Chapter 1 Catherine's Bar

At this moment, inside a private room at Catherine's Bar.

Several young men and women were gathered, chatting idly, surrounded by tiny, floating blue specks of light.

They occasionally touched these light specks with their fingers.

It seemed to be a game to see who could react the fastest.

Before being touched, the blue light specks would suddenly change direction and accelerate, dodging.

Whoever touched one first got to make one of the others immediately drink a small glass of alcohol.

While these people were playing their game, a short-haired girl in a striped sweater sat in a corner.

The girl's clothes were black and white, the sweater hem dragging down to her knees. She was kicking her short legs back and forth, sprawled on the sofa, watching her friends' game with some boredom.

"Da Zhuang, you seem to be in a bad mood today?"

A girl playing the game quietly approached and asked in a low voice.

"It's nothing, just a little bored," the short-haired girl said listlessly.

"What's boring?"

"Here, home, school, everything is boring." Da Zhuang waved her hand, seemingly trying to shake off the unpleasant, oppressive mood in her head.

Although she knew it was useless, at least she was resisting a little. It relieved some of the pressure in her heart.

"Then let's go out and sing. There's a new, handsome bartender, maybe he's your type?" her friend said with a low laugh.

"Is there any point?" Da Zhuang's expression didn't change.

"No point, but isn't it good to be comfortable for a while?" her friend said casually.

"I'm not interested in that." Da Zhuang refused.

Her depression didn't mean she was willing to indulge herself. Although she looked average and her figure was average, with no particular charm, she was too lazy to get plastic surgery or reshape her body.

Just let it be.

Anyway, she was an ignored presence at home. Her older siblings were all competing for their dazzling and successful achievements.

A family member like her, without talent, unpopular at home, and without resources, couldn't change anything even with hard work.

Might as well give up.

"Really not going? I'm going if you don't?" her friend laughed.

"Go, go, I'll pay." Da Zhuang raised her glass, clinked it against her friend's, and drank it all in one gulp.

Money, she could never use up her monthly allowance. Compared to young people from ordinary small families, she was carefree, relaxed, happy, and satisfied.

But it was meaningless.

She'd rather not have so much money, she just wanted freedom.

Complete freedom.

As she drank, a trace of mist involuntarily filled Da Zhuang's eyes.

Through the bubble of reality, she watched the people coming and going outside, seemingly lost in thought.

Huh!?

Suddenly, her gaze fixed.

'That is...'

She wasn't sure, squinting her eyes. Three red focusing dots automatically appeared in her eyeballs, and the high-precision camera implanted in her eye began to adjust the clarity.

She saw a girl with bright red hair and a gray hat wearing a gray trench coat by the bar near the entrance. She was wearing a mask and excitedly looking around.

This was a newbie, someone who probably hadn't been to this kind of place many times.

There were always newbies in bars, but this one seemed familiar.

Especially those eyes...

'Wait... could it be...' Da Zhuang suddenly thought of something, and her pupils contracted.

The gray-hat girl's eyes were very pretty, curved like she was always smiling, bright and happy, with a hint of curiosity and innocence.

'Could it be Zhao Qianrou?' The more Da Zhuang looked, the more it seemed like her.

She said a few words to her friends, got up, left the private room, and walked towards the girl.

* * *

*Pa.*

On the bar counter, a freshly made cup of honey and wolfberry milk was placed in front of Li Cheng Yi.

"Thank you," he replied quietly.

In this place, his burly and strong physique wasn't eye-catching among the young people who wore exoskeletons like outerwear.

Hidden under his clothes, no one knew whether he was real muscle or exoskeleton.

He'd been in the bar for half an hour. He carefully observed many people, but their mental states didn't meet the requirements for his chosen Holy Infant.

So he simply sat down at the entrance to wait.

That way, he could sense everyone who came and went up close.

He picked up the honey milk, took a sip, exhaled, and looked around at the others.

On the high stool to his left, a young man with blond hair was swiveling back and forth. He had earrings, nose rings, and a chin ring, all kinds of rings, his eyes were red and blue, his lips were painted dark red, and he had two fangs showing in his mouth.

It was hard to tell what he was dressed as, maybe a vampire?

Li Cheng Yi glanced at the blond man talking on his phone and turned his gaze to the other side.

To his right was a young girl wearing a gray trench coat and a gray round hat.

She was also wearing a mask, and her eyes were very pretty.

Next to her, a handsome man was leaning in, chatting with her, obviously trying to pick her up.

The two seemed to be chatting happily. The girl kept giggling, amused by his teasing.

But as they chatted, the handsome man naturally brushed his arm across a glass of wine in front of the girl.

In that instant, the skin under his arm automatically split open a crack.

A device inside the crack dripped a clear liquid into the wine, dissolving instantly and invisibly.

The whole process took less than half a second.

In the chaotic light, no one around noticed it.

Except for Li Cheng Yi.

He watched as the girl raised the glass to her mouth.

