“It seems the target is clear. Should we go find him immediately?” Zheng Fan asked.
Although the general gist of the situation was now known, Lind had not yet been found, and it was clear they could only rely on the casino clue to find him.
“No,” Lin Yilin, who had just been so imposing while organizing her thoughts, suddenly seemed to revert to an ordinary young girl. “It’s getting late; it’s time to close up. Not working overtime unless absolutely necessary is also my principle.”
Zheng Fan: “Master, what kind of work do you do that requires ‘closing up’?”
“Mainly, the location of that casino isn’t fixed, so I need to pinpoint it a bit. I’m not some super ironman, Mr. Illusion. Don’t you know that every time you possess me, even though my physical state is fully restored by your regeneration, it leaves the host with severe mental fatigue?”
“Huh? There’s such a thing?”
Zheng Fan had only possessed three people so far: one was already dead, one was the abnormal Lin Yilin, and the other was the equally abnormal Jiang Si.
I was thinking, neither of you mentioned it.
“This is the first time I’ve known about it too; I didn’t pay much attention at first. It might be the wear and tear from Illusion invading reality. Even if Mr. Illusion doesn’t intend to directly eliminate my consciousness, frequent possession in a short period might subtly erode my existence,” Lin Yilin smoothed a strand of hair from her temple.
She said it, but she didn’t look worried at all.
“I’m starting to feel more and more like I’m a very dangerous thing.”
“You’ve always been a very dangerous thing.”
“So, are you helping a dangerous thing grow further?”
“Perhaps. Anyway, I should go back. See you tomorrow, Mr. Illusion.” Lin Yilin casually tidied her attire and waved to Zheng Fan at the door.
The door gently closed, and the office returned to quiet.
After playing with Toast for a while, Zheng Fan watched the twilight gradually fade into the distance, and as night approached, he also quietly left the office.
Evening was Zheng Fan's personal time.
...
Closed Community, Night Square was bustling at this moment.
Every night, many people would gather at Night Square for purposes such as after-dinner strolls or evening entertainment.
It seemed that Dadu didn't have a public square dance culture; otherwise, such a good square might have been taken over by square dance enthusiasts.
In addition to ordinary citizens, there were also many vendors in the large square, setting up a continuous line of makeshift stalls around the square.
Gang members circulated in the square, accustomed to operating amidst the crowded and noisy atmosphere, either to relax or to conduct business and transactions during the chaos.
A branch of the underground black market was also hidden within this square.
Ordinary citizens enjoying themselves, gang members who wouldn't casually offend civilians, black market dealers... everyone on Night Square formed such a mixed and peculiar picture.
However, since it was a Grey District, influenced by gang culture, there were quite a few 'spiritual youngsters' here who couldn't be called gang members, at most having only shallow connections with gangs.
You could even see classic 'Shamat' styles here, which made one feel ancient, but nostalgia was certainly unnecessary.
A young girl with a ponytail, wearing a black baseball cap, a black hooded hoodie, and flared jeans, walked through the crowd.
She stopped in front of a small stall selling cheap trinkets, pulled something wrapped in layers of tissue from her hoodie pocket, and casually tossed it over.
The tissue ball landed on the ground, slightly unraveling to reveal a few blood-stained ears inside.
The vendor quickly reached out, wrapped the tissue ball, and took it away, not forgetting to give the girl in front of him a resentful look.
Although everyone in this vicinity pretty much knew each other's background, what if you directly exposed the goods and scared civilians, causing trouble?
“What do you want?” However, considering the abilities of the person in front of him, he quickly suppressed this dissatisfaction, after all, she had already helped with more inconvenient matters.
“What we agreed on before.” The girl slightly lifted her hat brim, her dark gaze appearing somewhat eerie under the bright streetlights behind her.
The vendor said no more, flipped out something from under the mat beneath his stall, and handed it over.
The girl took it and turned to leave.
As soon as she left, several people in the surrounding crowd exchanged glances, then continued to hide in the flow of people and followed her.
A black, grey-eyed bat hung upside down from a streetlight, silently observing the bustling night scene. After watching for a while, it spread its wings and chased after the girl who was gradually leaving the crowd.
“You seem to be very adept at living here,” a voice suddenly sounded in the girl’s ear.
Her body instinctively tensed for a moment, but she quickly reacted, then felt her left shoulder sink. She looked sideways to see a bat perched on her shoulder, its bright grey eyes examining her.
“Is this Evil Mr.’s true form?” the girl asked. She was Jiang Si, who had just arrived in reality on May 30th.
Zheng Fan had been slightly worried if people from the Violent World could truly live normal lives in Dadu in reality. Even though Jiang Si said she had much experience, he found it hard to believe, as the Violent World was simply too violent.
“Why would you think that? This true form would be too cheap,” Zheng Fan said.
“Really? I think it’s better than your previous appearance.” Jiang Si shrugged, almost making Zheng Fan fall off.
Clutching Jiang Si’s shoulder clothes with his feet: “You’re getting bold.”
“Just kidding. Mr. Evil, is there anything you need, suddenly appearing like this?”
“What else could I need you for? Just seeing if there’s an opportunity to do some shady business that’s not good for daytime. By the way, so you operate here too.”
Xixikeke Street was quite large, but also just a street area.
Perhaps during the day, he could turn a corner here and see Jiang Si.
“The more chaotic a place, the easier it is for people with unknown origins to thrive. And this place has surprised me; has anything fun happened recently? I can get many orders just by finding any place.”
“Orders? Master, what kind of work do you do?”
“What else can a Killing demon do? Cough, cough, here I should be called a sweeper. I feel this is cooler than Killing demon and closer to a normal person.”
“Where the hell is that close to a normal person, and it’s not cool at all,” Zheng Fan retorted.
However, the meaning was clear: what else could a Killing demon do besides kill?
Speaking of which, sweeper?
This was a common term used in the Dadu underworld.
The difference from an office was probably that an office took on a wider variety of jobs, while sweepers basically only took on jobs involving human lives. And unlike formal offices recognized by the Processing Bureau, this profession naturally couldn't get official recognition; it was purely a black profession.
Such people circulated among underground gangs for profit, living dangerously. Some larger gangs would also raise their own group of sweepers.
High-end sweepers were the cool assassins and mercenaries that people generally imagined.
But more low-end sweepers might have been tricked by gangs due to some accident, becoming their tools.
Just like... Lind and Wang Cheng.
Jiang Si doing this line of work was indeed normal.
“What were you trading with that person just now?”
“Nothing, I trade based on my mood. That person is a small-time character with a bit of gang background; he’s barely even an outside member, just paying protection fees. But recently, he got into a conflict with another stall owner who’s genuinely protected by a gang, and he felt his life was in danger. Just so happens I took a liking to something he had...”
“So you helped him kill that rival stall owner?”
“How could that be? As a Killing demon, if you want to grow strong, you have to have standards for yourself! You can’t just kill anyone!” Jiang Si suddenly puffed up with a bit of pride, sticking out her impressive chest.
“Ah, this.” Zheng Fan was momentarily at a loss for words. “So how did you resolve it?”
“I killed the gang behind that opposing stall owner. That was more interesting. Those ears include the ear of that gang leader; it’s very large and has a prominent mole, very easy to recognize.”
“Hmm...” Zheng Fan pondered for a moment.
Little Zombie and the Binary Maiden, Dadu girls are truly youthful, vibrant, and cute.
