Friendship

Huo Zhaixing's face visibly turned livid.

But he offered no retort. Resting one hand on the car window, he suddenly curled it into a claw. Ji Tan felt an invisible hand seize his left wrist and yank him toward the Maybach.

"If you run once, I'll chase you once; if you run a hundred times, I'll chase you a hundred times!"

This time, President Huo dispensed with the chatter and windup, reciting all four of his signature lines in one go, at a speed rivaling Xie Zhi's Prohibition when he jumped off the building.

As the last word fell, Ji Tan felt the pulling force surge, sending a fully grown man like him flying.

His body hurtled straight toward the black, steel-framed car door like a shell fired from a cannon. The roller-coaster speed terrified Ji Tan. If he didn't slow down, he would surely splatter like a raw egg hitting the ground.

Ji Tan closed his eyes, but the expected pain never came. The instant he hit the door, an arm clad in a silk shirt gently wrapped across his chest, serving as a perfectly placed "roller-coaster safety bar" that stopped him just in time.

His feet landed firmly on the ground, without a scratch. "Phew-" Ji Tan let out a long breath, then opened his eyes to find Huo Zhaixing gripping his wrist. He immediately made the noise of someone stepping in dog shit. "Ew-dog shit!"

Huo Zhaixing smugly held the wrist warmed by the "Afanti coat" and cast a sidelong glance at Xie Zhi, who had followed to serve as a human cushion. He sneered. "So you really can only prohibit one thing at a time. Prohibition is an ability you can only use at A rank. Even if you want to show off in front of Ji Tan, know your limits. Don't exhaust your favor power and end up so worn out you can't even run."

Ji Tan frowned, quickly recalling how Xie Zhi had used his abilities along the way. He had prohibited opening the door after the thirty-second speed limit ended, and before jumping off the building, he had lifted the prohibition on the door...

And just now, he had prohibited getting out of the car without setting a time limit!

Showing off could get people killed!

Ji Tan had no time to think further. He punched Huo Zhaixing straight in the nose. "Let go!"

As a corporate drone with no fighting skills, attacking the "nasal bone most prone to fractures" was the only move he had learned online. But this ultimate punch of civilized society had no effect whatsoever on President Huo's face.

Huo Zhaixing's nose seemed to be made of stone, neither crooked nor bleeding. He smiled unconcernedly and spoke in the deep voice unique to domineering CEOs. "Baby, I'm a C-rank domineering CEO. Your punches barely tickle. But I still have to teach you a lesson, so you know who your master is. Drive!"

That iron-clamp claw still held Ji Tan's wrist. Once the car started moving, he would be dragged along like an unfortunate victim caught on a vehicle in a traffic accident, suffering severe injuries from scraping against the road.

At the same time, several bodyguards sprang from the shadows and slashed at Xie Zhi with gleaming weapons.

Xie Zhi sighed helplessly. "Be good, grandson. Stop messing around." Then he snapped his fingers.

"Speeding is prohibited here. The speed limit is one mile per hour." He paused, raised an eyebrow at Ji Tan, then leisurely added a duration. "For ten minutes."

As his words fell, all the bodyguards began moving in slow motion, while the car cruelly dragging Ji Tan sped along at one mile per hour. Ji Tan helplessly walked along beside it. He, too, really wanted to say, "Stop messing around."

His proposal had fallen to the ground when he was yanked away earlier. Otherwise, he could have given President Huo another whack with it now.

Huo Zhaixing raised his other hand and made another grabbing motion through the air. An invisible hand seized Xie Zhi by the neck, lifting him straight up and squeezing hard. Seeing no resistance from Xie Zhi, he sneered. "So you're only lower B rank after all. Prohibiting two things at once is already your limit, isn't it?"

The bodyguards, still slowly approaching, doggedly held their machetes aloft. Once they reached Xie Zhi, suspended in midair, they could chop him to pieces. Just as a blade was about to cut into his leg, he snapped his fingers again. "The use of machetes is prohibited here." All the blades clattered to the ground.

Huo Zhaixing visibly panicked for a moment. Then he noticed that Xie Zhi was still under his control, with veins even bulging on his neck from suffocation, and immediately understood. "Heh, prohibiting three things at once is your limit, then!"

Now veins bulged not only on Xie Zhi's neck but on his forehead too. He had wanted to see what other moves this man had up his sleeve, only to discover that his follow-up move was running his mouth. He opened his left hand, clenched his right into a fist, and struck it against his left palm to seal the verdict. A solemn, commanding voice split the sky. "Nullified!"

Ji Tan felt the invisible shackle around his wrist suddenly vanish, leaving only Huo Zhaixing's own grip as an adult human man.

The force around Xie Zhi's neck vanished too. Like a bolt of lightning, Xie Zhi appeared beside the car, seized Huo Zhaixing's index finger, and snapped it with a crack.

"Didn't your grandfather tell you what a B-rank dictator means?" With one arm hooked around Ji Tan, Xie Zhi pulled him away and drove a vicious punch into Huo Zhaixing's nose. "It means that in front of me, you're nothing."

Ji Tan heard only President Huo's piglike squeal before his vision went black and he suddenly couldn't see anything. His mind wandered uncontrollably, automatically beginning to analyze what Boss Xie had said:

Perhaps using A-rank abilities came with restrictions, but Xie Zhi still had B-rank abilities, C-rank abilities... And dictator-what was a dictator? Wasn't he a dictatorial officer? His head was such a mess...

