Chapter 291: Chapter 288: [Understand?]
Chapter Two Hundred Eighty-Eight: Understand?
Standing before the Captain, Chen Nuo examined the man from head to toe, scrutinizing him from every angle for a long time.
The intense scrutiny made the Captain’s skin crawl.
It wasn’t that he suspected Lord Yanluo of having any peculiar sexual preferences. Rather... the Captain always felt that when Lord Yanluo sized him up so meticulously, it was as if he were calculating how much the Captain’s component parts could be sold for.
"Have your injuries all healed?"
"Yes, there are no more problems."
"And you’ve rested enough?" Chen Nuo asked again.
"Yes, I’ve rested well," the Captain answered cautiously.
Previously, he had been anxious and restless, desperately hoping Lord Yanluo would quickly give him new instructions.
But now, suddenly, the Captain was beginning to regret it.
Especially after Chen Nuo had sized him up with that strange gaze, his regret deepened!
Fuck!
Was the five-star hotel not comfortable enough? Or was the Huaxia cuisine not to my liking?
I must have been out of my mind!
"How is your strength recovering?"
"It’s..." The Captain started to say "very good," but then had a second thought and quickly amended, "Progress isn’t very fast. Currently, my strength has only recovered to about thirty percent of what it was."
Chen Nuo nodded and mumbled to himself, "Well, that is a bit weak, not quite enough..."
A wave of relief washed over the Captain. Perhaps Lord Yanluo wouldn’t send him on some life-threatening mission now.
"Come closer," Chen Nuo said, frowning at the Captain.
The Captain cautiously moved two steps forward.
Suddenly, Chen Nuo extended a finger and lightly tapped the Captain’s forehead.
The Captain instantly felt a trace of power penetrate his brain. In his Consciousness Space, the previously loosened seal instantly melted like ice and snow, crumbling and disintegrating.
In just a few breaths, the Captain felt his Consciousness Space flow freely, swiftly returning to the peak state he had been in months ago.
Although the full recovery of his strength would still take some time, his realm had already returned!
Chen Nuo looked the Captain over again with satisfaction, then smiled. "Alright, that settles it. In two or three days at most, you’ll be back to your peak condition. Now, I have a task for you... Hmm, the process might be a bit dangerous. Are you willing?"
Can I fucking say I don’t want to go?
The Captain’s heart pounded wildly.
Under Chen Nuo’s piercing gaze, the Captain swallowed hard and forced a bitter smile. "Lord Yanluo, please give your orders."
"Don’t worry. Although it’s a bit dangerous, it shouldn’t be life-threatening," Chen Nuo pondered for a moment, then said, "Hmm, and... rest assured, I’ll protect you?"
"Ah?"
"Hmm, an interesting mission—but relax! Because I’ll go with you! If anything happens, I’ll do my best to protect your life; I won’t let you die."
The Captain was speechless. ...
That’s not the point!
You’re even more frightening when you say it like that!
You’re a Controller, a big shot!
It requires you to act personally! And even when you’re personally involved, you still say ’the process might be a bit dangerous’!
And ’it shouldn’t be life-threatening’!!
Shouldn’t?!
Is ’shouldn’t’ even applicable in such matters?!
I’m just a lowly Destroyer; can I sit out this high-stakes game, please?!
Boss! Is it too late to apply for an extended vacation?
However, Chen Nuo didn’t elaborate, simply stating lightly, "These next few days, keep an eye on your Octopus Monster website account. If you receive any messages, inform me immediately."
"...Lord Yanluo, is the mission you mentioned related to the Octopus Monster?"
"Yes, it is."
After speaking, Chen Nuo waved his hand, then suddenly slapped his forehead. "Oh, right. Over the next couple of days, I also have something for you to help me with in Jinling."
"...Alright."
「 」
As evening fell, darkness descended.
A gray SUV traveled along Highway 41, then turned onto a side road. After a few minutes, it entered a small town.
This was a typical town that owed its development to the highway.
The town was not large, and the residential area was small. However, a motel at the town’s entrance occupied a huge area.
The diner had a large parking lot out front, filled with passing vehicles, including several freight trucks.
The SUV turned into the parking lot, came to a stop, and the engine was cut.
Sofia sat in the driver’s seat. She carefully glanced at the Seed in the passenger seat, hesitated for a moment, then asked, "Can we... have dinner here?"
