The First Gift

Fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck!

Lai Er ran wildly through the alleyways, cursing under his breath, while four or five Rhine Knight relentlessly pursued him.

Lai Er wanted to tell the guys behind him that they had chased the wrong person. Although he was a thief, he hadn't succeeded in stealing anything yet. He had only wandered around the carriage once before he was discovered. They should be chasing the guy who had already succeeded!

However, Lai Er knew that under these circumstances, those people would never believe him. He was now in a terrible predicament, like mud stuck in his pants. If he slowed down even slightly, he would be caught immediately. He couldn't even imagine what would happen if a grown man like himself were caught by the Rhine people, so he could only run as fast as he could.

... It's all because of that guy!

Lai Er was referring to the colleague who had put him in this predicament. He recognized the guy because it was that guy who had sold Lai Er the intelligence tonight.

But what Lai Er didn't expect was that the guy not only sold him information, but also betrayed him!

Once I get away, I'm definitely going to... give that guy a piece of my mind.

"Pfft."

Lai Er felt a sharp pain in his right leg. He instinctively looked down and discovered that a Holy Arrow had pierced through his right leg.

Then he fell to the ground with a "plop" and rolled forward seven or eight times.

He tried to get up and keep running, but failed several times, and the pursuers caught up.

"Wait, wait!" Lai Er quickly raised his hands in pleading, "It has nothing to do with me! I didn't steal your things!"

The pursuers had already reached him and, upon hearing this, let out a cold laugh, "Do you think we're fools?"

"No, no, no, it's true, I'm not lying to you! I did want to steal it, but I haven't succeeded yet!" In order to save his life, Lai Er had no choice but to tell the "truth" all at once, and even opened his bag to show the pursuers, "Look, there's nothing in here, just my own things."

"Ha, you dare to sell stolen goods?"

"It's not about selling stolen goods! I don't have time to sell stolen goods! You've been chasing me since the beginning, chasing me non-stop!" Lai Er pleaded. "Please, please let me go! I was framed by that guy. He threw me out to distract you... Ah, yes, yes, that's it! He's the one who gave me this information!"

When Lai Er shifted all the blame onto someone else, the pursuers naturally didn't believe him. However, after checking Lai Er's bag, they indeed found no missing goods in the carriage, and they couldn't help but frown.

"It really is that guy! He planned everything, I'm just a victim!" Lai Er immediately kowtowed to the pursuers, "Please, please let me go! If you let me go, all my goods... are yours."

Lai Er practically gritted his teeth as he said the last half of the sentence.

After all, that bag contained all his belongings, but he also knew very well that hesitating at this moment would be like putting the coffin lid on his head, so he absolutely could not hesitate.

Even if Lai Er decided to risk everything, it was nothing but a joke in the eyes of the pursuers.

"Heh, you're already in our hands, and you still want to bargain?" The pursuer lowered his head and whispered in Lai Er's ear, "You dare to attack us... Do you know who we are?"

Lai Er's heart tightened; he knew this was the most crucial thing. So he pretended to be clueless and said, "Aren't you just an ordinary caravan?"

Yes, what matters more than the goods is the identity of these people.

Although everyone in the black market knew that the Rhine Church was the biggest "Black Merchant Boss," handling drug trafficking and human trafficking with ease, the Rhine's followers were unaware of this. Their brilliance could not tolerate even a speck of dust, let alone darkness like this.

So if Lai Er wants to survive, he has no choice but to insist that he doesn't know the other person's identity.

But...

The pursuer laughed, "Heh, you do have some brains."

Hearing this, Lai Er thought he had done the right thing and was about to breathe a sigh of relief when the pursuers continued.

"Unfortunately, there aren't many," the pursuer said leisurely. "Playing dumb is useless; we all know you know who we are."

"I..." Lai Er clenched his teeth tightly, "I really don't know."

The pursuer said with a half-smile, "Then I can tell you."

