Chapter 109
Chapter 109: Chen Tong—Did His Words Come True?
Chen Tong hesitated.
Three horns meant nine million.
That was almost his limit.
But the new formula needed lightning horns as raw material. He couldn’t not buy them.
“Fuck. Li Hai Sheng can’t be left alive.”
A cold edge slid into Chen Tong’s eyes. He’d tolerated the man because Li Hai Sheng was an awakener, but if the bastard wanted to push him this far…
Then Chen Tong would hire someone else to kill him, take back the money, and reclaim every horn that should’ve been his.
“First, keep him calm. Don’t spook him.”
He used “verifying authenticity” as an excuse and paid a one-third deposit for three horns, deciding he’d pay the rest after the goods arrived.
In his heart, he never intended to pay the rest at all.
Elsewhere, Qian Qi stared at the deposit and sighed dramatically.
“Ah. My son’s grown up,” she lamented. “Harder to fool.”
After pocketing the three million deposit, she stood and left the orphanage.
System asked, confused, “Where are you going?”
The lightning horns were at the orphanage. What did she need to go out for?
Qian Qi glanced at System, her lips curling into a smile that managed to be both mysterious and profoundly shady.
System went quiet.
How did she always pull that off?
“I’m going to the market,” Qian Qi said pleasantly, “to teach our good boy a life lesson.”
Her eyes narrowed into happy crescents. “Cheap things aren’t good.”
System watched, helpless, as Qian Qi took the subway to the nearest market, picked out three horn-shaped decorations, and packed them into a shipping box with the care of a seasoned criminal.
System couldn’t help worrying. “You scam him like this—what if he snaps and bites you back?”
“He’ll bite Li Hai Sheng,” Qian Qi said, smiling sweetly. “Not me. What does that have to do with Qian Qi?”
She flashed her teeth. “And if he really wants to bite… he can go to hell to find Li Hai Sheng.”
*
When the package arrived, Chen Tong ripped it open and immediately handed the “horns” to the magic plant researcher he’d hired.
The researcher studied them for a moment, then hesitated. “This… isn’t a magic beast horn. It looks like resin.”
Chen Tong’s brain stalled. “What?”
“Could a magic beast horn feel like that?” Chen Tong forced out, still trying to salvage reality.
“Impossible.” The researcher picked up a special little hammer and tapped the “horn.”
Crack.
It split cleanly.
“An E-rank magic beast horn isn’t this brittle.”
Chen Tong went white, then red.
“So Li Hai Sheng used fakes to scam me?”
Rage detonated. Chen Tong called Li Hai Sheng at once.
The light-brain reported: Powered Off.
He slammed his fingers into the keyboard, firing off message after message—cursing Li Hai Sheng to die, to be torn apart in a dungeon, to be slowly chewed to death by magic beasts—asking what was the point of having a brain if he was going to be this shameless.
There was no reply.
Not a single word.
As if Li Hai Sheng really were dead.
Two days later, Chen Tong’s secretary burst into his office and shoved a news alert in his face.
On the screen, the Dungeon Forum had posted the awakener death list from the Early Cloud Mountain dungeon over the past two days, praising their courage and displaying “honorable” photos of the bodies left behind.
Chen Tong’s eyes locked onto a familiar name.
Li Hai Sheng.
The corpse was mangled—either from the fall or from magic beasts. The head was missing entirely.
Chen Tong’s mouth opened.
Closed.
Opened again.
“I… I was just cursing,” he said, sounding genuinely confused. “He actually… died?”
Then another thought hit him like a truck.
If Li Hai Sheng was dead, that money and those horns would be confiscated.
His eighty million—
Chen Tong’s vision went black.
He collapsed.
*
Qian Qi had no idea any of that happened.
Right now, she stood near the Early Cloud Mountain dungeon entrance, staring at the crowd—and at her own failing auction listings.
The houses she’d listed weren’t fetching good prices.
Why?
Because the Early Cloud Mountain dungeon’s barrier was brutal. Without a flight skill, a hovercar, or a helicopter, even if you cleared the dungeon, you couldn’t get out.
That meant property near this dungeon was dozens of times cheaper than property near other farmable dungeons.
Qian Qi refused to let her houses rot in her hands.
If she wanted the prices to rise, she had to “activate” the area—make it so awakeners weren’t scared off by that damn exit problem.
Which meant one thing:
When the boss respawned, she had to be here.
But she was “dead,” so she’d disguised herself.
A beachy straw hat. Oversized black sunglasses. A blade of grass between her lips. A lazy, carefree grin.
A bright pink floral shirt, unbuttoned at the collar. Green-leaf shorts. Woven flip-flops.
She looked less like someone about to dive into a dungeon and more like someone ready to drink something with an umbrella in it.
And behind her stood the flashiest piece of all—
A brand-new, gleaming red helicopter.
Qian Qi watched the awakeners lingering at the entrance. They had parachutes, but fear rooted them in place: if they dropped down, how would they ever get back up to the sky entrance?
“This dungeon’s cleared, but to go in, you need flight skills.”
“Yeah. Or a helicopter. Or a hovercar. Otherwise how do you get back?”
“Thought we finally got another E-rank dungeon to farm, but no—there’s a barrier. Only rich people can enter…”
Someone spotted Qian Qi and jerked their chin. “Look. A rich guy with a helicopter.”
Qian Qi waved at them like she was greeting neighbors.
Curiosity won. A few of them approached.
Qian Qi pulled down a small wooden sign.
Their eyes widened when they read it.
“Early Cloud Mountain dungeon return ticket—only 30,000?”
“Exactly.” Qian Qi’s grin widened, the grass at her lips bobbing. “You’re all worried about how to get out, right? Buy an Early Cloud Mountain return ticket, and after the boss is killed, you ride the helicopter straight out.”
“No need to envy flight awakeners. No need to envy rich helicopter owners. For just 30,000, you get luxury air service. First ten get 20% off—limited time!”
The discount made their eyes gleam, but one still asked warily, “How do you guarantee you’ll come pick us up? You won’t take our money and run?”
“Once the boss is dead, I’ll enter and wait directly under the exit,” Qian Qi said. Then she pointed behind her. “IKD flight group helicopter. I signed a contract. I’m not scamming you.”
They looked. The IKD logo was stamped on the red body, bold and unmistakable.
“IKD? Isn’t that the new company that makes cheap aircraft?”
“Heard the two old flight consortiums have been crushing them. They’re so desperate they’re renting helicopters now…”
Qian Qi clicked her tongue and slapped the sign. “Watch your mouth. The IKD heir is literally sitting back there.”
She spoke like she was introducing a celebrity. “He’s personally flying as captain. Smooth as hell. You should be grateful.”
The group’s mouths fell open. They craned their necks toward the cockpit.
A handsome young man lifted a hand and waved.
It was Sheng Qing Hong—the IKD prince they’d seen on the news.