ATPnovel Chapter 219 The Stairway to Heaven Incident
Chapter 219 The Stairway to Heaven Incident
District 13, Yangming Bar.
The torrential rain pounded against the window, making a sizzling sound like meat being grilled on a hot plate.
"Good evening, everyone. Today is Friday, May 15, 2121. Welcome to the Thirteen District News Report."
"The director of the Starry Sky Agency, the newly promoted hero Sky Light, has mysteriously disappeared."
"In Yiti Lane, the supervillainous Sunshine Organization destroyed another slaughterhouse belonging to the Fly Gang. Some citizens claim that they are the true heroes of District 13."
"The investigation into the massive crude oil theft case at a subsidiary oil company of a heavy machinery industry company reveals that over 5.1 billion tons of oil have vanished into thin air. The whereabouts of the key suspect remain unknown, and it is suspected that the theft was committed by an insider in collusion with external forces."
"By the way! To watch such exciting news, you definitely need a good pair of prosthetic eyes."
With a snap.
Chen Feng tossed his phone onto the table, raised his glass, and celebrated with everyone, saying, "Cheers!"
Three months have passed since the time travel.
Under Chen Feng's leadership, the Sunshine Organization became a rising star in the 13th District's criminal scene. In particular, Shit King Bao Mu, who started as a greenhorn, is now one of the 13th District's most notorious criminals. It is rumored that anyone who dares to offend him will be remembered with infamy for eternity.
The middleman, Thirteen, was very satisfied: "This is the reward. You killed them all very cleanly, which made it much easier for the client to take over the Fly Gang's territory. So you got an extra ten percent. But you also need to be careful of the Fly Gang's retaliation."
"Revenge? Never seen that before."
Because next time I play through the game, I might have to become a hero.
So Chen Feng asked curiously, "Brother, do you have any inside information about the disappearance of the Light of the Sky?"
Chen Feng remembered that Thirteen had previously issued a commission to attack the Starry Sky Agency.
Thirteen shook his finger: "Brother, you know the rules. The middleman won't leak any information unrelated to the mission, otherwise, he wouldn't be able to survive in this industry."
Chen Feng expressed his understanding, but privately he secretly kicked Melissa and gave her a wink.
After the middleman leaves.
Melissa said, "I hacked into his system and found out that the attack on Starry Sky Agency was a public commission within the middleman circle."
Public commission means that the commission is given to more than one intermediary.
Chen Feng asked curiously, "This must have cost a lot of money. Who has such a deep grudge against Starry Sky Agency?"
Melissa said, "Competitors are enemies. I guess Starry Sky Agency charges low fees and does a good job, so it has taken away too much business and is being targeted by other agencies."
Chen Feng checked the time and stood up: "Has everyone finished drinking? The Rat Gang's auction is about to begin. I heard that they have some top-quality paints that we want this time."
"Boss, I'm feeling a bit dizzy, so I won't go this time."
Compared to three months ago, Keanu is now a completely different person. His arms are thicker than an elephant's leg, clearly fitted with a prosthetic arm similar to that of a gorilla.
Besides.
There's also S.A.W.S.4.0, reinforced tendons, plastic blood vessels, and synthetic lung lobes.
Every time Chen Feng kills a cybernetic leader, Keanu picks it up and puts it in his pocket. Now, his strength is at the level of a Blue-level criminal.
However, as a consequence, Keanu began to experience frequent hand tremors, dizziness, and vomiting due to rejection of his prosthetic body.
Chen Feng said with concern, "Alright then, you really need to stop for a while. If you keep pretending like this, you'll go crazy."
Keanu took a while to reply, "Sorry, what did you say, boss? I was just spacing out."
Kiri said with some concern, "Boss, it's raining so hard outside, let me take my brother home."
Chen Feng nodded: "Okay, we're going to buy things, not rob them."
Three months ago, when Chen Feng heard about the auction, he did have the idea of grabbing something.
But the bodyguard at the auction was a retired second-tier hero.
According to the data obtained by Chen Feng from his research.
Heroes in lines seven through nine are all trash, only good enough to deal with purple-level criminals.
Lines four through six are the backbone, from breaching walls to storming the streets, responsible for dealing with criminals ranging from blue to green.
Levels three and above correspond to Yellow (city-level), Orange (nation-level), and Red (continent-level) criminals, respectively.
Chen Feng sometimes has the ability to kill a high-level street-level hero without much trouble, but when facing a second-tier hero of national-level strength, he'd better just pay up.
And so, after paying a deposit of four million.
Chen Feng and his group entered the auction hall.
This used to be an indoor concert hall, a high-class venue for the upper class to enjoy symphonies and piano music. However, due to technological advancements, people can now experience concerts at home using virtual devices without leaving their homes, so it has naturally been phased out.
