Lin Feng rolled up his trouser legs and sleeves, set down the heavy sack, and jumped a few times on the spot to prove he was unharmed.
Seeing Lin Feng like this, Sheele finally relaxed.
"Then what's that red stuff on your trouser legs?"
The restaurant staff and Sheele asked almost in unison.
"It's a long story. When I got there, those thugs had picked a fight with the imperial police. The two sides started fighting, and blood splashed all over me..."
After putting some effort into making up an explanation, Lin Feng finally reassured everyone.
"Oh, right. Have a look at this."
As he spoke, Lin Feng remembered there were still customers in the dining room and carried the sack beside him into the kitchen.
He shut the door and untied the cord. An incomparably brilliant golden light poured out of the sack.
"These are... gold coins! There are so many! Lin Feng, where did you get these? Don't tell me..."
"This is what they owed us in compensation. Don't worry. The police have already wiped them out. No one will come looking for trouble after this."
Everyone stared wide-eyed at the enormous quantity of gold coins and treasure. They had never seen so much money in their lives.
Before leaving the Gathered Heroes Group's compound, Lin Feng had spent some time searching for the gang's savings and finally found a gold-storage room.
Such was the empire's chaotic class system. Wealth obtained simply through violence, arson, murder, and plunder far exceeded the savings from a lifetime of diligent work.
"If nobody objects, let me decide how we use this money. Half will go into a relief fund for the restaurant, to buy ingredients and make free lunches for the poor on the streets. We'll skip dinner, though, so we don't get more drunks causing trouble."
"The other half will be split equally among everyone. If the relief work goes well, business here will definitely keep improving. Some of this money is their ill-gotten gains, after all, so I think providing relief is necessary."
No one objected to Lin Feng's words. Although they were reluctant to accept the Gathered Heroes Group's dirty money, it was also true that the gang had taken protection money from the restaurant.
"Lin Feng... I really don't know how to thank you. Just a few of these gold coins would equal a whole month's profit for the restaurant..."
"It's nothing. If you want to thank me, how about treating me to a meal?"
"I'll go make it right now!"
Behind him, Sheele sprang to her feet and went looking for an apron as if it were a knee-jerk reflex.
"No, no, no! Anything's fine as long as you're not the one cooking!"
"How could you say that? That's so mean..."
Sheele's aggrieved expression made their coworkers laugh nonstop.
Night deepened, and the restaurant's customers gradually dwindled. A little tired after the battle, Lin Feng returned to his room early to rest.
Looking at the waxing half-moon outside his window, Lin Feng gradually came to feel that his life would change beyond recognition from now on.
The moment he began eliminating evildoers proved that he would inevitably draw closer to this path in the future.
How could he, back then, have thought about what lay ahead?
The sun rose in the east, casting a golden ray of dawn across the pale horizon as the world gradually brightened from its gloom.
But Lin Feng had already headed into the wilderness before daybreak to gather ingredients for the day.
It had a long, rounded body and foreclaws as sharp as blades, while its groundhog-like head bore a savage, vicious face.
This was a level-two Danger Beast-the Earth-Splitting Dragon.
Its red eyes stared straight at the boy before it, eager to swallow him immediately and feast.
But Lin Feng showed not the slightest fear.
Since awakening the Alucard Template System's skill, [Level Zero: River of Death], last month,
this was already the fifth Earth-Splitting Dragon Lin Feng had encountered.
[Level Zero: River of Death-!]
At Lin Feng's command, a cloud of blood mist suddenly erupted out of thin air.
Several vicious-looking men appeared within the mist. They were the Gathered Heroes Group's machine gunners, whom Lin Feng had killed not long ago.
"Open fire-"
"Ratatatatat--!!!"
The gunner servants could receive Lin Feng's orders almost directly through brain waves.
Three undead machine gunners hefted heavy machine guns and fired continuously at the Earth-Splitting Dragon.
As spent casings kept flying, countless bullets sank into the Earth-Splitting Dragon's skin, sending blood streaming out.
Yet the Earth-Splitting Dragon seemed to have strength to spare. It swung its sharp foreclaws forward with all its might-
With a single blow, it sent two undead gunners who failed to dodge flying.
Of course, the undead had no consciousness of their own and would not concern themselves with whether their companions lived or died.
The remaining undead gunner continued firing into the Earth-Splitting Dragon's internal organs.
Perhaps a bullet had struck a vital spot; the Earth-Splitting Dragon's face suddenly twisted in pain, and it lost the strength to resist, crashing to the ground.
Bleeding heavily from its abdomen, it could only lie there with its eyes closed, quietly awaiting death.
[Alucard Template System] [Host: Lin Feng] [Experience: 4.07%] [Skill points: 0] [Skill: Vampire Physique (passive) lv: 1]
"To think a level-two Danger Beast like this, which I normally kill instantly without any effort, would take three machine guns to bring down..."
After this battle, Lin Feng gained some more experience points.
Even without taking part in combat himself, having the undead fight also accumulated and honed his combat experience.
Raising his right arm, Lin Feng felt as though it was a little lighter than before, but since the boost was not obvious, he did not know whether he was imagining it.
"Slice-!"
Turning his hands into blades, Lin Feng cut the enormous saber-toothed tiger into chunks of meat.
Although the Danger Beast meat he had brought back from his daily hunts was already enough,
meat would not spoil even if stored for a long time in winter,
so the manager had given Lin Feng special permission to hunt that morning, giving him another chance to train himself.
After removing the head and the parts covered in scales, Lin Feng selected the cuts that looked smoothest and most tender, loaded them onto a wooden cart, and headed back toward the restaurant.
"I didn't expect this one to be so fat... The crate won't close-"
To get some exercise out of it, Lin Feng pulled the cart at a jog, even increasing his pace continuously along the way.
Ogre, the captain of the guard, surveyed the almost deserted street.
This was the street outside the compound of the criminal organization known as the Gathered Heroes Group, and it was also the best-maintained area in the slums under Ogre's jurisdiction.
The criminal force that had previously controlled this place had chosen to expand into the empire's south. Only recently had Big Gold Chain, the leader of the Gathered Heroes Group, taken a liking to it.
He had never expected it to become a wasteland so quickly.
The Gathered Heroes Group's low-ranking guard, who had always greeted Ogre cordially at the entrance, was gone.
Occasionally, two or three pedestrians passed along the street, but no matter whom Ogre asked about the Gathered Heroes Group, they all said, "I don't know."