Black Eating Black

Li Yèlái wore a pink battle robe and held a sharp weapon. He sank his qi into his dantian, then suddenly swung it, the blade flashing with swift, lethal precision...

He had merely chopped out a plate of minced garlic.

Beside him, a pretty girl wearing a small apron was washing vegetables with her head lowered. Her fair fingers, soaked by the stream of water, carefully washed the dirt from the vegetables.

The pink apron wrapped around her tall, slender figure. Yet beneath it, the white dress could not conceal her shapely, slender legs, like two tender jade shoots. Her fair, crystalline little feet wore a pair of adorable bear slippers.

Her long hair, draped over her shoulders, had been tied into a ponytail, revealing an astonishingly beautiful profile and... ears that had already turned completely red.

She seemed very shy. And understandably so.

After all, this was the first time she had invited someone to her room. And that someone was a member of the opposite sex.

Yes, Li Yèlái had come to Doll's room.

As for the reason...

From every angle, Li Yèlái was deeply grateful to Doll.

Whether it was the hair she had given him before as a trump card, or the way she had looked after his younger sister while he guarded Black Prison.

Both were favors from the boss.

Therefore, Li Yèlái took his meal with Doll very seriously.

According to their previous agreement, Li Yèlái had planned to take Doll, who loved spicy food, to the hotpot restaurant that claimed to be from Chuanshu Giant City.

Unfortunately, after the previous chaos erupted, that hotpot restaurant was still closed for repairs.

Seeing this, Li Yèlái sighed helplessly. "See? My luck has gone bad again. How about we look for another place?"

After hesitating, Doll raised her advertisement board and asked:

[How about we buy some meat and vegetables and make hotpot at home? My place is quite big (〃'▽'〃)]

"That has nothing to do with whether your place is big or not, does it?" Li Yèlái complained.

[It can save money (*^▽^*)]

Doll knew exactly where to strike. Hearing the words "save money," Li Yèlái hesitated.

Making hotpot at Doll's place would indeed be a little cheaper.

No, that wasn't the issue!

Would it be inappropriate for a grown man to go alone to a girl's home?

After thinking it over, Li Yèlái asked, "Wouldn't it be too much trouble?"

[No trouble, no trouble at all (ó﹏ò)]

[No guests have ever come to my home ()]

[I want to host a guest at least once (_)]

[All right? ()]

The words on the advertisement board in Doll's hands changed one after another.

The lines revealed her nervousness and anticipation.

Li Yèlái thought that made sense. With Doll's curse, aside from him, it seemed no one else could visit her home.

Even leaving behind a single strand of hair would send a guest fleeing in terror.

Seeing how much she looked forward to it, Li Yèlái naturally wouldn't disappoint his benefactor.

If the girl herself didn't mind, then his continuing to worry about it would seem strange.

Li Yèlái nodded. "Then I'll be imposing on you."

And so, the current scene came to be.

Doll had taken off her bulky doll costume and was wearing a white dress with a pink apron. Together with Li Yèlái, who was also wearing an apron, she prepared dipping sauce and vegetables in the kitchen.

The atmosphere was harmonious and beautiful.

In truth, Doll's heart was pounding faster. She had turned the water up to its maximum flow just to cover the sound of her heartbeat, yet the tips of her ears had already turned bright red.

She didn't know why she had suddenly become so bold, daring to invite Li Yèlái to her home. At the same time, however, she felt a trace of secret delight.

Although she was shy, she felt that her relationship with Li Yèlái had grown a little closer.

That lasted until the two of them sat at the dining table and began eating hotpot.

The flush at the tips of her ears still hadn't faded. Instead, it had spread to her cheeks.

Since guests rarely ever came to her room in the branch, Doll's furnishings were arranged rather casually.

As for the dining table, it was actually a glass table.

There had been nothing wrong with that.

But when the two of them sat on opposite sides of the glass table, Li Yèlái only had to lower his head slightly to see Doll's fair, long legs through the transparent tabletop.

This made Doll even more bashful, but she was too embarrassed to get up and change clothes.

Fortunately, Li Yèlái seemed not to notice. He was concentrating on dealing with the mutton slices.

Only then did Doll relax a little.

Li Yèlái, meanwhile, stared fixedly at the slices of meat in the hotpot.

In reality, he had also noticed the awkward situation.

From his angle, he could even see Doll's thighs beneath the hem of her dress.

But he couldn't say anything about it. Doll was already this shy, and if he pointed it out, Li Yèlái feared she might explode from embarrassment and anger.

Thus, Li Yèlái could only stare at the hotpot. After filling the table with plate after plate of meat and vegetables, he finally breathed a sigh of relief.

