Ahead of the Succubus Den

The broadcaster's voice on the television gradually faded into the background, becoming blurred and muffled, eventually drowned out by Don Quixote's voice.

"Good thing I ran fast," he said, holding a can of beer while watching the news on TV. "Otherwise, I feel like I would've been in trouble too. If I'd gotten sick or injured..."

He shook his head and downed the rest of his beer in one gulp.

"But what exactly is going on at your construction site?" Li Wei sat down next to him. "How did it get tangled up with the Russian mafia?"

"The name Leto sounds a bit Italian; I've always felt he had ties to Sicily," Don Quixote thought for a moment and set down his beer. "He's been running gambling rings at that site and supplying drugs, so I assume that's the reason."

"The Russian mafia and the Italian mafia are having a conflict?" Li Wei asked. "I didn't expect that Leto had that kind of background."

Don Quixote looked at Li Wei and let out a snort through his nose, seemingly expressing some strange amusement. "Watch less of The Godfather. The mafia nowadays isn't like it used to be. Everyone has a legitimate front, at least in New York."

Li Wei nodded, and just as he was about to head upstairs, he suddenly remembered something.

"You're going on a date with Susan tomorrow, right?" Li Wei said. "Have you figured out what you're going to do?"

When Don Quixote heard this, he immediately felt the cold beer in his mouth lose its flavor.

"God," he groaned, rubbing his face. "I'd rather get beaten up right now—forget it, I don't want that either. I'd rather the world just end tomorrow."

Li Wei smiled and said nothing.

The next day, Li Wei received some good news in the dean of students' office.

"Recently, all the public schools in Brooklyn received a donation from a foundation. There will be scholarship aid for students with excellent character and academic performance, along with letters of recommendation for college," the dean said, crossing his hands as he looked at Li Wei. "Your AP Calculus teacher and Mrs. Mosley from AP Macroeconomics have a very deep impression of you, and you joined the starting lineup of the football team as soon as you arrived, right?"

Li Wei nodded.

"I see... a minority, no bad habits like tattoos, excellent character and academics, athletic talent," the dean looked at Li Wei with increasing satisfaction. "And I heard your parents are both deceased, and you're living with an uncle who doesn't have a steady job?"

Li Wei nodded again.

"Very good—oh, no, I'm very sorry to hear that," the dean coughed twice. "In any case, we've already submitted your name. If everything goes smoothly, you should be able to receive this scholarship."

"How much money is it?" Li Wei automatically ignored the dean's slip of the tongue. "How much will I get?"

"About 30,000 US dollars after taxes as a one-time payment," the dean said. "But it's a long process. It requires the approval of us teachers and coaches, then we submit the list to the foundation, the foundation conducts a review, and there will be interviews for the students. So, wait patiently. I'm just informing you, Mr. Li Wei."

Hearing that he could get a scholarship without doing anything, Li Wei was overjoyed.

"Thank you, Dean Jamal," Li Wei bowed to the dean. "Thank you for adding my name."

"It's a win-win, Mr. Li Wei," Dean Jamal smiled and shrugged. "As long as you can study hard and get into a good university, it's something worth celebrating for our Franklin K. Lane High School."

"However, you may need to cooperate with the foundation for some publicity later on, as well as participate in some public projects at art galleries and in the community," he said. "Please understand, but I can guarantee these things will only take up about 40 hours a year."

Li Wei nodded in understanding. If there were no requirements at all, he would have been suspicious; now that there were conditions, he felt this scholarship program was actually legitimate.

After school ended at noon, Li Wei didn't go to the gym to work out with Travis, choosing instead to go to the Upper East Side to continue his part-time job.

Compared to his football teammates who were lifting weights while on performance enhancers, the growth speed Li Wei gained through the system's stat points was far superior to just lifting in the gym. He only went to the gym to keep track of his strength levels so he wouldn't accidentally hurt someone by underestimating his own power.

In the Upper East Side, the entrance to Dolores Boutique remained deserted.

Previously, Li Wei would have worried about the boutique's business on behalf of Mrs. Dolores. If it kept losing money and eventually closed down, wouldn't he lose his chance to be a "salary thief"?

However, after seeing the news yesterday, combined with the strange statue Li Wei had moved and Mrs. Dolores's odd behavior, it was hard for Li Wei not to connect the dots.

Recalling Mrs. Dolores's previous hints and warnings, the doubts in Li Wei's heart grew even deeper.

When looking for his work partner, he suddenly realized that Emma seemed to have taken the day off and wasn't there; he had no idea where she had gone.

Mrs. Dolores wasn't in the shop either. Li Wei and another sales clerk guarded the priceless store, staring blankly for the entire afternoon.

At the same time, Li Wei discovered something—the statue he had moved last time was gone.

The uneventful part-time shift ended. By the time Li Wei returned home, Don Quixote had already left. His clothes were scattered across the bed and all over the floor; it seemed he had spent a long time agonizing over what to wear.

Li Wei wandered around listlessly, just about to go out and roam to see if he could unlock new locations or trigger new quests, when his phone suddenly rang.

"Hello?" Li Wei answered the phone. "Daphne?"

"Hi, it's me," Daphne said. "I'm calling to ask if you have any plans tonight? Britney is throwing a party. Tomorrow is the weekend, do you want to come and hang out?"

Li Wei scanned the empty room and hesitated. "I'm free right now. Send me the address."

Li Wei heard a small cheer from the other end of the line.

"I'll send you the address then," Daphne said triumphantly. "Britney's parents went on a trip, so her place is empty for the whole weekend."

After the call ended, Daphne sent the address shortly after.

Li Wei looked at it carefully; it was a middle-class neighborhood in Queens, not far from Bay Ridge.

However, just as he was stepping out the door, another call came in.

"Uh... Samantha?" Li Wei asked. "Is something the matter?"

"It's like this, Britney's parents aren't home, and we got our hands on some good stuff," Samantha said. "Do you want to come to the party? It's basically just our classmates, no one from the streets."

"Uh..." Li Wei thought about it seriously for a moment and finally agreed. "Okay, I'll be there in a bit."

"Great, I see Daphne in the living room," Samantha said. "When you come over later, use the back door. Don't attract her attention."

After taking the subway for over half an hour and transferring to a bus, Li Wei finally arrived at Britney's house as the sky turned a dusky yellow.

By now, quite a few motorcycles and cars were parked in front of the small detached villa. Some young men and women around his age were dancing, drinking, and chatting around the house.

A dialogue box suddenly popped up in front of Li Wei:

[You have arrived at the "Succubus Den"]

[Succubi are very dangerous; a very small number of succubi carry long-term debuffs]

[Detected that you possess "Knight: Bronze Body (Transcendental)", which provides immunity to the debuffs carried by succubi]

[Detected class: Hero Knight, damage against humanoid monsters increased by 35%]