Inside Canvas Street.
“What did you just say?”
Nekomata stared at the elderly lady in shock, as if she couldn’t believe her own ears.
The old woman found Nekomata’s reaction a bit strange, but out of the goodness of her heart, she repeated herself.
“What’s wrong, little girl? I said, we don’t want anything to do with the Red Fang Gang. Is there a problem with that?”
“No, not that…! You said Silver fell into a Hollow while being chased by Public Security? He wasn’t taken out by the Cunning Hares?”
“Uh, w-well, you see…” Nicole was suddenly at a loss for words.
After all, to make Nekomata believe in the Cunning Hares’ strength, she had personally bragged right to her face that they were the ones who took down Miguel Silver!
But the truth was, while the Cunning Hares were partially responsible for Miguel Silver falling into the Hollow, it was actually New Eridu Public Security (NEPS) who made the final move.
So naturally, Nicole was panicking.
We’re doomed!
Now that Nekomata knows we didn’t finish off Miguel Silver, is she going to lose faith in us?
She won’t cancel the commission, right?!
Nicole slowly turned her head away, nervously biting her fingernail.
Seeing the situation go south, Billy rushed over to Nekomata to explain, “Ahem! Little kitty… no, Honored Client, you have to understand!”
“Every time you looked at us with those sparkly, admiring eyes, we just couldn’t bring ourselves to deny it! We’re so sorry! We were there when it happened, but it was indeed Public Security who made the move…”
Billy offered a sincere, deep bow of apology.
“Ah… so… it wasn’t you guys…”
Nekomata lowered her head slightly, nervously twiddling her fingers.
Her emotions were a complete mess right now… disappointment and confusion, but mixed with a strange, lingering sense of relief.
Anby stepped forward to comfort her, assuring her that even without Public Security’s intervention, the Cunning Hares could have easily taken down the Ether-corrupted Miguel Silver.
Li Qianqiao stood silently to the side.
He knew perfectly well that both parties were completely misunderstanding each other.
An outsider watching this conversation might think the agency was just scamming a customer, but the reality was that they weren’t even on the same wavelength.
Nekomata was thinking about how she had almost targeted the wrong people for revenge, while the Cunning Hares thought their bluff had been called and their reputation was ruined.
It was an incredibly awkward situation all around.
“What’s going on here? Everything was fine a second ago, why is everyone suddenly so quiet?” Seeing the atmosphere grow heavy, the old lady grew a bit nervous and instinctively took a few steps back.
Li Qianqiao sighed.
Looks like I have to step in and save the day!
“Nicole, do you have a little brother?”
With one sentence, Li Qianqiao successfully grabbed everyone’s attention.
Nicole looked at him, utterly confused.
“Why do you ask? I don’t have a brother.”
Li Qianqiao grinned mischievously and pointed at her.
“How could you not? Your little brother is Bear Two, and you’re definitely Bear One!”
“…”
“Oh, right, explanation time! In my language (Chinese), the word for ‘Bear’ sounds exactly like the word for ‘Chest’. So, Big Bear means… pfft!”
Nicole’s face instantly flushed crimson.
The second she realized what Li Qianqiao was implying, her fist rocketed toward his face at Mach speed!
Li Qianqiao was careless and didn’t dodge.
He was launched several meters into the air, crashing into the ground and rolling all the way to his motorcycle before finally stopping.
From the sidelines, Billy secretly gave the lifeless-looking Li Qianqiao a subtle thumbs-up.
Brother Li, you’re the man!
ദ്ദി˶ｰ̀֊ｰ́ )✧ Daring to make bust-size puns at Boss Nicole’s expense…
I, Billy Kid, bow to your greatness!
“You dead pervert!”
Nicole marched over to Li Qianqiao and ruthlessly stomped her foot right onto his lower back, drawing a sharp howl of pain from him.
