Chapter 464 – Demon Grease Pirate

Lu Yuan, Dongmu, and Dong Lingxue rode together in a car.

Lu Yuan and Dongmu continued discussing the recycling and reuse of bismuth metal from waste ore. Dong Lingxue, with her rebellious demeanor, was absorbed in her mobile phone, sitting by herself.

Occasionally, when Dongmu spoke to her, she responded with impatience.

As for Lu Yuan, she treated him as if he were invisible the entire time.

After about a twenty-minute drive, their convoy slowly stopped near the center of Red Diamond City.

Lu Yuan saw a building that looked astonishingly like an enormous red gemstone. He wasn’t sure what material it was made of, but it gleamed with a jewel-like luster in the light of the setting sun.

The building appeared luxurious and mysterious.

Surrounding it was a large circular square, with nearly every type of hover car parked there, all looking quite upscale, indicating that the hover car owners were either wealthy or influential.

Beyond that were numerous drones and guards. The scene was quite grand, resembling a high-level meeting of leaders rather than an ordinary banquet.

Lu Yuan followed Dongmu out of the car, where attendants immediately greeted them with smiles to guide them inside.

Walking alongside Dongmu, Lu Yuan heard him speaking softly.

“I initially planned to host you at home, but it just so happens a big shot is visiting Red Diamond City today. It’s a rare opportunity, and nobody here wants to miss it. I hope you understand, Qiyuan…”

“No worries.”

Lu Yuan shook his head and then, with a curious expression, asked, “Uncle Dong, who is this big shot that’s drawing all the elites of Red Diamond City to this meeting banquet?”

Hearing Lu Yuan’s question, Dongmu smiled slightly and replied, “The master of this planet… don’t you think that’s a big enough figure?”

Lu Yuan blinked, a flash of realization passing through his mind, recalling the flamboyantly dressed fat man he had seen at the spaceship landing site, and blurted out.

“Gem Lord?”

…

Dong Lingxue entered the hall and quickly shook off the people behind her, squinting as she searched the lavish banquet hall for familiar faces.

“Xiao Xue, over here.”

Someone in the crowd gestured to Dong Lingxue and called out softly.

Her eyes lit up, and she immediately lifted the hem of her dress and hurried towards the person.

Dong Lingxue crossed a sizable portion of the foyer to join two other girls who were also dressed up.

“I’m glad you two are here.”

She grabbed a glass of beautifully colored juice from a nearby table and took a big gulp, saying, “Otherwise, I’d be bored to death tonight.”

“Xiao Xue, you look really beautiful tonight.”

A girl in a light blue dress looked at Dong Lingxue with a hint of envy.

Dong Lingxue’s eyes sparkled mischievously as she leaned in close to the girl’s cheek, lowering her voice in a playful gruff tone, “Thanks. You look gorgeous tonight too, darling.”

“Hey… you…”

The girl’s face flushed at Dong Lingxue’s sudden antics, making Dong Lingxue burst into laughter.

Her slightly bold laughter caught the attention of a few people in the banquet hall, drawing a stern gaze.

Dong Lingxue pouted and reluctantly decided to behave.

When Dongmu turned his stern face away, she quickly shot a glare at his back.

This little gesture was noticed by a handsome young man in a dark blue suit standing next to Dongmu, who seemed amused and smiled at her.

But Dong Lingxue wasn’t at all appreciative; she rolled her eyes dramatically and turned away.

“What’s he showing off for?”

Dong Lingxue couldn’t stand people who pretended to be all mature.

He was about her age, yet always acted obedient and sensible, especially in front of her dad, who constantly compared her to him, which was utterly irritating.

Her expressive eyes and muttering caught the attention of another girl in a gown beside her, who leaned in curiously and pointed to the young man in the distance, asking, “Xiao Xue, who’s that guy with your dad? Never seen him before. He seems quite handsome…”

Dong Lingxue scoffed dismissively.

“Handsome? Pff. He’s just the son of one of my dad’s friends, from another planet. Supposedly here to do business with my dad, but really… he’s just using connections to borrow money from my dad…”

Dong Lingxue had overheard their conversation on the way, and some things had already formed clear conclusions in her mind.

