But he was so concerned about his face that, with it turning slightly red, he had to resort to sophistry.

"Not at all! Although my medicine is a bit fake, it's mixed with a lot of real elixir powder. It's much better than what those profiteers offer. Besides, at this price, it's less than one percent, even one-thousandth, of the price of real medicine. Do you expect me to sell at a loss?"

"Huh?"

The boss was somewhat curious.

"You really added elixir powder?"

The young man immediately stiffened his neck, his face beet red.

"Yes, I did! I swear on my family's lives!"

Unbeknownst to him, the boss let out a hearty laugh.

"Good, good, I believe you. We're all people fallen on hard times; how could I make things difficult for you? Come, sell me a few dozen pills. My son is almost in his senior year; these would be good to enhance his internal energy."

The young man looked surprised, letting out a confused sound. Why does this situation feel a bit off?

The boss laughed strangely.

"What's the matter, business comes knocking and you don't want it? I told you, I trust you!"

If it were an ordinary merchant or a spirited wandering peddler, Wang Zhan might have been genuinely moved to tears of gratitude.

Therefore, as he took out the elixirs, he grumbled, "So, you were just messing with me earlier, weren't you? I already told you, this is genuine stuff. I invested a lot; why would I need to tarnish my conscience for such meager, dishonest money?"

The boss quickly apologized with a smile and took out tens of thousands from his small money box.

He bought thirty pills at one thousand each, which showed that someone in his family truly needed them. Although this elixir was diluted an unknown number of times and was a bit fake, if it genuinely contained real elixir powder, the boss was guaranteed a profit.

Just as Wang Zhan was collecting the money, suddenly, from the depths of his mental energy, a vision emerged: a group of portly, middle-aged men in solemn and stern attire were walking step by step in his direction from a block nearly two hundred meters away.

The street vendors scattered like frightened birds upon seeing them. Those who couldn't escape had their goods confiscated and were taken back to the bureau for a "lesson."

On their uniforms were characters reading "Internal Affairs."

In this New Federation, established after the Spiritual Energy Disaster, the internal structure of the Federation was extremely streamlined, and the jurisdiction of the various major power departments was naturally greatly expanded.

The Internal Affairs Department, in particular, held numerous responsibilities, including city management, sanitation, school affairs, policing, and much more; they were in charge of it all.

They're here!

But they didn't know that Wang Zhan had been waiting for them!

Meanwhile, Wang Zhan casually took the money from the boss and said, somewhat sheepishly, "Thank you, Boss, for your patronage! I'll be going then; I still have a lot to sell..."

The boss smiled, increasingly satisfied after taking an elixir and sensing the aura within it. Not bad, not bad. It's indeed genuine, though still a counterfeit. Essentially, it can be called a weakened version of the elixir.

"Go on, young man, may your business prosper!"

A glint flashed in Wang Zhan's eyes. Then, calculating the timing, he leisurely slowed his pace, continuing to hawk his wares and attracting the attention of many people.

Before long, he finally encountered personnel from the Internal Affairs Department.

"Selling elixirs..."

A sudden shout came from behind, "Stop! What are you doing?" The faces of many burly men nearby turned serious.

An energy rod suddenly materialized in their hands. It was the latest defensive weapon of the new era and also one of the first common-use civilian weapons.

After all, ordinary heat weapons couldn't harm a Martial Artist. However, even a Martial Artist wielding an energy rod could battle a Martial Master for several rounds, buying time for reinforcements.

Wang Zhan turned his head, a look of panic on his face as he stumbled. Damn, why am I so unlucky today?

Then, he pushed through the crowd and darted around, attempting to shake off the men from the Internal Affairs Department.

However, the men behind him wore expressions of smugness and ferocity.

"HEH, HEH. 'A guilty conscience needs no accuser.' This kid is definitely up to no good. Brothers, we've got work!"

"Chase, chase, chase!"

"Move aside, move aside, move aside! If anyone dares to block our path, I'll treat you as his accomplice and take you all back to the station!"

Instantly, the crowd surged. The seemingly small Quan State Underground City was thrown into chaos, with people fleeing frantically in all directions.

Among them, some less-than-upright individuals roared furiously, "What the hell did that kid do? Why didn't he just stay put and let them catch him!"

Now they had been implicated for no reason.

One should know, they had criminal records, and the Internal Affairs Department generally preferred to avoid unnecessary trouble, never really taking them seriously. The Martial Management Bureau was even more straightforward. Unless it was some heinous criminal, there was no particular benefit to catching and investigating them. So why waste time, manpower, and resources?

Someone hurriedly answered, "Apparently for selling fake medicine! Damn it, a guy doing that, would he dare to just let himself be caught?"

In other words, they could only suffer this loss in silence.

