Chapter 9
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Chapter 9: First Time’s a Charm, Second Time’s Familiar
“Awake? No, not really…
“…Am I awake?”
Terrified, El felt his mind spinning, and finally asked cautiously,
“Should I be awake?”
At that moment, the silver-haired boy was filled with extreme fear. He thought he was truly out of luck—one group wanted to harvest his organs, while another aimed to turn him into a feast…
Damn it, there was no hope in Hope City at all!
“Should be, since it’s almost dawn. Many things have a thrill when done in the dark,”
the young man replied, casually.
Like being a person?
El silently scoffed at the thought, feeling increasingly uneasy about the young man.
“Now, tell me about yourself,”
Lin Qingliu said in a relaxed tone, like an eager listener waiting for a good story.
El glanced at the two men hanging up and then at the frying pan giving off white steam. Feeling weak, he responded,
“Do you really want to hear their life stories before eating them?”
“Eat them?”
Lin Qingliu paused for a moment, then turned to look at the half-open kitchen filled with smoke and the two shadows vaguely visible behind. Remembering the odd little tune he had just hummed, he nodded thoughtfully.
He picked up the frying pan and showed El the meat steak with a hint of charred aroma.
“Don’t misunderstand; it’s beef.”
He said earnestly,
“If you answer my questions well, I’ll save you a piece.”
“Gulp~”
After confirming the meat was definitely not from a human, El’s throat noticeably moved.
This poor kid had been fleeing all night long, and the sleep induced by the chop did not ease his exhaustion and hunger.
At that moment, hunger and weariness surged together, and he unexpectedly felt a strange familiarity with the young man, leading to an unexplainable trust…
“So that’s how it is…”
Lin Qingliu used a knife and fork to eat the beef bit by bit while listening to the third version of the story.
Though the details differed slightly, the overall sequence of events was clear, and El, being only thirteen years old, had little reason to lie.
Keeping his word, Lin Qingliu pushed the remaining small piece of pan-fried meat in front of El and untied his bindings.
Watching El devour the food greedily, he asked,
“What are you planning to do next?”
“Get revenge.”
The high frequency of chewing and swallowing did not delay El’s response; he answered almost without hesitation, as if he had been prepared for this.
“What’s the target?”
“Brotherhood.”
You might be disappointed…
Just a moment ago, the Brotherhood study group was taken out by vigilantes from the outer city.
Lin Qingliu did not want to discourage El’s confidence and continued to ask,
“And then?”
“A black market doctor.”
“And then?”
“An underground casino.”
“And then?”
“……”
El paused chewing and fell into deep thought. Yes, when the day of revenge came, what would he do afterward?
He had no idea.
“You’re thinking too far ahead.”
Lin Qingliu sat on the edge of the bed, patted El’s shoulder, and pointed towards the kitchen.
“You can’t even handle those two guys hanging over there; you’ll die before you get to the first step of your plan.”
Lin Qingliu’s words seemed to wake El from his daydream, bringing him back to reality. He remembered he had been a timid hunted creature just a few hours ago but was now pondering what to do after revenge as if it were a fantasy.
“Yeah…”
El set down his utensils, finally regaining the reason he had lost in the heat of the moment like an animal that had come out of a panic state.
The tearful thirteen-year-old boy felt his tears fall, quietly sobbing,
“I… am too weak… I have no power…”
“What if I could help you gain strength?”
Lin Qingliu’s words felt like a shot of adrenaline, instantly stopping the boy’s sobbing.
“Really?”
“Really. I can give you power, but…”
“I’m willing to do anything!”
The silver-haired boy said without hesitation.
“You won’t have to give up much; let me think, perhaps just…”
Lin Qingliu rested his head on one hand and said,
“Absolute devotion, necessary cooperation, and…”
He suddenly remembered how the young boy used two iron wires to unlock his home’s mechanical lock in under ten seconds, so he suppressed a chuckle and added,
“And a small portion of financial support for me personally.”
Without a second thought, El excitedly nodded,
“No problem, take whatever you want! Just let me gain…”
“Since that’s the case…”
Lin Qingliu interrupted him, stood up from the bed, and gently pushed El back down onto the sickbed like a real doctor.
“Please allow me to introduce the great Lord, the original, the final, the one and only god.
“I will give you a chance to receive divine enlightenment; whether you can grasp it will depend on you.”
As he deepened his understanding of this world, Lin Qingliu found his memories from his previous life merging more completely with his knowledge.
At first, when he had tricked Wang Xiao, he needed to rely on many unrelated stories, but now, with some knowledge and skills of a psychologist, he had developed a good understanding of guiding patients.
Under his soothing words, El quickly fell into a shallow sleep after experiencing a drastic turn of events in his life.
Lin Qingliu began to narrate the story of a god who mixed all kinds of strange attributes and had some contradictory qualities, following his previously prepared script.
Eventually, in his gentle tone, a semi-ethereal USB drive was inserted into the boy’s neck.
【Bestow a blessing completed.】
This time, there was no drowning pain; El’s body relaxed, and he sank deeply into sleep.
—
The silver-haired young man found himself on a flat-topped mountain.
He wore a peculiar, creamy white robe, wrapped around from under his arm, leaving his right arm and shoulder exposed.
The weather was scorching hot, and even at this nearly cloud-level mountain, the occasional breeze did little to relieve the heat. El looked at the grand, layered stone buildings in the distance and started to move closer to them.
At least it wasn’t a wasteland, he thought.
As he approached the building complex, El noticed more people dressed similarly to him.
However, those people neither showed confusion at his presence nor approached him to talk, as if… right, as if they simply couldn’t see him.
The moment El birthed this somewhat frightening thought, he felt a pang of hunger in his stomach. As a small thief from the outer city, his moral standards shifted with the size of his wallet and his level of hunger.
Not far away, a long table displayed foods and drinks emitting strange aromas, moved from one end to another. This was a chance not to be missed!
With determination, El began to test cautiously. After confirming everyone would ignore him, he happily dug in.
He didn’t know what the situation was, but he was going to eat to his heart’s content!
