125: Chapter 125 Robbery and Extortion

At this moment, Qi Yun was completely unaware of these undercurrents.

He led Chen Xiaolin, Shu Qianxue, Xia Jin, and the others to the front of the convenience store.

Just as the group arrived at the store's entrance, a humanoid figure suddenly emerged from a swirling mass of black mist.

A strange odor, a mix of dust, expired food, and a faint hint of blood, washed over them.

He wore a convenience store employee uniform stained with grease, but his body was as thin as a bamboo pole, with a slender neck supporting a disproportionately large head.

His face was split by a grin that stretched to his ears, revealing a set of uneven, yellow teeth.

"Welcome~ I am the store manager here. You can call me... Kiko."

"You all look travel-worn and weary. You must be hungry, thirsty, in need of supplies, right?"

Kiko rubbed his hands together, his smile growing even more "enthusiastic."

"This store has everything! Instant noodles, bread, sandwiches, bottled water, and more! Whatever you want, I have it here!"

He paused, his smile turning strange as he lowered his voice, laced with temptation: "However, this is a small business with thin margins. No credit. If you want something, you have to trade something for it."

Qi Yun's expression remained impassive: "Trade what?"

Kiko licked his chapped lips:

"Fresh hearts, livers, spleens, lungs, kidneys. Or, pretty girls' eyeballs, tongues, fingers will do! The fresher, the higher the value! One healthy heart can be traded for three packs of food! A pair of pretty eyeballs can be traded for three crates of bottled water! How about it? Fair, isn't it?"

He grew more excited as he spoke, gesturing animatedly.

After hearing Kiko's words, a faint smile appeared on Qi Yun's face.

"Trade something?" Qi Yun repeated, nodding slightly, "Very fair."

He took a step forward, looking at Kiko, whose smile stiffened for an instant, and said unhurriedly:

"Then I'll use your life to trade for all the food here."

"Do you think that's enough?"

The moment his words fell—

*Clang!*

An intangible, formless, yet exceedingly sharp Space Slash materialized without warning before Qi Yun, slicing horizontally towards Kiko's waist!

The exaggerated smile vanished from Kiko's face in an instant. With a strange shriek, his emaciated body, defying the laws of physics with its agility and flexibility, jerked backward into a near backbend, narrowly avoiding the fatal blow!

The Blade of Space grazed past the tip of his nose.

"Heh heh heh..." Kiko straightened up again, his neck twisting with a series of *crack* *crack* sounds.

"A little mouse who doesn't play by the rules... Looks like I need to properly 'discipline' you first!"

He abruptly spread his arms wide!

"Come forth! My children!"

*BOOM—!!!*

Countless pitch-black fissures instantly split open all around!

Thick, ink-like black mist surged violently from the cracks, rapidly coalescing into two-meter-tall dark warriors clad in black bone armor and wielding various weapons!

"Kill him!" Kiko shrieked the order, pointing at Qi Yun.

*ROAR—!!!*

The dark warriors let out silent roars, brandishing swords and bone spears, charging at Qi Yun like a black tide!

However, faced with this terrifying scene, the people behind Qi Yun—Chen Xiaolin, Shu Qianxue, Xia Jin, and the others—showed no fear. Instead, a fighting spirit ignited in their eyes.

"Qi Yun, mind if we use these little skeletons to stretch our legs?"

"Yeah, we've been so idle on the ship our bones are itching."

"Make it quick," Qi Yun nodded faintly.

Three minutes.

Only three minutes.

The last dark warrior dissipated into black smoke.

Kiko stood dumbfounded, watching his "children" being wiped out like dried grass and rotten wood, then looking at the group of men and women opposite him, their auras steady as if they had just finished warming up.

A bone-chilling cold shot up from the soles of his feet straight to the top of his head!

Damn! Kicked a steel plate! No, kicked a titanium alloy steel plate!

Kiko's calves began to tremble, the ferocious grin on his face long replaced by an ingratiating smile uglier than crying.

Qi Yun slowly paced over to stand before the terrified Kiko.

"Now, I'll use your life to trade for all the food here. Is that enough?"

Qi Yun spoke, his voice still calm.

Kiko shuddered all over, nodding frantically like a chicken pecking at rice:

"Enough! Enough! More than enough, boss! Everything here is yours! Take whatever you want! Move whatever you want! It's this humble store's honor to serve you!"

Soon, the group had gathered all the supplies from the convenience store into one pile.

Looking at the pile of supplies, Qi Yun thought carrying it all back by hand would be troublesome and too conspicuous.

He turned his head to look at the store manager, Kiko, who was trying his best to shrink into a ball.

"Hey," Qi Yun spoke.

