Honestly, Fang Ran felt that the past four days had been more exciting than the twenty years he had spent alive.
Three days ago, he had experienced an "earthquake," been buried by a station, buried by a skyscraper, and finally become a wanted criminal accused of stealing national historical artifacts.
Two days ago, he had gone skydiving, fallen into an unfamiliar city, and crashed down from the roof of a skyscraper.
One day ago, he had blown his way into the Female Locker Room, then been dragged into a Night Battle, truly experienced life and death and killing, and finally even tried womenswear for the first time in his life.
But Fang Ran felt that none of those things had shocked him as much as what had happened today.
Because everything from the past few days had gone beyond his worldview, Fang Ran had automatically categorized it all under "rebuilding my worldview."
But what had happened today was something that genuinely existed within Fang Ran's understanding of the world!
Deals, gunfights, darkness, money—
Holy crap, the things from movies really happened to me?
Fang Ran's mouth twitched as he looked at the suitcase filled with US Dollars before him. It was money he had never seen in his life, and money he would never earn in his life.
"Ugh."
Fang Ran helplessly slumped his shoulders and sighed, then picked up the suitcase full of US Dollars.
Five hundred thousand US Dollars was surprisingly not very heavy.
"Oh? Not bad. At least we got a little something out of this."
Ling had also seen the money in the suitcase and spoke without much surprise. Then, seeing Fang Ran pick up the other suitcase as well, she asked with interest:
"Don't you want to open it and see what's inside?"
Fang Ran rolled his eyes. "No. I can guess with my heel what these two groups were trading. It definitely isn't anything decent, and it definitely isn't something an ordinary person like me should see."
"Heh." Ling chuckled softly. She did not press the matter, and after using telekinesis to erase everyone's short-term memories, she floated toward the exit and said:
"Let's go. Now that we have a little money, there are some things I need."
"Uh..."
Then Ling saw Fang Ran staring at her with an incredulous look.
"Why are you looking at me like that?"
Holding a suitcase in each hand, Fang Ran spread his hands helplessly.
"Hey, Your Majesty, come on. This isn't my money, is it?"
Ling turned around and stared at him as though he were absurd. He... he did not want it?
This guy whose monthly living expenses were barely over a thousand yuan?
Then, within the data space, Ling, in her gothic lolita form, suddenly became interested. She felt this was a chance to understand how this guy's mind worked.
So Ling deliberately spoke in an extremely seductive tone:
"Are you sure you don't want it? This is five hundred thousand US Dollars. That's over three million yuan. According to your so-called dream of earning five thousand a month, it's more money than you could make in your entire life."
Fang Ran stared at her with drooping shoulders and dead-fish eyes, then replied speechlessly:
"So?"
"So?"
Ling smiled softly, like a little demon tempting a human.
"So, all you need to do is take the money. No one will know. You could even sell their 'goods' afterward."
"So much money, just lying there for free. Aren't you tempted?"
Fang Ran's mouth twitched as he looked at the Summoned Beast spouting what sounded like nonsense to him.
Good lord, were all the people in Night Battles this lawless and wild?
He rolled his eyes.
"This is stolen property. Keeping it for myself is against the law."
With that, Fang Ran turned his back on Ling and walked outside.
Ling did not understand that when Fang Ran saw five hundred thousand US Dollars packed in a suitcase, he had not felt even the slightest bit of greed.
It was not because Fang Ran was some kind of saint. It was simply that, based on the values his parents had taught him since childhood, the thought of secretly keeping that much money had never even occurred to him.
When he saw all that money, aside from thinking, Holy crap, that's a lot of money! all he could do was sigh helplessly.
Damn it, I'll have to take a detour later to report it and hand it over.
Ling frowned as she watched his back. The teasing vanished from her voice, replaced by a trace of coldness and seriousness.
"Are you serious?"
"They genuinely wanted to kill you just now. You defeated them, so by rights, all this stuff counts as your spoils. But you're going to turn it in?"
Ling slowly floated behind him, looking down at his back.
"In Night Battles, that's simply how things work."
Fang Ran stopped walking. After a second of silence, he suddenly spoke softly.
"You're right, but I'm just an ordinary person. I can't do that."
Then he slowly walked outside. Seeming slightly distracted, he spoke softly, as though he were speaking to Ling, and also to himself.
"I'm different from you. Ever since I was little, my mom told me that people should behave properly and not do bad things."
"This really is a huge amount of money. Maybe, just like you said, I'll never earn this much in my entire life."
Ling looked at his inexplicably distant back. It seemed exactly like the back she had seen that night, when he had let go and fallen from the sky to save that girl.
"So this money doesn't fit within my understanding of things. So I can't, and I don't want to, hide it away, even if you erase memories and even if no one knows."
"Conscience, decency, obeying the law... maybe it's those things. Think whatever you want."
