164: Even on an infiltration mission, we can't waste food!
“Bang!”
A muffled sound.
The bald, muscular man from the Black Shark Gang, who had been shouting moments before, flew backward.
He smashed directly onto Lin Yuan's table.
Crash—!
The table legs snapped.
The pot of simmering seafood porridge and the plate of sizzling electric eel segments were all dumped onto the floor.
Mixed with the fresh blood spat out by the bald, muscular man, they became a muddy mess.
Lin Yuan held his chopsticks, his hand frozen mid-air.
He lowered his gaze, looking at the puddle of priceless “swill” on the ground.
“Cough... cough cough...”
The bald, muscular man lay in the wreckage, struggling to get up, blood foam constantly bubbling from his mouth.
Opposite him, the leading gray-robed man slowly retracted his foot.
“Clear out.”
The gray-robed man adjusted his collar, his tone indifferent.
“The Sea God is conducting business. All irrelevant personnel, get out within ten seconds.”
“Otherwise, you will be killed without mercy.”
Whoosh.
The diners who had been watching the excitement immediately fled.
In this lawless zone, no one would risk their life just to watch a show.
Only one table of people remained motionless.
That was Lin Yuan's.
“Beauty Su,” Lin Yuan said, without turning around.
“What is the market price for this Scarlet Armored Crab?”
Su Wanqing paused when she heard this.
“Around... five Spirit Crystals?”
“Five,”
Lin Yuan repeated the number.
He stood up.
His flip-flops made a “squelch” as they stepped on the oil and grime covering the floor.
He walked toward the gray-robed man.
His floral shirt swayed as he moved, and the large gold chain around his neck was somewhat dazzling.
“You want to intervene?”
The gray-robed man looked at the young man, who reeked of nouveau riche, a flash of contempt in his eyes.
“For the sake of that chain of yours, kneel down and knock your head three times, and leave the woman behind you, and I might consider...”
Tap.
A hand landed on the gray-robed man's shoulder.
The gray-robed man's words were cut short.
When?!
This person was clearly ten meters away just now, how did he appear right in front of him in the blink of an eye?!
Subconsciously, he tried to break free.
It was too late.
“Five,” Lin Yuan's voice was soft, close to his ear.
“Plus that pot of porridge, that plate of eel, and my compensation for emotional distress.”
“Let's round it up to fifty.”
The gray-robed man's body stiffened.
A current of electricity flowed from that hand into his Meridians, paralyzing his nerves.
He wanted to scream, but no sound came out of his throat.
He could only stare in terror at the face inches away from his own.
Lin Yuan grinned.
“This bill, you can't afford it.”
Crack—!
Lin Yuan's wrist gave a slight twist.
There was no fancy movement involved.
The head, still wearing an expression of terror, rotated three hundred and sixty degrees on the neck.
The crisp sound of the cervical vertebrae shattering was exceptionally clear in the empty second-floor hall.
Thud.
The corpse slumped to the ground.
The sneers on the faces of the group of gray-robed men, who had been preparing to watch the show, froze.
Su Wanqing was also stunned.
“Avoid causing trouble,” “Prioritize assassination,” “Maintain silence”... Zhao Ya's orders were still echoing in her ears.
This is your way of avoiding trouble?!
You just twisted someone's head off in broad daylight?!
“Damn it!”
The remaining gray-robed men reacted.
They roared, formed hand seals, and their figures vanished into a cloud of smoke.
Several shuriken flew toward Lin Yuan.
“Beauty Su!”
Lin Yuan stood still.
“These few small fry are yours!”
“Remember not to damage the floor, we'll have to pay for it!”
Su Wanqing gritted her teeth.
That bastard!
He certainly was quick to dump the mess on her!
But her body was faster than her mind.
Cold Qi erupted.
“Ice Seal!”
Crack, crack, crack—!
The moisture in the air solidified.
The shuriken flying toward her were frozen into chunks of ice mid-air and clattered to the ground.
Su Wanqing's figure transformed into a white shadow and rushed into the crowd.
These gray-robed men were only at the C-rank Beginner level; they were only capable of bullying others by relying on strange movement techniques.
When facing a true elite of the Dragon Shield Bureau, they were completely inadequate.
In less than half a minute, the battle was over.
