"Sir, here are your phones. I've already installed the SIM cards for you." Inside the store, a saleswoman in an alluring uniform winked at Mo Bai, her eyes holding a certain hint.
Mo Bai frowned upon receiving the hint. Sensing that things weren't so simple, he unlocked the smartphone.
A single contact labeled "Girlfriend" occupied the entire address book.
Mo Bai looked up and saw a promotional poster on the wall for the exact same model of "couples' phones" he was holding. The saleswoman, who was acting more like a matchmaker, gave him a very sweet smile.
However, the saleswoman had no idea that Mo Bai's only desire at that moment was to smack the phone against her forehead and ask if she had a hole in her head.
No matter how you looked at it, Gokou Ruri was a middle schooler, right? Was this kind of thing common in the Far East?
The more he thought about it, the more terrifying it became!
He nervously peeked at Gokou Ruri, who was admiring her new phone, and rubbed his head in anguish.
"Give me your phone, I'll help you save my number."
Gokou Ruri handed it over without suspicion.
Mo Bai, channeling the hand speed honed by over twenty years of being single in his past life, performed a blur of dazzling operations and changed the "Boyfriend" contact name to "Manager."
"Ruri, we should head back to the hotel." Threat neutralized.
"Okay." Gokou Ruri carefully placed the phone in her pocket.
Hearing their exchange, the saleswoman's smile took on an even more suggestive, adult-like ripple.
Facing the saleswoman, Mo Bai could only manage an awkward yet polite smile.
Just as Mo Bai thought the ordeal was over, a dozen delinquents with flashy hairstyles walked into the store.
Mo Bai smelled trouble. He quickly scooped Gokou Ruri up by the waist and tucked her behind the counter where the saleswoman was.
Sure enough, one of the delinquents pointed at Mo Bai and yelled, "Boss, that's him! The guy from TV this morning!"
Not far from the store, the bodyguard Ryohei, now disguised in a fur coat and thick gold chain like a gangster, watched from inside a car.
He wasn't a professional when it came to brawling, so he went and found some people who were.
Professional debt collectors, the kind who could break a left arm without leaving any lasting damage or harming any other part of the body. For ten million yen, they would have called him "daddy." To avoid blowing his cover, he paid an extra five million for a special request: costumes.
The leader, decked out in "cuckold green," approached Mo Bai with a friendly smile, his dozen or so underlings in tow.
The scene reminded Mo Bai of flies and a certain attractive, lump-like object.
Mo Bai's eye twitched at his own self-deprecating thought. That analogy was a bit...
The saleswoman trembled in fear. The chubby security guard observed from the shadows.
"Cuckold Green" swaggered over, hands in his pockets.
"Hey kid, heard you're doin' pretty well for yourself. Me and the boys are a little tight on cash these days, so how 'bout it?" Cuckold Green raised an eyebrow, gesturing with his right hand. "Lend us a little something to play with?"
"You can still get out of here smoothly if you leave now." Mo Bai paid the dozen delinquents no mind. "Otherwise, you're about to find out what a one-punch man is."
Ever heard of Kotodama? Ever heard of a peak LV10 human physique?
Cuckold Green fell silent, apparently still trying to figure out what "get out of here smoothly" meant.
"He's telling you to scram," a voice came from behind the delinquents.
"Oh, thanks." Cuckold Green instinctively turned around.
"Don't mention it." Along with the voice came the wails of a falling delinquent. A handsome young man with a naturally friendly aura smiled as he rubbed his fist into his palm. "Ah, my bad, my bad. Seeing as you guys were taking so long to get started, I figured I'd kick things off."
In that instant, the fight began!
Mo Bai grabbed a handful of Cuckold Green's cuckold-colored hair, and his little fists instantly hammered away like a pile driver, leaving the man's face a twisted mess.
"One punch, one punch, one punch, one punch..."
Mo Bai was a man of his word. He said one punch, and he meant one punch.
