Ascension Of The Blood Supreme

Southern Continent.

Karha Desert.

Rustwater Town.

The streets of Rustwater Town were crowded and chaotic.

Dilapidated concrete buildings stood along the roads, and dirty alleyways ran between them.

Rickety motorcycles drove down the main street, kicking up clouds of dust.

Almost everyone walking on the streets carried weapons or had battlesuits on.

Their eyes were constantly looking around, filled with vigilance and paranoia.

Aiden walked along the street quietly with his hands in his pockets.

To anyone passing by, he just looked like an ordinary young guy. He didn’t look strong or dangerous at all.

Several people in the crowd looked at him with bad intentions.

They were desperate residents in need of money after being extorted by the town enforcers and stronger residents for their money.

They also liked to rob people who looked weak or new to the town.

Aiden ignored all of them. He observed his environs, eyes crimson.

Somewhere in an alley, three women were beating up a dude. The guy was helpless.

Eventually, they told him that in order to settle their grudge with him, they would take rounds with him tonight. Terror spread across the guy’s face. He was an intermediate rank 1 warrior and they were advanced rank 1 warriors. His stamina was nowhere near theirs. It was obvious that by the time they were done taking turns on him, he would be dead.

Somewhere else, someone looted the corpse of someone they had just killed for money, after which they sent the corpse into their storage bag to avoid leaving the rotten corpse on the streets for it to stink.

People passed by like it was none of their business. Clearly, they were used to such occurrences. It was like how in the cities in the empires, people bought ice cream for their kids on street-lined ice cream cabins as a normal activity, or how people would jog at dawn to keep fit.

"This place is just like Burning Sands," Aiden thought to himself. "The weak get preyed upon, and the strong do whatever they want."

He needed to find a decent inn to stay at and familiarize himself with the town. After all, he’d be staying here for a month.

According to the information he had gathered from the group that brought him to town, the tax collectors from MadCity would be arriving a month today.

They would be coming with an armored vehicle. When they were leaving, anyone with the money to pay to be transported to MadCity would be allowed on the vehicle.

After walking for about ten minutes, he saw a five-story concrete building. Above the entrance, a bright sign read: Rustwater Lodge.

It looked decent enough, and it was located in a good part of the town.

Aiden walked inside.

The lobby was air-conditioned. There were about a dozen people, men and women sitting around, drinking energy drinks and talking quietly.

They all looked rough, and had criminal airs around them. Who in Rustwater town didn’t?

When Aiden entered, a few people looked at the black-haired, blue-eyed dude.

But seeing that he looked like an ordinary young adult, they quickly lost interest and looked away.

Aiden walked straight to the counter.

A burly man with a scar on his face was standing behind it.

"I need a room," Aiden said calmly.

The receptionist looked at him. "A standard room is 50 dollars a night. A VIP apartment is 200 dollars a night. Pay up front."

"I’ll take the VIP room for one month," Aiden said.

He pulled out his phone and transferred 6000 dollars to the receptionist.

The receptionist’s eyes gleamed when he saw the money. Someone who could pay 6000 dollars without hesitating was definitely not poor. An idea flashed through the mind of the receptionist. This guy looked weak. But he was wealthy. He was a good target for some shady stuff.

Aiden noticed the subtle glint that flashed through the man’s eyes.

"The law of the jungle here is on another level. He will probably tip off some shady fellows to try and rob me tonight," Aiden thought. "I suppose that’s what he’s been doing as a side hustle in addition to running this establishment. Smart fellow. Free blood essence is always welcome, though," Aiden thought.

"Room 302. Top floor at the end of the hall," the receptionist said, passing him a digital keycard.

"Don’t lose the card. And if you get killed in your room, your belongings become property of the lodge. That’s the rule here."

"Got it," Aiden replied, taking the keycard.

"Just as I thought," Aiden mused inwardly. "He is letting me know that I can get killed in my room by someone, so that I will think it’s a normal occurrence and that he has nothing to do with it."

He was about to head to the elevator when he casually asked another question. "Do you know when the next transport to MadCity is arriving?"

The receptionist grunted. "You just missed the last one a few days ago. The next MadCity transport will be coming in a month. It carries the official tax collectors coming to collect the monthly taxes from the Town Lord. If you want a seat on that transport back to MadCity, you better save up a lot of money. The fare isn’t cheap, and the tax collectors don’t give discounts."

Aiden nodded faintly. "A month, huh? That’s fine."

It didn’t hurt to confirm the intel those guys who were his guides to the city gave him. It was on point.

Just as he turned toward the elevator, a loud siren suddenly echoed outside the building.

WAAANNNG! WAAANNNG! WAAANNNG!

The sharp siren rang through the entire street. Inside the lobby, everyone immediately stopped talking. Several warriors stood up, preparing to gear up.

"What’s going on?" someone muttered. "Is it a monster attack?"

"No," another warrior said, looking at his watch. "That’s the emergency alarm. The Town Lord’s enforcers are locking down the town gates."

A few seconds later, the front doors of the lodge were pushed open.

Four people wearing battlesuits walked inside.

They were official town enforcers working for the Town Lord.

Their leader swept his gaze across the room.

"Everyone stay where you are!" the enforcer shouted. "By order of the Town Lord, the central district is under lockdown! Nobody is allowed to leave!"

The people in the lobby began to whisper in anger, but no one dared to openly fight the enforcers.

"What happened, enforcer?" the receptionist asked carefully.

The enforcer had a very ugly expression on his face.

"Just a few minutes ago, the guard post at the East Gate was attacked," the leader said angrily. "Enforcer Cook and four enforcers were killed."

Gasps rang out in the room.

Killing town enforcers was a direct insult to the Town Lord.

"Who killed them?" someone asked.

"We don’t know!" the enforcer snarled, though there was a hint of fear in his voice.

"There was no fight and no loud noise. Their skulls were pierced from behind with microscopic precision. By the time the next shift arrived, they were already dead. Whoever did this is really skilled and dangerous."

The enforcer looked around the room with a menacing demeanor.

"The Town Lord suspects a powerful assassin may have been hired by someone who hates him to cause an uproar in the town! Anyone who entered through the East Gate in the last twenty-five minutes will be brought in for questioning! If you know you entered in the last 25 minutes, step out now before we point you out. We have the surveillance footage."

Everyone in the lobby looked at each other. They had all been here for a while.

"Alright. Look through the footage," the enforcer said to another enforcer.

"Yes..." The other enforcer brought out a phone and looked through the footage. No one here had been at the gates in the last 25 minutes.

Their gaze landed on the black-haired, blue-eyed fellow for a moment.

"This fellow entered in the last 30 minutes. However, he paid his entry fee and entered the town quietly," the enforcer looking through the footage said.

Everyone looked at the mysterious young man.

"Alright. Everyone here checks out. Let’s move to the next establishment," the lead enforcer said.

Standing near the elevator, Aiden listened to everything with a calm expression. When the enforcers left, he closed the elevator and headed towards his room.

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