Chapter 30: Mission, Provoking the Tiger Gang-3
Darius leaned against the wall while quietly observing the scene unfold.
Truthfully, he was quite curious about Shen’s actual strength. He still didn’t fully understand the power difference between the various realms and wanted to see what someone at the Eighth Layer was truly capable of.
However...
Neither Shen nor Moon realized that another pair of eyes was secretly observing Darius himself from a rooftop above.
The hidden figure narrowed his eyes slightly.
’So this is the suspicious young man Elder Black spoke about?’
Earlier during the day, news regarding the sudden appearance of the pavilion in the outer city had already reached several underground forces.
They had eyes everywhere. No new store could remain hidden for long, especially not one visited by figures who were already under surveillance themselves.
Luke’s incident had only spread the news further.
Naturally, many people became interested. They wanted to know the background of the young man who dared open a store in the heart of the outer city without notifying anyone beforehand.
More importantly...
What exactly was he selling?
Near the gate, Shen casually approached the disguised demon before lightly patting his shoulder as though saying farewell.
"Anyway, brother, I won’t disturb your work anymore."
The disguised demon smiled kindly.
"Take care, young man."
At that exact moment—
A tiny fireball silently condensed within Shen’s palm.
Boom!
The fireball exploded directly into the demon’s skull from point-blank range.
The man’s smile froze instantly.
His head burst apart as flames and blood scattered everywhere.
Before the nearby guards could even react, Shen grabbed the corpse and violently threw it outside the city gate.
Boom!
The body smashed heavily against the ground before black demonic energy erupted outward from the remains.
Soon, the demon’s true form revealed itself before everyone’s eyes.
"What?!"
"A demon!"
"A Tiger Demon!"
The nearby guards instantly panicked.
Moon’s pupils contracted slightly from afar.
Shen’s actions had been clean and decisive. There was not even the slightest hesitation in his movements, as though he completely trusted the mission details.
Inside the alley, Darius nodded slightly.
’Not bad.’
The mission completion itself felt satisfying.
Especially knowing that the system rewards were finally about to arrive.
On the rooftop above, the hidden figure silently watched everything with deep shock before narrowing his eyes toward Darius.
’A regular human calmly observing this entire situation?’
Something about the scene felt off.
The mission, Shen’s confidence, Darius appearing nearby at the exact moment of the execution...
None of it seemed coincidental.
Still, his authority only allowed him to observe and report. Since his orders were merely to monitor Darius, he chose not to interfere for now.
Without lingering further, the hidden figure quietly retreated into the darkness.
Meanwhile, Shen calmly wiped the blood from his hand while the guards hurriedly surrounded the demon’s corpse in panic.
Soon after, Moon stepped forward and displayed his token from the Demon Suppression Office, instantly calming everyone down.
"This operation was supervised by the Demon Suppression Office," Moon said calmly. "There’s no need to panic. This demon has been under investigation for quite some time."
The surrounding guards immediately relaxed.
As for Darius...
He had already disappeared from the alley long ago.
Inside the Demon Suppression Office, Darius calmly walked through the halls while carrying several papers.
After reporting the mission completion and collecting the corresponding rewards, he briefly spoke with Albreto regarding a few matters before finally preparing to leave.
A faint grin appeared on his face.
’With this... I’m no longer powerless.’
However...
The moment he stepped outside the office building, several pairs of eyes instantly locked onto him from afar.
Inside a dark alley several streets away, a scar-faced man quietly observed Darius from the shadows.
"So he’s the suspicious one?"
The informant beside him nodded.
"He watched the entire demon hunt calmly from the shadows. Either he’s connected to it, or he knows something."
"As you know, he suddenly appeared in the outer city out of nowhere. We already checked the government office. There are no official papers regarding his business, taxes, or whatever services he’s selling."
The scar-faced man narrowed his eyes.
No matter how he looked at it, Darius appeared completely ordinary.
Too ordinary.
Yet his appearance near the execution timing was simply too suspicious.
"Bring him over," the scar-faced man indifferently ordered. "Alive. Elder Black wants answers."
He then added coldly, "And don’t damage him too much. If this matter truly involves the Tiger Gang, we’ll need proof before they think we sold them out."
"Understood."
Soon, a burly man stepped out from the alley before quietly following Darius through the dark streets.
Meanwhile...
Completely unaware of the approaching danger, Darius casually walked beneath the night sky while waiting for the system notification.
Then...
A rough hand suddenly grabbed his shoulder from behind.
"Kid," a cold voice sounded.
"You’ll come with me quietly."
Sigh...
Darius let out a helpless sigh.
’This is exactly why I hated the outer city.’
He slowly turned around, his body trembling slightly as though frightened.
"Where are we going, sir?" he asked with a nervous smile.
The burly man smirked in satisfaction seeing Darius act this way.
However...
While he thought Darius was looking at him, Darius’s attention was actually fixed on the system panel floating before his eyes.
[Cultivation Techniques:]
[Golden Bell Shield (Yet to be learned)]
[Nine Swords Technique (Yet to be learned)]
[Current Power Level: None]
[Add power to cultivation techniques to improve cultivation progress.]
Darius almost cursed aloud.
’System, where’s the damn power?’
But before he could continue complaining, the eerie voice of the system echoed inside his mind.
Yet to Darius...
It sounded like heavenly music.
[Slayed Tiger Demon — harvested three years of power.]
