Meng Ran had a very happy weekend; he not only confessed his identity to Gwen, resolved their previous misunderstandings, but also received a kiss.
Regarding Meng Ran's identity, Gwen said she would keep it a secret.
However, Meng Ran told Gwen that she could reveal it to Mary Jane, as they were partners, but only his identity; other details should remain confidential.
Gwen, of course, understood that knowing his identity was enough for Mary Jane.
At the same time, she was also very grateful to Meng Ran, otherwise she really wouldn't know how to explain her conversation with the Ghost to Mary Jane.
Meng Ran had also considered this point, which was why he told Gwen she could inform Mary Jane; he didn't want Gwen to be troubled by this matter.
Meng Ran did not object to Gwen not killing criminals, only telling her to protect herself and also to be careful of those criminals. She shouldn't let her soft-heartedness put her in a difficult situation, and there was nothing wrong with being a bit harsher when necessary.
Gwen had no resistance to this; she had indeed been too naive before. Meng Ran also told her about Mia's tragedy.
Watching Meng Ran recount his regret and self-blame, Gwen gradually understood why the Ghost had changed his approach and started to deal with criminals with a heavy hand.
"Don't let your mercy towards criminals become the source of others' suffering."
"Every criminal, after committing a crime, does not deserve forgiveness. He must pay the price, otherwise, it cannot comfort the victims, nor can it protect those who have not been harmed."
"No one has the right to forgive those criminals on behalf of the victims. My job is to judge them for those who have no power to seek revenge."
Listening to Meng Ran's words, Gwen understood that these were his insights after experiencing pain and regret.
Gwen also gradually understood the Ghost's philosophy after her own crime-fighting.
She also felt that she needed to make some changes, but it would take some time. At least now, she no longer demanded that she must spare the lives of those criminals; she had already begun to categorize them in her heart.
In fact, no matter what Gwen thought, Meng Ran would respect her choice. His only request was that Gwen protect herself.
Meng Ran didn't need to force others to agree with him; everyone's path would be different, but as long as it was for justice, then they were all partners.
Night fell, and Meng Ran was still soaring between buildings, observing the streets and crowds.
Once George had cleared Ibai's territory and stabilized it, Meng Ran could then begin to deal with the next target.
"Hmm? Someone is robbing with a gun, and it's a pretty girl?"
Meng Ran focused his gaze on an alley not far away.
Standing still, Meng Ran quickly rushed towards it.
"Wuwuwu~ I'll give you the money, please don't kill me." The woman crouched in the corner, sobbing and pleading with the fierce-looking man in front of her. Her purse had already been thrown in front of the man, but he seemed to have no intention of stopping.
The man listened to her words and let out a series of lewd laughs: "Little girl, don't be scared, how could I bear to kill you?"
After saying that, he licked his lips again, holding the gun, and said to the woman with lustful eyes: "Be good, take off your clothes yourself, turn around, and lift your slutty ass. As long as you make me feel good, I'll let you leave safely."
The woman shook her head, crying, and pressed herself tightly against the wall in fear.
Suddenly, a figure quickly descended from above, landing silently between the two of them.
The man looked at the terrifying Ghost in front of him, grinning, and said with a tremble: "Y-you are the Ghost!?"
The man trembled as he retreated in horror.
After the man retreated a distance, a hint of mockery suddenly flashed in his terrified eyes.
At the same time, a sharp claw suddenly extended from behind Meng Ran. Its five fingers were sharp and slender, gleaming with a silvery metallic luster.
This sharp claw, with an unstoppable momentum, lunged towards the Ghost's heart.
Just as the claw was about to strike, the target in front of it crouched down with extreme speed.
At the same time, a hoarse voice rang out: "As expected, your acting is truly movingly clumsy."
Meng Ran's sudden crouch caused the woman's sharp claw to miss.
Then Meng Ran raised his left elbow and sharply retreated backward.
His left elbow instantly landed on the woman's abdomen, and then she was pressed against the wall by the retreating Meng Ran.
Boom! The wall behind the woman cracked due to Meng Ran's immense strength, and the woman was sent spitting out large mouthfuls of blood by the violent elbow strike.
Before the woman could react, a pair of large hands had already gripped her fair neck.
After the left elbow strike, Meng Ran quickly turned around and gripped the woman's throat with his right hand.
The woman struggled to raise her arms, preparing to use her sharp claws to injure Meng Ran and force him to release her neck.
However, as soon as the woman's hands were raised, two black blades pinned her palms to the wall, one on each side, rendering her immobile.
At this moment, the woman could only hope that the man opposite her would quickly come to her rescue.
Little did she know, the man was also in dire straits at that moment.
Just as the woman made her move and the man thought their plan had succeeded, a black tentacle suddenly attacked from behind him, wrapping around his neck and lifting him up.
Four black blades also simultaneously pierced his four limbs.
If anyone nearby had seen the man's appearance, they would have been scared senseless by this bizarre scene.