Luckily, I'm a proper gentleman! Li Yèlái grumbled inwardly.

Thinking about it carefully, Doll's behavior would be quite dangerous for any girl living alone.

But considering Doll's curse, it was understandable.

"Have your injuries recovered well?" Doll asked in a low voice after eating a mouthful of fiery tofu.

Perhaps she had become much more familiar with Li Yèlái, or perhaps it was because she was in her own territory. Her speech was much clearer now.

"Mm, they're almost completely healed. After the Heart of Slaughter strengthened my body, these superficial wounds were easy to repair. They didn't even leave scars." Li Yèlái replied, "However, the place on my chest where the Heart of Slaughter attached itself left three scars. It's not a big problem."

Three scarlet wounds like lightning bolts remained on his chest. When Li Yèlái's heart beat violently and his body temperature began to rise, those scars showed faint signs of reddening.

Aside from that, there were no other problems.

"Your teammates all said you performed very well during the incident. They all think highly of you," Doll continued. She wasn't flattering him.

After Black Prison's system was repaired, everyone had seen Li Yèlái's feat of shielding his teammates, facing the Zhelan cavalry alone, and finally punching through their formation!

There were even related posts on the forum. But many people didn't believe them, thinking they were exaggerations. Squad One also adopted an attitude of keeping their treasures hidden, simply responding with "Yes, yes, exactly."

Li Yèlái was silent for a moment before shaking his head. "It's different. Very different."

It truly was different. The other Handlers had fought with their lives on the line.

He, on the other hand, had Mr. Shadow as a safety net. That was why he had dared to charge into the enemy formation.

He wasn't as brave and fearless as everyone imagined.

"I don't know why you insist on denying it," Doll asked, tilting her head. "The ancients said, 'Judge deeds, not intentions; judge intentions, and no one is perfect.' No matter what thoughts you had in your heart, the moment you did those things, you were already shining like a hero."

Looking at the gentle smile in the girl's eyes, Li Yèlái shook his head slightly and changed the subject.

"Do you usually come here to eat?" Li Yèlái asked.

"Mm. I usually get food from the cafeteria and bring it back here to eat." A trace of loneliness flashed through Doll's eyes, but ultimately it turned into delight. She looked at Li Yèlái and said softly, "Fortunately, I have you."

She had always been grateful that she had been able to meet Li Yèlái.

Otherwise, she might never have been able to speak with a friend, cook together, or enjoy delicious food with someone in her entire life.

Feeling the goodwill the girl was showing, Li Yèlái sighed inwardly.

Mr. Shadow had, in the end, done something decent.

At least he had given this pitiful girl someone to talk to, so she wouldn't be quite so lonely.

After finishing the meal, Li Yèlái helped wash the pots and dishes before leaving Doll's room.

Only after walking out of the branch did Li Yèlái mutter to himself, "A hero? Do I count as one too?"

The Handlers in the various branches were all quite busy. The aftereffects of the Fantasy Band incident had yet to completely disappear.

The sudden increase in wild psychics and Suffering Ones, along with several Forbidden Items that had escaped, kept the Handlers constantly occupied.

But since most of Squad One's members were injured and they had suffered heavy casualties, the higher-ups didn't plan to assign them any missions. Instead, the members of Squad One appeared relatively idle.

Thus, on October first, Li Yèlái returned to the Antique Shop.

Perhaps because its location was too remote, or because it was too old, no one had gone to watch any broadcasts.

The Antique Shop's owner and the shop itself had not been affected by the previous incident.

However, when Li Yèlái entered the Antique Shop carrying the Large Black Umbrella,

he saw several people arguing incessantly with the owner in front of the counter.

Moreover, these people were all fairly sturdy, and they faintly carried a bloody stench. Their arms hung loosely, instinctively resting at their waists. Clearly, they had weapons—or firearms—hidden there.

Oh, they're Scavengers. Li Yèlái thought.

But as he approached the counter, those people noticed him.

One of them immediately pointed at Li Yèlái and shouted angrily, "Who are you?"

"An employee, an employee! He's my employee!" The owner behind the counter hurriedly waved his hands. "Don't get excited! Whatever you do, don't get excited!"

Then the owner waved for Li Yèlái to hurry behind the counter.

"What happened?" Li Yèlái entered the counter area, put down the Large Black Umbrella, and asked in a low voice.

"There was a problem with the goods, and the investigation led them here." The owner looked deeply troubled.

Every Antique Shop had some connection with one or more Scavenger teams or private caravans.

