Chapter 969: Revenge |
"So, it turns out your Morio Town Protection Association isn't as solid as I thought," Liu Xing sighed as he began to speak.
Mai Yuqiang shrugged and laughed, saying, "How could the Morio Town Protection Association ever be a united front? As I always say, the Morio Town Protection Association is teeming with hidden talents and potential, which is both a blessing and a curse. The good part is obvious and doesn't need much explanation—everyone is quite clear on that. The problem lies in everyone believing their own abilities are exceptional, making it impossible for anyone to accept being subordinate. As a result, the Morio Town Protection Association currently lacks a president with real authority to command everyone, leading to numerous internal factions, each led by someone eager to take things to the next level."
At this point, Mai Yuqiang couldn't help but sigh, "I'm starting to doubt that the Morio Town Protection Association can ever elect a truly authoritative president. If they try, it will likely cause the association to disintegrate into chaos, with everyone breaking apart and fighting on their own."
Liu Xing nodded, thinking that the Morio Town Protection Association might indeed fragment further, as there truly was no leader everyone could acknowledge.
"Let's continue talking about the Leopard," Mai Yuqiang said seriously. "This guy's strength is impressive—he's arguably the top assassin in the Morio Town Protection Association. Of course, here 'assassin' refers to his attack style being similar to that of an assassin. However, the Leopard is also formidable in direct combat because of his incredible agility. He always manages to attack in unexpected ways, making him hard to defend against." He continued, "But he does have a fatal weakness: his reaction time is somewhat sluggish."
Liu Xing looked puzzled at Mai Yuqiang and asked, "What do you mean by that? If the Leopard is so fast, his reaction should keep up, right?"
"That's exactly the Leopard's fatal flaw," Mai Yuqiang explained. "He was injured once before, which has diminished his reaction time compared to before. However, his fighting style was already well-established before the injury; he's accustomed to launching attacks at lightning speed. If you force him to slow down his attack speed, his combat effectiveness drops significantly. So now, he relies on prediction during battles. Do you understand what I mean?"
The three members nodded, indicating they understood Mai Yuqiang's point.
"So, as long as we don't act in ways that the Leopard anticipates, his combat effectiveness will plummet?" Li Hanxing stroked his chin and said, "Since he's already planned his next few moves, it's difficult for him to change his strategy on the fly, and he might make one wrong move after another."
The three Liu Xing members exchanged glances, wondering if the Cthulhu Role-Playing Game Hall was hinting that they should set the Leopard as their primary target. Otherwise, Mai Yuqiang wouldn't have arranged to explain the Leopard's weaknesses to them.
However, from Liu Xing's perspective, NPCs like the Leopard were quite interesting. The Leopard was the first NPC Liu Xing had encountered that required "predicting his prediction," and the outcome of such predictions would greatly influence the battle's result.
This was equivalent to adding a prediction judgment before the battle judgment, but this prediction judgment was entirely up to the players to decide.
After discussing the Leopard, Mai Yuqiang couldn't help but bring up Bao, "To be honest, I'm not bragging. I think within Morio Town, only Bao can engage in a head-to-head fight with me because our physical conditions are quite similar, and we both excel at using our fists as weapons."
Hearing Mai Yuqiang say this, Liu Xing couldn't help but internally criticize the module creator responsible for building the Morio Town module for their peculiar taste in pairing Mai Yuqiang with Bao as NPCs. Moreover, Liu Xing guessed that Mai Yuqiang and Bao's attribute and skill values were probably similar.
After all, Mai Yuqiang and Bao were almost identical.
However, this only applied to Bao in his normal state. If Bao entered a berserk state, Mai Yuqiang might genuinely be unable to defeat him, as a berserk Bao would be recklessness personified.
At that moment, Mai Yuqiang changed the subject, "To be honest, I don't think Bao is an undercover sent by the Swollen Woman, unless his acting skills have reached a masterful level. I can sense various emotions in him, such as regret, helplessness, pain, and inner conflict. So I believe Bao is someone with a story, and because he can't control himself, he chose to keep his distance from us."
Liu Xing found Mai Yuqiang's words somewhat reasonable... But suddenly, he felt that the three targets seemed like distractions, with none being reliable...
Liu Xing glanced at Li Hanxing and Sun Huiwen, noticing that their thoughts were likely similar to his own...
Looking a bit confused, the three Liu Xing members watched as Mai Yuqiang stood up and said, "Alright, let's go eat now. I've already reserved a table. That Shudu Restaurant is the best and busiest restaurant in Morio Town. If it weren't for Wang Haiyang's family owning it, we might not have been able to get a table today."
Liu Xing and the others nodded and followed Mai Yuqiang.
The Shudu Restaurant Mai Yuqiang mentioned wasn't far, so they reached their destination after only a few minutes of walking. As Mai Yuqiang had said, the restaurant was extremely busy; it was already past eleven o'clock, and it was fully occupied.
At this moment, Wang Haiyang was already waiting for Liu Xing and the others at the entrance, indicating he had probably skipped class.
Led by Wang Haiyang, Liu Xing and the group entered through the restaurant's back door and arrived at a small private room.
Inside the private room, Dio and an unfamiliar middle-aged man were already seated.
"This is Bai Xing, the leader of our little group. His boxing and martial arts skills are second only in Morio Town. Nobody dares to claim the top spot—even I have to admit defeat. After arriving in Morio Town, I specifically trained under him for a few years, but unfortunately, he never took me as his apprentice. However, since Bai Xing was personally injured by the Swollen Woman, he's now switched careers to become a strategist."
