A Sweet Trap for Them

That afternoon, Chen Xing walked down the street holding Na'er's hand.

He had just taken Na'er for a ride in the White-Class Mecha. It had worked remarkably well.

It was no combat Mecha, but handling it had felt effortless.

As a reward, Tang Ziran had given him half a day of paid leave to take Na'er out.

As they walked, Chen Xing suddenly remembered what had happened yesterday.

Those thugs.

They were probably lying in wait for him and Na'er somewhere, weren't they?

The thought brought a faint smile to his lips.

They thought they were the hunters.

Little did they know that Chen Xing was the real hunter.

Na'er walked beside him, her little steps light and quick.

She had no idea what was about to happen.

Chen Xing hadn't told her.

When they reached the mouth of an alley, Chen Xing slowed.

Out of the corner of his eye, he had spotted several familiar figures by a wall across the street.

The bald man and his four lackeys.

All five were there, waiting for him and Na'er, just as he'd expected.

Good. With them together, he wouldn't have to hunt them down one by one.

Without giving anything away, Chen Xing drew Na'er closer.

Na'er looked up at him, puzzled.

He offered no explanation, only said softly,

"Na'er, stay close to me."

Na'er nodded obediently and gripped the hem of his shirt.

Then Chen Xing turned straight into the alley.

He had chosen this route deliberately.

It was a dead end.

No one came through here. It was the perfect place to get things done.

He had barely entered the alley when footsteps sounded behind him.

The bald man and his men came in after them, cutting off their escape.

"Well, well, kid. Fancy running into you."

The bald man approached with a grin.

"You ran pretty fast yesterday. Why aren't you running now?"

Chen Xing pulled Na'er back half a step, until they were nearly against the wall.

A look of panic appeared on his face, just convincing enough.

"What... what do you want?"

The bald man took another step forward.

"What do we want?"

"You ruined my plans and made me look bad in front of my bosses. What do you think I want?"

"Fear" flashed through Chen Xing's eyes.

The bald man smiled at the sight of it.

"But if you've got any sense, you'll tell me where you got that grappling hook yesterday."

"Come on. You've got a Soul Tool, don't you?"

"Hand it over, and I'll make your death quick."

Chen Xing gritted his teeth.

"That grappling hook... I found it... There's no Storage Soul Tool..."

Seeing how fiercely Chen Xing guarded his secret, the bald man glanced at his lackeys and burst out laughing.

"Found it? Do I look three years old to you?"

"That hook was too finely made not to be worth a fortune. Where would a little brat like you find one?"

A skinny lackey edged forward behind him, his eyes sweeping over Chen Xing.

"Boss, the kid's definitely got a Storage Ring on him. Why don't we just strip him and take it?"

The bald man waved him off.

"What's the rush? He's not going anywhere."

He turned to look at Na'er behind Chen Xing.

"No harm in telling you, kid. Someone in Eastsea City specifically asked for this little girl."

"Silver hair and purple eyes. You don't see that every day. The bosses want her alive."

A sly glint entered the bald man's eyes.

"But before we hand her over..."

The other thugs joined in his laughter, their grins ugly.

"Yeah, boss. Let's get on with it..."

Na'er didn't understand what they meant.

But she could sense the malice in their eyes.

They had looked at her the same way yesterday.

Her little face went deathly pale. Only Chen Xing's presence kept her from crying; she bit down hard on her lip.

Chen Xing noticed and pulled her farther behind him.

The skinny thug, however, was running out of patience.

"Boss, why waste words on this loser? Let's take him out first!"

He stepped forward twice and raised his club, but a glare from the bald man stopped him.

"What's the rush? You think a kid with Zero Soul Power can get away?"

The skinny thug stopped, though he kept pressing his boss.

"Quit dragging this out, boss. Kill the brat and take his Storage Ring. Then we can do whatever we want with the little girl."

The bald man thought for a couple of seconds, then nodded and waved to the others.

"Fine. Take him out first. Make it quick."

The thugs had been itching for a fight. They lunged forward eagerly.

At the sight of them coming, something seemed to explode inside Na'er's head.

The next instant, she burst out from behind Chen Xing and spread her arms in front of him. A silver glint flashed in her eyes.

"I won't let you touch Brother Chen Xing!"

The thugs froze. The bald man threw his head back and laughed.

"Well, look at you!"

He took another step forward and looked down at Na'er.

"Little girl, don't you know you've picked the wrong side?"

"This brat's about to die. Stick with him and you'll die too."

"Come with me instead. I'll show you what pleasure really is."

He reached out to grab her.

But in the next instant—

Bang!

An explosive crack rang out.

The bald man's hand still hung in the air. The smile hadn't even left his face.

He felt something punch through his forehead.

Something hot ran down his cheek, carrying the smell of rust.

Before he could wonder what it was, his thoughts grew hazy.

Then his consciousness vanished, and he toppled straight backward.

Thud. His body slammed into the ground.

The alley fell silent.

All four thugs stood rooted to the spot.

Their minds went blank.

Their boss...

Had fallen?

They looked at Chen Xing.

An unfamiliar weapon was gripped in his hand.

A wisp of smoke still rose from its narrow black barrel.

They had no idea what it was, but instinctive fear welled up in them.

Then they saw Chen Xing's eyes.

There was no trace of the fear he'd shown moments ago.

He looked like a hunter eyeing his prey.

Chen Xing regarded the four of them, a faint smile on his lips.

"Looks like it's about time."