Chapter 27: Answer

After a brief silence, the tavern erupted in raucous laughter.

"One little Wu leaves, and another one comes. Officer Ma is really sincere!"

"Are you still talking? If you hadn't been so crazy yesterday, that little Wu wouldn't have been scared off. That kid was so honest and obedient; it would have been fun to keep him around for a few more days..."

"But this one looks better than yesterday's; he’s quite good-looking."

"Everyone hold back a bit today. Old Qian said if we scare this one off too, there won't be anyone left..."

"Run? Don't even think about running this time." A gaunt man slowly stood up, his deep-set eye sockets staring at Chen Ling like a zombie. "Not bad, quite young, good complexion too. The parts on his body should fetch a good price."

"Bone Blade, don't play too rough; it'll be hard to clean up afterward..."

"Hmph, Ice Spring Street was slaughtered by a disaster; that was the enforcers' dereliction of duty to begin with. What? Are we not allowed to ask for some compensation?" the gaunt man known as Bone Blade sneered.

The people in the tavern sized up Chen Ling at the door like a pack of greedy, hungry beasts inspecting prey that had delivered itself to them.

Chen Ling stood there, acting as if he hadn't heard a word. He pulled a pen from his coat and tapped it against the form.

"Bone Blade, is it?" Chen Ling wrote down the name.

"Let's start with you... Where were you on the night Ice Spring Street was slaughtered?"

Seeing the boy dare to ask questions, the crowd looked at each other in surprise. They knew that yesterday, when Wu Youdong saw this scene, he was so scared he couldn't even speak... Was this kid truly reckless, or just plain stupid?

Bone Blade narrowed his eyes. He stood up and walked slowly toward Chen Ling.

"Where was I?" Bone Blade blew on his black fingernails, and then his pale knuckles clawed toward Chen Ling's neck like an eagle's talons!

"I was in your mother's bed!!"

In a flash, a cold glint flashed in Chen Ling's eyes. His right hand, holding the pen, thrust backward violently, the tip instantly piercing through Bone Blade's palm!

In agonizing pain, Bone Blade let out a miserable scream. Before he could react, a palm rapidly enlarged in his field of vision, then pressed down on his head and smashed it heavily into the floor!

Soldier Divine Path, [Judgment] Path, Third Stage—[Killing Waltz]!

Bang—!!

Wood chips splattered, and crimson blood flowed.

The crowd only felt a blur before their eyes, and Bone Blade was smashed into the floorboards by the boy with one hand. His heavy cotton coat fluttered slightly, and the entire tavern fell into a deathly silence.

"Assaulting an enforcer is a serious crime," Chen Ling said flatly.

He slowly straightened his back, patted his blood-stained palms, and swept his gaze over the crowd.

[Audience Expectation +2]

[Audience Expectation +2]

[Audience Expectation...]

After a brief silence, the people in the tavern finally snapped back to reality. The astonishment and shock in their eyes were replaced by furious murderous intent. Three of them even pulled out guns on the spot and aimed them at Chen Ling!

"Damn it, a tough one?!"

Chen Ling had known they had guns. The moment they drew them, he flipped the table beside him!

The massive table flipped in mid-air, causing the figures to retreat to both sides, and the front fell into chaos. At the same time, Chen Ling crouched and darted out from under the table, swinging a wine bottle at the face of the nearest gunman!

Smash!

The bottle shattered, and the sharp shards grazed the man's cheek, leaving several crimson lacerations.

Chen Ling followed up with a backhand elbow strike, knocking him unconscious to the ground.

In an instant, two flashes of fire erupted from afar, and whistling bullets flew straight toward Chen Ling!

In the dim light, Chen Ling’s figure was as agile as a ghost. His heavy cotton coat fluttered and turned, pierced by two bullets, but not a single one landed on his body.

This was Chen Ling's first time using [Killing Waltz], and the most obvious sensation was that his body felt weightless, like a phantom.

In such a cramped and chaotic tavern, he could move with ease. As long as he could observe the enemy's movements to raise their guns in advance, he was confident he could dodge the bullets... provided, of course, that the number of gunmen wasn't too high.

As he took down the first gunman, the other two immediately felt the crisis of being locked onto by a beast.

Their eyes tried to track Chen Ling's position, but with Chen Ling constantly flipping tables and chairs to obscure their vision, it was nearly impossible. They only heard a whistling sound by their ears, and the next moment, they suffered heavy blows to the head and lost consciousness.

Chen Ling took down another gunman, snatched the gun, and pulled the trigger repeatedly at the burly men rushing at him with knives.

Bang, bang, bang—!

Several flowers of blood bloomed on their legs. They screamed and fell to the ground one after another.

Wails, curses, gunshots, and the sound of furniture crashing followed one after another. Within thirty seconds of Chen Ling entering the room, the entire tavern was in shambles. Of the fourteen people originally in the tavern, thirteen had been taken down.

Chen Ling tossed the empty handgun aside, stepped over a burly man whose four ribs he had kicked in, and as the man let out a scream, he sat down unhurriedly on the only intact chair in the room.

"Boss, a whiskey." Chen Ling kicked the burly man again, and the scream sounded once more. "Put it on his tab."

The one-eyed boss, who had been standing behind the counter the whole time, finally snapped out of it, his eyes filled with fear as he looked at Chen Ling.

Being able to run a tavern on Ice Spring Street and make it the activity hub for most residents, the one-eyed boss was naturally no ordinary person. He had traveled through the seven districts and seen many people, but this was the first time he had seen a young man as decisive and ruthless as Chen Ling.

Is this really a reserve member?!

He would have believed it if someone said this guy was an Enforcer Officer!

The one-eyed boss wisely put away the revolver he had been clutching in his hand, lowered his head, took out a glass, and began preparing the whiskey.

"Name." Chen Ling crossed his legs, placed the form on his lap, and said flatly.

In the silent tavern, no one answered.

"I'm asking you!"

He kicked the burly man's broken ribs.

"Ahhhhh... Li Mang! Li Mang!" the burly man immediately gave in.

"Where were you on the night of the disaster invasion?"

"I... I was right here in this tavern."

"Did you see the appearance of that disaster?"

"I think I saw it... I happened to be out relieving myself, and I saw it flash past on the street... It should have been humanoid." The burly man trembled as he told the truth.

Chen Ling didn't speak again. He stood up, took the whiskey from the counter, and swirled it gently. The clear ice cubes clinked against the glass.

Then, he lifted the glass and poured it bit by bit onto the burly man's blood-soaked wound...

"Ahhhhhhhhhhh!!!!" A heart-wrenching scream echoed through the street.

"I told the truth!! It's all true!!!"

"Do you know? Without concrete evidence, reporting to an enforcer using words like 'think' and 'should'... counts as spreading rumors." Chen Ling’s eyes narrowed slightly.

"I'll ask you one more time... did you see it?"

"I, I... I really..."

The glass in Chen Ling's hand tilted gradually, and more and more alcohol poured onto the wound, making the burly man tremble all over!

"...No!! I didn't see it!! I didn't see anything!!!"