Su Ze didn't stay at the Black and White Bar for long. After confirming he would join the intelligent woman's team and asking about a few more details, he got up and left.
They agreed to meet at the Black and White Bar at seven tomorrow morning. Tonight, he still needed to go back to the bathhouse to rest.
After leaving the bar, Su Ze hailed a cab and headed for the Bihai Tangcheng Bathhouse.
About two hundred meters from the bathhouse, traffic slowed to a crawl. Su Ze's pupils contracted. He quickly told the driver to stop. He could see numerous Public Security Bureau vehicles surrounding the Bihai Tangcheng Bathhouse, and roadblocks had been set up. Every car had to be inspected before it could pass.
'Is this a routine vice raid, or have the Zhao Family tracked me here?'
Zhao Yuanyi had connections everywhere in Mu Country; mobilizing Heiyan City's official forces wouldn't be difficult. Su Ze didn't dare to be careless. He paid the fare and got out of the car.
He blended into the crowd of passersby and turned to walk back the way he came. But after just a few steps, he got the faint feeling that he was being watched.
Su Ze quickened his pace and noticed a man in an army-green trench coat behind him speed up as well.
'One of Zhao Yuanyi's personal guards...' Su Ze didn't recognize the man in the trench coat, but his attire offered a few clues.
The Zhao Family's personal guard was responsible for Zhao Yuanyi's close protection, and its members generally had the strength of the Cocoon Stage.
'My getting out of the car early and turning back must have attracted attention...' Su Ze took a deep breath and tried his best not to act unnaturally. He maintained a quick pace and headed toward a small park on the side of the road.
It was early winter and the weather was getting chilly. The small park was nearly deserted at night.
The park's lighting was dim, stretching Su Ze's shadow long behind him. He sped up again, making a beeline for the public restroom in the park, trying to look like a passerby in desperate need to relieve himself.
Not far behind Su Ze, the man in the trench coat clutched his stomach and jogged along, also seeming to be in a rush for the restroom. But he was still a step behind. Seeing Su Ze enter the public restroom, he quickly followed him in.
The man in the trench coat ran into the men's restroom but didn't see Su Ze. He strode forward, pulling open the doors to the stalls one by one, only to find them all empty. His expression changed, and he turned and went into the women's restroom next door.
The women's restroom was just as empty. There wasn't a single person inside.
What the man in the trench coat didn't know was that shortly after he had entered the men's restroom, Su Ze had run out of the women's restroom next door.
Realizing he'd been tricked, the man in the trench coat hurried out of the restroom and looked around. He didn't see Su Ze, but he spotted a fresh trail of footprints in the greenbelt.
He immediately gave chase in that direction.
...
Su Ze sprinted with all his might, not daring to let up.
Time was short. He didn't have a chance to cover his tracks, and the man in the trench coat would very likely catch up.
In a contest of speed, he couldn't possibly outrun a Cocoon Stage expert. So, he planned to run to the main road and hail a cab. But just then, a figure blocked his path.
It was a lean young man with a long scar on his face. He radiated a savage aura, like a cunning and vicious hyena on the savanna.
Gao Long!
The newcomer was none other than Gao Long, the man Su Ze had clashed with at the Black and White Bar just moments ago.
'He means trouble!'
Gao Long's appearance here was definitely no coincidence. He must have been following Su Ze the whole time.
'I made a point to check when I left the bar and didn't see anyone following me. It seems this Gao Long has some kind of stealth-type skill or exotic item...' Su Ze mused, but his feet didn't stop. He charged straight for Gao Long.
He had no path of retreat.
Su Ze wasn't afraid of Gao Long, but he didn't have time to get entangled with him. The Zhao Family's Cocoon Stage expert could catch up at any moment.
'I have to end this quickly!'
"You want to fight me to the death? You've got some nerve," Gao Long said disdainfully. "A piece of trash like you, propped up by your family and a mountain of resources, is nothing to me, even with a full set of top-tier skills!"