Lai Er was stunned for a moment, and instinctively wanted to cover his ears, but the pursuer had already said, "We are Rhine."

A brief silence.

Lai Er's mouth opened wider and wider, and then he realized what was happening. He suddenly stood up and tried to escape, but was stomped down by the Rhine Knight.

"Actually, you don't need to play dumb at all," the Rhine Knight said leisurely. "Once you were caught by us, your fate was already sealed. Don't forget that we are a righteous church, and it is our duty to execute you black market merchants."

"No, no, no!" Lai Er cried out, "Don't kill me! I can lead you to the person who really stole your things! I can lead you to him! Just don't kill me!"

"Heh, you old swindlers are no match for me. I'd rather trust myself." The Rhine Knight seemed to have run out of ideas with Lai Er and turned to the people behind him, saying, "Get rid of him cleanly. Let's go find that guy."

"Yes, boss!"

A deep male voice that sounded somewhat familiar to Lai Er rang out behind the Rhine Knight. He looked up abruptly and saw a burly man striding menacingly toward him.

It was the same fat sheep with the pointed head that he had found during the day.

A final glimmer of hope rose within Lai Er's despairing heart. The Rhine Knight, unwilling to lay a hand on him and leave themselves leverage, entrusted the task of dealing with him to the burly man, a reserve sheriff. Lai Er had already witnessed the man's intelligence during the day, so... he still had a chance to live!

After the Rhine Knight left, Lai Er immediately pleaded with the burly man in a low voice, "Good sir, please spare my life. You can have all my things. Didn't you want Visas' Corpse Pieces? I still have two of His fingers and the foot you saw during the day in my bag..."

Before he could even utter the word "toes," Lai Er suddenly felt a lightness in his body. It turned out that the burly man had grabbed his collar and lifted him up.

The two men stared at each other, the burly man's eyes filled with ferocity.

"You damned black marketeer, you actually dared to cheat me! You really think I won't kill you, huh? I've been looking for you for a whole day!"

You've been looking for me all day?!

Lai Er suddenly had a bad feeling, and then he saw the burly man raise his other hand, in which he was holding a small, blood-stained toe.

Judging from the shape of the toes, it was the very one Lai Er had tried to sell to the strong man during the day but failed.

"You bastard who deserves to be torn to pieces!" the burly man said through gritted teeth. "Recognize him now? These are the Visas' Corpse Pieces you mentioned!"

Lai Er looked completely bewildered. "I... I don't think I sold it to you..."

"Nonsense! You didn't sell it!" the burly man roared. "I sneaked it over when you weren't looking, you idiot, haven't you noticed yet?!"

Lai Er was stunned.

After he separated from the burly man during the day, all his attention was focused on those two fingers, and he didn't even notice that the burly man had taken his toe.

He never expected that this pointy-headed guy would steal things.

Of course, what I didn't expect was...

Lai Er, who had been lifted up, lowered his head and looked at the strong man's feet, then noticed bright red bloodstains on the toe of his right shoe.

He actually accepted it!!!

Lai Er was at a loss for words.

Not only did the deal fall through, but the goods were also stolen. Not only were the goods stolen, but the person even used them. And not only did they use them, but they were also caught.

Lai Er couldn't even imagine what would happen to him, and could only desperately cry out, "Have mercy, have mercy! I really didn't mean to lie to you, I just didn't know which one was fake, really, please believe me! The other two are definitely real!"

"Oh? The other two must be real, right?"

Lai Er was in a panic, stammering and not knowing what to say. At that moment, the burly man ordered his men to open Lai Er's bag and take out the two fingers.

"Since these two are real, then prove it to me."

"Proof, certificate?"

"Yes, didn't you say these two were real?" The burly man leaned closer to Lai Er and repeated, enunciating each word clearly, "Then prove it to me...by yourself!"

Before Lai Er could figure out the meaning of "personally," the burly man pulled out a dagger and swiftly brought it down.

