Arriving just in the nick of time was none other than Li Ang.
He had Tang Ranno wait downstairs for backup, communicating via walkie-talkies. Meanwhile, he donned an ordinary black windbreaker and sunglasses, carrying a bulging, opaque yellow plastic bag. He stood in the corridor like any other delivery guy, peering onto the floor.
He utilized the hallucinogenic function of Cat's Eye to temporarily control the rampaging programmer, making him appear as if he'd suddenly frozen.
Damn!
Upon seeing the scene on the floor, Li Ang visibly tensed. He strode over quickly, moving through the crowd and shouting at the dazed Chen Furuo, "Let's talk this out! Put away that stapler!"
He snatched the stapler from Chen Furuo's hand, gave it a flick, and casually pocketed it.
The overweight executive, still lying on the ground gasping in shock, managed a strained, grateful smile when he saw Li Ang approach. "Bro, give me a hand, help me up..."
WHOOSH!
Li Ang pulled a gleaming fruit knife from his windbreaker, shoved it into the still-dazed Chen Furuo's hands, and patted his shoulder. "A stapler isn't powerful enough. This will do a better job."
Shit! Another lunatic!
The executive cursed internally. He struggled to get up, only to be pinned down by Li Ang's foot on his chest, immobilizing him.
Li Ang gazed earnestly at the executive. "Bro," he said, "your face is all flabby, your limbs are bloated and swollen, and your tongue coating is green. These are clear signs of rising liver fire, high blood lipids, and clogged blood vessels. You could have a vascular rupture or a sudden cardiac arrest at any moment. So, you'd better lie there and not move."
With that, he ignored the executive's struggles and stabbed the knife into the floor beside the executive's neck, its sharp blade angled against his carotid artery.
WHOOSH!
Li Ang then took several more fruit knives from an inside pocket of his coat and thrust them into the floor around the executive's body. If the executive dared to move, he would be severely cut by the blades.
As he placed the knives, he still wore a smile. "Bro," he said, "I'm doing this for your own good. It's to train your resilience."
The executive felt the chill of the blades near his neck, head, and armpits, and broke into a cold sweat. Unable to turn his head, he could only cast imploring glances at his subordinates out of the corners of his eyes.
A few employees snapped back to reality. They began to retreat, simultaneously pulling out their phones to call for official help.
Before they could get far, Li Ang picked up a knife from the floor and casually threw it.
The spinning Flying Knife whizzed past the ear of an employee who had just raised his phone, embedding itself into the wall with a THUD.
"No calling for help, okay?"
Li Ang smiled. "I'm pretty accurate when I throw knives."
Now, no one dared to move. They just stood there foolishly.
The corpulent executive on the ground nearly broke into tears. "You… who exactly are you?"
"Me? You don't know who I am?"
Li Ang smiled. "Landed in North America, straight off an aircraft carrier. Not much family wealth, but I spend lavishly. Graduated from Massachusetts, handsome as a movie star. Tall and dignified, standing at six-foot-one. Employed at the White House, versed in ancient and modern lore. Just got engaged to a European princess. Youthful despite grey hair, with the aura of a sage. When I have free time, I idly browse a popular Q&A platform. Too many acquaintances, so I stay anonymous."
The executive was stunned for a moment, his greasy face etched with confusion. "…What?"
"You don't understand?" Li Ang frowned, annoyed. "I'm your Brother Hu."
Facing this potentially unstable delivery guy, the executive dared not make any threats. He only managed to force a flattering expression. "Brother Hu, you're like my own brother. What exactly do you want? I'll satisfy you as much as I can. Money too..."
"Shut your mouth!"
Li Ang glared furiously and shouted, "Don't try to insult me with your filthy money!"
The executive was even more confused. "You… you don't want money? Then what do you want?"
Li Ang spoke with anguish, "Is money all you see in this world? I just can't understand why such vulgar rhetoric that violates core values has become so widespread, and why some people are even proud of this twisted worldview. I don't know who these people are, nor do I want to know. I just hope everyone can calm down a bit and work together to build a harmonious and friendly city, to protect our beloved Yin City. Yin City up, up!"
Although Li Ang's tone was anguished, his mouth was curving into a smile.
The executive, however, couldn't smile at all. He was on the verge of tears, a knot of despair in his stomach. "Brother Hu, please let me go. I have a family to support."
"Hey, stop playing the family card."
Li Ang waved his hand and said kindly to the executive, "Everyone must die someday. I will take care of your wife and children, so don't you worry."
"..."
This time, the executive truly began to cry. Tears streamed down his cheeks. "Big brother, please spare me."
"Spare you? For what? Didn't you just say you wanted to ask your buddies on the streets to take care of this gentleman here?"
Li Ang rubbed his chin. "For a boss like you, with tens of millions in assets, it's too easy to mess with a small fry."
The executive hastily shouted at the top of his lungs, "I was joking! Just joking! How could I harm him? We all work in the same company. I handle management and coordination, and he does programming. Different responsibilities, but we're equal as people. We're all good brothers!"
"Shut it! Don't insult the word 'brothers'."
Li Ang said angrily, "Can't you show some respect for men? Hearing your words makes me tremble with rage! On a hot day like this, I'm breaking out in a cold sweat, my hands and feet are ice-cold. Can this society even get better? What do men have to do to satisfy you people? My eyes are tearing up, I can't help it! This land is filled with the oppression of men! When will men truly be able to stand tall?"
