Douluo: Reborn as a Dragon, I am the Lord of Soul Beasts

Chapter 104 Betting, Underground Casino

After Xu Jiujiu and the informant walked out of the club, she immediately began to think about the next steps. Although the competition system was not too strict, it was still a big challenge to successfully enter the next round and produce a fourth-level soul guide. She and her team had to prepare in a short time to ensure that they stood out in the qualifying round.

"The competition system is not too strict. The first thing to be conducted is the qualifying round. All soul engineers under the age of 30 can participate. The qualifying round requires the production of a fourth-level soul guide device. Then you can enter the next round and qualify for the real competition. We don't have any suitable soul guide candidates in our team this time. Do you have any solution?" Xu Jiujiu asked the informant.

The informant nodded, showing his understanding. "I do know a few idle soul masters who are capable of making level 4 soul guides, but they are not our people, and whether they are trustworthy is something we should consider, and their prices are not cheap."

"You're right. It's really hard to deal with people who are not ours." Xu Jiujiu said, "Although there are several young soul guides among our candidates who are capable of making fourth-level soul guides, they are all in the empire. Even if we contact them as soon as possible, it's too late."

After thinking for a moment, she continued, "How about this, you contact them first and have them fight under aliases to ensure that their backgrounds and identities will not arouse suspicion, especially in this kind of underground competition, where any loopholes may be exploited by opponents. I will contact people in the empire immediately. This competition is probably related to the schedule of the Continental Advanced Soul Master Academy Fighting Soul Competition. After the preliminaries are over, our people will probably be here too."

The informant nodded. "I will arrange contact with them immediately and make sure everything is under our control."

Xu Jiujiu smiled slightly, with a determined light flashing in his eyes. "We must seize this opportunity, not only for our own interests, but also for the future of the empire. What we have to do is not only to win the game, but also to ensure that we can obtain the most valuable information from it."

After returning to his residence, Xu Jiujiu immediately convened a small meeting and summoned several core members.

"Everyone, we have confirmed the details of the underground competition, and now we need to act as soon as possible." Xu Jiujiu said, "The requirement for the qualifying round is to make a fourth-level soul guide. Several of our soul guides have this ability, but we must ensure that they don't make any mistakes during the competition."

A young guard said, "Your Highness, we have prepared the materials and equipment. We only need to make some adjustments to the details before we can start making it."

Another member added: "We also need to ensure that their identities are not suspected. I suggest doing some work on background checks and identity disguises to ensure that they are not exposed during the competition."

Xu Jiujiu nodded, "Very good, we must ensure that every detail is perfect. This competition is not only an opportunity, but also a test. Everyone must remain vigilant and be ready to deal with any emergency at any time."

She looked at everyone and said firmly: "This operation concerns the future of all of us. No matter how difficult the road ahead is, we must do our best."

After the meeting, Xu Jiujiu continued to be busy, making final preparations for the next action. She knew that this competition was not only for prizes, but also for obtaining important intelligence and gaining more advantages for the empire.

Under her command, the team quickly entered an intense working state, and everyone was preparing for the upcoming game. Xu Jiujiu was full of confidence, she believed that as long as they worked together, they would be able to win the game and obtain the most important information.

As the day of the competition drew closer, Xu Jiujiu and her team became more and more nervous, but they never relaxed for a moment and went to great lengths to prepare for every detail. Finally, the night before the competition, all preparations were completed. Xu Jiujiu took a deep breath, knowing that the next task was to ensure that their soul guides passed the qualifying rounds and entered the actual competition stage.

The venue of the competition was still the club that Xu Jiujiu had obtained last time. Xu Jiujiu didn't know that the last time she came was the most profitable club of the Ordinary Alliance. Where there are people, there is an underground world, whether it is Tianhun, Douling, Xingluo or the Sun and Moon Empire. There are many kinds of underground worlds. The lowest level is those who survive by pornography, killing, and human trafficking.

