Tail

"Yo!" Luffy appeared before Lu Su, one hand holding down his straw hat, a goofy grin on his face.

Luffy's appearance slightly eased the sorrow in Lu Su's heart. Smiling, he returned the greeting.

Ignoring Luffy as he curiously looked around, Lu Su began considering his next steps.

Card Master secret realm explorations were generally arranged by the Card Master Association.

So...

I won't be able to enter the Black Flag Secret Realm again anytime soon, Lu Su silently thought.

Unless he found someone to help—but who could he ask?

Principal Xie?

If Principal Xie had that kind of influence, he would have long since arranged for Shanghai City No. 1 High School students to undergo practical training in Bronze Grade secret realms.

Ma Liang?

To be honest, Lu Su had no ties to him. Why would he give him such special treatment?

Jiang Wang?

If Jiang Wang could arrange it, Jiang Nanxi would have moved into the secret realm long ago.

Sighing inwardly, it seemed that avenging Brother Zhou would require careful planning.

But if I show off my talent, the Association should give me some preferential treatment, Lu Su calculated.

After all, he had become a Bronze Grade Card Master in just over a month, and the first card he created had even reached Red Quality. That should be enough to make the Association's higher-ups take notice.

"Skinny, you've been with me for quite some time now, haven't you?"

Inside a nearby house, Brother Hu held a pair of nail clippers as he trimmed his nails, casually asking the question.

Skinny was utterly confused. He had no idea why Brother Hu had called him over in the middle of the night, but he still put on a fawning smile and answered, "Brother Hu, it's been a year."

Thinking of this, Skinny could not help feeling fortunate. After all, his predecessors had all been turned into materials within a few months.

If Brother Hu had not paid so generously, he would have run away long ago.

At that moment, Brother Hu set down his nail clippers, looked at Skinny with an unreadable expression, and sighed. "Ah, Skinny, I was originally going to take you with me, but unfortunately..."

Unfortunately what?

The instant doubt rose in Skinny's heart, a pale hand pierced through his chest from behind.

Looking at the heart held in the pale hand protruding from his chest, Skinny stared at Brother Hu in disbelief and muttered, "Why... Bro..."

Unfortunately, before he could finish, he fell silent.

Brother Hu walked eerily over to Skinny's corpse and muttered, "Why... why..."

"How many times have I told you? Don't ask so many whys."

Besides, if the Spirit Summoning Society hadn't ordered me to clean up all the loose ends, I couldn't be bothered with this idiot.

Brother Hu thought darkly.

The Spirit Summoning Society's plan was about to begin, and all his assets had already been successfully transferred.

If not for the Spirit Summoning Society's order, Brother Hu would have fled without caring about the aftermath.

Unfortunately...

There was still one last loose end.

Brother Hu turned his gaze toward Lu Su's house.

"Knock, knock, knock."

The knocking sounded especially distinct in the silent night.

Lu Su was puzzled. Who would come looking for him so late at night?

And shouldn't they normally send a message first before coming over?

At that thought, Lu Su became somewhat wary.

As if sensing Lu Su's vigilance, Luffy grinned and swaggered toward the door.

In this situation, it was definitely safer for him to open it.

"Who is it?" Luffy pulled open the door. Before he could react, a pale hand had already clenched into a fist and smashed toward his face.

Unfortunately, the attacker clearly could not overpower him through sheer force. Luffy's face first twisted into a comical shape, then snapped back to normal the next moment.

"What?!" An incredulous voice rang out from outside.

Hearing that voice, Lu Su found it familiar. The next moment, he realized who it was.

Wasn't that Brother Hu's voice?

While Lu Su was still thinking, Luffy had already launched his counterattack.

His right fist stretched far back, then rebounded forward.

Terrifying force slammed viciously into the unknown monster outside the door.

"Boom!"

The unknown monster was sent flying across the street, kicking up a cloud of dust.

Fortunately, there were not many people living around Lu Su's house, and it was already the middle of the night, so it did not cause any commotion.

Only then did Lu Su and Luffy step outside and clearly see Brother Hu standing beneath the moonlight.

Brother Hu stared dumbfounded as his card struggled to climb up from the ground.

When Lu Su saw Brother Hu's card, his eyes narrowed. "A vampire?"

That was right. Brother Hu's card reminded him of someone.

The Crested Head Youth whom Du Heng had brought to his door before.

Their cards could not exactly be called identical, but the differences were not very great.

However, Brother Hu's vampire was clearly of higher quality than the Crested Head Youth's.

Under the moonlight, the injuries Luffy had just inflicted were slowly healing.

Though perhaps it was because it was nighttime. After all, the Crested Head Youth had come looking for him at dusk last time.

That brat really is bait thrown out by the Association!

Brother Hu gritted his teeth as he confirmed his suspicions.

When had they started watching him?

The first time he borrowed money, it had already been the Association's order, hadn't it?!

Brother Hu refused to believe that anyone could create a high-quality Bronze Grade card in just over a month.

Yet he had no idea that his conjecture was drifting further and further from the truth.

At that moment, Lu Su's clear voice rang out beneath the moonlight. "You're from the Spirit Summoning Society, aren't you?"

Brother Hu sneered when he heard this. In his eyes, that damn brat across from him was just putting on an act. "Didn't you know that already?!"

Lu Su froze at those words.

Know already? What do I know?

Before he could ask, Brother Hu turned and ran.

"I'm not an idiot. Why wouldn't I run in this situation?!"

Brother Hu could confirm that only the brat across from him was present. Otherwise, the others would have appeared the moment he made his move.

Watching Brother Hu's rotund body rapidly flee into the distance, Lu Su's expression darkened. "I'll leave it to you, Luffy. Please end this quickly."

Lu Su naturally would not arrogantly chase after him alone. Other than Luffy, all his cards were currently on cooldown. If he rashly pursued Brother Hu, who knew what other trump cards the man might have?

"Okay!" Luffy agreed happily.

He held his right shoulder with his left hand and rotated his right arm a few times.

The next moment, a sky-filling barrage of fists swallowed the vampire.

"Gomu Gomu no Gatling!"

Facing the incoming storm of fists, the vampire opened its mouth and let out a shrill screech.

"Aah!"

The piercing cry drilled through Lu Su's eardrums, and a trace of fear rose in his heart.

But unfortunately, it was ineffective against Luffy.

Optimist: Naturally cheerful and optimistic, Luffy is immune to emotion-based negative statuses below Silver grade.

Ignoring the vampire's resistance, Luffy's fists blasted clouds of dust across the street.

A moment later, Luffy finally stopped attacking.

Brother Hu's vampire had long since vanished beneath Luffy's fists.

All that remained was a devastated stretch of ground.

The corner of Lu Su's eye twitched. "The Association should reimburse this, right?"

Setting aside the turmoil in his heart, Lu Su looked in the direction Brother Hu had fled.

There were clearly more important matters at hand.