Ji Ting was tossing his knife down with a smirk as he chatted with the others. His smile vanished as soon as the door opened. The teenager who rushed in was the one who went out with his mother this morning.
The teenager was obviously injured. He held the door frame as he panted desperately, “W-West Street’s people took Aunt Ji. They told me that if we wanted her back, we needed to go to West Street and find their boss.”
Ji Ting immediately stood up and moved to head out. Chris stopped him. “Don’t be hasty, Ji Ting.”
Ji Ting took a deep breath and tried to calm himself. “What do you want me to do, boss? I’ll do it.”
Chris stood up. “Let’s go to West Street and make sure Aunt Ji is safe first. Not all of us need to go. There’s no problem that can’t be solved by exchanging profits.”
His gaze swept across the people in the room. They were a close knit group whose members tended to be on the younger side. Finally, his eyes settled on Katya. Katya stepped forward.
Chris and the others arrived at West Street and immediately noticed something was wrong when they arrived at West Street. It was already night by now. The streets would usually be crowded with people and the garish signs of the shops on both sides of the street would be on, with comely men and women standing outside. However, it was strangely quiet today.
The largest entertainment club on West Street belonged to the manager of West Street.
There seemed to be some new faces guarding the door. They all wore black uniforms that set them apart from the shabbily dressed punks of West Street. Chris noted how their guns were all one model.
They didn’t even make Chris and his group leave their weapons at the door. This was rather unlike the cowardly manager of West Street.
Chris and the others entered. They were led all the way to an office at the end of the corridor.
A young man in a suit and leather shoes was the first person they saw when the door was opened. He looked very out of place here.
Chris had never met him before. This wasn’t the manager of West Street. That person was standing behind this young man with his head lowered.
The young man stood up and offered a hand. “I’m Sergei.”
It’s been a long time since Chris has engaged in a custom like this that was very common in the world outside.
After greetings, Sergei cut straight to the chase, “I heard that you have a Level S powerhouse by your side.”
He looked up. “I want to make a deal with you guys. Rest assured, we’ll just be borrowing them temporarily. You will also be well compensated for your troubles.”
Chris didn’t even blink. āA deal is fine, but I want to make sure the mother of one of our members is safe first.”
Sergei shot a look at the person standing beside him. The West Street manager bowed and explained, “We couldn’t find their base, so we used certain methods to invite them over. I told the men not to do anything offensive.”
Chris caught Ji Ting when he tried to step forward. “That may be the case, but I hope you can understand how anxious our group member is. Negotiations will have to wait.”
“For the sake of our deal…”
Sergei pondered for a few seconds. “Bring her over first.”
Chris’ grip on Ji Ting intensified as he smiled. “Could we tag along? I trust that both of us are sincere about working together this time.ā
Sergei readily agreed. Level S psychics were a rare sight in the Exile Sectors. The few that popped up on occasion basically all quickly emigrated to other countries through the galactic network’s simulation league.
Every Level S was a vital resource, especially under the current circumstances.
He stood up and inclined his head to the side. “Let’s go. A hovercar is parked outside.”
The gears in Chris’ head turned as he walked outside. Only people with a certain degree of power could afford to use hovercars here.
…
Meanwhile.
Ye Mio finally stopped on the roof of a certain factory. He squatted down and put his ear close to the floor.
Filtering out the noisy footsteps and arguments, he caught a snippet of ‘Mommy’s’ voice. She was still calling for Little Qing as gently as usual.
Ye Muo quickly stood up. He slipped down the wall and into one of the factory’s high up windows. Then he took the stairs down to the second floor.
The railings running along this floor were damaged and missing in many places, but luckily the factory was quite dim. Ye Muo pulled up the hood of his sweatshirt to cover most of his skin. He crept towards the railings on all fours like a spider.
He stopped once he had an unobstructed general view of the ground floor.
Without moving anything but his eyes, he memorized the layout before quickly locking onto his target.
There was a wide open space beneath with three grown men and a slightly younger one that wasn’t that tall. ‘Mommy’ was tugging on his arm and mumbling something, “…Little Qing, are you not eating well out here…?”
The person she was holding pulled away and impatiently replied, “Yes, and it’s all your fault. Stay away from me.”
‘Mommy’ froze for a moment before falling silent. Still, she refused to go far. Perhaps because she hasn’t tried to escape, she was not restrained in any way.
Ye Muo blinked. His hands unconsciously curled up into claws as psychic power quietly wove their way around his fingertips.
