Yin Mo really held grudges.
Back then, when he couldn't beat up the rich brat and his gang who stole his car, he quietly investigated them thoroughly afterward.
The rich brat was named Li Xin, and his father was Li Hongda, an S-grade chainsaw Spiritual Entity who also possessed S-grade Electric Ability.
Before the apocalypse, Li Hongda was a construction foreman whose business was just getting off the ground. But his personal skills were extremely strong—he could do any job on the construction crew and was proficient with all kinds of tools. When the apocalypse struck, Li Hongda was leading a group of workers at a construction site. He watched helplessly as several workers were bitten to death by Aberrant Beasts. In a surge of fury and desperation, a chainsaw suddenly appeared in his hand—no plug needed, no batteries required, ready for his use at will.
Later, through trial and error, Li Hongda discovered that he could not only summon this chainsaw but also release Electric Ability independently.
The powerful Li Hongda quickly rallied a group of followers and made significant contributions during the founding of Tancheng Base, earning the rank of General.
Li Xin awakened his Spiritual Entity in the same period as his father, but he only got an A-grade hammer Spiritual Entity with no attached Ability.
According to expert analysis and speculation, only those who had reached the age of sixteen when the apocalypse first began could awaken Spiritual Entities, and the awakening was random at that time. However, if this group later bore offspring, the Spiritual Entity might be hereditary.
Regardless of whether that theory held, Li Hongda was a lustful man. Since many of the laws and order from before the apocalypse had been destroyed, once life stabilized, Li Hongda took seven or eight concubines, and his children grew in number year by year, making Li Xin—his eldest son with only A-grade—suddenly far less precious.
Before the apocalypse, Li Xin had been the only child of the family—whatever he wanted, his parents would buy for him. After the apocalypse, his powerful S-grade father no longer gave him everything he asked for. Li Xin could only throw his weight around outside by borrowing his father's reputation. After all, he was still his biological son, and as long as Li Xin didn't cause too much trouble, Li Hongda was willing to cover for him.
The father and son's personal reputations weren't good within the base, but the entire base—especially the lower and middle-class residents—needed Li Hongda's S-grade combat power to protect them from Aberrant Beast attacks. Anyone unfortunate enough to be bullied had to swallow their anger rather than actually use the base laws meant to restrain ordinary citizens to demand justice from the upper echelons. Even if they tried, it was useless—the upper echelons wouldn't expel an S-grade combat powerhouse over ordinary people.
.
"Li Hongda has always lived with his group of women. Li Xin asked him for Credits to buy a separate villa—it's this one."
As Yin Mo's voice faded, the black Phantom also came to a stop outside a villa in the inner city.
Qibao: "Go take a look first, see if he's home."
Yin Mo got out of the car, transformed into a snake body as thick as a bucket, raised his upper half, and his massive serpent head rose above the villa's outer wall.
It was nearly nine in the morning. Li Xin was still sleeping in in the bedroom, but his new girlfriend of one month had already finished breakfast. She sat in the living room on the first floor, smiling as she entertained the four teammates who had come to find Li Xin—rich brat though he was, Li Xin wasn't useless. Every month he went out on missions with his teammates, sometimes hunting Aberrant Beasts, sometimes scavenging supplies in the Waste City.
The moment Yin Mo spotted his black Cullinan parked in the courtyard, Li Xin's girlfriend, who was facing the floor-to-ceiling window, also saw the enormous serpent head suddenly appearing above the wall. The woman, who had a non-combat D-grade Spiritual Entity and hadn't left the base in years, faced what appeared to be a giant Aberrant Beast snake with no preparation whatsoever and immediately let out a frantic scream that nearly pierced everyone's eardrums.
Yin Mo was annoyed and shot a water arrow at the floor-to-ceiling window.
Two of Li Xin's teammates reacted in time—one condensed an A-grade golden shield outside the window, successfully blocking the water arrow, while the other sent his sniper rifle Spiritual Entity flying out the gate, aiming at the black snake.
They were both A-grade. Yin Mo could withstand a few attacks of this level of Ability, but there was no need—he promptly transformed back into human form.
The courtyard wall blocked the teammates' line of sight, so they couldn't see their target. The sniper withdrew his Ability bullet.
The girlfriend went upstairs to wake Li Xin, while Li Xin's four teammates rushed out first and opened the gate.
The electric gate slowly slid open to both sides. The four men first saw a brand-new Phantom luxury car, and only then did they see Yin Mo standing by the car door.
