...
As the banquet ended, Black Spider walked out arm in arm with Carter.
She imagined seeing Qingchen smiling as he stood in the night, looking at her like a belated savior, saying sorry he was late.
Or perhaps stand on the edge of the rooftop, leaving her with your back turned, looking inscrutable, and ask her, "Do you like everything I've arranged?"
This is the image of Qing Chen in Black Spider's mind now: powerful, mysterious, and admirable.
However, before she could even leave the house, she heard Qing Chen and his followers playing cards and gambling: "Don't renege on your debt! I have a flush, and your highest hand is a pair of Kings. Pay up!"
Black Spider: "..."
Carter: "..."
This is a standard procedure for drivers and bodyguards: when important people gather, the less important people chat, brag, and gamble outside.
Everyone was already familiar with each other, but today, when the attendants saw Qingchen, a new face, they exchanged glances, wanting to set a trap for him.
Qingchen initially refused to gamble, but later he had no choice but to join in. He won all the money from his followers and painfully earned more than 80,000.
As Qing Chen left, his entourage watched his retreating figure, their hearts aching so much they could hardly breathe; they had worked for nothing this month.
Black Spider was both amused and exasperated by the sight. Who would have thought that someone like Qing Chen would be so unpretentious and shameless as to gamble with a group of slaves outside a restaurant?
The three people sat in the car, which drove itself through the steel forest and through a series of absurd and magical holographic neon lights.
The neon lights ahead were like a blue tide, and as they passed by, it was as if they were flying out of the azure sea and plunging into the night.
The three people in the car remained silent. Qingchen continued, still smiling, "They thought I was a newbie. When I first lost over five thousand, they even suggested that small bets weren't exciting enough. After the bets got bigger, they all cried. You all need to remember this: gambling is a terrible thing. The terrible thing is that it makes your money come too quickly. It will overturn your values, make you gradually look down on your salary, feel that working hard to earn so little money every month is meaningless, and gradually lose your love for life."
Qing Chen: "None of my men are allowed to be addicted to gambling. If I find out, I'll send every single one of them to jail."
Black Spider listened quietly. This new boss seemed to really hate gambling? Yes, it must be related to his gambler father from the real world.
Listening to Qingchen's rare rambling, she felt it was full of warmth and everyday life.
The hovercar dropped the two people off as it passed through the shadow of the Rose Avenue overpass.
Qingchen and Black Spider walked back side by side. Suddenly, she said, "No matter what you say, I have to thank you for tonight."
“Yes,” Qingchen nodded, “You need to work hard from now on. These people tonight are all to fill the gaps in your intelligence network. I look forward to the day when you can provide me with great assistance.”
“Yes,” Black Spider said. “It definitely will.”
...
...
Eastern Continent Federation, City No. 5.
Li Ke sat blankly in front of the hot pot.
Red oil bubbled in the copper pot, and Zhang Mengqian, though blindfolded with a silk ribbon, was able to precisely pick up every piece of tripe from the pot.
Li Yunjing sat to the side and said, "Eat slowly. Li Ke has been obsessed these past two days. No one will take it from you."
Xiao Mengqian said, "I actually hope he can do what he always does and try to take it from me."
"He's probably not in the mood for that right now."
Luncheon meat, quail eggs, duck feet, fried tofu skin, bamboo shoots, spicy beef... a whole table was laid out.
But Li Ke had no intention of touching his chopsticks at all.
At the next table, someone was saying, "Who would have thought that the Li family would collude with the enemy? They blocked the parents' meeting on the road before, and now they've sent airships to search for the parents' meeting in the mountains. Aren't they traitors? The day before yesterday, there was news that the head of the Li family, Li Yunshou, went to the north in his private airship, apparently to pay a visit to a big shot in the Western Continent. He's in a hurry to curry favor with them."
"It's one thing for the Li family to exploit everyone as a conglomerate, but to be so spineless in this difficult time is unacceptable. Are the Li family's precepts just for show? The old master of the Li family, Li Xiurui, passed away early. If he were still alive, how could he have watched Li Yunshou sell the family business to outsiders?"