Kiko shuddered all over, hurriedly squeezing out his most obsequious smile:

"B-boss! What else do you need? The store is truly cleaned out by you!"

"Carrying by hand is too slow. Do you have any 'treasures' here that make transport easier? Like, spatial items that can hold things?"

The smile on Kiko's face instantly froze. A look of extreme reluctance and distress flashed in his beady eyes as he stammered:

"Th-this... boss, this is a small business, we don't have any rare items like spatial artifacts."

Qi Yun didn't believe Kiko's words at all.

Qi Yun raised an eyebrow, walking up to him:

"Don't want to hand it over, huh? Your life isn't worth as much as a treasure, is it?"

Kiko felt a chill run from his tailbone straight to the top of his head!

If he's dead, what use is a treasure?!

"No no no! Boss, you misunderstand!!"

Scared out of his wits, Kiko hastily waved his hands, gritted his teeth, and pulled out a palm-sized, dusty, leather-bound small box.

"This is a Storage Box, with about ten cubic meters of space inside. It's a family heirloom of this humble store..."

Kiko presented it with both hands, a look of misery on his face, his heart bleeding.

This box was his ultimate treasure, capable of holding a lot of goods. He never expected it to change hands today.

A surge of joy rose in Qi Yun's heart. He had only intended to bluff, but he actually managed to bluff it out.

"Hmm, not bad," Qi Yun nodded with satisfaction, casually tossing the box to Shu Qianxue beside him.

"Figure out how to use it and pack everything inside."

Kiko watched as his family heirloom was taken away just like that, his heart nearly breaking, but he didn't dare utter a sound, silently praying these demons would finish moving the goods and leave quickly.

Soon, with everyone's effort, the convenience store's goods were completely moved.

Qi Yun casually picked up the leather box, glanced at Kiko: "Thanks."

Kiko forced a smile uglier than crying: "N-no problem, boss. Have a safe trip. Welcome next time." As soon as he finished speaking, he wanted to slap himself. Next time? Please, never come again!

Qi Yun paid him no further mind, leading the group as they turned and walked out of the thoroughly looted convenience store.

Outside, the gray, overcast sky remained the same.

However, they had only taken a few steps away from the convenience store entrance when—

"Halt!"

A sharp shout came from ahead.

Qi Yun looked up.

He saw Du Jue at the lead, over a hundred people walking towards them with aggressive strides, instantly fanning out and blocking their path back to the main building.

These people were men and women, mostly young students in appearance.

Each face bore tension, excitement, and a kind of "justice is on our side" fervor.

The leader, Du Jue, indeed carried himself with a "leader's" air.

"Qi Yun!" Du Jue stepped forward, his sharp gaze locking onto Qi Yun, his voice loud and full of accusation.

"We have received real-name reports from multiple classmates! Accusing you of assaulting classmate Zhao Gang without cause, causing severe injury! Furthermore, multiple witnesses attest that you, using your clan leader status, have coerced and controlled beautiful female students from the academy! Your actions are heinous!"

He paused, his gaze sweeping over Xia Jin, Shu Qianxue, Chen Xiaolin, and the others beside Qi Yun, a flash of admiration and a barely perceptible greed in his eyes:

"Look at these female classmates around you! Xia Jin, Shu Qianxue, Chen Xiaolin, Ye Xi... Aren't they each a pride of our school? Aren't they each a goddess in the hearts of countless male students?"

"But now, they are forced to stay by your side, putting on a brave face! Qi Yun, are you even human?!"

"Now, what do you have to say for yourself?!"

His speech was impassioned, resonant, and indeed managed to intimidate quite a few people.

The "rabble" behind him immediately grew agitated, loudly echoing:

"That's right! Qi Yun! Give us an explanation!"

"Let Xia Jin go!"

"Let Shu Qianxue go!"

"Scum! Degenerate!"

"Kneel and apologize!"

"..."

Their numbers gave them strength, and standing on the "moral" high ground made these students, who might usually be timid and afraid, now feel the illusion of "we are powerful" and "justice will prevail."

Qi Yun watched this farce unfold before him, his expression unchanged, even feeling a bit like yawning.

This level of moral coercion and public pressure meant nothing to him.

Beside Du Jue, a girl in a pink dress seemed to think an opportunity to display her "sense of justice" had arrived.

She was a devoted follower of Du Jue, always considering herself the "future Mrs. President."

She abruptly stepped forward, pointing a finger at Qi Yun's nose, and began her performance in a sharp, shrill voice:

"Qi Yun! What do you think you are?! A nobody who was completely unremarkable in class before, a loser with nothing! You just got lucky and awakened some lousy profession! Do you really think you're something great now?!"

"Look at you! Your looks are average at best, you have no money, no influence! What right do you have to have Xia Jin and the others following you?!"