The rat gang that took over it turned this hall of high art into a vulgar place for money transactions.
What an irony.
The waiter brought over four masks that obstructed perception: "Sir, wear these. Even the most advanced scanning equipment will be unable to identify you."
"Also, this is a gift from us."
The service was quite good.
After passing through a dimly lit corridor, the four found their seats according to their numbers.
Then the lights around us went out.
An auctioneer dressed in a tuxedo stepped onto the stage, introducing each item in turn: "This is a basic combat suit using military technology. Wearing it will give ordinary people the strength of a fifth-tier fighter."
Chen Feng mentally calculated: "That's a building-exploding level."
"Starting bid: 100,000. Please place your bid now."
As the auctioneer's voice faded, people in the room continued to raise their paddles, and the item was eventually sold for over two million.
In the following hour, several more items were auctioned off.
Until Chen Feng started to feel sleepy.
The main event is about to begin.
"Ladies and gentlemen, this is a panacea that can cure everything, cure all known diseases in the world, and extend the life of the user by fifty years. Starting bid: ten million."
1100.
1200.
The numbers are skyrocketing.
This made Chen Feng feel very uneasy.
He knew that the best things were always saved for last. If the starting bid for the panacea was ten million, then the two hundred million he earned as a Green-level criminal might not be enough.
Ultimately, the panacea was sold for a high price of fifty million.
And then...
It was the top-quality pigment that Chen Feng had been longing for.
At the auctioneer's prompting, the retired second-tier hero took out a small box.
The system analysis reached Chen Feng's ears:
[High-grade pigments: By stimulating human cells, they increase muscle strength, improve skin hardness, and enhance physical strength, movement speed, jumping ability, and other aspects.]
Depending on the individual's level of adaptation, they can gain the power to go from dominating the streets to dominating the city.
It's definitely a good product.
Its starting bid is 100 million.
Bidders must have been verified at the venue in advance to have deposits of more than 100 million before they can raise their paddles.
"Two hundred million."
Chen Feng went all in right away, intending to overwhelm his opponents with his momentum, but the others didn't care at all.
"Two hundred and one million."
"Two hundred and two million."
It's out of play.
Although Chen Feng knew that something so important would definitely be marked, he still tried to stop time to see if he could steal it.
But in just a second.
The time-stop effect is canceled.
"There are many people here who are better than me."
Chen Feng's time stop is derived from the digestion of multiple divine natures. Even if Cihang Bodhisattva himself came, he would be frozen for a second. But after that first second, how long he can control the time depends on how strong the people within the time stop range are.
If he encounters an opponent weaker than himself, Chen Feng can easily last for seventy or eighty thousand years.
But when faced with someone similar to himself, Chen Feng would be lucky to last even a minute.
The venue is now filled with big shots from District 13, and there's also a second-tier powerhouse from the Explosive Nation. With Chen Feng's explosive power, he could exhaust all their strength in half a second.
No.
We need to think of other solutions.
Chen Feng summoned the manager and asked, "Can you guarantee the safety of your high-quality pigments?"
The manager asked in confusion, "Sir, I don't understand what you mean."
Chen Feng casually asked, "I was asking where this paint came from. If it was stolen from the company, what if the company holds me accountable after I buy it?"
The manager explained, "Don't worry, sir, we've already done our investigation and guarantee the company won't come after you."
"How can I believe you without evidence? Unless you tell me where the paint came from."
"We will not disclose any buyer or seller information."
"Here's what we'll do." Chen Feng had plenty of ideas. "I'll give you a million. You just tell me secretly. Anyway, he's already sold it, so this news shouldn't be important anymore, right?"
"I'm sorry, we can't accept money from customers privately."
Five million.
"Ten million."
"One hundred million."
The Rat Gang members are really high-quality; no matter how much Chen Feng offered, the manager wouldn't budge.
But what the manager didn't expect was that Chen Feng wasn't planning to get any information out of Melissa, but was instead buying her time.
"Done."
After Melissa gave the gesture, Chen Feng returned to his seat.
"How is it?"
"I've hacked into their system and found out how to obtain the high-quality pigments." Melissa rubbed her temples. "But what I don't understand is, the pigments have already been sold, so why should we risk offending the Rat Gang to obtain this outdated information?"
Chen Feng smiled and thought, "This intelligence might be outdated now, but when I reload my save file next time, it will be pre-existing intelligence."
At this point, the top-quality pigments, the highlight of the auction, had already been sold.
And after the grand finale, the last item in the auction made Chen Feng even more excited.
The auctioneer pointed to the small blue bottle in the bodyguard's hand and said:
"As everyone knows, the low-quality compounds on the market, although they can give people superpowers, have a 99% fatality rate. No one would take an injection except for desperate gamblers."
