Chapter 8: The Polar Bear and the Poison

After observing for a while, Li Mingxing was able to confirm two things: inside that building, there were definitely some people possessing special powers, but they were not from the Light Alliance. The powers those people wielded were tinged with nature, wildness, and a biting cold. Judging by these sensations alone, Li Mingxing would have been almost certain that a druid from the northern winds had taken residence there.

But by now, Li Mingxing also understood that one could never rely solely on intuition. He needed to find a way to make contact with these unknown people, but he couldn’t do it himself—doing so would expose his existence. Thus, Li Mingxing had to come up with another plan.

Just as he was pondering his options, something unexpected happened. He saw four or five foreigners burst out from the building. Though it was already early summer, they were still wearing long leather coats—a style that seemed odd unless they were concealing something beneath their coats, such as firearms or other contraband.

This made Li Mingxing tense up; he wanted to follow and see what these people were up to. However, when he saw the foreigners reach the neighborhood gate, he was stunned. Several familiar faces emerged from nearby and openly captured the foreigners.

Li Mingxing recognized both their appearances and their movements—he’d even seen people like them living in his previous apartment.

With a cold snort, Li Mingxing shut the window, deciding to ignore the matter entirely. But soon he sensed something was amiss. Reflecting carefully, he realized what he’d overlooked: when those bodyguards acted, it was always two or three against one foreigner, which was why they made it look so easy. In Li Mingxing’s mind, this was nearly impossible.

He had seen the strength of these bodyguards before—they were all professionals. If he faced them without the powers he’d gained from the Inner World, even three or four of them could take him down. Now, to subdue one foreigner, it took two or three bodyguards working together. This meant that these foreigners were at least as powerful as the bodyguards themselves.

This realization lit up Li Mingxing’s eyes. He had long considered capturing some of these bodyguards to complete his task, but their powerful backers had always made it too risky. Now, however, things were different. Since these foreigners had come to the city to cause trouble, even if Li Mingxing disappeared with a handful of them, the higher-ups would simply assume it was the work of the bodyguards’ employers. No one would ever suspect him.

Naturally, Li Mingxing wasn’t about to miss such a golden opportunity. After a moment’s thought, he quickly left the neighborhood and found Yin Haitao, who was diligently building Li Mingxing’s intelligence network, in a relatively safe location.

Upon seeing Yin Haitao, Li Mingxing said, “Now is the perfect time to prove your worth. Sometime yesterday, a group of foreigners appeared in my neighborhood. I need you to get me information on them.”

Yin Haitao responded immediately, “Sir, you must be talking about those Polar Bears.”

“Polar Bears? You mean they’re Russians?” Li Mingxing quickly caught on.

“Yes, they’re Russian. I heard they’re elite veterans from a special forces unit, now all retired and working for a Russian crime syndicate. This time, rumor has it, they’re here to smuggle a shipment of goods.”

“What kind of goods could they be bringing from Russia—lumber?” Li Mingxing asked.

“I don’t know, but word is it’s high-value merchandise. All the underworld figures are watching closely, weighing whether to take it off their hands.”

“Take it off their hands? Do they even have the means?” Li Mingxing, though not deeply involved with the city’s underworld, had heard enough to know that apart from the mysterious mountain villa, there were few who could rival Russian special forces veterans.

“Of course. Everyone can see these Polar Bears have no way back. The goods they’ve already smuggled in need a new owner.”

“Yin Haitao, do you think we have a chance to get involved?” Li Mingxing mused.

“Sir, you must be joking. This shipment is worth at least ten million. With our resources, we might be able to dig up some information, but acquiring the goods is out of the question.”

“Then forget it,” Li Mingxing said, hesitating at the value of the shipment. “We’ll just stick to our own tasks. But before that, I need you to buy some things for me.”

“Shopping? Shouldn’t that be Mida Ling’s job?” Since taking over intelligence work, Yin Haitao hadn’t paid much attention to black market dealings.

“Mida Ling might not be able to handle this. I need neurotoxins—a sizeable amount, and it can’t be traced back to us,” Li Mingxing specified.

Yin Haitao hesitated. “Poisons are easy enough to get, but neurotoxins in bulk, that’s not simple.”

“Simple or not, you have to pull it off. The clock is ticking—the Polar Bears will all be captured within days, and then any poison will be useless to me,” Li Mingxing pressed.

Sensing the gravity of the situation, Yin Haitao replied, “Understood. Wait here for half an hour—I’ll be right back.”

After Yin Haitao hurried off, Li Mingxing didn’t waste any time. He took out the spirit coins he carried, pressing them to his forehead.

Li Mingxing took a deep breath, and the spirit coins quickly vanished from his hand, transforming into experience points that flowed into his body.

He guided the influx of experience around his system before channeling it all into his toxic constitution. As the energy poured in, Li Mingxing’s vision flashed green, and even drops of green liquid began to form between his fingers.

Fortunately, Li Mingxing had learned from his last upgrade of the Emperor’s Aura. He knew that now he had to control this toxic constitution; if he failed, the thousand spirit coins’ worth of experience would be wasted.

Li Mingxing’s expression grew more serious as he focused all his willpower on the few drops of green liquid forming on his hands.

Unlike the Emperor’s Aura, which manifested as a flow of energy, this toxic constitution showed itself as tangible green liquid. Li Mingxing realized that if he could control these drops, the upgrade would be a success; if not, the experience would be squandered.

He devoted all his concentration to manipulating the liquid.

His efforts were rewarded. Soon, he was able to direct the movement of the drops, making them roll back and forth across his palm.

After a while, he noticed that the number of drops had increased from five to seven as they rolled and collided.

At the same time, the icon for toxic constitution in his mind gained a “1,” and new attributes appeared before him:

Level 1 Toxic Constitution—General Physique Skill: Increases poison-making success rate by 7%, poison resistance by 25%, and poison research success rate by 3%.

These abilities left Li Mingxing thoroughly satisfied. Even without the first two, just the boost to poison research made it possible for him to create new toxins—a development that filled him with confidence for his future plans.

Just as Li Mingxing was celebrating, Yin Haitao returned with the poison he had just procured. Laying the toxins out in front of Li Mingxing, he said, “I couldn’t get any natural poisons; these are all chemical agents. I hope they’ll do.”

Li Mingxing picked up one of the toxins and sniffed—a strong medicinal scent hit him. Examining the pale yellow, semi-transparent liquid, he hesitated before asking, “Are the tools I left here last time still around? I want to see if I can synthesize something from these.”

Li Mingxing spent a day and a half on his experiments. In the end, he managed to analyze the toxins’ components and developed two new poisons.

One was a liquid type—upon ingestion, it instantly paralyzed the nervous system, incapacitating even the strongest person for three to five hours.

The other was an aerosol version, spreading through the air. Also colorless and odorless, though less potent, it would leave anyone exposed stiff and immobile for about half an hour.

This result was more than satisfactory for Li Mingxing. Using the materials at hand, he quickly produced half a kilogram of the aerosol toxin, poured it into a cola bottle, and set off toward his apartment complex, bottle in hand.