When those Scavenger teams obtained antiques or other odds and ends in the wilderness, they would trade them with various Antique Shops at designated trading points.

Thus, the owner often went out to select goods at the trading points.

This time, however, something seemed to have gone wrong at that stage.

By the time the owner arrived, the original purchasing site was already filled with casualties. The buyers and Scavengers at the scene had fought one another in a bloody melee.

They had frantically fought over some item, ultimately leaving almost everyone dead or wounded.

Because he had arrived relatively late, the owner became one of the few survivors.

Now, those Scavengers intended to take the owner away for questioning. They even suspected that he had been one of the people who attacked the Scavengers at the time.

After all, the Scavengers' affairs were never handed over to the Security Bureau. They had their own rules.

However, those rules were generally quite deadly.

The owner was therefore unwilling to cooperate with any investigation, afraid of getting dragged into trouble.

He didn't want to provoke anyone.

"Boss, what happened at the time?" Li Yèlái asked curiously. In the Scavengers' world, black eating black wasn't anything unusual. But it was rare for several buyers to suddenly attack a Scavenger group they had cooperated with many times.

Who conducted a black eating black operation so openly?

Wasn't that just asking for trouble? The buyers who had participated in the robbery had probably already been watched closely by the Scavengers.

"At the time..." The owner furrowed his brows and recalled. "By the time I arrived, they were already fighting fiercely. I didn't dare get anywhere near it. Then—"

"Then you tried to fish in troubled waters?" The burly man with the fierce-looking face sneered. "What did you take?"

"Nothing, nothing!" The owner hurriedly waved his hands, but the fierce-faced burly man grabbed him by the arm. "You'd better think carefully before answering! You know what we Scavengers are capable of!"

The burly man exerted force with one hand, squeezing the owner's face pale. He was just about to threaten him again.

Then he felt a sharp pain in his wrist.

Li Yèlái had already reached out and seized the fierce-faced burly man's wrist.

"Don't get physical. Sit down and talk this out!" Li Yèlái wore an expression that said there was always room for discussion.

With Li Yèlái's current strength, he barely needed to exert any force to make the burly man break into a sweat from the pain.

He hurriedly yanked his arm back.

"Don't get physical, my ass!" The burly man clutched his already bruised wrist and warily looked at Li Yèlái.

The other Scavengers also moved, all placing their hands on their waists.

"You don't actually think you're safe just because you're inside the Giant City, do you? Can you outrun bullets?" someone asked, looking coldly at Li Yèlái.

To be fair, this fellow had far more martial virtue than Wang De. He had far more reservations as well.

Wang De, despite knowing that Li Yèlái and the others were psychics, had ordered them shot without the slightest hesitation.

"Wait, don't fight! Don't fight! Xiǎo Yè, don't be rash!" The owner gritted his teeth and said, "You can search this place. Search wherever you want. I didn't take anything!"

"Hmph, there's no need to search. Just come with us!" The fierce-faced burly man said coldly. "We have our own methods of investigation. If we wronged you, we'll compensate you, and you'll get first pick of our goods from now on. But if it really was you..."

"Fine!" The owner gritted his teeth. "My conscience is clear anyway!"

Then the owner said to Li Yèlái, "Xiǎo Yè, I'll leave the Antique Shop to you for now."

"No. This kid is your employee. He has to come with us too!" The fierce-faced burly man stared hard at Li Yèlái.

The owner's expression changed, but Li Yèlái nodded and said, "Fine."

Li Yèlái naturally agreed.

Or rather, he had wanted to go and take a look. At the very least, he had to ensure the safety of the innocent.

Judging from what they had said, this clearly wasn't an ordinary case of black eating black.

The buyers hadn't just been people from Antique Shops. Some were subordinates of wealthy merchants in the Giant City, while others were certain antique enthusiasts.

People with completely different identities and statuses had all begun fighting over the goods at the same time. It was far too strange.

Thus, Li Yèlái believed that this incident might be related to psychics, or even a Forbidden Item.

Perhaps a Handler team in the branch had already discovered this matter and was investigating it.

Since he had encountered it, Li Yèlái, as a Handler, naturally couldn't stand by and do nothing.

If it was a misunderstanding, everything could be resolved peacefully. Li Yèlái wouldn't interfere with anything.

But if a Forbidden Item or psychic was involved, then it had to be handled by the Handlers.

And so, Li Yèlái carried the Large Black Umbrella and climbed into the fierce-faced burly man's pickup truck.

At the same time, a message sounded in the West City Branch.

[All support teams, take note. We have observed that a member of Squad One from the East City Branch, 'Night General,' has unexpectedly become involved in this operation.]