Chapter 120: Confrontation

Chapter 120: Clash

Bubble, bubble—

The red oil hotpot was bubbling, Li Nianchuan swished the tripe while observing their expressions.

Xu Meng had just come out of the cleaning center today; she looked the same as before, eating slowly and quietly, barely noticeable even at the dinner table.

Zhu Ning seemed to have lost her appetite, hardly touching her chopsticks. Li Nianchuan asked cautiously, "Zhu Ning, don't you like hotpot?"

This was an internet-famous restaurant, and Li Nianchuan had to pay extra for a scalper ticket to get in.

Zhu Ning sighed, smelling the red oil broth, "I used to love it, but I've given it up now."

Li Nianchuan: "?"

Given it up? Why?

Zhu Ning sighed again, with a look of reminiscence, "I used to work as a cashier in a hotpot restaurant."

Hotpot restaurants are all similar. Zhu Ning sat by the pot, surrounded by the bustling noise of people. For a moment, she felt everyone around her was a pollutant, and the cash register drawer was filled with fingers.

After working in a hotpot restaurant, she developed a conditioned reflex. Now, if she were to dive into the kitchen, she could help serve dishes here.

Li Nianchuan had a knack for choosing places.

Li Nianchuan: "What kind of cashier? Are you still working part-time? Do you need money? I can lend you some."

That's not right; Zhu Ning should be wealthier than Li Nianchuan.

Zhu Ning couldn't muster the enthusiasm to pick up her chopsticks, looking at the tripe, "There was a mission once, also at a famous hotpot restaurant."

Though she was speaking to Li Nianchuan, this sentence was directed at Xu Meng.

Li Nianchuan didn't understand after listening for a long time, "When did you go?"

He counted on his fingers, Zhu Ning was new, and she had only been on three missions. None of them involved a hotpot restaurant.

Xu Meng put down her chopsticks, "She must be talking about the tomb post mission."

"Tomb post?" Li Nianchuan exclaimed, "You actually got a tomb post!"

Li Nianchuan's voice suddenly became louder, but fortunately, it was a hotpot restaurant, and the surroundings were quite noisy. Zhu Ning said, "Keep your voice down, ancestor."

Li Nianchuan glanced around and lowered his voice, "Big shot, you were actually chosen by Prometheus?"

Li Nianchuan had tried at midnight, poking his fingers until they bled, but he never got anything. Eventually, he gave up completely.

Zhu Ning looked deeply at Li Nianchuan, suddenly understanding a phrase: the more you know about the world, the more painful it becomes. Li Nianchuan, being so useless, actually lived a happy life?

For a moment, she envied that kind of happiness, a beauty untouched by the filth of the world?

Zhu Ning deliberately steered the conversation here, asking, "What about the captain? Has the captain ever gotten one?"

Li Nianchuan looked over excitedly, Xu Meng always looked directly into Zhu Ning's eyes when speaking, "Yes, I'm a level 7 user."

They had left a game unfinished at the poker table, and now, their positions hadn't changed, as if the abandoned village was just a pause button.

They returned to the poker table, starting to reveal their cards to each other.

Zhu Ning smiled back, "As expected of the captain, very impressive."

She remembered that Mountain Cat was level 11. Xu Meng liked to keep a low profile and would choose a middle value, maintaining her level at a moderate high, neither drawing attention nor missing out on more missions.

This was typical of Xu Meng's style.

Li Nianchuan was stunned, then immediately understood. Xu Meng had clearly shown her abilities in the abandoned village, but the situation was dangerous, and Li Nianchuan didn't ask much.

Now there was a chance to ask, but Li Nianchuan didn't dare. He first looked at Xu Meng, then at Zhu Ning.

Xu Meng was a psychic, likely hiding her strength most of the time, like a hidden master living among ordinary people.

Xu Meng suddenly became mysterious and unpredictable in Li Nianchuan's mind.

And Zhu Ning was the strongest newcomer this year, no one surpassed her. She not only did the work of a cleaner and demon hunter but also proved during this wall-crossing mission that she would make an excellent investigator outside the walls.

Li Nianchuan sighed, realizing why he had survived so long, and it wasn't because of his own strength.

A garbage collection team with two big shots, his survival depended on his teammates.

Li Nianchuan didn't even want to ask what had happened to them, as he couldn't participate anyway. The only thing he could do was keep their secrets.

How did that saying go? This is the life of lying flat?

Zhu Ning: "If you're interested, I'll call you when I need to contain pollution spores."

Li Nianchuan's eyes lit up, and he immediately grabbed Zhu Ning's hand, "Boss Zhu, nice to meet you."

Zhu Ning was flattered and accepted him as a protégé on the spot.

Xu Meng's gaze never left Zhu Ning, "I remember the hotpot restaurant mission, quite an interesting one."

Zhu Ning looked back, "You paid attention to such a small mission? My level is far below yours, probably only level four now."

She hadn't logged into the tomb post since her last mission, unsure of her current user level.

Xu Meng asked with a smile, "Are you the sweetest girl in the universe?"