Li Ang's angry expression seemed genuine. The executive's mind went blank for a moment, unsure how to respond. After a while, he finally mumbled, "He started insulting me first..."
"How petty!"
Li Ang scolded, "Why do you only see the speck in others' eyes but fail to notice the log in your own? Would he have insulted you if you hadn't provoked him? A single hand can't clap."
Having said that, Li Ang grasped the executive's neck with one hand and repeatedly slapped his face with the other. The crisp sound of slaps echoed throughout the floor.
"Hmm, it seems a single hand *can* make quite a sound after all."
Li Ang looked at the executive, whose face was now swollen and nose bleeding profusely, and sighed. "I'm teaching you about the strength of the working class. Let's see if you still dare to exploit your employees while spouting high-sounding nonsense. From now on, take good care of yourself. Remember to drink on time, and add a few cefalexin tablets to your alcohol. If you feel unwell, smoke more. Remember to stay up late every night. When it's cold, wear only short sleeves and sandals. Don't forget to browse a popular microblogging site when crossing the street. Remember to have late-night snacks and skip breakfast. When you're sick, just gulp down any medicine you can find. And don't forget your ten packs of cigarettes a day. Do you understand?"
The executive's face was swollen, his jaw dislocated, and several of his teeth had been knocked out. His consciousness was completely blurred, and he was unable to utter a word.
With such injuries, his future would likely be spent with a contorted face and slurred speech, surviving on liquid food.
Li Ang nodded in satisfaction. He picked up the knives from the floor around the executive's body and casually released Chen Furuo from the illusion.
Once the illusion was lifted, Chen Furuo, who had been stunned until now, blinked. The redness in his eyes faded somewhat, though his mind was still foggy.
"What's... what happened to me?"
He staggered back several steps, and the fruit knife dropped from his hand, which Li Ang deftly caught.
"Kidney deficiency. It always acts up after overexertion."
Li Ang tucked the fruit knife inside his coat, patted Chen Furuo on the shoulder, and placed him under an illusion once more. He then turned to nod at the dumbfounded employees. "You can make your calls now."
The group of employees remained frozen in fear. Li Ang walked through the crowd, pulled the fruit knife from the wall, slipped it into his coat, and took the elevator downstairs with the dazed Chen Furuo.
Downstairs, Tang Ranno's pupils constricted when she saw him emerge with an ordinary-looking person. She frowned. "Is it resolved?"
"Sort of," Li Ang said nonchalantly. "But I haven't heard the System prompt for mission completion yet. This might be because the second phase of the mission objective is to prevent the act of violence. I guess it will only count as mission completion when this programmer completely loses the ability to commit violence. That's not to say we must paralyze the programmer. Simply binding him securely in chains and leaving him in an unnoticed corner of the city until the curse is fully lifted should also count as completion. By the way, what about that friend of yours who's an expert in the occult and supposedly can lift curses?"
Tang Ranno replied without hesitation, "She's out of town. She won't make it."
Of course, that was a lie. In reality, her close friend was racing against time to reach Tang Ranno and provide support before the mission was completed.
After all, the shield against friendly fire would disappear once the mission was completed...
Li Ang nodded. He didn't reveal that his Cat's Eye Special Effect also possessed the ability to create illusions and carry out mental attacks.
Continuously controlling Chen Furuo with illusions could weaken the curse's impact.
The two led the dazed Chen Furuo some distance further, into a dark alley.
Suddenly, Tang Ranno's expression changed drastically. She spotted a figure in a hoodie across the street. She instantly materialized a Tiger Finger Full Set and equipped them, entering a combat stance.
Her Title Skill as a model, named 'All Eyes', had a Special Effect: whenever anyone looked at her, she could passively discern the emotions contained within their gazes. This skill not only allowed her to predict the direction of an attack to some extent during life-or-death battles, but also enabled her to detect hidden enemies harboring ill intentions.
Staring at the hooded figure across the street, Tang Ranno was on full alert. She called out urgently, "He's a player!"
The person approaching was not her close friend.
Without needing her to say anything, Li Ang, who also sensed something amiss, immediately activated his Cat's Eye Special Effect and unleashed a high-intensity illusion at the stranger. He also activated the Special Effect of his Phase Boots, sinking into the ground. Guided by Miss Chai from below, he moved rapidly beneath the surface, quickly crossing the entire street. He reached the unidentified player, grabbed his ankle, and dragged him into an unoccupied dark alley on the other side.
Li Ang's illusion could only affect this player for less than half a second.
But by the time the player regained his senses, he found his wrists and ankles shattered. He was lying face down on the ground, with the point of the Triangular Bone Tipped Spear already pressed against his back.
In the alley, which had no surveillance cameras, Li Ang created illusions to block the view of pedestrians on the street. He then said coldly to the mysterious player, "Don't move."
The man in the hoodie didn't dare to budge. He allowed Li Ang to lean down and strip away his hood, sunglasses, and mask.
It was a young man's face, vaguely familiar to Li Ang. His left eye socket didn't hold a normal eyeball but a constantly trembling Mechanical eye.
This was a teammate I was matched with at Ibaraki Middle School... Black Trojan?