A few days after the Vision Corporation Incident.
“Cheers!!”
Inside a bustling buffet restaurant, the Cunning Hares, Belle, Wise, and the rest of the group were gathered around a large table, happily celebrating their reunion.
Li Qianqiao chugged down a massive glass of ‘Happy Water’ (cola) and let out a long, satisfied sigh, “Phew~ I really owe you guys, Belle. If it weren’t for that smoke grenade giving me cover at the exact right moment, Public Security’s reinforcements would have been all over me, burp~”
“It’s a good thing the Public Security officers didn’t notice us. But you still beat Officer Bringer to a pulp. He’s definitely not going to let this go. You should probably try to stay indoors as much as possible for a while, A-Qiao.” Wise said.
Wise expertly peeled a shrimp and placed it into Belle’s bowl.
Belle grinned cheerfully, picked the shrimp up, and immediately dropped it right into Li Qianqiao’s bowl.
Wise: (¬_¬)
“Oh, come on, don’t be so stingy, brother. Little Li worked incredibly hard this time! Aside from the Dead End Butcher, he basically took care of all the enemies along the way completely by himself! Besides, I’m not really that hungry, so Little Li can have it… hehe~”
Hearing this, Li Qianqiao looked like he was about to burst into tears and hug Belle.
“Sister Belle is the only one who truly treats me right!”
Nicole set down her glass and was just about to grab some food when she noticed Billy sitting completely motionless in his chair, staring intently at his phone.
Curious, she leaned over to take a peek.
She saw Billy’s mechanical fingers flying across the screen at lightning speed as he vigorously photoshopped an image.
Nicole squinted for a closer look…
Whoa!
Isn’t that a picture of Bringer getting his butt handed to him?!
“Billy, what on earth are you doing?”
Billy, who had been completely absorbed in his editing, jumped in surprise.
Seeing it was just Nicole, he let out a mechanical sigh of relief.
“Oh, it’s just you, Boss Nicole. Brother Li asked me to photoshop this for him. Originally, I just wanted to take some cool action shots of the Kamen Rider Faiz. But when Brother Li saw them, he asked me to isolate the pictures of Bringer getting beaten up, edit them together, and send them to him. I’m almost finished!”
Nicole’s mouth twitched uncontrollably.
“And you just agreed to do it?”
Is this guy seriously that childish?
“B-But, Brother Li promised that once I finish, he’s going to personally hand-make me a custom Kamen Rider suit!” Billy protested.
Nicole facepalmed.
If Bringer somehow traced this back to them, the Cunning Hares would be totally doomed!
And what is with his beloved Starlight Knight?!
At that moment, Nekomata’s cheeks were so stuffed with fish that she looked exactly like a little hamster.
Even with her mouth completely full, she still refused to put down the extra piece of fish in her paws, looking incredibly adorable.
“Mmph… Mmmph!”
Seeing Nekomata nearly choking, Anby quickly grabbed a drink and handed it to her.
“Slow down.
No one is going to steal it from you.” Anby then turned her gaze toward Li Qianqiao, who was inhaling food like a vacuum, and voiced her concern, “Your current situation is really bad.
Your wanted posters are plastered across almost the entirety of New Eridu.”
“Even though they don’t have your actual face on them, it’s only a matter of time before your identity is exposed.”
The cheerful atmosphere at the table instantly froze.
Even Nekomata stopped chewing.
Anby hadn’t meant to be a buzzkill, but the reality of Li Qianqiao’s situation was genuinely dire.
After getting brutally beaten, the very first thing Bringer did upon waking up in the ICU was issue a city-wide arrest warrant.
They might be happily eating right now, but Lumina Square was absolutely littered with his wanted posters—even the large TV monitor right here in the restaurant had flashed his Faiz armor a few times.
If they weren’t sitting in such a secluded corner, their loud conversation alone would have prompted multiple people to call the cops on them.
How could he still be acting so carefree?
“That guy Bringer is not simple at all. He has a deep connection with that woman, Sarah. Since he’s so hellbent on hunting me down, I’ll just have to play this game with him to the very end! It won’t be long before he’s dragged down from his high horse!” Li Qianqiao said confidently.
Having delivered his badass one-liner, Li Qianqiao immediately went right back to aggressively shoveling food into his mouth.
He had exhausted way too much physical energy and desperately needed to replenish his calories!
Bringer is actually connected to Vision Corporation?!
Li Qianqiao’s brief statement left everyone at the table completely stunned.
None of them had expected the Public Security officer to have such a dark underlying identity!
Nicole opened her mouth to speak but found her throat completely dry, her mind racing with the implications.
Billy silently put down his phone.
Nekomata’s ears drooped, her head lowered so her expression was hidden, though tears were beginning to well up in her eyes.
“Little Li, I’m sor—”
Before she could finish her heartfelt apology, Li Qianqiao suddenly reached over, snatched the remaining fish right out of Nekomata’s bowl, and swallowed it in one massive gulp.
Nekomata, tears still brimming in her eyes, stared blankly at her completely empty bowl.
Next, Li Qianqiao reached over and swiped Anby’s hamburger, devouring it in three bites and even making sure to lick the leftover sauce off his fingers.
He was just way too hungry.
He had spent almost the entire day fighting while wearing the Faiz armor, and the physical toll had even made him throw up earlier.
Right now, his only goal was to eat until he exploded.
“My fish…” Nekomata’s tears finally fell, though entirely for the sake of her stolen food.
