Chapter 286: Black Spade Appears

"Everyone! Line up! One by one!""We only accept banknotes! No cash! Five hundred thousand per kilogram! No bargaining!"At the entrance of the boiler plant, several furnaces blazed fiercely, their heat warming the surrounding crowd. A bald man, dressed in the uniform of the Constellation Merchant Guild, held a rolled-up paper tube and roared menacingly.

Figures lined up in over a dozen long queues, heads bowed, handing over their hard-earned money in exchange for a small basin of dark, low-quality coal. Then, stiff and dazed, they shuffled away into the distance.This small basin of coal was their life.

"Done buying? Move it! What are you dawdling for, damn it?!""You, old man! Get out of my sight!"The bald man kicked the slowest person, an old man blocking the line behind him. The old man stumbled and fell to the ground, and with a clatter, all the coal he clutched spilled out.

At the same time, the surrounding crowd, who had been watching covetously, swarmed forward, snatched the coal from the ground, and ran off, leaving the old man lying alone in the snow."Coal...my coal..." the old man stammered, despair welling up in his eyes. He had no strength left to get up and lay quietly in the snow.

"Someone drag him away."The bald man waved his hand. A few people nearby immediately lifted the old man and carried him away, carelessly discarding him in a corner, out of the way, his fate unknown.

Jian Changsheng's uncle was queuing behind the old man. Witnessing the scene, he seemed about to speak, but seeing the coal placed before him, he ultimately chose silence."Are you going to pay or just dawdle?" a staff member urged.

The uncle gritted his teeth and pulled out a banknote from the innermost pocket of his clothes. The other person snatched it, glanced at the denomination, and then casually pulled out a basket of coal from behind."Take it.""Brother... this coal doesn't seem like enough," the uncle said, frowning instinctively at the small, dark pile. "The money I paid should buy more than this, right?"

He realized there wasn't even a scale at the boiler plant entrance. The amount of coal given depended entirely on the mood of these people: a larger denomination meant a larger amount, a smaller denomination a smaller one, because this method was the fastest and most efficient."This is all you get.""I just want the amount I'm entitled to... this is clearly not enough. Why don't you use a scale to check?"

"Are you looking for trouble??" The bald man, who had already noticed the commotion, strode over menacingly and shoved the uncle to the ground. "Drag him away!"Several people nearby immediately swarmed forward. Seeing this, the uncle's face darkened. "You took my money! Why won't you give me the coal?!"

"Damn it, so much talk..." The bald man rolled up his sleeves, about to act, when suddenly something dripped onto his cheek.He paused, instinctively reached up to touch it, and found a smear of crimson blood on his palm."Blood? Where did this blood come from?"

*Vroom—!!!*Just then, a deep roar suddenly came from inside the boiler plant.Hearing the sound, everyone was stunned, as if some massive object was hurtling out of the warehouse!"Careful!" The squinting man, sensing something was wrong, immediately called out.

The next moment, a massive coal transport truck burst through the checkpoint at the boiler plant entrance, directly knocking several Constellation Merchant Guild staff members into the air, roaring out like a raging steel beast!Residents on Century Avenue screamed and scattered to the sides. After breaking through the checkpoint, the truck began to brake, slowly coming to a screeching halt amidst the crowd.

Dust swirled in the air. The startled crowd turned to look, only to see a blurred figure instantly vanish from the truck's driver's cabin!"Damn it! Who drove this truck out—" The bald man's eyes widened, but before he could finish speaking, a blood-red shadow flashed before him!"It was me."*Slice—*A chilling glint, like a full moon, flashed by, and the bald man's head was thrown high into the air. Crimson blood gushed like a fountain, his expression still frozen in shock and disbelief!

The scene unfolded too quickly; no one even saw how the blood-red shadow appeared out of thin air beside the bald man. In the blink of an eye, the bald man was decapitated by a single strike!"Enemy attack?!" The squinting man, leaning against the wall, his eyes flashing with a sharp glint, was about to act when the blood-red shadow vanished again!The squinting man froze in place.

"Murder... there's been a murder?!""Who drove the truck out? Why was there no one in it?""Damn it, what the hell is going on??"Witnessing the bald man's decapitation, a commotion broke out in the crowd. The uncle seized the opportunity to break free from his captors, stumbling backward. His gaze drifted into the distance, as if trying to ascertain if Little Jian was safe.

Meanwhile, the blood-red figure reappeared out of thin air on the hood of the truck.His appearance caused the crowd to gasp and recoil in fear, creating a clear space around him.*Drip—drip—*Drops of blood ran down his arm, falling onto the truck's hood, gradually spreading into a small pool. At the same time, a young face covered in blood came into view. Of course, the blood on his face wasn't his own; it belonged to the bald man he had just decapitated.

The moment he saw that face, the uncle froze, an expression of disbelief appearing in his eyes."Little... Little Jian?""Who are you?! How dare you disrupt the Constellation Merchant Guild's business?" The squinting man's eyes flashed with murderous intent, and a terrifying aura emanated from him. "Are you an enforcer? If you are, perhaps we can have a good talk."

"...An enforcer?"The blood-red figure on the truck chuckled softly. He slowly turned, took a stack of playing cards from his pocket with his fingertips, and flicked them. Stained with blood, the cards floated down like falling snowflakes.The squinting man froze. He caught a blood-stained card mid-air, and as if realizing something, his pupils suddenly constricted!

Jian Changsheng spoke calmly,"Twilight Society... Spade 6."The moment those words rang out, everyone present felt a sudden jolt, especially the members of the Constellation Merchant Guild, who looked at Jian Changsheng with terror, as if recalling something."Spade 6... You're *that* Spade 6?!"