Several lifelike human-shaped ice sculptures now stood in the second-floor hall.
Lin Yuan only then slowly strolled back.
He kicked the bald, muscular man on the ground.
“Stop playing dead.”
“Get up and pay the bill.”
The bald, muscular man trembled, quickly scrambling out of the wreckage.
He didn't bother wiping the blood from his mouth, looking at the corpses scattered on the floor, then at the young man in the floral shirt.
He was a tough customer!
And the kind of tough customer who killed without batting an eye and whose thought process was clearly abnormal!
“Th-thank you, Big Brother, for saving my life!”
The bald, muscular man cupped his fists, wincing in pain as the movement strained his wounds, but he bowed extremely low.
“I am Iron Head of the Black Shark Gang.”
“These scumbags from the ‘Ocean Wave Society,’ ever since they arrived on the island, they haven't treated us like people.”
Iron Head glanced at the corpse on the ground and spat.
“Big Brother acted so decisively; you must also dislike these charlatans who pretend to be gods.”
He was a smart person.
Although he couldn't see through Lin Yuan's background, in this chaotic time, the enemy of his enemy was his friend.
Especially when that enemy was a powerhouse who could instantly kill a minor leader of the Ocean Wave Society.
“Dislike them?”
Lin Yuan played with the cherry blossom-engraved token he had retrieved from the gray-robed man's body.
“I suppose so.”
“After all, they interrupted my meal.”
Iron Head was momentarily stunned, then nodded and bowed repeatedly.
“Yes, yes, yes! Big Brother is right! These blind fools ruined Big Brother's enjoyment; they absolutely deserve to die!”
He pulled a black and gold card from his pocket and handed it to Lin Yuan with both hands.
“Big Brother, although this meal was ruined, this is a small token of my sincerity. Please accept it as an apology.”
“Also, the island hasn't been peaceful lately.
Those bastards from the Sea God Cult are planning something big.”
Iron Head lowered his voice, his expression turning serious.
“All the major organizations are choosing sides.”
“Big Brother, your skill is heaven-defying, so naturally you don't fear these petty villains, but...”
He paused, a glint flashing in his eyes.
“But if you want to gain something from this storm, why not come visit our Black Shark Gang headquarters?”
“Our leader loves meeting heroes from all walks of life.”
Lin Yuan raised an eyebrow.
Information was being delivered right to his doorstep.
He turned to look at Su Wanqing.
Su Wanqing, who had just dispersed her ice blades, felt Lin Yuan's gaze and nodded.
This was originally one of their mission objectives: to make contact with local forces and infiltrate them.
They just hadn't expected Lin Yuan's method to be so... simple and crude.
“Sure.”
Lin Yuan pocketed the black and gold card, the familiar devil-may-care smile returning to his face.
He patted Iron Head's shoulder, not caring that his hand was covered in grease.
“Since you're so polite, I won't stand on ceremony.”
“But let me warn you first,”
Lin Yuan pointed at the remnants of the ruined meal on the floor.
“If the food at your place is worse than this... I will definitely turn hostile.”
Iron Head froze, then immediately slapped his chest in assurance.
“Of course not!”
... Half an hour later, a modified off-road vehicle carried the three of them away from the trading district.
Outside the car window, rain began to fall.
Lin Yuan sat in the back seat, tossing the cherry blossom token in his hand.
“Sea God Cult...”
He looked at the curtain of rain reflected in the car window.
“Beauty Su,” Lin Yuan suddenly spoke, his voice slightly muffled by the sound of the rain.
“Tell me, why are these guys running all the way here to worship some Sea God instead of staying put in their hometown? What exactly do they want?”
“It can't really be just for that so-called faith, can it?”
Su Wanqing sat beside him, seemingly resting her eyes, but her fingers were actually tapping rhythmically on the side of her leg.
She was using the “Silent One” System to synchronize the information they had just gathered with Zhao Ya and the others.
Hearing Lin Yuan's question, her fingers paused slightly, and she said in a deep voice, “I don't know the specifics.”
“But these creatures never move without profit.
They've gone to great lengths to infiltrate this place, so there must be something here they desperately desire.”
The car suddenly jolted.
The Black Shark Gang headquarters had arrived.
Lin Yuan put away the token and smiled meaningfully.