Chapter 1 Chapter One

Chapter 1: Chapter One

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"Ah, okay, Mom. It's summer in the Republic of Barta right now, so it's not cold. Mm-hmm, I'll be careful and won't catch a cold."

Tilting my head to hold my phone between my shoulder and ear, I folded the small blanket on my lap and put it into my bag. As the airship entered the Republic of Barta, the indoor temperature noticeably rose.

"Did you receive the fruit I bought on Taobao? Mm, glad it arrived. In a few days, a few more boxes of local specialties I bought from other cities will be shipped over."

After chatting with my family for a while, I glanced out the window at the increasingly larger and clearer city and stopped chatting with my mom.

"The airship will be landing soon, Mom. I need to pack up, so let's end here. Mwah! Bye-bye!"

I hung up the phone, smiled at the science-freak-looking guy covered in piercings sitting across from me, took the bulky fruit out of my bag and placed it on the table, then stuffed my Bluetooth earphones and novels back into the bag.

"These are wogan, a fruit from my hometown. They taste great, Illumi. You can try one."

He reached out, took the wogan, thanked me, and slowly peeled it. He seemed a bit lazy, and compared to his gray, stud-covered horror-movie face, the skin on his hands and feet was a nice, cool pale.

"Mmm, it's good... Well, I can have someone buy some to send home."

He pulled out his phone and quickly tapped on it with one hand, then put it away and continued chatting with me.

"Oh, right, Li He, if you're just visiting this country as a tourist, after you get off the airship, you can head to Heaven's Arena first. There's a direct bus from the entrance. After that, you can go to Kukuroo Mountain—the air up there is fresh, and you can take photos freely at the Testing Gate."

Illumi raised a finger with a serious look, his voice was magnetic with a slight electronic edge, with a playful tone. Honestly, having traveled all over the place over the years, this was the first time I'd heard such a weird but interesting voice.

"Oh, okay, okay." I pulled out my little notebook and jotted down these two places in my travel plan, mumbling to myself, "Yeah, it's better to ask locals for travel tips. Online, it's all just recommendations for baths and Zoldyck stuff..."

Just then, the airship started to descend slowly. I stood up, straightened my white dress, and put on my backpack, then said a proper goodbye to Illumi.

So, first stop—Heaven's Arena! Anyway, the direct bus is free, lol!

"Ahhh!! Kill that kid!"

"Taro! Go! Tear him apart!"

With a bucket of popcorn in one hand and a Coke in the other, I stood out from the crazy crowd and calmly swallowed the popcorn. Up ahead, a guy got so excited he jumped up and waved his arms, shouting down. He was over three meters tall, completely blocking my view.

"..." Hey, could you think about the short person behind you?

I put the popcorn down on my seat, stood up, and tapped him on the back.

"Uh... sir..."

He ignored me, still shouting like crazy.

"Hey... mister...?"

He turned around, face red and neck veins bulging, glaring at me.

"Get lost! You bitch, can't you see I'm trying to—"

Before he could finish, the guy flew backward like a cannonball.

"BAM!"

Everyone "..."

The audience below and around me fell silent. The two fighters on the stage froze for a moment. I calmly pulled my foot back, picked up my popcorn, and sat back down, my face as deadpan as a comic strip.

"Rude old man, tsk."

...But the view is much clearer now.

The entire match concluded with a three-meter empty radius around me. By the time it was over, the sky had darkened. I went to the betting counter to collect my winnings and prepared to find a hotel to stay at.

"Hmm... hotels near Heaven's Arena cost 48,000 Jenny a night." I puffed my cheeks and did the exchange rate math, finding it was over 3,000 RMB a night. "Ah, well, prices in bustling areas are really high too."

Back home, a decent hotel suite only costs about 300 RMB.

But after thinking about the 300,000 Jenny I'd just won, I decided I was too lazy to go far to find a cheaper place.

"I'll book five days for now... I'll win some more money in the next few days and then head to the food district."

So I dragged my suitcase into this hotel, which looked fairly luxurious.

Outside, a light rain began to fall. A hint of chill seeped through the gap in the glass window, brushing against my skin and carrying away the warmth from my bath. I was glad my laziness had kicked in earlier, preventing me from finding a cheap hotel. Otherwise, I'd probably be soaked by now, instead of drying my hair and enjoying the city's night view.

In the distance, Heaven's Arena towered into the clouds. The streetlights below softened and blurred in the rain, and the entire city was bathed in colorful lights, looking quite beautiful.

Suddenly, a dark figure flashed past the glass in front of me. A slender child glanced at you from outside the window, his silver-white hair plastered to his face by the drizzle, like a pitiful yet adorable stray cat. But his eyes were deep and filled with aggression.

The child landed quickly and dashed toward a beautiful woman emerging from a restaurant across the street. Her bodyguards reacted first—one pulled out a knife but was taken down with a hand through the chest before he could strike, while the other drew a gun and fired, only to fall into a pool of blood a second later. The woman stumbled and fled into the distance, her sharp, desperate scream piercing the night sky—until her heart was ripped out the next moment.

"...Ah, the public safety in this city isn't great. Our China is much safer."

I pulled the curtains shut, hung the towel I'd used to dry my hair on the rack, then picked up the remote and turned on the TV to catch the latest movies in this country.

...Well, today I'll watch *The Rampaging Zoldyck*. I'm planning to visit there in a couple of days anyway.