The boy turned his head to look at the restaurant outside the car window. Beneath the night sky, a huge neon sign twinkled.
"Looks nice," he said.
They got out of the car and crossed the parking lot into the restaurant.
It was a place that served as both a restaurant and a bar. Upon entering, they were met with the strong smell of tobacco and alcohol, mixed with various food odors.
Directly ahead was a solid wooden bar, and a jukebox nearby played Latin music.
Two or three heavily made-up women sat at the bar, dressed in revealing outfits that deliberately showed off their deep cleavages. When they heard the door open, they all turned with expectant looks.
But when they saw it was a woman with a child, they all turned away in disappointment and resumed their positions.
The restaurant wasn’t crowded. Some patrons were clearly road-weary truck drivers in rough clothing, devouring their food. Others were local youths hanging out, laughing, drinking beer, and playing pool near the billiard tables at one end of the restaurant.
Sofia led the boy to an empty table in a corner, and soon a waitress in an apron came over.
Her appearance was ordinary, but she had a voluptuous figure, especially a remarkably curvaceous rear. As she walked by a table of guests, one of the customers laughed and slapped her rear end hard. The waitress glared and cursed, but it was clearly more playful than genuinely angry.
"What’ll you have?" the waitress asked, standing at the table, tapping her pen impatiently against her pad.
"A pizza, a meatloaf, and mashed potatoes. One beer and one juice. That’s all," Sofia ordered quickly.
The boy suddenly remembered something and asked, "Do you have oatmeal cookies?"
Sofia paused for a moment, cautiously glanced at the boy, and asked the waitress, "Do you?"
"No, we don’t make those. But we have waffles. Want to try some?"
Sofia looked at the boy.
The Seed thought for a moment. "Alright, I’ll try them."
"Then we’ll have an order of those," Sofia said, relieved.
The waitress quickly left.
Sofia silently stole glances at the boy, only to find his gaze curiously fixed on the heavily made-up women by the bar.
"What do they do?" the boy asked.
Sofia looked uncomfortable but whispered back, "They’re probably... prostitutes."
"Prostitutes?"
"Yes," Sofia said in a hushed, constrained tone. "This town isn’t very big, so there probably aren’t dedicated establishments for that. The prostitutes likely solicit clients in this restaurant. Passing truck drivers, men who are on the road year-round, need to address their physiological needs, so..."
"Understood. A temporary, compensated lease of mating rights?"
The boy nodded, then shook his head. "It’s still quite contradictory."
"What... do you mean?"
The boy looked at Sofia and said slowly, "Indulging in the pleasure derived from the process of mating is a characteristic of lower life forms. For higher life forms to still possess such a backward method of obtaining pleasure, even treating it as a resource to be bought, sold, and profited from... I must say, your species is truly..."
"Inferior?" Sofia’s expression turned a little unsightly.
"No, I was going to say... very creative," the boy said, curling his lip and shaking his head.
Sofia was a little unsure how to react to the boy’s attitude, but instinctively felt her dignity wounded.
After a moment of hesitation, Sofia whispered, "I remember you said... you were some kind of... Creator God?"
"Mm, by your definitions, that’s a roughly accurate classification."
The boy absentmindedly watched the other customers in the restaurant, then his gaze returned to Sofia. "Alright, I’ll satisfy your curiosity. What do you want to ask?"
"What does Creator God mean? Are you... God?"
"If you’re referring to the system depicted in your human literary work, ’The Bible,’ then I apologize, but I am not the God from that narrative."
Sofia forcefully contained her emotions, managing to ignore his remark calling ’The Bible’ a literary work.
"Then what does Creator God mean?"
"It’s simple. I ignited the spark of civilization on this planet, kindling the wisdom that allowed your human race to evolve into higher life forms! Of course, this ’kindling’ process was indiscriminate and non-targeted. That is to say, all life forms on this planet were beneficiaries. However, your human race emerged, becoming the most thoroughly evolved group, and ultimately the dominant civilization on this planet. This can only be described as a coincidence. It was not my original design."
Sofia looked bewildered.
