Villains Aren't Allowed to Steal the Protagonist's Lines

Ah, the filter disappeared.

"...Looks like if you're prepared for it, the duration gets drastically shortened."

Liu Bai curled his lip at Natasha's discovery.

Come on, who would be on guard against a first-meeting kill under normal circumstances? As long as the first encounter could raise favorability to 80+, it could be renewed indefinitely—provided he had enough potions.

"Fine. Considering what happened today, I'll get you a few tomorrow."

Natasha thought it over and decided to treat it as repaying Liu Bai's favor.

If Liu Bai got any wicked ideas and used it on Rita, she would support him with both hands and feet.

But in reality... well, Natasha had guessed right, but there was no chance of that happening.

Liu Bai had already realized that if he used it on women with attributes far stronger than his for too long, he would have no idea how his kidneys had managed to grow that way...

After all, this thing was called the "Elixir of Love," not the "Elixir of Domination."

If the abnormal favorability raised by the Elixir of Love got too high, getting beaten to one's knees on the spot was no joke.

Caterpillar.jpg

He had decided. He would have Guinaifen cosplay as a caterpillar.

"Speaking of which, haven't you gotten a little stronger?"

After ending the topic of the Elixir of Love, Natasha brought up something else.

When she had been clinging to Liu Bai and riding him earlier, Natasha had clearly felt that he was no longer the kind of weakling who could not even restrain a chicken—though when she clung to him, Liu Bai's little resistance was no different from flirting in Natasha's eyes.

As long as someone was weak enough, any resistance was just acting cute.

"Maybe I'm still growing?"

Liu Bai had just finished reading a fitness book and was currently reading a strength-training book.

"You're already this old, and you're still growing?"

Natasha laughed and scolded him, but did not pursue the matter further.

There was nothing interesting about a combat power of five becoming a combat power of six.

It was a good thing if becoming a little stronger made her worry less.

"Morning, Raven. You look... a little off?" Jackal unusually took the initiative to greet Natasha.

Judging by the bloodshot eyes... she probably had not slept last night either.

Hey, hey, wasn't this person in a bit of trouble?

Natasha, who had come with something of an accusatory attitude, looked into Jackal's eyes and began to hesitate.

She was not going to suddenly drop dead in front of her, was she?

"...I'm fine." Natasha decided not to confront her for the time being.

This person's condition did not seem quite right.

Forget it. She would not beat her into a dead dog yet. She would assess the situation first.

"Do you still have any of yesterday's energy potion?"

"Yes. We just finished calibrating the production line yesterday and produced fifteen doses."

"...Isn't your production line's efficiency a little low?"

"It just started production, and this potion has a pretty high failure rate."

It was too bizarre. Jackal had never expected a Failed Potion to have so many different ways of failing.

"Catch me an ice deadwalker, and I'll give you eight doses."

"..."

Ah... she really did not want to catch one of those deadwalkers with crowd control abilities.

But she had already made a promise in front of Liu Bai.

"Fine. I'll try to find one for you."

Natasha nodded, but a strange thought arose in her heart.

Come to think of it... was this woman really plotting against her?

They had been partners for years, and Natasha knew Jackal's character well enough.

If Jackal had been plotting against her, then even if Natasha did not come to confront her, Jackal would definitely mock her—she was the type who could never keep her mouth shut.

This kind of normal conversation was very wrong.

An unlikely guess surfaced in Natasha's mind.

"Jackal, I found a handsome guy yesterday."

"Huh?"

Jackal wore an expression that said, What the hell are you talking about?

"Hey, hey, hey. Don't tell me someone wants to run away again under the excuse of 'pursuing love.' Do you think the Highlord's mercy is infinite?"

Jackal had already begun mocking her over what happened before.

Though for Raven, quitting and then returning to work was not exactly something shameful.

"He's really handsome."

"Yeah, and?"

Jackal crossed her arms, looking unconcerned as if she were simply watching a show.

After all, Jackal had no interest in love or anything like that.

"Our great killer Raven got so captivated by someone that she can't eat or sleep? Are you preparing to switch careers and become a lovestruck young girl?"

...She really wanted to tear that bastard's mouth apart.

"Don't you want to know what he looks like?" Natasha continued coaxing her.

"Hmm..."

Fine, to be honest, Jackal was actually a little interested.

Of course, she was even more interested in tying the man Raven cared about to an operating table and then admiring Raven's expression.

No matter how she looked at it, someone like Raven getting lovestruck like a young girl was simply too amusing.

"If you want me to take a look, I wouldn't mind."

Hearing that, Natasha decisively pulled up a photo of Liu Bai from her wrist device and projected it into the air.

"..."

At that instant, Natasha seemed to hear the sound of teeth grinding.

"R-Raven."

Jackal stared fixedly at Liu Bai's photo.

"Do you believe in love at first sight?"

Villains Aren't Allowed to Steal the Protagonist's Lines

Natasha: "...?"

Had she heard something similar a few days ago?

Did all these people like starting with that line now?

But before Natasha could react, Jackal grabbed both her shoulders.

At their current distance, Natasha could clearly hear Jackal's heavy, beastlike breathing.

"Raven, name your price. I want this man."

"Uh... I just happened to see him on the street."

Facing Jackal's bloodshot eyes and heavy breathing, Natasha's presence weakened by more than a little.

Natasha also realized that she seemed to have taken things too far this time.

Well, though the one suffering was Liu Bai.

"Then let me see him one more time! No, wait! Where did you see him?"

"Um... I-I forgot."

"You're not planning to keep him all to yourself, are you?"

Jackal heard the evasiveness in Natasha's tone, and her voice immediately turned hostile.

"That's truly unforgivable, Raven."

Natasha could feel the force gripping her shoulders growing stronger and stronger.

Not good. Really not good.

But—

Bang!

Natasha punched Jackal in the chin, knocking her unconscious on the spot.

Come on, even if I can't match your presence, I've got force on my side.

Whether ten of you working together could beat one of my arms was still up for debate.

But then again...

Looking at Jackal lying unconscious on the ground, Natasha began to get a headache.

Had she... really taken things too far?

No, had Jackal actually drunk that stuff like water?

One dose without any precautions could only give her an hour or so of filter effects. How much had Jackal drunk without any defenses at all?

Fine. The plan to beat Jackal into a dead dog could be put aside for now. She had to deal with Jackal's problem first.

Going by what she said before, she had definitely taken thirty or forty doses... Fuck, luckily this stuff came in test tubes, so the dosage was small. If it had come in little bottles, Natasha would be wondering whether Jackal's veins were full of potion instead of blood right now.

Locking her up for three days should be enough, right?

"Ugh..."

"Hey... You're kidding, right?"

Natasha stared in shock at Jackal as she pushed herself up from the floor.

Though Natasha had held back on that punch, it was still not a blow Jackal should have been able to get back up from!

By her estimate, it should have put Jackal to sleep for at least a few hours.

"Don't underestimate me... You don't understand anything at all..."

"You're a villain. Don't say lines like some hot-blooded protagonist."

Natasha complained as she cracked her knuckles.

It did not matter if Jackal got back up. She just needed to punch her again.

This time, she would hit a little harder.

"I have money."

"Huh?" Natasha, who had just clenched her fist, froze.

"You know Shencheng Pharmaceuticals' profit from last year, right?"

Jackal looked at Natasha as she struggled to steady herself.

A hesitant expression appeared on Natasha's face. "...I do."

Shencheng Pharmaceuticals was practically pure profit. It could even be called money-printing level. Even after paying tribute to the main family, there would still be an enormous sum left over—at least, an enormous sum to Natasha.