She Still Has to Thank Us!

Midnight.

In a dark alley in Changkong City.

Klein groggily woke up from unconsciousness, her head throbbing as if she'd been hit from behind, or perhaps subjected to someone's unique Physical Deep Sleep Method...

"Mmm... Ah... Awooo..."

A strange sound made Klein instinctively shift her gaze toward its source, and her pupils suddenly contracted.

Because all she could see in the dim, pitch-black alley was a green-haired beauty, bound and unable to move.

Upon closer inspection... wasn't that the "Professor Serpent" from class just now?!

Why was her face so flushed? Had she been drinking? And why was she tied up?

Klein's small head was filled with a multitude of questions. Just as she was about to stand up and assess her surroundings, she suddenly realized she couldn't move either. She was tightly bound by an unknown rope to a chair that had inexplicably appeared in the alley.

Had she and Professor Serpent... been kidnapped?

Klein tried to calm herself and think, but the throbbing pain in the back of her head, likely from being struck, made it impossible to focus.

Ignoring the pain, she scanned her surroundings. Although she was tied to this mysterious chair, there seemed to be no one else around, which somewhat eased her mind.

Using what little remained of her rationality, Klein examined the ropes binding her tightly, her mind brimming with confusion.

She was definitely kidnapped, right... But she was just an ordinary student, not particularly outstanding in her studies, maybe just able to stay up a bit longer than others. She shouldn't have incurred anyone's hatred... Her family had no power or influence either, so what could kidnappers gain by abducting her?

Klein truly couldn't understand.

"Mmm... Mmm-hmm... Ah... Mmm..."

The incoherent, drunken utterances from Mobius beside her pulled Klein's thoughts back. She looked closely at the "Professor Serpent," also bound to a chair, and a possibility suddenly occurred to her.

Could it be that the kidnappers weren't after her, but Professor Serpent?

No, no... Klein, how could she slander someone like that without reason? Especially when Professor Serpent was the teacher who had just lectured her...

But besides this possibility, there seemed to be no other option?

Because Klein truly couldn't fathom why she, of all people, would be targeted by criminals risking imprisonment in this era of law and order.

Glancing around again, Klein noticed that in this dark and rather shabby alley, there were only the two of them. Assistant Xu, who often accompanied Mobius and had long golden hair, seemed to be absent.

Klein vaguely recalled seeing Assistant Xu with Professor Serpent before she lost consciousness, but what exactly they were doing... Klein felt an intense headache just thinking about it and couldn't recall the situation at all.

Could it be... that Assistant Xu orchestrated all of this?

No... she couldn't suspect her teacher like this... Thinking positively, what if Assistant Xu had already escaped and was currently at the police station calling for backup?

But if she thought negatively... Assistant Xu might have also fallen victim, which would explain the absence of Assistant Xu and the perpetrators in the alley.

It was even possible that Assistant Xu, with her National Goddess-level youthful appearance, had already been...

"Cough, cough, hmm!"

Her thoughts, inspired by a romance novel she'd casually read, were interrupted. Klein became flustered, her azure rainbow eyes darting around nervously. Then, Klein's breathing hitched.

She swore she hadn't been zoning out for more than two seconds, but in those two seconds, the previously empty alley had inexplicably gained a shadowy figure as dark as ink!

The figure was tall and slender, dressed in a suit as black as ink. Beneath its equally black short hair, it wore a mask with a greyish-white smiling face that looked both ridiculously comical and eerily terrifying.

In the dark night, the dim, sporadic light from an old streetlamp flickered. Klein's reading glasses had been removed, and she couldn't see very far, but she could vaguely discern a thin, narrow, chilling glint reflecting from the hand of the masked figure. The streetlamp's light bounced off it, creating a distorted and sinister halo, like a blood-stained katana capable of killing without a trace!

"!!!"

