Repaying Debts

After Mista somewhat sheepishly pulled out his loaded revolver at Li Qing's urging, Mr. Fabio immediately agreed to their request to borrow the car and the gun.

Mista was just a small-time thug yesterday, was somewhat resistant to armed robbery, especially since he was now pointing a gun at an elderly man.

But Li Qing remained unmoved.

For Li Qing, who once ran rampant in Los Santos, borrowing a car from a stranger in the "game" was as natural as eating and drinking.

So, in order to get the pistol and car keys, Li Qing led the way into Fabio's house.

The room was spacious, but also very quiet.

The fireplace was clean and empty of firewood, the floor and furniture were covered with a thin layer of ash, and the cold air inside always carried the smell of decaying wood, as if it had not been cleaned or maintained for a long time.

"You really live here?"

A hint of suspicion flashed in Li Qing's eyes. He could sense a large amount of dust swirling in the air. "This room seems to have been unventilated for a long time. It doesn't look like someone lives here permanently."

"How!"

Fabio muttered irritably:

"I usually work in the city and only occasionally go back to my old house in the countryside to stay. Is there a problem with that?"

He had a terrible temper; even when someone pointed a gun at him, he couldn't help but want to lash out at the talkative Li Qing.

"If you're going to rob me, just rob me! Why all this nonsense?!"

"That's an unbelievable statement."

Li Qing said with an innocent look:

"We've already said, we're borrowing, not stealing."

"We'll repay you once all the trouble is over."

Once the trouble is over, the Passion Organization will probably be theirs for the taking.

There's definitely enough money to compensate for the car, but I don't know if this old man dares to go to the new mafia boss to collect the debt.

"Pooh!"

Fabio's face turned purple from holding back his anger, then he grumbled as he pulled out his car keys and slammed them heavily on the table.

"The car keys are here, and the pistol is in that cabinet over there."

"Take your things and get out of here!"

"Thank you then."

While keeping a wary eye on Fabio's every move, Li Qing carefully pocketed the pistol and car keys.

Throughout the entire process, Fabio remained completely calm and composed.

He just stared intently at the group of burglars in front of him, as if he wanted to kill these unruly thugs with the anger and resentment in his eyes.

In this way, Li Qing successfully borrowed the car and the gun.

Although he still had some doubts, since Fabio had not made any threatening moves, he was unwilling to create any further complications.

"Goodbye, Mr. Fabio."

Li Qing waved enthusiastically to Fabio, then led his companions into the car they had just borrowed.

"Roll!"

Fabio looked terrible, as if he had just eaten a bowl of fermented stinky tofu cooked with durian.

Finally, under his lustful gaze, Li Qing and the others drove away.

And just then...

Fabio's anger and frustration vanished instantly.

Instead, a sinister grin crept across his lips.

"Hehe. I've already told you, Fabio's things aren't so easy to take."

"If you borrow something from me, then you'd better expect to pay it back with interest!"

He calmly raised his hand, smiled, and started counting the time while looking at his watch:

"One, two, three seven, eight, fifteen, sixteen."

"Twenty-eight, twenty-nine, thirty—it's time to repay the loan."

Driving the borrowed car, Li Qing and the others embarked on their journey again.

The five-seater sedan was a bit cramped for the seven of them, but compared to the previous "walking bus," having a car now made them feel more than ten times more comfortable.

"How lucky!"

"If it weren't for this uncle, we probably would have had to walk for seven or eight hours through this valley."

Before the car had gone very far, Fugo couldn't help but utter this exclamation.

His remark resonated with everyone.

It was indeed a lucky thing to meet a living person in this desolate wilderness who could lend them their car.

"But."

Giorno frowned slightly:

"Was it really just luck? I always felt there was something wrong with that old man's identity."

"You might think about it. Without a car, it would take seven or eight hours to walk out of this valley."

"This is true for us, and it is also true for Sam Sand."

"So, when he decisively detonated the car to attack us, didn't he think about how he would get away after killing us?"

Upon hearing this, everyone's gazes wavered slightly.

"You mean"

Fugo quickly snapped out of his elation at meeting his benefactor:

"Sem Sand is not acting alone."

"He likely has a companion waiting in the distance to meet him, ready to drive him away from the valley once he completes his mission."

"And this companion... is that old man?"

"Very likely."

Li Qing nodded in agreement as he drove:

"In that case, the house might not be his, and the long-accumulated dust inside would have a perfect explanation."

"However, despite some suspicion, he doesn't seem to have any intention of harming us."

He shrugged, his tone somewhat dismissive:

"Look, we've already driven this car away smoothly, haven't we?"

"We've been driving away for almost half a minute now, and that old man is still standing there without making a move—we're about a mile away from him now, so even if he really is an enemy, it won't affect anything."

"Too."

Fugo nodded, feeling more relaxed.

"Even if he really is an enemy, seeing that we took care of Sam Sand without a scratch, he'd probably be too scared to make a move, right?"

"Otherwise, he wouldn't have obediently handed over the car and the gun to us."

They'd borrowed a car and gone far away; at this point, whether the old man was an enemy or not was irrelevant.

It's good to avoid a pointless battle; their main task now is to save time and attack the main base directly.

Everyone thinks that way.

They drove further and further away, gradually leaving the villa in the woods completely behind.

However, at this moment

"Give me back my money, give me back my money, give me back my money, give me back my money!"

"Give me back my money, give me back my money, give me back my money, give me back my money!"

Suddenly, a strange mechanical sound rang in everyone's ears.

The sound was as if it had been synthesized using some electronic software and then played through an old, distorted electric speaker—mechanical, cold, unpleasant, and devoid of emotion.

"Give me back my money, give me back my money, give me back my money, give me back my money!"

"Give me back my money, give me back my money, give me back my money, give me back my money!"

The noise pollution was constantly ringing in everyone's ears.

Then, in the next second, Li Qing saw something strange in the rearview mirror:

"Substitute!"

"There's a stunt double chasing after us!"

It was a strange and eerie humanoid stand-in.

Its limbs and torso look not much different from humans, with bulging muscles, a robust physique, and clean skin that is almost human-like. Its shoulders and chest are even covered with large patches of blue tattoos.

But this guy's head wasn't a human brain; it was a bulky, old-fashioned computer monitor. (Old-fashioned to Li Qing)

The glowing computer screen is its face, and the two large "$" symbols displayed on the screen are its eyes.

"Give me back my money, give me back my money, give me back my money, give me back my money!"

"Give me back my money, give me back my money, give me back my money, give me back my money!"

The strange "computer man" caught up with them.

Its pace quickened, and it gradually even overtook the speeding car.

Noise pollution is getting worse and worse, and it's like a nightmare that you can never give up chasing.

No matter how frantically Li Qing accelerated, it always followed perfectly behind:

"Give me back the money—"

The content of the message also changed from time to time:

"Paying back debts is a matter of course."

"If you can't pay back the money, you'll pay with your life."