Such an embarrassing nickname, yet Zhu Ning showed no shame, propping her chin with one hand, "Not sweet enough?"

Zhu Ning's appearance was naturally soothing, and as the steam from the hot pot shop rose up, she was resting her chin in her hand, smiling at herself.

There was an indescribable aura about her; sometimes she would smile, but you always felt that she was dangerous.

Xu Meng said sincerely, "Very sweet."

With the last card played, Zhu Ning admitted that Cheng Mofei's bracelet was indeed in her possession, which was Xu Meng's true intention.

While eating hot pot, Li Nianchuan listened to the conversation between the big shots, completely unable to understand it, wondering if they were meeting net friends in real life.

Li Nianchuan had originally planned some other entertainment activities after the hot pot, but Zhu Ning and Xu Meng declined, saying they wanted to take a walk to digest their food and talk about sisterly matters, which Li Nianchuan did not want to join.

Li Nianchuan thought to himself, you two didn't even eat, what digestion?

Before leaving, Zhu Ning and Xu Meng formally wished Li Nianchuan success with his new business, saying they hoped he would achieve his dreams.

Li Nianchuan had been suspicious about where Zhu Ning and Xu Meng were going for a walk, but hearing this, he smiled so widely that his mouth almost reached his ears, and his smile never faded on the way home.

This was the blessing of the big shots!

...

Zhu Ning and Xu Meng watched Li Nianchuan get into his car.

"Do you think he can succeed in opening his store?" Zhu Ning asked lazily.

Xu Meng: "I think his chances of success might be higher if he stays away from us two."

Zhu Ning chuckled; if it were just a simple cleanup team, they probably wouldn't have been assigned such bizarre tasks.

After laughing, she noticed that Xu Meng had no expression on her face. After Li Nianchuan left, Xu Meng didn't even pretend anymore. They were now both enemies and friends, and it was hard to say whether there was more enmity or friendship between them.

Xu Meng said she wanted to take a walk with Zhu Ning. She clearly knew 103 District better and walked ahead while Zhu Ning followed without caring where Xu Meng was leading her.

Xu Meng chatted idly, "Are you planning to take on more tomb posts?"

Zhu Ning: "Yes, I'll check when I get home. I'm still hungry."

Zhu Ning was really hungry. She found that eating food didn't make her feel full. Ever since the black slime parasitized her body, her food source had become a source of pollution.

She was hungry again.

After dealing with Xu Meng, she might enter a polluted area and find something to eat.

Xu Meng frowned. What did Zhu Ning mean? Could she consume things?

From what Xu Meng knew, Zhu Ning's ability was metal manipulation, but it might not be that at all. Metal manipulation couldn't kill the Queen.

Zhu Ning was indeed more complicated than she had imagined.

They walked deeper into the deserted area, with fewer and fewer people around, and no streetlights, relying solely on the high-speed light sources in the sky for illumination.

This was a cluster of unfinished buildings, abandoned halfway through construction when the developers fled, leaving only the skeletal structures.

At the entrance, orange-yellow warning tape was strung up, and inside the passage, warning signs read: Federal Warning: Severe Contamination Inside, Entry Prohibited.

But there were still many graffiti and colorful paintings on the walls, with angry messages scrawled on them: "Die! The world can die!"

And someone had splashed red paint: "Give me back my blood money!"

Zhu Ning's forehead twitched; this place must have a lot of history.

Despite being an abandoned construction site, Xu Meng seemed to be returning home, lifting the warning tape at the entrance and leading Zhu Ning up floor by floor.

In the air above, there was a high-speed belt for freight transport, without a noise reduction system, making a loud rumbling sound as trains passed by.

Xu Meng stopped; they were on the twenty-fifth floor.

The unfinished building had no doors or windows. If Xu Meng wanted to kill, she could simply push Zhu Ning off from here, very convenient.

There was absolutely no surveillance here. Was this the place Xu Meng wanted to deal with her?

Xu Meng pulled out two sharp knives from behind her back. This was also Xu Meng's weapon. Zhu Ning had tested it before; it wasn't made of metal, so metal manipulation was useless.

Xu Meng got straight to the point: "Cheng Mofei's bracelet is on you?"

Zhu Ning's voice sounded very calm: "I've always carried it with me."

If Xu Meng was in combat mode, then Zhu Ning was just out for a stroll, too relaxed, which made one worry if she had any hidden moves.

Xu Meng: "Do you plan to hand it over yourself, or should I take it?"

This task was originally supposed to be handled by Mountain Cat, but Xu Meng, considering her relationship with Zhu Ning, thought she might be able to let Zhu Ning exit safely.

Zhu Ning: "Still the same conditions, I want to see the content of the bracelet."

She suspected that Xu Meng and Mountain Cat were working together, so she repeated her conditions.

This was a condition Xu Meng absolutely could not accept. The mission had already gone on for nine years, and too many people had died; they couldn't afford any more trouble.

Yongsheng Pharmaceutical was hunting Zhu Ning, and Huo Wenxi was protecting her. She had completed the desolate village mission using a mysterious method, and no one knew how she did it, making her seem very dangerous.