Based on Yin Mo's appearance alone, the four might not have remembered a minor "car theft" incident from four or five years ago, but the Phantom—priced similarly to the Cullinan—jogged their memories.
"It's you. What, here to deliver another car to our Brother Xin?" The teammate holding the sniper rifle relaxed and gave a contemptuous smirk.
Yin Mo curled the corner of his mouth, walked around to the passenger side, held an umbrella with one hand, and opened the car door for Qibao with the other.
After breakfast, Qibao changed into a light blue dress and swapped her hair ribbon for one of the same color, making her skin look even fairer and more supple. She had never encountered the concept of "ultraviolet rays" on the Cultivation Continent, but Yin Mo understood. As the sun climbed higher, he took out a parasol of his own accord.
It was indeed cooler under the shade of the umbrella. With a contented expression, Qibao led him around to the other side of the Phantom.
The four men inside the gate stared with wide eyes. Perhaps not all of them were as lecherous as the Li father and son, but after seven or eight years of fighting and killing in the apocalypse, suddenly seeing a stunning beauty with the refined air of a pre-apocalypse heiress—a beauty that even a thousand-year-old Snake Demon couldn't resist stealing glances at—how could they remain unmoved by such a sight?
Li Xin, who had rushed out in his pajamas upon hearing that someone had come to provoke them, froze mid-stride.
Qibao's gaze swept casually over the five men before landing on the black Cullinan parked further inside, which sat a head taller than the Phantom. It was clear that Li Xin had taken good care of this vehicle—after borrowing it for over four years, the body bore hardly any scratches.
She asked Yin Mo, "Are you sure it's this one?"
Yin Mo replied, "Yes, even the snake-pattern paint on the body hasn't been changed."
Li Xin, who had walked over and overheard Yin Mo's words, snorted. If it had been any other pattern, he would have changed it, but he thought the snake pattern was dangerous, cool, and suited him perfectly, so he'd left it as is.
Looking at Qibao's calm, composed expression, Li Xin asked cautiously, "Who are you?"
Qibao said, "I am Yin Mo's supervisor. Since he listens to me, I must ensure his safety and property. Yin Mo says that car was borrowed from him by you. Do you admit it?"
With his four teammates watching, Li Xin maintained his usual arrogance: "So what if I do?"
Qibao said, "Then I'm here to remind you that it's time to return the car to him, along with paying over four years' worth of rent."
Li Xin spread his hairy legs and sneered, "What if I don't? What are you going to do about it?"
Qibao released the pagoda, giving Li Xin and his men time to prepare, then enlarged it to over two meters tall and sent it flying horizontally toward the five men, who had lined up in two rows at the gate.
In an instant, a massive iron hammer, a sturdy golden shield, and a rippling water curtain appeared one after another, only to be shattered by the pagoda with devastating force. In less than the blink of an eye, the golden pagoda slammed into Li Xin, whose face was twisted in fear, then carried him into the four men behind him. The five were sent flying high into the air, soaring neatly over the Cullinan before crashing into the villa wall with a loud bang.
This was merely a debt collection, so Qibao had restrained her strength—she hadn't killed the five men, nor had she caused serious damage to the villa wall, at most knocking off a few tiles.
After the five landed, they all clutched their chests simultaneously. Li Xin, having borne the brunt of the pagoda's impact first, was the most severely injured. When he managed to sit up, a trickle of blood ran from the corner of his mouth.
Qibao walked to the car with Yin Mo and peered inside.
Yin Mo had a spare key, and after trying it, it actually opened.
Qibao pulled open the door, and a foul smell similar to that of a cheap hotel elevator hit her in the face. She stepped back a few paces in disgust, glaring at Li Xin, who was gripping his iron hammer and watching her warily. "Besides the rent, you also need to pay him for the refurbishment."
If the smell was this bad, the seats inside must be filthy too. Qibao wanted Yin Mo to replace them all with new ones.
Yin Mo coldly did the math for Li Xin: "Rent at five hundred thousand per year, four years comes to two million. For the refurbishment—leather of this grade for a luxury car is hard to come by—let's say one million. That's three million in total."
Li Xin's eye twitched. "I don't have…"
The golden pagoda, which had been hovering in front of them, suddenly aimed its sharp tip directly at him.
With the odds stacked against him, Li Xin opened his wristband, checked his balance, then pooled funds with his four teammates, successfully scraping together three million Credits.