The higher-level ones include arms sales, underground political transactions, reselling of rare resources, etc. Whether it is the low-level or high-level underground world, in fact, they are all toys in the hands of bigwigs. Otherwise, how can they continue to exist?
In the underground world of Mingdu, there are two major forces, namely the largest Pingfan League and Aodu Chamber of Commerce, as well as various other small forces.

Among them, the Aodu Chamber of Commerce controls the assassins' guild, the thieves' guild and some other evil forces. They make a living by collecting protection fees, assassinations, thefts and other illegal activities.

The Pingfan League, which sounds like the most ordinary name, originally controlled the entire pornography industry in Mingdu and was considered the most superficial underground force. However, it has indeed made a qualitative leap in recent years and is also the leader in the smuggling of rare metals, accounting for one-third of the profits in the black market.

The underground forces in Mingdu have all been involved in the reselling of rare metals, but to a greater or lesser extent. After all, this kind of transaction can be said to be very profitable. As long as they can infiltrate the mining channels, the cost is extremely low, and the selling price is high, making much more money than any other commodity.

To give a simple example, among the rare metals, there is a kind of Soul Forging Silver that has a very high affinity for soul power. This metal can be fused into any metal to enhance its affinity for the soul master's soul power, while also increasing the toughness and hardness of the metal. Soul Forging Silver is an indispensable material in the manufacture of almost all high-level soul guides.

Soul-forging silver, a rare metal, is only produced in the Sun-Moon Empire. The output is medium, but the mining cost is relatively low, about 500 gold soul coins per kilogram. In the market, the price of this metal is as high as 100 gold soul coins per gram. In other words, the profit is 200 times! How can such a huge profit not drive people crazy? Even if there are various exploitations in the channel, it is still a huge profit.

Soul Forging Silver is only a medium-sized profit among many rare metals. Some rarer rare metals are even more unbelievable in price. For example, Eternal Gold can significantly improve the durability and stability of soul guides in the manufacture of soul guides, but its output is extremely rare. Almost all the Eternal Gold mined is controlled by the official forces of the Sun and Moon Empire. Even so, underground forces can still obtain some through various channels to manufacture top-level soul guides and then sell them at high prices.

There is also a rare metal called meteor iron, which can greatly improve the flexibility and reaction speed of soul guides. Although it is extremely difficult to mine, its market price is also surprisingly high because of this. The price of one gram of meteor iron can even reach more than ten times that of soul forging silver.

These underground forces not only engage in these high-profit rare metal transactions, but are also constantly looking for new mining locations and sales channels to further monopolize and expand the market. The high profits of these rare metals not only bring them huge economic benefits, but also enable them to occupy an important position in the soul guide market.

On the day of the competition, Xu Jiujiu only brought two guards with him this time, and then came to the alley on the other side of the club, which was the location he had agreed on with the informant.

Sure enough, when Xu Jiujiu turned in, she saw the informant who had been prepared in advance and two strangers beside her.

"Sir, these two are the people I invited. One is Xu Jia, the other is Xu Wei. They are both level 5 soul guides." The informant introduced. These two names must be aliases, but it doesn't matter. Xu Jiujiu only hired them to pass the preliminary round, and they have nothing to do after that. At the main entrance of the club, all the waiters who greeted them this time were withdrawn, and replaced by four strong men who were all over two meters tall and wearing black tights, looking at the passing people with cold eyes.

Before they got close for a long time, a strong man in black came up and blocked the way of the four people with just a wave of his hand.

"The hotel is closed today, please leave."

Xu Jiujiu didn't say anything and directly took out the silver card that Manager Li gave him when he came here last time.

The black bodyguard took it and looked at it, and his expression softened significantly. The status of soul masters in the Sun-Moon Empire is much higher than in other countries, and offending a soul master, even if the other party's level is not high, is definitely not a wise choice.

"Please follow me." The bodyguard said respectfully, and led Xu Jiujiu and the others to a soul guide elevator inside the hotel lobby. He then held a soul guide communicator and said a few words before leading the four people into the elevator.

The elevator kept going downwards and stopped after about ten seconds. When the door opened again, a noisy sound mixed with a breath of drunkenness and wealth hit the face.

