Chapter 660: Mercenary Mayhem

The strongest mercenary, Dracula…

Seeing Xia Chong’s excited expression, Lu Xin couldn’t help but snort.

To be honest, he wasn’t pleased.

What strongest mercenary? It’s clearly the ultimate con artist…

She had posted an impassioned tirade in the group—talking about humanitarian ideals and noble character, shamelessly proposing a one-million personal sponsorship and even throwing around the title of the club’s strongest Ability User to dupe people…

Is she acting as if no one knows she secretly pocketed a hundred million?

Fuming more with each thought, Lu Xin glanced at an animated Xia Chong and offered his opinion:

“Actually, I can handle this.”

“…”

Xia Chong paused for a moment before turning to Lu Xin, asking, “Are you sure about that?”

“?”

Lu Xin was taken aback. Dracula might not have offered any guarantees over there, so why now ask him about his confidence?

Catching on, Xia Chong hurriedly explained while waving her communicator: “You just heard the Negative Zero Unit’s investigation results, Mr. Lone Soldier. The issues with Flame can’t be solved by any one person. No matter how powerful an Ability User is—even if they could wipe out all the residents of Flame City—they wouldn’t be able to stop Flame’s rampage. What we need now is to save lives…”

“We need an army to save lives…”

Then she added warily, “But you can’t let them be as oblivious as that mental monster in the Abyss.”

“…”

“I see…”

Enlightened by her words, Lu Xin chuckled, “In that case, I can have an army too…”

He then turned to the few who had trailed behind him.

Night Owl, Old Wang, and Nine-Headed Serpent all looked deep in thought as they stared at the city…

Maybe Night Owl wasn’t pondering at all—he was just spacing out.

Dracula had brought an army over—in theory, that made sense. What Xia Chong didn’t know was that the army had been swayed by him, and nearly half its members had already shown up in front of her. Out of professional courtesy, Lu Xin decided not to expose Dracula, but he could quietly pull that army to his side…

“This is legitimate business competition. Dracula can’t really argue with that, can he?”

Lu Xin first looked at him with a friendly smile and said, “Come here. How much did Dracula pay you?”

Night Owl immediately grew suspicious, “What payment?”

He winked at Lu Xin, silently hinting.

It appeared Dracula had signed some kind of non-disclosure agreement with him, so he was still cautious about being overheard.

“It’s fine; I won’t ask further.”

Lu Xin then looked at Night Owl and said, “Dracula only said you needed to show up—nothing more. He never mentioned risking your life to handle something this terrifying. But now that we’re in this mess, we can’t just walk away. So I need you to help me stop the contamination in Flame City. If you’re willing—and if we can resolve this…”

After a pause, Lu Xin said seriously, “I’ll provide you with an extra personal sponsorship…”

“…A straight one hundred thousand!”

“Swish?”

Night Owl was instantly shocked; moments later, he was so moved he nearly shed tears as he stepped forward and grasped Lu Xin’s hand.

“Brother, you’re amazing…”

“Look, I haven’t even treated you to a massage yet—and you’ve already paid up…”

“…”

Xia Chong was puzzled. Hadn’t Dracula already mentioned this on the platform?

Why did Mr. Lone Soldier feel the need to reiterate so earnestly?

Was he worried these people wouldn’t handle the tricky situation properly and would rather pay out of his own pocket?

Beside him, Nine-Headed Serpent and Old Wang looked equally stunned, blinking as they watched the exchange in a daze.

That was until Lu Xin turned to look at them.

Nine-Headed Serpent tensed immediately; eight of its nine heads casually swung to one side, while only the central head regarded Lu Xin with earnest attention. That fist-sized snake head even displayed an elegant expression as it murmured, “I’m not one to meddle, but since you helped us leave that world, I owe you a favor…”

“So I’ll help you stop this, consider it a friendly gesture…”

“…”

“This guy sure talks a lot…”

Lu Xin smiled and said, “Then about that sponsorship…”

“Forget it…”

The central head of Nine-Headed Serpent gave an elegant shake of its head.

Lu Xin instantly felt a surge of fondness—saving a hundred thousand wasn’t too shabby.

“Huh?”

At that moment, his Sister, who had been watching the nine-headed man, suddenly tugged at Lu Xin excitedly, “Brother, brother, I think I’ve seen this guy before. Last time on the sea, he secretly cursed you…”

“Hmm?”

Lu Xin, surprised, looked at Nine-Headed Serpent.

“No, no…”

Nine-Headed Serpent looked a bit flustered and stepped back, calmly saying, “You must be mistaken…”

His Sister tilted her head curiously, “Are there many people with nine heads?”

Nine-Headed Serpent fell silent as all nine of its heads retracted slightly into their necks, looking rather embarrassed.

