“Can’t you just not take that thing out with you…?”
Xu Wanyue desperately wanted to cover her face.
“Don’t you think it’s cool?” Lin Cheng looked down at the transformation belt fastened around his waist, his face lighting up with excitement. All along the way through the neighborhood, people kept turning their heads to stare at Lin Cheng, and Xu Wanyue wished she could find a hole in the ground to crawl into.
“Only kids watch Kamen Rider!”
“Denying the things you loved as a child doesn’t prove you’ve grown up.” Lin Cheng replied proudly.
The two had just finished dinner at home and stepped out. Xu Wanyue drove toward the villa district in West City. According to the intelligence Litchi had received, the man who drugged and abducted women lived there.
The target’s name was Qin Huan. He was twenty-three years old and the young master of the folk esper organization [Viper] in West City.
Folk esper organizations were all rolling in money. His father was publicly the president of some company, making Qin Huan a textbook rich second-generation heir. Xu Wanyue couldn’t help asking, “He clearly has money… so why do something like this…?”
“Thrill-seeking,” Lin Cheng said, gazing at the night scenery beyond the window. “When desires can be satisfied too easily, the threshold for those desires keeps rising. Greed and brutality swell bit by bit. It’s no surprise they’d do anything for a rush.”
“Then why… not report it to the Alliance?”
“We cooperate with the Alliance, so of course we have a duty to handle incidents on our turf. That’s part of our responsibilities. Otherwise, do you think the Alliance would let us grow unchecked for so long?” Lin Cheng shrugged.
Xu Wanyue nodded thoughtfully. But she glanced at Lin Cheng. “I… I can only shoot a gun.”
“If you can shoot, that’s enough.”
Xu Wanyue’s marksmanship wasn’t bad—in fact, her style was uniquely her own. She fired with her eyes closed, going purely by feel. That was the wonder of her luck; it ensured the angle of her raised arm hit the target dead-on every time. She had taken some basic Alliance hand-to-hand training, but that was the extent of it… just the basics.
The thought of what might happen next made Xu Wanyue’s heart pound. But when she checked Lin Cheng in the rearview mirror, his expression remained utterly calm. Seeing through her tension, he said softly, “First time’s the hardest. You get used to most things once you’re familiar with them.”
Xu Wanyue fell silent for a long moment before murmuring a quiet “Mm.”
They reached the villa at nine o’clock that night.
It was a standalone house on the outskirts, its iron gate locked tight. Several cars were already parked outside. Xu Wanyue and Lin Cheng stepped out together, with Lin Cheng still toying with the flip phone in his hand—a toy, really.
A barbecue grill stood on the villa’s lawn, flanked by a champagne tower. Lin Cheng caught the faint scent of grilling meat. They were still at the gate when a servant approached to ask if Lin Cheng had an invitation.
Before Xu Wanyue could respond, Lin Cheng slung an arm around her waist. “Don’t you know my connection to Young Master Qin? Beat it.”
The servant hesitated, then opened the gate.
Xu Wanyue stood there, utterly baffled. Lin Cheng kept his arm casually around her waist as they entered the villa. On the lawn, women in swimsuits manned the grill while others splashed and played in the pool. Their arrival drew every eye in the place.
Xu Wanyue scanned the crowd for Qin Huan’s face. She spotted him quickly, poolside. He wore shorts and nothing else, while a woman crawled at his feet, lapping at his calf like Little Dog. A chain dangled from Qin Huan’s hand, its collar fastened around the woman’s neck. She wore a skimpy string bikini. Whip marks crawled across her pale skin, and a limp tail hung behind her, stained with blood.
Her eyes held no devout submission—only terror. Tear tracks dried on her cheeks, her body shaking without cease. Bloodied arms pressed to the ground, splinters of toothpicks wedged between her fingers, her skin marred by puncture wounds from nails.
Blood roared in Xu Wanyue’s head all at once. Her own body began to tremble uncontrollably.
She drew her revolver.
The instant Xu Wanyue drew her revolver, everyone’s expressions shifted. Some backed away; others advanced. Qin Huan rose from the poolside, his face showing no fear. He walked slowly toward her.
“Who are you?”
“Fruit Shop.” Xu Wanyue’s voice shook as her finger hovered on the trigger.
Qin Huan tilted his head, thinking it over until her purpose clicked. He glanced down at the woman trembling on the ground. “You got here too quick. I wasn’t done playing yet.”
Anger numbed Xu Wanyue’s cheeks. Her breaths came in sharp gasps. “You… you beast!”
“Just messing around. Now that you’re here, take her back. Grab a mental-system ability user to wipe her memory, and I’ll toss in two hundred thousand as compensation.”
Qin Huan spoke offhandedly, as if it were nothing.
Xu Wanyue couldn’t comprehend it.