Black viscous liquid oozed from the wall behind the man.
These liquids then branched into many tentacles. One thick tentacle wrapped around the man's neck, tightly pinning him to the wall, while the remaining six—four of them pinned the man's four limbs, and two pinned the woman's palms.
This scene was like the wall suddenly transforming into a black demon, intent on dragging the man into the abyss behind it.
Meng Ran had felt a sense of unease when he was standing on the building.
On one hand, he had the Ghost Warning, and this subtle intuitive ability had been greatly enhanced.
On the other hand, ever since the Ghost began to change his methods and mete out terrifying punishments to criminals, it had been a long time since anyone dared to openly rob in places the Ghost frequently patrolled.
And it was also this kind of robbery involving both money and lust, which Meng Ran detested the most.
After feeling that something was amiss, Meng Ran kept his guard up and separated Venom, whose terrifying gaping maw when it landed on the ground was also formed by the battle suit.
If they were ordinary criminals, Meng Ran could hang them up and beat them even with only one arm left.
If it was indeed a trap, then Venom could just catch them off guard.
The result was as expected, it was a trap. When the woman reached out, the Ghost Warning in his head almost exploded. He even waited a bit longer to make his combo smoother.
Meng Ran threw the woman in his hands to the ground, then broke her limbs and had Venom use tentacles to stuff her mouth, to prevent her from taking poison to commit suicide.
Then Meng Ran waved his hand, and Venom also slammed the man onto the ground. Meng Ran repeated the same procedure.
After ensuring both were sprawled on the ground like dead dogs, Meng Ran allowed Venom to return to his body.
Although Venom could maintain some combat effectiveness when separated from his body, it couldn't be for too long; the longer it was, the weaker Venom would become.
After Venom re-possessed him, Meng Ran extended both hands, from which countless small tentacles emanated, drilling into the mouths of the man and woman lying on the ground.
Meng Ran wanted to read their memories.
Meng Ran closed his eyes, reading. Suddenly, the heads of the two lying on the ground emitted a rapid beeping sound, followed by two soft clicks. The insides of their heads had already turned to mush, and no memories could be extracted.
"What the f*ck, I already blocked their mouths, how is there still a move like that?!" Meng Ran cursed under his breath.
Immediately, he quickly used both hands to separate out more black tendrils, wrapping the two of them up like two large black cocoons.
"Hope it still works." Meng Ran muttered to himself.
He now wanted to possess the two through Venom to see what abilities he could extract, but he was also secretly apprehensive, not knowing if it would succeed, because he had tried to possess criminals he had killed before, but it hadn't worked.
After waiting for a moment, Meng Ran opened his eyes and exclaimed excitedly: "It worked!"
"Congratulations, host, for acquiring new abilities!"
"Acquired Claw Ability: Can strengthen hands to form claws."
"Acquired Skin Enhancement Ability: Can strengthen outer skin to resist general damage (requires active activation)."
"Friendly reminder: Because the target was near death, extracting abilities took longer. host, please note that if the target dies, extraction is not possible. For future extractions, please act promptly."
"Uh, why does this friendly reminder sound a bit like a complaint?" Meng Ran listened to the system's friendly reminder, his forehead covered in black lines and feeling a bit awkward.
Meng Ran then shifted his attention to the abilities.
"Claw ability, this allows me to have claws even when I don't use Venom, emmm, it's a bit redundant."
"Skin enhancement, this ability is actually pretty good, it just needs to be actively activated, no wonder they had no power to resist just now. But it can enhance melee combat a bit, it's decent, a little better than redundant."
Meng Ran sighed inwardly as he looked.
And memories. After checking the abilities, Meng Ran prepared to look at the memories he had just searched for. Although it was interrupted by an accident, there was still a little bit.
Meng Ran closed his eyes, examining carefully.
After a while, Meng Ran opened his eyes.
The information was extremely limited; he only knew that these two belonged to a group called Blackwater Security Company, and this time they were commissioned to kill the Ghost.
Also, these two were lovers, and according to the information provided by their superiors, they knew that the Ghost had a complex about robbery involving lust, so they staged this act. There was no other information.
Meng Ran thought speechlessly: "Although the information about the Ghost having a complex about lust-related robbery could be deduced from careful analysis of materials, it's really annoying to be set up like this."
And this pair of assassins, Meng Ran estimated that if he hadn't shown up, the two of them would have turned their fake act into a real one right there.
Meng Ran bought a bottle of corpse-dissolving liquid from the system store and sprinkled it on the bodies of the two respectively.
Wisps of white smoke emanated from the bodies, and they quickly disappeared.
"Bye-bye, hope you two can continue your relationship down there," Meng Ran muttered to himself.
Watching the bodies disappear without a trace, Meng Ran leaped onto the rooftop in a few steps and continued his night patrol.
Today's interlude let Meng Ran know that he had another group of enemies.
"Blackwater Security Company, Crocodile Gang, I'll take you all down together!"