Inside a bar.
Several men exchanged glances as they watched a drunken young woman at the counter. "Heh... it's about time."
A yellow-haired man stretched as he walked over to the woman.
Just as he reached out, a man in a raincoat suddenly seized his wrist.
"Hm?"
"Brother, what's your problem?"
"Trying to steal our prey, huh?"
The man in the raincoat said nothing. With a slight exertion of force, he snapped the man's wrist.
Crack!
"Argh... fuck your mother!"
The yellow-haired man let out a scream, then clutched his wrist and fell to his knees. He cursed at the man and immediately called to the brothers behind him!
But the group behind him all froze when they saw Li Yuan.
"Um... Brother Hao, maybe we should forget it?"
"Fuck, what nonsense are you spouting? That bastard broke my wrist!"
For some reason, everyone except the yellow-haired man seemed terrified of Li Yuan.
Because this was not the first time they had seen Li Yuan.
Once, they had found an injured old dog on the verge of death and planned to have some fun with it before sending it on its final journey.
Li Yuan had happened to pass by and beaten them up.
They had refused to accept it, so they called in another group and told Li Yuan to wait.
They had summoned the local boss and gathered dozens of people.
The result had been the same.
Li Yuan had taken down every last one of them by himself.
Then that boss had called another boss, bringing yet another group of people.
This went on for five or six rounds, until every thug in that area was lying on the ground.
After that, Li Yuan became the boss of that area.
That was why they feared Li Yuan.
They told the yellow-haired man about it, and after hearing several familiar names, he panicked as well.
He could only slink away in disgrace.
Li Yuan still said nothing. He walked over to the woman, who glanced at him.
Then she said drunkenly:
"Hmph, even if... even if you came to apologize to me... I-I still won't forgive you, Li Yuan..."
"Unless you... have a drink with me."
The bartender looked at Li Yuan. "Sir, what would you like to drink?"
"No need."
Li Yuan refused outright.
Water was his greatest taboo. He would not drink water, and of course, he did not need to.
The woman gazed at Li Yuan with unfocused eyes. "Then why did you c-come..."
"I was just passing by."
Hearing that, the woman puffed out her cheeks. "Where's your phone... give me your phone."
"I was afraid it'd get wet, so I didn't bring it."
Li Yuan had not touched a phone in a long time, mainly because of several past experiences.
Either the phone would get soaked and ruined while he carried it, or it would accidentally be destroyed in battle, and he would have to apply for a new SIM card.
It was too troublesome, so Li Yuan simply stopped carrying a phone.
The woman kept talking nonstop afterward, while Li Yuan responded only now and then.
Until she finally dropped her head onto the counter.
Li Yuan said nothing when he saw this. He simply hoisted the woman over one shoulder.
"Where are you living now?"
"Mmm..."
The woman was groggy and could not form a complete sentence.
Li Yuan shook his head, then took her to a hotel.
Just as he was about to leave, the woman suddenly grabbed his arm.
"Where are you... going?"
"I..."
Li Yuan had just begun to speak when the woman suddenly grabbed his collar and kissed him on the lips.
Her tongue entered Li Yuan's mouth, but unexpectedly, his mouth was extremely dry, without even a trace of saliva.
At that instant, fish scales began erupting wildly across Li Yuan's face, and his teeth began to sharpen!
Feeling his body transform into a Fishman, Li Yuan shoved the woman away and hurriedly spat out the liquid in his mouth.
The woman froze. "Do you hate me that much?"
"Then why did you come looking for me?"
Li Yuan did not know how to answer her and could only turn to leave.
But the woman suddenly shouted, "If you leave today, don't ever come looking for me again."
"Fine."
With that, Li Yuan pushed open the door and left.
He did not hesitate in the slightest. The way he walked out was utterly decisive.
Here was a piece of trivia: when people had zero-distance contact with the opposite sex, their minds subconsciously relaxed, and sweat was produced through exertion.
That was extremely lethal to Li Yuan.
Perhaps this was the best outcome.
To kill someone, Li Yuan only needed to tell them his greatest secret.
And if he wanted to protect someone, the only thing he could do was stay as far away from that person as possible.
The other monsters would not care about Li Yuan's feelings, just like the decision Queen Bee had made before.
No matter what Li Yuan thought, if this woman might already have discovered their secret, then she had to die.
Li Yuan walked down the street with both hands in his pockets when a man suddenly approached him.
The man came before Li Yuan and dropped to his knees with a thud.
"Boss, I... I want to become human again. Please... please turn me back into a human!"
Hearing the man's words, Li Yuan turned his head coldly.
"I can't even turn myself back into a human. What makes you think I have a way to turn you back into one?"
"The world is unfair, but the power bestowed by that great one is fair."
"To gain, one must lose. That is the price of power."
"You begged me back then, saying you wanted power like mine. From that moment on, you should have been prepared to lose something."
Having said that, Li Yuan turned and left.
The number of his familiars kept increasing, mingling through the city's streets and alleys. Some people even voluntarily asked to become his familiars.
But they had never considered what the price of gaining this power would be.
"Hm?"
Just then, countless transport helicopters suddenly flew overhead.
Li Yuan raised his head to look at the sky. These transport helicopters had arrived so suddenly. It felt as if something major was about to happen.
"Crackle..."
"Calling the commander. This is Nine-Tailed Fox Brigade 01. I am frontline commander Zhang Jinsong. We have successfully arrived in North Ridge City. Over."
A group of fully armed soldiers sat aboard the transport helicopters.
Every inch of skin on their bodies was tightly covered. Their helmets included tactical goggles and communication devices.
They could function as night-vision and thermal-imaging devices, and could also display a satellite map.
The weapons in their hands were equally sophisticated, all standard-issue medium-caliber assault rifles.
"Three hundred meters from the target at South Weir. Estimated arrival in five minutes."
"SRW Number 004—Hive."
"According to intelligence provided by Chu Yang, the target appeared to be a curvaceous woman, with hands dried up like bones. She could fire needles laced with neurotoxin from her fingers."
"This neurotoxin can control a person's mind and five senses, and can transform all male biological characteristics into female biological characteristics."
"It has been confirmed that 004 mentally controlled some of North Ridge City's authorities, making them serve unconditionally as the target's shield. They have now been detained."
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