Chapter 154
The elevator doors opened.
He stepped out from the Zuo Jian and slowly entered.
At the same time, he raised his hand and readjusted his face.
Soon, Norman Smith's face appeared on his head again.
The other person approached after the owner of that face left the building.
Therefore, he needs to let the other party know that all their expectations have failed.
"Call..."
Some of the slender men let out a long sigh of relief, then slowly crawled through the ventilation ducts.
"Black Rat."
That's what everyone who knows him calls him.
A large part of the reason is related to his Originium Arts concealment, and another part is due to his short, dark and thin appearance.
But it was precisely because of this that he was noticed by the gang and was able to leave behind his petty thieving days.
Now, he is ordered by his boss to infiltrate this building, which is controlled by another gang, to gather some... necessary intelligence.
The Earl Warwick died, and his two adopted daughters were taken in by a powerful figure in the underworld.
But that's not the problem.
The problem is... Warwick's territory.
His adopted daughter theoretically has the right to inherit his mantle.
Earl have hereditary rights.
But... they were adopted.
Does that mean they intend to try and use the adopted daughters to swallow Warwick's inheritance?
If that were all, it would be fine.
But... Black Rat also knew that the gangs that could survive in Londinium these days, apart from the Glasgow Gang that suddenly appeared at a meeting, basically all had their own Earl supporting them.
This move by the gang... in a sense reflects the supporters behind them.
And their backers...
It's that Iron Duke.
Although rumors suggest that even if he offered support, it was merely by having them occasionally gather intelligence on the city of Londinium, and that his personal ties with the gang were not deep; it was more like a transaction than true support.
Moreover, he himself seems to have long harbored resentment towards the gangs, and might even personally deal with them in the future.
But... now the situation has changed.
Was their adoption of the Earl of Warwick's adopted daughters their own idea, or the Iron Duke's?
In short, his purpose in coming here was to investigate this intelligence.
This is extremely important to the dukes behind all of Londinium.
Clatter
The Black Rat crawled out of the ventilation duct, then turned its head... In an instant, its eyes widened in shock.
Right next to me is an elevator that's in operation.
And the number above happened to stop right on his floor.
"Phew... really."
"The smell of Rat always makes me a little uncomfortable."
The elevator doors opened, Zuo Jian stepped out, looking somewhat indifferently at the Black Rat frozen in place in front of him.
"Who gave you permission to enter my territory?"
Zuo Jian squinted, feeling an almost instinctive displeasure and disgust towards this intruder.
(Regarding the recent sporadic slice-of-life writing... well, this is definitely my fault QAQ. Since I started writing mostly slice-of-life pieces and then transitioned to this style, I sometimes subconsciously make the same mistakes I used to make. I'm really sorry! [bows] I'll start gradually getting the plot back on track once I realize this!)
Chapter 112, Brief Nature
"Hello... you are... Norman Smith, right?"
However, unexpectedly, the Black Rat showed a hint of joy after seeing who it was.
"You... recognize me?"
Zuo Jian narrowed his eyes, watching the thin man approaching him.
"It's me, Black Rat from Crown Street. We used to 'work' together all the time, didn't we? I heard you left your old territory and joined this gang. I heard you even rose to the second-in-command!"
"So it's all true! Norman, I knew you were hiding your true abilities."
He's lying.
The man before me, his heart pounding faster and faster beneath his thin frame, was sweating profusely.
However... the other person doesn't seem to be faking their knowledge of me.
"I thought you weren't doing well in the new gang, which is why I haven't come looking for you. Who knew you'd actually—"
-"
What exactly are you trying to say?
￡liu?=⒉^ⅵ^{}?>!~+)(*^ba√2^??>!~<Q>skirt=
Zuo Jian narrowed his eyes slightly, seemingly emanating a hint of chill.
Norman Smith seemed to recall such a person, but... it was too vague, perhaps due to the passage of time or because he simply didn't know them well.
"I only have one question for you: are you sure you know me well?"
"Of course! Are you kidding me, Norman? We did so many big deals together in the slums back in the day... Oh! Do you remember that weird customer who wanted to send an Infected kid to the Underground Arena to fight those ravenous beasts?!"
