Hearing this incredibly high-status title, Lin Yu touched his nose guiltily, feeling he didn't quite deserve it, especially since he was currently the one seeking Zhao She's help.
However, Lin Yu didn't correct him, afraid that he might inadvertently break some rule of the underworld and make Zhao She feel slighted.
In short, let him call him what he wanted; Lin Yu would simply pretend he didn't hear it.
The cold autumn night wind blew. Lin Yu sniffled his slightly stuffy nose and got straight to the point.
"It's me."
"I have something I need your help with."
"Is now a good time?"
"There's no such thing as a bad time."
Zhao She's slightly husky, low voice rang out calmly.
"As long as it is you, Master Yu, who has a problem... I won't say I'd climb a mountain of swords or plunge into a sea of fire, but as long as it doesn't harm the core interests of me and my brother, whatever you say goes."
Zhao She's words weren't flowery, but they were sincere.
Hearing this, Lin Yu understood clearly; he knew his bottom line.
To be honest, if Zhao She had said he would climb a mountain of swords or a sea of fire for him, risking his very life, Lin Yu wouldn't have dared to ask him for help.
A man like that, who regarded human life as grass, was destined to be cold and ungrateful. Even a massive favor wouldn't make him sacrifice himself.
By stating his bottom line like this, Lin Yu actually felt more at ease asking for his help.
Since the air had been cleared, Lin Yu didn't stand on ceremony with him and spoke directly:
"It's like this."
"I'm currently in N City."
"I need a few heavy hitters to help me pry some information out of someone's mouth. Later on, I might need to track down a scammer who ran off with the money."
"He swindled a friend of mine out of a lot of money, and I intend to make him spit it all back out."
"Good."
Zhao She didn't say much else; he agreed readily, saying:
"Tomorrow afternoon, I'll bring some people over."
"See you at the airport."
Hearing that Zhao She was coming personally, Lin Yu felt much more assured.
With him there, things would definitely go much more smoothly.
He found a hotel near A University, checked in, and washed up. Afterward, Lin Yu lay in bed, following his old routine of scrolling through mindless short videos before sleep, waiting for drowsiness to send him to dreamland.
"Ding~"
A text message arrived.
Lin Yu glanced at the ID: Tao Zhi Yao Yao.
Tao Zhi Yao Yao: Still busy?
Lin Yu lay on his side and typed a reply with both hands.
Long Aotian: Already lying down.
Tao Zhi Yao Yao: How are things developing?
Tao Zhi Yao Yao: Is there any possibility of recovering the money?
Long Aotian: Hard to say,
Long Aotian: Not sure yet.
Tao Zhi Yao Yao: Is that so...
Tao Zhi Yao Yao: Well, I have some good news here that might improve your mood a little.
Long Aotian: What is it?
Tao Zhi Yao Yao: Although you didn't win the championship, that project should still belong to our school.
Tao Zhi Yao Yao: The only one with the ability to compete with our school for that new project is L University. Beating Qi Fei is enough.
Tao Zhi Yao Yao: You took second place, and Qi Fei took fourth.
Tao Zhi Yao Yao: Qi Fei got punched twice by you and didn't recover all afternoon. He even lost to people from other schools and didn't even get third place.
Lin Yu looked at the messages sent by Tao Zhi Yao Yao, and his heart did feel a bit lighter.
He had successfully achieved his goal.
Not bad.
Tao Zhi Yao Yao: How about it?
Tao Zhi Yao Yao: Is your mood a little better? (*^_^*)
Long Aotian: A little better.
Tao Zhi Yao Yao: That's good.
Tao Zhi Yao Yao: You rest now, I won't disturb you.
Tao Zhi Yao Yao: Goodnight.
Lin Yu: OK.
The chat ended. Lin Yu put down his phone and rolled over, staring blankly at the hotel ceiling. He thought of the bruise on Tao Yaoyao's chest again...
No!
That wasn't on her chest; it was right in the cleavage!
To leave a mark in such a private place...
If Tao Yaoyao didn't have a boyfriend or a girlfriend, she must be kept by some wealthy patron.
A bruise in a place like that could only be left if Tao Yaoyao was doing the deed with someone and they accidentally played a little too rough.
He had previously deduced that the approaches by Ye You, Wang Yanyan, and the others had ulterior motives.
Looking at it this way, if there really was a sugar daddy hiding behind Tao Yaoyao, could it be the same person who instructed Wang Yanyan and the others to get close to him?
Or rather...
Was that person the sugar daddy for all of them?
"Damn it!"
Thinking of this possibility, a nameless fire of rage ignited in Lin Yu's heart!
You motherfucker.
Who the hell is the protagonist here, me or you?
Why does it feel like you're living way more freely than I am?
Even the blonde antagonist following the original plot didn't have it this good!
You're the damn protagonist, aren't you?
As Lin Yu fumed, he suddenly realized something.
He remembered the faint sense of familiarity he felt when he first met Ye You, Wang Yanyan, and the others.
Since it was his first time meeting them, he couldn't possibly have known them.
Then there was only one possibility.
That familiarity came from his memories of critically reading "adult books" in his past life.
Perhaps without even noticing, he had read the sequel to that book, which was why he had a trivial, faint impression of them...
As for why he didn't remember a single bit of the plot this time...
Nonsense!
Do you remember how many slices of bread you've eaten in your life?
Unless it was exceptionally delicious or exceptionally terrible bread, everything else looks the same, okay?
Thinking of this, Lin Yu suddenly realized something, his eyes widening abruptly.
No!
Wait...
If in the second part of the book, he, as the blonde antagonist, took all these girls, then the person behind them...
...
Holy shit!
What kind of legendary "King of Cuckolds" is that?
