He really wanted to know why someone would even put something like that in a place like that!
Didn't these women feel pain at all?
"Ah, that's because some people like to go for groin kicks. So we need a way to counterattack from there. I'm already being pretty mild. Some people stick a steel spike inside instead, just to pierce the enemy's calf."
The female street brawler, however, looked completely calm.
You people really are messed up!
Leo honestly couldn't take it anymore.
"So why do you live like this at all? Wouldn't being an adventurer be better?"
He was genuinely curious. Japanese ninjas were already a disgusting enough profession in his eyes, but these female street brawlers were willing to treat themselves like this rather than become adventurers—why?
"How much money do you think adventurers make? And how many adventurers can really trust each other? Your questions are weird. Don't you know adventurers are at the bottom when it comes to income?"
The street brawler couldn't help but complain.
"Only idiots think adventurers can live safely. Monsters in the wild and the constant dangers out there aren't any better than our back alleys…"
As she said that, she subtly stepped away from Leo.
"So stop sticking your nose into other people's business. I was joking earlier. Get lost while you still can."
She glanced at Leo once more, confirmed he was just a lust-driven idiot with something wrong in his head, and finally loosened her grip on the steel needle she'd been holding.
"Even if you save that woman, she won't thank you. She'll cling to you instead. That's how people like us, crawling in the mud, live. If you really want to invite huge trouble, go ahead—but let's make one thing clear. If you save her, we'll come after you for the money."
She finished with a nasty grin.
"You'd better think it through."
Leo fell silent. She wasn't wrong—this was definitely trouble.
Street brawlers were basically the underworld. And people who borrowed money from the underworld were rarely innocent. Sure, sometimes circumstances forced them into it, but the woman lying there didn't exactly look harmless either.
But still…
"You said all that just to make me save her, didn't you?"
Leo asked bluntly.
The street brawler froze for a moment, then immediately turned around and walked away.
"Idiot. I just want my debt back."
She walked off briskly, as if she didn't want Leo to see through her. But then she suddenly turned back, snatched the gold coin from Leo's hand, and shoved a small bottle into his palm.
"This is the antidote to my poison. Just take a sip. I don't want a rich guy like you dying for no reason because of me. That'd be a pain."
After that, she finally left.
Leo looked at the antidote, which only had two mouthfuls in it. After thinking for a moment, he decided to find a doctor first.
The same doctor from yesterday handed him a mirror so he could see his current condition.
"You are indeed poisoned."
Looking at his purplish lips in the mirror, Leo didn't know what to say. He was genuinely curious what kind of thinking had led that street brawler to hide such deadly poisoned blades inside her own body.
Wasn't she afraid of killing herself?!
While he was thinking, the doctor also checked the antidote.
"The antidote is fine. Just drink a sip."
Leo silently drank a mouthful. Visibly, the swelling on his face and the dark color on his lips quickly faded.
Then he looked at the doctor.
"Are you interested in making a house call?"
——————
"Truly incredible vitality."
Looking at the female street brawler lying on the bed, the doctor couldn't help but praise her.
"She's suffering from a severe illness, poisoned by more than ten different toxins, and her internal organs show varying degrees of bleeding and damage. And yet she's still alive. That alone is astonishing. But I'm sorry—my antidotes can neutralize the poisons, but there's nothing I can do about her overall condition."
The doctor shook her head regretfully.
"If it were just a severe illness, I might still be able to save her. But she dragged it out for too long. Her will to live is extremely strong, which is why she lasted until now, but there's no doubt—she's dying. Her body is already beyond saving. It's far too weak… She wouldn't even survive until I finished cleaning her wounds."
With that, the doctor sighed, left behind a bottle of gray liquid, and departed.
After seeing the doctor off and paying both the previous and current medical fees, Leo returned to the inn he'd rented.
When he entered his room, he saw the female street brawler already awake, trembling as she reached for the antidote. As she moved, blood kept seeping from her wounds.
Clearly, she'd been awake for a while.
Her messy ponytail looked even more disheveled. Just reaching out like that was already beyond her strength, and her entire body radiated the aura of someone at death's door. Yet her eyes were still vicious.
When she saw Leo, she instinctively tried to assume a defensive posture—only to cough up a mouthful of purple blood.
She really was about to die.
"The doctor said your internal organs are basically ruined. Even if the poisons are removed, you'll only live until tonight at best. So is there really a need to be this wary of me?"
She didn't reply, just stared at Leo with a fierce glare. And looking into those eyes, Leo became certain of one thing.
A woman like this could provide him with a massive amount of energy points.
Although there were still many unknowns about how energy was gained, Leo had already grasped some patterns.
The more extreme a person's mindset—obsession, stubbornness, powerful fixation—and the greater their emotional fluctuations, the more energy he gained from being with them.
Someone this stubborn, clinging to life even at death's door, was clearly the obsessive type.
Leo really wanted to know whether sleeping with someone like this would drastically increase the energy he gained. If it did…
Then the room for manipulation would be huge.
There was no shortage of women suffering in this world.
That way, he wouldn't have to become someone else's husband.
He hadn't forgotten about Lux. She had helped him, and no matter what, he needed to send her back safely.
So accumulating energy quickly was a must.
Given his current physical condition, finding people who could give him large amounts of energy quickly was the most efficient choice.
After all, even though Lux had been proactive and willing on the surface, that didn't mean she genuinely enjoyed doing something like licking a man.
He didn't want to make a young girl force a smile and do that again.
After hearing Leo's words, the street brawler finally relaxed her guard. But when Leo picked up the antidote, she still instinctively prepared to attack—ready to strike if he tried to take it away.
Even though, in her current state, she couldn't possibly mount any effective resistance.
But when Leo handed the antidote to her, she was still surprised and couldn't help asking,
"So why save me?"
"Because you're pretty and I want to sleep with you. Let me be clear—I don't have any feelings for you."
The street brawler froze for a moment, then nodded.
"Fine. As long as you don't kill me, do whatever you want."
She said it and immediately started drinking the antidote, seemingly unconcerned about what Leo might do to her.
"I don't have a habit of doing it with corpses. And just look at your current state—covered in filth, blood, and poison. At the very least, you need a bath."
Leo clicked his tongue in disgust.
"…?"
She stared at him in confusion.
"You want to do it with my corpse? Then there's no need to tell me—just wait until I die, isn't that easier?"
…
Could you not be this hardcore?
"What I mean is, I might be able to save your life. The price is that for as long as I stay in Arad, you'll serve as my tool to take care of my sexual needs. Are you willing?"
She snorted.
"Why wouldn't I be? I'm about to die anyway."
"Good."
Leo dragged a medical kit from his inventory into his action bar and used it on her.
And then—
Something unbelievable happened.
[If you like this story, please don't shy away from adding to the collection, giving a power stone, and leaving a review.]