The moment she saw this "Slender Ghost" and the "Blood-Stained Katana" in its hand, Klein's azure rainbow eyes widened, just like Mobius's. Her previous understanding of "criminals" had been limited to TV news and national prevention manuals. Seeing this figure, which practically had "weird" and "evil" etched onto its face, her small heart leaped into her throat.

In that instant, Klein thought of many things. She recalled the plots from the novels and manga she'd read in her spare time, where dangerous men kidnapped beautiful schoolgirls. She glanced at the distorted, eerie masked figure opposite her, feeling as though even the slightest movement of air around them was now tinged with a bone-chilling coldness due to their presence.

Klein's body instinctively urged her to cry out for help or scream, but to her surprise, she found that despite being completely consumed by fear and her mouth not being bound, she couldn't utter a single word.

It wasn't that Klein was timid... It was just that she had never experienced anything like this before. Others would have remained indifferent, acting as hindsight experts later. But if disaster truly struck, they would undoubtedly be the first to break.

Yes... Klein was never a strong person. On the contrary, she was timid, so timid that faced with this situation, she couldn't even call for help. But she couldn't be blamed for that; she was just an innocent eighteen-year-old girl.

Throughout this, the masked figure remained silent. Klein's face had already turned pale, her mouth agape but unable to make a sound, her body trembling slightly, her eyes rolling upward uncontrollably. If Mobius were conscious, she would undoubtedly diagnose Klein as experiencing an acute stress response due to the overwhelming stimulus, commonly known as being on the verge of fainting from fright.

Seeing this, the masked figure opposite Klein paused slightly, then let out a tactical cough. After brandishing the "Blood-Stained Katana" in its hand, it spoke:

"Cough, cough... Miss, are you sure you want to faint in this environment? Consider it a personal piece of advice. If you lose consciousness here, I can't guarantee what will happen next. After all... a comatose young girl can be quite alluring, don't you think?"

"Ah..."

Klein's consciousness, which was about to fade, was abruptly jolted back by the masked figure's words. She quickly swallowed, realizing that in her current state, she couldn't even breathe and could only temporarily obtain oxygen by swallowing.

"Of course, you can choose to slowly regain your composure... if you don't think you're wasting time."

The masked figure toyed with the "Blood-Stained Katana" and said with a flippant, mocking tone, "My time is very precious, and I hate those who waste it... However, hehe, I'm quite interested in you, so playing with you for a while doesn't count as wasting my time. As long as you don't extinguish my interest in you yourself, my tolerance can be extended indefinitely... Want to guess how much of my patience is left for you?"

"N-no need!"

Klein, already not very brave, felt a chill run down her spine from the masked figure's words. Once she reacted, she quickly shook her head, "You... I... I'm sorry! I'll forget everything that happened today. If you want money, I can give you all my savings. Please... please don't hurt me!"

Undeniably, Klein's approach was clear. After all, in novels, when the protagonist was kidnapped, they would eagerly try to verbally dismantle the kidnappers and instantly break free, taking down the entire gang single-handedly. But such scenarios were exclusive to "Dragon King" protagonists.

In reality, such a situation would never happen. The wisest course of action when encountering a thug is to comply with their demands and then find an opportunity to escape. If you insist on fighting back, you can only blame yourself for being reckless and tempting fate.

Seeing Klein's reaction, Xu Ziling, wearing a mask casually picked up from the roadside and holding the "Mad King Pot Lid" awarded by the System, stood under the streetlight, using the light reflection to feign a "bleeding katana." He also fell into a brief moment of contemplation.

Xu Ziling lightly tapped his right hand with the back of the Mad King Pot Lid he held.

To be honest, Klein's reaction was truly beyond his expectations. Xu Ziling's original plan was to use DNA Mimicry to impersonate a villain, scare Klein a little, and then find an excuse, like needing to use the restroom or make a call, to withdraw his disguise and "rescue" Mobius and Klein in his true appearance. This way, with the "debt of gratitude" between them, it would be difficult for Klein not to follow him.

