novelraw Chapter 1165: The Ceiling
Chapter 1165: The Ceiling
Kanto Region, Japan – In an underground casino.
Suzuki Xia Ya, wielding a metal baseball bat, was currently sitting on the back of a burly man.
“You should’ve paid up earlier, huh? Had to wait for me to come teach you a lesson, you bastard! I’ll kill you!”
“Yes, yes, I’m sorry, Big Bro! I swear I’ll never delay again—promise, I promise!”
“Get lost!”
Suzuki Xia Ya stood up and knocked the bat a few times. The men scrambled out of the room in terror. Then he casually placed the bat down and sat atop the office desk, looking at a ten-year-old child quietly seated in the room.
“Kid, you see that? When someone doesn’t pay up, you beat them senseless! Hurt them enough and they’ll pay. It’s not that they can’t pay—it’s that they won’t. Know why?”
“Why?” the child asked curiously.
“They’re greedy! They’ll gobble up anything, but when it’s time to cough it back up, they won’t. Simple as that—greed.” Suzuki Xia Ya dug in his ear. “You’ve been following me for about two months now. Next time, it’s your turn. I’ll watch. If you can’t get the money back—you don’t get to eat. Got it?”
“…Okay.”Judging by the brat’s face, it was unclear whether the lesson stuck. Suzuki Xia Ya rubbed his temples… when suddenly, the room went dark—power outage.
Neither he nor the boy in the corner was afraid. The child had always been told not to open his eyes recklessly—but that didn’t mean he couldn’t see.
He had vision like night goggles—even with his eyes shut.
Suzuki Xia Ya tilted his head up for some reason, as if looking toward the sky—but they were underground. His face twisted with terror. He grabbed his head in agony and slowly collapsed to his knees… until the momentary blackout ended and the lights returned.
The child instinctively walked over and touched his shoulder… feeling a slight tremble.
Suzuki Xia Ya suddenly swatted his hand away.
“Don’t touch me!”
As if something still terrified him.
---
Pathum Thani Province, Chao Phraya Basin, Thailand.
Like a flashback to the ‘80s and ‘90s—low buildings, dirty, crowded streets.
Inside a run-down inn, a Black man was doing intense Russian push-ups. Judging from his sweat, he’d been at it for a while.
This was Abbas, a South African. He’d been in 17 small wars, expert in explosives and hand-to-hand combat, capable of fighting underwater for up to five minutes. He was a demolitions expert for the mercenary group “EOK.”
The man sitting by the window, with an East Asian face, silently recalled Abbas’ profile—this was Wang Yuechuan, currently going by the alias “Kai.”
“Kai” was a fabricated identity—an ex-soldier on the run for murder.
Two months ago, following organizational orders, he arrived in Hong Kong. After two weeks of self-training, he smuggled himself into Thailand via fishing boat and joined EOK after passing their tests. He was partnered with Abbas.
Kai’s cover persona was a quiet, taciturn man.
As he flicked cigarette ash out the window, Kai… Wang Yuechuan… felt restless. Though officially in EOK, he hadn’t gained access to sensitive info or participated in any missions. It was likely he’d need to complete several tasks before truly being trusted.
Being undercover meant constant pressure—and growing danger.
EOK’s 99 members were all elite solo fighters. Kai estimated his own combat ability ranked in the lower half of the group… unless he used the skills from the Book of the Dead—though that was a last resort.
Even average performance was enough to be accepted. And he had to avoid looking impatient—after all, he was supposed to be silent and emotionless.
“Whew…”
Abbas finished his training and got up, looking refreshed.
“I’m starving. Let’s grab something, yellow monkey!”
Abbas loved calling East Asians “yellow monkeys.” EOK had a few other Asian members from Southeast Asia, but he lumped them all together.
It wasn’t meant as an insult—just like how Asians often couldn’t tell Black people apart, the reverse held true… probably.
Kai didn’t respond, gave Abbas a glance, and returned his gaze outside.
Abbas was used to Kai’s odd personality and didn’t press further. He shrugged and walked out.
Kai kept staring at the streets. Every day he lived in constant tension, always feeling watched.
By EOK?
By the organization that sent him?
He lit another cigarette.
A man who never smoked, now went through packs in two months.
Suddenly, cries rang out in the street—the entire block plunged into darkness. Only the food stalls’ stoves still burned.
Kai looked further into the distance—completely black.
Power outage? he thought.
Oddly, he didn’t mind it. The total darkness was strangely soothing… even the feeling of being watched vanished.
He smiled faintly and closed his eyes to enjoy the peace.
But the moment he did—fear struck him.
His eyes snapped open. Cold sweat beaded on his forehead. He looked blankly outside… or rather—
He didn’t know this:
That ever-present gaze hadn’t vanished—it had simply shifted elsewhere.
Toward the darkness.
On the rooftop of a nearby building, a shadowy figure trembled and prostrated on the floor, shivering.
“O, my Master… why are You so angry…”
---
In the darkened moonlit hemisphere, the ocean suddenly went wild.
Giant whirlpools erupted across half the Pacific. Underwater currents surged to the surface. The pitch-black sea looked like a mouth about to devour everything.
Enormous waterspouts rose to the sky—one after another—like pillars connecting earth and heaven.
The air felt thick and heavy.