"Damn! These people are courting death! The right to sell elixirs belongs only to the Federation and the Martial Arts Academy. And he dared to touch that? Does he know that if he's caught, even if he doesn't die, he'll be skinned alive!"

Someone else added with a bitter smile, "So, we're the ones getting dragged into this. Hurry up and run! If we anger those big shots, we won't get off lightly either."

Thus, the word spread like wildfire. The entire block soon knew that a newcomer, a young man, had dared to blatantly sell fake medicine right under the noses of the Federal Internal Affairs Department.

Truly, youth is formidable; a newborn calf doesn't fear a tiger!

However, what made the many hardened criminals in Quan State—those accustomed to bloodshed and with blood on their hands—want to cry but have no tears was this: that kid actually led a few members of the Internal Affairs Department on a wild chase, passing through their territories more than once!

"Damn it, everyone listen up! Now, anyone who's one of us, get inside the buildings! Let them chase him!"

They couldn't even bother with the few who skipped out on payments during the chaos. Aside from a few confident individuals, the small-time crooks without backing had to quickly figure out how to get through this.

Meanwhile, Wang Zhan was still running frantically, yet he deliberately stayed within the line of sight of the Internal Affairs Department members, panting and struggling as he ran.

"Damn! This kid's good, he's got stamina!"

"Come on, kid, keep going! I'm not done having fun yet! HAHAHA! In all these years, you're the first ordinary person who's made me chase this long. You've got guts! Keep going, keep going! If you stop running, I'll finish you off!"

Listening to those words from behind, Wang Zhan was so incensed he was grinding his teeth. These guys are too mischievous; they really want to chase him until he can't go on. If it wasn't for his disguise, intending to see if he could infiltrate his target, he would turn around and slap them unconscious. But for now!

Having already hidden the elixirs, Wang Zhan feigned a flushed face. Supporting himself on his knees, he turned back from a distance, hunched over and panting heavily. "COUGH, COUGH... COUGH, COUGH! Sirs, please stop chasing! I'll go back with you, okay?"

"HEH, HEH. Kid, weren't you quite the runner? Keep going, keep going! We'll stop when I've had my fun!"

As Wang Zhan stopped, the men also gradually slowed their pace, approaching him unhurriedly, attempting to exert even greater pressure.

If it were an ordinary Federation vendor, they would definitely be scared half to death by such a situation.

And Wang Zhan was playing this role perfectly, a bitter smile on his face. "Sirs, really, please don't chase anymore, HUFF, HUFF... I'm really out of breath. Can you spare me this one time?"

A few of them wore mocking smiles.

"Alright, then we'll spare your life. How about this: if you can outrun us, we'll let you go. What do you say?"

Wang Zhan looked up, his face full of surprise, yet pale as if from blood loss.

"Really?"

"HMMPH, of course, it's true…"

But before they could finish, Wang Zhan let out a WHOOP. His condition instantly returned to normal, and with a WHOOSH, he darted off again, his laughter echoing behind him, "HAHAHA, then I won't be polite!"

Wang Zhan's speed had clearly increased by at least a tenth. This perfectly aligned with the human tendency to unleash hidden potential when facing mortal peril.

Little did he know, however, that this was merely a small amusement for these Internal Affairs Department members.

"HEH, HEH, not bad. That speed... we can't scare him off completely. Let him hang around; it'll serve as a warning to the others."

"Er, isn't that a bit too much? Besides, if we catch this kid, we can handle him, right?"

"What do you want to do with him? Haven't you noticed he's already hidden everything he was selling? This kid is very cautious. Hurry up and take him back to the station to 'enjoy' himself. As long as it's nothing major, we can just consider it training for our team."

Everyone understood immediately, a mischievous smirk appearing on their faces in unison.

If Wang Zhan always had this kind of luck and managed to hide his goods, they would naturally be helpless against that. However, they still had to make the most of the situation. After all, those lurking in the black market were all shady characters, usually so cautious and wary that there were no opportunities to exploit.

The good thing now was that Wang Zhan could run. His ability to run meant they could make an example of him. It also meant they could intimidate some of those ignorant fools, forcing them to recognize who the true masters of this territory were and who represented the Federation.

"HEH, HEH. That works too..."

And so, Wang Zhan didn't encounter anyone interested in him; instead, he met a group of Federal Internal Affairs Department members with malicious intentions.

Under the harsh lamplight, an intense glare shone on Wang Zhan's face.

Since he was disguising himself as an ordinary person, he naturally couldn't evade the relentless pursuit of these Internal Affairs Department members.

And so, just after quietly celebrating his eighteenth birthday with his mother, Yang Cui, and his girlfriend, Yao Yao, he silently became a prisoner detained by the Federal Internal Affairs Department.

"Wang Zhan?"

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