Whatever He Said Came True

Shrek City was even livelier at night than during the day, with neon signs illuminating the streets as brightly as daylight.

"Eat slowly. No one's going to steal it from you."

Chen An rested his cheek on one hand and looked at the silver-haired girl beside him, whose cheeks were stuffed like a hamster's. He smiled helplessly.

This was the sixteenth bowl. He had finally experienced the Silver Dragon King's appetite firsthand.

His current situation was rather delicate. After entering the city, his [Luck] talent had automatically risen to Level 2 with the passage of time, and he occasionally found some dropped Federal Credits, but it was nowhere near enough to cover his expenses.

Where could they go next?

Without a proper false identity, it seemed they could only wander from place to place and sleep on cardboard in alleyways.

It was not as though he had never done that before. Clean cardboard was actually quite comfortable to sleep on.

He did not mind, but what about Na'er?

Chen An secretly glanced at Na'er as she ate. He deliberately leaned close to her and lightly touched his chest, where the scales were giving off a constant, gentle warmth because of his proximity to the girl.

Thinking back on the past month spent searching for her, the efficiency of his nighttime meditation cultivation seemed far inferior to simply sitting beside her like this for an entire day.

Just as he was lost in thought, a warm current suddenly spread through his entire body.

"Hm? My Soul Power increased?"

Chen An moved his body a little, then quietly brought up the panel to confirm it—Level 12. It really had risen.

If every level came this easily from now on, there would be no need to rack his brains over cultivation. He could just eat delicacies and pile up progress.

Out of boredom, Chen An turned his attention to the customers who had just arrived nearby.

Three young people in Shrek uniforms sat down, seemingly discussing something.

A: "Do you think the Evil Soul Masters have been making more and more moves lately?"

B: "Definitely. Last month, my teacher and I ran into an Evil Soul Master dumping things in a civilian district. A later inspection found that they were flammable materials."

A: "What do you think they're trying to do? They can't just be causing destruction at random, can they?"

Chen An tilted his head toward the three of them and listened in.

C: "Who knows? They've always been like this over the years, like a bunch of stinking flies. You can't drive them away, and you can't kill them all."

The Holy Spirit Cult's Evil Soul Masters were also an obstacle that could threaten his growth. Their higher-ups were connected to the Abyss.

Chen An hoped he would not run into that bunch of lunatics this early on.

After Na'er finished another two bowls, she rubbed her stomach, her face blooming with a blissful, silly smile.

Looking at her like that, Chen An could not help muttering softly, "It's like raising a kid."

"Hm? What was that?" Na'er's sensitive ears caught the sound, and she looked at Chen An, who wore a strange expression.

"Nothing. Are you done eating? Where should we go next?"

"Half full... Where should we go...?"

Na'er raised her head and pursed her lips in thought. Her silver hair shimmered under the neon lights, then her eyes suddenly lit up.

"Right! Let's go back to that Ferris wheel! I haven't had enough of it yet!"

Chen An's heart skipped a beat. The Ferris wheel would be cleared out at night, and besides...

He touched the pitifully few coins jingling in his pocket. After paying the bill, he was afraid he would not even have money for breakfast tomorrow.

But if he refused her outright, this little ancestor would probably throw another tantrum.

"The Ferris wheel... good idea."

Chen An kept a straight face, but he was already figuring out how to ask the restaurant whether he could wash dishes to pay off his debt later.

"Check, please."

With a dejected expression, he slowly took out his small stack of Federal Credits and placed it on the table.

Before the server came over, he idly counted the empty plates and bowls stacked on the table, trying to numb his anxiety over the bill with precise numbers.

As he counted, Chen An froze.

The bowls... did not seem to add up?

He remembered Na'er finishing eighteen bowls. Adding his own made nineteen. But there were... twenty on the table?

Chen An abruptly looked up and met Na'er's purple eyes, which flickered with cunning.

The little girl quickly lowered her head and pretended to lick her spoon intently, but she could not hide that guilty look. It completely gave her away.

