NOVEL ONLINE FREE 37: Terrifying
After the rain, Tianhai City returned to its usual bustling and prosperous state.
Except for Queen’s Boulevard.
“It’s so quiet, there’s not a single person on the street. It’s completely different from the city center,” Yuan Xiaoning said.
She remembered saying something similar the first time she came, but this time it wasn’t just idle talk—it really was quiet.
The sky had just darkened, and the moon wasn’t fully bright yet. Usually at this time, while Queen’s Boulevard might not be extraordinarily lively, there would at least be some pedestrians.
Today, there wasn’t even a ghost on the street.
Even the bar’s security was down to just one person.
“What happened today? Why are there so few people?” Yuan Xiaoning asked her good friend. “There’s no one even drinking in the main hall.”
“Is, is that so?” A-Lan replied with a forced smile, looking like she wanted to wipe sweat off her brow. “Maybe not. Perhaps everyone’s busy working.”
Tingting didn’t dare say a word, occasionally stealing glances at Bai Ling before quickly averting her gaze, afraid of being caught.
Only after Bai Ling entered the guest room did the two relax a bit.
“You’re one to talk. Why didn’t you tell us earlier?” A-Lan whispered. “She’s so terrifying.”
Yuan Xiaoning blinked: “How did I not tell you? Besides, didn’t you know from the beginning? Once a day, twelve hours each time—how could that not be terrifying?”
“That’s not what we’re talking about!” A-Lan rolled her eyes, then became curious. “Is it really as exaggerated as twelve hours each time?”
“Well… a few times, yes.”
“That does sound quite terrifying…”
Tingting couldn’t bear to listen anymore and interrupted them: “Let’s be serious. Yesterday, one late-stage Level 3, one early-stage Level 3, and two late-stage Level 2 ability users died at her hands. The Tianhai circle is in an uproar!”
Yuan Xiaoning was slightly shocked: “Everyone knows already?”
Is the news really that fast?
“We’re intermediaries for all kinds of commissions here. Besides, those three were regulars. Many people here knew them,” A-Lan said. “In fact, many have been paying attention since they accepted the task.”
Then they learned about the news of the three, along with their client, all dying violently.
Everyone who usually frequented the bar was stunned to learn that such a formidable person had appeared in Tianhai City. They probably wouldn’t dare to come out for at least a few days.
“Well, there’s nothing to be done,” Yuan Xiaoning couldn’t help but sigh. “It’s a matter of life and death.”
While she was chatting outside, Luo Zhoucheng inside wasn’t so happy.
It wasn’t that Mr. Luo was frightened by Bai Ling’s strength—he had already been scared by that before. His mood was even worse now mainly because, while helping Bai Ling investigate Cloud Sea Game Company, he discovered many things he didn’t know himself, such as—
“There are many more ability users in Tianhai City, all under the Sea and Sky as One Chamber of Commerce. The Cloud Sea Game Company you’re investigating is a member of the chamber, and they have at least ten ability users under them.”
Mr. Luo felt terrible. He had thought his intermediary business was thriving, with ability users constantly coming to the bar. He believed he had, if not the entire Tianhai City, at least seventy to eighty percent. But upon careful investigation, it wasn’t even thirty percent.
In Tianhai City, fifty percent of ability users worked for large companies, with good pay, stability, and enjoyment. Nearly thirty percent worked as mercenaries through the bar, enjoying freedom and the thrill of adventure. The remaining less than twenty percent used their abilities to earn small amounts of money for daily life, like Old Man Liu from the funeral goods shop.
Bai Ling’s reaction was very calm. She asked in return: “You’re only learning this now?”
Luo Zhoucheng’s face twitched, feeling even worse.
After a long silence, he finally took a sip of tea to compose himself, then gestured for his beautiful assistant to bring up the documents.
“I had someone look into Cloud Sea Game Company’s situation over the past twenty years, including early factory operations. I wasn’t sure what you needed, so I brought everything.”
Some official paper documents, along with a USB drive.
