"Iron plate squid, take a look! Freshly made, delicious and affordable, you can have as much as you want!"
As Li Ran passed by a squid stall, he saw the owner stretch out eight squid-like tentacles. Two of them held a cleaver, two held a spatula, and while shouting out to customers, the owner casually chopped off one of his own tentacles, skillfully placing it on the iron plate.
Zzzzzzz!
The squid was sizzling, crisp on the outside and tender on the inside.
What was even more incredible was that the owner’s chopped-off tentacle slowly began to regenerate.
"Wow, this is talent—zero-cost entrepreneurship," Li Ran was stunned.
To the people on the street, it seemed like they didn’t even notice anything unusual. To them, what Li Ran saw as bizarre was simply normal.
Passing by a barber shop, the young barber let out a loud "Wow!" and transformed into a crab with scissor-hands. With a swift series of snip-snip-snips, he cut a man’s hair in no time.
The speed was astonishing.
"Up ahead, quite lively."
Li Ran noticed a bustling outdoor food stall, with people packed inside and outside, and the speed of service was impressive.
He glanced inside, nearly losing his composure.
Above the restaurant’s ceiling hung a giant spiderweb, with several waiters, who had spider-like bodies and human heads, scurrying across the web carrying dishes and precisely delivering them to the tables.
The sight made Li Ran’s scalp tingle, yet the customers seemed unfazed, chatting and laughing casually.
"When filth becomes normal, innocence is a crime. Even though the world has changed, you're the one who’s eating the medicine," Li Ran shook his head helplessly and continued walking, pretending he didn’t see it.
His Divine Sense activated once again, and the psychic ripples quickly spread across the entire street.
Soon, he detected a dazzling star-like light in his mind's starry map. But after one second, the light suddenly vanished, disappearing again.
"I found you."
Li Ran smiled faintly and quickened his pace towards the locked direction.
"Here of all places?"
Li Ran arrived at Anna’s bar, with the large "Less Effort, Ten Years" sign still drawing attention. He still didn’t understand why the bar was named that.
Maybe if he took care of Anna, he'd indeed be able to avoid ten years of effort.
But thinking about how every one of Anna’s boyfriends had died at her hands made him shudder.
Better to become a security guard at twenty and avoid forty years of trouble.
"Huh, a familiar face?"
Through his Divine Sense, Li Ran sensed the familiar aura of someone.
He frowned slightly and stepped into the bar.
The last time he was here, it was in the daytime, and the bar was empty, with only a few players. This time, the place was packed, with couples kissing in the dark corners, and people exchanging drinks under neon lights, gazing at each other lovingly. But in the dim light, the figures of the people looked somewhat distorted and deformed.
"I thought you wouldn’t come back," Anna greeted with a charming smile, wearing a red cheongsam with a slit that revealed a lot.
"I’m not here to drink today. I’m here to find someone."
Li Ran’s sharp gaze swept across the figures in the dimly lit bar.
"Can’t you just admit you’re here to find me?" Anna glared at Li Ran, feeling a little exasperated. With how alluring she was, standing before him, he didn’t even look at her. Many men would want to catch her attention, but this man before her was impossible to read.
Li Ran simply didn’t want to engage with Anna. She was stunningly beautiful but a deadly poison—one little tease from her and his mind would be thrown into chaos.
At this moment, he needed to focus on finding the assassin hiding here.
Li Ran didn’t respond to Anna, just like the last time when he sat opposite her for three hours reading a magazine without saying a word.
He had already openly admitted before that he liked Anna, but he wasn’t pursuing her. It’s like admiring a flower—do you have to pick it? Or do you stop the wind just because you like it?
He had a family in the world. If he played around outside, Su Bingyao would definitely devour him.
Of course, that would be a different story if he left the world.
"Li Ran," a cold voice came from across the bar, from a booth opposite the bar counter. The owner’s gaze was greenish, like the eyes of an evil dog glowing in the dark.
"Chen Jiabin." Li Ran walked directly towards the person.
This was the familiar aura he had sensed earlier outside, but this aura felt completely different from the initial one.
"By the way, where have you guys been these past few days? I couldn’t find you anywhere."
When Li Ran got closer, he saw that Chen Jiabin was still the same, a reckless and brash young man.
If not for witnessing Chen Jiabin secretly commanding his group of dogs to kill Xiao Yi and Huang Wentao...
Xiao Yi’s fate was tragic—his limbs were severed, and even his most intimate secrets were cut along with him.
In the end, he was eaten clean, not a single bone left.
(Chen Jiabin)
(B-Class Psychic Infected)
(Eerie Power: 700)
(His usually reckless personality hides a heart bent on revenge. Anyone who offends him dies a terrible death.)
(He still thinks of himself as a player and doesn’t realize he’s already turned into a monster.)
(Note: He has a group of subordinates, but you don’t need to fear him. Killing him is as easy as flipping a hand.)
After reading the system’s hints, Li Ran thought to himself, "So this guy still thinks he’s a player."
"My strength has greatly improved. How about you join me? I’ll protect you," Chen Jiabin said proudly, slapping his chest.
Li Ran paused slightly in front of Chen Jiabin, then without hesitation, walked towards the booth behind him.
Anna and Chen Jiabin looked at him in confusion as Li Ran pulled out a dagger and slashed at the booth with a blood-scythe flying blade.
The woman hidden in the booth under the dim lights suddenly leaped up like a spring, dodging the blood-scythe flying blade.
Boom! The entire booth was destroyed by the flying blade.
At the same time, the woman was now lying on the ceiling, her head turning 180 degrees with a sickening crack as she stared down at Li Ran.
Her face was grotesque, with fin-like structures on her cheeks, and her face had transformed into that of a terrifying salamander. As her limbs twisted in an eerie fashion, her body began to change, with her limbs deforming and turning pale. Her fingers spread wide, with a thin membrane between them that seemed to breathe as it opened and closed.
"Ah!!"
The bar erupted in screams.
It wasn’t the monster that frightened them, but Li Ran’s earlier attack.
Chen Jiabin looked at the wall that was almost split in half and showed an expression of shock. He thought, "When did this guy become so strong?"
"What the hell is this thing?" Li Ran frowned.
(Assassin: Codename: Blood Salamander)
(A-Class Psychic Infected)
(Eerie Power: 1400)
(One of the top assassins in the organization, with unparalleled camouflage skills. He has never failed a mission.)
(He has combat abilities adaptable to any environment, often using poison to kill and striking back from desperate situations.)
(Note: Although you have a eerie power advantage, be careful when facing him. If you overpower him, he’ll be like fish on the chopping block.)
(End of Chapter)