With a "snap".

Lai Er's thumb was chopped off by the strong man, and blood gushed out.

"Aaaaaaah!"

He screamed and tried to pull his hand back, but was held down firmly by the burly man's two other henchmen, who simultaneously forced the severed Broken Finger against the stump of his thumb.

"Come on, prove it to me!" the burly man roared. "Prove this finger is real! Then take Visas's power and kill us all, come on!"

Lai Er was speechless, while another henchman said with a grin, "Boss, you cut off the wrong finger. This severed Broken Finger is clearly not a thumb."

"Oh, really?" The burly man feigned surprise. "Oh dear, I'm so sorry, how could you make such a mistake? Let's try again then, let me see which finger this is..."

The burly man looked at the obvious middle finger and revealed an even more cruel expression.

"It looks like the little finger."

With that, he raised his knife again and severed Lai Er's little finger, while the burly man continued to stab the wound with the severed Broken Finger.

Lai Er was in so much pain he was almost fainting, and he knew these guys weren't going to let him go. He screamed in despair, "You bunch of idiots! If you have the guts, kill me! Fuck... Aaaaaah!"

His finger was also cut off.

"Don't rush!" the burly man shouted excitedly and menacingly. "You haven't obtained the power of Visas yet! Hmm... I made another mistake just now, it seems to be the other finger. Just hang in there, you'll get the power of Visas soon."

Fuck him! Fuck him! Fuck him!

Lai Er roared in despair in his heart.

Why is he so unlucky?! Why did he end up like this before he even got anything?! Why is he being tormented like this, instead of tormenting others?!

He actually knew the answer, because he lacked the power.

Yes...it's all because he lacks power. If he had power, he could have a higher position among the black market traders and access to more information. Then, tonight, it wouldn't have been him being used as bait, but rather his colleague. If he had power, this pointy-headed bastard wouldn't have done this to him; he would have been the one pulling out this guy's fingers.

If he has the power, then everything will be different.

If someone could give him such power, then he...

"Oh?" A mocking voice echoed in his mind, "Do you crave power?"

Lai Er was stunned.

"Ah, sorry." The burly man, who had just chopped off five of Lai Er's fingers and was now frantically Broken Finger the severed middle finger at the end, grinned savagely. "This is the last one. Why haven't you obtained the power of Visas yet? Isn't it this hand? Hmm, that must be it. Don't worry, I'll get you a new one right away."

As he spoke, the burly man prepared to pick up the Broken Finger.

But at that moment he found that he couldn't lift it. He subconsciously let go and then found that the Broken Finger was right at Lai Er's broken end, as if it had just grown back.

The burly man's eyes widened little by little.

When Lai Er opened his eyes again, there were three corpses in front of him.

The burly man who had been tormenting him lay in a pool of blood like a dead dog, his wide eyes filled with terror, just like Lai Er's current reaction.

What happened?!

Lai Er instinctively lowered his head and looked at his right hand.

His right hand, whose fingers had been severed by the strong man, was now completely intact, as if everything that had happened before was just his illusion.

But he knew it wasn't an illusion...

Lai Er stared intently at the middle finger, a terrible thought welling up inside him. He swallowed hard, his voice trembling, and said.

"Was it you... no, was it you who helped me?"

A mocking voice echoed in my mind again, "What do you think?"

Lai Er opened his mouth, and in an instant, countless thoughts surged through his mind, his eyes flashing with various emotions.

At this moment, he had many questions in his mind, but he didn't ask any of them. He simply bent down slowly and knelt down in the pool of blood.

"Please grant me power," he said, emphasizing each word, "Visas-sama!"

Inside the hotel room, Bai Wei, leaning against the window and gazing into the distance, slightly curled the corners of his mouth.

The first gift has been given out, now it's time to give the second one.

Bai Wei stretched and went to bed.

On the windowsill where he had sat, there were two boxes of the same size, sitting quietly.