Chapter 95: Turned Upside Down

“Picking on children? What a great feat that is…”

But these two children absolutely could not be ignored…

“I am a special envoy of the Chris Chamber of Commerce! This is my territory. Who are you to care how I act?”

He shifted his target, wanting to attack Lin Yue, but his kick missed.

Lin Yue countered with a kick that sent the man into a split, flipping him head over heels.

The man crashed to the ground, his finger cut by glass shards.

Bright red blood flowed out, staining the parchment the purple-robed woman had left on the table.

The blood slowly turned pink.

“Get one thing straight: this is the Imperial Capital. Even if this market is under your jurisdiction, you can’t abuse your power.”

Seeing the man’s fury and desire to argue, Lin Yue immediately spoke up, framing him with a serious accusation.

“Unless you’re trying to say this tiny patch of land inside the Imperial City is your personal fiefdom?”

The man screamed in provocation and was about to blur something out when the warrior beside him covered his mouth, signaling him to be quiet.

Lin Yue glanced coldly at his surroundings, noticing a crowd gathering.

Most were whispering, merely there for the spectacle—and the more chaos, the better.

Seeing this self-proclaimed “special envoy of the Chris Chamber of Commerce” acting so arrogant, Lin Yue couldn’t help but shake his head and sigh.

Was the Chamber of Commerce out of people?

How could a guy like this be in charge of such an important core area of the Imperial City?

Just then, the purple-robed woman behind Lin Yue suddenly came to her senses, as if she had finally found an answer.

“What are… you doing? Ah… I remember you. You just tried to collect money from me, saying that if I wanted to perform divinations in the core area of the Imperial City, I had to pay you 20 gold coins…”

….

20 gold coins!

Was he insane?

The Chris Chamber of Commerce was daylight robbery!

Lin Yue was shocked.

Even if this was the capital, it shouldn’t be this corrupt.

Was everyone here a millionaire?

Was the standard of living that high?

That wasn’t right.

In the game, prices here were similar to the outside world.

It shouldn’t be like this…

“Miss, you’ve been swindled. Setting up a stall here costs only 1 gold coin a day. If you’re willing to trade street rumors with the new manager of the Chris Chamber of Commerce, you can even get a 20% discount…”

An old man at a nearby stall couldn’t watch any longer and whispered a warning to them.

“This Chris Chamber of Commerce truly gets worse with every generation… I remember when the previous president was in charge; it was a scene of prosperity…”

“Ever since he fell ill, the Chamber of Commerce has changed. They’ve not only forcibly raised rents but also colluded with officials to collect unauthorized taxes… At the end of the month, they still have to pay taxes to the Imperial Family… Double taxation. It’s simply too much…”

The more Lin Yue heard, the more his brows furrowed.

It seemed the collapse of the Chris Chamber of Commerce had been coming for a long time…

No wonder Mabel was working herself to death and still couldn’t stop the decline.

With so many incompetent teammates, even a god couldn’t save them…

“How did I swindle her? Huh? The Chris Chamber of Commerce has always acted honorably. What you’re saying is slander! You… go and arrest them all!”

The warrior nearby seemed a bit speechless.

Having a dispute in the center of the Imperial City was already serious.

If a fight broke out, it wouldn’t be settled in a day or two…

Just as the situation reached a stalemate, several Royal Guards, dressed in uniforms and wielding weapons with an air of immense authority, squeezed through the crowd.

…

Are those… Royal Guards?

This was the first time Lin Yue had seen a force allowed to carry weapons in a town in this world.

He recognized their identity instantly.

“Hey, hey, hey! You’ve come at the right time. Quickly, help me get justice! I was maintaining order in the market, but he and the woman beside him refused to pay. He even kicked me! It’s simply lawless!”

The drunken man jumped up when he saw the cops, looking like he wanted Lin Yue hanged on the spot.

“Big Brother…”

The young girl beside him supported Siren, looking at the situation with worry, her eyes moist.

“Did we cause trouble for you?”

Seeing the guilt written on their young faces, Lin Yue sighed.

He bent down and patted their heads.

“You didn’t do anything wrong. Go home quickly…”

Hearing Lin Yue’s words, the two turned to leave.

Siren looked back deeply at Lin Yue before disappearing into the crowd.

“What’s the situation?”

The lead guard scanned the area.

Realizing it was complicated, he didn’t act immediately but stood between the two parties to prevent further conflict.

Lin Yue looked around, his voice laced with dissatisfaction.

“This man is engaging in price gouging… double taxation, and he even laid hands on children. Surely that’s enough to take him in for investigation?”

The guard nodded and turned to the man.

“What’s your side of the story?”

“I only said she could do divinations! I didn’t say she could set up a stall!”

….

