I Am a Poor Child

After Zhu Yan finished speaking, a deathly silence fell over the truck.

Buzzcut Guy and his companion exchanged a glance, and when they looked back at Zhu Yan, their eyes held obvious sympathy.

He seemed to want to speak up to warn him, but ultimately looked around defensively at the others and said nothing.

The Young Soldier nodded, his explanation coming naturally.

There is a reason there are so few people on this truck, he said. Since you said you are new here, I had better explain it to you clearly.

You should know that just in the last few days, bizarre murders have occurred in the residential complex. The newly established Human Alliance has recently stepped in to investigate.

The Young Soldier's expression was quite serious.

Because the first three murders happened in Building 15, and it wasn't until the police came to investigate that these murders started spreading to the surrounding buildings. So now everyone believes the killer is in Building 15.

Zhu Yan nodded, silently casting a glance at Feng Qiang.

He felt that a cunning old fox like Feng Qiang, who was so good at putting on an act in front of outsiders, was unlikely to strike in his own building.

That murder in Building 15 was probably just a test run, right?

Sure enough, Soldier Bro spoke again: Because of this prejudice, the residents here have developed a sort of unspoken agreement.

We regularly send three trucks here. The earlier ones were normal, but after this recent murder...

He smiled bitterly and shook his head.

Today, everyone seemed to deliberately empty out one truck, suggesting that the survivors from Building 15 get on first.

Because they feel the killer is hiding among them, no one is willing to take the risk.

Zhu Yan understood: Then are all these people from Building 15?

We are, said a gray-haired, middle-aged to elderly man, pointing to his gentle-looking companion.

The number of survivors in Building 15 was already small. Some probably didn't come down; they aren't willing to take the risk either.

The two of us are older, with only our wives left at home. We haven't even opened an account or gotten a card, and we don't have anything worth stealing.

After talking it over, we just decided to come together.

Oh, I am from Building 14, Feng Qiang said to Zhu Yan, smiling very affectionately.

I was thinking, we can't all just live in constant fear, right? Isn't that a waste of official resources?

Feng Qiang spoke with righteous indignation.

So, I took the lead and got on this truck, hoping to set a good example. Trust the authorities; with our Soldier Bro here, nothing will go wrong.

He looked Zhu Yan up and down, a flash of greed passing through his eyes.

This kid wasn't bad.

To think he had actually survived two instances and opened an account.

Opening an account meant having a Hall of Mourning card on him, which would inevitably have some bone coins on it.

Simply taking the card would, of course, be useless to anyone else.

But it was different for him!

His old haggard wife, Wang Lanhua, had the ability I Must Take This Advantage, which perfectly made up for this flaw!

Anything that passed through her hands, be it a Hall of Mourning card or other small items and props...

She could always extract a portion of it for herself!

Props would be destroyed if messed with like this, but a Hall of Mourning card was different.

Feng Qiang stared at Zhu Yan, recalling the previous owner of apartment 607...

That dead level-four player.

That guy was quite wealthy. At the time, Wang Lanhua made a fuss and, ignoring the others' warnings, touched the kid's bank card.

Every time she touched it, she received a notification for the arrival of dozens of bone coins.

So, Wang Lanhua just kept touching it all night, draining all 1,500 bone coins from that card and taking them for herself!

This kid in front of him had survived two instances; if he didn't have a thousand bone coins, he had at least seven or eight hundred.

Feng Qiang's heart was itching.

His!

All this money was his!

Thinking this, Feng Qiang leaned down and reached out a hand to Zhu Yan.

Come, child, get up here quickly. Just show your ID card first, then follow uncle to get your supplies.

If you have anything else to do, we can talk about it when you get back.

After Feng Qiang finished, he smiled and turned to the Soldier Bro nearby: Young Soldier, do you think this is okay?

The Soldier Bro nodded, saying little: Then get on the truck quickly. Go get your supplies first; the police will come to your doors for inquiries later.

Hooked so quickly.

Zhu Yan felt amused. He took Feng Qiang's hand and jumped onto the truck.

Hilarious, Old Fart.

Zhu Yan glanced at Feng Qiang, a plan he considered quite creative slowly forming in his mind.

Feng Yaozu was already dead, his corpse still being kept fresh inside his Storage Silver Ring.

Didn't this old thing like to dig out people's hearts and lungs?

If Zhu Yan called him Dad later and made him dig into his own biological son's body...

Zhu Yan's competitive spirit flared up.

Compared to Feng Qiang using Telekinesis as a literal heart-to-heart move, this idea of his should be just as good!

The vehicle wove through the streets and alleys. The shops on both sides of the road were closed, and the goods in the stores had all been requisitioned, giving the area a desolate look.

The other people on the truck began to chat.

Buzzcut Guy was named Li Ming, and his companion was Zhang Ze.

From their idle chatter, Zhu Yan also learned that the death toll in Bailu City had grown exponentially in recent days, and the vast majority of people had been pulled into novice instances.

Of course, the newly established Human Alliance had therefore selected a considerable number of excellent players for training and resource feeding.

It really is chaotic, Li Ming said. Damn it, I have run into at least two groups wanting to crown themselves kings.

Fuck, Zhang Ze cursed. You know that Storm Internet Cafe on Anxi Road? A similar mafia-type group has already emerged there.

He shook his head and smiled bitterly: Those people are actually very strong, and they do things secretly.

They don't dare clash head-on with the Alliance big shots for now, but in the long run, who knows.

Feng Qiang chuckled and steered the conversation toward Zhu Yan.

Kid, what is your name? Where are your parents? Why didn't your family come with you?

He also knew the principle of tailoring his approach to his target.

Of course, if this person's parents were lower in level than him but had some savings, he wouldn't mind making a special trip.

This young guy had stayed close to him ever since getting on the truck; it looked like he had been completely fooled.

This also indirectly showed that the kid's ability wasn't the sort that could see through people, so he didn't need to worry about his actions being discovered!

Zhu Yan forced a very strained smile at Feng Qiang and told the absolute truth.

Uncle, I don't have parents anymore.

I originally had an aunt and her brother, but they died recently too.

The smile was strained because Zhu Yan couldn't suppress the corners of his mouth from twitching upwards, so he could only make that strange expression.

However, Feng Qiang misunderstood. He quickly put on a caring facade and comforted Zhu Yan.

Oh my! You have had it hard too.

Is your ability strong? Uncle's ability is more on the offensive side. If you are scared, you can stick with Uncle.

Zhu Yan sneered inwardly.

Hah, trying to fish for information about my ability?