Thugs

"Actually... I wasn't really after your allowance. I was just asking," Qing Chen said awkwardly.

Even he felt a little embarrassed at that moment.

He really had money on the brain...

But Qing Chen had already realized that Li Tongyun suspected he was a transmigrator too.

Maybe it was because he had been too interested in the Inner World, always asking questions, or maybe because he had seen through her.

When he unhesitatingly said he had no need for Inner World money, she dismissed her suspicions.

Overall, Qing Chen had gained quite a lot tonight. At the very least, he had confirmed Li Tongyun's identity as a transmigrator.

Now that he was caught up in the Qing family's Shadow Struggle, having one more friend was better than having none.

Though Li Tongyun was only ten years old, she might be able to help someday.

Just like when he had prayed to Buddha before his first transmigration, preparations had to be made in advance.

While Jiang Xue was still washing the dishes, Li Tongyun whispered to Qing Chen, "I really don't have much allowance in the Outer World. How about you ask for something else, Qing Chen?"

"Something else?" Qing Chen asked.

"How would I know? Anyway, you can't tell my mom," Li Tongyun said, lowering her voice again.

"Fine. You can owe me for now." Qing Chen glanced at Jiang Xue's back in the kitchen. "Just remember to take good care of your mom in the Inner World. Everyone says it's pretty chaotic over there."

"Mm, don't worry," Li Tongyun said with satisfaction. "When you get a chance to transmigrate to the Inner World someday, I'll protect you all!"

Qing Chen did not know whether to laugh or cry. A child's promise was so innocent and simple.

After saying goodbye to Jiang Xue, he went downstairs. Compared to upstairs, his own home felt much lonelier.

There were no relatives, and no one to talk to.

Qing Chen opened his phone and checked the class group chat. It was still full of pointless, blind speculation. There were probably only two transmigrators in Class 3, Year 2—him and Nan Gengchen.

Then he opened Weibo and saw that two trending topics were rapidly climbing the rankings: a mysterious overseas organization was offering massive rewards for mechanical limbs and future-tech items from the Inner World.

Someone had posted screenshots online. The other party had even listed the items they wanted: NECE anti-aging drug, EDE-002 gene serum...

There were even many targeted drugs for different types of cancer, all of which had yet to be developed in the Outer World.

This list of future-tech items actually shared one common trait: saving lives, extending lives, preserving youth, and enhancing bodily functions.

The organization claimed to have tested the drugs' effects and confirmed that they worked on humans from the Outer World.

They even openly taught transmigrators how to carry them: wrap pills in protective film and hold them in the mouth, swallow them into the stomach, or insert them into the rectum.

Qing Chen frowned when he saw this. To bring things back from the Inner World, these people were actually using the methods of drug mules.

The value of things like targeted drugs and anti-aging drugs was impossible to estimate. If a billionaire had cancer and was about to die, and his only hope was a life-saving drug from the Inner World, what price would he offer?

What price could possibly equal a life?

Of course, there were many other life-saving things, such as bionic kidneys and hearts, but those could not be carried.

Qing Chen sighed. While he was still figuring out how to become a superhuman, someone else had already started doing business.

But he could not use this method for now.

If he wanted to make a physical trade, his identity would inevitably be exposed.

Of course, he could bring back technology directly on a USB drive, but how could an ordinary transmigrator gain access to the Inner World's core technology? Maybe in the future, but apparently there was no one capable of that yet.

Up to now, Qing Chen had found it difficult to obtain even information about the outside world in Prison No. 18.

The most important thing was still to build a good relationship with Li Shutong.

Wait, Qing Chen suddenly realized that this mysterious organization was also buying mechanical limbs!

Just a few days ago, a transmigrator had had both legs cut off. Now that these people were offering astronomical prices, wouldn't it further encourage crimes targeting transmigrators?

At that moment, Qing Chen suddenly remembered the two unfamiliar men he had seen in the courtyard when he came home from school!

He silently walked to the window, pulled open a narrow gap in the curtains, and looked outside.

But the two men who had been squatting outside earlier had already vanished.

Qing Chen hesitated for only three seconds before immediately calling 110. "Hello, I'm at Building 12, Courtyard No. 4, Xingshu Road. Tonight, I noticed two very suspicious men. I think they may be up to no good."

He had hesitated because if he had judged wrongly, he would be making a false report.

The female operator on the other end confirmed, "You're at Courtyard No. 4, Xingshu Road, correct? Let me confirm once more. You saw two unfamiliar men in the residential complex..."

Before she could finish, Li Tongyun's scream suddenly rang out from upstairs!

"Please dispatch officers immediately. Thank you!" Qing Chen hung up as soon as he finished speaking.

His judgment had been right. Those two men had come for Jiang Xue.

When he had passed in front of them, the two men had looked in four directions in total, and one of them had been Jiang Xue's window!

Qing Chen went into the kitchen and picked up the entrenching shovel he had bought earlier. But just as he was about to leave, he hesitated again.

He was only an ordinary seventeen-year-old student. He had seen death, but he was still an ordinary person!

There were two adults on the other side, perhaps even more than two. Could he handle them?

With a click, Qing Chen twisted the doorknob open and charged out with the entrenching shovel in hand.

He was not some selfless saint. He was selfish. He had watched a classmate lose his mind in Prison No. 18 and felt nothing.

But he could not stand by and watch a child like Li Tongyun fall victim to them!

At that moment, he thought that even if he gained extraordinary powers, without the courage to match them, those powers would be useless.

But just as he opened the door, he saw a middle-aged man rolling down the stairs.

The man's arm was twisted at an unnatural angle. He had already collapsed unconscious on the sloped stairway.

A switchblade lay scattered beside him.

When Qing Chen looked up, he saw Jiang Xue standing upstairs, blood staining her face. Her white long-sleeved T-shirt was streaked red as well.

One of her sleeves had been torn away, revealing a mechanical arm with blue glowing patterns. It was slender and powerful, graceful yet hard.

Her entire body was trembling, but her gaze gradually hardened with resolve.

Ordinary people could not understand a mother's desire to protect her daughter.

At that moment, Jiang Xue possessed a different kind of charm—something fiercely tough.

Jiang Xue looked at Qing Chen, then at the entrenching shovel in his hand. Only after calming herself did she say, "Thank you."

She knew Qing Chen had come to help. She had to remember someone willing to step in at a time like this.

"Was there only one?" Qing Chen asked.

"There was another one. He ran away," Jiang Xue replied.

"Is Xiaoyun okay?" Qing Chen asked.

Jiang Xue said, "She was terrified."

Qing Chen frowned. "Take care of Xiaoyun first."

With that, he rushed out of the building and saw a figure sprinting away through the night.

Jiang Xue wanted to stop him, but before she could speak, the boy had already disappeared into the darkness.

But then she suddenly realized that he had run in the opposite direction.