As soon as Mai Yuqiang finished speaking, Bai Xing laughed and scolded, "Mai Yuqiang, stop talking nonsense, okay? I don't have the ability to be your master. Although my techniques are more refined than yours, you could take me down with just one punch."
Liu Xing looked at Bai Xing, momentarily unsure how to respond, especially since Bai Xing's name clearly references "Star Platinum," which is Kujo Jotaro's Stand from JoJo's Bizarre Adventure.
Could this be hinting that Bai Xing would merge with Mai Yuqiang?
...
It sounds pretty exciting.
After taking their seats, Wang Haiyang handed the menu to Liu Xing. "Although 80% of our Shudu dishes aren't primarily spicy—after all, chili peppers were introduced to China too late—you should know that Island Nation cuisine is renowned for its delicacy. To put it simply, Island Nation had limited and poor-quality land, so they produced only a few ingredients, making it hard not to create refined dishes. Moreover, various seasonings are even scarcer and more precious, which is why they developed styles like Kaiseki Cuisine that focus solely on the natural flavors of the ingredients... ahem, I digress. What I mean is that our restaurant mainly serves robustly flavored dishes. None of you are from Magic Capital, right?"
Liu Xing shrugged and laughed, "I'm from Shudu, but I didn't expect you, Wang Haiyang, to have such regional bias."
Wang Haiyang quickly shook his head, "No, I'm not. Don't misunderstand me. I just think that people from Magic Capital might not be able to handle our restaurant's dishes because several people from Magic Capital have only eaten here once and never returned."
After some casual banter and placing their orders, Liu Xing and the others got down to business.
First, Mai Yuqiang explained Liu Xing's purpose for coming and shared his own thoughts.
Regarding Mai Yuqiang's intention to leave Morio Town, Bai Xing and Wang Haiyang expressed their support because, like Dio, they had long heard Mai Yuqiang's reasons for wanting to leave Morio Town.
However, Wang Haiyang still had concerns. "So, Brother Qiang, will you still return to Morio Town? I think if you had stayed in Morio Town longer, the Swollen Woman might not have come to bother you."
"No, even if I could resolve things over there in a short time, I wouldn't return to Morio Town. I plan to first go to Macau to meet my relatives and friends, then personally seek out the Swollen Woman to settle the score because I still need to avenge her," Mai Yuqiang shook his head.
Upon hearing this, everyone present looked bewildered at Mai Yuqiang. How dare he be so arrogant as to actively seek out trouble with the Swollen Woman?
"Mai Yuqiang, have you lost your mind? Don't you know that the Swollen Woman is a legendary Great Old One—an immortal and indestructible entity? Even those who have faced Great Old Ones like Cthulhu or Mordiggian have only managed to defeat them, not kill them. They can only seal them away, and those sealed Great Old Ones are now showing signs of breaking free. More importantly, the Swollen Woman has never been sealed, making her strength far surpass that of ordinary Great Old Ones. Mai Yuqiang, you simply have no chance of avenging her," Bai Xing frowned and said.
However, Mai Yuqiang responded indifferently, "That's true. With my current strength, I probably can't even get close to the Swollen Woman, but I can go after her subordinates. To be honest, I still don't understand why the Swollen Woman has so many ordinary humans as her subordinates, especially since these people aren't even fanatic believers of hers."
The atmosphere in the room grew tense.
"Maybe it's because the Swollen Woman is already so powerful that she doesn't need subordinates," Dio took a sip of water and said. "Considering her strength, she doesn't need any minions or followers. And from what I know, unlike other Great Old Ones like Cthulhu or Mordiggian, the Swollen Woman has no intention of conquering Earth."
Mai Yuqiang looked at Dio and smiled, "Dio, you have some nerve. As a Ghoul, you dare to directly mention your boss's name. Aren't you afraid Mordiggian will come after you?"
Dio smiled and pointed to himself, "Haha, I'm not a Ghoul from Tusheng. Mordiggian can't reach me here, and besides, this is the Swollen Woman's territory. I don't think Mordiggian has the guts to come here and cause trouble for me."
Dio's comment finally lightened the mood in the room, prompting Bai Xing to advise Mai Yuqiang again, "I know you want revenge against the Swollen Woman, but that’s essentially courting death. While her subordinates are weak, that also means they're disposable for her. No matter how many die, she won’t feel any loss, and she can always replenish them. So, Mai Yuqiang, seeking revenge this way is a mistake."
Mai Yuqiang shrugged and shook his head, "I know I can't seriously harm the Swollen Woman, but my reason for revenge is to achieve peace of mind and have no regrets. So, Bai Xing, stop trying to persuade me. I've made up my mind, and once I leave Morio Town, you won't be able to come after me."
Bai Xing was left speechless.
Seeing this, Mai Yuqiang sighed and said, "Let's get back to the main topic. I called everyone here today hoping you could help me eliminate the last target, and I've already chosen who that is—Bai Liang. Do you have any objections?"
Dio glanced at Liu Xing with surprise, and Liu Xing gently shook his head, indicating that he had already informed Mai Yuqiang about Bao and the Leopard. However, Mai Yuqiang remained steadfast in his decision.
Dio thought for a moment but couldn't hold back, "Mai Yuqiang, have you really considered Bao and the Leopard? I think there's a high possibility they're under the Swollen Woman's command."
"Bao and the Leopard might indeed be Swollen Woman's subordinates, but I believe their combined likelihood is still lower than Bai Liang's. In my eyes, Bai Liang is very abnormal," Mai Yuqiang replied seriously.
[Thanks for reading at Patreon.com/maxnkoga , if you supporting this novel, a heartfelt thankyou, enjoy the content!]
Chapter 970: Voting