Honkai, why do you only throw me into high-level battles?

It has only been a year.

Even though he understands how drastically he has changed, he never had a chance to truly see it for himself,

Until now, when he sees a successful middle-aged man throw away all his dignity, kneeling before him and begging desperately, when he sees all of his "laughable schemes" are nothing more than a man and a father's desperate last-ditch effort,

Even though he already knew the man's intentions, seeing this makes Lin Wei feel a pang in his heart.

This is what it means to truly enter the "inner world" and understand the true nature of this world. To the people of the "outer world," he can easily decide their fate—life, death, or a fate worse than death.

It's no wonder Cocolia became so arrogant—this overwhelming difference in power makes one feel that they are "above all beings," and thus forgets that they're also just one of them,

Those who have lost their reverence are pathetic.

Lin Wei shakes his head, putting those thoughts away, and continues to eat his food casually.

After a moment, Lin Wei glances at the time. The man, who's eating opposite him, senses Lin Wei's subtle action and hurriedly puts his bowl and chopsticks down.

Why's he so scared?

Lin Wei feels helpless and asks, "Have you finished eating?"

The man nods repeatedly, wiping his mouth, signaling that he isn't trying to be polite.

"Let's go." Lin Wei doesn't say much. He gets up and leaves, and the man quickly follows.

The two men, who have been pretending to dine as guests, see Lin Wei and the scruffy man leaving the private room. They see that Lin Wei is looking around casually as if he hasn't noticed anything, and that the man following him is anxiously looking around nervously.

They glance at each other, relaxing a bit—Nothing abnormal. Everything's going according to plan.

Then, pretending to be paying their bill, they walk towards Lin Wei, who's also heading to the counter.

"Need me to get a room for you to shower?" Lin Wei asks politely, moving out of other people's way, sounding just like a tourist, a guest.

"I... I'm fine..." The man hesitates for a moment before carefully looking at Lin Wei. His voice trembles as he says no.

"Okay." Lin Wei shrugs, knowing that the man is afraid he'll run away if he is out of sight. He doesn't press the issue.

As they speak, two burly young men walk towards them and flank them, staring intensely at Lin Wei, saying, "This man behind you is a fugitive. We're taking him into custody. You need to come with us and assist with our investigations."

Is this Singapore or somewhere else? Aren't you guys a bit overbearing? Lin Wei complains in his mind. Your acting is terrible.

"Assist with investigations? Show me your police IDs first!" Lin Wei takes a few steps back, distancing himself from the man behind him. Other diners and the waiter look over when they hear the commotion. "You need to take him. It has nothing to do with me. I don't know him!"

"You have no choice. Come with us quietly!" A third accomplice rushes in from the front door. The three now surround Lin Wei and the man.

"Guests, if you have a conflict, please take it outside. Please don't affect the other guests." The hotel manager walks over to intervene in this tense situation.

"I can come with you if you pay for our meal." Lin Wei smiles provocatively at the guy who glared at him before.

Try acting like cops again!

"You!" The man is about to burst out in rage, but is stopped by his accomplice with a look. He glares at Lin Wei reluctantly, and then turns to go to the front counter.

His accomplice moves to take his place, pinning down the scruffy man, who shudders at being grabbed, while he gestures politely towards the entrance.

"This way, please."

Heh, so that's how it's done…

Lin Wei laughs. He has never seen this kind of performance. At least he didn't have to pay. Not bad.

He leaves the hotel half-willingly, half-forced. The other two accomplices who have been guarding the front and back door were already waiting there. They all walk towards Lin Wei when they see them. One of them guides Lin Wei away, while the man is taken away by another person.

They shove them into the back of two black cars.

Then they are surrounded on both sides.

Lin Wei calmly closes his eyes, recalling the look of desperation from the man, the way he looked back at him as if he was a lifeline before being blindfolded and shoved into the car.

"Isn't it a little too crowded in there? He just ate a lot. You really should give him some room, he might throw up on you, don't blame me for not warning you~" Lin Wei says indifferently.

"You talk too much!" The driver glares at Lin Wei through the rearview mirror as a warning. Lin Wei smiles and doesn't say anything. He just puts his arms between his legs, so it's less cramped, and then closes his eyes again. He feels the cars start and drive off.

...

"Hey, what's up?" At the headquarters of the Thousand Fists Association, the bald man picks up the phone, impatiently, from amidst the smoke, "Boss, they've taken the bait."

Hearing his subordinate's report, the bald man grunts, letting him know that he understands, "Heh, looks like he didn't try to trick us after all… do things the way you always do."

Just as he's about to hang up, the voice on the other end interrupts him. "Wait, boss, there's one more thing…"

He frowns, reprimanding, "Speak!"

"Uhm, well, that guy we caught today, he wants to see you…" The voice on the other end becomes strange, as if he's trying to hold back his laughter, "He said that he knows the whereabouts of three other Nagazora City survivors, so he wanted to tell you personally…"

"Huh?" The boss is bewildered. He sits up. Did he just find a bunch of nuts all in one go?

It's such a pleasant surprise. He laughs, "Bring him in! Bring him in quickly! Of course I want to meet such an important guest! Hahaha, he's a walking money bag! The more valuable goods we get, the better!"

"Okay, Boss!"

......