The man was frantic, seemingly wanting to skip the interrogation and just destroy Lin Yue.

“Divination costs 20 gold coins, and a stall costs 1 gold coin. So, she still owes me 1 gold coin. Tell me, shouldn’t I smash her stall?”

‘You son of a…’

Lin Yue had never seen someone so shameless.

Double taxation was one thing, but he had never seen fees handled like this.

It was the pinnacle of audacity.

Lin Yue was about to tell him to check the records, but then he remembered this guy was from the Chris Chamber of Commerce.

Given his behavior, he probably hadn’t recorded anything.

With the Imperial Family’s current sensitivity toward the Chris Chamber of Commerce, if he mentioned missing records, they’d probably raid the place the next second.

He couldn’t cause more trouble for Mabel.

He would wait and see how they tried to smooth things over…

The guard nodded and then said to Lin Yue and the woman, “Do you two admit to this?”

Lin Yue was stunned by the guard’s stern tone.

‘Seriously? Can’t you see right from wrong? And you’re still asking me?’

“If the payment is incomplete, just make it up now…”

Lin Yue could hardly believe his ears.

Price gouging was bad enough, but the guard was siding with him?

What the hell was going on?

Did they want to lose their jobs?

He noticed the street vendors, who had been watching the spectacle, scurrying back to their shops as if afraid of getting burned.

Lin Yue understood immediately.

These two groups were in cahoots!

“The officer is wise…”

…

The man looked triumphant, as if everything had been under his control from the start.

Lin Yue couldn’t help but feel that this place was rotten to the core, from top to bottom.

“As for the matter of injuring someone…”

The guard’s tone suddenly shifted as he looked coldly at Lin Yue.

“Please come with us…”

As soon as he finished speaking, Lin Yue began forming the hand signs for space magic, preparing to leave during the chaos…

In an instant, the clear sky was suddenly covered by something.

It wasn’t dark clouds; it was a deeper, more absolute darkness that swallowed the light at an unnatural speed.

Daylight retreated within seconds, as if an invisible giant hand had suddenly closed the world’s eyelids.

The temperature plummeted, and the noisy market fell into an eerie silence. Even the wind seemed to freeze.

“It… it’s dark?!” someone screamed in terror.

But it was not completely black.

Looking up, a black disc with edges burning with a dark red glow was fitted perfectly over where the sun had been.

It was a total solar eclipse, but it was far from ordinary.

The sunlight was completely blocked, yet it shouldn’t have happened so quickly or felt so… oppressive.

“Let’s go…”

Lin Yue blinked, realizing his hand was being held by the purple-robed woman.

She bowed her head and led him toward the end of the street.

…

Everyone present was stunned by the miraculous phenomenon.

They didn’t even notice the two disappearing.

After they were safely away from the trouble, the two leaned against a wall, panting.

Lin Yue looked at the sky and found that the terrifying astronomical phenomenon had vanished into thin air.

It was as if nothing had happened; the world was functioning as usual.

‘A total solar eclipse… why now?’

Even in this magical world, such a wondrous astronomical phenomenon was extremely rare.

It shouldn’t be happening at a time like this.

He turned back to find that the mysterious astrologist had vanished, leaving behind only the crystal ball used for divination…

Lin Yue tried to pick it up, but it shattered the moment he touched it… It was as if the small crystal ball could not bear the weight of some heavy destiny.

The Nightingale mark on his left hand suddenly felt as if it had broken free from some restraint, flashing frantically.

‘What’s going on…?’

He looked up and saw that the purple-robed woman had brought him exactly to the gates of the Chris Chamber of Commerce.

On the steps stood Mabel, her arms crossed, appearing to be looking for a certain person who was late.

He stepped out of the alley, and their eyes met.

“Lin Yue, so you were here…”

Just as Lin Yue was about to speak, Mabel hurriedly grabbed his hand.

“I’ve been waiting for you for so long. Why didn’t you come back when you saw the signal? I had to leave my meeting halfway to come find you…”

“Sorry, I got caught up in something.”

Lin Yue turned back to the alley, his eyes filled with confusion…

…

The purple-robed woman hummed a song at the corner of the street, as if she had found a precious seashell on the beach.

‘A variable… the greatest variable has appeared. All established orbits have become blurred because of the intervention of this “chaotic singularity.”‘

The peace and composure from before were gone, replaced by an extremely fanatical smile.

‘Mabel Christolier… perhaps you have brought someone who can change the fate of the world before me…’

‘This time, I’ll give you a proper hand.’

She finally removed her blindfold.

Her eyes were not like normal pupils; they were hollow, deep, like an abyss.

They were breathtakingly beautiful and mysteriously awe-inspiring.

Those were not eyes belonging to the mortal world, but two windows opening to the depths of the universe, adorned with stars.