A Single Person's Infinite Wonderful Life

Although Athena might not be able to preserve her virginity by then, he would be content as long as Athena could return to his side.

Chikō looked at the girls around Li Wei, feeling resentful. Li Wei already had so many girls around him, why did he still have to provoke Athena Asamiya? The situation was like two people with too much of one and too little of the other. Chikō was very indignant; why did Li Wei get so many beautiful girls around him, while he finally had a childhood sweetheart who had been stolen away by Li Wei?

Li Wei said, "Senior, although you don't plan to participate now, I think it's best to keep the invitation. In case you change your mind at any time, you will still have the right to participate in the 077 competition. The competition time is clearly stated on the invitation, so I hope you won't miss such a grand event."

Zhen Yuanzhai accepted the ornately decorated invitation. The invitation, which was much heavier than ordinary paper, was adorned with intricate gold ornaments. These ornaments were made of real gold, and the gold on this invitation alone would amount to a considerable sum in monetary terms.

The official organizers will not reclaim these special invitations. After the competition, these invitations can be given to the fighters as souvenirs, or sold for a high price if they are short of money.

This tournament exudes an air of extravagant wealth, a true display of Keith's power. Howard wouldn't be this generous; he only acts this way after becoming Levi's puppet.

Li Wei already had no shortage of gold. Using a little of his reserves to elevate the overall level of the competition was not a big deal for him. What he wanted was a lively competition. As long as he could achieve his goal, any problem that could be solved with money was not a problem for him.

Chin Gentsai accepted the invitation and said, "Alright, if I (CGCI) can complete my recent training before the competition, I will bring my disciple to participate." Li Wei asked, "Senior, are you planning to have Athena participate as well?"

Chin Gentsai shook his head and said, "Let's forget about Athena. It's best for her to keep a low profile right now. After all, she's still being watched by that troublesome monster. If that monster attacks while you're not around, Athena could easily be kidnapped. It's safest for her to stay by your side."

Chin Gentsai patted Chika Kensou on the shoulder and said to Li Wei, "The King of Fighters tournament requires three-person teams to participate. With my connections, getting a top fighter on my side shouldn't be a problem."

Chin Gentsai planned to let Chika Kensou also see the outside world. Even a day trip to a grand event like the King of Fighters tournament would be a rare experience, especially for a young person. Li Wei nodded and said, "Since you've already made your plans, I won't say anything more. I look forward to your performance. Well then, I'll take my leave." Li Wei didn't intend to stay long; after all, the living conditions here were truly unaccustomed to him, as he was used to enjoying a convenient life.

However, since we're already here, and we're at the foot of Mount Lu, we should naturally go up and take a look. After all, there are so many poems and articles about Mount Lu throughout history, and it would be a pity not to go and see it.

After Athena bid farewell to her master and senior brother, Li Wei and his group headed to Mount Lu. At that time, Mount Lu had not been systematically developed, and many places were still very primitive and not suitable for tourism. So the group stayed there for less than a day before leaving.

While the natural scenery is beautiful, the lack of supporting facilities and places to stay makes traveling cumbersome. This is even with Li Wei in charge of setting up camp. Without Li Wei, if a group of girls came here on their own, the large bags and small packages they would have to bring would be enough to ruin their good mood for traveling.

Leaving the foot of Mount Lu, the group traveled in their RV to their next destination for distributing invitations: the village of thieves in Hebei Province. The thief organization is somewhat similar to a ninja organization, but it has a higher degree of autonomy and doesn't adhere to the same lord-like loyalty as ninjas in ancient times.

The predecessor of the Flying Thief Organization was actually mountain bandits, a group of people who were forced to live by the social conditions of the time, as well as those with evil intentions who voluntarily became outlaws, and thus the predecessor of the Flying Thief Village was born.

As their power grew and their rivals were wiped out by government troops, the predecessor of the thief village learned to hide themselves and develop in secret, thus transforming from mountain bandits into thieves.

Petty thieves, while earning less than outright bandits, are safer. As a result, after their bandit counterparts were wiped out by government troops, they went underground and joined thief organizations, successfully changing their identities and becoming "law-abiding citizens," developing their businesses right under the noses of the government forces.

Over hundreds of years of development, the thief organization has grown into a large village, a village full of skilled thieves. Although it has lost its ambition, it has managed to protect its wealth and survive to this day, and its life is getting better and better.

