Chapter 297: The Mafia and Pops

Yan Jing took some time to gradually adapt to his current body.

Compared to a human body, the differences were significant. Both his sight and hearing were far more developed, giving him a slightly different field of vision. This was, of course, assuming neither possessed the power of the Transcendent Tier.

Having resolved the physical issues, Yan Jing shifted his focus to the memories.

The situation surrounding this cat, Bacon, was highly complicated.

Strictly speaking, he belonged to a mafia organization within this nation and held a rather high position.

The Peace Heavenly Kingdom strictly prohibited the existence of the mafia.

But that was only on the surface.

After several presidents taking office and subsequently withdrawing from elections, the current Peace Heavenly Kingdom was no longer the Heavenly Kingdom it had once been.

Many things were permitted, so long as they were kept out of the public eye.

Even so, the Peace Heavenly Kingdom was still far better than the other Heavenly Kingdoms the original owner knew of.

At the very least, the laws of the Peace Heavenly Kingdom were comprehensive, and it offered relative freedom.

In some Heavenly Kingdoms, everyone was under the surveillance of an intelligent system, with their movements and behaviors completely restricted.

It was hard to imagine how long such Heavenly Kingdoms could maintain their stability; after all, extreme pressure inevitably led to eruptions.

In contrast, the Peace Heavenly Kingdom had privacy laws. It was illegal to arbitrarily implant surveillance or listening devices in anyone. If discovered and reported to the Enforcers, the consequences were exceedingly severe.

Furthermore, there was one highly unique aspect to the Peace Heavenly Kingdom:

A strict prohibition on violence.

On the surface, any act of violence would be met with severe punishment.

‘Overall, it feels like some of the capitalist nations in East Asia from my past life. The mafia is heavily restricted here, unlike in the West,’ he mused silently. Just then, the Information Component on his wrist—shaped like overlapping black petals—began to vibrate.

Someone was calling.

Who could it be this late at night?

He immediately answered the call using the method from the original owner's memories.

The moment it connected, a gloomy voice seeped through the other end like biting frost.

"Why haven't you answered my calls for three days?"

"Do I need to send an invitation?"

"No, Pops. Something came up. I am truly sorry," Yan Jing replied immediately, his tone perfectly respectful.

The man on the other end was the boss of the mafia organization the original owner belonged to, and could also be considered his father.

The original owner was a child he had picked up from a garbage dump, which was why he had always called him Pops.

"..."

After a long silence, the call was abruptly cut off.

According to the original owner's memories, this was a sign of "Pops" being utterly enraged.

Yan Jing sighed helplessly.

Sure enough, this starting point was not going smoothly either.

The next second, his figure blurred in a blink, instantly appearing at the stairwell ten meters away.

This was one of the original owner's Third Tier abilities. Though the distance was short, it was a genuine spatial ability, originating from an off-market biological serum produced by Nuochen Biotech.

A single bottle had cost the original owner 200,000 eerie points.

The purchasing power of one eerie point in the Peace Heavenly Kingdom for daily necessities was roughly equivalent to two gui yuan in Minhu, which translated to 50 Surface World Currency.

200,000 eerie points meant 10 million Surface World Currency.

Yan Jing could easily afford that sum right now, but the original owner's financial situation here was clearly not as well-off as his own in the Surface World.

The Information Component showed a remaining balance of only a few tens of thousands of eerie points.

After a few more blinks, he exited the abandoned, unfinished building, reached the highway, and hailed a taxi.

Even though it was quite late, the entire Peace Heavenly Kingdom was like a sleepless city, bathed in neon lights at every corner.

"Take me to Flower, Bird, and Fish Street in Muke District."

Muke District was also the headquarters of the original owner's mafia organization.

About an hour later, Yan Jing successfully arrived at his destination.

Seeing that the fare was 5 eerie points, even the usually free-spending Young Master Yan could not help but widen his eyes.

Two hundred and fifty Surface World Currency for a single taxi ride?

Heh, he had still underestimated the level of development in this nation.