Li Ke's eyelids twitched when he heard these words, but he didn't have the courage to refute them.
He simply said in a low voice, "My father isn't that kind of person."
Zhang Mengqian picked up a piece of tripe for him: "You didn't eat, so you're weak, right? Your voice is so soft..."
Li Ke looked up and stared straight at Zhang Mengqian: "Do you believe me? My father isn't that kind of person. He may have a different stance from Master, but he would never do something so treasonous, absolutely not."
Zhang Mengqian fell silent.
Li Yunjing also fell silent.
Li Ke said in a low voice, "Even Qingyi doesn't believe me anymore."
Qingyi, who used to call several times a day, hasn't called for three days now.
In the last satellite phone call, Qingyi simply told him to pay attention to the news.
At that moment, Li Ke realized something was wrong. They quickly ended the training camp, temporarily abandoning even the life-or-death situation, and returned to the city.
Then, seeing the overwhelming news about the Li family, Li Ke became a walking corpse, mechanically sleeping and waking up every day, as if he had lost his soul.
He didn't believe his father would make such a choice; he felt his father must have his own reasons.
He kept repeating it, but gradually he became less and less certain.
Because Li's airship was in the mountains at that moment, constantly searching for members of the parent-teacher association. It even found a team of 300 people and wiped them out in the mountains with missiles.
Moreover, how will his master view him after experiencing Li's betrayal?
How will Qingyi view himself after his comrades die at the hands of the Li family?
How will his junior brothers and sisters view him as the senior brother?
Li Yunjing didn't offer him any advice; she simply acted as his protector, eating her spicy beef in silence.
Li Ke sighed, "Actually, you all think my father betrayed us, don't you?"
Zhang Mengqian turned to look at Li Ke: "Is this matter very important?"
"Huh?" Li Ke was taken aback.
Zhang Mengqian said earnestly, "Does your father's decision have much to do with you? You just need to know what you're doing."
Chapter 958, Taking the Initiative
Zhang Mengqian, holding long chopsticks, precisely picked up a piece of Flaming Mountain beef from the red oil hot pot. After chewing it, he said, "Judging from the current situation, the Li family killed the members of the Parents' Association, besieged City 10, broke with your Aunt Li Changqing, and is still searching for members of the Parents' Association in the mountains... No matter how you look at it, betrayal is betrayal. He may have done it to protect the Li family, or he may have done it for something else, but this is the fact now."
Li Ke sat blankly on the bench with his hands on his knees, his mouth opening and closing, but he didn't know what to say.
Zhang Mengqian continued, "I know you can't accept it right now. I'll take you out for a walk later and see what you should do."
Li Ke raised his eyelids slightly: "When?"
"We'll have to wait until Uncle Yun Jing and I finish our hotpot," Zhang Mengqian said, picking up another piece of dried bamboo shoots with her chopsticks. The lush green shoots crunched between her teeth.
Li Yunjing placed two pieces of tofu into the pot, acting as if he hadn't heard anything. As the protector, he never participated in the two children's conversation, like an emotionless robot.
After lunch, Zhang Mengqian, who was blind, walked at the front. Although his eyes were wrapped with ribbons, he walked without any hindrance, as if he had another eye hidden somewhere in his body.
Li Ke followed behind, looking utterly dejected.
Zhang Mengqian walked straight to the Ninth District.
The place is clean and tidy, the houses are bright and clean, and colorful signs have appeared on the buildings.
A few children were playing soccer in the street. A chubby boy kicked the ball wide, but just as he lifted his foot and before it landed on the ball, Zhang Mengqian had already reached out her hand. With a thud, the ball landed perfectly in Zhang Mengqian's palm and stopped right there.
He tossed the soccer ball away, then turned to Li Ke and said, "You've been to District 9 of City 18, haven't you?"
