In the city of ashes shrouded by night, the streets were sparsely populated by pedestrians, with the occasional street lamp emitting a dim and faint light. Ian and the small group of survivors led by the scarred man made their way back to the city in silence.
"Lord Ian, this time it's really thanks to you, if it wasn't for you arriving in time, I'm afraid we would have been killed." The thin man said sincerely, with obvious gratitude and awe in his voice.
The burly man nodded, a bit more respect in his tone, "I've never seen a flare level powerhouse in a real fight, so today is finally an eye opener! You are truly strong!"
The scarred man said with a serious face, "Our brothers will never forget your favor, in the future, as long as you need it, we will definitely be at your service at any time."
Ian waved his hand and calmly said, "There's no need to be so polite, the most important thing right now is to find that intelligence peddler and figure out the real situation there at the farm."
The thin man hurriedly said, "Don't worry, Lord Ian, that guy often moves around the black market in the east of the city, I know where he often stays."
Ian nodded slightly, "Then hurry up and take me to him."
The several people quickly passed through the dimly lit alleys and soon arrived at the area where the black market was located. This area had a dirty environment, surrounded by decrepit houses and gloomy corners, with an unpleasant musty smell wafting through the air.
"He's in that alley ahead!" The skinny man pointed to a short distance away.
Ian gazed over, just in time to see the mouth of the alley, a figure poking its head out and just as soon as it saw them, it turned around in panic and tried to run away.
"Stop!" The scarred man roared angrily, pulling his legs and chasing after him, but he obviously had not fully recovered yet, and his speed was slightly sluggish.
Ian's feet instantly accelerated, disappearing from the original spot like a bolt of lightning, and in just a few breaths, he had already appeared in front of the intelligence peddler, steadily blocking his path.
The intelligence peddler braked his footsteps in shock and almost fell to the ground, "Don't, don't kill me! I don't know anything!"
Ian looked at him coldly, "If you didn't do anything bad, why did you run away when you saw us?"
The skinny man caught up, panting and cursing angrily, "You bastard, you caused one of our brothers to die, don't think of leaving today until you give an account!"
The intelligence dealer almost cried in fear and hurriedly hugged his head and begged for mercy, "Big brother, spare my life! I really didn't know there would be such serious consequences, I was just passing by the farm, sensing a powerful energy fluctuation, and saw a large number of mutant beasts gathering there from afar, I didn't even dare to get close, I just wanted to earn a little bit of money by selling information, and I didn't think it would kill people!"
The scarred man became even more furious: "Bastard! You knew there was a large number of mutant beasts gathering, why didn't you tell us! I'll kill you!"
"I... I was wrong, if I told you the truth, would you still buy it, I had thought that if you went over there and saw a large number of mutant beasts gathering, you would know better, I didn't think that people would die, really, please believe me, I didn't want to harm you guys, I just wanted to make some money. "The intelligence peddler retreated backward in fear.
At this moment, Ian stopped the scarred man, his eyes sharp: "Are you sure you only saw a large number of mutated beasts, no other abnormalities?"
The intelligence peddler nodded vigorously, incoherent, "I swear, there are really only mutant beasts gathering, where I dare to get a little closer!"
Ian gazed at him and slowly asked, "What exactly is the powerful energy fluctuation you mentioned?"
The intelligence peddler hesitated for a moment, then said warily, "It just felt very oppressive, making it hard to breathe, like something was calling, I was in a panic to escape as my heart was racing and my back was chilled."
Ian pondered for a moment, his heart already had a judgment, it was very similar to the relic energy fluctuation he felt inside the farm. He looked at the intelligence vendor thoughtfully and said calmly, "Have you sold this information to anyone else?"
The intelligence peddler trembled and shook his head, "No, no! Only they paid a high price for this news, the others didn't believe me at all!"
Ian was slightly relieved in his heart, it seemed that the news of the relic was currently known only to himself, which undoubtedly gave him a huge advantage. He slowly said, "I'll let you off this time, but I'm warning you, don't sell this kind of harmful news in the future, or I'll never be merciful next time."
The intelligence peddler nodded his head as if pounding garlic, "Yes, yes, yes, I will listen to you and never dare again!"
The scarred man stared at him, "Get lost, be careful in the future."
The intelligence peddler was like an amnesty, and disappeared into the shadowy alley in a sorry state.
The scarred man turned to Ian and said respectfully, "Lord Ian, what do we do next?"
Ian said in a deep voice, "You guys go back to rest and recuperate, and don't mention today's matter to the public for now, so as not to cause unnecessary trouble." A few people nodded solemnly, "Don't worry, we will never talk nonsense about it."
The thin man exclaimed heartily, "Working with a great man like you is truly a blessing for our brothers!" Ian smiled faintly, his tone becoming a bit gentler, "We are all survivors of the City of Ashes, and we deserve to help each other. I'm also relieved that you guys came back safely."
The scarred man said firmly, "In the future, whenever Lord Ian has a need, our brothers will go through fire and water!"
Ian nodded seriously, "I will remember your thoughts, now go back and rest, the city is safe for now, but who knows what will happen next, we must be prepared."
Several people clasped their fists and saluted, watching Ian's back gradually disappear into the dimly lit streets and alleys.
After returning to his residence, Ian sat alone in his room, recalling everything in the farm.
"System, the energy fluctuation in the farm, are you sure it's a relic?" Ian asked in a low voice.
The system quickly responded, [Please don't doubt this system's professionalism, that energy fluctuation is certain that it belongs to a relic, there is a powerful energy reaction in the relics, it is inferred that there may be powerful creatures, this system suggests that with the host's current strength don't go alone for the time being].
After Ian heard the system's words, he suddenly had a flash of light, isn't this enough leverage to impress Adrian!