He had just calculated purchasing power using basic daily necessities like mineral water, rice, and noodles.

Clearly, service fees were the truly expensive form of consumption here.

‘Speaking of which, that girl was rather generous.’

Yan Jing recalled the girl named Tianwei, who had directly paid 20 eerie points on his behalf to the Enforcer.

‘I hope that ore is worth a decent amount.’

It was something he had brought from Dangdangli.

Back in Dangdangli, he had mailed some ores to Chen Nian. After Chen Nian replied detailing which ones were valuable, he had carried a few pieces with him, intending to use them as samples to show others.

Time had been tight back then, and he had not known if they would ever have the chance to meet again, so he had simply given that piece of ore to the girl.

Soon, he strode briskly into the Flower, Bird, and Fish Street ahead of him.

Flower, Bird, and Fish Street was considered one of the more luxurious areas in this Third Level district of Muke District. After all, only those who didn't have to worry about food and shelter would consider such spiritually enriching purchases.

The moment he stepped inside, he felt several gazes shoot out from the shops on both sides and land on him. A second later, most of those eyes darted away, as if they had just seen the plague god himself.

Mao Laosi.

As the most infamous figure of the Plague, most merchants knew the original owner's name. He was even more famous than the boss of the Plague, a man who was usually as elusive as a dragon.

How could ordinary people ever come into contact with mafia higher-ups anyway?

All of this was simply because "Pops" had chosen to train the original owner by tossing him directly to the very bottom of the organization to start working—namely, collecting protection fees.

The original owner naturally had complaints about this, but oddly enough, he had taken to it like a fish to water.

For miles around, the only shops that had never paid him protection money were the new ones that had opened in recent years.

That was because he had been promoted in recent years and no longer handled fee collections.

Yan Jing paid no mind to the merchants' stares, walking straight into the depths of the street.

When he reached roughly the middle of the street, his footsteps paused, and he turned into a flower shop with the largest signboard on the block.

This was the prime location on the entire street; the rent alone would equal an ordinary family's income for several years.

"Oh my~ Brother Four, you're here!"

A flamboyantly dressed man sashayed over, swaying his hips. With every step, he bent his body a little lower, until he finally squatted in front of Yan Jing, bringing their lines of sight to roughly the same level.

"What instructions do you have, Brother Four?"

The man blinked his large, dramatically bright eyes—heavily coated with mascara—and smiled obsequiously.

"Our shop just paid the protection fee last week. Did something go wrong somewhere?"

"Get me a bouquet."

Yan Jing mimicked the original owner's arrogant, defiant tone.

He didn't even look the man in the eye, instead keeping his head down as he picked at his sharp claws.

The perfect picture of a thug.

"What?"

The man stared blankly, failing to process the demand.

"Do you have dog ears or something? How many times do I have to repeat myself?"

Yan Jing shot him a sideways glare, raising his voice.

"A bouquet! Get me a bouquet! Can't you understand?"

"Oh, oh, oh!!!"

The man scrambled to his feet. A moment later, he returned with a massive bouquet of colorful flowers tied with a ribbon, squatting back down in front of Yan Jing with a smile.

"Brother Four, your flowers."

"How much?"

Yan Jing reached out with his left paw, taking the bouquet that was almost as tall as he was.

"What?"

"I said, how much, how much, how much!"

Yan Jing pulled a black piece of paper from his pocket and smacked it rhythmically against the man's shoulder.

"Oh, oh, oh, 2 eerie points. Ah, no, 1 eerie point. No, no..."

The man shielded his face with his hands, but surprisingly felt no pain.

A few seconds later, he finally grasped what Yan Jing meant.

"10 eerie points! 10 eerie points, Brother Four."

"The real price?"

Yan Jing raised the piece of paper, and the man immediately shrank back in fear.

"It's real! It's the real price!"

"Scan the Component."

Yan Jing extended his wrist without hesitation and transferred 10 eerie points to the man. Then, glancing at the center of the bouquet, he reached out a claw and pinched a card out from between two tulips.