"The boss agreed to meet you. Lucky you!" A scrawny man hangs up the phone after bowing and scraping, then straightens up, and says to Lin Wei with a stern expression. "Be respectful when you meet the boss. You say what he wants you to say, do you hear?"

Lin Wei looks at the spitting man, full of a gentle smile, thinking that this clown is very interesting. He doesn't mind playing along.

"You Thousand Fists Association people are quite interesting. You're acting like police in public. Aren't you afraid of being caught?"

"Heh, those big shots have already been fed so much that they wouldn't care about these small matters." The scrawny man says proudly, then seems to realize that he has said too much and glares at Lin Wei. "You talk too much! Hurry, let's go, don't make the boss wait!"

At the same time, he feels strangely confused. Why am I talking so much today?

Lin Wei smiles, putting away the feather he has been holding between his fingers. He begins to follow the scrawny man towards the elevator.

This place is obviously not a police station, but it's also not a secluded area.

This is Chinatown, one of the busiest areas in Singapore.

It's beyond Lin Wei's expectations that the Thousand Fists Association would be this bold, this arrogant, to set up their headquarters in a place like this.

After getting out of the car, Lin Wei takes in some fresh air. He watches as the scruffy man, surnamed Liu, is dragged unceremoniously toward the door like a piece of cargo, and he doesn't try to stop them.

And when they are about to grab him, Lin Wei acted as if he was startled and then suddenly "realized" the "truth". Then he immediately claims that he has important information to give to the boss of the Thousand Fists Association, "in order to survive".

And that led to what just happened.

This building looks like an ordinary three-story building, blending into other buildings within Chinatown. Therefore, the elevator doesn't go up, it goes down. Eleven floors.

No wonder Raven could wipe out the Thousand Fists Association by herself…

Lin Wei looks at the number on the elevator, which is slowly descending, and has a strange thought.

They're like sheep waiting to be slaughtered. All the entrances blocked. Nowhere to escape. They can slaughter anyone they want.

The elevator comes to a stop on the sixth floor. Ding, the elevator opens slowly. The scrawny man signals for Lin Wei to step out.

"Where is the person I came with? Where's his daughter?" Lin Wei steps out of the elevator and asks, frowning slightly.

He just hacked into the surveillance system and took a look. The man's daughter isn't here.

That isn't good news.

"Heh, you seem to be caring? " The man says sarcastically, perhaps he thinks that Lin Wei can't protect himself, or perhaps he thinks it's hypocritical of him to show concern for others when he was about to do the same thing to three other people.

"I don't know. Maybe they were sold, maybe they're dead, who knows? This kind of thing makes it difficult to cross the border through official channels, so there are no clear records... What are you looking at?" As he speaks, he finds that Lin Wei has been staring at him. He feels his hair stand on end, and protests.

"Nothing. I thought the Thousand Fists Association was just a name of an underground fighting ring. Now it seems like it's not…" Lin Wei sneers, pushes the scrawny man aside and walks toward the boss's office.

You may not know it, but that doesn't mean your boss doesn't either.

Lin Wei doesn't hesitate, opening the door and entering directly.

The office of the boss isn't too extravagant. A few pot plants are surrounding a large, black, fist-shaped stone sculpture, as well as a coffee table, a desk, and an unusually large computer screen.

But what attracts Lin Wei's eyes is a small, unremarkable ornament on the desk.

"So, it's you who wants to see me?" The bald man puffs out some smoke, irritated at Lin Wei's rudeness, but magnanimously forgives him.

For now.

"I'm here to find someone, but I seemed to have discovered something interesting… no, not really a discovery, it makes perfect sense…" Lin Wei speaks in a half-mocking tone, using words the boss can't understand.

But his intuition, honed over years in the underworld, tells him that there's something wrong.

"Who are you?" He immediately focuses his mind and secretly presses an alarm button, not caring who this person is, deciding to capture him first and get the answer later.

"Didn't you bring me here? Why ask me now?" Lin Wei asks calmly.

"I'm also curious, why are you so interested in Honkai survivors? But now… I already have an answer." Lin Wei smiles, looking at the bald man who has now become vigilant. "You know about 'Honkai,' right?"

"Oh? It seems that you're here to settle some scores." The bald man's head is covered with cold sweat. He wonders why no one has come to help even after so long.

He can't help it. He could only keep up his act, "Sir, I advise you not to stick your nose into other people's businesses…"

"Stick my nose? Didn't you guys bring me here yourselves?" Lin Wei's tone is casual. He picks up a metal ornament that looks like a ring and plays with it. He sighs and speaks with a mocking tone, "Really, I thought I was already patient. I've been enduring again, and again…"

"I also didn't want to be selfish. I've been holding myself back, for the bigger picture, for the billions of people in the world..."

Lin Wei suddenly kicks over the heavy wooden desk before him and throws the "ring" in his hand. It slams into the bald man's right hand just as he is pulling out a pistol, breaking his hand.

Lin Wei sneers at the man's scream, "But what makes you think you're worthy of advising me?! With that ouroboros on your desk?"

"I don't have a lot of patience. Now, I ask, you answer." Lin Wei picks up the pistol from the floor, checks the bullets, and releases the safety catch.

He aims the gun at the pale-faced bald man, who's sweating from pain but still has resentment on his face, "Where is the girl you brought here from Shenzhou?"