“I was wrong, I was wrong! Stop stomping! I was just trying to lighten the mood! Aaaargh, my kidneys!”
Nicole turned a deaf ear to his pleading and just kept stomping.
“It’s bad enough you’re a creep, but did you really have to use a dad joke?! A pun?!”
“I’ll never do it again! Stop stomping! Ah! Ooooow!”
Anyone passing by would have thought they were witnessing a messy domestic dispute—after all, what kind of girl aggressively stomps on a guy’s kidneys like that?
But the truth was, Nicole wasn’t using her full strength.
She knew exactly what Li Qianqiao was trying to do and was just playing along.
Of course, that punch to the face had been 100% real…
A few minutes later, seeing that Nicole had vented most of her anger, Nekomata hurried over to pull her away.
Nicole didn’t say much, simply turning away with a huff of feigned anger.
Watching Nekomata drag Nicole off, Li Qianqiao let out a slow sigh of relief.
Looks like the crisis is averted.
But wait…
I didn’t get anything out of this except a free beating! Enjoying the story? Read on at g.com.
Dammit!
Next time, I’m making Nicole take her shoes off before she steps on me!
“Calm down, calm down! Little Li didn’t mean it, he was just trying to break the tension!”
Nekomata clung to Nicole’s arm with an apologetic smile.
Nicole turned her head slightly, keeping up her furious act, but internally she was doing cartwheels.
Nice assist, Little Li!
Now Nekomata is totally distracted from our earlier lie.
The commission fee is safe!
“Ahem, let’s put that aside for now. We need to hijack that transport train immediately and get all the residents out of here!”
Anby and Billy were already on standby.
Li Qianqiao picked himself up off the dirt and adjusted his Faiz Gear.
“Alright! Since everyone’s ready, let’s roll, Bro!”
“Yeah, just keep heading this direction and we’ll reach the target zone!”
…
It didn’t take long for the group to reach the vicinity of the train.
In the dim tunnel, only the headlight of the Auto Vajin pierced the gloom.
To avoid alerting the enemy, Li Qianqiao pushed his bike forward quietly, with the Cunning Hares trailing behind.
“Little Li, we’re here to hijack a train. Isn’t bringing your motorcycle a bit inconvenient?” Belle asked casually through Eous, which was sitting perched on the bike’s seat.
“Sis Belle, you don’t get it.” Li Qianqiao smiled faintly.
“This isn’t just an ordinary motorcycle. This is…”
Suddenly, a piercing headache struck him.
Li Qianqiao went pale and clutched his head.
Hss… my head… wait, no…
I hear voices…
He focused his mind, tuning into the telepathic chatter echoing in his brain.
“Boss, why did we even have to come here? We finally got this kind of power, why not go get revenge on the Public Security officers who locked us up first?” A shrill, sleazy voice whined.
“What do you know? The Master went through the trouble of saving us and granting us this power. We can’t afford to get tossed back in jail by those cops so soon.” A second voice replied.
This one had a mature, sultry feminine tone.
Li Qianqiao gave Belle a reassuring smile before casually picking Eous up and dumping it into Nicole’s arms, ignoring Belle’s annoyed expression as he continued eavesdropping.
“The Master only sent me here because he saw my potential. If I hadn’t begged on your behalf, you’d be destined for cannon-fodder duty for the rest of your life.”
“Hehehe, you’re the best, Boss! But seriously, since we have this kind of power, why is the Master cooperating with these pathetic humans?”
“How should I know? That’s for the big shots up top to decide. Alright, we’re almost there. The Master said if the ‘King’ isn’t here, we can do whatever we want with the rest.”
“Really?! Awesome! Are there kids? I love the tender, delicate texture of kids! That milky aroma in their meat, their blood goes down like fine wine… especially the little girls, you can eat them and also…”
“Ugh, spare me your disgusting tastes. Let’s hurry up so we aren’t late.”