Panic and dread, like the speed of light, spread across the moonlit half of the globe.
Every being with power felt death approaching.
They trembled.
Curled up.
The evil of the world quaked with terror—and even the good seemed scorned by the universe…
Until light returned.
And the night returned to what it was ten seconds ago.
---
In the main hall, Da Zhe was polishing the Zhanlu Sword. He frowned and shook off dizziness. He glanced instinctively at Miss Maid, busy at the counter.
Then—someone burst out from upstairs.
Nero, his face covered in ink, shouted, “Fight time? I’m ready!!”
Wide-eyed, pumped with excitement.
“You Ye… Miss?” Da Zhe ignored Nero.
Miss Maid gently placed the glass she had been wiping down. The moment it landed, terrifying black flames spiraled beneath her feet, engulfing the hall’s floor.
The black fire morphed—forming complex sigils.
Suddenly, something slowly rose from the massive sigil.
A spear!
More precisely, a long spear wrapped in a banner.
A weapon.
Da Zhe and Nero’s expressions changed slightly. They had never seen Miss Maid wield a weapon—or, for that matter, get serious.
They sensed that if they had been the enemy… they would’ve died the instant she looked at them.
But the terrifying presence vanished almost immediately.
The black flames on the floor disappeared in a blink.
Boss’s voice rang out just then:
"I’m fine. You don’t need to come over… Just think of it as me rudely sneezing."
The Boss hadn’t returned—only his voice echoed. But no one doubted it was truly him.
Miss Maid, who had been holding the spear, now let go. The weapon shimmered and vanished.
“Miss You Ye?”
The club’s Miss Maid calmly picked the glass back up and resumed wiping it.
"We only need to follow the Master’s orders."
---
Time stood still—or at least in this area, for a brief moment, everything was frozen, as if detached from reality.
Under the night sky outside the balcony, blue specks of light slowly gathered… Soon, Alaya, the blue-haired, blue-eyed administrator of the sub-world, appeared.
Her eyes opened slowly, like waking from hibernation. She hovered slightly lower than the Boss on the balcony.
【Sub-World No.003 spatial fracture at 21.35%… Initiate annihilation protocol?】
Emotionless, Alaya stared straight at the Boss on the balcony… Though it was dark, her gaze pierced through.
Yet she could not make out his face clearly.
Chaos.
His face resembled pure chaos—only two glowing orbs like eyes could be seen.
It felt like ages passed… or only a blink.
That chaotic face slowly became clear again.
“The suggestion I gave you last time still stands… I apologize for the damage to the sub-world’s space.”
Luo Qiu exhaled slowly. “If you can’t fully repair it, I’ll take care of it myself.”
【Maximum repairable range is 32.16%. Perfect restoration confirmed.】
Boss Luo nodded calmly.
“If there’s a next time, I’ll be more careful… and try to keep it within this threshold. You can go now. I want a moment of peace. The time-freeze here should resume normal flow in ten minutes, right?”
【Understood…】
---
“Power… power outage?”
It felt like ten minutes had passed, or maybe just a few heartbeats. The world had gone dark—but light returned quickly.
“Probably a usage surge during peak hours. Happens with AC power,” Luo Qiu said calmly.
It’s still cold in the South, not summer yet… Peak usage my foot, thought Song Ying, but she held her tongue.
There was a wicker chair and small table on the balcony, a spot for reading and tea. Luo Qiu sat down and motioned for Song Ying to join him—this spot was out of the living room’s line of sight.
Except… an ear was sneakily pressed against the glass.
Luo Qiu lightly knocked on the sliding door. The eavesdropper grumbled in frustration and retreated.
“Your mom—uh, Miss Ren—seems to be pretty scared of you,” Song Ying chuckled awkwardly, back to her usual self.
“Tell me,” Luo Qiu said, “what happened, from the beginning. You said it wasn’t an accident—but manmade…”
This was the Luo Qiu Song Ying remembered—not the terrifying one from before, but the one who’d let her drag him out at midnight without complaint, who would even make her breakfast with care.
She sighed in relief and blurted out,
“Um… You’re really not mad anymore?”
Luo Qiu stared at her without blinking.
Song Ying shrank back and whispered,
“My bad… go on, I won’t interrupt…”
Luo Qiu exhaled.
“That’s all. Since you’re here, you must’ve found something. Let’s hear it.”
Song Ying glanced into the living room. Sure enough, Ren Ziling was sitting far away, clutching a pillow, wide-eyed like a housewife watching the final episode of a drama.
“Here’s the report—take a look.”
She opened her phone and handed it to Luo Qiu.
He began reading.
“My family may not have much business in the country,” Song Ying explained, “but we’ve still got some connections. My grandpa asked a friend to look into this. This Professor Ouyang mentioned in the report was the forensic expert on your father’s case. According to his statement, the fatal bullet actually came from a police-issued gun. But someone paid him off to falsify the report, claiming it was a criminal’s bullet, and even switched the evidence.”
She took a deep breath and continued,
“I came here on my grandpa’s orders—to get to the bottom of this. He said, No one from the Song family should die with unanswered questions.”
“I understand,” Luo Qiu said, returning the phone.
“Now, think about how you’re going to clean up the mess from your little prank.”
“…Okay.”
So scary…
(End of Chapter)