Unable to make sense of it, Zeng Shen prepared to leave.
"It's almost noon. Let me treat you to a clam hot pot at a restaurant. All their clams come from my family's clam farm, and they're delicious," Liu Miao suggested.
"Clam hot pot? I love that."
Zeng Shen nodded and drove away from the docks in his RV with Liu Miao.
But shortly after they left...
Before the RV had gone far from the docks...
Two vans suddenly stopped in front of it, and seven or eight thugs climbed out carrying clubs.
At that moment...
A notification sounded in Zeng Shen's ears.
[The host has encountered a tier-three water deity and several tier-one and tier-two water deities blocking his path. It is recommended that the host rev the engine, break through them before they can surround him, and escape quickly.]
What kind of crappy advice is that? I'm still young. I'm not looking to get free meals in prison!
Zeng Shen silently gave the system a vicious scolding.
The thugs shouted at the RV from a distance:
"Get out!"
"Looks like law and order around here isn't all that great." Zeng Shen smiled and moved to get out.
Liu Miao frowned slightly and caught his hand as he reached to open the door. "Zeng Shen, they're local thugs. There might be some misunderstanding. I'll go ask them."
"Won't it be dangerous for you to go out alone?"
"It'll be fine. I've seen my grandfather deal with them before, and they were very polite to him. Besides, quite a few of their relatives work as porters at my docks. They probably won't do anything to me."
"All right. Be careful."
Liu Miao nodded, opened the door, and walked toward the thugs.
A yellow-haired thug wearing sunglasses was clearly their leader. He approached Liu Miao with his lackeys in tow.
Both sides stopped midway between the RV and the vans.
Still worried, Zeng Shen didn't stay inside. He got out too, but remained by the RV's door instead of approaching.
The yellow-haired thug in sunglasses looked Liu Miao over and smiled. "Miss Liu, the boys and I have had some big expenses lately. We'd like to borrow a little money from you to tide us over."
"My company can barely stay afloat. How would I have money to lend you?" Liu Miao refused.
"Miss Liu, we saw you go to the bank just now. The bank manager even walked you out all smiles. I don't believe you haven't got money. Or do you think we're easy to fool?"
"And if I refuse?"
"If you won't lend us money, Miss Liu, how about spending a few days having fun with us?" the yellow-haired thug teased.
"Yeah! Hahaha!"
The lackeys behind him leered and chimed in.
"Miss Liu, take care of us for a few days, and we promise we won't ask you for money. We'll even pay you. A fair trade."
"That's right. We can protect you too."
"As long as you keep us satisfied, we'll..."
"You..." Furious at their filthy remarks, Liu Miao snapped, "Aren't you afraid my grandfather will find out..."
The yellow-haired thug snorted. "Quit trying to scare us with your grandfather. We know he's on his last legs. He's been in a coma for two months. He's probably going to die soon. If you don't lend us money today, don't expect to keep these docks running smoothly."
A lackey behind him laughed too. "Haha, exactly! We're afraid of your grandfather, but that doesn't mean we're afraid of a little girl like you."
"You..."
Everyone had a line that couldn't be crossed, and Liu Miao's grandfather was hers. Furious, she raised her hand to slap the yellow-haired thug.
"Go on. I dare you to hit me."
Seeing Liu Miao raise her hand, the yellow-haired thug tilted his face toward her and barked arrogantly.
Startled, Liu Miao froze with her hand in midair. She came to her senses, reason prevailed, and she slowly lowered it.
The lackeys burst out laughing.
"Boss, she chickened out! Hahaha!"
Their laughter only made the yellow-haired thug more brazen.
"You little bitch, weren't you going to slap me? Why'd you put your hand down? Come on, hit me! I'll let you do it for free. Come on!"
Smack!
A crisp slap rang out from the yellow-haired thug's face.
Every thug's laughter stopped at once, their expressions turning incredulous.
Liu Miao was equally stunned. She stared wide-eyed at Zeng Shen, who had appeared beside her without her noticing.
Zeng Shen rubbed his palm and muttered, "Now I've seen everything. Never heard such an outrageous request in my life."
At his words, Liu Miao couldn't hold her tense expression any longer and burst out laughing.
"Fuck!"
Hearing Zeng Shen's remark, the thugs snapped out of their daze too.
Clutching his reddened cheek, Huang Ziliang roared in fury, "Boys, kill him!"
The lackeys immediately charged at Zeng Shen, swinging their clubs.
"Ah!"
Terrified by the thugs, Liu Miao's legs gave way. She crouched on the ground and instinctively covered her head with both hands.
Yet Zeng Shen showed no fear as he watched them rush toward him. Instead, the corners of his mouth curled up involuntarily, and a flicker of excitement shone in his eyes.
He had been learning combat techniques at the Lihuo Martial Arts Hall lately, but hadn't had a chance to properly test what he had learned.
Wasn't this the perfect opportunity?
Zeng Shen immediately activated just a twofold Agility Enhancement, then drove a fierce kick into a thug beside him who was about to bring his club down. Following up with left and right hooks at the others, he knocked every lackey to the ground.
"Fuck!"
The yellow-haired thug had intended to charge in after his lackeys, but in just a few seconds, every one of them was on the ground, groaning in pain.
The sight stunned him, and he no longer dared advance.
Zeng Shen beckoned him with a finger. The yellow-haired thug glanced at his lackeys sprawled around him, hesitated, then let out a loud yell to bolster his courage and charged.
"Not bad. You've got some guts."
Zeng Shen praised him, then moved too fast for the yellow-haired thug to follow and effortlessly sent him crashing to the ground with a shoulder throw.
Only after all the thugs were down did Zeng Shen turn to help Liu Miao, who was still crouched on the ground with her hands over her head.
"It's all right now. Get up."
"Huh?" Hearing Zeng Shen's voice, Liu Miao lowered her hands and looked around.
Every thug was lying on the ground, clutching his stomach and howling in pain.
For a moment, utter shock filled her face.
"You knocked all of them down?"
"Who else could it have been?"
Zeng Shen smiled, then turned toward the yellow-haired thug, who was still lying on the ground after the shoulder throw, pretending to be badly injured.
"If I find out you've tried to extort Liu Miao again, I'll cripple every one of you. Now, I'm counting to three. If you don't move those vans out of the way, I'll beat you up again."
"Ah!"
At Zeng Shen's threat, the yellow-haired thug immediately scrambled up and fled in the vans with his lackeys, thoroughly humiliated.
[The host has overcome a stronger opponent, subdued and repelled a tier-three water deity. Survival points +2000.] [The host has overcome a stronger opponent, subdued and repelled a tier-one water deity. Survival points +2000.] [The host has overcome a stronger opponent, subdued... +2000] [The host has overcome a stronger opponent, subdued...]