*Pa.*

Out of the goodness of his heart as a kind person, he reached out and slapped her arm.

The girl's arm was knocked askew, and the wine spilled, covering the table.

"Sorry, I accidentally bumped into you. Let me buy you another drink," Li Cheng Yi said magnanimously, pulling out a tissue and handing it to her.

"..."

The girl blinked, looking at him.

"Are you the legendary good person?" Her voice was very pleasant, very delicate, like a musical instrument humming softly.

Even a normal question had a cute, flirtatious quality.

"Why do you say that?" Li Cheng Yi asked.

But the girl didn't have time to answer.

The handsome man next to her, angered by his interference, immediately got up and approached Li Cheng Yi, reaching out to grab him.

"What do you mean? Was that on purpose?"

The man grabbed Li Cheng Yi's shoulder, yanking hard, trying to pull him off the stool.

But he didn't budge.

His expression changed slightly, and he was about to call for help.

But his shoulder hurt, and the man was grabbed by a large, broad hand.

He was pressed tightly against Li Cheng Yi's side, unable to move.

"You!?"

"I recorded the process of you spiking her drink," Li Cheng Yi said softly.

"!!?" The handsome man's expression changed slightly. "What do you want?"

"Is your family rich?"

"? Yes... not much."

"Do you have ten million?"

"...No."

"Then you must be doing pretty well around here?" Li Cheng Yi asked again.

"I'm just average..." The handsome man felt that something was wrong, and his vigilance increased sharply.

"Let me tell you, I have something that can change your fate, change your life, and allow you to reach the pinnacle of life from now on..."

"Wait, I'll give you money! Thank you, I don't need it, don't contact me again, goodbye!"

The handsome man's face changed drastically. He immediately slapped a wad of money from his pocket, shrank down, and ran away like an eel.

Leaving only a jacket in Li Cheng Yi's hand.

Li Cheng Yi looked blank. He didn't know what happened.

But the fear +1 feedback from the Evil Flower clearly showed that the handsome man was really scared and ran away.

The gray-hat girl who had almost been drugged was now laughing uncontrollably.

Not only that, but the people near Li Cheng Yi were unconsciously moving away from him.

As if afraid of what he might do.

"What's going on?" Li Cheng Yi was a little confused.

"Good person, they think you're a preacher," the gray-hat girl explained, catching her breath after laughing.

"You know?" Li Cheng Yi asked in surprise.

"Yeah, that guy was trying to drug me, I saw it," the girl nodded.

"Then why aren't you afraid?" Li Cheng Yi asked, puzzled.

"Because there's no need to be. I just wanted to tease him anyway," the girl said with a smile.

"Okay... I was meddling."

"No, I'm different. If it were someone else, he might have succeeded. Good person, you did the right thing. This society needs more of your positive energy," the gray-hat girl said seriously.

"You're a little strange," Li Cheng Yi laughed.

"Good person, is this your first time here?"

"Yes, I've never been to Chao Yu before. This is the first time I've even been to this city," Li Cheng Yi said honestly.

"No wonder you don't know... there are a lot of Hai Sha Cult recruiters here. Many of them use preaching as an excuse to find good-looking men, brainwash them, and assault them. It's said that many people were brainwashed into idiocy by the time they were rescued," the girl explained in a low voice.

"Hai Sha Cult?" Li Cheng Yi was speechless. "Why do they only trick men?"

"I don't know... but it might be related to their doctrines, something about how the purpose of sex is only for procreation, and that homosexuality is true love..." The gray-hat girl shook her head.

She felt it was interesting. It was only her fourth day out, and she'd already encountered something fun.

It wasn't the first time she'd been drugged, to be precise, it was the sixth time she'd been drugged in a bar.

But out of all those times, this was the only time someone had stepped in to stop it. The rest of the time, the people around had just watched the show.

The only good person was the black-haired, bespectacled guy next to her.

She had snuck out to play, just to find some excitement, to find a different kind of life.

Now, it seemed like she'd found it.

"Good person, what's your name?" the girl asked, "I'm Zhao Xiaoli."

"Li Zhenchun," Li Cheng Yi made up a name.

"Li, are you here on a business trip?"

"I've just never seen a big city, a self-circulating city, so I came to broaden my horizons. I don't have any specific purpose."

The two of them exchanged a few words, and slowly started an awkward conversation.

Both of them were using fake names and had no intention of exchanging contact information. They were just lazily passing the time.

Time slowly passed.

Li Cheng Yi said goodbye to Zhao Xiaoli and left the bar. Today was another fruitless day.

Although he'd identified a few targets, they all needed further investigation.

He had just walked out of the bar, not far away.

Suddenly, a faint, painful wail came from a nearby alley.

He vaguely remembered hearing this voice somewhere before.

He turned and walked into the alley.

He hadn't walked a hundred meters, turned a corner, and he saw a torso and head lying on the ground in the dark alley.

(End of Chapter)