Shi Deng had clearly stated he came to find someone, so the three of them didn’t insist on having him eat breakfast together.
Aside from Yuan Ting, both Zhi Ze and Cen Le’s cooking skills were quite good. The two took turns cooking, one person per day, with Yuan Ting assisting.
When Shi Deng came out, only his breakfast remained on the table, kept warm for him.
Holding the kitten, he greeted them with a smile. “Morning~”
The three had already changed into combat gear and were energetically checking their weapons. “Morning.”
Zhi Ze: “Breakfast was made by Sister Le. Don’t know if it suits your taste. We’re going out to hunt.”
Shi Deng: “Thank you, I’m not picky.”
He really liked the feeling of being with them now.
“Thanks to Shi Deng this time, we’ll definitely earn back the rent for the second half of the month on this outing!” Yuan Ting sidled up to Zhi Ze and grinned. “Brother Zhi Ze, if we have leftover beast cores, how about we go to the Beast Fighting Arena to exchange for some Flying Wings to try?”
Hunted exotic beasts, whether alive or dead, were all traded in one place—the Beast Fighting Arena.
However, the arena’s main business was beast fighting. Trading exotic beast meat was just a side business.
Zhi Ze: “Now you know to call me ‘brother’?”
Yuan Ting fooled around with him as they walked away, turning back to shout, “Shi Deng, we’ll go post a mission to find your person later!”
The three of them still had their task—five months to hunt fifteen hundred exotic beasts each. Time wasn’t exactly leisurely.
Shi Deng nodded.
After finishing breakfast, he didn’t stay there either. He closed the door and left.
…
On the road, he casually bought a straw hat to cover himself. Gong Du headed toward the Beast Fighting Arena.
All along the way, everyone was talking about one thing—some passionately indignant, some incredulous, some marveling in amazement:
“Was Lord Ye Fei really hung on that building for half the night?”
“That thief is too detestable!”
“No way. Our supervisor here is a level 8 advanced ability user. To beat him, what level would someone need to be…”
“But I heard that apart from looking terrible, Lord Ye Fei had no injuries, and his jacket was stripped off. Could it be his lovers from the bar seeking revenge?”
“Hahahaha, that’s too miserable.”
“…”
Scattered discussions about last night drifted into Gong Du’s ears. He walked past without looking aside.
Gong Du: “Going back in pajamas was too embarrassing. Ye Fei encouraged people to steal my beast cores, so stealing his jacket isn’t excessive at all.”
Small Light Orb: “Not excessive.”
After resetting, he still needed to create some troubles for the protagonist group. After all, Baldy only drew—in order to change the protagonist group’s inevitable death situation, he was currently the one pushing the plot.
But he also had to follow this small world’s main storyline.
In a month, the protagonist group would face a huge crisis—also an opportunity to level up, especially for Zhi Ze, whose additional prophecy ability would upgrade to intermediate.
He wanted to manipulate that crisis a bit, and the opportunity had already delivered itself to him.
Gong Du walked while thinking. The Beast Fighting Arena drew closer and closer.
Small Light Orb: “What are you going there for?”
Gong Du: “To buy Flying Wings.”
Small Light Orb was incredulous. “Just because Yuan Ting said one line about wanting to eat?!” Was this still the scumbag it knew?
Gong Du: “Because I want to eat. I tasted breakfast—the protagonist group’s cooking is really not bad.”
Small Light Orb really wanted to condemn his behavior of simultaneously figuring out how to sabotage the protagonist group while coveting their cooking skills.
Before it could speak, it heard Gong Du add another line. “Things I’ve eaten can all be simulated with energy in my consciousness sea. You can try some too.”
Small Light Orb: “…”
Small Light Orb worried: “Then walk faster. Don’t let them sell out.”
Flying Wings seemed very popular. When Gong Du got there, only two large ones remained—adult-arm-length. He bought them all. The owner wrapped them in plastic wrap and put them in a bag. He hefted it. “A bit heavy.”
