Chapter 95: Everyone Wants to Go Home

Yuxing and his companions quickly paid and left. After all, they had already gathered enough information, and it was unwise to linger. The next step on their itinerary was to head for Starport Tower and meet up with the rest of the team from Maguna.

As they walked, Yuxing took a "ballpoint pen" from his pocket and opened the black market community portal.

Sure enough, there was a signal.

It was likely that a dedicated line for the intelligence black market had been installed here. This was, after all, a professional community on a galactic scale—even in such a mysterious place, they could still access the external network and operate freely.

This was one of Yuxing’s original safety nets, had he chosen to act alone as planned. Since the missing Baleru and his group were in a location with black market members and a working network, if Yuxing were to vanish like them, he could still use the network to escape.

The only catch was having to endure the side effects of Grimmd’s corruption.

“Yuxing” had already noticed that, perhaps due to his weak sense of immersion in this world, Grimmd’s influence over him was limited. The darkness it stirred in his heart could rouse his emotions, but it felt not unlike being moved by a film or a television show—a kind of vicarious feeling that never quite became his own.

Yuxing had always made a conscious effort to ignore this, because his companions were too real. They were living, breathing people, able to interact with him, to forge connections, even bonds.

And those bonds were real indeed, for they were quantified, clearly becoming his strength—not just some buff or superpower. Even here, in the unique realm of “Hive City,” Yuxing could use inhuman strength to embed enemies into the wall.

Since their existence was so tangible, the reality before him could only make Yuxing feel that he himself was the one out of place.

Grimmd could affect his emotions, but not his reasoning.

The only real danger to Yuxing was the risk of being overwhelmed by negative emotions and losing focus. If that happened during combat—even for just a second or two—it would be more than enough to get himself killed a hundred times.

Yuxing navigated the virtual screen, first withdrawing his own bounty posting. The platform deducted a fee based on the number of days displayed, and the remainder was refunded to his black market account.

Next, Yuxing found the bounty posted by a representative of the Villains' Association—concerning the auctioneer from the Majingduo star who had made off with all the auction house’s lots. The reward matched the sum advertised on the dark web by the association itself: three million, with no middleman’s cut.

Yuxing recalled seeing the name Diaborigu somewhere earlier; that sense of familiarity came from the attached list of missing items, clearly enumerated in the bounty notice.

Asteron, Scarugomora, Magicpa, and today’s destroyed Diaborigu—all were on the list, all monster weapons equipped with control modules.

No wonder the reward was so high, yet the bounty hunters outside had been driven mad searching in vain.

Yuxing immediately accepted the bounty and in the submission box simply entered “Hive City,” uploading the intelligence. His aim was simple: lock the bounty in place.

That bartender was almost certainly a black market member too, and he’d likely seen the same bounty. With just a little thought, he could piece together the connection.

But this was Yuxing’s discovery first, the fruit of his own hard work—he had no intention of letting someone else swoop in and steal it.

Sure enough, barely a minute after Yuxing submitted the intel and locked the bounty, the bartender—also the proprietor and a high-level information broker—realized the same thing. But he was a step too late; by the time he opened the black market interface, the bounty was already gone.

Yuxing, meanwhile, had already received a deposit from his employer. The person on the other end didn’t require any videos or photographic evidence—just the corpse scan of the Majingduo auctioneer, something the “ballpoint pen” was equipped to provide. There was also another request: to recover as many of the auctioned items as possible before they could be squandered. For each item recovered, Yuxing would receive an additional bonus.

The deadline was three days.

If Yuxing failed to complete the job within that time, the platform would refund the deposit and deduct credit points from his account, leaving him with a negative balance.

With negative credit, the black market would lock him out entirely.

What a hassle...

Yuxing thought to himself: if he couldn’t wrap this up in three days, perhaps his only option would be to teleport directly to the black market platform’s main server, where he could have a proper conversation with the operations manager.

For example, borrowing their vehicle for a bit.

As Yuxing closed the screen, their group was already approaching the Starport Tower. The place was bustling, the air along the way thick with oppression, but here, the crowd was a sea of celebration.

Perhaps this was one of the few free entertainments available to the masses in this place.

Just then, the doors of the Starport Tower swung open. A red carpet unfurled from within, rolling out for over two hundred meters. Immediately, three warriors appeared at the entrance, fresh from victory on the battlefield.

The crowd erupted in cheers, welcoming their heroes home.

Some were genuinely elated by the triumph, while others, burdened by the pressures of daily life, shouted wildly just to vent.

The Starport Tower had always been the city’s nightmare—a public execution stage. Anyone seeking to escape was fed to the monsters, the entire process broadcast live. The splattering blood and flesh was a warning: you could do anything you wanted, except leave.

But recently, that nightmare had been shattered.

Was it possible to defeat those monsters? The warriors now walking the red carpet gave the answer: it was.

After the second match, the host had been trying to persuade the three to choose the cash prize over points, as the money could buy them a life of luxury here—better than most rich people on the outside.

Yet every time, the three warriors chose points, not money. Their goal was clear: to leave the Hive.

This choice resonated with the audience. Most viewers had arrived here by accident, and if leaving was an option, everyone would want to go home.