If she had to choose someone to cooperate with, Zhu Ning was definitely not a good choice.

Xu Meng: "I disagree."

Zhu Ning felt somewhat disappointed; no one was giving in, which meant they were going to resort to force.

She had hoped that the art of language could resolve this matter, but it seemed there was no such chance now.

Zhu Ning asked, "You're from the Cheetah Team."

Zhu Ning used a declarative sentence, as she was certain Xu Meng was definitely from the Cheetah Team.

Xu Meng frowned. If Zhu Ning's previous words had only annoyed her, now they were almost pushing Xu Meng to the edge of her patience.

Zhu Ning knew about the Cheetah Team; she might have already seen the bracelet.

Xu Meng didn't answer the question, only saying, "This is your last chance."

If Zhu Ning backed down at this moment, it would still be in time.

Zhu Ning was very assertive: "I want to see the content of the bracelet."

Without another word, Xu Meng attacked directly. The last time, Zhu Ning had only seen Xu Meng use a knife, but then it seemed Xu Meng had been holding back, and Zhu Ning hadn't seen clearly.

This time, she could see everything clearly. The long blade cut through the air, and Zhu Ning instantly felt the overwhelming pressure, even hearing the hum of the blade.

In that instant, Zhu Ning instinctively blocked, and a steel bar suddenly appeared in her hand. There were many abandoned metals in the unfinished building, and the steel bar met Xu Meng's blade.

Sss—

The long blade sliced through the steel bar like cutting tofu, with a brief resistance but no real obstruction.

Zhu Ning had been prepared. In the next second, she moved at the highest speed possible, but Xu Meng wasn't slow either. The blade just grazed Zhu Ning's shoulder.

So fast, this must be Xu Meng's true speed, comparable to the highest level of the acceleration item.

Xu Meng was very efficient; at this point, there was no need to hide anymore, or perhaps Zhu Ning had worn out Xu Meng's patience.

So Xu Meng held nothing back.

Zhu Ning only dodged, and Xu Meng was very curious about Zhu Ning's true strength.

Zhu Ning's movement speed was extraordinarily fast, and Xu Meng's speed wasn't slow either. She could move like a flowing shadow, appearing swiftly.

Thus, no matter how Zhu Ning dodged, Xu Meng stayed right behind her.

Bang bang bang—

The wall suddenly exploded, and the steel bars broke through the plaster, like bones breaking through skin. The building's steel bars bent into an arc in the air. Inside the building, Zhu Ning had absolute control over the metal.

The exploding steel bars were like the claws of a monster or a cage, reaching Xu Meng's back in the blink of an eye, slicing her shadow into pieces.

Zhu Ning was very interested in how Xu Meng would respond—dodge or turn to slash?

But Xu Meng did neither. As the sharp steel bars approached Xu Meng's back, piercing through her clothes, if they had penetrated just a second more, Xu Meng would have been impaled by dozens of steel bars.

At the moment the steel bars touched Xu Meng's skin, she suddenly turned into a black shadow, silent, and the steel bars pierced through the shadow.

The air froze, and the dark shadow was punctured with dozens of holes, like a tattered piece of cloth.

In the next moment, the tattered shadow melted, dripping to the ground, where it flowed together to form a new Xu Meng.

What a bizarre ability, she couldn't be killed physically?

Xu Meng lifted her eyes, the black pupils fading away, revealing a pair of golden vertical pupils, like those of a leopard in the deep mountains.

After rebirth, Xu Meng finally revealed her true self, changing from her previous mild and low-key demeanor to a very strong and aggressive presence, with a spreading aura of killing intent.

If Li Nianchuan were here, he might be surprised to see their mild and low-key captain transform into someone else, like a cat turning into a leopard, showing its sharp claws.

Xu Meng's eyes were dangerous in the darkness, like those of a large feline before a hunt.

She took a step forward, "Aren't you going to make a move?"

Xu Meng had tried several times to test Zhu Ning's true strength, but Zhu Ning hadn't resisted so far. Why?

Faced with Xu Meng's full killing intent, Zhu Ning remained still: "I don't think it's necessary."

Xu Meng's posture was extremely graceful; she walked over without making a sound, "Aren't you afraid I'll kill you?"

Zhu Ning: "Not afraid."

Xu Meng raised her knife: "Give me a reason."

Zhu Ning didn't say it was because she was on Xu Meng's team; their relationship hadn't reached that level.

Facing the blade, Zhu Ning didn't even flinch. She always thought Xu Meng looked ready to slice her, but wouldn't actually do it.

She had a better reason: "Because I might be Cheng Mofei's investigation target."

Sss—

Xu Meng's long blade veered off sharply when it was a palm's distance from Zhu Ning, the unstoppable blade slicing through the wall, creating a brilliant spark.

A freight train rumbled past, causing the entire unfinished building to shake.

Xu Meng looked at Zhu Ning coldly.

What was she saying?

Zhu Ning continued expressionlessly: "I am an experimental subject of Yongsheng Pharmaceutical."