Work, then home.
After picking up Xiao Dan in the afternoon, Xu Feng bought some fruit and vegetables before heading home with her.
The father and daughter chatted and laughed all the way, as if everything were normal.
"Uncle Huang!" Xiao Dan greeted Huang Sen cheerfully when she saw him coming home from work, too.
"Oh! Xiao Dan, are you done with school? Come on, let's have dinner at my place today. I'll make something delicious for you and your dad."
Huang Sen laughed as he picked up the little girl.
Xu Feng smiled. "Dad doesn't need—"
"Dad—" Huang Sen had just opened his mouth when he shot Xu Feng a glare. "I thought you looked like an honest man, Old Xu, but turns out you're just as shameless as the rest!"
"Heehee," Xiao Dan giggled. "My teacher says my dad's shameless."
"That's right, shameless!" Huang Sen said fiercely.
Xu Feng burst out laughing and followed the two of them inside.
Like Xu Feng, Huang Sen was single, but his place was a lot messier.
Still, the guy was thick-skinned and didn't care at all.
While cooking, he even sent Xiao Dan off to clean up for him.
Xu Feng didn't say anything about it. If anything, he encouraged Xiao Dan to do more.
Kids couldn't be spoiled all the time.
She could think of it as a break from her studies.
Xiao Dan was happy to clean, taking it as seriously as if she were completing a task.
"Hey, Old Xu, have you heard? The little groups around our Shanty Town have been getting more and more brazen lately.
"Some people even came around asking me for protection money the other day. They said this neighborhood was under their protection."
"I haven't heard anything. No one's asked me," Xu Feng replied distractedly from the kitchen doorway as he chatted with Huang Sen.
His attention was on the communicator on his wrist.
Huang Sen never let anyone help him cook, which made things rather relaxing.
Beep!
Just then,
his communicator vibrated softly.
Xu Feng opened it and saw a four-character message from Lu Fei.
[Eagle Alliance, two people.]
Xu Feng's expression darkened at once.
As he stared at Lu Fei's message, his expression grew darker still.
So it really was those Eagle Alliance fighters.
Damn it.
I just want to live a quiet life.
Why do these people keep buzzing around me like flies?
I'm barely even a Quasi-Warrior!
What do they want?
Did they come because of those two dead black fighters?
Or was it something else?
Would they threaten his and Xiao Dan's safety?
The more he thought about it, the more uneasy Xu Feng became.
He slowly clenched his fists, an intense irritation and bloodlust rising within him for no apparent reason.
[Thanks.]
Xu Feng sent Lu Fei a reply.
Lu Fei: [Want me to help?]
Seeing her reply warmed Xu Feng's heart.
Though she had a fierce temper, she was actually very reliable.
Xu Feng: [No need. You take care of your own stuff.]
Lu Fei: [Oh (╯▽╰)]
After closing the communicator, Xu Feng's expression returned to normal.
"Sizzle—"
The hot oil in the pan soon began to crackle.
Huang Sen turned off the heat and poured the oil over a bowl of boiled Fierce Armor Beef.
The rich aroma of hot oil and scallions instantly filled the room.
"Ah! I'm so hungry!"
Xiao Dan ran over excitedly, wrapped her arms around Xu Feng from behind, and leaned out to look at the steaming beef.
Xu Feng and Huang Sen smiled at the same time. They quickly set everything out, sat at the table, and dug in.
Watching the father and daughter shovel food into their mouths in perfect unison, Huang Sen couldn't help laughing.
For a cook, nothing felt better than seeing people devour the food he'd made.
"Easy, easy. There's plenty more."
Huang Sen laughed as he savored a little of the mild liquor in his hand and served Xiao Dan more food.
"Thanks, Uncle Huang!" Xiao Dan mumbled with her mouth full.
The father and daughter ate their fill, their faces shiny with grease.
Xiao Dan patted her little belly as she sat by the table, beaming with satisfaction. "Uncle Huang, whoever marries you someday will be so happy."
Pfft! Huang Sen spat out a mouthful of tea.
Xu Feng couldn't help laughing, either. "Haha, that's true, but it doesn't change anything.
"Uncle Huang lives right next door. Whoever marries him won't stop us from mooching meals off him."
"I refuse!" Huang Sen laughed.
After eating their fill, Xiao Dan pulled three wet wipes from her pocket and handed them to Xu Feng and Huang Sen. "Wipe your mouths."
The two men smiled at the cute little bear printed on the wipes Xiao Dan had given them.
"Good girl." Xu Feng ruffled her hair.
"Having a daughter really is the best," Huang Sen said with a sigh.
The three of them joked around for a while.
Then Xu Feng turned to Huang Sen. "Could Xiao Dan stay here a little longer? I need to go out for a bit."
"Oh? Sure, leave her with me. Does she have homework tonight?" Huang Sen asked with a smile.
"I'll take her home to get it." Xu Feng rose with an easy smile.
Soon, Xiao Dan had fetched her homework and was studying over a bowl of Rock Sugar Pear Soup Huang Sen had made. Only then did Xu Feng head out.
"I'll be back soon. Thanks."
He patted Huang Sen on the shoulder.
Huang Sen waved casually. "No problem. Go on."
Bang!
Outside,
after closing the door, Xu Feng's expression turned dark in an instant.
But when he turned around,
his face had returned to normal, and he strolled lazily toward the street corner.
Having grown familiar with the area, Xu Feng disappeared in just a few steps among a cluster of closely packed houses.
Two minutes later,
"Tap, tap, tap—"
Two figures hurried over and stood at the street corner, looking around in confusion. "Fuck, where is he?"
"He came in this way just now. How'd he disappear?"
"Split up and look. We'll contact each other on our communicators in a bit."
"Okay!"
"Whirr—"
As a drone rose into the air, Eric stood beneath the eaves of a house, watching the remote-control screen intently.
He didn't believe their target could have vanished without a trace.
The man had to be nearby.
Maybe he was meeting someone important.
"Once this mission succeeds, I'll get that C-Rank Secret Technique. Then even a High-Rank Warrior won't stand a chance against me!"
Eric muttered to himself.
"Ariana, wait for me. I'll come back and marry you!"
Just then,
someone patted him on the shoulder.
"Ahem, brother, don't you think you're jinxing it a little with that kind of talk?"
Eric turned around in surprise, then froze completely.
Xu Feng smiled faintly and sprang into action, slamming a punch into Eric's face.
Eric's expression hardened as he prepared to fight back.
But suddenly, he felt an overwhelming pressure bearing down on him, and his mind went blank.
The next instant,
bang!
A heavy fist weighing a full ton struck him square in the face.
Eric didn't even have time to react before he dropped like a stone.
Xu Feng glanced around without changing expression, hoisted Eric onto his shoulder, and ducked into a nearby garbage shed.
Then he took control of Eric's drone and left it hovering above the street.
Five minutes later,
another figure hurried over, only to be knocked flat by a punch from a man waiting at the street corner.
Xu Feng dusted off his hands, hoisted both men up, and headed along a side road toward the Wilderness Zone.
"I know how to use a drone too, brother."
In a wooded area three kilometers from Shanty Town,
at the temporary campsite where Xu Feng and Huang Sen went hunting,
Eric and Keith woke up one after the other.
When they saw Xu Feng leaning against a tree nearby, both men looked furious.
They were bound tightly to the tree with thin steel cables and couldn't move.
"Great Xia man, are you crazy? You dare kidnap us in broad daylight?" Eric demanded as soon as he opened his mouth.
Keith stood nearby, glaring coldly at Xu Feng. "Sir, you have no idea who you've crossed! I'm warning you, we are—"
But no matter what the two men said, Xu Feng remained silent.
He held a sausage in one hand and chewed it carefully.
He'd found it on Eric.
A product of the Eagle Alliance.
It looked like it was made from 98% pure meat.
Richly fragrant and pretty tasty.
Xiao Dan (looking "fierce"): "It's Friday! Please vote, please, please~~ Hands up! Hand over all your votes!"
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