184: Chapter 183 Murder and Arson: The Golden Belt
Lin Fan stood under the moonlight, the wings on his back slowly retracting.
He looked down at the two blood-covered people on the ground, his face expressionless.
The Tall Ghost-Faced Man used his remaining strength to roll over, lying on his back and gasping for air.
His gaze was unfocused, his lips were purple, and bloody foam bubbled from the corners of his mouth.
He looked at Lin Fan standing before him; those young eyes held no emotion, as if looking at two already dead corpses.
His heart went completely cold.
"Li... Little brother..."
His voice was so raspy it was almost inaudible, his throat feeling as if stuffed with a rag. "Spa... spare us..."
Lin Fan looked down at him without saying a word.
He swallowed with difficulty, bloody foam trickling down his chin.
"We... we failed to recognize your greatness... The... the things, you've taken them all back... we got nothing... please... show some mercy..."
In the distance, the Short Ghost-Faced Man also woke from his semi-conscious state.
Hearing his teammate's voice, he used his only remaining right hand to prop himself up, crawling over bit by bit.
His severed left arm dragged a long, shocking trail of blood on the ground.
"Sor... sorry..."
His voice was even weaker, like a leaking bellows. "We... we were wrong... please... spare our lives..."
Lin Fan squatted down and looked into their eyes.
"Spare you?"
The Tall Ghost-Faced Man nodded frantically, his head thumping against the gravel.
"Spa... spare us... we don't want anything anymore... please..."
Lin Fan was silent for two seconds, then suddenly smiled.
That smile was very gentle, even carrying a hint of youthful innocence.
"Sure. Then transfer all the money you have on you to me."
The other party was stunned for a moment.
Lin Fan added, "Transfer it right now. Don't leave a single cent."
They gritted their teeth and used their relatively intact right hands to fish out worn-out phones from their robes.
Half the screen was shattered, but it still worked.
Trembling, he opened the transfer interface, entered the amount, and handed it to Lin Fan.
Lin Fan took a glance—fifty million.
He frowned. "Just this much?"
The other party gave a bitter smile.
"We... we've always lived on the edge... we can't save much money..."
Lin Fan didn't respond and turned to look at the other person.
The other person hurriedly did the same.
Lin Fan glanced at it—thirty million.
It added up to exactly eighty million.
The notification sound for a successful transfer was particularly crisp in the silent night sky.
The other party breathed a sigh of relief, forcing a smile that looked worse than crying.
"Tha... thank you, little brother... we... we'll leave now..."
He propped himself up, trying to crawl away.
The silver-black light on Lin Fan's left hand lit up.
Sensing that icy aura, the man snapped his head up, his pupils shrinking violently.
"You!"
Two Taiyin Piercers shot from Lin Fan's fingertips, turning into a dense rain of dark purple arrows that covered both men at close range.
With no defense and no way to dodge, the two didn't even have time to let out a full scream before being submerged by the rain of arrows.
Dark purple toxins, Shadow Erosion, and Moonlight Burn erupted simultaneously.
The two bodies twitched a few times in the toxic mist.
The toxic mist dissipated.
The two corpses vanished, turning into a pool of putrid liquid.
Immediately after, a message appeared on the panel in his left eye.
[Killed two unknown Armor Kings.]
[Obtained source energy: 10,000 points]
[Current source energy: 123,000 points]
Approximately 870,000 points remaining to open the seventh armor aperture.
Lin Fan's eyes lit up slightly.
Ten thousand source energy points.
An Armor King is worth five thousand points?
He looked down at the corpses on the ground and curled his lip.
But he had finally saved enough source energy to open the sixth armor aperture.
At that moment, a rustling sound came from behind.
Xu Ziyan walked over, looked down at the pool of putrid liquid, and his expression turned from shock to pale.
"You... you killed them!"
Lin Fan turned his head to look at him.
"Yeah. What about it?"
Xu Ziyan's mouth opened and closed, then closed and opened again.
"How... how could you kill someone!"
Lin Fan rolled his eyes. "Otherwise? Keep them around for the New Year?"
"Murder is against the law!"
Xu Ziyan's voice went up an octave.
"Federation Law! You go to jail for murder! Serious cases get the death penalty!"
Lin Fan reached out and flicked his forehead.
"Ow!" Xu Ziyan clutched his forehead, tears nearly falling.
Lin Fan pointed to the ground beneath their feet. "Look closely, where are we?"
Xu Ziyan looked down, then looked around.
"The Black Market area. We're still several kilometers away from Qingshi Town."
Lin Fan pulled his hand back and shoved it into his pocket. "In a place like this, who cares if two people die?"
Xu Ziyan stood frozen, his lips trembling for a long time before he choked out: "But... but..."
"But what?"
Lin Fan pulled his hand out of his pocket, crossed his arms, and tilted his head to look at him.
Xu Ziyan opened his mouth, then closed it again.
He looked down at the putrid liquid seeping into the cracks between the gravel.
His expression changed several times.
"Forget it, pretend I didn't say anything."
He plopped back down on the ground, hugged his knees, and muttered gloomily.
Lin Fan raised an eyebrow. "Giving up already? Weren't you quite talkative just now?"
Xu Ziyan looked up at him with a resentful expression. "Would you listen if I said anything?"
"No."
"...Then that's that."
Xu Ziyan buried his head in his knees, his voice muffled. "I just feel... forget it, I won't say it. If I do, you'll just call me naive again."
Lin Fan glanced at him and suddenly laughed.
This guy wasn't truly pedantic; he just hadn't seen this kind of scene before and couldn't wrap his head around it for a moment.
Being able to figure it out on his own meant he wasn't too stupid.
He walked over, squatted down next to Xu Ziyan, and tapped on his phone a few times.
Xu Ziyan's phone rang.
He looked down—Transfer received: Fifty million.
"Fif... fifty million?" Xu Ziyan's eyes widened, and that bit of resentment instantly vanished, replaced by the numbers.
"Yeah."
Lin Fan stood up and put his phone back in his pocket.
Xu Ziyan stared at the numbers on his phone screen and swallowed.
"Truly, murder and arson bring a golden belt."
Then, the two of them drove away.
After driving a few hundred meters, Xu Ziyan suddenly spoke.
"Lin Fan."
"What now?"
"Um..."
Xu Ziyan gave a cheeky grin, showing a row of white teeth.
"Nothing, just wanted to say... next time there's an opportunity to split money like this, remember to call me."
Lin Fan looked at him, silent for two seconds.
"Don't you think killing people is wrong?"
"It is wrong."
Xu Ziyan nodded solemnly, then changed his tone, lowering his voice a bit.
"But there's nothing wrong with making money."
Lin Fan's mouth twitched, and he closed his eyes again.
This guy was truly naive, but also truly a money-grubber.
Moonlight shone through the broken car window, spilling over the two of them.
Xu Ziyan hummed a song as he drove; the tune was horribly off-key, but he sounded like he was in a good mood.