Despite his words, Gao Long wasn't careless. On the contrary, he cautiously took two steps back. He had clawed his way to where he was today not just by relying on his impressive combat power among evolvers of the same tier, but also because he was both bold and meticulous.
Su Ze said nothing. When he was about ten meters away from Gao Long, he activated the "Rhino Charge" skill. His speed skyrocketed, and he turned into a blurry afterimage, ramming toward Gao Long.
Gao Long reacted quickly. While retreating frantically, he raised a hand to counterattack, a water arrow materializing at his fingertip and shooting toward Su Ze.
SWOOSH! SWOOSH! SWOOSH!
Three water arrows flew out in succession, each packing a considerable punch.
However, two of the arrows missed completely. The only one that hit Su Ze failed to cause any noticeable damage.
'How is that possible!' Gao Long was shaken to his core, unable to believe it.
That was because he didn't know how powerful the S-rank skill "Rhino Charge" truly was.
Rhino Charge: Initiate a short-distance charge forward. During the charge, speed is drastically increased, defense is greatly enhanced, and you become difficult to hit.
One could say that in the instant he used Rhino Charge, Su Ze was in a state of near-invincibility.
In the blink of an eye, Su Ze used Rhino Charge to close the distance to Gao Long, simultaneously activating the "Ant Power" skill.
Ant Power: Gain a 3x burst of strength for 2 seconds (duration and strength amplification depend on the user's physical constitution).
After Su Ze completed his first evolution, the Ant Power skill had been significantly enhanced.
Watching Su Ze's aura surge before him, Gao Long finally snapped back to his senses. He threw one hand up in front of him, and a Rock Shield rapidly materialized in his palm.
The defensive skill from a Rock Scorpion Beast, Rock Shield!
At the same time, Gao Long's other hand drew the dagger hanging from his leg and stabbed at Su Ze from a tricky angle.
A ruthless expression appeared on Su Ze's face. Without flinching, he unleashed the "Needle Strike" skill he had just obtained.
The Needle Strike skill gathered all his strength into a single point, erupting in a piercing attack.
He wanted to see just what kind of power he could unleash by using Needle Strike to focus the 3x strength boost from Ant Power into a single point!
This was also the strongest single attack Su Ze could currently deliver.
Su Ze extended a finger and pointed it toward Gao Long's Rock Shield.
His finger landed on the Rock Shield. There was no thunderous boom, almost no sound at all. The piercing property of Needle Strike took effect, and the Rock Shield, as if made of paper, was punctured by a hole.
Su Ze's finger didn't slow in the slightest. It passed through the shield, pierced Gao Long's chest, and plunged straight into his heart!
Gao Long stared at Su Ze in astonishment, his face a mask of disbelief and indignation. The dagger in his hand slipped from his grasp, and the light in his eyes faded.
Su Ze felt the warm throbbing at his fingertip gradually stop. Suppressing the faint unease in his heart, he pulled back his blood-soaked hand.
He and Gao Long didn't have any deep-seated hatred for each other; it was just a small conflict at the bar. And Gao Long had likely followed him just to teach him a lesson. But Su Ze had no choice. He had to use lethal force.
Gao Long could only blame himself for getting in the way.
With pursuers on his tail, even if Gao Long hadn't intended to kill Su Ze, his actions could very well have gotten Su Ze killed.
'In the few days since I transmigrated, several people have already died by my hand, directly or indirectly.'
There was nothing Su Ze could do about it. He just wanted to live.
Watching Gao Long's body collapse to the ground in a spreading pool of blood, Su Ze took a deep breath. He quickly took off his own blood-stained jacket, wiped the blood from his hands, and tossed the jacket aside.
He bent down and searched Gao Long's body, pulling out a phone, a cardholder, and a small toe bone.
The toe bone was as smooth as jade. When Su Ze infused a trace of evolutionary power into it, it emitted a faint, crimson glow.
'A Tier 1 exotic item!'
Su Ze hadn't expected to find an exotic item. Although it was only Tier 1, exotic items were inherently rare, and their low usage requirements made them more valuable than extracts of the same tier.
Su Ze pocketed his loot from the corpse and immediately left the scene.