"The little brat we caught back then was a girl. You complained that Infected were too dirty. Hey, so what if Infected? As long as you don't get scratched, you won't get infected. It was such a waste to send such a pretty little girl to feed those beasts. Afterwards, you kept suggesting I get checked out, didn't you? In the end, I'm perfectly fine..."
"Are you done talking?"
Zuo Jian opened his eyes, his merciless pupils now as calm as a lake.
"I... Norman, I'm really just trying to make a living, you know that. For the sake of the many deals we did together back then..."
"The 'business' you mentioned, I vaguely remember some of it."
He spoke slightly, and his eyes seemed to regain some clarity.
Just now, he was also searching for Norman Smith's memories.
Unexpectedly, deep within this man's memory lay such a fascinating past.
Really...
It's somewhat nauseating.
"Don't do this, Norman! Okay, I understand how you feel! I'll tell you! I'll tell you who sent me, and what I'm investigating, just spare my life, okay?! Please! I promise I'll never say I know you again..."
The Black Rat slowly took two steps back and spoke with a panicked expression.
However, Zuo Jian simply maintained his initial pace and walked towards him at the same unhurried speed, as if... he couldn't hear what he was saying at all.
"* Victoria's swear words*... Well, since that's how it is..."
The small, thin body froze for a moment, then burst forth with the speed of a trapped beast, charging towards the man in front of it.
In his memory, Norman had always been stronger than him, but... that was only in the past!
Over the years, he didn't believe that Norman, now in second place, could still have the same sharp reflexes as before, while he himself had been honing his skills in those chaotic places.
Even if it doesn't cause any damage, as long as I can force him to use his mind to block me with just one attack, he can use that momentary opportunity to escape using Originium Arts!
In the instant the Black Rat lunged, a complete retreat plan flashed through his mind.
Without a doubt, barring any unforeseen circumstances, his chances of escape are almost 100%...
Pfft!
The short dagger pierced Zuo Jian's eye socket in an instant. The expected block did not occur at all. The entire process was as smooth as if he were facing an ordinary person.
"What...?"
The Black Rat froze on the spot for a moment.
Norman Smith... when did he become such a piece of trash?!
The entire blade of the dagger pierced directly into his brain through his eye socket, and a large amount of blood began to gush out... He was doomed.
He died just like that, completely unprepared...?
Wrong!!!!
The Black Rat looked up and its eyes widened suddenly.
At this moment, Zuo Jian, whose eye had been completely destroyed by the dagger and whose Zuo Jian had been directly blasted, stood quietly without any of the convulsions that a dead person should have.
His single eye, though intact, retained its original indifferent expression.
It's like... it's completely separate from the body of the other eyeball that was pierced.
Tick-tock...
A drop of blood fell on the tip of his shoe, pulling the Black Rat back to reality.
Realizing what had happened, he immediately drew his dagger and retreated a few steps.
Really...
Norman Smith, despite having the dagger pulled out, stood there as if nothing had happened, even though blood was gushing from one of his pupils.
But the sensation just now clearly indicated a direct hit...
"You seem to be very skilled at stealth and assassination?"
Zuo Jian slowly opened his Zuo Jian, then touched his injured eye socket with his hand.
"... What... did you do?"
The Black Rat swallowed hard, then looked at its arm with a hint of fear.
On a patch of exposed skin... there were a few specks of blood splattered from the man's spurt.
At that moment, those bloodstains felt like burning marks from lit cigarette butts on his skin.
Damn it.
He got infected.
Although he didn't know what kind of attack he had been hit by... his years of experience surviving in dangerous situations told him that if he tried to run away now, he would probably die.
"I suddenly realized that some things shouldn't be wasted like that."
Zuo Jian lowered his Zuo Jian, letting a large amount of blood spray from his eye sockets.
Immediately afterwards, from the ever-growing pool of blood on the ground, several four-legged, scarlet creatures slowly crawled out.
Its disgusting appearance is
It resembled a furless Perro, and the head with its densely packed eyes on its neck made him feel extremely disgusted.
"What... do you want to do?"
"Black Rat... right? Let these Hound see just how good your prized stealth really is."
A cruel smile appeared on Zuo Jian's lips, followed by a chilling sound.
"In five minutes, if you still have about 40% of your body tissue intact, I'll let you live."
"If not..."
He stood up, and then his head twisted into a bizarre shape.
"Your prized concealment will now belong to me, how about that? Is that fair?"