[I told you to use your supernatural ability to wipe my shoes!]
[You're pulling down my pants for what?!]
Staring at those three bold exclamation marks, Yu Shishi finally realized what a stupid thing she'd done.
Her face turned as red as a ripe tomato, and smoke almost seemed to rise from her head.
"I'm... I'm sorry! Boss, I was wrong!"
I... I misunderstood what you meant."
Jiangnan's face darkened. If looks could kill, the silly girl would have reincarnated eight hundred times already.
He pulled his pants back on, then coldly pointed at the leather shoes, still caked with mud.
I'll give you one last chance.
Yu Shishi shuddered in fright. This time, she didn't dare let her imagination run wild.
Holding her breath, she hovered both hands over the shoes and carefully controlled the faint energy within her.
"Cleaning!"
Buzz!
The next second, the filthy shoes were instantly as good as new!
They were even shinier than a brand-new pair in a shop window—bright enough to serve as mirrors!
"Phew..."
Yu Shishi wiped the sweat from her brow and looked at Jiangnan ingratiatingly. "Boss, did... did I get it right this time?"
Jiangnan glanced down at the gleaming shoes and raised an eyebrow slightly.
Interesting.
Her supernatural ability couldn't cause harm, but it actually seemed to have a faint "renovating" and "repairing" effect?
Maybe the silly girl wasn't completely useless after all.
He picked up the pen and wrote his final verdict for Yu Shishi in the memo pad.
[Passable.]
[Starting today, you're the "Captain of Cleanliness" aboard this vehicle.]
[You're responsible for keeping the whole vehicle clean, doing the laundry, cooking, and lending a hand.]
Yu Shishi didn't feel wronged at all. Instead, she looked as if a great burden had been lifted and nodded frantically.
"Thank you, Boss! I'll get it done!"
As long as she could stay in this luxurious RV, she'd gladly do the cleaning—or anything else he wanted!
With the misunderstanding cleared up, everyone took their places.
Wang Meng got moving, and they set off again.
But just a few kilometers down the road, something astonishing happened.
As the trees thinned out, several rotting Corpse Wolves and a few straggling Mutated Pigs appeared.
Under normal circumstances, these monsters would have lunged at any human vehicle like rabid dogs, tearing into it.
Wang Meng had already prepared to ram them.
But the moment the bus drew near—
"Awooo?!"
The Corpse Wolves immediately tumbled and scrambled toward the roadside brush!
Even the few tough Mutated Pigs turned tail and ran, as if they'd die if they were a second too slow.
"Holy crap?"
Wang Meng stared through the windshield, dumbfounded.
"That's incredible! Does this RV come with Conqueror's Haki or something?"
"It's not the vehicle's aura."
At that moment, Liu Yuqing pushed up her glasses from the sofa.
She watched Yu Shishi in the corner, busily wiping the floor with a rag, and said softly:
"It's the Captain of Cleanliness's doing."
"Huh?" Wang Meng looked confused.
Liu Yuqing explained, "Borrowing the tiger's might. Get it?"
"The Scarecrow's Gaze on Shishi is an Assassination Mark, but it also gives off a powerful aura."
"To these Low-level Monsters, there isn't a group of people in this vehicle. It's a Terrifying Lord patrolling its territory!"
"She's a living, human-shaped Beast Repellent."
Wang Meng gave her a thumbs-up.
"Awesome! Looks like we didn't just pick up a cleaner—we picked up a guardian beast, too!"
Yu Shishi scratched her head. "What guardian beast? I don't understand what you're talking about."
Chen Tong suddenly caught on. "Right! If that's the case, isn't the Wheat Field we're heading to where the Terrifying Scarecrow lives?"
At that, Wang Meng immediately pulled the vehicle over.
The group began discussing it again.
Liu Yuqing asked, "Shishi, have you ever seen a Scarecrow?"
"A Scarecrow... let me think. I saw one last night!"
"Yang Wei and the others and I were chased by crows into a Safe Zone in the Wheat Field. The crows wouldn't follow us in."
"After that, I argued with Bai Lianhua and left the group."
"While I was walking away, it suddenly appeared and tripped me."
"But I was already furious, so I grabbed my shoe and smacked it across the head, knocking its head sideways."
"As for what it looked like... it had three arms and stood two and a half meters tall!"
"As for its face, it was looking down, so I never saw it."
After hearing Yu Shishi's halting account, Liu Yuqing pushed up her glasses.
"Mystery solved."
"The Terrifying Scarecrow is in the Wheat Field! And it has an extremely strong sense of territory."
Liu Yuqing looked out at the crows that only dared watch from a distance and wouldn't come any closer, then analyzed:
"The Mutated Crows didn't stop chasing us because the Wheat Field is a Safe Zone!"
"It's because that place is the hunting ground of an even stronger monster!"
"The aura clinging to Yu Shishi is like tiger urine to the crows—a natural deterrent."