When the luxury RV stopped outside the Thief Village, Li Wei could sense several wary eyes locked onto him. Although the Thief Village rarely committed crimes now, they still made their living from this, so they still had basic vigilance.

Li Wei got off the car with a group of girls.

The Thief Village was very well developed. Even the wealthy coastal villages after the millennium did not have buildings and public facilities as good as the Thief Village. Keep in mind that this is 1991. The Thief Village has already achieved this level of development. If it weren't for the fact that the leader of the Thief Village, Long, had wiped out his entire family and massacred the entire Thief Village a few years later, the Thief Village might have been able to show its strength in the King of Fighters tournament.

"It has a bit of a water town feel to it." Li Wei looked at the Flying Thief Village, with its buildings built against the mountain and arranged in a staggered manner, and sighed with admiration.

The architectural style of the Thief Village is somewhat similar to the brick and tile buildings of the Jiangnan region, with gray-black roofs and pure white painted brick and tile walls, giving it a very simple and elegant look. The roads outside the village are also kept clean, and various ornamental plants are planted on both sides, showing that the thieves here know how to enjoy life.

Chapter 316. The Flowery Sedan Chair, Carried by People

In Li Wei's eyes, the Thief Village's strength was nothing special. With his power, wiping out the entire Thief Village would be as easy as snapping his fingers. However, he was there to deliver an invitation, not to cause trouble, so he politely waited at the village entrance. The Thief Village wouldn't keep him waiting for long; after all, he was quite famous, having traveled the world, and the people of the Thief Village certainly knew of him.

Sure enough, after a short while, a tall, burly man with a magnificent black and red robe over a soft armor walked out of the village and strode towards them.

Li Wei looked closely and realized that the burly man in front of him should be Long, the leader of the Thief Village. Long had never officially appeared in the game. He appeared as a background character in King of Fighters '94, and in the ending animation of Benimaru's team in King of Fighters 2000, he used the Substitution Jutsu to dodge Benimaru's "Great Electric Generator". In King of Fighters 2001, he finally appeared as a support character.

SNK later encountered a financial crisis, and the game's development suffered a major setback. In order to ensure that the game's size did not exceed the limit, the character of Dragon was never able to officially appear and become a playable character for players.

Dragon's son, Dorgon, appeared in King of Fighters 2003 and became Ash's teammate in the Faraway Land Saga.

If history hadn't been altered, in the NESTS series after the millennium, the Dragons would have begun wiping out their entire clan. The burly man before me must be a ruthless individual to be capable of such a thing.

However, even the official setting doesn't provide a detailed explanation for why the dragon did this. It simply mentions that the dragon wiped out the entire Thief Village, and only Duolong and Xiaolong, who were away, escaped the calamity. But Xiaolong doesn't exist in this timeline, and whether Duolong could have escaped this calamity is also unknown.

"I am deeply sorry for not greeting you properly, but I hope you will forgive me." Long made a standard martial arts gesture of clasping his hands in greeting, with a hearty smile on his face.

Li Wei would have found it hard to believe that such a forthright northern man was a thief if he hadn't known his background beforehand.

However, in those days, Thief Village was the wealthiest village within a hundred miles, bar none. Compared to the surrounding villages, its wealth was insignificant. Furthermore, people didn't bother with their own backyard, so Thief Village had a good reputation in the area. The people in the other villages didn't know that this village was actually a den of thieves.

"I should be the one who has taken the liberty of visiting you. I've long admired your name," Li Wei said with a smile.

The saying goes, "A sedan chair is carried by many people." Many young people believe that success in the underworld depends on strength, but in reality, it often depends on connections and money. Connections and wealth can often achieve things that strength alone cannot. Those who rely solely on strength are often seen as heretics or evildoers.

Li Wei knew what the Flying Thief Village did, but he didn't reveal it, giving them face. Long, who was also shrewd, gave Li Wei face as well, personally coming out to greet him.

If Li Wei hadn't arrived so suddenly, he would have wanted to organize a welcoming procession, starting with drums and gongs from afar. Don't think that just because he's the leader of the Flying Thief Village, he wouldn't do such sycophantic things. The most important thing for prominent figures in the martial arts world is to give face to others.

Originally, Long planned to wait for Li Wei to stop somewhere and then challenge him. With his strength, even if he couldn't defeat Li Wei, he could still get an invitation. Moreover, Li Wei had clearly stated that he wouldn't participate in the tournament, so he didn't need to worry about encountering a monster like Li Wei in the tournament. This was also an opportunity to make a name for himself.

