"What was that?"
The Bat Devil felt a sharp pain in its back.
It reached behind itself and grabbed.
A rat was clenched in its hand.
Squeak, squeak, squeak!!
Even as the rat struggled, it kept gnawing at the Bat Devil's fingers.
"Even rats are picking on me now."
It squeezed, instantly crushing the rat into pulp.
Then it casually tossed the corpse into its mouth and chewed.
The taste and texture were like the chewy candy humans ate.
Squeak, squeak, squeak!!
Now the Bat Devil realized something was wrong with the sounds behind it.
By the time it turned, a mass of rats was already leaping at it.
They pounced onto the Bat Devil, tearing into it with frenzied bites.
"Where did all these rats come from?!"
The Bat Devil was bewildered.
It had hidden in the little cabin for days without seeing a single rat to quench its thirst.
Now over a hundred rats were attacking it.
For a moment, it panicked.
The rats were weak, and it could crush a handful at once.
But there were so many, and every one attacked wildly, like a member of a suicide squad.
In less than half a minute, rats covered the Bat Devil's body.
Their bites left wounds all over it.
"Damn it, I can't even beat rats anymore."
Realizing it was in trouble, the Bat Devil quickly spread its wings and flew into the air.
It spun rapidly in midair, shaking the rats off its body.
Meanwhile, the rats on the ground kept chasing in the direction it flew.
"Have these rats gone mad? They're not even afraid of me."
The Bat Devil hovered in the air to catch its breath.
It unleashed the same sonic attack it had used against Meng Fan on the rats below.
In an instant, the ground was blasted into a deep crater over ten meters across.
It thought that would be the end of it.
Bzzzz!!!
But just then, a buzzing rose nearby.
The Bat Devil looked up to see a dark cloud of flies heading straight for it.
"What's going on today? Why is all this weird shit happening?!"
The Bat Devil drew another deep breath and unleashed its sonic attack at the swarm.
This attack was considerably weaker.
But it still scattered most of the flies.
Bzzzz!!!
The first swarm, however, had only been a diversion.
The swarm approaching from behind was clearly much larger.
Before the Bat Devil could react,
the dark cloud surrounded it, leaving no way out.
Its agonized screams rang out without pause.
Unable to stay in the air, the Bat Devil hurriedly landed.
But countless rats were still waiting for it on the ground.
There was nowhere safe, either in the sky or on the earth.
Amid its agonized groans, the Bat Devil and the Leech Devil inside it were devoured down to their skeletons.
"It's over."
With the battle finished, Meng Fan slowly walked toward the two skeletons.
The flies in the air and the rats on the ground quickly dispersed.
I'd better collect these two corpses before those two wake up.
He bit his finger and drew a circle around the two skeletons.
The corpses slowly sank into the ground.
Once he had dealt with the corpses, Meng Fan woke Power and Denji.
The moment Denji woke up, he confronted Power. "What the hell did you do to me?!"
"I merely used you as bait. That's all you're worth anyway."
"Damn it, I'll show you what getting sucker-punched feels like!"
Denji swung a fist at Power.
The two began brawling on the spot.
Meng Fan stood aside without stopping them.
It looked like they both needed to blow off some steam.
As long as they didn't use weapons or transform, he would let them be.
Judging by the fight, though, Denji was clearly no match for Power without transforming into Chainsaw Man.
Power landed several punches on him in succession.
Denji only managed to hit Power two or three times, and his blows weren't very strong.
Then Denji's fist struck Power's chest, and he instantly froze.
Power seized the opportunity and sent Denji flying with a punch.
After landing, Denji didn't fight back.
Instead, he lay on the ground, staring at his fist.
He seemed to be savoring the sensation from a moment ago.
"Well? See that? You and I aren't even in the same league," Power taunted, standing beside Denji.
She thought Denji was stunned because her punches were so powerful.
"All right, that's enough. Power, here's your cat."
Meow!!!
At the cat's cry, Power instantly turned around.
"Kitty!!"
Power rushed over excitedly and scooped up the cage.
She gazed lovingly into the cat's eyes.
The cat sweetly licked Power's face.
"You haven't named the cat yet, have you?"
"Cats need names too?"
"Of course. Devils have names, so cats should have names of their own too."
"Let's call it Meng Fan."
"You're doing that on purpose, aren't you?"
"I'm no good at names. Think of one for me."
"How about Yuumi?"
"Fine, let's call it Yuumi Then. Yuumi Then."
"It's Yuumi, without the 'then.'"
"What is it called, then? You're confusing me."
"Yuumi." Meng Fan broke into a cold sweat. -_-||
Only the simplest explanations worked for Power.
Saying more would only confuse her further.
"Denji, time to go." Meng Fan walked over and nudged Denji with his foot.
Only then did Denji snap out of it.
After he was pulled to his feet, the three of them and the cat got into the car.
Just then, the woman lying in the front passenger seat woke up.
Her face filled with terror at the sight of them.
"N-no... don't eat me."
No one in the car paid her any attention.
To prevent her from jumping out, Meng Fan locked all the doors.
And so the woman in the passenger seat spent the entire drive back to the city in terror.
"Get out. We're not taking you straight home."
The door locks clicked open.
The woman quickly pulled open the door and fled.
"Master, where are we going next?"
"How about the arcade?"
"Sure! I've never been to one."
Just as they were discussing going to the arcade,
Meng Fan's phone suddenly rang.
The call was from an unfamiliar number.
But he knew who was calling without even answering.
"Hello, Himeno."
"How did you know it was me?"
"Only a few people know my number. I figured Natsume Fan Zhi must have given it to you."
"That's right, I got your number from Natsume. What's your relationship with him, anyway?"
"Did you call just to ask about my relationship with Natsume Fan Zhi?"
"Of course not. Hurry back to headquarters. Miss Makima wants to see you."
"Got it." Meng Fan hung up and turned to tell the other two, "No arcade today. Miss Makima wants to see us."
"Miss Makima! I haven't seen her in ages. Let's hurry back to headquarters." Denji could barely contain his delight.
Apparently, Makima had already won him over.
They didn't talk much on the drive.
Eventually, the car pulled up outside headquarters.
Himeno was already waiting at the entrance.
"Oh, Meng Fan, where'd you get the new car? Looks like the latest model, too." Himeno stroked the Mercedes-Benz, reluctant to take her hand away.
"I went out to earn a little extra cash. Someone gave me the car."
"There's a side gig that good? Besides, Public Safety Devil Hunters aren't allowed to take jobs whenever they please. If Miss Makima finds out, she'll definitely punish you."
"As long as you don't tell her, no one will know."
"Lend me this car for a few days, and I won't tell Miss Makima."
"No problem." Meng Fan pulled out the car key and tossed it straight to Himeno.
Then they followed Himeno to Makima's office.
Makima was sitting in her chair, resting her cheek on one hand as she waited for them.
"Miss Makima, we're back!" Denji was the first to rush into the office, calling out to catch her attention.
Makima simply smiled faintly and stood. "Thank you for your hard work, Denji."
"It's nothing if I can help you, Miss Makima."
"By the way, how is Aki doing?"
"He's still recovering in the hospital. It looks like he'll be fine."
"While Aki is away, Meng Fan, please lead the team."
"No problem." Meng Fan nodded.
"But I have another very important mission for you."
"A very important mission?"
"Yes, very important. Your mission is to kill the Gun Devil."
Before you continue