After finishing his "one punch," Mo Bai turned and kicked an oblivious delinquent seven or eight meters away. The other delinquents very politely gave their boss some room for the duel.
"Now do you know what a one-punch man is?"
Mo Bai grabbed Cuckold Green by the collar, lifted him clean over his head, and slammed him down hard on the counter, temporarily ending his physical suffering.
Cuckold Green had passed into nirvana.
"Not bad strength." The sunny young man straightened his still-clean white shirt and extended a hand. "Let's get acquainted. I'm Wang Yao, from the Hua nation."
"You're pretty amazing yourself." Mo Bai's eyelids twitched uncontrollably as he looked at the circle of delinquents rolling around at the young man's feet. He had only taken out Cuckold Green and kicked one away; the other dozen or so had all been put on the ground by this guy in the time it took to exchange a few words.
Terrifying. Utterly terrifying.
The delayed alarm finally began to blare, and police sirens grew closer.
"Uh, I'm Mo Bai. Also from the Hua nation." Mo Bai glanced at the blood-soaked gauze on his hand and shrugged sheepishly.
Soon, Mo Bai was once again enjoying the VIP treatment of feeling right at home.
Meanwhile, the bodyguard Ryohei, who had orchestrated the whole incident, was scurrying through a complex network of alleyways like a stray dog. Seeing that his plan had been exposed, he was about to hit the gas and find another way out when goosebumps erupted all over his skin. As a top-tier bodyguard, he immediately understood he had been locked onto by someone's aura.
He decisively abandoned the car and fled into the maze-like alleys.
"Hey, Tahei. Tell the Young Master the mission failed. I'm being followed right now, might need some more time." In the space of a single sentence, Ryohei hung up, removed the SIM card, and was about to crush it.
He felt a sharp pain in his back, and his whole body went limp, unable to muster a shred of strength.
An old man in a Zhongshan suit retracted his cane, leisurely took the SIM card from Ryohei's hand, and carefully wrapped it in a handkerchief. "Young man, you'll be coming with me."
Although the old man was smiling, Ryohei felt a chill run through his entire body.
When on earth did this old man get behind him?
===
Since Mo Bai had badges from both the Chiba Shrine and the Yukikawa Shrine, and Colson had also come to vouch for him, the Chief instantly understood the principle of "your daddy's daddy is your grandpa."
Mo Bai, on his second visit to the "palace," and his fellow countryman Wang Yao were quickly and respectfully shown out.
"Hahaha, the katsudon at the police station really is delicious," the handsome Wang Yao said with a laugh as he straightened a stack of small paper notes in his hand.
"I just hope you're not about to comment on how delicious the female officers are," Mo Bai said, concerned for the professionalism of the Far East's policewomen. He's just a handsome guy, isn't he? Why are they giving him their numbers? Are they that thirsty?
"Hahaha." Wang Yao just laughed without saying a word.
Mo Bai felt a hint of mockery in Wang Yao's laughter, but he would never admit that he was jealous, envious, and hateful.
The "four great bonds of life" could be roughly summarized as: carrying a gun together, fighting together, and doing time in jail together.
Having experienced two of these, Mo Bai and Wang Yao hit it off immediately, feeling like two peas in a pod.
"I've added your number. Contact me if you need anything. I'll have a big gift for you next time we meet." Wang Yao waved to Mo Bai and walked toward the reverent old man in the Zhongshan suit.
"I'll be waiting, then."
"Let's go."
Waiting for Mo Bai at the station entrance was, of course, Gokou Ruri. The Wang family, young and old, were all guarding the fish storage.
"Hm?" The two walked back to the hotel in silence, only to find the hotel lobby bustling with waiters and bodyguards.
Wang Zhongji seemed to be arguing with Harano Katsuya about something.
A deep sense of foreboding washed over Mo Bai.
Something... might have happened!
________________________________________
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