Gong Du carried it. Because he was in a crowd with many eyes watching, it wasn’t convenient to expose his ability. After paying with beast cores, he walked for a while and sighed. “So tiring.”
The Small Light Orb feared he’d get unhappy and throw away the Flying Wings, so it cheered him on.
Gong Du switched hands to carry it. The palm of his previous hand already had a deep reddish-purple imprint from the pressure. This body, having experienced so many time resets, was already mostly broken.
Without fighting, without using abilities, just doing physical labor—this body probably wouldn’t last three days.
Gong Du didn’t return. He wandered outside until the sky darkened, then turned toward today’s real destination.
***
Hot Spring Bar
This was F City’s once-famous money pit, and after the exotic beasts ravaged the area, it was lucky enough to be preserved. After renovation, it remained a money pit—though the trading currency had simply changed to beast cores.
The first floor was the bar, a chaotic mess of demons dancing. The second floor was a casino shrouded in smoke. The third floor offered a hot spring bathing and massage package. The fourth floor and above provided hotel accommodations.
The clamor from upstairs didn’t reach the underground level.
Ye Fei gulped down some alcohol, thoroughly depressed, sitting in a chair watching his subordinates play cards.
“Today was so embarrassing! Where am I supposed to put my face?!”
Ye Fei didn’t like playing cards himself but enjoyed watching others play. If they played well and made him happy, there might even be red envelopes to claim.
His subordinates played cards while apologizing with smiles. “Master, don’t be angry. Next time he comes, you can properly deal with that kid!”
“That’s right! You were just caught off guard by a sneak attack. Who knows what underhanded methods that person used.”
Ye Fei recalled last night and shivered.
Who knew what wind possessed that person last night—not sleeping in the middle of the night, running over here wearing only pajamas and not even shoes. Was he sick or what?!
He slapped the subordinate who just spoke on the head. “Next time? Next time? You want me to get hung up again?”
It’d be good if that person didn’t come looking for him.
Thinking this, someone knocked outside. “Lord Ye Fei, someone wants to see you.”
Ye Fei: …Damn.
His nerves tensed for a moment. “Show them in.”
It was that blue-eyed youth from before, holding the cat.
Ye Fei breathed a sigh of relief. “Oh, it’s you.”
Shi Deng’s aura had quietly changed—clearly different from when he was with Yuan Ting and the others. The eye wearing the contact lens had a slightly darker pupil color. When looking at strangers, it seemed distant and remote.
The kitten rested on his shoulder.
Shi Deng temporarily set down the Flying Wings he’d been carrying and said, “I want to discuss some things with you.”
Ye Fei: “Little friend, if we’re discussing business, better let your family’s adults come.”
Shi Deng loosened his hand, numb from being pressed, ignoring Ye Fei. Instead, he directly sat on the guest sofa nearby. “My temper isn’t very good.”
“Please hurry. Don’t waste time.”
Xiao Deng was somewhat worried, sensing that Shi Deng seemed a bit unstable.
Last night before sleeping, he hadn’t watched Shi Deng take his medicine. If he had an episode and Shi-ge wasn’t here to stop it, this place would become ruins…
The kitten’s soft paw patted Shi Deng’s head.
Ye Fei raised an eyebrow and walked over, sitting across from Shi Deng. “Fine. What business do you want to discuss?”
Shi Deng: “Adjust the direction of three people’s exotic beast hunting. You just need to adjust the order of their missions.”
“That violates the rules. Missions are random—they go wherever they want. I’m guessing you want to adjust your three friends’ mission order, right? Little friend, are you trying to harm them or what?”
Shi Deng placed down three special-grade beast cores.
“Little friend, let me be honest with you. Special-grade beast cores, though rare, I also have some. I’ve been stuck at the level 8 bottleneck for three years. Forcibly absorbing the energy inside would only cause me to explode and die.”