That's too terrifying, isn't it?
He reached out and touched his smooth chin. After grooming, the new stubble hadn't had time to grow out yet; Lin Yu's chin was currently so smooth a baby wouldn't cry if rubbed against it.
Mm.
Since that was the case, there was no need for him to continue making blind deductions here.
Once he was done with the business here, he'd have Zhao She look into them.
With Zhao She's methods, investigating them wouldn't take much effort.
When the truth came out, he would see exactly what kind of background the person behind them had.
Plan formulated, Lin Yu took a deep breath, closed his eyes, and prepared to sleep.
"Ding."
The SMS notification sound rang out. Lin Yu opened his eyes and picked up his phone. It was a message from Tang Manman.
Tang KuaiKuai: Are you there?
Long Aotian: What's up?
Tang KuaiKuai: I'm a little scared. Can we video chat? (Expectant)
Long Aotian: ?
Long Aotian: What are you afraid of?
Long Aotian: Aren't you in the dorm?
Tang KuaiKuai: I'm still scared...
Lin Yu thought about it. Tang Manman had just suffered such a painful blow, so feeling scared made sense. She wasn't a very bold person to begin with.
His fingers tapped on the phone screen as Lin Yu typed a single word.
Long Aotian: Sure.
The very next second, a video call request popped up. Lin Yu was just wondering how Tang Manman had managed to call back so quickly, but when he saw the caller ID, his scalp went numb with dread.
Bamboo Meow: (Incoming Video Call)
...
...
Snuggled under the covers, Tang Manman held her phone with nervous hands, her heart filled with a mix of anticipation and secret delight.
Her three roommates were always teasing her about not having a boyfriend. When the video call connected, she decided she would speak just a little bit louder—that would surely shut them up.
The white glow of the phone screen illuminated Tang Manman's skin, making it appear luminous and porcelain-pale. Gazing expectantly at the screen, she tucked a smile into the corner of her lips and reached out a finger to tap the video call invitation.
???
Why wasn't it going through?
Just as Tang Manman was feeling puzzled, a message popped up.
Long Aotian: My phone ran out of gas. Let's talk some other time. Going to sleep.
???
Tang Manman felt a mix of anger and grievance.
What on earth did he mean by his phone "ran out of gas"?
That was way too perfunctory!
Hmph.
Tang Manman angrily shoved the phone against her chest through the quilt. She puffed up her cheeks, wanting to say something petulant and willful. But after holding it in for a long moment, her gaze gradually softened, and she murmured with hopeless resignation:
"I still like you..."
for mindless slaughter, this isn't for you.] My name is Ye Shu, and I'm a transmigrator. It seems I'm supposed to be the protagonist, but that feels pretty unlikely. This world has been invaded by a system. The antagonists on the other side have suddenly become pure, flawless saints. The female leads have been force-fed the so-called "original plot," making them think they've been reborn. Now, everyone thinks I'm scum. Including the old lady in my ring. And here I am, in the Monster Beast Mountain Range, braising pork. To put my situation in perspective— It's as if, the moment Xiao Yan stepped into the Monster Beast Mountain Range, the Soul Emperor already knew he would become the Flame Emperor, and Yao Lao had been turned to the enemy's side. I have nothing right now. Oh wait, that's not true. I do have a white-haired loli child-bride who's the Heavenly Dao, and her only skill is acting cute. So, tell me guys... what are my chances of making it to the end?
ing gift was a patch of barren land, and disciples were all picked up along the way. He spent fifty years diligently building three "ramshackle little sects," thinking he could finally live a carefree life relying on his disciples. But right at the fifty-year mark, he was suddenly swept away by a spatial rift and exiled to the Chaos Desolation, the Disorderly Ruins. There was no spiritual energy there, only slaughter. Relying on the cultivation feedback from his disciples, Gu Changyuan hacked his way through a sea of blood for eleven hundred years. When the system finally fished him back out, he discovered the ramshackle little sects he'd built back then had developed a rather... unusual style. Hold on... I vanished for a thousand years, so how did my ramshackle little sects become holy lands?!
ut it can buy an entire year of absolutely perfect training results! Su Yu stared at his empty wallet and decisively opened up various online loan platforms. “Borrow a thousand bucks! Recharge my vitality!” Boom! His vitality broke a hundred points, shattering the limits of the human body! “Borrow ten thousand bucks! Recharge my combat skills!” Boom! A basic punching technique so common it was everywhere instantly maxed out, revealing the ultimate assassination technique of Five Elements Unity—Inner Force! When a rich kid hired assassins for a midnight ambush, aiming to break both of his legs, they instead ran headfirst into a monster—a human-shaped tyrannosaur, brimming with dragon-like vitality. With just two fingers, Su Yu snapped a steel staff reinforced with alloy. Staring at the killer’s stash of stolen cash—a staggering quarter-million dollars—he showed a corporate-sincere smile: “Thanks for the pre-exam gift pack, Mr. Zhao! I’m gonna go re-invest this!” Three days later, at the National Martial Arts College Entrance Exam, while everyone else struggled just to reach the passing line, Su Yu threw a single punch—and more than a thousand vitality points literally detonated the entire arena!
lity and could only live as an ordinary mortal. He only wished to live a peaceful life. Yet he didn't know— The dog he adopted, because it ate his food, became a legendary demon king. The kitchen knife he casually forged became a peerless divine weapon, causing numerous experts to fight desperately for it. The young disciple he took in became an immortal lord that led an era, due to cultivating the techniques Ye Feng taught him. Even the skeletons he looked down on the most were ominous demon kings that suppressed countless worlds. Many years later, looking at the void shattered with a punch, Ye Feng murmured to himself: It turns out the peerless kings were myself all along...
