Chapter 21: That Costs Extra. Liu Ming: Here I Come, Misunderstanding Points!…

Yun Zhou remained in his combat stance. Watching the Serpent Guards dart forward like ghosts, he murmured in disbelief, “I really don’t want to admit it, but you’re actually kind of cool right now, Xiao Ming!”

The aura of majesty Liu Ming had just cultivated shattered instantly. He whipped his head around and glared fiercely at Yun Zhou. “Call me by my proper name!”

Yun Zhou stuck out his tongue. Liu Ming gritted his teeth; this guy was doing it on purpose! When on earth had he actually grown a brain?

The Serpent Guards moved with swift, clinical precision. It didn’t take long before the ninjas were completely subdued and tied up by the numerically superior guards.

Ying Huo gave him a look of complex emotion. “I actually thought you were going to push them all into the sea.”

Liu Ming smiled. “I’m not that cruel…”

He let out a cold sneer and kicked the ninja in front of him.

Liu Ming had no intention of killing them all just yet. He had only said that to terrify them; after all, living people were far more useful. “Take them all away. You know where to bring them.”

The Serpent Guards nodded in obedience. Dragging and hauling the fallen ninjas, they departed without looking back.

Yun Zhou leaned in curiously. “What are you planning to do?”

Though he didn’t know Liu Ming’s goal, his instincts told him it wasn’t going to be anything good.

Liu Ming glanced at him. “You have this much distrust for me? I just saved you guys. With your current abilities, you’d have been beaten off the cliff to feed the Anomalies by now, yet you’re still this wary of me?”

“I’m not!” Yun Zhou looked as if he were about to cry. He hadn’t meant anything by his question; he simply wanted to know his teammate’s next plan!

Wasn’t it normal for a captain to ask about a teammate’s plan?

Liu Ming didn’t seem truly angry. In fact, he looked to be in a great mood, his blood-red eyes narrowing slightly. “It’s fine. You’ll find out soon enough.”

The small blue snake crawled from his collar to his shoulder, hissing at Yun Zhou. It brought with it an invisible sense of oppression.

The Liu Ming who had just saved the three of them now looked like the ultimate mastermind villain, his smile radiating danger. “Don’t worry, I would never harm you.”

Yun Zhou pouted. “I’m half-skeptical about that.”

Despite his words, after spending the last few days together, Liu Ming had long since shifted in his eyes from a bored noble young master who constantly caused trouble to a reliable companion. While Yun Zhou’s mouth complained, his tail wagged in relaxation.

Liu Ming: …He really is easy to read, this “Savior.”

The Haiyue Shrine was no place to linger. The trio had discovered a strange secret passage within the cliff, and combined with the attack by the Izayoi Family ninjas, they needed to find Izayoi Ame and get some clear answers.

They hurried back to the local hotel arranged by Hozuki. Relaxing as they pushed open the door, they were just about to contact Hozuki and take a break when they saw the ninjas in the suite’s living room, tied up in a row like a string of carrots by the Serpent Guards.

“…So the ‘place’ you mentioned was our hotel…”

Du Shui’s lips twitched. She had actually thought this young master had some brilliant, inscrutable plan.

“Don’t you need authentication to report to the Third District?”

Liu Ming shrugged. He took a few steps forward and looked back at the three of them. “Moreover…”

Click—!

Before Liu Ming could finish his sentence, a Serpent Guard acting as an extension of his will suddenly bypassed the trio and shut the suite’s main door behind them, even sliding the lock into place.

Yun Zhou’s expression changed. “Hey! Just lock the door! You don’t have to make it so creepy!”

The suspenseful atmosphere Liu Ming had been building vanished instantly because of Yun Zhou’s outburst. “…Sometimes I really want to use my mental threads to sew your mouth shut, stitch by stitch.”

“Young Master Liu needn’t worry about such details. In my eyes, this child is quite pure.”

A figure stood up with a smile. He wore a black patterned Haori and hakama¹, with the emblem of Kanagawa’s Izayoi Family on his back. He was an elderly man dressed in exquisite formal attire, clearly no ordinary person.

“Who?!”

The three of them hadn’t noticed him. Seeing him now, they quickly shifted into alert combat stances.

“Now, now, don’t be so agitated.” The old man didn’t seem to mind. He looked toward Liu Ming. “Young Master Liu, it seems you haven’t explained things to them yet?”

“The Great Elder is indeed perceptive to have spotted the problem so easily. But you can’t blame me; after all, if I had told them, these three wouldn’t be standing here right now.”

Liu Ming sighed, shaking his head with a helpless smile. As the two shared a harmonious exchange, the Serpent Guards began to untie the ropes binding the ninjas.

Yun Zhou and the others looked at each other, completely bewildered. What was Liu Ming playing at now? Why did he seem so familiar with this “Great Elder” who appeared to hold a high position in the Izayoi Family?

Was this Great Elder an ally? But that didn’t make sense…

The moment the ninjas were freed from their bonds, their first instinct was to kneel before the Great Elder. Clearly, the culprit who had just tried to send them to their deaths was the man standing before them.

Du Shui reached into her sleeve, feeling the small octopus trembling in fear.

What lay at the end of that passage? What conspiracy was this Izayoi Elder weaving… and where did Liu Ming actually stand in all this?

Countless questions piled up in Du Shui’s heart. She looked at Liu Ming, only to see him wearing an expectant look, as if he were watching prey.

Wait!

Du Shui reacted violently. Ying Huo realized something at the same time; each of them grabbed one of Yun Zhou’s hands and bolted for the door.