“If it’s for exchanging money, I don’t need that either.” Ye Fei smiled, spreading his hands. “This place is nicknamed the Money Pit. I have both money and power.”
“What you have here isn’t enough to move me.”
Shi Deng added three more.
Ye Fei: “Really can’t do it. It violates the rules. This thing really can’t be tampered with. If someone investigates, many people will make a fuss and suspect I also manipulated their mission orders. Can I still be supervisor then?”
Shi Deng added three more.
Ye Fei: “Really…”
The youth’s pale, thin fingers tapped the table surface.
A slight energy fluctuation.
The table in front of Ye Fei suddenly emitted a piercing, harsh sound from within. Two seconds later, the table turned into powder with uniform texture.
Even the special-grade beast cores from earlier turned into powder as well.
“…”
Ye Fei froze.
He swallowed, internally screaming profanities.
Those were fake special-grade beast cores, right?! How could they so easily crumble into dust!
Everyone in the room was shocked. The subordinates playing cards froze, cards scattering across the floor.
Ye Fei subconsciously looked up.
He crashed into a pair of deep blue eyes suppressing violence—like the deep sea covered by dark clouds before a storm arrived, gloomy and oppressive.
Self-loathing, despair, powerlessness, regret, numbness, deathly stillness, and immense unease…
It made his chest instinctively feel stuffy.
These shouldn’t be a youth’s eyes.
Shi Deng casually summoned a card that had fallen to the floor, stepped forward half a pace, leaned down slightly, and pressed the sharp edge against the artery on Ye Fei’s neck.
Ye Fei discovered he couldn’t move at all—the feeling was extremely similar to last night.
With his other hand, he pulled out three more special-grade beast cores. Shi Deng laughed lightly, as if enduring something. His eyes were deep, his fingertips exerting force until they started turning bluish. “I said I’m not feeling well right now. You’d better hurry.”
The surrounding world began to distort in his perception, bringing intense feelings of strangeness and insecurity, making him want to flee, want to destroy.
He should have taken his medicine yesterday…
The youth closed his eyes. Under Ye Fei’s horrified gaze, he grasped a beast core in his palm and viciously dragged the sharp point across his right forearm holding the playing card.
Drip.
Blood soaked through his sleeve and splattered on the ground.
The sharp pain snapped him back to clarity for a moment. He paid no attention to Xiao Deng’s constant meowing.
The youth glanced at Ye Fei. “Don’t be afraid.”
Ye Fei: “…”
Damn! This guy definitely has a problem!
***
Meanwhile, on the other side.
Three figures were rushing toward the Hot Spring Bar at high speed.
Yuan Ting and the other two looked anxious.
They had returned very late after completing their objectives, only to discover Shi Deng wasn’t home.
After asking around for a long time, they learned that someone had seen a youth carrying a kitten who’d gone out early in the morning and appeared to have been spotted at the Beast Fighting Arena and the Hot Spring Bar.
The Hot Spring Bar sighting was later, so Shi Deng was most likely there.
Zhi Ze: “It’s my fault. Yesterday Shi Deng showed off his wealth, and today all three of us went out. This place is filled with all sorts of people. His ability is support-type with weak attack power. If something happened to him…”
“It’s my fault,” Yuan Ting said regretfully. “I made a mistake today and provoked a high-level exotic beast. Otherwise we would’ve returned much earlier.”
Cen Le, keeping a straight face, applied a speed buff to them. “Instead of arguing, hurry up.”
“He’s our friend. If he’s been bullied or something really happened, I won’t let them off either.”
The three of them hadn’t even changed clothes. Covered in fresh kills, the bloody smell and murderous aura still clinging to them, their expressions cold, they looked fierce and intimidating. As they ran, surprisingly no one dared to stop them.
Soon, the Hot Spring Bar was right before them.
The full view of the Money Pit unfolded before the three of them.
The night was intoxicating, lights blazing bright.
**
wannaberecluse On SRTT Chapter 50.1