“Send someone to verify it. What's the use of me telling you it's real?”
Ye Muchun looked at the other man with an exasperated expression. The two of them were old acquaintances; otherwise, he wouldn't have spoken so bluntly.
The man slapped his forehead and immediately hurried to the back with the photos.
It wasn't long before he returned, beaming with joy.
“Just confirmed it. This mask is indeed the person they're looking for!”
“Hahaha, Old Ye, you're something else. You even have connections for this?”
Ye Muchun let out a self-satisfied smile upon hearing this.
When you're out in the world, your status is whatever you make it.
Don't worry about where I got this news—just know that I have it!
Moreover, since the other party had verified that this was the mask being sought, it proved that the information was highly likely to be true.
Invisibly, this raised Ye Muchun's value in the eyes of others by another level.
For a businessman, strength and reputation were vital.
For instance, take the same batch of goods.
A century-old establishment could take the goods and sell them before paying, settling the bill only after making a profit.
But for a traveling merchant, who would dare hand over the goods directly?
That was the utility of a reputation!
Many businessmen loved luxury cars and luxury watches.
For a significant portion of them, the purpose was to show others: I have the strength to cooperate with you!
Even small-time merchants would grit their teeth to buy luxury cars and watches just to use them as a door-opener, hoping to scrape some scraps from the mouths of the big players.
Now that he had this ready-made 'luxury car and watch,' how could Ye Muchun not claim it as his own?
“I naturally have my channels. So, you're going to make a lot this time, right?”
“With information of this level, it can sell for at least two million tonight. If the news is fully verified, it could sell for five million!”
“Our people have already gone to verify. We should have word within half an hour.”
Ye Muchun didn't say anything after hearing this, merely looking at the man with a smile.
The man understood instantly and gave him a wink.
“The usual rules: we can do a buyout or profit-sharing.”
“Buyout!”
Ye Muchun spoke decisively, and the man nodded.
“Then we'll have to wait until the news is verified. If it's true, you've hit the jackpot, kid. You'll get at least a million, maybe even a million and a half!”
The man looked on with envy. Ye Muchun laughed upon hearing this.
“If it really sells for over a million and a half, I'll treat you to tea with a hundred thousand.”
The man's face lit up with joy, and he lightly clapped his hands.
“Since you've put it that way, you'll definitely get more than a million and a half.”
Half an hour later, Wanwu City was in an uproar.
All because of a single piece of news.
【Zhongyan】 is selling news of the masked man!
As soon as this news broke, many people immediately raced toward 【Zhongyan】. They weren't necessarily bounty hunters; many of them were information flippers planning to buy the news and resell it for a profit.
There were many Wanwu City attendants, and they didn't appear in one fixed place; their locations varied constantly.
Not every location had a branch of 【Zhongyan】, and that was their opportunity. They could be the first to buy this news and then flip it elsewhere!
As for whether they made a profit or a loss, that would depend on their efficiency and ability.
By the time they reached 【Zhongyan】, many people were already rushing out in a hurry, which only increased their sense of urgency.
After all, information moved fast these days. There was no signal inside Wanwu City, so news couldn't be transmitted out, but once they stepped outside, what news couldn't be received with a single phone call?
In the outer stall area, Yin Yang was holding a miniature totem, haggling with a stall owner.
The totem was about half a meter tall and looked like a cross, but it was covered in fist-sized skulls tied with hemp rope.
There were many types of skulls, but they were all exactly the same size, and it was unclear how they had been processed.
“What's the big news this time?”
The stall owner loved a good spectacle even more than Yin Yang. He stood up and looked toward the commotion. It seemed that if he didn't have a deal to finish, he would have run off to stop someone and ask right then and there.
“One price: two thousand.”
“Two thousand? Don't kid me, brother. Look at the craftsmanship. Do you think it's easy to shrink all these skulls to the same size?”
“I'm not selling for anything less than five thousand!”
Yin Yang pointed at several of the skulls on the totem.
“These skulls are cracked. Five thousand? I don't even know what material this is. Five thousand?”
“Sure, if these were real skulls shrunk to the same size, the craftsmanship would be high.”
“But if they're just other materials carved to the same size, is that really so hard?”
The owner rubbed his chin.
“Aiya, let's meet in the middle. I wanted five thousand, you offered two. How about three thousand five? Fair, right?”
“Three thousand!”
“Fine, fine, fine! Hurry up, I want to go see what's happening.”
The stall owner was impatient. Yin Yang pulled three thousand from his pocket and handed it over.
Because he had planned to browse the stalls, Yin Yang had specifically brought some 'pocket change.'
After collecting the money, the owner handed the totem to Yin Yang, shouted to a man in black at the neighboring stall to 'watch my spot,' and ran toward the hurried crowds.
Yin Yang watched as the owner stopped someone. The person looked extremely impatient until the owner handed over five hundred, at which point their expression softened.
After the person whispered something to the owner, they resumed running toward the city exit, while the stall owner walked back with a look of satisfaction.
Yin Yang walked away carrying the totem. The stall owner gave him a surprised look, his eyes seemingly asking, 'Don't you want to know what happened?'
Yin Yang was clearly uninterested, as he could already guess.
The stall owner didn't try to stop him. Instead, he ran back to his stall and began whispering to the man in black next door.
“Huh?”
The other man also looked shocked. This reaction gave the stall owner a secret thrill, making him feel that the five hundred had been well spent.
...
Lyu family.
“Hmm?”
The newly appointed security captain, Zhou Yan, frowned and pointed at the monitor.
“B6, pan left.”
The staff member heard the command and moved the camera. Zhou Yan's expression changed as soon as he saw the screen.
“Patrol team! There's someone outside the woods at Point B6. He's looking for blind spots in the cameras' field of vision. Go check it out.”
“Understood!”
The voice over the walkie-talkie was very serious. After all, not long ago, two Sequence 7s had died in this vicinity, and even the previous captain had gone blind.
If they didn't pay a hundred percent attention in this situation, they would deserve whatever happened to them.
As the patrol team moved out, the monitor screen automatically switched to the view from the cameras mounted on their chests.
The monitoring room was silent as Zhou Yan stared intently at the screen.
On the surface, the surrounding woods appeared quiet.
“Captain Zhou, we have reached the B6 woods. Please advise.”
Zhou Yan narrowed his eyes. After a four or five-second silence, he spoke.
“Third tree on the left. Do it!”
The moment the order was given, the patrolman pulled his gun and began firing in that direction.
Bang!
The first shot hit the tree trunk, and a dark figure immediately began sprinting down the mountain.
Without waiting for further instructions from Zhou Yan, the man fired repeatedly.
The second shot missed, but the third was a lead shot that hit the man right in the thigh.
The running figure tumbled to the ground.
Seeing this, Zhou Yan spoke in a calm voice.
“Scour the area and bring him in!”
Rate on N.U.