“Huh? Why are we running?”

Yun Zhou was bewildered at first. Ying Huo slapped his water-filled brain in frustration, pointing toward Liu Ming with her other hand. “Are you stupid?! Run! This guy sold us out!”

“Go. Stop them.”

The Great Elder of the Izayoi Family’s expression darkened instantly. He glanced at the ninjas, who nodded and surged forward, blocking Yun Zhou and the others with pinpoint accuracy.

Liu Ming simply watched the scene with a smile, as if everything happening now was exactly as he had predicted.

He had intentionally lured the three of them here.

Once they realized this, the expressions of Yun Zhou and his companions became grim.

“I didn’t expect you to actually collaborate with the mastermind behind the Anomalies appearing at the Haiyue Shrine.”

A storm surged beneath Yun Zhou’s golden eyes. Fueled by anger, he swung the Vajra Pestle, slamming the charging ninja violently into the ground, creating an opening for Du Shui to rush toward the door.

Although the waters around the Haiyue Shrine were where the Izayoi Family’s greatest head had once slain the former Y008, the optimization and expansion of the Kanagawa defense line in recent years had rendered it a safe zone. Given Izayoi Ame’s capabilities, it would have been difficult for a dangerous Anomaly of that tentacle-like grade to appear naturally.

Combined with the hidden passage on the cliff, the small octopus Anomaly pulled from that passage, and the ninjas who had pursued the Anomaly specifically to kill the three of them for witnessing the truth…

Yun Zhou’s keen instincts quickly alerted him—someone within the Izayoi Family was not right.

Whether it was a leak of test subjects, an intentional release, or deliberate breeding, the appearance of that tentacle Anomaly and the seemingly cute little octopus was absolutely the work of humans.

Now, the mastermind stood before them, yet their companion was not fighting by their side, but instead stood before the unsettling Great Elder.

It was not hard to see that the two parties had reached an agreement.

“It seems you aren’t as stupid as you look.”

Liu Ming showed no dissatisfaction or shame at being exposed. In fact, facing Yun Zhou for the first time, he displayed an emotion akin to praise.

“It wasn’t stupidity. It was trust.”

Yun Zhou’s face was grim. His expression was solemn and heavy as he stood with Ying Huo in front of Du Shui, blocking the ninjas pursuing the door to buy her time to open it.

Trust? Liu Ming couldn’t help but laugh upon hearing this. He waved his hand. “Think whatever you like. Oh, by the way, while I don’t know exactly what’s going through your head, the fact is exactly as you suspect.”

His smile was genuine, because the Misunderstanding Points notifications from t231 were currently exploding.

【Aaaaah! Danger! I knew it! How could Young Master Liu possibly become a good person!】

【Yun Zhou is really too trusting!】

【You can’t blame Yun Zhou, okay? It’s just that bastard Liu Ming who is too good at manipulating people’s hearts!】

…

Looking at the barrage of insults directed at him, the corners of Liu Ming’s mouth curled into a smile.

Time to shear the sheep².

“Stop chatting! Yun Zhou! Let’s go!”

Du Shui drew her blade from the umbrella. The sharp katana swung out with a sudden force, slicing through the door’s lock.

To avoid causing too much trouble for the hotel, she hesitated for a moment before choosing to slice the lock rather than the entire door.

“Stop wasting words on this guy! He’s a traitor!”

Ying Huo rushed over, grabbed Yun Zhou, and started running, casting a fierce glare at Liu Ming. “All the Liu family members are like this! They’ll switch sides in an instant for the tiniest bit of profit! Cold-blooded animals of interest who disregard all emotion!”

Liu Ming shrugged. Ying Huo’s praise was actually quite flattering.

“I hoped it wasn’t like this.”

Despite Ying Huo pulling him, Yun Zhou didn’t leave immediately. He looked deeply at Liu Ming. Though it lasted only a second, the emotion contained within those usually clear golden eyes was heavy enough to nearly crush a person.

The smile on Liu Ming’s lips stiffened imperceptibly.

“Ninjas, kill them.”

The Great Elder continued his command.

Having received the order, the ninjas no longer hesitated. They charged with even greater speed than before, with the Serpent Guards following close behind. Yun Zhou and the others had no time to escape and were on the verge of being trapped in a black encirclement—

“Puji!”

“The little octopus!”

The sound of a mollusk hitting the ground heavily echoed. Du Shui cried out as the little octopus slid from her sleeve and tumbled toward the floor.

But the moment before it touched the ground, invisible ripples of water gathered in mid-air.

The ninjas paused. In that brief instant, the ripples coalesced into a massive vortex that slammed into the ground. After a sudden, torrential downpour, the ninjas looked again—Yun Zhou and his companions had vanished without a trace.

“…You didn’t use your full strength, Young Master Liu?”

The Great Elder sighed, looking at Liu Ming beside him with a meaningful gaze.

“That is because you have already made arrangements, Great Elder. Since you’ve begun Anomaly experiments strictly forbidden across the seven districts, a cautious man like you must have already considered this possibility and laid a backup plan, right?”

Liu Ming showed no fear; he even took the initiative. “Great Elder, let me be clear: the Liu family only invests in winning businesses. Right now, I am technically a member of the Salvation squad. Betraying my own teammates carries a different price than plotting against others.”

Liu Ming narrowed his eyes dangerously.

The Great Elder looked at him, and after a moment, he suddenly laughed. “Naturally.”

The Great Elder gazed at the spot where the students had disappeared. “Rest assured. Although they have escaped for now, the ending is always the same.”

Translator’s Notes