Chapter 15

Shadow could no longer hide herself—for one simple reason: a pixelated figure wielding a rod-like object was flinging white milk everywhere. Though she knew the liquid was milk, as a young woman her body instinctively dodged the droplets flying toward her.

"Who are you?" Xiao Zhan asked, staring at the woman who had suddenly dropped from the ceiling.

"Someone here to kill you." Shadow canceled her camouflage and produced a Laser Dagger.

"Did President Ouyang send you, or the Evolution Company?" Xiao Zhan asked.

"You don't need to know." Shadow charged at the pixelated creature before her. She'd had enough of this filth-like thing polluting her mind. All she wanted now was to cut down this dirty mess in one strike.

As she rushed toward Xiao Zhan at breakneck speed, her body was splattered with white milk. At the same time, a black, pixelated object flew at her.

Facing that censored black item, Shadow couldn't suppress her feminine instincts. She shrieked and leaped backward, dodging the unidentified object. She had no idea what it was, but her instincts screamed at her not to touch it.

"Good thing I came prepared." Xiao Zhan pressed a switch on the wall. The next moment, the walls flipped around. In Shadow's stunned gaze, several walls in the room rotated simultaneously, each revealing hundreds of pixelated, unidentified rod-like objects inserted behind them. All those rods pointed toward Shadow.

What Shadow saw now was this:

Countless censored rod-like objects on the surrounding walls aimed at her. In the center of the room, a human-shaped pixelated mass speckled with white spots slowly approached her, its own censored rod spraying milky white liquid everywhere.

That thing crept closer, step by step, leering as it said, "Miss, how about some milk first..."

The scene was too beautiful for words—better left to your imagination.

"I... I really can't fight something this disgusting!!" Shadow had completely lost any will to battle. It had nothing to do with level or strength. If you were asked to seriously fight something like a pile of crap, you'd probably hesitate too.

Shadow slashed the glass behind her with her dagger and leaped out of the building.

After bounding a great distance, she stopped on the rooftop of a tall building. Perhaps influenced by Xiao Zhan, the shape of Xiao's Building now looked to her like...

Unlike the scene at Xiao Zhan's place, Lin Jie's home was very peaceful. Lin Jie was in his room catching up on the new anime episodes he'd missed, while Lin Wan and the Little Girl were in the bathroom.

In the bathroom, Lin Wan was washing the Little Girl's hair, and the Little Girl was playing with the bubbles in her hands.

"Alright, stop playing. Let me rinse the foam off your head," Lin Wan said.

"Look, big sister." The Little Girl held out the bubbles to Lin Wan. The bubbles formed the shape of a girl with a ponytail.

"Hey, isn't that me?" Lin Wan said in surprise. "How did you do that?"

"I don't know." The Little Girl thought for a moment.

"Is this why my brother said someone wanted to capture her for research?" Lin Wan wondered.

Then the bubbles in the Little Girl's hands turned into two men holding weapons.

"Ah! That's my brother and Xiao Zhan!" Lin Wan exclaimed happily.

Next, the bubbles formed a pair of glasses.

"Oh! That's the guy with glasses who's with my brother!" Lin Wan said. "You're amazing."

Laughter filled the small bathroom.

"My sister really is the best at taking care of kids!" Lin Jie sighed with emotion, listening to the laughter from the bathroom.

About an hour later, Lin Jie came out for a drink of water. Passing by his sister's room, he heard Lin Wan's voice: "Then Jia Baoyu..."

Curious, Lin Jie pushed open the door and entered Lin Wan's room. He saw the Little Girl and Lin Wan lying on the bed. Lin Wan held a thick copy of Dream of the Red Chamber and was reading aloud, while the Little Girl stared wide-eyed around the room. Lin Jie was sure she didn't understand a word.

"You're reading Dream of the Red Chamber as a bedtime story for a kid?" Lin Jie said to Lin Wan.

"Are you questioning my early education?" Lin Wan replied. "I'm cultivating her mind early, so she won't get tricked by you like I did when I was little."

"...Still, you don't read Dream of the Red Chamber to such a young child," Lin Jie said.

"What's wrong with Dream of the Red Chamber? It's a classic. Do you know how much Cao Xueqin sacrificed to write it?" Lin Wan said indignantly. "It's because of people like you that our traditional cultural heritage is on the verge of extinction."

"Tch, I don't know about Cao Xueqin, but I know about his classmate," Lin Jie said.

"Yeah, right."