He didn’t need to think about it, just as cats never had to learn how to use their claws.
The people below seemed to be arguing even before Ye Muo came. Actually, it was one agitated man holding a gun with two other people holding him back. “Calm down, dude. Boss told us to hide her well and nothing else.”
The man grabbed the collar of one of them. “That bastard surnamed Ji killed my brother, my blood related big brother!! How could you tell me to calm down?? He needs to experience the same pain I feel. Even Boss would understand if he was here.”
Sounds and footsteps came from the main entrance. Ji Ting was at the forefront. He almost ran in followed by Katya and Chris.
Finally, the young man, the West Street manager, and their subordinates trailed behind.
Everyone inside heard the commotion and turned to look instinctively. Their grips slackened a bit.
Ye Muo vaulted over the railing.
The man raised his gun.
Ji Ting, who had just arrived, widened his eyes.
Ye Muo adjusted his direction in midair as he pounced on the man like a cat.
A gunshot sounded.
Ye Muo’s figure intertwined with the man before darting past. He landed lightly with his back to the man, still barefoot. The hood of the sweatshirt slipped off.
He straightened.
The man behind him slowly fell to the floor with a muffled sound, a gaping hole in his chest. Ye Muo destroyed his heart almost instantly but he still managed to pull the trigger. That bullet missed its target and pinged off the floor.
Ye Muo stared at his hand that was dripping with blood. Crimson rivulets rolled down his arm as that sensation lingered in his fingertips.
Even he seemed surprised by this outcome.
But he soon put it aside for he did not understand what this meant.
Actually, the only thought that passed his mind was that he had dirtied his hand. Surely he could do it a little cleaner next time with some practice.
There was a deafening silence in the factory. Ye Muo paid no mind to the group near the entrance.
He turned to look at ‘Mommy’.
Only then did the three thugs near him react and subconsciously back away from him. A drop of blood had splattered onto Ye Muo’s cheek along the way.
And ‘Mommy’ was clutching the arm of that short young man, looking at Ye Muo in a way he had never seen before.
Ye Mo took a step towards ‘Mommy’. “Mommy…”
He soon stopped. His ‘mommy’ pulled the young man back a step.
Ye Muo had already lowered his hand. Fresh blood was still dripping from his fingertips. He tilted his head and murmured with some confusion, “Mommy?”
‘Mommy’ backed away with the young man, shielding him with her own body. She looked at Ye Muo imploringly, “Don’t come over. Don’t hurt my Little Qing…”
The young man hid behind her and nodded desperately, “Yes, yes, yes!”
Ye Muo obediently stopped in his tracks, but he was still very confused. He pressed his right hand to his chest, puzzled and a little sad. “Little Qing is…here, ah.”
Several images flashed before his eyes. A woman hugged him and gently murmured, “Don’t cry, ah. Our Little Muo won’t cry anymore.”
Ye Muo didn’t know who that woman was, but the stuffy feeling in his chest suddenly lightened. He slowly let go.
The group at the entrance also recovered. Ji Ting was the first to run over. He shot Ye Muo a complicated look but ran past him all the way to Aunt Ji. “Come here, Mom. Let’s go.”
Aunt Ji in turn grabbed Ji Ting’s hand. “With Little Qing. Let’s go home.”
Ji Ting clawed at his hair in frustration before having to play along. “Fine, fine. We’ll take Little Qing home.”
Chris and Katya were close behind. They stopped not far from Ji Ting in a way that separated Ye Muo from Aunt Ji.
Then the others tentatively approached. They only closed in when Ye Muo just stood there with no reaction to their presence.
Sergei walked over to stand by Chris. He glanced back with obvious interest at Ye Muo. “He one of yours?”
He then glanced at Ji Ting and put together what Ye Muo had just said. “His little brother?”
Chris’ expression remained neutral. Nothing good could come from arousing the interest of someone like Sergei. “My apologies. That child is somewhat wilful.”
The corner of Sergei’s lips quirked. He glossed over what had just happened. “His moves aren’t bad. What level is he?”
“He hasn’t been tested since heās still in his psychic power development period. We were planning to wait until he reached adulthood. As you know, the testing is very expensive.”
Sergei suddenly turned to Ye Muo. “Is that so? Come here, little man.”
The hearts of Chris and everyone in his group skipped a beat, but they had no choice but to grit their teeth and turn to look at Ye Muo.
Ye Muo was still barefoot. He subconsciously glanced at ‘Mommy’. ‘Mommy’ told him to stay where he was earlier.Ā