Yin Mo handed the umbrella to Qibao, walked over himself, first added Li Xin as a friend, then accepted the transfer. Three million Credits landed in his account with ease.
The matter was settled. Yin Mo stored away the Cullinan that needed refurbishment and continued holding the umbrella as he accompanied Qibao out.
Li Xin gnashed his teeth at their retreating figures and shot a meaningful glance at his teammates. Except for the A-grade healer, the remaining four simultaneously unleashed their strongest Ability attacks at Qibao and Yin Mo.
The golden pagoda, floating above Qibao's head like a Spiritual Entity, emitted a faint golden halo. Every Ability attack dissolved into nothingness the moment it touched the halo, as quietly as if nothing had happened at all.
Li Xin and his men: "…"
Qibao got into the car without looking back. Holding the pagoda in her right hand, she extended her left hand toward Yin Mo, who was about to start the engine. "Credits."
Yin Mo dutifully transferred the two million Credits that had barely warmed his account to her, explaining in a low voice, "Keep one million for me to refurbish the car. I'll transfer you whatever's left over."
Only then did Qibao put away the pagoda.
Inside the villa, listening to the sound of the Phantom driving off into the distance, Li Xin furiously wiped the blood from his mouth and called his father, the S-grade General.
His eldest son hadn't caused trouble in a long time, so Li Hongda, who hadn't had to listen to other generals complain about him, answered the call with a relatively affectionate expression. "Are you about to set off?"
Li Xin said angrily, "Dad, my Cullinan was snatched away by someone. A young woman I've never seen before—her Spiritual Entity is a tower, probably S-rank. She can completely ignore our Ability attacks!"
Upon hearing this, Li Hongda shifted from leaning against the sofa to sitting upright. "I did hear yesterday that a new S-rank defensive tower woman arrived at the base. How did you manage to provoke her?"
Li Xin replied, "I don't even know her. The original owner of the car asked her to be his backing, and she even swindled me out of three million Credits! Dad, regardless of whatever grudge I have with the car owner, this woman showed me zero respect, which means she doesn't take you seriously either. For the sake of our father-son reputation, you have to get even for me!"
He refused to believe it. If A-rank Abilities couldn't hurt that woman, then his father's S-rank chainsaw wouldn't be able to harm her either.
No one knows a father better than his son, so Li Xin added one more line: "Dad, that woman is at most 20 years old, prettier than all your mistresses combined. If you have the skill to take her in, your chances of producing an S-rank son would be much higher."
Li Hongda snapped, "Get lost, do you think I'm like you? Fine, I've got it. Go do your mission and don't worry about this anymore."
After hanging up, Li Hongda transferred three million Credits to his eldest son. After the transfer, thinking about what his son had said, Li Hongda walked over to the mirror.
He was fifty years old this year, but fortunately, the awakening of his S-rank Spiritual Entity had significantly improved his physique, making him look at most thirty. He stood 182 cm tall with solid muscles. Though not particularly handsome, in terms of combat power, he ranked in the top three among the seventeen S-rank generals currently in Tancheng Base.
S-rank defense was formidable, but what tower could withstand an S-rank chainsaw's cutting? He had tested it—his chainsaw could even cut through diamond, at the cost of heavy Psychic Power consumption, that's all.
After some deliberation, Li Hongda made a phone call.
Not long after, Qibao, who was sitting in the best car modification shop in the inner city, eating an ice pop while watching Yin Mo communicate with the shop owner, suddenly received a friend request.
Qibao tapped to open the projection and saw the applicant's information: Li Hongda, with a half-body photo in uniform as his avatar, and the request message: "I've already learned about what happened. Li Xin was in the wrong. Please allow me to apologize to you in person."
Qibao touched the screen, and two buttons popped up—one saying "Accept" and the other "Ignore and Delete."
Qibao tapped the latter, then took out the small note Lu Feng had stuffed into her hand earlier. She had almost forgotten about it.
Yin Mo suddenly ran over, interrupting her ID input: "You just made an enemy of the Li family. They can't defeat you in a fight, but if they find out you have dealings with Lu Feng's team and capture them to threaten you into surrendering, could you really bear to ignore them?"
Qibao felt this made a lot of sense. Besides, she still needed to leave Tancheng to search for the other six Great Demons, so there was indeed no need to make more human friends.
Seeing her put away the note, Yin Mo breathed a sigh of relief.
Human men had no other talents, but they were the best at deceiving women's feelings. He didn't want Qibao to be tricked by a man and become even more biased toward humans.