Volume 3, Chapter 53 – An-Style Interrogation

“Bzzz, bzzz, bzzz…”

The faint sound of machinery running was like the hum of a little bee in flight.

If his hearing had not been sharp enough, Little Gold Tooth would have had a hard time picking it out from the crackling of flames consuming things and the surrounding screams.

He soon found the source of the sound.

A Flat-Type Robot Vacuum Cleaner.

“…”

Instinctively, he felt that something was wrong. In a place this chaotic after an explosion, why would a robot vacuum cleaner appear here?

It was far too abrupt.

And besides, since there had been an explosion here, there should have been someone attacking from the front too.

But all Little Gold Tooth could see were his underlings groaning nonstop on the ground.

His suspicion made him unconsciously keep backing away, but his reaction was still too slow.

Only when the self-destruct robot blew apart did Little Gold Tooth understand why all of his men had gone down.

Because the blast wave sent him flying again, and he came crashing down hard on top of the fat man he had just pummeled.

…

“You killed a goon and gained 400 Free EXP.”

“You killed…”

The game notifications were practically flooding the screen. After that whole barrage, Anran estimated that she had gained at least seven or eight thousand EXP.

Maybe even more.

But compared to that, what Anran wanted more was to catch Little Gold Tooth.

Boom!

A second explosion rang out right after that.

With a sliding step, Anran immediately spotted Little Gold Tooth sprawled on the ground.

Looks like everything went smoothly.

With calm, steady steps, Anran walked toward Little Gold Tooth.

“Damn it, who the hell is trying to kill me?” Little Gold Tooth snarled. He had just started to push himself up when he suddenly heard footsteps coming from above him.

Tilting his head up slightly, he saw that assassin who played with bombs as if they were nothing.

Little Gold Tooth was instantly alarmed. He curled up and tried to roll away, but Anran was too fast.

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She closed the distance in an instant.

If she did not still have questions to ask, Anran would have blown Little Gold Tooth’s head off long ago.

The violent explosions had definitely drawn the attention of people outside. Anran had to end this fast.

And that was exactly what was happening. The underlings Little Gold Tooth had left wandering outside were all running over as fast as they could.

As for the distant residents who had no idea what was going on, they called the police first thing.

This was not some minor scuffle. There had been an explosion!

Smack!

Anran jabbed the muzzle of her gun against Little Gold Tooth’s forehead and said with a smile, “This should be our first meeting, right? I won’t waste words. I’m going to ask you a few questions. If you answer well, I can let you suffer a little less.”

Little Gold Tooth’s facial muscles tensed. He was scared out of his wits. With the muzzle pointed at him, if the other party’s hand so much as slipped, his life would be over.

He had not lived enough yet.

So Little Gold Tooth was just about to cooperate with Anran when he suddenly saw a shirtless man quietly creeping closer, holding an iron rod high in his hand.

If that blow landed, her head would burst like a watermelon.

“I’ll talk, I’ll talk,” Little Gold Tooth said at once, pretending to cooperate.

Hit her, damn it, hit her—

Anran had kept her eyes on Little Gold Tooth the whole time. The instant she saw the change in his expression, she realized something was wrong.

She immediately twisted away and swung the gun backward.

Clang!

Metal struck metal.

The impact made her tiger’s mouth go numb, and Anran almost failed to keep hold of the gun.

Only then did she get a clear look at the newcomer.

Those tightly coiled muscles made it obvious at a glance that he was no ordinary man.

“Kill him, now!” Little Gold Tooth took the chance to get back on his feet.

He spread his arms, trying to lock Anran down by force.

At the same time, the muscular brute swung his iron rod.

The rapid pressure gave Anran no chance to fire.

But they had clearly underestimated her.

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That slender-looking body contained 15 points of Strength, a little more than the combined strength of three grown men.

Anran stepped sharply forward, dodging Little Gold Tooth while smashing out with the gun. That unexpected offensive immediately suppressed the muscular brute.

At the same time, her left hand brushed her thigh. With a flick of her thumb on the mechanism, the brute saw what looked like a short knife hilt flying toward him.

He did not think much of it and laughed. “You think a knife handle can kill—”

But just as the hilt was about to touch his body, the blade snapped out, driving upward and piercing straight through his lung.

“Cough, cough… gghk…”

Blood spilled from the corners of the brute’s mouth.

He could no longer speak.

Anran took another step forward and smoothly pulled out the mechanical switchblade, spraying blood all over Little Gold Tooth’s head and face.

The corpse, deprived of support, slammed to the ground. Gun in one hand and knife in the other, Anran looked at Little Gold Tooth with interest and said, “So this time, what exactly are you relying on?”

“I… I…”

Little Gold Tooth’s scalp went numb. He had never expected this scrawny assassin to be this strong in close combat too.

In a single exchange, she had stabbed his strongest thug to death.

Bang!

The sudden gunshot made Little Gold Tooth’s heart jump again. He looked over and saw one of his men, wearing only a pair of shorts, slump down along the wall.

Anran said matter-of-factly, “I was wondering why I only saw one person. So there really was another one lying in ambush nearby.”

After all, bayonet work takes two people. If only one person’s doing it, that just counts as an accidental discharge.

After getting rid of those two muscleheads, Anran felt that the air had become a little fresher.

