Chapter 151 - 150: X’s Extortion and Hoodwinking

Chapter 151: Chapter 150: X’s Extortion and Hoodwinking

"X, I want to make a deal with you. But before we proceed, I’d like to ask, is he the real Food King?" Captain Su asked He Xiaotian with a serious expression.

"PFFT!" The Food King spat out a mouthful of blood at the words. His entire body began to tremble, but don’t be mistaken—it wasn’t an old wound flaring up. He was simply so infuriated by the question. ’I’m already in this state,’ he thought. ’Is there any need to lie?’

Besides, who would dare impersonate the Food King?

The enmity between him and the Cleaners ran bone-deep.

Only an idiot would throw themselves at a Fireball!

The Food King knew perfectly well what would happen now that he had fallen into their hands.

Still, he didn’t want to be toyed with by He Xiaotian like this. ’This bastard is a Demon, a monster a hundred times more vicious than I am!!’

"I was thinking of keeping him to play with myself..." He Xiaotian muttered. Of course, no one present was an ordinary person. How could they possibly miss his mumbling?

The Food King nearly coughed up another mouthful of blood. It was a good thing he’d managed to get his situation out in the open.

’Otherwise, who knows what other ways that Demon would have found to torment me!’

That was all Captain Su needed to hear.

This was undoubtedly the Food King himself.

His gaze immediately turned vicious.

’So, your day has finally come!’

Thinking of his brothers who died in the battle at the Medical University, he turned off his body cam.

Zheng Peng and Zhou Yun did the same.

Though they didn’t know what their captain intended to do, they followed his lead.

On a field mission, the captain’s word was law.

"X, I’ll tell you a secret in exchange for the Food King. How about it? It’s information that could allow your Exceptional abilities to evolve again. It might even allow all three of your ability types to evolve at once." Captain Su laid out his bargaining chip, confident that no one could refuse.

Compared to arduous training, hunting down evil spirits, or absorbing energy from Spiritual Energy Crystals to level up, the information he held was undeniably tempting.

Especially for a multi-ability Exceptional like X.

Admittedly, the number of abilities one possessed was a measure of talent.

But it also came with severe limitations. Which ability should one focus on leveling up first?

The effort they had to expend wasn’t just double that of a single-ability Exceptional, but several times more.

But He Xiaotian just shook his head.

"I refuse."

"Alright, I’ll... wait... what did you say?" Captain Su asked again, uncertain he had heard correctly.

"I said, I refuse." He Xiaotian knew his own circumstances best. Everything he had came from cheating with the Experience Points system. Information about evolving an Exceptional’s abilities was completely useless to him.

’Killing the heavily injured Food King would get me at least 100,000 Experience Points.’

’Of course, that’s just an estimate based on the Experience Points I got from defeating Mr. Men, so it isn’t precise.’

’Even with a margin of error, it wouldn’t be less than seventy or eighty thousand.’

’Trade tens of thousands of Experience Points for a piece of useless information? What a joke!’

"..." ’What the hell?’ Captain Su thought, dismayed. He had been so sure his bargaining chip was strong enough. "I’m talking about information that could potentially let all three of your ability types reach the next level."

Unwilling to give up, Captain Su repeated himself, his tone more forceful.

"I know!"

He Xiaotian looked at him as if he were an idiot.

"..."

’Are you insane?!’

This was the curse that both Captain Su and the Food King were screaming in their minds.

The former was indignant, watching his nemesis right before his eyes, yet unable to take revenge personally.

The latter was terrified, wondering what flashy new torture He Xiaotian would devise after taking him off the ancient ship.

WHAM!

He Xiaotian drove the Food King into the ground like a piledriver.

Then, under the horrified gazes of the three Cleaners, he sat down on him.

CRACK!!

The crisp sound of a bone snapping reached everyone’s ears.

The Food King let out a muffled grunt and passed out from the pain.

After all, He Xiaotian was now a muscle-bound giant over three meters tall; his weight was anyone’s guess.

No ordinary person could withstand having him sit on their back.

