Night’s Nomenclature

Chapter 957: Spicy Hot Pot

The banquet continued.

It couldn't stop because of Marquis Wendy's death. Once a play begins, it must have a beginning and an end.

The waiters in the revolving restaurant quickly cleaned the floor and stuffed Marquis Wendy's body into a sealed bucket, waiting to be taken away with the kitchen waste. Obviously, the waiters in this restaurant were no ordinary people, and this wasn't the first time they had handled such garbage.

When Black Widow struck the first blow, she felt nothing.

No joy.

No relief.

She only felt a little dazed, as if tonight's experience was somewhat unreal.

Only when she saw Wendy being stuffed into the trash can did she realize that the person she had resented for more than ten years was really dead.

Five Princesses and Barton were preparing to leave. Black Widow looked at them: "Aren't you going to say goodbye to the Boss?"

Barton's eyes lit up. Five Princesses smiled and said: "My relationship with Qing Chen is purely a partnership. He's your Boss, not mine. Besides, we can't show our faces now. Many people want to kill us."

Barton's bright eyes dimmed again, and he could only obediently follow behind Five Princesses.

Five Princesses tiptoed and touched his cheek: "Don't be so down, darling. You'll see your idol again soon."

"Okay," Barton said, "Then can you buy me the latest virtual glasses on the market?"

Black Widow shuddered beside them. Marquis Barton truly lived off his looks.

Five Princesses' people left, leaving only the fake "Marquis Wendy" she brought to dance slowly with a female partner on the dance floor. Even this female partner was an informant from Five Princesses' intelligence organization, arranged to be by Marquis Wendy's side today.

Everyone was a little absent-minded, a little nervous, and a little excited.

They were nervous because they had just betrayed the Roosevelt Kingdom, but they were excited because they had completed the task Qing Chen had assigned. Once they returned, they would receive their first initiation ceremony on the whale bird, an Eternal Heaven Fruit, and a cup of Jingshan Tea.

They would become Metahumans, not only without side effects but also with a 21-year lifespan extension.

Everyone played their roles at the ball, while Black Widow stood beside the dining table.

Her mind wasn't on the ball, but on imagining what Qing Chen was doing at this moment and what kind of mood he was in.

Such a grand birthday banquet, such a unique birthday gift—she might never have another one in her life.

Sometimes life is like that. Suddenly, one day, you encounter a beautiful scenery, you meet someone amazing, you experience something unforgettable. All the darkness in your past life is illuminated, and the rest of your life is only a lingering echo of this period of life. At this moment, Black Widow felt this way.

Marquis Winston came to her side. Seeing that she was in a good mood, he smiled: "May I have this dance?" Black Widow restrained her smile and looked over: "No. Starting tomorrow, turn all the work in your hands into written material and give it to me. I need to know what you can do and what you can't do."

Winston shook his head with a smile: "You used to be an executioner in the Arbiters organization. Do you really need us to talk about such basic things?"

"Just do it," Black Widow said. "Okay."

"Why do you obey the Boss?" Black Widow asked.

Winston sighed helplessly: "I was actually hiding quite well, already living in the remote countryside. As a result, Guardians' Union members rode motorcycles for four hours, went into the mountains, and surrounded me."

Black Widow was stunned. She finally knew what Qing Chen had been doing in the past few days.

Winston continued: "I guess there will be more people coming in next. You know about the Substitution Plan, right? They find a bunch of people to substitute for important figures in the Inner World."

"So that's what the Boss called black magic."

"Dark magic."

The banquet ended, and Black Widow walked out with Winston's arm.

She imagined seeing Qing Chen smiling at her in the night, like a late savior, saying, "I'm sorry, I'm late."

Or standing on the edge of the rooftop, leaving her a back view, with a mysterious look, asking her, "Do you like what I've arranged?"

This was the image of Qing Chen in Black Widow's heart now: powerful, mysterious, and admirable.

However, before she went out, she heard Qing Chen's voice gambling with his followers: "Don't renege on your debts! I have a straight flush. The biggest you have is a pair. Pay up!"

Black Widow:

"Winston…"

This was a regular activity for the driver and bodyguard. When big shots gathered, the little people would chat, brag, and gamble outside.

They were all familiar with each other. Today, when the followers saw Qing Chen, a new face, they exchanged glances, intending to set up a trap for Qing Chen.

Qing Chen originally insisted on not gambling, but later he had no choice but to join in, winning all the money from the followers, earning more than 80,000 with great difficulty.

When Qing Chen left, the followers looked at his back in sorrow, heartbroken to the point of breathlessness. They had worked for nothing this month. Black Widow found this a bit funny and ironic. Who would have thought that someone like Qing Chen would be so unpretentious and would gamble with a group of slaves outside the restaurant?

The three of them sat in the car. The air car automatically drove through the steel forest, passing through one absurd and magical holographic neon light after another.

Ahead, the neon lights were a blue tide. When they passed through, it was like flying out of the blue sea and diving into the night.

The three in the car were silent. Qing Chen was still laughing: "They thought I was a newbie. When I lost more than 5,000 at first, they even suggested that small bets weren't exciting enough. After changing to big bets, they all cried. Remember this, gambling is a terrible thing. The terrible part is that it makes your money come too fast. It will subvert your values, make you gradually look down on your salary, feel that it's meaningless to earn so little money every month, and gradually lose your love for life."

