Night Raid

"Looks like there are other experts at this auction. Whale Garden Box is coming to get involved too."

Ji Minghuan sat inside the lighthouse's exhibition platform, tilting his head as he quietly watched the battleship-sized whale disappear beneath the sea.

Though he was curious about what this so-called "Whale Garden Box" looked like, there was no way he could follow Li Qingping into the whale's belly. That would be no different from courting death.

So he could only silently watch his best friend depart. Then again, even "watching him depart" was giving himself too much credit—he was nothing more than a stalking voyeur.

He really wondered how Li Qingping would react if he found out his best friend had secretly followed him the whole way.

The tide washed over the beach. The sea illuminated by the searchlights was calm, while the unbroken sound of waves lingered in his ears.

"Li Qingping will serve as the Second Prince's bodyguard and accompany him to the Tokyo Underground Auction... If it were just him, that would be fine. Li Qingping's attributes are about the same as my Old Man's. By the superhuman ranking system, he's roughly a Quasi-Calamity Grade expert. He doesn't reach Rainbow Wing's benchmark. With the White Crow Troupe's strength, they could easily handle him."

"But the problem is, if Li Qingping dies at the auction, my Black Cocoon will lose a Main Quest afterward."

Ji Minghuan hunched over and let out a long sigh, lamenting how his No. 2 character had gotten off to such a bad start. He could not even keep himself alive and had to rack his brains to protect someone else's life.

He raised his head and glanced sideways at the rolling sea beneath the Night Sky. Suppose things get even worse: my Older Brother, Old Man, and Little Sister all get involved in the auction too. Then there'll be at least three half-step Calamity Grade monsters at the auction site, along with the Exorcist Association's unknown combat strength and the Japanese Underworld's forces.

"In the end, either my No. 2 character dies there, or my Unit 1 loses several Main Quests. Neither outcome is worth it for me."

"This is looking grim... No wonder the reward for that 'Survive the auction operation' quest is such an absurd number of Skill Points. It turns out the difficulty is insanely high. But leaving the troupe is a dead end too... I'll take it one step at a time."

Pitch-black Restraint Bands wrapped around his entire body, and his figure vanished as though God had erased him from the world. Ji Minghuan stepped onto the table, slipped through the lighthouse window, and leaped into the moonlight.

Half an hour later, Gu Qiye stood at his front door and unlocked it with a silver-plated key, the lock clicking open.

He turned the doorknob and entered the house, looking somewhat exhausted. Just then, his phone suddenly received a text message from an anonymous user.

Anonymous User: Mr. Blue Arc, thank you for your help today. I never thought you'd do such a good job.

Gu Qiye: How did you know that girl was locked up beneath the Library?

Black Cocoon: My hearing has always been sharp. Besides, I told you before—I can see the true faces beneath every pretender's mask. Naturally, that hypocritical, filthy director could not escape my eyes.

Gu Qiye: You could have sent him to prison instead of torturing him to death.

Black Cocoon: What I did to him was nowhere near "torture to death."

Gu Qiye: That's because you wanted me to help you disguise it as a suicide scene, so you couldn't go too far.

Black Cocoon: Oh, you figured that out too... It seems that after just two days of knowing each other, we already understand one another quite well. You say I could send him to prison, but in your heart, you made the same choice I did. You wanted to kill him too. You just couldn't do it because of your identity, whereas I could do it for you.

Gu Qiye: Utter nonsense.

Black Cocoon: At the very least, the fact that you didn't report me shows that, fundamentally, you approve of what I did.

Gu Qiye: More importantly, my impression of you improved somewhat today. I thought you were just a rotten bastard who only cared about having fun. I didn't expect you to occasionally do a good deed or two.

Black Cocoon: Wasn't what I did in the square that day a good deed? If I hadn't stepped in to break the deadlock, you, badly injured as you were, would have ended up wearing the handcuffs Green Wing handed you, like a dog with its spine broken. You knew there was something wrong with those handcuffs.