"Su, since you’re the one asking, it’s not like I, X, am an unreasonable man. Though our previous interactions haven’t been great, I’m willing to give you a chance to trade for the Food King."

He Xiaotian spoke with the air of a perfectly reasonable person, even giving the trio a look that said, ’You should be thanking me.’

In truth, the Food King was dispensable to him.

’Before they got on the ship, I really put this bastard through the wringer, with plenty of humiliation to boot.’

’I basically tortured him over and over, from head to toe.’

’Killing him or not is just a question of Experience Points.’

"If you can offer one thousand Spiritual Energy Crystals, plus the information you mentioned, I’ll agree to give you the Food King."

GACK!

"What was that sound?" He Xiaotian tilted his head, feigning confusion.

Captain Su clutched at his chest, speechless for a long moment.

’Ruthless. Absolutely ruthless!’

’Now I finally understand how the Vice-Minister felt when he was being fleeced.’

’This wasn’t a knife to the gut, it was a goddamn spear!’

The other two stood by silently.

He Xiaotian had demanded a thousand Spiritual Energy Crystals right off the bat, leaving the two of them utterly flabbergasted.

’Do you have any idea what a thousand of those represents?’

"That’s too many." Captain Su shook his head. If he agreed to this, even after bringing the Food King back, the Vice-Minister would chew him out.

’How many days has it been since the last time he shook us down for five hundred Spiritual Energy Crystals?’

’And now he wants another thousand?’

’The Vice-Minister will kill me!’

’No, when the Minister himself gets back, he’ll probably want my head too!’

"But it’s worth it! Think about it. How many of your brothers did the Food King kill? Su, I’m not being greedy. To me, the Food King’s life is worth one thousand Spiritual Energy Crystals."

"As for your so-called information about evolving abilities, it’s worthless to me. I mean, sure, I could just hand him over as a favor, but what happens next time? You tell me, what should I do then?"

"I trust you understand."

By laying out the facts and feigning reason, He Xiaotian had backed Captain Su into a corner.

Friendship is friendship, and business is business.

"One thousand Spiritual Energy Crystals and the information, and you can take the Food King back to complete your mission. Not only can you get revenge, but you can also dig some secrets out of him. Who knows, his Gourmet Kitchen might even have a lot of assets."

"And don’t forget, this guy has mastered the technique for transferring Exceptional abilities. It’s admittedly cruel, but I’m sure the researchers at the Energy Research Lab can find a more peaceful method."

"Then, the Shanghai Cleaners will have countless Exceptionals! At that point, even if a dozen organizations on the level of the Gourmet Kitchen popped up, they’d be nothing but paper tigers before your might, unable to withstand a single blow!"

"Such a miraculous technology, a source of power for the Cleaners, a chance for Shanghai to rise... for one thousand Spiritual Energy Crystals, do you really think that’s expensive?"

This speech left Captain Su speechless. He deeply suspected that if he let He Xiaotian keep talking, the Food King’s price would go up again.

"You know, thinking about it, a thousand Spiritual Energy Crystals might be letting you off a little easy..."

The expressions of Captain Su and his two subordinates instantly darkened.

’We shouldn’t have let you run your damn mouth!’

’After all that rambling, you’re going to raise the price?’

"Alright, you’ve convinced me. But about the Spiritual Energy Crystals... can you go a little cheaper? You know the Cleaners’ resources are a bit tight right now." Captain Su played the sympathy card. It couldn’t hurt to try.

"Fine. Since we’re friends, after all. Alright. Nine hundred and ninety-nine Spiritual Energy Crystals. I’ll knock one off the price for you. How’s that?" He Xiaotian replied, his tone suggesting immense generosity.

’Are you fucking kidding me?!’

The unconscious Food King had no idea he had just been sold for such a handsome price.

Otherwise, he would have passed out all over again.

’Not only did I have to call someone "Daddy," but now I’m being haggled over like a piece of merchandise.’

’Utter humiliation’ wasn’t enough to describe it. This was at least octuple humiliation.