The King of Black Fog

During the day, Li Changzhou still drove his "borrowed" sports car around, cruising the streets.

Prague underwent noticeable changes, with many areas now restricted and off-limits to traffic.

Yet even amidst such widespread terrorist attacks, the daily lives of citizens remained largely unaffected, similar to the government's handling of the old town square—after the mantis massacre, they simply cordoned off the Hus statue, but the square remained open.

For a moment, Li Changzhou wasn't sure whether it was the game influencing the officials' thinking or if that's genuinely what they intended to do.

After all, some of the inexplicable thoughts of Westerners are beyond the comprehension of a Xia Country man like him.

Today was a stroke of bad luck, as he didn't get ambushed while singing, and he returned empty-handed, teleporting back to the loft apartment.

"...Forget it, there's no way. Who would team up with trash from the Black Card group like you guys."

As soon as he returned, he heard the haughty voice of the Czar Princess.

It was unclear whether she was just used to being arrogant or if she realized that Li Changzhou and his crew didn't want to kill a child—despite being a prisoner, her attitude was extremely haughty, and she was cursing nonstop.

Perceiving Li Changzhou's return, Yang Qinglan chuckled lightly and continued speaking to Bi, "Who told you we're Black Card members?"

"You're not?" Bi asked, confused.

Li Changzhou was very considerate, his brows furrowing as if he was a cash machine spitting out a card, and he flicked out a white card. He covered the right half, only showing the left half with the photo to the Czar Princess.

"How about it, Your Highness Princess, will you team up with us?" he asked, smiling.

Bi hesitated for a moment, then snorted and said, "If you want to serve under me, I'm not opposed to the idea."

Tsundere?

The blonde lolita from Russia is tsundere too?

"Okay..."

"There's a condition," Yang Qinglan interrupted Li Changzhou.

"A condition?" the Czar Princess frowned. "Not to harm you? Not to seek vengeance?"

It wasn't that, it was about not swearing—Li Changzhou thought to himself.

"No, it's about not swearing anymore," Yang Qinglan said.

Li Changzhou gave himself a score of six, meaning he got the gist, but it wasn't word-perfect.

For Miss Yang's intentions, one should memorize them like a high school student recites texts, not getting a single punctuation mark wrong.

"Swear words? I never swear," Bi said, her gemstone-green eyes looking very frankly at Yang Qinglan.

Yang Qinglan looked toward Li Changzhou.

Li Changzhou nodded, "Russia is like that."

"Bullshit! You bastard!" the Czar Princess cursed, throwing a pillow at Li Changzhou's face.

Since being brought to the loft apartment, she had been lying on Li Changzhou's bed on the first floor the whole time, even taking her meals there, while Li Changzhou himself had taken a blanket to sleep on the floor.

Li Changzhou caught the pillow and said, "You are the only Russian I know; to me, you represent Russia."

Bi bared her teeth in a grimace, exuding murderous intent which reminded others of how she'd bit through a lollipop and destroyed a slum with a single strike.

Suddenly, she hugged her arms, "Hmph!" she snorted, turning her face away.

This was her agreeing not to swear anymore.

"What plans do you guys have?" she asked impatiently—the two of them, since Li Qianxia had gone out on a mission.

"What about you?" Yang Qinglan retorted.

"Once I've had my fun, I'll destroy the whole of Prague. Just like erasing pencil marks, square by square, scrubbing away all the words!"

Li Changzhou felt he couldn't afford to be compassionate anymore; the Czar Princess was too cruel.

"Kill her, then?" Yang Qinglan also said.

"Hmph!" Bi lifted her face, "Do you guys even have the guts to do it?"

"For you, it shouldn't be a problem," Yang Qinglan said to Li Changzhou.

"I, old Li, am no demon. What have I done to give you such a misunderstanding!"

After a pause, he asked calmly, "Seriously, kill her?"

The Czar Princess felt a sense of foreboding, her heart pounding like a drum, but she still put on a disdainful face.

Yang Qinglan looked at Bi. Her Perception was as high as 7 points, making it too simple for her to notice whose heartbeat was accelerating within the room.

"Don't curse," she said, raising a finger.

"..."

"Are you sure you want to keep silent?"

"...Hmph."

"Answer me, can you avoid cursing or not, yes or no?" Yang Qinglan's tone was very calm.

Bi's little nostrils flared, and her face turned red.

After a long while, without looking at Yang Qinglan, she spoke to the television, "...Yes."

"After you get your lollipop back, you're not allowed to retaliate against us, and we absolutely won't harm you, can you do that?" Yang Qinglan raised a second finger.

".....Yes."

Yang Qinglan put down her hand and gave Li Changzhou a look.

Li Changzhou took out the lollipops he had bought during the day, and Bi immediately looked over.

He slowly unwrapped the candy and extended the lollipop, which Bi bit into voraciously.

Li Changzhou used his left hand to keep her from biting down, while she clutched at Li Changzhou's right hand—the one holding the lollipop—and tried to force it into her mouth.

But how could her strength possibly match that of Li Changzhou?

It was like a little girl trying to eat the sweets on display in a cake shop behind a glass.

"You're young and easily deceived." They maintained this posture as Li Changzhou spoke, "Your Perception isn't high, someone could shoot you from behind, and your Agility isn't enough to let you react."

"You need us, we can help each other to survive... You already know how terrifying death can be, you don't want to die, right?"

Bi stopped her futile struggle.

Li Changzhou placed the lollipop into her mouth.

The Czar Princess furiously twirled the lollipop in her mouth, her gaze fixed on the two of them like nails—Yang Qinglan's hand resting on Li Changzhou's shoulder, ready to teleport at any moment.

After locking eyes for a while, Bi turned her head away with a huff.

"Let's get along well from now on." Yang Qinglan lowered her hand. Her expression was still calm but much softer, "Cooperate with us, and you will certainly not regret it."

"It's me using you!" Bi insisted defiantly.

"Using us is good, much more reliable than cooperation," Li Changzhou said with a laugh.

The three of them stopped talking, and Li Changzhou waited for his Intelligence to recover to 7 points.

Li Qianxia returned soon after, startled by the lollipop in Bi's mouth, then greeted her with a smile:

"We're comrades in arms from now on, Bi."

"Who's your comrade, filth... Hmph!"

Li Qianxia was taken aback, and then genuinely laughed, sensing that something interesting must have happened just before.

She slid onto the bed, chatting with the Czar Princess, who at first was impatient but soon the two of them were whispering earnestly.

Bi spoke through clenched teeth, while Li Qianxia nodded in agreement quite enthusiastically.

Li Changzhou and Yang Qinglan sat at the dining table, also murmuring to each other.

"Were you really planning to kill her just now, or were you bluffing?" he asked.

"I was just scaring her," she replied.

"Me too."

".....Really," Li Changzhou assured her, looking into Yang Qinglan's eyes.

"Let's assume it was real," Yang Qinglan said, taking a sip of water.

Li Changzhou graded her a full score; not only had she guessed that he really had the intent to kill, but she also covered for him so kindly... he was fond of her.

The sound of the Astronomical Clock chiming the hour came from outside—it was already eight o'clock in the evening, and Li Changzhou's Intelligence had just recovered.

They prepared to find Yafeiluna, reclaim the Identity Card and Points, and simultaneously gather information.