“Hey, Boss, it’s not like you aren’t an equal-opportunity predator yourself…”
“Hmm? What did you say?”
“Ah, nothing, Boss!”
At that point, Li Qianqiao lost all desire to keep listening.
A roaring fire ignited in his chest, demanding an immediate outlet for his absolute disgust!
These two absolute pieces of trash!
Even targeting kids… stay calm.
Nicole and the others are right here.
I need to handle this smart.
He quickly reeled in his emotions and looked up at the Cunning Hares walking ahead, then at Eous sulking in Nicole’s arms.
He gave a helpless, grim smile.
Looked like he had a brutal fight ahead of him.
Right as he was deep in thought, Nekomata let out a low gasp.
“Look, it’s the train! And that shorty is there too!”
Following her gaze, standing right in front of the train was none other than Charles Perlman!
“What are you waiting for, Nekomata, go! Leave the surrounding grunts to me. Anby, you guys take the driver’s cabin!”
Nekomata dropped to all fours and lunged at Perlman with the speed of lightning, pinning him down before he could even react.
“Oof!”
“Shorty! You murderous scumbag, don’t even think about resisting!” Nekomata snarled, holding him firmly to the ground.
Nicole stepped hard on a Vision Corporation grunt they had just knocked out, looking over at Nekomata.
“Nekomata, drag that guy onto the train! Anby, Billy and Little Li are securing the cabin. Proxies, notify the residents to get ready to board at the platform!”
Eous nodded in agreement.
Hearing Nicole’s orders, Perlman broke out in a cold sweat, his face twisting in sheer panic.
“You… you’re trying to use the train to evacuate the slum rats?!” Perlman asked sweatily.
“Yeah?” Nicole replied.
“No! Absolutely not! If they get out of here and start talking, Vision Corporation and I will be utterly ruined!”
Knowing he was completely helpless, Perlman could only scream in desperation, “Someone! Anyone! Use whatever means necessary to stop them—”
“My, my, if it isn’t Mr. Perlman. Why do you look so pathetic?”
A woman’s voice drifted through the tunnel, startling Nekomata and Nicole into whipping around to check their six.
What they saw was no woman but a burly man, roughly 1.8 meters tall (5’11”), wearing sheer black stockings and walking with exaggerated, seductive swaying hips.
Beside him was a short, rat-faced man oozing sheer sleaze.
“Who are you?!”
Nicole readied her weapon, immediately on high alert.
Based on their bizarre outfits, these definitely weren’t Vision Corporation employees!
“Little girl, you don’t need to know who I am. You just need to know that the shorty on the ground belongs to us.”
“Nicole, what do we do?” Nekomata drew her twin blades, keeping Perlman pinned while glaring warily at the two strangers.
“Nicole!”
Li Qianqiao stepped right between the two groups, turning his back to the Cunning Hares to face the uninvited guests.
“Little Li! What are you doing?” Belle’s voice rang out from Eous, laced with confusion and anxiety.
“Don’t do anything reckless, Little Li! These two showed up without making a single sound. They’re definitely bad news!” Nekomata’s instincts were screaming at her.
She felt an overwhelming, instinctual threat of death radiating from these two.
Li Qianqiao glanced back over his shoulder, a cocky grin plastered on his face.
“Relax, guys. Leave the rest of this to me.”
Then, his lips curled into a mocking grin as he launched into a relentless verbal ragebait on the two freaks.
“Well, well, well, if it isn’t Mr. Fashion Disaster himself! Which bargain bin did you crawl out of? Your outfit looks like a wardrobe malfunction and a traffic accident somehow had a child!”
“And frankly, with makeup skills like those, even a beauty filter app would crash trying to process your face. Did you apply that stuff with a paint roller?”
“Seriously, looking at you makes me wonder whether you’re a person or an abstract art project that escaped from a museum!”
He didn’t stop there.
He immediately pivoted his verbal assault to the short guy.