In stark contrast to the simplicity of the lobby outside the club, the hotel's underground world was so magnificent that it immediately dazzled everyone's eyes. Everywhere was golden, even the mirrors. It was as if this underground world was made entirely of gold.

After the middle-aged man led the four people out of the elevator, they first passed through a magnificent prototype hall, and then entered a large door in front of them.

There were two guards at the door. After seeing the middle-aged man, they immediately opened the door and invited them in.

Entering the door, it was as if he had entered another world. The light here was not as strong as outside, but much softer. However, the large area made Huo Yuhao's eyes reveal a look of surprise.

This is a circular dome hall, the top of the hall seems to be neatly and regularly outlined by countless golden lines.The huge dome provides enough light for the entire hall.Rows of seats stretched down neatly.And there is a circle of slanting upward escalators on the periphery.At the end of each soul guidance escalator, there is a circular room suspended in the air.How these rooms are suspended in mid-air is completely invisible to the naked eye.

There are a total of eighteen such suspended rooms and soul-guided escalators. They formed a faint circle.

In the middle of the hall, there is a circular platform. It is thirty meters in diameter. Although it is not as wide as the competition stage of the Youth Advanced Soul Master Academy Fighting Soul Competition of the Continent, it is still quite amazing. Don't forget, this is the underground world.

At this time, there were dozens of metal tables placed on the competition stage, with soul guide lights flashing from time to time. There were also some metal tables placed around the round stage. The total number exceeded one hundred. Some metal tables were already empty at this time.

The circles of sapphire blue velvet chairs on the periphery were filled with people. But they were all very quiet. A conservative estimate was that there were more than two thousand people watching. From their clothes and attire, it could be seen that they were either wealthy or noble.

Seeing this, Xu Jiujiu felt a little unsure. In terms of soul masters, the Sun Moon Empire is full of talents! There are always people who are better than you, and there are always talents. I don't know if the two soul masters found by the informant are reliable, but it's just a preliminary round, so there shouldn't be any problem!

I was thinking like this for a long time, and the game had already begun.

Two men dressed the same as the middle-aged man who led the way blocked their way. After a brief exchange, one of the two middle-aged men said, "Contestants can go in, and outsiders should wait outside. Place your bets immediately."

Xu Jiujiu frowned secretly. This arrangement was indeed not reassuring. She quickly adjusted her mindset and nodded to the two soul masters beside her, signaling them to go in and participate.

The two soul masters walked into the competition venue without hesitation, while Xu Jiujiu was led to the waiting area on the side. In the waiting area, groups of spectators were enthusiastically discussing the various possibilities of the competition. It was obvious that this competition had attracted considerable attention among the underground forces.

"The betting window is over there, let's go quickly." The middle-aged man who led the way pointed to a row of counters not far away, where many people were already queuing up to place bets.

As Xu Jiujiu walked towards the betting window, she carefully observed the surrounding environment. She noticed that the layout of the competition venue was very sophisticated, and it was surrounded by various soul guides to ensure the fairness and viewing quality of the competition. In the audience, people looked focused, and it was obvious that this game was not just entertainment for them, but also an investment.

Xu Jiujiu came to the betting window, looked at the various options on the betting slip, and secretly calculated in her mind. She knew that there were huge interests hidden behind this competition, and her mission was not only to win the game, but also to collect more intelligence. She decided to place a small bet first to understand the process and rules of the game.

"I want to place a bet and support the contestant in the third game." Xu Jiujiu handed a small sum of money to the staff at the window, but his eyes never left the venue, closely following the progress of the game.

The game started, and the two soul masters quickly got into shape. They each showed off their soul guide skills, and their soul powers collided fiercely on the field. Xu Jiujiu's heartbeat gradually accelerated. She knew that this was not just a simple game, but also a dangerous intelligence gathering operation.

The first round of the competition went smoothly. Although the skills displayed by Xu Jiujiu's contestants were not the best, fortunately they were really level 5 soul masters and successfully completed the production of level 4 soul guides, and successfully advanced. Xu Jiujiu breathed a sigh of relief.

(End of this chapter)