Chapter 16: What? You want me to starve to death?

Outside the public toilet, a delinquent-looking man with dyed yellow hair emerged and quickly walked away.

Suddenly, he thoughtfully pinched his chin.

“Never thought someone like me would have a day lacking money.”

“Sounds like this guy is loaded—or at least used to be…”

At this thought, the delinquent sneered mockingly: “Heh, overheard some interesting intel. Can’t blame me for that… I did warn him properly.”

“You just assumed that once I left, I couldn’t hear anymore, right?”

“Brother, you’re still too green.”

For the delinquent, as long as the stench he left behind hadn’t diluted below a certain level, he could access any information within a 2-kilometer radius.

As the stench gradually thinned, the info grew fuzzier.

That’s why he often used this public toilet—to maintain a certain odor level.

This was his livelihood as a 【Wild Knight】 and his pride.

At that moment, far away, the sunglasses man who had been watching dialed a number on his phone.

Soon, the delinquent answered.

“Hello? This is Ten Mile Fragrance Agency. What can I do for you?”

“What did you say to the person you just transacted with?” A voice came from the other end.

“Come on, do I look like someone who’d sell out a client?” The delinquent chuckled.

“How much did that person offer?”

“I think you’ve misunderstood me…”

“30,000!”

“…Are you insulting me?” The delinquent’s voice suddenly dropped.

The sunglasses man raised an eyebrow: “What are you thinking? Taking money from both sides only benefits you, no downsides.”

“Relax, we won’t do anything to your client—at least nothing that affects your deal with him.”

“No, no…” The delinquent shook his head: “I think you’ve got it wrong…”

“What I mean is… add more money~”

“…60,000, no higher!” The sunglasses man gritted his teeth, doubling the amount.

Joking aside—he was working a job from Investigator Liao himself, who kept stressing limited funds.

“Deal!” The delinquent’s eyes lit up. He gave a hidden account number.

Once he felt the number on his Black Iron card indeed increase, he smiled and recounted everything from his toilet deal with Li Chunsheng—verbatim.

He especially emphasized the intel that Li Chunsheng was likely loaded.

“Got it…” The sunglasses man asked a few more times to confirm no more details, then hung up.

Seeing the call end, the delinquent whistled and strolled away.

“Heh heh heh… Brother, hope you still get a chance to complete this deal with me?” The delinquent thought with a smirk.

After all, he didn’t believe for a second that the caller wouldn’t do something to his client.

He’d still make the ID—of course. For someone with his channels, it didn’t cost much time or money.

Even if Li Chunsheng bailed, the delinquent wouldn’t lose much. But if the deal went through, it was pure profit.

On the other side…

“Loaded, huh… just as Investigator Liao suspected.” The sunglasses man pondered while noting down the new intel.

“Now it seems… breaking through via Li Chunsheng will be tough.”

“The real opening should be that Liuxia—and needing a new ID is highly suspicious too.”

“But still need to test this Li Chunsheng’s true strength, to rule out prior intel being fake.”

“From the recent info, Li Chunsheng should be short on cash lately—then let’s execute that plan.”

Thus, as Li Chunsheng left the toilet and prepared to cross the shantytown for the bus home, he soon realized he was being tailed.

“Sigh… suburbs really are chaotic… I’ve been targeted.” Li Chunsheng felt nervous inside. Though his physical strength had reached Black Iron peak…

He was still mere mortal flesh—far from a holy knight who could fight hundreds alone.

After walking a bit and finding he couldn’t shake the shantytown thugs, Li Chunsheng simply stopped and waited for them to catch up.

Soon, noticing he’d spotted them, the thugs surrounded him openly, all looking malicious.

“Hey, guys, I’m just a poor guy… didn’t even bring my Black Iron card. Really no fat to squeeze!” Li Chunsheng helplessly tried sincere communication.

“Heh heh heh… Little brother, whether you’re poor isn’t for you to say. Don’t blame us—we’re paid to test your mettle!”

The leader—a red-capped thug—grinned sinisterly. His eyes flickered, and a companion immediately understood.

“Attack!” The companion held a bronze rod, pointing at Li Chunsheng and shouting.

The yell startled Li Chunsheng into a defensive stance.

But after a long moment, the thugs didn’t swarm—just watched him excitedly.