When the words “from another planet” and “borrow money” were mentioned, the other girl’s interest quickly vanished, and she shifted the conversation to another topic.

As they continued to chat, one of the girls spoke up with a mysterious expression, “Do you know who the protagonist of tonight’s event is?”

“I know, it’s the Gem Lord!”

Another girl eagerly chimed in, looking rather excited, “I’ve never seen him before, but I heard his assets can buy a hundred planets! I wonder what he looks like in person?”

“He looks just like in the pictures online.”

Dong Lingxue playfully twirled her hair in boredom.

She had seen the Gem Lord in person a few years ago at a large banquet she attended with Dongmu.

She already knew that beyond his gemstone-studded title, the so-called Gem Lord was just an ordinary middle-aged fat man, not particularly impressive.

The girl who had started the topic smiled and shook her head, “You’re all wrong. The real protagonist tonight isn’t the Gem Lord.”

“It’s a duke’s son who has traveled a long way, with a noble status, and excelling in every aspect. He’s said to be a promising member of the Spirit Court Guard… A super big shot, even the Gem Lord is eager to curry favor with him…”

“Oh?!”

The girl’s words piqued the curiosity of Dong Lingxue and her companions, unconsciously drawing them in.

…

“We’ve arrived.”

A large aircraft with a faintly platinum exterior hovered slowly over the square below.

With his long hair draped over his shoulders and a cold expression on his face, Helier stood on the deck of the aircraft. He looked down at the gem-like venue, sparkling with lights and filled with well-dressed people with expectant faces gazing upwards.

Helier turned his head and spoke flatly to the Gem Lord standing beside him, “I recall mentioning that I absolutely detest these kinds of occasions.”

“I promise, this is the last time.”

The chubby Gem Lord said with a smile, gently sighing, “Lord Helier, you don’t need to do anything, just make a brief appearance later.”

“You have no idea how much your presence here boosts my value and standing within the family…”

“That has nothing to do with me.”

Helier narrowed his eyes, speaking icily, “Don’t forget why I agreed to come in the first place. If you can’t fulfill your promise, I assure you, what you’ve gained from me will be lost tenfold or a hundredfold…”

“I understand.”

The Gem Lord chuckled, then said, “It’s really just a coincidence that brings us here. The item I mentioned is located within this region. Soon, I’ll take you to it…”

“You better not be lying to me.”

Helier’s tone remained flat.

“Of course, I’m willing to swear on the honor of the Will Family.”

The Gem Lord raised his hand, appearing resolute.

But he quickly lowered his voice to add, “However, there’s a slight issue…”

“What issue?”

“And there’s another group targeting the same item. The forces I have aren’t enough to handle it, which is one of the reasons I asked for your help…”

“Who are they?”

Helier’s brows furrowed slightly.

The Gem Lord enunciated, “A group… of space pirates.”

At the mention of “space pirates,” a cold gleam flashed in Helier’s eyes, but it quickly vanished.

Moments later, Helier adjusted his collar slightly and said calmly, “Let’s go. As you wish, I’ll go down and meet them.”

The Gem Lord’s eyes lit up, and he eagerly stepped forward to personally lead the way for Helier.

…

“I knew it…”

Lu Yuan tilted his head back, watching the two figures slowly descend from the aircraft.

One of them was the Spirit Court Guard he encountered on his journey to Planet Lirva.

“I heard he’s the son of some duke too, tsk tsk…”

Lu Yuan murmured in amazement, “Truly born with a silver spoon, a top-tier expert in reincarnation.”

With the arrival of the Gem Lord and the young Spirit Court Guard, Lu Yuan noticed that everyone around him quickly moved to greet them.

Dongmu was among them.

For a moment, Lu Yuan felt a bit uninterested.

He casually adjusted the collar of his shirt and called over Lu Feng, who had silently accompanied him all evening.

“Let’s go back to the mining site.”

Lu Feng nodded and asked, “Aren’t you going to say goodbye to Dongmu?”

“I’ll let him know later,” Lu Yuan replied nonchalantly.

That evening, Dongmu introduced him to several people, including the owner of a large Waste Ore Recycling and Processing Company.