Seeing her favorite burger vanish into the abyss, Anby glared fiercely at the aggressively chewing Li Qianqiao, eventually sighing and getting up to grab another one.
Perhaps infected by Li Qianqiao’s utterly ridiculous eating habits, the heavy atmosphere quickly dissipated, and the group threw their worries to the back of their minds.
After taking a cheerful group photo, everyone finally wrapped up their loud and chaotic meal.
Li Qianqiao had happily consumed enough food to feed ten grown men, and the restaurant owner just as happily added Li Qianqiao to their permanent blacklist.
A few days later, at Random Play Video Store.
First thing in the morning, Nicole arrived at the store to update Belle and Wise on their situation.
Because they had Nekomata and her connections with the Red Fang Gang, their investigation had gone incredibly smoothly.
According to their intel, although the Red Fang Gang was hired to steal the safe, they had absolutely no idea where the box actually came from.
Miguel Silver had taken the job from a completely anonymous client and hadn’t told anyone else about it.
They didn’t even know what they were supposed to do with the safe after securing it.
This completely killed all their leads.
Seeing that they wouldn’t get any more useful info out of the safe situation, Wise changed the subject and asked about Nekomata.
Hearing the commotion downstairs, Li Qianqiao, who had still been bundled up in bed, finally dragged himself downstairs.
He arrived just in time to see Nekomata pushing open the front door.
Seeing Nicole and Nekomata, he greeted them enthusiastically.
Nekomata smiled back, pulling out a stack of freshly developed photos.
“I got our group photos printed out! They look amazing, super clear too!” Nekomata said happily.
“Here, here, take them! This one is Little Li’s, this one is Belle’s, this one is Wise’s…”
Li Qianqiao took his copy and examined it closely.
Yeah, it looks great.
Everyone is smiling at the camera… except it looks like I’m the only one violently stuffing my face in the background…
However, Li Qianqiao was genuinely a bit confused.
What exactly did Billy eat at a buffet?
Did the guy drink motor oil?
“Oh right, Nicole. The Kamen Rider suit I promised Billy is finished. Can you take it with you when you leave?” Li Qianqiao asked.
“No problem.
Oh, right, I almost forgot!” Nicole pulled Nekomata forward and gave a light, dramatic cough, “Allow me to officially introduce the newest member of the Cunning Hares—”
Nekomata happily played along, introducing herself with a bright smile, “My name is Nekomiya Mana, but you can just call me Nekomata! I’m officially employed at the Cunning Hares now, so please take good care of me from now on, meow!”
Somewhere in New Eridu.
Ring, ring~
“Mr. Bringer, you have a phone call.” The nurse handed the hospital phone over to Bringer.
“Got it. Leave the room.”
Bringer took the receiver, watching the nurse exit the ward before bringing the phone to his ear.
Before he could even ask who was calling, a mocking male voice echoed from the speaker.
“Hahaha! Bringer, you are incredibly famous now! Getting beaten below the belt on live television… Ahahaha~!”
Veins bulged violently on Bringer’s forehead, but he forced himself to suppress his fury, keeping his voice dangerously steady:
“Do you have a point? If not, hang up the damn phone!” Bringer shouted angrily.
“Ooh, did I strike a nerve?”
“You—!”
“Alright, alright, I’ll stop. The proposal you submitted earlier? The higher-ups have approved it.”
Finally hearing some good news, Bringer’s expression softened slightly.
He shifted his heavily bandaged lower half in the bed and sneered, “Hmph. If it weren’t for the sake of My Lord, there is absolutely no way I would ever cooperate with anti-human terrorists like you.”
“Anyway, someone will come find you within a week at the latest. Arrange things on your end. I’ve got business to attend to. Remember to delete this number after you hang up.”
“Wait—”
Beep… beep… beep…
Frustrated, Bringer deleted the number and lay back down to continue recovering.
At a dilapidated building in the Outer Ring.
“He agreed?” A tall figure with a harsh, raspy voice asked the man who had just hung up the phone.
“Yep, he agreed. Hehe, those fanatics will use absolutely any underhanded method available as long as it’s for their so-called ‘Lord’. Hehehe!”
The man who had made the call was shrouded entirely in pitch-black shadow, making it impossible to discern anything other than his general silhouette.
“…Can you stop laughing like that? It’s creepy.”
“I can’t help it. So, what’s the plan, hehe?”
“…I heard the ‘Twelve Earthly Branches’ just got some new recruits. The higher-ups want you to go train them.”
“Hehehe~ I might just be a humble messenger, but I’m still the ‘Crow’, one of the Four Calamities! A Tier 1 threat! And the Boss wants me to do chore work?” Crow’s laughter faded, his eyes narrowing as he stared directly at the tall figure.
“What about you, ‘Vulture’ ? You’ve been MIA for quite a while now. The Boss misses you terribly~ Aren’t you going to pay a visit?”
“…I thought I made myself perfectly clear in the past. I only stay here because you people provide me with useful resources. That bullshit ‘Four Calamities’ title is something you forced onto me.”
“Hehehe, alright, alright, whatever you say. I guess I’ll go do the task the Boss gave me. See ya~”
Vulture silently watched Crow disappear into the shadows.
He waited a few minutes before finally moving to leave himself.
As he stepped out of the ruined building, the blinding sunlight of the Outer Ring washed over him, though it provided him no warmth.
He silently reached into his pocket and pulled out a single, pink hairpin.
He simply stared at it, not saying a word…