After a brief silence, the tavern erupted into laughter.
"Just as we got rid of that little Wu, another one shows up. Officer Ma is really generous!"
"Don’t even mention it! If you hadn’t gone too far yesterday, that little Wu wouldn’t have run off. That kid was so timid, it would’ve been fun to keep him around for a few more days…"
"But this one looks even better than yesterday’s. He’s quite good-looking."
"Let’s all hold back a bit today. Old Qian said if we scare this one off too, there won’t be anyone left…"
"Run? He’s not going anywhere this time." A gaunt man slowly stood up, his sunken eyes staring at Chen Ling like a zombie. "Not bad, quite young, and in good health. His organs should fetch a good price."
"Bone Blade, isn’t that going too far? It’ll be hard to clean up afterward…"
"Hmph, the fact that Ice Spring Street was slaughtered by a Calamity is already a failure on the part of these law enforcement officers. What? Can’t we demand some compensation?" The man called Bone Blade sneered coldly.
The people in the tavern all sized up Chen Ling at the door, like a pack of greedy, hungry beasts eyeing their prey.
"Bone Blade, right?" Chen Ling wrote down the name.
"Let’s start with you… Where were you on the night Ice Spring Street was slaughtered?"
Seeing that the young man dared to ask questions, the crowd exchanged surprised glances. After all, when Wu Youdong had faced this situation yesterday, he had been too scared to even speak… Was this kid really bold, or just stupid?
Bone Blade narrowed his eyes. He stood up and slowly walked toward Chen Ling.
"Where was I?" Bone Blade blew on his blackened nails, then his pale fingers shot out like eagle talons, aiming for Chen Ling’s neck!
"I was in your mom’s bed!!"
In the blink of an eye, a cold glint flashed in Chen Ling’s eyes. His right hand, holding the pen, stabbed backward, and the pen tip pierced through Bone Blade’s palm in an instant!
A bone-chilling pain shot through Bone Blade, and he let out a scream. Before he could react, a hand rapidly enlarged in his vision, then pressed down on his head, slamming it into the ground!
Path of the Soldier, [Judgment] Path, Third Tier—[Dance of Slaughter]!
Bang—!!
Wood splinters flew, and blood splattered.
Everyone felt their vision blur, and in the next moment, Bone Blade was pinned to the floor by the young man with one hand. The hem of Chen Ling’s thick cotton coat fluttered slightly, and the entire tavern fell into dead silence.
"Assaulting a law enforcement officer is a serious crime," Chen Ling said indifferently.
He slowly straightened up, patted his bloodstained hands, and swept his gaze across the room.
[Audience Expectation +2]
[Audience Expectation +2]
[Audience Expectation…]
After a brief silence, the people in the tavern finally snapped out of their shock. The astonishment in their eyes was replaced by murderous rage, and three of them immediately drew their guns, aiming at Chen Ling!
"Damn it, a tough one?!"
Chen Ling had already known they had guns. The moment they drew their weapons, he flipped over the nearest table!
The massive table flipped through the air, forcing the crowd to scatter to both sides. Chaos erupted in the front, and in that moment, Chen Ling ducked under the table, emerging on the other side. He grabbed a liquor bottle and smashed it into the face of the nearest gunman!
Crack!
The bottle shattered, and sharp shards cut across the man’s face, leaving several bloody gashes.
Chen Ling followed up with an elbow strike, knocking the man unconscious instantly.
In the next instant, two flashes of gunfire erupted in the distance, and bullets whizzed toward Chen Ling!
In the dim light, Chen Ling’s movements were as agile as a ghost. His heavy cotton coat fluttered and twisted, and though two bullets pierced through it, none managed to hit his body.
This was Chen Ling’s first time using [Dance of Slaughter], and the most obvious sensation was that his body felt as light as a feather, like a phantom.
In the cramped and chaotic tavern, he moved as effortlessly as a fish in water. As long as he could predict the gunmen’s movements, he was confident he could dodge the bullets… Of course, that was only if the number of gunmen wasn’t too high.
After taking down the first gunman, the other two immediately felt the danger of being hunted.
They tried to track Chen Ling’s position, but with him constantly flipping tables and chairs to block their line of sight, it was nearly impossible. A whistling sound reached their ears, and the next moment, a heavy blow to the head knocked them out cold.
Chen Ling took down another gunman, snatched his weapon, and fired several shots at the burly men charging at him with knives.
Bang! Bang! Bang!—
Blood blossomed on their legs, and they let out agonized screams, collapsing to the ground.
The tavern was filled with wails, curses, gunshots, and the crashing of tables and chairs. In just thirty seconds since Chen Ling had entered, the entire place was in shambles. Out of the fourteen people originally in the tavern, thirteen had been taken down!
Chen Ling casually tossed aside the empty gun and stepped over a burly man whose ribs had been broken. As the man let out a scream, Chen Ling leisurely walked to the only intact chair in the room and sat down.
"Boss, a whiskey, please." Chen Ling kicked the burly man again, eliciting another scream. "Put it on his tab."
The one-eyed bartender, who had been standing behind the counter the entire time, finally snapped out of his daze. He looked at Chen Ling with fear in his eyes.
Running a tavern in Ice Spring Street and making it the gathering spot for most of the residents, this one-eyed bartender was no ordinary man. He had traveled across the seven districts and seen many people, but a young man as decisive and ruthless as Chen Ling was a first for him.
This guy is a reserve officer?!
He’d believe it if someone told him this guy was a full-fledged law enforcement judge!
The one-eyed bartender wisely put away the revolver he had secretly been holding and began preparing the whiskey with trembling hands.
"Name." Chen Ling crossed his legs, placed the form on his lap, and spoke indifferently.
The silent tavern offered no response.
"I’m talking to you!"
He kicked the burly man’s broken ribs.
"Ahhhh… Li Mang! Li Mang!" The man immediately gave in.
"Where were you on the night of the Calamity invasion?"
"I… I was right here in this tavern."
"Did you see what the Calamity looked like?"
"I think I saw it… I happened to go out to relieve myself and saw it passing by on the street… It looked humanoid." The man stammered out the truth.
Chen Ling didn’t say anything more. He stood up, took the whiskey from the counter, and swirled it gently. The ice cubes clinked against the glass, making a crisp sound.
Then, he tilted the glass and began pouring the whiskey onto the man’s bloodied wound…
"AHHHHHHHHH!!!!" A heart-wrenching scream echoed through the street.
"I’m telling the truth!! It’s all true!!!"
"You know what? Without concrete evidence, using words like ‘I think’ and ‘it looked like’ when reporting to law enforcement counts as spreading rumors." Chen Ling’s eyes narrowed slightly.
"Let me ask you again… Did you see it?"
"I… I… really…"
Chen Ling tilted the glass further, and more whiskey poured onto the wound, causing the man to tremble in agony!
"...No!! I didn’t see anything!! I saw nothing!!!"