⊰⋆⋅⭑⋅⋆⊱⊰⋆⋅⭑⋅⋆⊱⊰⋆⋅⭑⋅⋆⊱⊰⋆⋅⭑⋅⋆⊱⊰⋆⋅⭑⋅⋆⊱⊰⋆⋅⭑⋅⋆⊱⊰⋆⋅⭑⋅⋆⊱⊰⋆⋅⭑⋅⋆⊱⊰⋆⋅⭑⋅⋆⊱⊰⋆⋅⭑⋅⋆⊱
Outside the door, the group had been discussing how terrifying Bai Ling’s power was, but due to Yuan Xiaoning’s initial comment, the conversation had veered off course.
“Do you think there might be a positive correlation between her strength and her… impressive endurance?” A-Lan asked.
Tingting frowned: “Probably not. Isn’t she a Mind Foundation Stone user, not a Reinforcement Foundation Stone user?”
“Reinforcement Foundation Stone just makes it more obvious. Other systems can strengthen the body too,” A-Lan asked, “What do you think, Xiaoning?”
Yuan Xiaoning agreed wholeheartedly: “It’s possible.”
She herself had been strengthened by the Water Dragon King, so there was no reason Bai Ling wouldn’t strengthen herself.
Confirmed cheating!
After a while, Bai Ling came out. Yuan Xiaoning immediately noticed the documents and USB drive in her hand.
“Let’s go,” Bai Ling said.
It seemed she had obtained what she wanted.
Seeing Bai Ling’s indifferent expression, Yuan Xiaoning knew she definitely hadn’t thanked anyone, so she turned and whispered to A-Lan:
“Please thank Mr. Luo for me.”
Leaving the bar, Yuan Xiaoning thought she would once again be unable to escape a love hotel night. She had already prepared herself to relax her body, inwardly praying that Bai Ling had forgotten what she had blurted out in fear earlier that day.
Something about the back being usable too…
However, Bai Ling didn’t head towards a hotel, but got into the car and sped down the highway.
Yuan Xiaoning looked at the direction they were heading and asked curiously: “Are we going back to the villa?”
The Zhang family villa.
“Hotels don’t have computers,” Bai Ling said concisely.
“They have compu—right, indeed they don’t.”
This time, Ning Ning held back and didn’t tell her about “e-sports hotels.”
With her powerful mental ability scouting ahead, Bai Ling floored the accelerator, taking only about twenty minutes to return to the Zhang residence.
Now the Zhang family villa was completely empty. The nameplate on the main gate hung loosely on the lock, with no lights inside. The weeds in the small garden looked particularly eerie in the moonlight, making it seem somewhat like a haunted house.
After turning on the lights, Yuan Xiaoning ran back to her room and lay on the bed to play with her phone. There was no computer in this room, so Bai Ling went to the study to look at the information on the USB drive.
Her school roommates sent messages of concern:
[Gu Hui: Xiaoning, you haven’t been coming to school at all. Bai Ling hasn’t either. Since you two got together, it seems like you’re stuck to each other every day.]
[Qiao Lili: Is it because you’re being done so much that you can’t get up, forced to rest at home?]
As always, Gu Hui was tactful, while Qiao Lili was straightforward.
Yuan Xiaoning felt indignant. She first looked back to confirm Bai Ling wasn’t in the room, then picked up her phone… thought for a moment, put it down, got off the bed to close the door.
Alright, all set. She pounced back onto the bed, grabbed her phone, and began to unleash her thoughts:
[Me, forced to rest? She’s the one forced to stay!]
[I can tell you very responsibly that not going to school and staying at home are all Bai Ling’s decisions. It has nothing to do with me.]
[She only lasts half an hour. It’s nothing, who can’t handle half an hour?]
[I throw five yuan in her face and tell her to add another session. You’ll see if she dares to add one, that’s all there is to it.]
In the study, Bai Ling plugged in the USB drive, and Cloud Sea Game Company’s information from the past twenty years appeared on the screen.