The boy sighed. "It’s like holding a handful of fish food and scattering it into the water. Many, many fish swarm to compete for it. And it just so happened that among the fish, one called ’humanity,’ by sheer coincidence and chance, managed to eat the largest and most substantial portion. But this result was a coincidence, an accident. It wasn’t intentionally and deliberately caused by me, the one who scattered the fish food. Do you understand what I’m saying now?"
Sofia seemed to grasp some of it, but still couldn’t help asking, "How... how did you do it?"
The boy spread his hands. "That question is quite complicated, beyond what you’re able to understand and comprehend."
"What do you mean?"
"I mean, even if I told you, you wouldn’t understand," the boy said with a smile.
Sofia felt a bit suffocated but didn’t dare show it. After thinking for a moment, she asked, "Then... about what happened earlier, will there be any trouble? After all... several people died."
"You saw those bodies completely vanish with your own eyes," the boy shook his head. "It’s just a simple skill that decomposes matter. Besides... no one is likely to care about the whereabouts of those individuals. Even if they’re discovered missing, it won’t be traced back to you. Don’t worry."
"But they also killed someone and stole that car."
"That has nothing to do with you either," the boy sighed.
"What I mean is... maybe I should call the police. After all, the victim who died was innocent; maybe he has a family."
The boy looked at Sofia with some surprise, then suddenly smiled. "Hmm... according to the definitions of your human civilization and moral system, you would be considered a good person."
"I... If I were a bad person, I wouldn’t have agreed to give a ride to a child of unknown origin," Sofia couldn’t help retorting.
"So, you’re pretty good," the boy smiled.
The food was served. Sofia thought for a moment, placed the beer in front of herself, and gave the juice to the boy.
After opening the beer and taking a sip, Sofia gently exhaled. The alcohol seemed to slightly suppress the shock from the encounter a few hours ago.
Just as she was about to take a second sip, she suddenly realized the boy had stood up from his seat!
Under Sofia’s horrified gaze, she saw the boy casually walk towards the bar, towards those heavily made-up women!
Sofia was stunned!
The boy walked over and actually exchanged a few words with those women. The prostitutes seemed surprised as well and looked rather impatient—though one of them, who seemed more good-natured, spoke a few words with the boy.
Soon, the boy came back.
Sofia was still stunned. "You..."
"This is for you."
The boy opened his palm and placed something on the table, gently rolling it towards Sofia.
It was a cigarette.
"For me?" Sofia was a bit surprised.
"Yes. You received a bit of a scare today. I know you humans habitually use alcohol or tobacco to calm and relax your emotions. I actually smelled tobacco in your car earlier, so I figured you were a smoker. But later, on the road, you were very anxious and silent—and you didn’t smoke. So I concluded that you must have run out of cigarettes."
With trembling fingers, Sofia picked up the cigarette, placed it between her lips, her face pale. "But... but I don’t have a light."
The boy smiled and snapped his fingers softly.
SIZZLE!
The tip of the cigarette in Sofia’s mouth instantly ignited!
Sofia jumped, subconsciously inhaled, and immediately began to cough violently. She quickly glanced around, and finding no one paying attention to them, felt slightly relieved.
"You..."
"Just consider it the magic of a ’god’," the boy said with a smile.
Saying this, he picked up the food before him and began to taste it.
He took only one bite of the meatloaf before spitting it out, frowning. "It completely lacks the sweet flavor of life. It’s like eating a rotten corpse."
Sofia was speechless.
Then, the boy grabbed a piece of waffle and took a bite.
The waffles from this small-town diner weren’t actually good, nor were they freshly made. They were likely the type bought frozen in bags and stored in a freezer. When a customer ordered them, a few pieces would be taken out, heated in an oven or microwave, topped with a bit of cream, and then served. The taste was crude and carelessly prepared.
But after taking a bite, the boy’s eyes suddenly narrowed.
He smiled with satisfaction. "This tastes pretty good. As good as cookies."
Alright then...
Sofia thought to herself disparagingly: Clearly, this Creator God has a penchant for high-calorie, high-sugar foods.
「On the eastern section of Daming Road.」
A residential complex with buildings that had relatively new-looking exteriors. The ground floor along the street had been transformed into a row of storefront shops.
One of them sported a sign that read "Chess and Card Room."
Inside, the first-floor hall contained several card tables, but it was quiet and devoid of customers. At the store entrance, two chairs were placed, with two men sitting there bored, smoking and looking around.