Then Ling heard him suddenly sigh. Fang Ran, who was always cowardly, always unreliable, always complaining—
He softly let out a breath.
"I'm still just an ordinary person. If a few dozen or a hundred yuan fell on the ground, I'd be thrilled to pick it up and think I'd gotten incredibly lucky that day."
"If a few hundred yuan fell on the ground, I'd hesitate and feel uneasy. If I couldn't return it, I might keep it myself."
At this point, Ling looked at his back and seemed to chuckle softly.
"But if it were several thousand yuan, or more, I'd think about how anxious the person who lost so much money must be. Maybe it was money they needed to see a doctor, or money they had worked hard to earn."
"That's how most ordinary people think. You can mock it as the behavior of petty commoners, but I think at least half of all people would do the same."
"Among the other half, aside from those so poor that they desperately needed this windfall, the rest would be greedy scoundrels and bastards."
"So..."
He raised his right hand and tapped the suitcase containing more than three million yuan, speaking softly.
"I'm just an ordinary person. My way of thinking isn't like yours, shaped by the cruelty of Night Battles."
Ling looked at him silently for a moment, then scoffed.
"How naive. Do you really think anyone would do something so stupid?"
"They would!"
To Ling's surprise, he answered with absolute certainty, then said firmly:
"They definitely would. Even if you could erase the risk of being found out, they still would."
"When it comes to right and wrong, the choice an ordinary person makes comes from the conscience and justice they carry inside."
He fell silent for a moment, touching his chest. After that silence, he softly spoke as though trying to convince himself.
"I've always believed that there are definitely more good people than bad in this society."
Ling looked at him. After confirming that he had spoken those words sincerely, she clicked her tongue, seemingly recalling some very unpleasant memories.
She suddenly did not want to talk to this Fang Ran anymore. She was more accustomed to the Fang Ran who was foolish and cowardly but obedient.
So Ling sneered and looked at the bulge in his pocket.
"Hoho~ You'd be thrilled over a few dozen or a hundred, and you'd end up keeping a few hundred. So is that why you stuffed the loose cash those two men were carrying into your own pocket just now?"
"Uh..."
Ling saw his back stiffen, then return to the cowardly Fang Ran she knew.
He turned around. It was the same miserable face Ling usually saw, and he awkwardly mumbled:
"Uh, well, about that... when you stand up for justice, you have to collect a little compensation for wear and tear, right? A hero has to eat too."
Ling mercilessly exposed Fang Ran's act of looting the personal valuables from the two bosses, then sneered and cut straight to the point.
"After all that talk, isn't it just because you're a coward? You don't dare take big money, so you sneakily take small money!"
Ling's contemptuous tone stabbed into Fang Ran's chest like a knife. Fang Ran felt deeply wounded.
Ling snorted and floated outside. Fang Ran hurriedly followed after her like a lackey carrying bags, jogging as his face burned hot.
Holy crap, I think I just said some unbelievably cringey things.
Aaaaaah!
Why did I say something like that again?!
I want to die!
The next day.
At a Police Station in the suburbs, Officer Xiao Zhou came in for the morning shift with a yawn. He took out his keys and had just opened the duty room door when he suddenly felt a chill.
Then he saw two suitcases tied together smash through the window and get thrown inside.
Xiao Zhou immediately became alert. Gripping the gun at his waist, he cautiously approached them.
Then he found a note on top of the two suitcases that read:
Port, cargo area, third row of containers. They won't wake up until tonight.
Also, you're welcome. My name is Partner of Justice.
Xiao Zhou was puzzled. What did that mean? When he opened the two suitcases, his breathing stopped for a second.
One suitcase was filled with neatly stacked US Dollars, while the other suitcase—
Was filled with contraband!
Only then did Xiao Zhou snap out of it and instantly understand the meaning of the note.
Then he hurriedly called to notify his superior! His superior was also shocked and ordered him to guard the scene immediately while he sent people over at once!
Afterward, Xiao Zhou stared blankly at the two suitcases. Turning things over to the authorities was normal enough.
But five hundred thousand US Dollars... someone really did not want it and actually turned it in?
A rush of hot blood surged through Xiao Zhou's heart. The passion he had once felt when attending the police academy ignited again.
There really were people like this in society!
Partner of Justice.
If that person had been standing before Xiao Zhou, he definitely would have shouted something at him!
"This is a Police Station! Not the Public Security Bureau! And this is the Household Registration Division, where we handle household registrations!!!!"
Xiao Zhou truly wanted to know.
Which idiot impersonating a fool thought reporting a crime by tying stolen money together and smashing it through the Household Registration Division office window was a good idea?!
Meanwhile, in the last row of a university classroom, a certain coward was drooling as he caught up on sleep after the previous night's overly exciting nightlife.
I wrote desperately until midnight, but there were still no new bookmarks, not even a new book review. My heart hurts so much I can barely breathe.
Before you continue