From the moment they entered District 9, members of the Parents' Association were already watching them. So, the Parents' Association members witnessed this amazing scene: Zhang Mengqian, as if she had foreseen the future, reached out her hand, and before the ball was even kicked, the other side already knew where the ball would fly.
Seize the initiative.
This is an innate sixth sense, even a step ahead of the Fate Master's ability to seize the initiative.
Parents' association members urgently coordinated in the monitoring center: "Quickly, quickly, experts are here! Send more people to keep an eye on them, be careful what they do in the lower three districts. Send thirty people first... no, fifty! Prepare for a brawl!"
However, the head of the monitoring center glanced at the screen and slapped the family member on the back of the head: "Are you stupid? This is the boss's apprentice. Zhang Mengqian, have you forgotten?"
"Holy crap, it's Xiao Mengqian! I saw him back when we were fighting the rat horde in City 10. He was upstairs banging on pots to tell us which side of the defense line had collapsed!"
Today, the families who survived the disaster in City 10 have spread out into the world, becoming instructors for various teams, leading newcomers to fight fiercely.
We've all died once, so there's nothing to be afraid of.
Zhang Mengqian is someone they are very familiar with.
However, Zhang Mengqian's face was now wrapped in silk ribbons, completely different from her previous appearance with mechanical eyes, so much so that they didn't recognize her at first.
Her family exclaimed in admiration, "Little Mengqian has already become an expert!"
Are Zhang Mengqian and Li Ke considered experts? They have reached level B, so they are indeed experts, but not quite high enough.
At this moment, Li Ke replied to Zhang Mengqian: "I have been to the lower three districts of City 18. When I went there, it was quite different from here."
Zhang Mengqian asked, "What are the Lower Three Districts like there? Let me help you remember... because I came from the Lower Three Districts."
“The real Lower Three Districts wouldn’t be like this. There are no children playing football in the streets because the streets are full of garbage and smell terrible. The ground is uneven everywhere and there is puddles on the road. There is no joy in playing football at all.”
"Not only that, children must be accompanied by adults when walking on the street, otherwise your child may very well become someone else's organ... no, even with adults accompanying them, they may still be snatched away."
“When I was in the Lower Three Districts, my parents wanted to sell me. To survive, I ran away from home. I hid in dark buildings every day, living in the cracks. I was always worried that I would be kidnapped when I slept. I lived in fear for four years during that time, until one day, my master appeared.”
Li Ke turned to look at him: "I know about your past... but what does that have to do with my affairs, my father's affairs?"
Zhang Mengqian laughed: "How do you think that filthy, smelly lower district has changed into what it is today?"
“Of course it’s because of Master,” Li Ke said calmly. “Starting from City 22, the Parents’ Association has been constantly expanding its territory. Moreover, the Parents’ Association’s property management company has become the organization’s largest cash flow.”
Zhang Mengqian nodded: "So, you know everything. You know what Master is doing and what he's striving for. He first changed the Lower Three Districts, then he wanted to change the entire City 10, then the entire Qing Clan, and finally the entire Federation. Now, the members of the Parents' Association are fleeing for their lives in the mountains, Master is still fighting, while you're worrying about your father and feeling sorry for yourself. That's why I say, you children of conglomerates are like flowers in a greenhouse, unable to withstand the wind and rain."
Li Ke suddenly looked at Zhang Mengqian: "What did you say?"
“Am I wrong to say you’re a flower in a greenhouse, unable to withstand wind and rain?” Zhang Mengqian retorted, taking a small step back as he spoke.
Li Ke lunged forward, intending to punch Zhang Mengqian in the face, but Zhang Mengqian's step back was too clever, perfectly positioned just outside Li Ke's attack radius.
Li Ke's punch failed to hit him at all.
But then Zhang Mengqian suddenly stepped forward after Li Ke's punch missed and punched Li Ke in the stomach.
Li Ke vomited and knelt on the ground, spitting out a mouthful of gastric juice.
Even among experts of the same level, it is difficult to win against someone with the ability to 'seize the initiative'. This is why those Fate Masters are always able to win in battle.