Chapter 286: The Appearance of the Spade

"Everyone!! Get in line! One by one!"

"We only accept banknotes! No cash! Five hundred thousand per kilogram! No bargaining!"

At the entrance of the boiler factory, several furnaces were burning fiercely, their heat maintaining the body temperatures of the crowd nearby. A bald man wearing the uniform of the All-Stars Chamber of Commerce was holding a rolled-up paper tube, roaring with a ferocious and menacing expression.

Figure after figure stood in over a dozen long lines, heads bowed as they handed over their hard-earned money in exchange for a small basin of pitch-black, low-quality coal, before walking away in a stiff, dazed state...

This small basin of coal was their entire life.

"Move it once you've bought it!! Why the hell are you dawdling?!"

"I'm talking to you, old man!! Get lost!"

The bald man kicked the old man who was moving the slowest and blocking the line behind him. The latter stumbled and fell to the ground, and with a "clatter," the coal in his arms spilled everywhere.

At the same time, the onlookers, who had been watching like tigers, swarmed forward, snatched the coal from the ground, and ran off, leaving only the old man lying alone in the snow.

"Coal... my coal..." the old man stammered. Despair welled up in his eyes, and he no longer had the strength to get up, just lying there quietly in the snow.

"Someone drag him away."

The bald man waved his hand, and a few people nearby immediately picked up the old man and carried him away, tossing him casually into a corner out of the way, his life or death unknown.

Jian Changsheng's uncle was in line right behind the old man. Seeing this, he seemed to want to say something, but upon seeing the coal placed in front of him, he ultimately chose to remain silent...

"Are you going to take all day to pay?" a staff member urged.

The uncle gritted his teeth and pulled out a banknote from the innermost layer of his clothes. The other man snatched it, glanced at the denomination, and casually pulled a basket of coal from behind.

"Take it."

"Brother... this coal doesn't seem to be the right weight, does it?" The uncle frowned involuntarily as he looked at the small pile of pitch-black coal and couldn't help but speak up. "The money I gave should buy more than just this, right?"

He had figured it out: there wasn't even a scale at the entrance of this boiler factory. How much coal you got depended entirely on the mood of these people. If the denomination was large, they gave a large amount; if it was small, they gave a small amount, because that was the fastest and most efficient way.

"That's how much it is."

"I just want the amount I'm supposed to get... This is clearly not enough. Why don't you try using a scale?"

"Are you looking for trouble??" The bald man nearby had already noticed the commotion and walked over viciously, shoving the uncle to the ground. "Drag him away!"

Several people nearby immediately swarmed over. Seeing this, the uncle's expression turned ugly. "You took my money! Why won't you give me the coal?!"

"Damn it, too much talk..." The bald man rolled up his sleeves, just about to take action, when suddenly something dripped onto his cheek.

The bald man paused, instinctively reaching up to touch it, and his palm came away covered in bright red blood.

"Blood? Where did this blood come from?"

Vroom—!!!

Just then, a low roar suddenly came from inside the boiler factory.

Hearing this sound, everyone was stunned, as if something massive had just come whistling out of the warehouse!

"Watch out!!" The squinting man sensed something was wrong and spoke up immediately.

The next moment, a massive truck used for transporting coal smashed through the barrier at the entrance of the boiler factory, directly knocking aside several staff members of the All-Stars Chamber of Commerce, roaring out like a steel beast!

Residents on Century Avenue screamed and dodged to both sides. After breaking through the barrier, the truck began to brake, coming to a slow stop amidst the crowd with a piercing screech.

Dust billowed in the air. The shaken crowd turned to look, only to find that a blurry figure had vanished from the truck's cab in an instant!

"Damn it! Who drove the car out..." The bald man's eyes widened, but before he could finish his sentence, a blood-red shadow flashed right in front of him!

"It was me."

Slash—

A chilling gleam flashed by like a crescent moon, and the bald man's head was sent flying high into the air... Crimson blood gushed out like a fountain, his expression still frozen in shock and disbelief!

This scene happened too fast; no one even saw how the blood-red shadow had appeared out of thin air beside the bald man. In the blink of an eye, the bald man had been decapitated!

"Enemy attack?!" The squinting man leaning against the wall felt a sharp glint in his eyes and was about to strike, but the blood-red shadow vanished again!

The squinting man froze in place.

"Murder... it's murder?!"

"Who drove the truck out? Why was there no one in it?"

"Damn it, what the hell is happening??"

Witnessing the bald man's decapitation, a commotion broke out in the crowd. The uncle took the opportunity to break free from the others' restraint and stumbled backward... His gaze began to scan the distance, as if trying to confirm if Xiao Jian was alright.

Meanwhile, that blood-red figure appeared out of thin air once again, this time on the hood of the truck.

With his appearance, the crowd gasped and retreated in fear, leaving a vacuum of space around him.

Drip—drip—

Drops of blood trickled down his arm and onto the hood of the truck, gradually staining it into a pool of blood. At the same time, a young face covered in blood appeared in everyone's view... Of course, the blood on his face wasn't his own, but that of the bald man who had just been decapitated.

The moment the uncle saw that face, he froze, an expression of disbelief appearing in his eyes...

"Xiao... Xiao Jian?"

"Who are you?! How dare you interfere with the business of our All-Stars Chamber of Commerce?" The squinting man's eyes flashed with murderous intent, and a terrifying aura radiated from his body. "An Arbiter? If you're an Arbiter, maybe we can have a proper talk."

"...An Arbiter?"

The blood-red shadow on the truck chuckled. He turned slowly, took a deck of playing cards from his pocket with his fingertips, and flicked them. The cards, stained with blood, drifted down from the sky like fluttering snowflakes.

The squinting man was stunned. He caught a blood-stained card from the air, and as if realizing something, his pupils suddenly contracted!

Jian Changsheng said calmly,

"Twilight Society... [Spade 6]."

The moment these words were spoken, everyone present felt their hearts tremble, especially the members of the All-Stars Chamber of Commerce, who looked at Jian Changsheng with pure terror, as if recalling something.

"[Spade 6]... You're that [Spade 6]?!"