Seeing that she had been found out, Na'er lowered her head and pouted as she confessed.

"It was too delicious. While you were spacing out, I couldn't help myself... so I ordered another bowl... Hehe."

Chen An looked at her meaningfully without saying anything, then placed one more Federal Credit on the table.

"Next time, just tell me."

After leaving the restaurant, Chen An walked ahead in silence while Na'er kept cautiously peeking at him from behind.

Noticing that his reaction differed from earlier in the day, Na'er grew uneasy and instinctively felt that she had gone too far.

What if he stopped taking me out to play if I don't act cute? And there's still so much delicious food!

Na'er grabbed his wrist and coquettishly pleaded like a child, "I'm sorry, Brother Chen An. I was hungry for too long... I really couldn't help it."

Just as Chen An was about to check the changes in the Roulette section, Na'er grabbed his hand and pulled it down.

He stared blankly at the girl acting cute in front of him, while the corner of his eye examined the Roulette.

—Roulette refreshed. Event pool.

Yes: 40%. No: 60%.

Chen An had no draws available, so he had no way of knowing what would appear if this judgment succeeded.

"Uh, I'm not blaming you. It's just that I'll have to go hungry next. Come on, let's go to the Ferris wheel."

It was too late, and the amusement park had already closed for the night, so Chen An brought Na'er to an unguarded back entrance.

The night wind passed through the old amusement rides, making soft, mournful whistling sounds.

Without the daytime clamor, the amusement park displayed an eerie tranquility beneath the moonlight.

Stepping onto a platform formed from fish scales, the two of them lightly vaulted over the wall.

After landing, Chen An waved his hand and dismissed the Scale Armor.

The pale-red scales flowed back into his sleeve like living creatures, once more adhering to his skin.

"Hehe."

The moment she landed, Na'er could not help letting out a soft cry, her eyes sparkling in the darkness.

"Don't run around."

Chen An reminded her in a low voice, taking her hand as they felt their way forward along the shadows.

The empty carousel, the motionless bumper cars, and the tightly shut gates of the haunted house looked like silent silhouettes in the night.

This deserted place instead stirred up Na'er's curiosity. She touched this for a while, then poked that.

"Chen An, your Martial Soul is so amazing."

Na'er swung his hand, suddenly seeming to remember something as she looked up and asked.

"Those shiny scales—how do they keep changing? Can I see them again?"

"Secret."

Chen An brushed her off casually, though his mind was not entirely on their conversation.

"My Martial Soul is a white spear. Do you want to see it?"

Chen An was not in the mood. "You should be thinking about whether we can find money tomorrow."

"Tch. You don't give me any face at all."

Na'er pouted, but did not press further. Her attention was soon drawn to the towering Ferris wheel ahead.

The Ferris wheel stood silently in the night. Just as they were about to reach its base, a suppressed whisper carrying a strange, sticky quality drifted over on the wind.

Chen An suddenly stopped and raised a hand to signal Na'er to be quiet.

The voices were not coming from the Ferris wheel, but from behind a more desolate patch of shrubs off to their side, seemingly near the amusement park's outer wall.

His heart tightened at once, and he immediately recalled the Shrek students' discussion of Evil Soul Masters in the restaurant.

"Move faster... This place... is suitable... If we waste too much time, we'll be discovered..."

One voice was hoarse, as though phlegm were caught in its throat.

"...Hmph, those people... are checking too thoroughly... Only a place like this... is temporarily safe..."

The other voice was colder, carrying undisguised malice.

Chen An held his breath and carefully parted the waist-high weeds before him. By the moonlight, he caught sight of a scene that made his pupils contract—

Two figures in gray-black robes and deathly pale masks were squatting beneath the wall, digging a shallow pit.

One of them held a dark-red jar, its mouth sealed with black paper covered in strange inscriptions.

The other took out handfuls of dark-red powder that emitted a fishy stench and scattered them around the jar.

They were Evil Soul Masters.