Volume 3, Chapter 50 – Go Stealth, Anran!

[Currently at Dolanlu Star Ring. A war with the insectoids has suddenly erupted. It started because the Novalu Republic’s border garrison accidentally bombed one of the insectoids’ biopools.]

[Qiqilai City held a concert yesterday. I finally understand what a virtual idol really is!]

[I heard the war between the Elimeria Empire and the Galactic Free Alliance has already gone on for more than five thousand years.]

[The gloomy rain is freaking heavy; my mood is freaking awful!]

[Wutong City’s city hall has already fallen. Twinmoon City escaped disaster, but Morningstar was clearly much better prepared over here.]

[Only here can I pursue the pinnacle of the culinary world!]

Anran browsed the forums from time to time, filtering out the utterly meaningless spam posts. The Night of the Stars forums truly opened her eyes.

Although she could not post, being able to move freely through all the major sections brought Anran far more benefits than ordinary players got.

She was like an outlaw beyond the law, wearing the skin of an NPC while actually standing at the crossroads where NPCs and players met.

The starsea was far bigger than she had imagined.

The place names that appeared on the forums were so distant that even measuring them in light-years left Anran astonished.

In such a vast world, stories of joy and sorrow were unfolding every moment.

A stage like this seemed born to give rise to legends.

Legends so ancient they had already vanished, legends still being passed down, even living legends, and the next legend that was in the process of being born.

It was precisely because the world was so full of endless possibilities that Night of the Stars, despite being excessively realistic, still became the most successful game in history.

Anran refused to accept being trapped forever on a place like No. 1886, a speck too small even to count as a drop in the ocean.

Even if she died, she would still throw herself into the starsea!

She was going to roam everywhere!

After closing the forum and getting a rough understanding of Morningstar’s recent large-scale actions, Anran prepared to set out.

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By then, it was already evening.

After feeding Aila and telling her to learn more common sense from books and television, Anran began to use the dark arts of Japanese-style makeup.

Those dark arts were technical work.

But if all she wanted was to completely change her appearance, even a beginner like Anran could do it easily.

The dark art did not need to be refined. As long as it could change her face, it was enough.

In any case, she would be putting on a sandproof mask afterward, and with that double layer of disguise in place, if you only looked at her face, Anran was no longer Anran.

But if you looked at the outline of her body, Anran was still Anran.

So she wrapped strips of cloth around her chest. Her already not especially lofty peaks were directly flattened.

After changing into rustic clothes and putting on a hat to hide her hair, the current Anran looked very much like an underdeveloped, short teenage boy.

At a glance, Anran was no longer Anran!

A disguise was absolutely necessary.

If she did not disguise herself, she would just be going there to die.

If she swaggered over, killed Little Gold Tooth, and then exposed her identity and movements, the first thing that would happen was that she would attract Morningstar’s attention. Fighting that pack of ruleless lunatics while putting herself in the open was far too dangerous.

And then, even if Little Gold Tooth had crimes enough to deserve death, Twinmoon City was still, in the end, a place governed by law. If she suddenly killed him, even if she did not end up catching a bullet, she would at the very least be taking a trip to prison.

Once she got thrown into prison, things would get troublesome.

Her status in Nine Songs was not some kind of protective charm.

Its position was detached and elevated, but it still could not stand entirely above the government of No. 1886.

Not to mention that she herself was only a tiny shrimp within it.

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A tiny shrimp had to have the self-awareness of a tiny shrimp.

For this attack, she could only go by herself.

She simply could not order those old hands around.

Of course, calling players was also an option.

But at this stage, the players were still no match for Little Gold Tooth. If they went, they would only serve as cannon fodder.

And that cannon fodder was not easy to control. They might botch the whole thing, and even if it succeeded in the end, Anran was still worried that players who would do anything for a quest might sell her information to Morningstar afterward.

The risk was too high.

Not worth it.

It would be better to go alone. With the Flat-Type Self-Destruct Robot in hand, her chances of success were actually quite high.

Finish the deed and leave without a trace.

Little Gold Tooth had plenty of enemies already, and there were no surveillance cameras in the old city district. As long as nothing unexpected happened, her identity would not be exposed immediately.

And even if she were found out later, she would be stronger by then.

…

According to the intelligence, Little Gold Tooth was usually in his restaurant at this hour in the evening.

To avoid any mishaps, Anran first went to scout the area.

The little restaurant was deep in the old city district.

Because a whole group of Little Gold Tooth’s men gathered around the place, ordinary people did not dare live anywhere nearby, afraid that if they accidentally provoked the gang, they would be dragged off and fed to the dogs.

Anran did not go too close. She walked into a nearby convenience store, bought a pack of spicy strips that restored +1 Stamina, and started chatting with the owner. “Boss, did something big happen around here? Why’s everyone cheering?”

It seemed she had come at a bad time. There were obviously more people around than usual.

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Were Little Gold Tooth’s people up to something?

The owner’s face changed slightly, and he lowered his voice. “One look and I can tell you’re from out of town. On this day every month, after Boss Jin collects the protection money, he throws a feast at that restaurant of his.”

“Boss Jin?” Anran froze for a moment.

“Boss Jin is the boss of all the local punks. He’s from the underworld.” The owner looked around in all directions and only spoke again after confirming no one else was nearby.

“Boss Jin’s surname is Jin?” Anran asked. The boss of the local hoodlums had to be Little Gold Tooth.

The owner’s face darkened. “What kind of dumb question is that? If Boss Jin’s surname isn’t Jin, should it be your surname instead?”

“…”

Why was his temper so bad?

Anran rolled her eyes.

The convenience store owner suddenly stared at Anran mysteriously and chuckled. “Outsider, don’t say I didn’t warn you. Your big brother here’s got experience. Looking at your soft skin and tender flesh, I’d say you’re probably not bad-looking, and your voice sounds nice too. A few of Boss Jin’s men aren’t picky at all. They especially like boys like you. If you’ve got nothing to do tonight, you’d better stay away from this place. Be careful or you might get fucked in the ass.”

“Uh…”

Anran was startled.

This…

She had deliberately changed her voice when speaking, and the owner had mistaken her for a boy. That meant her disguise was pretty good.

But what the hell was that sudden revelation from the owner?

A special fetish?

Get fucked in the ass?

How had the atmosphere suddenly become philosophical?

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“Thanks for the warning!” Anran gave an awkward smile.

“Take care of yourself. The old city district is a real mess. You were lucky you ran into me. If you’d met some truly black-hearted people, they might’ve sold you off before you knew it,” the owner said to Anran as she was about to leave.

Although the mood had become very strange, there was no way Anran was leaving.

She knew there was a tiger on the mountain, yet she would head straight for the mountain anyway.

Still, she would wait until later, when it was darker and Little Gold Tooth and the others were in worse mental shape, before making her move.

For now, Anran needed to continue scouting.

Little Gold Tooth’s exact location, the distribution of people around him, and the best escape route.

Before she had absolutely crushing strength, there was nothing wrong with being cautious.

“What’re you lookin’ at, huh?!”

As Anran walked and observed at the same time, checking the route on her map, she was suddenly stopped by a shout from nearby.

When she turned her head, she saw a drunk little yellow-haired thug sitting by the wall, his cheeks flushed red.

“I’m talking to you. What the hell are you lookin’ at?” the yellow-haired thug pointed at Anran angrily. “Keep staring and I’ll kill you!”

Me?

Anran looked around. This was behind an alley, and there was no one else nearby.

Heh.

Anran rolled up her sleeves.

Smiling, she walked over.

“Ah!”