She had never gone to bars before. This time, she had only come to accompany a friend.
Her friend's father had lost half his leg to a mutant creature. If the Spirit Energy Bureau hadn't arrived quickly, he might not have survived.
So they had all come along to keep her company and help take her mind off things.
Wang Mengyu had originally thought karaoke would be enough, but then they suggested the bar.
Though everyone on the stage seemed to be having a great time, she felt like it just wasn't for her.
Shaking her head, Wang Mengyu stretched and rubbed her neck, quickening her pace.
Her home wasn't far from here—about a ten-minute walk.
Once she got back, she would take a nice hot shower and drift off into a satisfying sleep.
That would be more comfortable than anything.
What Wang Mengyu didn't notice was that behind her, at a distance neither too far nor too close, a figure had been following her the entire time.
Before she knew it, she was getting closer and closer to her apartment complex.
By now, the streets were empty. Nothing but streetlights and shadows.
And then, in that moment, a flash of crimson light cut through the darkness—bewitching and sinister.
"Mmh..."
Wang Mengyu's eyes met that gaze directly. The terror in her expression instantly gave way to something mechanical and vacant.
"Is anyone home at your place?"
Liu Yongsheng watched his ability take effect, a smile unconsciously spreading across his face. He traced a finger along Wang Mengyu's soft cheek as he spoke.
"No."
"Take me to your home."
Liu Yongsheng nodded with satisfaction. If someone had been home, he would have had to change locations. After all, his spiritual energy reserves wouldn't allow him to enchant additional people.
"Yes."
Wang Mengyu replied mechanically, then led Liu Yongsheng toward her home.
Once inside, Liu Yongsheng didn't want to wait any longer. He immediately began removing his clothes. Just as he was about to give Wang Mengyu a command, he paused, looking at her blank expression. Suddenly, the image of that struggling woman from last time flashed through his mind.
A surge of twisted desire rose within him.
What's the fun in a doll? It has to be a real person. Someone with emotions.
"I'll allow you to regain your awareness, but you cannot speak. Unless I permit it, you cannot move."
The moment Liu Yongsheng finished speaking, the vacant look in Wang Mengyu's eyes suddenly returned to life. Confusion flickered across her face—and then she saw Liu Yongsheng standing before her without a single piece of clothing on. She opened her mouth to scream, but no sound escaped her throat.
"It's useless. Unless someone's mental strength is higher than mine, they can't resist my ability."
"I can't let you scream right now, of course. But later... you can scream however you want."
"The louder, the better."
Liu Yongsheng laughed as he spoke, then slowly approached, reaching out to remove Wang Mengyu's clothing.
He was in no hurry now. He even deliberately slowed his steps, just to savor the look of despair in Wang Mengyu's eyes a little longer.
It gave him a satisfaction different from physical pleasure—a satisfaction of the spirit.
Despair filled Wang Mengyu's eyes. She didn't understand why something like this was happening to her. She hadn't died in the jaws of mutant creatures, only to be stabbed in the back by a fellow human.
Why, in this day and age, did people like this still exist?!
Tears fell unbidden from the corners of her eyes. Looking at Liu Yongsheng, the despair in her gaze was replaced by fury and hatred.
"Now that look in your eyes—that's interesting. It's got more... feeling than that weak look from before."
"Nice. Very nice. Hahaha."
Liu Yongsheng didn't care about her hatred in the slightest. If anything, it made him laugh.
"Don't worry. Soon, you'll be feeling very good."
"After all, when a finger picks a nose, it's definitely the nose that feels better than the finger."
"Who knows? You might even get addicted and lose yourself in it."
As he spoke, his laughter grew louder, the excitement on his face intensifying.
BOOM!
A sudden thunderous roar came from outside the window. Liu Yongsheng stopped what he was doing, looking toward the window in surprise.
Thunder?
"Thunder is good. Thunder is wonderful!"
"If it starts to rain, that would be a gift from the heavens. The perfect atmosphere."
Liu Yongsheng's expression was one of intoxicated bliss. Wang Mengyu looked at him as if she were staring at a monster.
Disgusting!
At that very moment, a faint, ethereal voice echoed through the room.
"Liu Yongsheng, I presume."
Horror flooded Liu Yongsheng's face. Relief flooded Wang Mengyu's.
A dark, grayish mist coalesced from the air into a human form—a figure in a black coat, gazing at them with calm detachment.
He had been watching Liu Yongsheng since the Fleeting Years bar. He had followed as Liu Yongsheng trailed Wang Mengyu, all the way until the man used his ability.
He had assumed it would be a physical enhancement ability. He hadn't expected it to be psychic-type—no, more likely beast-type.
Something like a nightmare creature or a succubus.
But it didn't matter. Whatever type it was, tonight Liu Yongsheng would die here.
Without a moment's hesitation, Liu Yongsheng's right hand shot out and seized Wang Mengyu by the throat.
"Stay back!"
"Or I'll kill her right now!"
"Do you really think you have a chance?"
Nathaniel spoke calmly. In the next instant, his body vanished from where he stood. Before Liu Yongsheng's terrified eyes, both his right hand and Wang Mengyu had been snatched away by Nathaniel.
"When the gap in power is absolute, the possibility of a threat does not exist."
"Even if you could crush her throat in one second, I could stop you before you finished."
Nathaniel had always been confident in his own strength.
Even though his ability had nothing to do with speed, that didn't mean his speed was lacking.
A First Sequence had no weaknesses.
"AHHH!!!"
Once the shock wore off, searing pain engulfed Liu Yongsheng's entire body, and he couldn't help but scream.
But even under the threat of death, he forced himself to speak through the agony:
"You can't kill me! I was going to do that to her, but I hadn't even started yet!"
"Sure, I slept with a few women before, but afterward they got into it themselves! In a way, it was consensual! And yes, I killed someone, but that wasn't intentional! At most I'd go to prison—yes, prison!"
"You can't kill me! That's right, you can't kill me!"
"You have to follow the law!"
As he spoke, Liu Yongsheng grew more and more agitated. So what if they caught him? He wouldn't die.
At worst, a few years in prison. Maybe a decade or so.
"And I'm injured now! I need to be hospitalized! I don't even have to go to prison until I recover!"
He pointed at his right arm, completely failing to notice that Nathaniel's expression was growing stranger by the second—as if he was about to burst out laughing.
"The biggest joke I've heard all year is a man who broke the law standing in front of me and lecturing me about following it."
"Heh."
Though Nathaniel was smiling, his tone was ice-cold.
Those who knowingly break the law are far more infuriating than the ignorant. At least the ignorant have an excuse. But someone like this?
"You're not wrong. In the old days, with a good lawyer, you probably wouldn't die."
"But times have changed."
— End of Chapter —