"Little girl, want to hear the story of Cao Xueqin's classmate?" Lin Jie said to the Little Girl, who was staring wide-eyed at them.

"I want to hear it, Brother Lin," the Little Girl said.

"You'd better not believe him," Lin Wan interjected.

"But I really want to hear it," the Little Girl said.

"Then I'll tell you." Lin Jie cleared his throat. "A long, long time ago, Cao Xueqin had a classmate. His grades were just as good as Cao Xueqin's. But one day, Cao Xueqin wrote a book called Dream of the Red Chamber, and it made him a famous writer. His classmate read it too, and he was sure this book would become a timeless masterpiece.

For someone who was also at the top of the class, how could he stand being surpassed by Cao Xueqin? So he decided to write a book that would surpass Dream of the Red Chamber.

From that day on, he spent every day planning his book. Day after day, year after year, he studied the content and historical background of what he wanted to write. He spent a full twenty years planning."

"And then? Did he write a book even better than Dream of the Red Chamber?" the Little Girl asked curiously.

"No. After twenty years of thinking, he went bald, but he also got stronger. So he gave up writing and took up martial arts, eventually becoming an invincible general," Lin Jie said.

"Tch, you're making things up again." Lin Wan shot him a glare.

"Brother Lin, what's a classmate?" the Little Girl asked curiously.

"A classmate is someone you study with at the same school," Lin Jie said.

"What's a school?" the Little Girl asked.

"A school is a place where kids go to learn things," Lin Jie answered.

"Are there friends my age there?"

"Yeah." Lin Jie nodded.

"Then can I go to school?" The Little Girl asked, her big eyes glistening.

"You can. You sleep well, and once we beat the bad guys, Big Brother will send you to school, okay?" Lin Jie said, patting her head.

"Really? You promise?" The Little Girl asked.

"I promise." Lin Jie said with a smile.

At midnight, a tall man arrived outside the apartment where Lin Jie was staying.

"Is this the place? The higher-ups just want me to bring the kid back. Dead or alive should be fine, right?" The man muttered to himself.

"What are you mumbling about outside my place?" Lin Jie suddenly appeared beside the tall man.

"Are you Lin Jie?" The tall man asked. "I didn't expect you wouldn't have fled with the kid. Looks like you're pretty confident in your strength."

"Oh? You know about me?" Lin Jie asked curiously.

"Of course you have to fully understand your enemy before facing them." The man said. "You've only got an E-Class evaluation, but you have a record of taking down two B-Rank body-enhancement heroes in a single blow. That means you currently possess power exceeding B-Rank. But..."

Before the man could finish his sentence, a Wolf Fang Club came crashing down on his head. In the nick of time, the man blocked the blow with both hands, but the immense force drove his entire body deep into the ground.

"Tch. If you're gonna fight, just fight. Why all the chatter?" Lin Jie said with a yawn.

"But today, you've run into me." The tall man crawled out of the ground, his body beginning to swell until he stood over five meters tall. "I'm also someone with power exceeding B-Rank..."

Once again, he didn't finish. Lin Jie swung the club down, driving the five-meter-tall giant into the ground.

"I told you, why so much talk?" Lin Jie said.

But the man crawled out of the ground again.

"I admit, you've got some serious strength. But do you think you can take me down that easily?" The giant said as a layer of hard scales emerged on his body. "Getting me to use my second form is already something to be proud of. Now I'll show you..."

Another interruption. Club came down. The man in his second form was driven into the ground for the third time.

Lin Jie watched the giant start to crawl out again and raised an eyebrow. "Still getting up?"

He raised the Wolf Fang Club once more.

"Wait!!!" The giant quickly called out to stop him.

"What?" Lin Jie asked.

"That's just shameless! That's not how a real man fights! What kind of skill is it to attack before I've even finished talking!" The giant said as he climbed out.

"Oh, go ahead then."

"Today, I'll make you truly see the gap in power!" The giant's muscles bulged, and a searing heat radiated from beneath the scales on his body.

"Done?" Lin Jie asked.

"Done..." The moment the word left his mouth, the giant was smashed back into the ground.

"This is impossible!! Even in my strongest form, I can't even put up a fight against you!" The giant, now buried in the earth again, shouted in shock. He had been watching Lin Jie's every move, yet he still ended up planted in the ground. "Just who are you? With strength like this, you should be at least A-Rank! Why are you wasting time as an E-Class hero!"

If you find this book enjoyable, don't forget to add it to your bookshelf so you don't lose track of it next time.