Chapter 207: Chapter 207. The Underworld Organizations

Amon did do something to Gao Sou. What he used was the Fragile Bone Muscle Poison in a small dose. The poison could make someone lose strength and unable to do anything. In a small dose, it took longer for the effects to show, and the victim would only feel fatigued instead of losing all strength.

Amon didn’t lace the poison with the Sky Delight Wine. That would be too obvious. The poison was instead applied to his cup, the one he used to drink. He, of course, had drunk an antidote beforehand, so he was immune.

Amon intentionally came earlier to show off the Sky Delight Wine. Although the venue was changed, the easy-to-recognize wine still drew attention. Once Gao Dou mentioned the wine, Amon looked for an excuse to throw the cup at him.

The cup was empowered by his aether. Gao Dou didn’t expect the attack. Hence, he was unprepared. The broken pieces of the cup pierced through Gao Dou’s skin and delivered the Fragile Bone Muscle Poison into his bloodstream. After that, they just needed to wait for the poison to work.

Before the match, Amon instructed Xin Wuming to focus on evasion and only attack after his signal. Xin Wuming followed his instructions with complete obedience even when he didn’t understand why.

Now that Xin Wuming thought about it, it was indeed suspicious about how the match progressed. That’s why he asked Amon the question.

“Does it matter? You won. Our faction regains our prestige. That’s all that matters,” Amon answered.

Xin Wuming nodded while bowing. Their faction losing prestige was his fault due to losing the previous match. He had no right to question the method. It was already fortunate he was given the chance to redeem himself.

Anyone with a functioning brain would have suspicion like Xin Wuming did. If the issue was further investigated, Amon’s ploy might get discovered. Even if it didn’t, the fact that Gao Dou got tired so quickly could be the base for others to create rumors.

This was the real reason Amon threw a challenge to Gao Sou. He knew the Nobles faction would bring some capable members. He had planned on challenging any of these members once Xin Wuming’s match ended. Gao Sou’s presence served perfectly. Now, everyone would be talking about his match with Gao Sou instead of Xin Wuming’s match with Gao Dou. It was a simple misdirection tactic.

He also stepped on the broken pieces of the poisoned cup as he walked down the stage. He channeled his aether into his foot when he did that. The energy pulverized the cup into dust and erased the evidence from the crime scene.

Tuang Yin had no idea what they were talking about. She asked Amon, “Are you sure you are okay? I have this high-grade restorative pill. You can have it.”

“No need. I’m already fine,” Amon replied.

“In that case, want to have fun at your place?” Tuang Yin offered.

“I don’t have time for that,” Amon said. He then asked, “How about the information I asked you to collect about the underworld organizations in Qishurg City?”

Xin Wuming was busy training the whole week, so he was unavailable for other tasks. Amon turned to Tuang Yin instead. The fact that Tuang Yin was not their faction member made it much easier for her to move about.

“Of course, I have them already,” Tuang Yin answered with a proud face. “Men tend to open up when they talk to a pretty and sexy girl. From what I have gathered, the underworld of Qishurg City is mainly controlled by three organizations.

“The first is the Alley Advocates. This group is considered the number one underworld organization in this city. However, the Street Aristocrats will contest that statement, considering their power differences are not that far apart. The Alley Advocates are backed by several prominent clans. They do the dirty work those clans cannot do in broad daylight. They have the largest territory among the underworld organizations. They are located in the Western part of the city.”

“What is their regular activity?” Amon asked.

“On the surface, the Alley Advocates run a protection agency for wealthy merchants, but they don’t truly do much work in that business. It is only a front for their other activities, which include assassinations and causing problems for the enemies of the clans who backed them. Aside from that, they also run a black market that sells illegal weapons, metals, and pills.”

While the public could source weapons, metals, and pills from the regular markets, they were mostly low grades. High-grade weapons and metals were regulated by the kingdom. This was to prevent the weapons from falling into the wrong hands and to ensure the kingdom controlled the distribution of power among the public. Only kingdom-approved stores sold these goods, and only kingdom-affiliated personnel could buy them.

As such, the existence of a black market that sold unregulated high-grade goods would surely be enticing.

“Tell me about the other groups,” Amon said.

“The second and closest contender to the Alley Advocates is the Street Aristocrats,” Tuang Yin replied.

Xin Wuming gritted his teeth upon the mention of Street Aristocrats. This was the group that targeted their runners and stole their Thousand Dream Powder.

“The Street Aristocrats is mostly backed by the Yan clan,” Tuang Yin resumed her report. “They are concentrated in the Eastern part of the city where they run their brothels, among other shady dealings. All the underworld organizations run protection rackets in their territories, but the Street Aristocrats had the worse reputation in collecting protection fees among the three.”

“In other words, they are scum,” Xin Wuming said.

Amon chuckled. “In the eyes of normal civilians, all underworld people are scum. We will be as well once we put our marks in the underworld.”

“You want to step into the underworld business?” Tuang Yin asked.

“Why else do you think I asked you to collect this information?” Amon asked back. “Now, tell me about the third organization.”

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