“He can see Sister, and he can hear her…”

Lu Xin stared deeply at the creature that seemed more monster than man, nodded slightly, and, considering it was time to use everyone, didn’t press further. Instead, he turned his gaze to the last person—Old Wang.

“Don’t count on me—I’m not going.”

Old Wang immediately stiffened, grabbed his communicator, and declared, “I’m going to take down Dracula.”

“Well…”

Right now, he could only rely on these three people, and one of them was being downright uncooperative.

But since an enemy’s enemy is a friend, Lu Xin couldn’t help but smile warmly and nod enthusiastically:

“Alright…”

“…”

“…”

At that, Nine-Headed Serpent and Xia Chong both turned to look at him.

Although no one was quite sure what was going on, it seemed Mr. Lone Soldier was oddly pleased about someone taking on Dracula.

“Everything’s arranged…”

Ignoring their looks, Lu Xin surveyed the city beneath the Building with a serious gaze:

“Then, shall we begin?”

“…”

A night breeze began to blow.

The Red Moon above the city silently gazed down, outlining their figures as steadfast, righteous silhouettes.

“Then I’m off, Brother.”

The first to speak up was Night Owl, who cast Lu Xin a determined look before striding backward.

Quick as a flash, he slid off the building’s edge with a whoosh, like a discarded ragdoll.

“Damn…”

Everyone jumped in surprise, hurrying to the edge to watch.

They saw his chubby body plummeting straight down like a tattered ragdoll.

Just as he was about to smash into a heap, an eerie scene unfolded: pedestrians along the street—both captors and the captured—turned instantly to watch his descent. Their gazes converged at the falling spot, forming a circle of varying radii.

In the next moment, Night Owl disappeared into the center of that circle.

It was as if he had plunged into an invisible ocean…

Some onlookers even trembled as his fall made their bodies shudder and their heads droop, as if falling asleep.

Lu Xin could even faintly sense Night Owl’s image emerging in the surrounding mental sea.

With his arms clinging to his body like a chubby seal, his head bobbed as he swam swiftly into the distance…

“He’s entered someone else’s psyche…”

Xia Chong, slightly startled, whispered, “That must be a Dream Weaver-type ability.”

“To be able to forcefully pull someone into a dreamscape and use them to your advantage—this guy…”

“…”

“Those who can join the Red Moon Club are truly no ordinary people—even taking a hundred thousand makes you a fool…”

Nearby, Nine-Headed Serpent chuckled softly as all nine of its heads stretched out simultaneously.

Like nine red pythons, they slithered from the top of the Building in an instant. Under the Red Moon, their blood-red scales glowed eerily as they effortlessly swam along the building’s facade to the ground, regrouping into a figure that waved at Lu Xin before selecting the most expensive car parked by the roadside, honking as it slowly drove off.

“I must say, that style is impressive…”

Lu Xin nodded appreciatively at his ever-graceful flair.

But, isn’t this practically theft?

“Bah, you idiot.”

Old Wang, from behind, spat towards the direction where Nine-Headed Serpent had disappeared, then clumsily headed for the elevator.

Lu Xin marveled; this was the true bearing of a master.

“…”

“…”

“Alright…”

Seeing that everyone had taken their positions, Lu Xin’s mood lifted as he smiled at Xia Chong.

“Mr. Lone Soldier, have you noticed…”

Xia Chong hesitated, then furrowed her brows, “Did these guys even ask what to do before leaving?”

Lu Xin was momentarily stunned—it really did seem that way…

Everyone else had left on impulse; the only one with a clear purpose was set on taking down Dracula.

But he thought it was fine, “These teammates don’t seem capable of executing anything too rigorously anyway…”

“Maybe letting them act on impulse will yield better results…”

“…”

“The situation is critical; we have no time to waste.”

After a brief moment of confusion, Xia Chong grew serious. Her small face tightened as she looked earnestly at Lu Xin and said, “Mr. Lone Soldier, I need to immediately join up with the Negative Zero Unit and the rest of the team to investigate the true nature of Flame’s sacrificial ritual and their plan to mobilize all our strength to stop it. Until then, let’s do our best to curb the spread of the contamination, alright?”

She pointed to her ear and added, “I’ve got your channel—I’ll share whatever information I get!”

“Alright.”

Lu Xin smiled in agreement, watching as Xia Chong briskly headed towards the safety door, glancing back momentarily before entering.

Clenching his small fist, he murmured, “For the sake of civilization and order…”

“Mm-hmm…”

Lu Xin reciprocated with a fist bump as he watched her disappear at the doorway.

Now, on the rooftop, only the family remained.

Hidden in deep, dark shadows, a father loomed over the chaotic crowd below the Building like a giant.

And perched on his shoulder was Sister, her expression glowing with excitement.

Lu Xin stood at the building’s edge, leaning forward as he gazed at the frenetic city below, his expression growing more animated.

He spread his arms slightly and, as if in freefall, murmured softly:

“A hundred million…”