Gu Qiye: Say whatever you want.

After sending that message, Gu Qiye let out a long breath, tossed aside his phone, and slumped onto the sofa with the back of his head against its backrest.

He stared blankly at the ceiling. Before long, the text notification sounded again.

Gu Qiye picked up his phone and glanced at the new message.

Black Cocoon: By the way, how is that girl doing?

Gu Qiye: She's receiving treatment and psychological counseling at the hospital. It'll be some time before she can be discharged. Whenever I have time after work, I go visit her.

Black Cocoon: Or, more directly, you could tell me the address of that hospital.

Gu Qiye: Isn't your hearing very sharp? Go find it yourself.

Black Cocoon: Fair enough. Actually, I don't have time to visit her, so I'll have to trouble you to take good care of her.

Gu Qiye: That's true. Your appearance would probably leave her with psychological trauma.

Gu Qiye had just put down his phone when he suddenly heard Footsteps coming from the entryway.

Only then did he remember that he had not closed the door. He turned his head over the back of the sofa and glanced at the person entering.

Gu Zhuoan changed into slippers and came in carrying a bag of takeout containers. The white plastic containers could not hide the rich aroma of scallions.

Meeting Gu Qiye's gaze, he held a cigarette between his lips and asked in a muffled voice, "Have you eaten? I bought ribs."

Gu Qiye was silent for a moment, then shook his head. "Not yet."

"Then let's eat together?"

"Is Wen Yu home?"

"I just texted him. He's in his room and will be coming downstairs soon."

Gu Qiye hesitated. "Then... let's eat together."

If Gu Wenyu had not been home, he definitely would have refused Gu Zhuoan and gone to a nearby little restaurant to grab something, just enough to fill his stomach. But since Wen Yu was home, having a meal with them was no big deal. Gu Qiye did not think he still held any expectations for this useless father of his. He simply did not want his Younger Brother to be too lonely.

At that moment, a series of Footsteps came from the second-floor hallway. Then, while looking at his phone, Ji Minghuan slowly came down the stairs, his slippers pattering against the floor.

He swaggered into the kitchen first and sat down.

Gu Zhuoan stubbed out his cigarette and tossed it into the ashtray, then placed the plastic bag containing the scallion ribs on the table.

The three of them shared a silent dinner. No one said much at the table; they simply ate their own food.

After dinner, Ji Minghuan brushed his teeth in the second-floor bathroom and returned to his room. He shut the door with his Restraint Bands, then lay on the bed and brought up the System Panel, quickly and efficiently allocating the Attribute Points and Skill Points he had just obtained.

Unit 1 Game Character "Black Cocoon" Strength attribute changed: C++ Grade → B Grade

Consumed "1" Skill Point. Successfully learned the skill under the Fury branch—Superpower Stealing (After using Restraint Bands to bind a superhuman, you may temporarily steal and store their ability. The ability disappears after being used once.) (Stolen superpowers have only 50% effectiveness, and their power depends on Black Cocoon's attributes.) (Maximum storage time: 24 hours)

Learning permission for the next skill in the Fury branch has been unlocked: Capacity Enhancement.

Ji Minghuan was truly exhausted after the day he had had. On top of that, he had barely slept in the afternoon before being awakened by the Instructor. At this moment, his drowsiness was impossible to conceal.

He turned off the light, and before long, his eyelids drooped shut.

He fell asleep.

That same night, the Deathly Silent Imprisonment Room once again received a visit from the Instructor.

But... strangely, this time, the Instructor did not arrive as usual.

Instead, the metal door of the Imprisonment Room opened in the quietest possible manner. In the pitch-black darkness, he approached the sleeping Ji Minghuan step by step, without making a sound.

There'll be another chapter later tonight. The New Book is seventh on the overall rankings now, so please send Moon Tickets and keep reading!