She couldn’t fathom his brazenness, his utter lack of restraint or remorse—even with her gun trained on him.
Lin Cheng explained calmly from her side. “Because to most folk espers, ordinary people are less than nothing. In his world, once the fun’s over, erase the memory, pay a little hush money, and it’s business as usual. No reason for us to press charges. Folk espers band together. Without clashing interests, they keep the peace and ignore what regular folks want.”
Lin Cheng’s words rang out clearly. Qin Huan laughed from a short distance away. “This guy’s got it right. Newbie from Fruit Shop, huh? Pointing guns at people? Real rude.”
Lin Cheng stood right beside Xu Wanyue. She turned to him, eyes brimming with fury and confusion. He went on. “And if you step back even further, by the rules, rape, imprisonment, and intentional harm aren’t capital crimes. Even if the Alliance hauls him in themselves, it’s a few years behind bars and a fat payout. The girl’s memory gets scrubbed clean—like it never happened. He pays for his punishment; she gets her compensation. That’s the Alliance’s brand of justice.”
Lin Cheng’s voice cut through the air. Xu Wanyue stared at him in disbelief. But in the next breath, he gently took her wrist, lining up the sights on Qin Huan’s head. His finger pressed lightly over hers.
“But that’s the Alliance’s justice. Not Fruit Shop’s.”
Xu Wanyue squeezed the trigger. The bullet streaked out in a flash. Litchi had loaded her with explosive bullets—headshots that dropped nearly every esper below A-Rank on the spot.
Regrettably, explosive bullets had their limits.
A standard revolver couldn’t make them detonate on launch like Lin Cheng’s custom handgun. They had to hit something first. And any B-Rank or higher physical-system esper with a touch of speed could dodge them easily.
The bullet flew wide, missing Qin Huan after a quick feint. It slammed into the villa wall instead, blasting a gaping hole.
Xu Wanyue struggled to breathe.
After that shot, the six or seven men inside shifted into high alert, powers activating. Qin Huan’s face darkened as he locked eyes on Lin Cheng and Xu Wanyue.
Lin Cheng suddenly lowered her wrist with one hand, meeting the man’s gaze steadily. “That was your warning shot. The next one goes right in your skull.”
Qin Huan’s expression soured, but he said nothing. He unclipped the chain and eyed the woman, frozen in terror on the ground. “Crawl over there. Go with them.”
Fruit Shop made him wary.
The woman crawled to Xu Wanyue and Lin Cheng on hands and knees. Lin Cheng shrugged off his jacket and draped it over her shoulders. She still trembled faintly. From his ear clip, he produced a sedative pill and slipped it into her mouth. She passed out almost immediately.
Xu Wanyue and Lin Cheng stood shoulder to shoulder. Across from them, Qin Huan’s face twisted in displeasure. “Fruit Shop acting all high and mighty now?”
“You’ve got it wrong,” Lin Cheng said abruptly. “I just didn’t want you grabbing her as a shield later. Too much hassle. Xu Wanyue—fire.”
Xu Wanyue was primed. The moment Lin Cheng had lowered her wrist earlier, she’d caught his drift. She snapped her arm up and fired—but missed once more. Lin Cheng spoke up. “Short-range instant teleport, two-meter radius. Limited uses. Eyes closed, shoot. Push your luck to the max.”
Xu Wanyue complied without hesitation. Eyes shut, she fired three rounds in quick succession. When she opened them, Qin Huan lay sprawled on the ground. The explosive bullet had shredded his thigh into a gory pulp.
Nausea hit Xu Wanyue hard, but a dark thrill bubbled up inside her too.
Qin Huan couldn’t predict where she’d aim—because she hadn’t. But her blind fire caught him right after his teleport. The blast ripped a scream from him. A man rushed to his side at once, extending a hand aglow with white light.
Healing power. Flesh began knitting back together on Qin Huan.
“What’re you waiting for? Put another in him.” Lin Cheng gave her shoulder a light pat. Xu Wanyue refocused and fired again. An earthen wall erupted from the ground, splintering under the explosive round but draining its force. Her final shot splashed harmlessly against a water ball hurled by a man behind the barrier.
She was out of ammo. Litchi had given her six rounds.
Their foes weren’t sitting ducks. Powers flared to life across the group. Lin Cheng stepped forward, tapping his ear clip as he handed Xu Wanyue his handgun.
“When I tangle with them, just pick your shots. No need to worry about me.”
“But aren’t you—”
“Ah, isn’t this the toy phone from Lemon?”
Lin Cheng flipped open the toy phone he’d fiddled with the whole drive. Xu Wanyue’s eyes went wide, her mind blanking for a second. But the phone actually spoke.
“Standing by.”
Lin Cheng slotted it into his belt.
“Complete!”