Qing Chen: "No one under me is allowed to be addicted to gambling. If I find out, I'll send you all to prison."

Black Widow listened quietly. This new Boss seemed to hate gambling very much. It should be related to his gambler father in the Outer World.

She listened to Qing Chen's rare nagging, only feeling that the other party was full of vitality, not like a superior figure at all, just living beside her, in the same world as her.

The air car dropped two people off in the shadow of the overpass on Rose Avenue.

Qing Chen and Black Widow walked back side by side. She suddenly said, "No matter what you say, thank you tonight."

"Hmm," Qing Chen nodded. "Work hard from now on. These people tonight are used to fill your intelligence network. I expect that one day you can provide me with great assistance. Remember, I'm not helping you for you; I'm helping you for East Continent."

"Yes," Black Widow said. "Definitely. After tonight, I have no regrets."

Qing Chen said, "What about Storm Duke?"

Black Widow was stunned.

She hadn't included this target in her plan at all, simply because she didn't think there would be a chance to kill him, and she didn't want to trouble him again.

But to say she didn't hate Storm Duke? How could that be possible?

In that dark room, night after night, he whipped her. Her cultivation was all to make her more resilient.

At first, Storm Duke hadn't planned to reuse her, and it was through her own efforts that she won the position of executioner.

She had been a normal girl, but now she needed physical pain stimulation to fill a certain pain in her heart every day.

All this was thanks to Storm Duke.

But to kill Storm Duke—he was immediately the Roosevelt King. How to kill him?

Black Widow stopped and stared blankly at Qing Chen walking forward.

Qing Chen smiled and said, "Do you think it's difficult? I think it's difficult too, but I must kill this person. I'll show you how to do it then."

Black Widow was stunned and quickly caught up. She wanted to hold Qing Chen's arm, but gave up because she knew where her boundaries were.

"Boss, can you really kill Storm Duke?" she asked like a little girl.

"How can we know without trying?" Qing Chen said.

"But how do we kill him?"

"I have many disciples. When they grow up, they can kill him."

"When will they grow up?"

"Give them a little more time."

Ling had calculated many variables, but Qing Chen believed she hadn't factored in the Knight reserve.

Please do not stop

East Continent Federation, City 5.

Li Ke sat blankly in front of the hot pot.

The spicy oil in the copper pot was boiling, and Zhang Mengqian, although his eyes were covered with silk, could accurately pick up every piece of tripe in the pot.

Li Yunjing sat aside: "Eat slowly. Li Ke has been dazed for the past two days, and no one is competing with you."

Xiao Mengqian said: "I wish he would compete with me as usual."

"He probably doesn't have the mood for that now."

Spam, quail eggs, duck feet, oil bean skin, bamboo shoots, spicy beef filled the table.

But Li Ke had no intention of using his chopsticks.

At the next table, someone was saying: "Who would have thought that the Li Clan would collude with the enemy? They blocked the Guardians' Union on the road, and now they sent airships to search for the Guardians' Union in the mountains. Aren't they traitors? The day before yesterday, there was news that Li Clan's head, Li Yunshou, boarded his private airship and went north, seemingly to visit important figures from the West Continent. He's in a hurry to seek help and become a subordinate!"

"The Li Clan, as a conglomerate, has always exploited everyone. At this difficult juncture, they are so spineless. Are the Li Clan's family precepts just for show? Li Clan's Old Master Li Xiurui died early. If that Old Master were still alive, how could he watch Li Yunshou sell the family business to foreign powers?"

Li Ke heard these words, his eyelids moved, but he didn't have the courage to refute anything.

He just whispered: "My father is not that kind of person."

Zhang Mengqian picked up a piece of tripe for him: "Is it because you haven't eaten, so you have no strength? Why are you speaking so softly?"

Li Ke looked up, staring straight at Zhang Mengqian: "Do you believe me? My father is not that kind of person. He may have a different stance from the Master, but he will absolutely not do such a treasonous act, absolutely not."

Zhang Mengqian fell silent.

Li Yunjing also fell silent.

Li Ke whispered, "Even Qing Yi doesn't believe me anymore."

Qing Yi, who used to call several times a day, hadn't called in three days.

In the last satellite call, Qing Yi only coldly told him to pay attention to the news.

At that moment, Li Ke realized something was wrong. They hurriedly ended their training, even temporarily abandoning the Trials of Life and Death, and returned to the city.

Then, Li Ke saw the overwhelming news about the Li Clan; he became a living corpse, mechanically sleeping and waking up every day, as if he had lost his soul. He didn't believe his father would make such a choice; he felt his father must have his reasons.

He said it over and over again, but gradually, he himself was not so firm.

Because the Li Clan's airships were in the mountains, constantly searching for Guardians' Union members, and they even found a team of 300 people and wiped them out in the mountains with missiles.

And what would the Master think of him after the Li Clan's betrayal?

What would Qing Yi think of him after his comrades died at the hands of the Li Clan?

How would those younger brothers and sisters view their senior brother?

Li Yunjing didn't persuade him at all, but quietly acted as a Guardian, eating spicy beef. Li Ke sighed: "Actually, you also think my father has betrayed, right?"

Zhang Mengqian turned to "look" at Li Ke: "Does this matter matter?"

Always equipment materials and engineering materials are the same.

Zhang Mengqian said seriously, "What kind of decision your father makes has much to do with you? You only need to know what you are doing."