well.
Once reaching the C-level, the strength between adjacent levels didn’t seem as close as below C-level; He Ao could no longer use his current realm to guess what powers other Talent Sequences at the next level might possess, as the gap between different Talent Sequences was widening.
He Ao’s original plan was to try a long-distance assault using ntal Disturbance to shatter Yates’ consciousness directly.
With his current mastery of Super mory down to the finest detail and his powerful Soul Power, he could already ‘disable’ or even kill so of the weaker D-levels with his ntal Power.
But when He Ao activated his Super mory vision, he was shocked to see that Yates’s soul seed to be protected by an invisible ‘shackle.’
This shackle originated from Aber, and seed to extend from Aber’s power.
Aber was not only strong in combat, but also had so technique to protect the soul.
The Transcendents He Ao had t before didn’t have this technique, and ntal Disturbance worked on them without fail.
Upon observing briefly, He Ao noted that with the presence of this barrier, his full force attack could only penetrate a little, causing only minor ntal Disturbance effects to Yates, but not inflicting more serious harm.
Moreover, his attack would surely be noticed by Aber, leading to his own exposure.
By that ti, although He Ao could run away, the next attempt on Yates’s life would be even more difficult.
So He Ao changed his plan, resorting to a risky one.
He discovered that although his full-power attack would be blocked by that soul barrier, he could still infiltrate tiny amounts of power into the barrier to disturb Yates’s soul.
This operation required extrely fine control and a stable mindset, which might be difficult for the average ntally-oriented Transcendent, but not so for He Ao, who had mastered Super mory to the finest detail.
But he was not hasty; he first grabbed a handful of pebbles and waited for Aber to be in conflict with Elijah, focusing all his attention on her.
He then intentionally led Yates to discover him.
Next, he allowed a small amount of ntal Power to seep through the gaps in the soul barrier.
As Yates detected him and instinctively launched an attack, He Ao disturbed Yates’s soul, causing his thoughts to briefly fall silent, preventing him from calling out to Aber.
Imdiately thereafter, he leaped forward, pretending to attack Aber.
When Aber’s attention was drawn at that mont, He Ao took the opportunity to assassinate Yates and then imdiately fled without stopping.
Because Aber himself was already in conflict with Elijah, and was very close to her, Elijah temporarily obstructed Aber as He Ao had anticipated.
This brief obstruction was enough for He Ao to leave calmly, and by the ti Aber caught up, He Ao had already turned into an alley and left.
“Phew—”
He Ao exhaled a white breath and looked up at the dark sky, with light snowflakes drifting in front of him.
The weather had changed quickly; it was still sunny in the morning, but in the afternoon, snowflakes began to fall, and the temperature seed to have dropped quite a bit.
This was a marketplace in the North District, with a noisy crowd moving around in the market.
Although Rock City was a resource-based city, the huge profits from resources did not end up in their pockets.
The Mining Consortium might be wealthy, ranking within the top fifty of the Federation’s major consortia, but the majority of the lower-class citizens of Rock City only earn two to three hundred federal coins a week.
With such inco, they could not afford to continuously purchase regular goods imported from the south.
Therefore, markets filled with secondhand and cheap goods were very popular in Rock City, and such markets could be found everywhere.
These markets were mostly small vendors without business licenses from the city governnt.
There are two kinds of taxes in the Federation: one is the federal tax paid directly to the Federation, and the other is the city tax paid directly to the city.
Taxation is an important source of funds for the municipal governnt, and large monopoly groups and industries related to these groups contribute significant taxes to the city governnt.
For example, about 35% of Kaye City’s tax revenue cos from the Nolanka Group, as well as its subsidiaries and industrial chain companies.
In Rock City, the Mining Consortium contributes less than 5% of the total tax revenue to the city governnt.
They lobby legislators, and laws, transfer the group’s registration, and strenuously avoid paying a penny more in taxes than they have to.
They take the most benefits from the city yet bear the least responsibility.
The main industries of the Mining Consortium are all located in Rock City, but the Mining Consortium registered in Rock City is just a ‘subsidiary,’ with its ‘parent company’ located in the small western city of Benok City, which has the lowest corporate inco tax in the Federation.
As the municipal governnt’s expenses still need to be t, and they cannot collect enough tax from the Mining Consortium, the Rock City governnt has no choice but to increase the tax burden on ordinary people.
One important source of the city governnt’s tax revenue is the consumption tax.
The Federation’s consumption tax is an additional tax, with the price of goods and the tax amount displayed together and paid for at the sa ti.
The consumption tax rates vary from city to city, but they are not too high.
For instance, Dawn City is 5%, Kaye City is 6%, and Rock City is 9%, the highest band in the entire Federation.
The high tax rates an that the sa items cost much more in Rock City compared to other cities.
As a result, a thriving smuggling industry has erged, along with stalls selling smuggled goods.
These stalls are not registered with the governnt and naturally do not pay taxes.
After deducting costs such as rent, the sa goods are 10 to 20% cheaper at the stalls than in regular stores.
Many such stalls form markets, and the existence of nurous markets makes it even harder for the city governnt to collect taxes.
The previous mayor, from the Elijah party, forcibly shut down these markets, causing his approval ratings to plumt, and the current mayor seized the opportunity to erge victorious in the election with promises of tax cuts and the reopening of markets.
After taking office, he also kept his promise to reopen parts of the markets, which are all under the control of the Ice Wolf Gang.
The stalls in the markets may not have to pay taxes, but they have to pay a ‘stall fee’ to the Ice Wolf Gang.
This portion of tax revenue, which should have been given to the municipal governnt, went to the Ice Wolf Gang, and from there into the pockets of the Mining Consortium.
This was all information He Ao easily found online.
However, finding news about the Ice Wolf Gang was a bit more difficult, but it was not impossible.
There was nothing deeper.
But He Ao could pretty much guess what happened next.
As the city governnt’s inco declined, a large number of governnt employees faced the risk of unemploynt or pay cuts, and even the budget for the City Defense Army was on the chopping block.
This ti, it was even easier and more convenient for the mayor to control the Mining Consortium’s infiltration into the municipal governnt and the City Defense Army.
He Ao browsed through the online information a bit more but found no useful news.
He had originally wanted to search for information on the mayor, but all he found were so election news and clearly filtered flattering articles.
There was no deeper information on the mayor’s past, detailed video materials about the mayor — none of it.
He Ao put down his bracelet and glanced at the sky.
The sky was nearly dark.
People from the rcenary Corps had co and gone in waves, but finding soone in the chaotic market was like looking for a needle in a haystack, especially soone with the agile skills of a powerful Transcendent like He Ao.
There were several markets nearby, and Aber couldn’t be sure whether He Ao was hiding in one of the markets, and if so, which one; the search beca less frequent after many rounds.
He Ao blended into the crowd leaving the market and slowly left.
All around were old buildings and dim street lights.
Generally, the areas with markets are older parts of the city.
There are no markets in the bustling downtown area, where the few middle-class and small factory owners of the city live.
He Ao left the crowd and turned into an alley, walking only a few steps before he heard a commotion of footsteps and shouting.
“My husband is not a criminal.
He did not incite the miners to strike.
Please leave us alone…”
A woman’s voice with a hint of crying ca from the other end of the alley, and He Ao slowly approached, leaning into the shadows.
“I don’t give a damn whether he is or not.
Pay up, or co with us.”
The voice belonged to a man with a sowhat husky voice.
He Ao looked up and saw several n in plain clothes, smoking, dragging a man dressed in a dusty miner’s uniform.
The man seed to have just co back from the mines, not even having changed his clothes.
A woman was crying and tugging at the man’s hand.
“I’m going to fight you,” she shouted.
A childish voice sounded from behind the woman, and a boy about twelve or thirteen stord out of the room, brandishing an iron rod in his hand.
“Get out of the way,” the man lifted his foot and kicked the boy away, sending him crashing into the wall, “little brat.”
“Child, child…”
The woman hurried over to check on the boy’s condition.
“Brother”
“Big brother”
“Brother”
A few younger children ran out of the house.
“Quite fertile, aren’t you,” the man who had kicked snickered with a cigarette in his mouth, “got any older ones, above fifteen who can work?
The boss of the prison has given us a price, sending over a strong laborer is a source of inco.
These kids of yours are too small, they can’t work if we send them.
Bring soone older.”
“Hahaha.”
The few n around him laughed wildly.
“You bunch of beasts.”
The woman stretched out her hand to protect the children and cursed at them.
“Damn mongrels, I’ll fight you all.”
The captured miner’s face turned beet red with effort as he fiercely struggled.
But no matter what, he could not break free from the grip of several strong n, flailing wildly and hopelessly like a person drowning.
“Hey, you’re getting feisty.”
One of them, seeing his fierce struggle, reached out and choked his throat, causing his face to turn purplish instantly.
“Go easy, brothers, don’t kill him,” the man with the cigarette quickly said, “we rely on the living to make money.
This afternoon, those made la or dead didn’t earn us any.”
“La.”
The man who had choked released his grip and spat.
“You bunch of scoundrels!”
The woman quickly shielded the children behind her.
“Let’s go, let’s go, hand over the people and move on to the next place.”
The smoking man sneered and spit the still-sparking cigarette butt toward the woman’s cheek.
The cigarette butt flew swiftly through the air, tumbling, and was about to land on the woman’s face.
Just then, two pristine fingers extended from the void and pinched the cigarette.
“Littering is a violation of city managent regulations.”
He Ao, with a flip of his hand, pinched the cigarette butt and stood up straight, facing the man before him.
“Who the hell are you to tell what to do?
Oh, you want to save them?
Are you also an accomplice of the Miners’ Mutual Aid Association?”
The man spat, stepped back half a step, and shouted loudly, “Brothers, we’ve got work, this strong one is worth a lot of money.”
He looked at He Ao and said with a smile, “Kid, being a hero isn’t done like you think.
Once you’re labeled as an accomplice of the Miners’ Mutual Aid Association, your whereabouts aren’t up to you anymore.”
The n behind him also showed smiles, threw the miner who was already exhausted to the ground, rolled up their sleeves, and strode forward.
He Ao just shrugged his shoulders, not saying a word.
He really was an accomplice of the Miners’ Mutual Aid Association.
The first to approach was the man who had choked earlier.
He was tall and burly; his punch ca with a strong gust of wind.
The others behind him also made their moves.
Bang—
The first man to throw a punch suddenly flew backward, slamming into the high wall behind him, spitting blood, breathing more out than in.
The rest, almost unable to react, likewise flew out and crashed into the wall, collapsing to the ground.
He Ao pulled back his foot, looking at the man who had just been quite arrogant.
Not only had he not made a move, but he had also stepped back.
“Sir, sir, it was my fault, I was blind, I have eyes but might as well have them on my arse…”
The man glanced at He Ao, and then at his brothers lying on the ground, swallowed his saliva, stepped back two steps, and said tremblingly.
“What did I just say?”
He Ao calmly stared at him.
“I…,” the man hesitated for a mont, looking at the cigarette butt in He Ao’s hand, then quickly said, “Don’t litter.”
“Open your mouth.”
He Ao glanced at him.
The man opened his mouth.
The sparking cigarette butt was pushed into his mouth, a plu of smoke rising and a hissing sound following.
He Ao waved his hand, signaling that he could leave.
The man didn’t even dare to cry out in pain, nodding and bowing as he pulled the few who could still get up and scrambled away.
He Ao watched their retreating figures, his eyes narrowing slightly.
These n’s movents were not standardized, clearly lacking unified military training, and they bore tattoos, indicating they were not from the City Defense Army but from the Ice Wolf Gang.
If the City Defense Army was searching for people from the Miners’ Mutual Aid Association, there might be so restraint, but the Ice Wolf Gang was just wreaking havoc.
After Vinc’s death, the Ice Wolf Gang should have also co under the Mayor’s influence.
What are the Mayor and the Mining Consortium planning?
“You are…”
While pondering, He Ao heard a soft inquiry from behind him.
He turned around, facing the mother and her children.
The face of Nell’s mother appeared in his view.
He thought for a mont, drew so candy from his pocket—things that he had casually received when the market vendors didn’t have change to give him.
He Ao’s electronic account didn’t have much money, mostly cash he had brought back from the wilderness.
He handed the candy to the children.
The kids glanced at their mother, hesitant to reach out.
Finally, the older boy who had just been kicked away extended his hand, took the candies from He Ao, and distributed them to his siblings.
At this mont, the captured man also staggered to his feet and approached.
His wife hurriedly supported him.
The man seed ready to thank He Ao.
However, He Ao just shook his head slightly, “You better find sowhere to hide for now.
They’ll definitely co back for you.”
With that, he turned and walked away.
The children watched as his figure disappeared.
“Brother, when can we grow up?”
“What’s wrong?”
“I want to grow up fast so that I can protect Mom and Dad.”
—-
He Ao walked through an alley, about to hail a cab, when he suddenly saw a figure under the lights ahead, seemingly waiting for him.
The man nodded with a smile as he saw He Ao look over.
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