A bizarre and terrifying experience; I messed up the dungeon world.

"The abandoned pipeline network of the transfer station is also a black market," Old Ma explained. "It's not under the jurisdiction of any guild. It's a lawless place. It's full of fugitives and lunatics. The Black Gold Guild doesn't dare to go in easily."

Zhou Lang was the first to jump.

Han Yingying pinched her nose and then jumped down.

Liu Wei and Lao Ma also jumped in. Lao Ma pulled the manhole cover back up from above.

It was very dark down there. Only a few emergency lights flickered on the walls. The floor was a damp metal sheet, covered in moss.

Zhou Lang turned on the flashlight function of the bracelet. The beam of light illuminated the road ahead.

They walked forward for more than a hundred meters. They came across a huge iron gate. Standing in front of it were two burly men in tattered mechs, each holding a heavy shotgun.

"Halt." The burly man on the left raised his gun. "Toll. One thousand points per person."

Zhou Lang didn't speak. He looked at Liu Wei.

Liu Wei took out the black points card and waved it in front of the burly man.

The burly man saw the gold rose logo on the card. His expression changed.

"A high-level card from the Black Gold Guild." The burly man lowered his gun. "You're from Black Gold?"

"We are the ones who kill black gold," Zhou Lang said.

The burly man re-examined Zhou Lang and his companions. A disabled person. A beautiful woman with a knife. A Taoist priest. A fat man with a missing tooth.

He remembered the bounty notice that had just been broadcast.

"So it's you." The burly man pressed a button on the wall. The iron gate slowly opened. "Come in. The black market welcomes anyone who has offended a major guild. No toll fees. Consider it making friends."

Zhou Lang went inside.

Behind the iron gate lies a vast underground space, even larger than the extraction workshop in the central tower. It's unplanned; various dilapidated tents and metal containers are stacked together, forming a complex maze.

People were everywhere. All sorts of people. Some were selling equipment of dubious origin. Some were trading organs. And others were injecting unknown liquids in the corners.

Zhou Lang found a relatively clean shipping container. A glowing cross hung on the container, with the words "Old Ghost Clinic" written below it.

Pushing open the door, I found myself in a simple operating room.

An elderly man with gray hair was stitching up a man's arm. No anesthesia was being used. The man was biting a towel, his face covered in sweat.

The old man looked up at Zhou Lang. "Get in line."

Zhou Lang walked to a nearby chair and sat down, stretching his right leg out. His right knee was swollen from the long fight and walking. His trouser leg was soaked with blood.

Han Yingying leaned against the wall, watching the old man stitch up her wounds. Her gaze lingered on the scalpel, assessing his technique. Very steady. Very precise.

Ten minutes later. The old man cut the stitches. The man threw down two hundred points, clutched his arm, and walked away.

The old man washed his hands in the sink, dried them with a towel, and walked up to Zhou Lang.

"His leg is ruined." The old man glanced at Zhou Lang's knee. "Old injury plus new one. The ligaments are torn. There's also a crack in the bone. To save his leg, he'll need a prosthetic."

"No change. Inject a nerve block. Drain the fluid," Zhou Lang said.

The old man didn't try to dissuade him further. He turned around, took out a large syringe, and inserted it into Zhou Lang's knee. He drained half a tube of yellow fluid, then changed the needle and administered a nerve block injection.

Zhou Lang remained expressionless throughout the entire process. He didn't even frown.

"Tough guy." The old man tossed the syringe into the trash can. "One thousand points."

Zhou Lang pointed at Liu Wei. "Get him fixed. Buy her an outfit."

The old man looked at Liu Wei's mouth. "Half a front tooth. Ordinary resin, five hundred. Alloy, one thousand. With a venom sac, two thousand."

"Alloy," Liu Wei said. He didn't want to bite the wire anymore.

The old man had Liu Wei lie down on the operating chair. He began the procedure.

Han Yingying looked at the old man. "I want bulletproof ones. Tight-fitting. They won't affect my power."

The old man pulled a black package from under the cabinet and tossed it to Han Yingying. "Special fiber. Spike and bulletproof. 3000 points. There's a curtain in the back. Go exchange it yourself."

Han Yingying took the package and walked behind the curtain.

Zhou Lang stood up. He tried taking a couple of steps. The injection had taken effect. The pain was gone. He could put weight on his legs again. But he knew this was only temporary. Once the effects wore off, the pain would be even worse.

"You guys have some nerve," the old man said, grinding his teeth at Liu Wei. "The Black Gold Guild's bounty has already been issued on the black market. The four of you are worth a total of 200,000 points. The woman gets the lion's share. She needs to be alive."

"Is anyone taking the order?" Zhou Lang asked.

"A lone wolf wouldn't dare. You destroyed four suits of armor on the street and killed Zhao Qiang. News of your achievement has spread." The old man switched to a different drill. "But the Divine Realm Guild is inquiring about you."

Zhou Lang stopped in his tracks. "The Divine Realm."

"The third-ranked guild. They're very interested in Bai Ye," the old man said. "The leader of the Divine Realm guild has said that if Bai Ye joins them, the Divine Realm will take the hit from the Black Gold Guild."

Zhou Lang pondered.

Zhang Jianguo stated that Black Gold and Divine Realm are collaborating on a descent plan to extract core nutrient solutions from high-level players and break down the barriers of reality.

However, the two guilds are clearly not a monolithic entity. The fact that Divine Realm wants to recruit Han Yingying indicates they need top-tier combat power, perhaps to gain dominance in the cooperation.

This is the information gap that can be exploited.

The curtain was drawn back. Han Yingying came out.

She changed into her new combat uniform. Made of pure black specialty fiber, it was more form-fitting than her previous one, outlining her perfect curves. A tactical belt now cinched her waist, allowing her to carry more weapons. Hidden knife pouches were located on either side of her thighs.

She drew her dagger and slashed it twice in the air.

"It's a little tight. But it won't affect your movements." Han Yingying sheathed the knife.

Zhou Lang glanced at it, then looked away.

Liu Wei got up from the chair. He looked at himself in the mirror. His front tooth was fixed. It was shiny silver.

"Check, please." Zhou Lang said.

Liu Wei took out his black card and swiped it on the old man's card reader. Five thousand points were deducted.

"Here's some information for you." The old man put away the card reader. "The Black Gold Guild has sealed off all the exits of the black market. They can't get in. But you can't get out either. They're planning to use poison gas to force you out."

Zhou Lang looked at the old man.

"The underground city's ventilation system is connected to the central tower," the old man said, pointing to the pipes overhead. "If they just release nerve gas into the main pipes, everyone in the black market will die."

"The people in the black market will fight back," Old Ma said.

"The people in the black market are a disorganized mess. As long as the Black Gold Guild promises some benefits afterward, they'll willingly kidnap you and send you away," the old man sneered.

Zhou Lang walked to the table and looked at a black market structure diagram on it.

The diagram shows several main ventilation openings. One of them connects to the underground sewage system of the central tower.

"We're not going out," Zhou Lang said, pointing to the ventilation vent.

"Where to?" Liu Wei asked.

"Go back." Zhou Lang traced the pipe towards the central tower. "Go to the fiftieth floor of the central tower."

Old Ma gasped. "Brother Zhou, are you crazy? We fought our way out, and now we're just walking into a trap?"

"Zhang Jianguo is dead. The vice president is still alive," Zhou Lang said. "If we don't kill him, the arrest warrant will remain indefinitely. Besides, he has the core data for the Descent Plan."

Zhou Lang needed that data. He needed to know how the supernatural world and the real world were connected. This was crucial for his survival and for seizing the initiative.