A self-built staircase inside the shop connected the first and second floors. Up the stairs, the second-floor corridor was lined with mahjong private rooms, from which the clattering sound of shuffling mahjong tiles echoed. At the end of the corridor was another staircase.
Up this staircase, the third floor had several open rooms set up like offices, though nothing seemed particularly formal or serious. Inside, three or five men were playing poker. The end of the corridor led to a room with double doors.
Beyond the double doors was a large suite. The outer area was a large office, decorated in a style that aimed for opulence but came across as gaudy and cheap. Off to the side of the office was another door, leading to a small bedroom.
At that moment, the bedroom door opened from inside.
A middle-aged man with a crew cut emerged, adjusting his belt as he walked. He had a lewd grin on his face and playfully slapped the behind of a scantily clad woman following close behind him.
The woman had decent looks, but her makeup was thick and gaudy, and she carried an indescribable air of worldliness, a certain cheapness. Walking into the outer office, she picked up a jacket tossed on the sofa, adjusted her undergarments, and put the jacket on. Only then did she turn back, shoot him a coquettish look, and bat away his hand, which was stroking her thigh-high stockings.
"Brother Ping, haven’t you had enough yet?" the woman giggled, yet she grabbed the man’s hand, settled into his lap, and cooed, "Didn’t I please you well enough just now?"
The man smiled, allowing the woman to sit on his lap. His gaze then fell on the cigarette pack on the coffee table.
The woman, instantly understanding, picked up the pack, took out a cigarette, lit it in her own mouth, took a drag, and then placed it in the man’s mouth.
The man took a drag from the cigarette and sighed softly. "Tell me, how did you get to be so perceptive? No wonder I’m so infatuated with you."
"Is it just because I’m perceptive? Isn’t it also because I please you the best~"
"Hahahaha! That’s also true!" The man laughed loudly and deliberately, without restraint.
There was a knock on the office door. The woman arched an eyebrow, about to get up from the man’s lap.
But the man lazily smiled, held the woman tightly, preventing her from getting up, and then commanded coldly, "Come in!"
The gold-chained man who had caused trouble at Zhang Linsheng’s shop entered. Seeing the scene in the room, he paused for a moment, then smiled. "Brother Ping, I hope I’m not interrupting..."
"Stop with the nonsense. If you have something to say, say it," Brother Ping said, smoking his cigarette, one hand still resting on the woman’s thigh.
"It’s about that car dealership. Yesterday, they didn’t listen and even fought back, remember? Today, I took some guys to stir up trouble, but we came up empty. They’ve closed down."
"Ha!" Brother Ping sneered. "Quite cunning of them."
"Brother Ping, we can’t just let this go," the gold-chained man said, rubbing his head where the wound still throbbed. He grimaced. "This beating I took can’t be for nothing..."
"So, what do you want to do?"
"We can’t get at the shop, so I’ll definitely corner that kid in private!" A fierce glint flashed in the gold-chained man’s eyes.
"Of course, you can’t take a beating for nothing," Brother Ping said, patting the woman’s rear to make her get up. He then stood and walked over to the gold-chained man, cursing in a low voice, "Are you fucking brain-dead, or what?"
The gold-chained man was baffled.
"I’ve told you countless times: making money! Making money is what’s important! All you think about is fighting and killing! Even if you want revenge for this beating, you wait until after we get the money! Keep causing trouble at his shop! He’s running a big business with a lot of cash flow; he can definitely afford to bleed. First, we extort some money. Once the money’s in hand, then we can talk! By then, he’ll think the matter is settled, feel relieved, and continue his business. Maybe he’ll even restock, build up inventory, and invest more. You don’t get it, do you? In business, the more you invest, the deeper you’re stuck! Once he’s invested a lot, his business won’t be able to withstand more trouble. That’s when you hit him again! By then, all his assets will be tied up in that business. Won’t he be completely at your mercy then? This first time, it’s just a taste of his blood. In a few days, I’ll hit him with the second strike! And with that second strike, I’m going to take a chunk of his flesh! Understand???"
Saying this, Brother Ping slapped the gold-chained man on the head.
The slap jarred his wound, causing the gold-chained man to grimace in pain, but he dared not show any displeasure. Instead, he put on an expression of admiration. "Brother Ping, you’re truly brilliant! Such a clever mind!"