“And you, Creepy Bro ! Which sewer did you wash out of? That look in your eye is even sleazier than the creepy neighborhood peeping tom!”
“With a smile like that, even mosquitoes wouldn’t dare bite you out of fear they’d catch depression! I highly recommend you go look in a mirror—you’re basically a walking, breathing billboard for the word ‘Creep’ !”
“Stop looking at people like that. Your disgusting little thoughts are so obvious even the ants walking by are second-hand embarrassed!”
Under Li Qianqiao’s relentless carpet-bombing of ragebaits, not only were the two strangers completely stunned, but even Nicole and the others were dumbfounded.
They had no idea Li Qianqiao’s trash-talking game was this lethal!
“You! You dare insult me?!”
The burly man roared in a deep, booming voice.
Paired with his twisted features and heavy makeup, it was a horrifically ugly sight.
“Ooh, touched a nerve, did I? No wonder. Looking like that and still walking around with that much confidence takes some serious courage.”
“Though I gotta admire your dedication. Most people would’ve looked in a mirror and reconsidered their life choices years ago!”
“Y-y-you…” The short man pointed a trembling finger at Li Qianqiao, his eyes bulging as he stuttered.
“Wow, Creepy Bro is so mad he’s stuttering now? You look exactly like a sewer rat that just got its tail stepped on!”
“What’s wrong, did I hit the nail on the head? Even stray dogs would find your vibes repulsive! Stop glaring at me, you couldn’t scare a toddler with that face, you’d just make them throw up. Go wash your face and wake up, it’s pathetic watching you live in the shadow of your own sleaze!”
Seeing the two trembling with blinding rage, Li Qianqiao decided to deliver the final blow!
“You two are a match made in heaven! One looks like a failed fashion experiment, and the other is a textbook predator! You’re basically the ‘Dumb and Dumber’ of the underworld! You should form a duo—I’ve even got a name for you: The ‘Fashion Victim and Creepy Bro Show’. You’d go viral instantly!”
“No need to thank me, I’m just a helpful guy tailoring life advice for ‘talents’ like you!”
(Translator’s Note: The original chinese ragebait of Li Qianqiao towards the burly man was very homophobic that I had to change it into a ragebait towards his fashion instead. I keep the same ragebait towards the creepy short man.)
“AAAAAAARRRGH!!! I’LL KILL YOU!!!”
The burly man finally snapped.
Who could endure this kind of psychological torture?!
This kid’s mouth was so toxic he wanted to rip his jaw clean off!
“Boss! Count me in!”
Suddenly, both of their bodies flashed with a blinding, ashen-grey light.
In their place stood two humanoid monsters!
The burly man was entirely grey.
His arms extended all the way to the floor, and his face had mutated into a massive, spiked maw—exactly like a grotesque Leech!
The short, creepy man was also entirely grey, but with a different form.
He sported incredibly muscular arms ending in razor-sharp claws, and a long, whip-like tail extending from his spine.
He looked exactly like a monstrous Rat!
“Oh ho! I didn’t think you guys would actually give up being human just to become literal beasts! Sigh, is this a distortion of human nature, or a complete decay of morality~”
“Morals my ass!!”
The Leech Orphnoch dove forward with terrifying speed, with the Rat Orphnoch following right on its heels!
Li Qianqiao swiftly hopped onto his motorcycle and gunned the engine, tearing down the tunnel into the darkness.
The two monstrosities completely ignored Nicole and the others, immediately sprinting after him.
Right now, their minds were consumed by only one singular thought: TEAR THAT BASTARD TO PIECES!!
Just like that, Li Qianqiao successfully ragebaited the two Orphnochs into chasing him and leaving his allies alone.
In the blink of an eye, the tunnel was dead silent again, leaving Nekomata, Eous and the Cunning Hares standing there, completely bewildered.
“W-what the heck just happened?”
Hope this book won’t get cancelled by LGBT community :sob: