"I am merely following orders," the man from the Dark Angel family stated. To prevent Chen Shu from killing him instantly, he summoned one of his contracted spirits.
A humanoid creature clad in black armor appeared, standing about three meters tall with scarlet eyes, exuding immense power.
"The Dark Angel family..." Chen Shu merely glanced at the summoned spirit without paying it much mind. Regardless of its type, if it was Gold-tier, it was no match for him.
Chen Shu asked, "Do I have any enmity with your family?"
"No, it's just standard charges..." the man shrugged, inching closer to his contracted spirit for a sense of security.
"Standard?" Chen Shu's expression turned cold, and he struggled to suppress his killing intent. "Do you think I'm incapable of killing you?"
"Of course not..." the man replied. "Brother 'Fiend of Desolation' could defeat Gold-tier opponents while only Silver-tier back then. Now that he's broken through to Gold, crushing opponents of the same level is no problem."
Chen Shu remained silent, simply gazing at the man.
"But this is the rule set by Patriarch Jones!" Despite his fear of Chen Shu's combat power, the man did not waver.
For a moment, the two parties seemed to be in a stalemate, the entire hall falling into silence.
"Chen Pi..." Just then, Zhang Dali arrived below, carrying a black pot.
"Huh? Dali!" Chen Shu reined in his killing intent and turned to look. Dali shook his head and gestured to the others in the hall, signaling him not to act rashly.
Chen Shu immediately understood and gradually calmed down. The escort mission was crucial for the magical potion's compendium, and it involved the lives of over five thousand people. This was no small matter and could even affect the entire escort mission, potentially impacting hundreds of thousands, even millions, of compatriots. He couldn't bear such a heavy responsibility.
With a smile, Chen Shu nodded calmly, his killing intent completely dissipating. Zhang Dali blinked, a hint of surprise in his eyes. He hadn't expected Chen Shu to restrain himself so quickly. In the past, Chen Shu would have undoubtedly killed the man before him and then turned Joyorly State upside down. He might even have resorted to dropping a nuclear bomb, as he wouldn't have had to consider many repercussions while abroad. But now, the once unrestrained "Fiend of Desolation" had indeed changed.
"Brother Liu, what do you say?" Chen Shu looked at Liu Han beside him, seeking the opinions of the others.
Everyone had seen the situation clearly, understanding that they had become Chen Shu's weakness, forcing him to be bullied by the Dark Angel family. However, with everyone's lives at stake, they couldn't afford to act impulsively. The Dark Angel family had been established for many years, with countless strong individuals within their ranks, far more than their group could contend with.
"Let us discuss..." Liu Han conferred with several others. They were all figures of considerable prestige among the group and could make decisions for the rest.
After a while, Liu Han approached, took a deep breath, and slowly said, "We... can give it."
"Straightforward!" The man grinned, regaining his previous composed demeanor. It seemed Chen Shu was still hesitant and dared not make a move. In that case, he would face no life-or-death crisis and could relax.
Chen Shu remained silent, his expression perfectly calm, showing no hint of killing intent to prevent further complications. However, he thought to himself: *Dark Angel family, cherish your ancestors' graves, your time is short...*
Liu Han added, "We will need time to gather it." The Free Alliance was currently being invaded by ferocious beasts, and the Alliance currency had long since collapsed. The hard currency was, naturally, beast-taming materials.
Half an hour later, Liu Han carried two specially made large boxes filled with various high-grade beast-taming materials. Considering their evacuation, everyone had long ago exchanged all their assets for high-grade materials with the Alliance officials for easier transport. The Alliance, in turn, needed a large amount of basic resources due to the war and was happy to make the exchange.
"These are all good things..." The man leaned down, meticulously checking the beast-taming materials in the boxes. After a while, he nodded. "Indeed, these materials are worth over twenty billion."
"Can we leave now?" Liu Han's eyes showed a trace of heartache; his heart was bleeding. This was the culmination of everyone's hard work over the years, and now they had been stripped clean in an instant.
"Well..." The man stroked his chin, a strange look in his eyes.
"What?" Seeing this, everyone's hearts sank. Could there be another twist?
The man spread his hands, stating plainly, "The previous charges were just for the rooms. You still need to pay a protection fee..."
The moment he said this, everyone erupted in anger.
"What do you mean?!"
"You took room fees just now, and now there's an additional protection fee?!"
"Does your Dark Angel family control Joyorly State?!"
Everyone's faces turned ashen. They hadn't expected the Dark Angel family to be so shameless. Liu Han took a deep breath, unleashing his Gold-tier aura, and said, "We have given all our assets. We have no more money for protection fees! Is your family trying to push us to a dead end?"
"You may not have money, but someone else does..." The man pointed at Chen Shu, his meaning exceptionally clear. They not only wanted to strip the others bare but also didn't want to let Chen Shu off the hook.
The man continued, "The protection fee isn't much, just a hundred billion. I believe the World's Number One Celestial Talent can afford it!"
"A hundred billion?!" Liu Han's eyes widened, and he angrily exclaimed, "With such coercion, isn't the Alliance government doing anything?!"
"I'm afraid, here, our Dark Angel family is the government!" The man replied, "Brother 'Fiend of Desolation', what are your thoughts?"
Chen Shu remained calm. He had already realized that the man did not fear his reputation at all. He licked his lips and said faintly, "I'm here to pick up people, not to deliver money. I don't have that much on me." In reality, his resources had long been depleted. Forget a hundred billion, he couldn't even come up with ten billion.
"It's okay if you don't have money..." The man leaned towards Chen Shu and whispered, "Our patriarch said we can exchange it for your secret!"
"My secret?"
"Yes! Your secret to becoming stronger!"