The more he thought, the more confused he became. Before losing consciousness, Ji Tan faintly heard Xie Zhi cursing:

"I only used Prohibition because I didn't want to hurt ordinary people, you fucking idiot..."

When Ji Tan woke again, he found himself in a moving car. The leather seat beneath him was neither too firm nor too soft, and the ride was smooth and quiet. It had to be a luxury car.

Don't tell me this is the Huo family's wide-body Maybach?

Ji Tan jolted in fright and instantly sat bolt upright. Looking around, he discovered that Xie Zhi was driving and that they were the only two people in the car. The paper bag containing his proposal and documents lay intact in his arms, and he relaxed again.

The car's clock showed eight in the evening. It probably hadn't been more than an hour since he passed out.

"Where's Huo Zhaixing?" Remembering that scream and the smell of blood spreading through the air, Ji Tan slowly turned toward Xie Zhi, who was focused on driving. The steering wheel bore the Maybach emblem. "Did you... kill him?" And then steal the Huo family's car.

Xie Zhi glanced at him. "What are you thinking? His grandfather came and took him away. His family gave me this car as compensation."

"Oh." Ji Tan rubbed his bruised wrist, baring his teeth in pain as he muttered, "Why did you get the compensation? I'm the one who got hurt."

"Fine, it's yours. You drive." Xie Zhi was generous enough.

"No, no, I don't have a City A driver's license."

"That's fine. You don't need a license to drive in City A."

"How is that okay?" Ji Tan immediately grew nervous, watching the rearview mirror and looking around. In a place where driving required no license test, how many killers must there be on the roads?

Xie Zhi said, "It's fine. The dictatorial officer follows the Code of Hammurabi. A tooth for a tooth, an eye for an eye. If you run someone over and kill them, the driver gets beaten to death."

Ji Tan said, "..." Now he wanted to beat the dictatorial officer to death.

Xie Zhi let out a series of muffled chuckles.

After the joke, Ji Tan relaxed completely and slumped limply in his seat, watching the towering buildings and streams of traffic outside. This city was far more extravagant than he had imagined.

Skyscrapers were everywhere, each building a different shape, as though entries from successive World Architectural Art and Design Competitions had been transplanted here. They vied for splendor, each magnificent.

Ji Tan finally felt that he really was in another world. This truly was the City A that existed in every novel's world. That miraculous City A where everyone was filthy rich, but there were no electronic payments, only cash tossed around; where not a single joke could make the young master laugh for years; where lawyers and doctors were always on call. And he, Ji Tan, was a rare species in City A-a poor person.

"Where are we going?" Ji Tan asked.

"The Central District is still a mess. I can't take you there," Xie Zhi explained softly. His thin lips pressed together, and he seemed a little embarrassed. "That Huo brat won't give up easily. It isn't safe for you to live alone. Let's go to my place in Beichen District for now."

Along the way, he also gave Ji Tan a quick introduction: City A had five districts-east, south, west, north, and central-called East Lord District, Namo District, Xili District, Beichen District, and Central District respectively. They were currently in the northern district-Beichen District.

Ji Tan thought for a moment, then said firmly, "I want to go take a look in the western district. The original owner had a sickly older brother at home." Since he had taken over someone else's body, he had an obligation to shoulder the original owner's responsibilities. Even a boy as frail as the original owner could survive in Xili District. Surely Director Ji, with his skills and brains, would have no problem.

Xie Zhi had already helped him a great deal. After his older brother died, their friendship had gradually faded. He couldn't keep troubling Xie Zhi just because they came from the same place. Besides, Xie Zhi had only just taken office and had plenty of thorny matters to deal with, or he wouldn't have said that the Central District was still a mess.

Xie Zhi remained silent.

Ji Tan said, "Do you think my brother might have transmigrated too?"

Xie Zhi said, "..."

Ji Tan thought about it, then sighed again. "He probably wouldn't have come here. When my brother died, Qiang didn't even know how to write novels yet."

Xie Zhi turned to look at him, his eyes complicated.

"I hope my brother transmigrated into a rich family, so he wouldn't have to work and write novels for money until he worked himself to death," Ji Tan muttered, his head lowered. "If I'd known that computer was bought with the manuscript payment he earned by staying up two nights straight, I wouldn't have accepted it."

Perhaps time could heal everything. When his brother first died, thinking about him hurt as though his heart were being torn apart. Now he could speak of it calmly.

"That had nothing to do with you." Xie Zhi stopped at a red light, tentatively reached out, and rubbed the fluffy head that looked a little wilted. "Ji Sinan stayed up two nights that time because he dragged me into playing games for a whole week and only remembered to write when the deadline came."

Ji Tan said, "..."

Seeing his stunned expression, Xie Zhi couldn't resist rubbing his head again.

The light turned green, and he stepped on the accelerator, setting off again. Interlacing light and shadow swept across the black car as two strangers to this world traveled through this lavish, dangerous city.

The car remained quiet for a long while before Xie Zhi slowly exhaled and said calmly, "I'll take you back to the western district."

Then he took a folded sheet of printer paper from his coat pocket and handed it to Ji Tan. "Take a look at this."

Ji Tan unfolded the paper, which had been folded four times. It was a photocopy of a loan-shark contract.

[Loan amount: one million yuan exactly. Ninety percent disbursed, one hundred and thirty percent repayable. Monthly repayment: one hundred thousand yuan, in thirteen installments. Borrower: Ji Sinan]