Perhaps, for others, this would be a naive and difficult plan to execute. After all, the same person carrying out a kidnapping and a rescue is something that cannot be scrutinized too closely from the beginning. If examined too deeply, it would inevitably be exposed due to minor linguistic details, plot inconsistencies, and subsequent investigations, leading to a complete collapse of the plan.

However, as fate would have it, before his transmigration, Xu Ziling had countless times experienced the disgusting tactics of his Dog Boss, who would conspire with his secretary to delay salary payments.

Over time, Xu Ziling learned all of the Dog Boss's manipulative tactics – playing both sides, acting as the good guy and the bad guy, offering a carrot and then a stick. In his previous life, without talent or at least ten years of workplace experience, it was impossible to see through these tricks. Xu Ziling had also personally witnessed how his colleague, who once caused a company-wide power outage to fix a small bug, was later exploited by the Dog Boss, even helping him count the money.

In short, Xu Ziling was extremely adept at selling people out while making them help him count the spoils. Tricking a high school student like Klein, who had yet to experience the harsh realities of society, would be incredibly easy.

As for the official matters in Changkong City... although Serpent is in a sorry state now, her influence within the Fire Moth is undeniable. And for a world-class organization like the Fire Moth, forcing a crackdown on a local government in a mere Changkong City would not be difficult at all.

After all, although the Far East Island where Changkong City is located belongs to Shenzhou's territory, Shenzhou implements regional autonomy here... or perhaps they are simply too lazy to bother with this island that lacks both people and land... In any case, the people leading the Far East Island are still the same group, and in front of a world-class powerhouse like the Fire Moth, what kind of standing do they have... one can imagine, even without me saying it.

Under these favorable conditions – the right time, the right place, and the right people – it's not strange that Klein would surrender. Xu Ziling was just a bit surprised by the speed of her surrender. Klein gave in so readily that he almost felt bad about scaring the Senior.

But feeling bad doesn't mean he can't proceed. Xu Ziling looked at the panicked Klein, a slight smile forming beneath his mask. He waved the Mad King Pot Lid in his hand under the flickering light of the old streetlight and said with a laugh, "Very good, it seems you're sensible... But speaking of which, I don't think I've ever told you, I really dislike people who try to be clever. Those who thought they could let their guard down by obeying me... they're all gone now. Pitiful and helpless little one, will you be the next?"

Hearing this, Klein felt as if he had fallen into an ice cave, a chill from head to toe. This feeling of being completely seen through filled her with dread. Combined with the "bleeding katana" flashing in the old lamplight in the man's hand, Klein had no doubt that if she provoked this masked specter again, the "bleeding katana" would be mercilessly brought down upon her.

But... if she couldn't hide even the slightest thought, how could she escape from this masked specter? She was just a high school student... she was only eighteen this year, with so much time ahead of her... Was her future truly going to be bleak and hopeless?

Her gaze met the pale white mask of the masked specter again. The mockery and laughter on the comical mask seemed so real, like a demon playing with everything in the palm of its hand.

From waking up to despair... it had only been ten minutes. During this time, Klein's mind was racing, but she couldn't hide even a single thought from this masked specter. Where was the hope of escape?

Suddenly, Klein remembered something she had accidentally overheard at Chiyu Academy before –

"My female classmates! Congratulations on joining the same academy as me, Kevin. From today onwards, I, Kevin, voluntarily take responsibility for your safety. No matter where you are, as long as you shout my name, and as long as I can hear it, I will be there to rescue you within ten seconds!"

Heh... As expected, she was already delirious from fear. At this critical juncture, she was actually hoping that the casual words of a carefree male classmate could save her.

Ah... It seems like classmate Kevin has really appeared in her field of vision. She must really be out of her mind.

Oh... Classmate Kevin is even charging at the masked specter...

Eh... Classmate Kevin even knocked the masked specter back...

Hmm... Hmm?!!?!?!