A complete Flood Dragon Mirage Core was enough to make many people take desperate risks.
“I need you to help escort this.”
“From where to where.”
“From here to the No. 17 warehouse zone in South Harbor. It’s not far—about two hours by land.”
“Just me?”
“No. You plus two others, that’s three, and the driver makes four.”
“You can rest easy. What happened last night won’t happen again. The route is set at the last minute—only I and the receiver know it. No stops in between. From departure to delivery, it won’t take more than three hours.”
Hearing this, Chen Guan immediately grew uneasy.
If nothing unexpected happened, this was precisely the kind of situation where something always did.
Wang Dan continued, “You just need to take this box from point A to point B. No matter what happens along the way, the box must never leave your sight. Someone will meet you when you arrive. Hand it over and leave. Payment on the spot.”
“How much?”
“Eighty thousand.”
“A hundred thousand.”
Chen Guan countered casually. Wang Dan gave him a look.
“A Flood Dragon Mirage Core, fifth-tier. Lowest price on the black market is three million. Eighty thousand isn’t even pocket change.”
Wang Dan was caught off guard. This freelance worker had a sharp mind—not easy to fool.
“Ninety thousand. No more haggling.”
“Fine.”
Chen Guan nodded once, answering crisply. The bargaining was just a formality to him.
“When do we leave?”
“Tomorrow at four in the morning. The car will be waiting downstairs.”
Wang Dan straightened up from leaning against the doorframe. Before leaving, he gave Chen Guan another look.
“He Chenguan.”
“Yeah.”
“If you really are just here to earn money, make this job clean. We don’t lack freelancers, but we do lack reliable people.”
“I’ve always been reliable.”
Wang Dan said nothing more, turned, and walked away. His footsteps gradually faded down the hallway.
After the door closed, the room fell quiet.
Chen Guan leaned against the head of the bed, his gaze landing on the iron box on the table.
Bao Bao padded over, sniffed in the direction of the box, then sneezed and turned away, its face showing disdain.
A mere fifth-tier—it scoffed at that. Having long since super-evolved, it no longer existed in the same world as those fifth-tier beings.
Chen Guan ignored Bao Bao. He didn’t think Wang Dan would casually place a newcomer in a mission like this.
Especially after last night’s cold storage theft. The trust system inside the New Circus had just taken a hit, yet they were assigning a high-value escort mission to someone newly hired. Logically, it didn’t add up.
Wang Dan wasn’t naive enough to believe that Chen Guan’s displayed strength could defeat Guan Jinyue.
To be honest, even if he held nothing back, Chen Guan couldn’t say he was sure to beat Guan Jinyue. She had always been mysterious, likely holding multiple tricks up her sleeve.
Unless…
Wang Dan was using him as bait.
Or maybe it was just a simple test.
Chen Guan waited until Wang Dan’s footsteps had completely vanished down the corridor, then sat for another five minutes or so.
He sensed the surroundings. No one was spying.
Leaning back against the headboard, Chen Guan typed with one hand.
[He Chenguan’s identity has entered the periphery of the New Circus. Promoted from freelance worker by one level. He’s currently being led by a person named Wang Dan to a transfer station in the dock area. There’s an escort mission tomorrow early morning, transporting a fifth-tier Flood Dragon Mirage Core.]
After sending it, he added another line.
[Also, something happened at the docks tonight.]
Bai Hu replied almost instantly.
[Speak.]
[A person named Guan Jinyue showed up.]
Chen Guan didn’t hide the matter of Guan Jinyue. Telling Bai Hu served two purposes: to get some intelligence and to make Bai Hu think ahead.
This time, Bai Hu’s response interval noticeably lengthened.
The cursor flickered a few times, but no new message came from Bai Hu.
Bao Bao rolled over by the window, switching its lying posture. Its tail hung over the edge of the windowsill, a small section dangling, swaying gently with its breath.
The screen lit up.
Bai Hu’s message finally popped up.
[Guan Jinyue? Are you sure?]
[Yes. My eyesight hasn’t failed me.]
After sending it, he added another line.
[She stole the goods from the circus’s cold storage. Took the whole batch and even took the guards out.]