"But this is a raw material compound obtained from Maxim Military Technology Company. It is 100% successful, has no side effects, and can give you superpowers and a guaranteed third-tier physical strength."
Starting bid: one billion.
"No bidding is allowed outside the VIP area."
Chen Feng doesn't care about superpowers. If he wants, he can use the Great Philanthropist System here. He only needs to get a bottle of inferior compound and then use the Great Philanthropist's Merit System, and he will succeed 100%.
The key is that the guaranteed third tier allows you to directly bypass the Street Explosion and reach the City Explosion level in terms of physical strength.
This is what Chen Feng cares about.
"Physical strength is a universal attribute."
"If we can obtain it, we can use it in the future when we go to the worlds of the Immortal Ancient Dragon, the King of Monsters, and the First Saint Demon Lord."
Seeing Chen Feng staring intently at the compound but unable to obtain it, Bao Mu comforted him, "Boss, boss, don't be discouraged. As long as you save money slowly, you'll definitely be able to buy it."
Chen Feng smiled, looking at the seller information Melissa had sent him, and thought to himself, "Who said I was going to buy it?"
After the auction ended.
Chen Feng and the other guests left one after another.
As soon as he stepped outside, Chen Feng faintly heard what sounded like screams mixed in with the wind and rain.
At this moment, someone without an umbrella wiped their face and asked in confusion, "Strange, why is this rainwater so slippery?"
Chen Feng took a sniff and it smelled like gasoline.
That's strange. I've heard of pies falling from the sky, but I've never heard of oil falling from the sky.
Chen Feng thought of the oil disappearance case that had been making headlines recently, and wondered if what had fallen from the sky was oil.
"Probably not."
"Stealing oil and not selling it, but just spilling it on the ground, is that crazy?"
Just as Chen Feng was pondering, the person without an umbrella suddenly stumbled, as if on the moon, and their feet left the ground.
"What's going on?"
"How did I become so light?"
That person reacted quickly; the moment they realized something was wrong, they grabbed a lamppost on the side of the road to try and secure themselves.
Unfortunately, the force that lifted him up was too great, and his hands were too slippery after being soaked by the rain.
One meter, two meters, five meters, ten meters.
Screams rang out in the air.
"Help!"
"Pull me down!"
Chen Feng finally realized where those screams were coming from.
Only then did everyone notice that shoes and hats were scattered on the street, all of which had fallen from the ascending person.
Baomu was terrified: "If it weren't for the hat my cousin gave me, I would have gotten soaked in the rain too."
At that moment, an ethereal sound came from the sky.
"Oil can float on water."
"The human body is mostly water."
"If you put the oil on a person, that person can fly away like a bird."
He's a weirdo.
And what is the scope of its influence?
Chen Feng opened his phone, and the first news item was a report that countless floating people had appeared throughout the Thirteenth District.
The entire District 13?
Chen Feng had searched before and found that District 13 was about the size of Earth, meaning it was guaranteed to have at least a surface-level monster.
"Back off!"
"Don't get oil on yourself."
Chen Feng pulled his three teammates back to the auction venue.
Just then, the rain suddenly stopped.
Almost instantly, countless aerial acrobats were falling at an extremely fast speed.
Then came the sound of something falling like firecrackers.
In the local parlance of the city: "Today's 13th district's dead lottery is worth 10 billion, because everyone was wiped out with a single click."
And what follows death is terror.
From those pools of corpses, a translucent, amber-colored, viscous, reflective oil began to seep out. This oil continued to aggregate and wriggle, eventually forming an unprecedented oil giant.
It lifted its foot.
Oh no, oh no!
Chen Feng turned to his three teammates and said, "From now on, you must feel in your hearts that you can abandon everything and leave this world with me."
"What?"
"Don't ask, just believe it from the bottom of your heart!"
After saying that, Chen Feng used time stop.
During the one second that the universe paused, no one could endanger Chen Feng's safety.
[Evacuation in progress]
Because he couldn't bear to leave his family, the superpowered Baomu didn't meet the recruitment requirements.
[Dislikes urban life, has sufficient affinity, and meets the recruitment requirements for Hacker Shadow]
[Due to insufficient favorability, S-rank NO.9 Dark Mask Roman does not meet the recruitment requirements.]
I rely on?
Is Melissa a pseudonym?
The ninth-ranked S-class player has been lurking around me for three months?
In shock, Chen Feng and Ying vanished from the spot at the same time.
Then, the oil giant stomped down, wiping out nearly half of District 13, almost 100 million square kilometers, from the city!
On May 15, 2121, the first of the black disasters occurred: the Stairway to Heaven incident.