With the immediate threat dealt with for the moment, she did not waste any time. Who knew whether the bunch of underlings Little Gold Tooth had outside would come rushing in?

Anran took two steps forward and grabbed Little Gold Tooth by the collar before he could react.

Little Gold Tooth struggled and threw a punch. Anran turned the gun sideways, and his fist collided hard with metal, making him pull back at once in pain.

At the same time, Anran unceremoniously planted a kick on him.

Just as Little Gold Tooth was seething inwardly and waiting for a chance to counterkill, Anran drove the knife into his calf, then followed it up by carving several more cuts into both his hands.

“If I ruin your hands and feet, you won’t be able to counterkill me, will you?” Anran tucked the mechanical switchblade back against her thigh. The gun never left Little Gold Tooth’s head for even a moment as she dragged him backward with her other hand.

Feeling the burning pain across his body and his strength rapidly draining away, Little Gold Tooth finally lost his composure.

“Who the hell are you?” he ground out through clenched teeth, fear already showing in his eyes.

In a low voice, Anran said, “Who I am isn’t important. I’m just going to ask you a few questions. Once I’m done, I’ll leave.”

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“Go ahead,” Little Gold Tooth said, baring his teeth.

“You’ve been in contact with people from Morningstar, right?” Anran stopped at the restroom entrance.

“No—”

Before Little Gold Tooth could finish, Anran squeezed hard near one of his wounds, making him howl in pain and change his tune at once. “No, no, no, I’ve seen them, I’ve seen them.”

“See, that’s better. Wouldn’t it be nice if you’d just behaved from the start? Did you really think I didn’t know you were colluding with Morningstar?” Anran poked Little Gold Tooth in the cheek with the muzzle.

Little Gold Tooth did not even dare get angry. He could only force a smile through the pain. “Y-yes, yes, boss. You’ve got sharp eyes.”

But inwardly, he was cursing furiously. Could this bastard be one of Nine Songs’ people?

If not, and if I survive this, I’ll definitely capture you, break your limbs, lock you in a basement, and turn you into a warm-bodied plaything.

“Oh? Still scheming, are you?”

Anran caught the flickering look in Little Gold Tooth’s eyes at once. Immediately annoyed, she shoved the muzzle into his mouth and rammed it in a few times.

“FMLh—”

“Cough, cough, cough—”

With the barrel shoved so deep into his throat, Little Gold Tooth choked and coughed violently. The moment the gun left his mouth, he tried to crawl backward, only to be dragged back by Anran again.

“Which people from Morningstar have come looking for you?” Anran asked.

This time, Little Gold Tooth did not dare hide anything.

“They’ve come three times recently in total. The first time was on the night of the Twinmoon City war, when a bunch of people came claiming to be from the guard unit. The second time was not long after the war, when two people came by to ask about something. The third time was yesterday.”

“Tell me in detail what they came to you for.”

Those two people from the second visit were the key.

Seeing Anran move the gun again, Little Gold Tooth swallowed and hurriedly poured everything out like beans from a jar.

There was a woman with a stunning figure, cold eyes, and the look of a leader. And there was a gloomy-looking man whose close-combat ability was absurdly strong, the kind who could subdue a goon reaching for a gun in an instant from several meters away.

The first image that surfaced in Anran’s mind was that woman she had seen on the road back when she went with Aila to retrieve the blueprints.

She assessed the situation.

As things stood, defeating those two would be very difficult for her.

The weapons she could use were not very effective against people that fast.

Still, Anran was not discouraged.

Those people might be stronger than her right now, but they would not stay stronger forever.

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As long as she did not die, with her status panel, she had the same limitless growth potential as a player.

One day, she would surpass those NPCs who grew by the normal rules.

Not to mention that Anran still had several blueprints she had not used yet.

The shoddy exoskeleton armor might have a “shoddy” prefix, but on this technologically backward planet, it was not something to look down on.

And there were also Aila’s crafting blueprints. If she got lucky, she might even manage to combine a powerful combat robot.

The most formidable one was actually Aila herself.

Born at level 16, she could be considered one of the powerhouses of No. 1886 in terms of sheer strength.

In martial arts, speed trumps all.

But there was another saying: overwhelming strength can crush ten techniques.

I’m planning to take down all of Morningstar. How could I stop in front of two minor characters like these?

And if I can’t beat them…

Emmm…

Then I’ll just run off, train for a few years, and come back to kill your ass.

“All right, I’ve asked everything I wanted,” Anran said.

Since she was done asking, didn’t that mean…

Little Gold Tooth looked at Anran uneasily. Suddenly, his ears twitched.

Footsteps. Could it be that my underlings have arrived?

Ha, then doesn’t that mean—

“That’s right. You can die now.” Anran pulled the trigger directly.

Bang!

A sliver of hope had just risen in Little Gold Tooth’s heart, only for Anran to snuff it out without hesitation.

Of course Anran had heard those dense footsteps too. She did not have time to ask anything else.

In truth, Little Gold Tooth did not know much anyway. From the start, Anran’s purpose in coming here had only been to get rid of him.

Turning around, Anran walked into the restroom, dragged Little Gold Tooth’s corpse over, tossed it into a toilet, and then climbed out through the window.

Even now, she did not hurry to leave. Instead, she pressed herself against the wall and listened.

The walking EXP bank was still on its way, and Anran still had one big surprise prepared for them.