“Heh heh heh… finally get to see a rich kid fall to the dust!”

“I bet once a rich guy loses money, he’s worse off than us!”

“?” Li Chunsheng’s expression turned odd. What were they talking about?

Suddenly, he realized something and checked his 【Gold Content】 number.

The instant he saw it, his face changed.

10, -990… 10, -990… 10, -990…

“Damn, why is my Gold Content constantly deducting?” Li Chunsheng was horrified inside.

If not for 【Infinite Gold Coins】, he’d probably be a millionaire in debt by now.

“They did this? Too vicious!”

Seeing Li Chunsheng’s expression shift, the thugs grew more excited: “Hee hee hee… worth dying to see this scene!”

“Finally noticed? Your money’s being silently drained! Even if you’re loaded, how much Gold Content can you afford to lose?!”

The red-capped leader gloated inwardly, glancing at his companion’s bronze rod and thinking: “Indeed, no useless bronze artifact—only users who don’t know how.”

What his companion held was a nameless bronze artifact discarded by temple research and leaked to the public.

Bronze artifacts were machines simulating Bronze-rank authorities.

This abandoned one’s authority was an improved 【Physical Enhancement】—original version buffed holy knights positively.

The improved version was for commoners, aiming to boost Black Iron physical combat to Bronze level.

But from research start, it had an unfixable fatal flaw.

Simply too expensive.

Unlike the original 【Physical Enhancement】 paid once with Bronze coins for lasting buff, the improved version—for Black Iron coin payment—had an unavoidable downside no matter the tweaks:

It constantly drained money… to maintain Bronze-level physical enhancement.

“Heh heh heh, young master! How long can your money last?” The red-capped thug thought eagerly, already fantasizing beating a rich kid.

The improved 【Physical Enhancement】 deducted 1000 Black Iron coins per second.

(Note: Rank Gold Content ranges: Black Iron: 10-99 Black Iron coins → Bronze: 100-999 Bronze coins → Silver: 1000-9999 Silver coins → Golden: 10,000+ Golden coins. Upon advancing to Bronze at 100, 100 Black Iron coins auto-upgrade to 100 Bronze coins; 1 Bronze coin = 10 Black Iron coins.)

In other words, using this artifact cost per second what a newbie Bronze holy knight earned—to make one Black Iron a 1-second Bronze holy knight.

And unless the user actively shut it off, the authority would drain the target’s coins completely—even to negative.

Far too dangerous, so the in-research artifact was scrapped and somehow entered civilian hands, used by these thugs as a weapon to sap enemy potential.

After all, in this world, most men—once Gold Content went negative—panicked first, unable to use pay-to-win methods. To replenish Gold Content fast, they’d do anything.

“Hm, a minute passed. Per that gentleman’s intel, this guy should be broke now?” The red-capped leader checked the time, then stepped forward.

“Then next, let me see your true strength!” Muscles bulging, the red-capped thug roared and charged Li Chunsheng, eyes full of fighting spirit.

Li Chunsheng instinctively punched back. Fists collided—the next moment, the red-capped thug flew like a rag ten meters, crashing down and spitting blood.

“You…!” The red-capped thug looked shocked.

“Boss!” Others cried out.

“Nani? Fake intel? No! How could he be this rich? He must be bluffing!” The red-capped thug exclaimed: “Everyone, pile on! He can’t last long!”

The thugs swarmed.

Li Chunsheng hastily fended off attacks, only to find them astonishingly slow.

Only then did he realize in surprise: “What’s going on? How did I get stronger? Breakthrough in battle? No…!”

Minutes later, all thugs lay on the ground, groaning nonstop.

Li Chunsheng scanned the scene, his expression shifting. He picked up the bronze rod that had pointed at him earlier, thoughtful.

“Could my sudden strength boost be from this rod pointing at me?”

“…Looks like a buff machine for people—just way too expensive. If not for my infinite coins…”

Holding the bronze rod, Li Chunsheng found a button. He pressed it and experimentally pointed at a non-vital spot—sure enough, his Gold Content stopped fluctuating.

“Perfect for me…”

Pocketing the bronze rod, Li Chunsheng looked at the grounded thugs, his expression gradually turning excited.

“Hey… talk about perfect timing! You lot! Hand over your money! Produce some coins for your grandpa!”

(Next chapter returns to Liuxia’s perspective~)