Having the genes of a demon king, I never intended to be a kept man.

Continuing forward, through the long market street, many men, women, and children on both sides seemed very interested in Ye Ge and his companions, indicating that outsiders rarely came here.

The crowded and noisy market was filled with large metal shipping containers on both sides, and some containers were installed on the rock walls of caves. Each container housed a family.

Ye Ge thought to herself, "I didn't expect this place to look so well-organized."

Nangong Qiuyue asked in surprise, "Are all of these wanderers from the wilderness?"

“Yes.” Bao Bingqing said as he walked, “This place is our sanctuary from the monsters.”

He paused, then continued, "It's also a refuge from you Night's Watch."

“…” Nangong Qiuyue grumbled, “If you weren’t doing bad things, would you need to hide?”

Bao Bingqing gave a cold laugh but did not reply.

Arriving in front of a huge building, the iron gate was covered with rust and mottled marks, and at first glance it looked like a factory.

Upon entering the factory, a dozen burly men with unfriendly expressions stood up, staring coldly at Ye Ge and his companions, their eyes clearly filled with hostility.

Night Song noticed that these burly men all had guns tucked into the leather holsters on their waists.

That's the Hunter T100 large-caliber pistol, a powerful gunpowder-based pistol with a muzzle the size of a child's fist, capable of inflicting effective damage even on superhumans.

Although it is a gunpowder pistol, only professional gunners at the Earth Realm or above can use it. If an ordinary person uses it casually, it's not just a minor issue if they miss; the recoil from pulling the trigger can directly break their radius bone.

"Step back," Bao Bingqing said calmly. "They are guests I invited back."

The burly men looked at each other in bewilderment before obediently backing away.

"Boss, you're back." A somewhat refined-looking young man with dark skin walked over. He glanced at the madman and Yang Yin, who were being carried on stretchers, and said, "What happened to those two...?"

Bao Bingqing said, "We were outmatched and defeated by the young master of the Ye family. Liang Kuan, could you treat them?"

The dark-skinned youth looked slightly surprised and glanced at Ye Ge.

Without further ado, he went between the two stretchers, muttered some incantations, and then stretched out his hands, holding them in front of them, and cast a healing spell.

A white, hazy light fell upon the two of them.

Soon, the madman and Yang Yin on the stretcher woke up and sat up abruptly.

Ye Ge's eyes flickered. This young man named Liang Kuan was actually a first-level support-type extraordinary being at the Myriad Manifestations Realm!

Although the factory interior was also dilapidated, it had a unique wasteland atmosphere, with all the furniture and furnishings assembled from iron plates that could be found in the wilderness ruins.

Bao Bingqing led everyone to the reception room, beckoned a woman to pour water for them, and then said to Ye Ge, "Young Master Ye Ge, let's find another place to talk. Let's have a private chat."

Ye Ge nodded.

Xia Xiyao looked at him with some worry: "Ye Ge..."

Ye Ge reached out and patted her head: "It's okay, I'll be back soon."

Next, Ye Ge and Bao Bingqing went to a private study on the second floor.

The study was large, with books lining all four walls, and two large leather sofas and a table in the center. It was probably the best-decorated room Ye Ge had ever seen. She hadn't expected that Bao Bingqing, the leader of such a savage force, would have a habit of reading.

"Please sit down." Bao Bingqing, leaning on his cane, slowly sat down. "What do you think of this place?"

"It's quite impressive. It's really not easy to establish such a place in a desolate wasteland," Ye Ge said. "And I didn't expect you to have so many extraordinary individuals here. With your combat power, you can almost go toe-to-toe with some of the barons in the empire. No wonder you were able to rob the empire's transport convoys in the wilderness."

“If it weren’t for this, we wouldn’t be able to control the Dark Blood either,” Bao Bingqing said calmly.

Ye Ge nodded: "So, what exactly do you want to talk to me about after going to all this trouble to invite me here? Just be frank, I don't like beating around the bush."

"Business."

"Business?" Ye Ge smiled. "Is there any business we can discuss?"

“After your Ye family took control of border trade, my business near the Great Wall became very difficult,” Bao Bingqing said slowly, picking up a cigar in one hand.

"Snap!" A slit was cut into the cigar.

Bao Bingqing paused for a moment, then continued, "I hope your Ye family can open up a shortcut."

"You've come to the wrong person for this kind of business, haven't you?" Ye Ge tilted his head. "I'm just a kid. Shouldn't you talk to my father about this kind of business?"

“I know you’re not a simple kid.” Bao Bingqing took a deep drag on his cigar, his eyes narrowing in the swirling smoke. “The fact that you were able to take Wanjian City in two weeks without firing a single shot proves that you definitely understand what I’m saying.”

Night Song shrugged: "But Dark Blood is ultimately a harmful substance, a top-tier contraband of the Empire. I don't think there's any future in doing this kind of business."

"A harmful thing?" Bao Bingqing sneered.

He then pulled a small bottle out of his pocket.

The bottle contained a dark red liquid, which rippled as he shook it in his hand.

It is undoubtedly the blood of darkness!

“Those who seek survival beyond the Great Wall cannot live without the blood of darkness. They not only rely on the blood of darkness to protect themselves, acquire wealth and money, but also to prolong their lives,” Bao Bingqing said. “All those who use the blood of darkness do so voluntarily.”

Twenty years ago, Emperor Longhai of the Qin Dynasty ordered the conscription of slave laborers to build the second and third lines of defense of the Great Wall, sending hundreds of millions of slave laborers to remote border areas of the Great Wall.

Hundreds of millions of people worked day and night on the Great Wall, but before the construction was even half completed, a demonic tide arrived first, directly causing the deaths of hundreds of millions of slave laborers. The remaining slave laborers were all corrupted by the demonic energy and contracted various demonic diseases.

The residents of Dark City today are mostly surviving slave laborers and their descendants.

“You should be able to imagine the attitude of the royal family and those nobles at that time.” Bao Bingqing said contemptuously, “To the royal family, no matter how many slaves there are, they are just numbers on their chessboard. As for us people who have been corrupted by demonic energy, they certainly don’t care about our lives.”