Only then did Yu Shishi belatedly cover her mouth, her face turning deathly pale.
"Oh my God... that piece of junk I smacked across the mouth with the sole of my shoe last night..."
"It was a monster... stronger than the crows?"
Everyone: "..."
They had to admit, fools really did have all the luck. It was a miracle she'd survived.
Sitting on the sofa, Jiangnan listened to the analysis and nodded thoughtfully.
Since this "Scarecrow Aura" was so useful...
He wrote a line on the Smart Control Panel.
[Kill it and skin it.]
[Turn its hide into Camouflage Coating for the vehicle.]
If Yu Shishi alone could scare off a flock of crows, what if they coated the entire bus in the Scarecrow's aura?
Wouldn't they be able to go wherever they pleased in this area?
In the driver's seat, Wang Meng saw the message and jerked so hard he nearly tore the steering wheel off.
"Holy crap... Big Boss really is Big Boss!"
"Other people are desperate to avoid monsters, but Big Boss wants to tear one apart and use it as car paint?!"
It sounded insane, but when he thought about it... damn, that was awesome!
"Got it! Hold on tight, everyone! We're going to find that bastard and give him what for!"
Wang Meng spun the wheel and sped toward the golden Wheat Field.
Inside the vehicle.
After learning they were going back for revenge, Yu Shishi wasn't scared at all. Instead, she excitedly waved her little fists.
"Great! If I could, I'd tear Bai Lianhua limb from limb right now! She tricked me and got me into all this!"
As she spoke, she flung her arms wide, trying to hug Liu Yuqing beside her.
"Yuqing! Let's go kill them!"
"Stop!"
Liu Yuqing pushed her away by the forehead, her face full of disgust.
"Shishi, calm down. And... you're filthy. Could you clean yourself up first?"
Only then did Yu Shishi realize.
She was barefoot, covered in mud and blood, and her hair was a bird's nest.
She looked so awful that even a beggar would have paid her two cents to stay away.
By then, Jiangnan had also gotten to his feet.
After a night of fighting, he was covered in dried Black Blood and sweat, sticky and unbearably uncomfortable.
Without a second thought, he took off his bloodstained shirt right in front of the three girls.
What? You're asking why he wouldn't let Yu Shishi take his pants off?
Those were two different things.
It was like peeing by yourself versus letting someone you barely knew help you pee.
Could you really trust that person to be helping you pee?
"Gasp..."
The vehicle filled with sharp intakes of breath.
Beneath his seemingly thin clothes, Jiangnan had an incredibly fit physique!
His muscles were sharply defined, and his eight-pack abs looked as if they'd been carved with a knife and chisel.
Even more striking were the many tiny, old scars on his back and arms.
They were the medals he'd earned over the past eighteen years, lugging bricks and hauling cement at construction sites to save up for travel check-ins across the country.
After all, for an underage orphan, it was the only legitimate way to earn money quickly through part-time work.
"Such... such a great body..."
Chen Tong's face reddened, and her gaze lingered.
Who would've guessed that this usually quiet, studious boy was such a hunk under his clothes?
Jiangnan didn't care in the slightest.
He knew his body well. He was still within the bounds of an ordinary person, just a little tougher and better at fighting than most.
Besides, after a whole night of intense fighting and mental strain,
all he wanted was a shower and some sleep. Those heated gazes did nothing for him.
He walked to the bathroom and stuck a memo on the door.
[Don't come in.]
Then he shut the door with a bang.
The upgraded RV came with an enormous water tank, so there was plenty of water for him to shower to his heart's content.
Looking at the closed bathroom door, Chen Tong sighed with some regret.
She'd been wondering if she could go in and help scrub his back or something.
After all, she didn't have a Supernatural Ability. If she didn't seize every chance to show her "value," she'd never feel at ease.
"All right, stop staring."
Liu Yuqing patted Yu Shishi, who was still mooning over him.
"Get to work! Wash Boss's clothes, then clean us up, too."
"Oh! Right!"
Yu Shishi was eager to make amends and threw herself into the job.
She activated her [Cleaning] ability. A flash of white light passed, and Jiangnan's dirty clothes on the floor instantly looked brand-new, their wrinkles smoothed out, too.
Then she gave herself, Liu Yuqing, and Chen Tong a pass with the "Cleaning Spell."
The Escape Team, filthy just moments ago, was suddenly sparkling clean, as if they'd just come out of a spa.
"Wang Meng, do you want to be cleaned, too?"
Yu Shishi called toward the driver's seat.
"No need!"
Wang Meng refused without turning around. "I'm a grown man. A little grease makes me look the part! Besides..."
He left the rest unsaid.
As a man, he knew where to draw the line.
Those women lived under the same roof as Jiangnan.
As his subordinate, it was best not even to get close to them. Keeping his distance was the way to survive.
Before you continue