With his purpose for visiting Red Diamond City thoroughly accomplished, there was no need to linger and waste time.

Normally, he might have considered coming up with an excuse to politely decline Dongmu’s enthusiastic attempts to make him stay.

But now, with the Gem Lord present, knowing Dongmu’s personality, he expected Dongmu to be busiest during this time, probably too occupied to pay attention to him.

Now was the best opportunity to leave.

Lu Yuan and Lu Feng slowly withdrew from the crowd and headed towards the exit of the venue.

Before leaving, Lu Yuan sensed that someone seemed to glance in his direction.

Following the gaze, he caught sight of Dong Lingxue in a long dress quickly turning away.

He smiled but didn’t dwell on it.

As Lu Yuan had anticipated.

When he informed Dongmu via his personal terminal that something urgent had come up at the mining site and he needed to return immediately, Dongmu showed little intent to make him stay.

In fact, by the time Lu Yuan received Dongmu’s reply, he was already on his way back.

This round trip didn’t even take a full day.

Yet, the business he accomplished had paved the way for his future advancements, and Lu Yuan was quite pleased.

…

In the brightly lit Lu Family mining site at night.

Inside a small white building.

A group of over ten miners, led by Wolf, gathered inside the room, either standing or squatting.

Under the dim lights, a long table was set in the center of the room, piled high with a variety of steaming hot food.

At either end of the long table sat two large, burly figures, voraciously devouring their meals.

“Leader… can we really trust these two?”

After watching the two figures devour their food for quite some time, a sallow-faced middle-aged man standing beside Wolf couldn’t help but whisper quietly.

Wolf shook his head, just about to respond.

Suddenly, one of the figures at the table stopped eating and abruptly lifted their head.

“I’m full!”

From beneath the mountain of food scraps emerged a flat, dark face.

This face was densely covered with scars of varying sizes, under which lay layers of fleshy tissue.

Even though the face was full of satisfaction at that moment, it still exuded an air of ferocity and intimidation.

Despite the face being as fierce as that of a butcher and paired with a sinewy, muscular body and rough joints, the figure was more than twice as large as an average adult male.

Yet, the chest area rose slightly.

Surprisingly, it’s a woman!

A long, resounding belch, accompanied by a stomach-churning odor, filled the room as the person at the other end of the table also stopped eating.

The other figure straightened, revealing a head full of greasy braids.

This figure, equally burly to an almost absurd extent, was also a woman.

The two women, stronger than most men, finished their meal and casually picked up bones from the table to clean their teeth, then slowly shifted their gaze to Wolf and the others.

The miners, whose skin tingled under the intense gaze of these two women, instinctively wanted to step back.

It’s not about gender.

This was the primal fear of creatures at the bottom of the food chain toward apex predators.

“So, tell us.”

The scar-faced black-skinned woman tossed the bone onto the table and spoke lazily, “What do you want us to do?”

The presence of these two formidable women nearly suffocated the miners, making it hard for them to breathe, let alone speak.

Instinctively, all eyes turned to Wolf.

Wolf handled himself much better than the average miner.

He composed himself for a moment, then pulled a small storage card-like object from his pocket and placed it gently in front of the woman.

The scarred woman picked up the storage card and used her terminal to read it.

After a brief moment, she glanced at the information displayed on the terminal, clicked her tongue, and asked, “So, who do we kill? One of them or both?”

“Both,” Wolf answered quickly and firmly, “neither can live.”

“What are their strengths?” the scarred woman asked again.

Wolf thought for a moment before calmly replying, “The younger one is the son of the mine owner, who is a baron in the nobility. What level of bodyguards do you think a noble baron would find for his own son?”

“That would be level four…” the scarred woman mumbled, “at worst, no higher than level five. Typically, a baron’s resources wouldn’t surpass that level… hmm, if it’s a level five expert, the previously discussed price isn’t going to cut it…”

The scarred woman and the one with braids turned their heads simultaneously, fixing their eyes on Wolf and his group.

Their beastly, fierce, and ruthless gazes slowly swept over the group, before a sly grin appeared on their faces as the scarred woman spoke, “You’ll have to pay more. At least… triple!”