The Thief Village is now seeking transformation, preparing to open up the mercenary and assassination market in Southeast Asia. However, the Thief Village's reputation is limited to within the country. The fastest and safest way to let the world know about them is to achieve good results in the King of Fighters tournament and showcase their skills as much as possible, so that everyone knows their fame.

Although this may lead to him becoming well-known and even targeted countermeasures, the negative effects of generating revenue for the village can be ignored.

After all, every renowned master in the martial arts world is thoroughly studied by countless people trying to find their weaknesses. But is such research useful? Its effectiveness is extremely limited. For those masters who possess a single, exceptional skill, one trick is all they need. No matter how much research you do, my one trick will work.

"Please come in, everyone. If I had known you would be here, I would have had the village make proper preparations. But for now, I can only ask you to make do. I will now instruct my men to prepare the banquet," Long said with a smile.

"A simple setup will suffice; there's no need to make it too complicated," Li Wei said. (Please give me flowers.)

Of the girls who followed Li Wei, only Athena could clearly understand the dragon's words, while the others were completely confused. Chong Kingdom was simply too vast, with a land area larger than the whole of Europe, and the dialects in different regions varied greatly.

Athena could understand it because the pronunciation of Northern dialects in many places is very similar to Mandarin. If it were a dialect from coastal areas, she wouldn't understand it. As for the girls in Shiranui Ninja, apart from Cho, the others are only fluent in Japanese and English, while Joan is mainly fluent in English and French, and knows a little Cantonese and Hokkien.

Of course, Qiong is very familiar with swear words in Cantonese and Hokkien. After all, in Chinatown, you can often hear all kinds of swear words like "冚家铲", "痴线", "叼你老母咩", or "塞你母" and "你靠憋啊".

0...

When it comes to language, the most widely spoken words are always swear words. Northern dialects are relatively rare in Chinatown, so she was a little confused. If it weren't for the fact that Northern dialects are quite similar to Mandarin, she wouldn't understand them at all.

A group of people followed the dragon into the village. The Thief Village did not have an outer city wall, but the courtyard walls of each household were built quite high. Moreover, there were watchtowers inside the village that were much taller than other buildings, which showed the fierceness of the North, which was different from the South.

The children in the village looked at the group with curiosity, but none of them showed any signs of inferiority or introversion. After all, life in the Thief Village was very good, and every household was quite wealthy. The children's spirit and energy far surpassed that of their peers.

The group followed the dragon to a courtyard that was much larger than the other buildings. In the courtyard, a young man with a long braid was whipping a wooden stake with his hair.

Shiranui Sogetsu, who also used hair as a weapon, took another look, but he found that the boy's training was quite rough. He must have only been practicing this attack method for a short time and had already lost interest.

Li Wei also saw the young man practicing. This young man should be the dragon's son, Duolong.

"My little rascal, you must be embarrassed by his appearance." Long showed a proud expression.

Looking at Long's smile, Li Wei found it hard to believe that this man would, a few years later, wipe out his entire family and slaughter the entire Thief Village.

Chapter 317. Guests and hosts alike are thoroughly entertained.

Li Wei looked at Duolong and said, "The village chief has done a good job of teaching. Your son's strength is already outstanding among his peers."

"Oh, not at all. My rascal is no match for your praise, sir. His farming skills are barely passable." Although Long was proud inside, he still belittled his own child. Many Chinese parents are like this; they are happy to hear others praise their children, but they always remain humble.

Li Wei said, "Since we are all martial arts practitioners, I won't beat around the bush. Besides, you, the village chief, are well-informed and should know why I'm here."

Long said, "I am flattered to meet you, sir. This special invitation is only given to recognized masters. I never expected that I would receive one."

Long truly didn't expect to receive a special "077" invitation. Compared to a regular invitation, a special invitation is more like a recognition of face, a sign of respect. Those who receive a special invitation are those whose strength has been recognized by the King of Fighters tournament. This in itself is something to brag about.

Li Wei laughed and said, "My information network is quite good, and I have some understanding of the history of this village. In my opinion, this village is truly a place of outstanding people and resources. If a place with so many masters doesn't have a corresponding special invitation, wouldn't it make the King of Fighters tournament organizers seem blind?"