Bai Hu’s response interval lengthened again. About a minute passed before the next message came.
[Why would she appear in Rust Harbor?]
[Not sure. She didn’t state her goal, but she acted very purposefully.]
Chen Guan leaned back, the light from his phone screen reflecting off his mask. He didn’t take it off—it had become part of the identity He Chenguan, even when the room held only him and Bao Bao.
[Did she notice you?]
Chen Guan’s finger paused over the screen.
This answer required careful consideration.
Guan Jinyue had indeed sensed the aura of Bael on him, but he hadn’t admitted it, nor had he exposed Chen Guan’s identity. Throughout the encounter, he had responded purely as He Chenguan.
If he told Bai Hu that Guan Jinyue had detected the aura of Bael, Bai Hu would surely ask why he carried that aura.
Whether Bai Hu knew about this, Chen Guan wasn’t sure.
But he didn’t want to introduce unnecessary variables at this juncture.
[She passed by my position, glanced at me, but didn’t get suspicious. I was wearing a mask and acted like an ordinary freelancer.]
That wasn’t exactly a lie—he had just omitted the part about the aura of Bael.
After about two minutes, his phone vibrated.
[You’ve only been on the fringes of the New Circus for a day, and you’ve already risen from freelancer to an escort mission. That’s faster than I expected.]
[I have Guan Jinyue to thank for that. She killed people and stole a batch of goods. The circus was short-handed, so I lucked out.]
[She cleared the path for you.]
[Unintentionally. She has no idea what I’m doing, and I don’t plan on letting her know.]
Bai Hu was silent for a short while, then sent a longer message.
[Guan Jinyue is a complicated person. She has cooperative relationships with demons and the yao clans, but her own stance has never been very clear. She operates alone, unbound by any faction. If she’s shown up in Rust Harbor now, it means trouble is brewing again.]
After reading this passage, Chen Guan mulled it over. Bai Hu’s knowledge of Guan Jinyue ran deeper than he had thought. It seemed there were matters between them that Chen Guan didn’t know about either.
He replied.
[Will she come back again?]
[Hard to say. Guan Jinyue never takes a roundabout path. But if her goal intersects with the New Circus, you two might cross paths again later.]
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!
] [Lone Wolf, No Male Gaze] [Protagonist is pursued early on; extreme protagonist-stans, stay away!] The "Carnival Paradise" descends and slowly devours the real world in the form of a game. By chance, Zhu Yan awakens the talent [Roleplay], becoming one of the first beta players. He thought he could develop safely, but after clearing the first instance, he is branded by humanity as the chief culprit behind the game's spread—a traitorous villain. A villain? Who would ever... become one! He'll be the villain! From then on, Zhu Yan is not only a player but also a lackey for the Carnival Paradise. Between the straight path and the crooked path, he chooses the con. With his left hand, he dons the villain's mantle, staging scenes within instances, infuriating players who decry him as a despicable traitor, all while the game happily promotes him. With his right hand, he joins the non-human organization "Fangcun Mountain," which opposes the Carnival Paradise, transforming into a mysterious player who slaughters game bosses, earning cheers of "Long live the expert!" from fellow players. Gradually, Zhu Yan rises to become an S-rank human player in Fangcun Mountain's archives, while also being the Carnival Paradise's certified top game Boss. But when the final war erupts and both major factions place their hopes in him— Players tag his various aliases: "Experts, this offensive depends on you." The Carnival Paradise's supreme Boss throws an arm around his neck: "Bro, you're the iron, I'm the steel; you can't let me down again!"
lanned to earn money steadily and take life at a slower pace. But he never expected... his father's remarriage, and the stepmother bringing along a dependent, would completely disrupt his life's plans...
Cheng's father told him he was getting remarried—to a wealthy woman. Cao Cheng realized his time had finally come: he was about to become a second-generation rich kid. Sure, it might be a watered-down version, but hey, at least he'd have status now, right? The wealthy woman also had four daughters!! Which meant, starting today, Cao Cheng gained four stunning older sisters?? But that wasn't even the whole story... "My name is Cao Cheng—'Cheng' as in 'honest, smooth-talking gentleman'!"