"What's the meaning of this?"

"I might have forgotten to pay last week's protection fee, Brother Four. I just remembered."

The man smiled ingratiatingly.

Yan Jing tossed the card into the man's chest.

"Throw in a few extra flowers."

"Huh?" The man had learned his lesson this time. Barely letting out a single syllable, he immediately ran off to grab a few loose flowers and tucked them into the bouquet in Yan Jing's paws.

"That will do."

Yan Jing nodded in satisfaction. Then, he waved his fist and spoke fiercely.

"Pay your protection fee on time next time."

"Understood, understood!"

The man nodded furiously.

Yan Jing walked out the door, carrying the flowers.

This was the ecosystem of Muke District. If he had neither accepted the card nor asked for something else, the man would have undoubtedly sought out other members of the Plague, trying every possible method to force that card into his hands.

In Muke District, a merchant who had not been extorted for protection money simply could not survive.

The Plague was not the only mafia here, either. Aside from the Plague, there was another mafia organization of roughly the same size.

Both sides collected their share, and the merchants survived in the cracks between them.

‘No wonder Old Chen thought Old Sin City was a decent place.’

Yan Jing sighed speechlessly, then used his Information Component to call for another taxi.

He could not call any of his subordinates to come pick him up.

Otherwise, if the original owner's eccentric Pops found out that the first person he saw wasn't him, there would be hell to pay.

Moreover...

His current situation was unsafe. He absolutely could not be alone with anyone else in the organization. It was best to head to a crowded place and find a security officer as soon as possible.

Before long, after paying another exorbitant fare, he arrived in front of an office building and walked inside with the flowers in hand.

This office building was one of the few high-rises in Muke District. The companies stationed within were all properties of Muke District's wealthy elite.

The eighth floor, on the surface, housed a fully legal and compliant credit company.

In reality, it was an unscrupulous enterprise dedicated to loan sharking.

The holding director of the enterprise was a man named Xiong Erzhu.

Among the underground factions of Muke District, he went by another name.

Xiong Lao'er.

A stupid bear.

That was the original owner's assessment of him.

And hidden behind this unscrupulous company, nestled in a small mezzanine, was the true office space of the Plague.

Ding!

The elevator bell chimed.

Yan Jing adjusted the tie on his chest and stepped out of the elevator.

The surrounding employees working the late shift immediately cast peculiar glances his way.

"Good evening, Brother Four."

"Brother Four, you've returned..."

"You're looking sharp today, Brother Four..."

"Get back to work!" Yan Jing's lips curled up into an exaggerated smirk.

"Looking so surprised, all of you. Hoping I drop dead every day, aren't you?"

The crowd hurriedly murmured their denials.

Yan Jing spoke up, "Where is Pops?"

"Director Four, the boss is waiting for you in the study."

A pseudo-native species dressed as a secretary walked over to Yan Jing.

Yan Jing nodded, reaching out with his free hand to cop a feel of the secretary's thigh.

The female secretary was entirely unfazed. She led Yan Jing into a study and pressed a hidden switch, instantly revealing a secret passage beneath the desk.

Yan Jing entered it alone.

Traveling through the dim tunnel, it was not long before he reached the door of an office.

The office door was wide open. Compared to a normal office, it was truly rather small, seemingly only a few square meters in size.

At a single glance, everything was laid bare. There was no sign of anyone inside.

Although the office appeared empty, Yan Jing still reached out and knocked on the door.

"Come in."

An elderly voice rang out.

Yan Jing used a blink, instantly appearing right on the desk. He spread his paws wide and smiled at the palm-sized figure behind the computer monitor.

"Pops, it's been a while."

"..."

Faced with Yan Jing's enthusiastic demand for a hug, the figure simply adjusted his glasses, his gaze icy.

He did not answer.

It was a rat.

He wore a black suit and tie, sported a white beard, and had on glasses and a top hat, looking every bit the elderly gentleman.

But he was undeniably a rat, and the Pops to the original owner's cat body.