Li Wei's words startled Long. The Thief Village was very good at protecting its secrets, and they used different aliases to disguise themselves when they were out in action. Logically, their secrets shouldn't have been leaked. Long cautiously asked, "I wonder where you learned of our existence, sir? After all, our profession isn't exactly respectable."

Knowing that their profession is not respectable, the villagers of Flying Thief Village are also seeking to transform themselves. Whether it is working as bodyguards, assassins, or going into business, it is always better than being a thief who is despised by others.

Moreover, the profits from being a thief are not guaranteed. After all, ordinary people don't have much to gain these days. Chongguo has not yet fully completed its transition to a market economy. All the luxury goods in the village are brought back from abroad by villagers who go out on missions.

Compared to making money off the poor, the Thief Village prefers to make money off the rich, and it can't be a one-off deal like in the past; it's better to make money slowly and steadily.

All of this was to clear his name of being a "thief." It was precisely because of this that when Li Wei mentioned his knowledge of the village's past, Long felt as if his own dark history had been exposed.

Li Wei was also giving him face by speaking very cryptically; if one didn't know the inside story, one wouldn't understand the veiled meaning between the two.

Li Wei laughed and said, "I naturally have my own sources of information. People can't choose their own birth. I can understand that."

Long smiled wryly and said, "We are already looking to transform our business. After all, no one wants to be a thief for life. I hope that the history of thieves can end with our generation. In the future, the young people in the village will be able to hold their heads high and proudly say their profession in front of others, instead of being unable to explain the source of their wealth as they are now."

Li Wei wanted to complain in his heart that the Thief Village was similar to the Ying Kingdom in some ways. Both were places where ancestors had accumulated wealth through various cruel means, and the descendants who enjoyed the benefits tried to whitewash their identities.

The so-called gentlemen of Yinglun are actually no different from the villagers of Flying Thief Village, and are even worse than the villagers of Flying Thief Village.

At least the thief village knows that what they've done isn't exactly honorable, and they're trying every possible way to change their image and clear their name. Meanwhile, the oddballs in Ying Kingdom take pride in being bandits, believing that stealing is a skill in itself. Their museum is filled with trophies they've robbed from all over the world, and they proudly declare that since the original owners couldn't protect their treasures, they've taken care of them.

Li Wei had seen his fair share of shameless people, but someone this shameless was quite rare. Li Wei said, "Village Chief, if you want to change your business model, before that, I have a job here. I wonder if you'd be willing to take it?" "Sir, just say the word. As long as it's something we can do, we guarantee we won't shirk our responsibilities," Long said.

“Over there in Yingguo, aren’t there many cultural relics and treasures in the museum that were looted from us? I hope you can bring those things back. You are professionals in this field, and I trust you with this kind of task…” Li Wei said.

Long was somewhat puzzled. He was not afraid of the defense forces of Ying Kingdom. To put it bluntly, there was nothing in this world that they could not steal. Whether it was other people's property or lives, they could take it if they wanted.

However, these items were registered by those red-haired devils, and even if they were retrieved, there were no good channels to sell them, making it easy for them to become unsellable, a thankless task.

Li Wei said, "I know you must have many questions, village chief, but you just need to go and get the things. I will take care of all the expenses in between, and even the costs of cleaning up afterward."

Long pointed to the sky and said, "Sir, do you have connections with those above?"

Li Wei shook his head.

Long said, "Then why bother with such a thankless task, sir? If they're not in a hurry, why should we be?"

Li Wei smiled and said, "It's just a small token of my appreciation. After all, it's just taking back what belongs to us from the robbers. Besides, after you get the item back, you don't need to hand it over to me. Just send it directly to the Palace Museum in the capital and leave a note saying that a kind-hearted person from the public brought the item back."

Long already had an idea in mind. If he only retrieved the cultural relics that were stolen back then, he might be targeted with suspicion. So, what if he emptied the entire museum?

That way, they won't be suspected. After all, the ones capable of doing such a thing are the ruthless International Antiques Avenue, and have absolutely nothing to do with these petty thieves trying to make a living.

"Sir, I know what to do. As long as the money is in place, just wait for our good news," Long said, patting his chest.

Li Wei said, "Okay, after the job is done, I will hand over the twenty million US dollars in full. If there are any casualties, I will cover them. I will give half as a deposit first, and the other half will be paid after the job is done."