Chainsaw Man, starting contract to cut down the Demon Line

Since it has weaknesses, it can be exploited.

Thinking this, Leisser chuckled to herself. She quickly spotted an opportunity.

Because of years of disrepair, there is a protruding stone slab in front, covered with slippery moss, which is difficult to spot in the puddles.

Just as the three were about to step over the stone slab, Leisai naturally took a step forward, her shoe landing on the slipperiest edge.

"oops!"

The girl gasped in surprise, her ankles buckled and she lost her balance, falling uncontrollably to her right, in Yan Liang's direction.

However, just as Leisai's shoulder was about to bump into Yan Liang's arms, a strong hand firmly caught her forearm.

The movements were extremely fast, yet remarkably steady.

Yan Liang held the umbrella with one hand, and with the other hand he wrapped his arms around Lei Sai's slender waist, preventing her from falling to the ground.

Are you alright?

Yan Liang looked down at her, and she used his strength to regain her balance and looked up at him.

Under the streetlights, a blush appeared perfectly on the girl's cheeks.

“Thank you…” Leise looked at him with her watery eyes and said in a soft voice with gratitude:

"Mr. Yan Liang reacted so quickly! If it weren't for you, I would have definitely fallen into the puddle just now."

"The road is slippery, be careful."

Yan Liang's tone was indifferent. He did not immediately withdraw his hand, but only released his palm after confirming that Lei Sai was standing firmly.

Looking at his calm profile, Leise lowered her head again, suddenly realizing something.

This method works, but it's not entirely effective.

Clearly, Yan Liang was not bewitched by her, but to Lei Sai's surprise, he did not refuse her either.

Given the speed of Yan Liang's reaction just now, he could have easily avoided it or not taken her hand.

But he chose to reach out to help her, and not only did he help her, he paused briefly and put his arm around her waist.

What does this show?

This shows that Yan Liang's inner self is not as repulsive as he appears on the surface.

Although he remained vigilant, subconsciously he was willing to cooperate with this interaction.

'Not only is he incredibly strong, but his composure is also astonishing...'

Leisai silently drew a conclusion in her mind. As long as he was willing to reach out, as long as he was willing to respond, he was not an impenetrable block of steel.

"Oh! Miss Leise, are you alright? Did you twist your ankle?"

It wasn't until then that Xiao Hong, who was walking on the far left, belatedly realized what was happening and anxiously leaned over to ask.

“It’s alright, Xiao Hong.” Lei Sai turned around and gave Xiao Hong a sweet smile. “Thanks to Mr. Yan Liang, I’m fine now.”

"Ah, there's a platform up ahead."

At this point, Leisai suddenly stopped and pointed ahead with her pale finger. Then, she left the shelter of the large black umbrella and walked into the rain shelter on the platform.

"Thank you so much for today. I'll wait here until the rain subsides a bit before figuring out how to get back. Well then... I'll leave you here."

The girl's voice was melodious. She bowed, and when she raised her head, her gaze lingered on Yan Liang's face for a moment, her eyes beaming with smiles.

"Xiao Hong, and Mr. Yan Liang, be careful on the road."

"The coffee shop where I work is nearby. If you have time, you can come and find me. I will repay you."

Seeing her say that, Xiao Hong, who was walking on the left, was a little worried, but still waved enthusiastically:

"Huh? Aren't you going to walk with us a little further? Okay then... Miss Leise, you should also take care to keep warm, don't catch a cold!"

Yan Liang didn't speak, but looked at the slender figure under the platform lights through the continuous rain, and nodded calmly as a response.

"Let's go, Little Red."

Turning his gaze away, Yan Liang led Xiao Hong deeper into the rainy night.

Recalling the silent exchange just now, Yan Liang was already able to glean a lot from the details.

Judging from this attitude, are they trying to use a conciliatory approach? Isn't this just a helper being handed over to them...?

Chapter 152 Second Meeting

After seeing Leise off, Yan Liang, holding an umbrella, walked away from the platform where Leise was. He seemed to be walking casually, but his thoughts were still on her.

Unlike the group of Americans, the Soviets represented by Leisse chose this way to approach him, clearly wanting to see if they could win him over.

Furthermore, the appearance of Leisser herself is also a huge variable.

As a weaponized human transformed into a bomb-wielding demon, she underwent professional training and is on a completely different level from a greenhorn like Denji. In the original work, although she is not as powerful as the top conceptual demons, her combat strength is still considerable, placing her among the elite.

Since their first meeting wasn't too bad, and she wanted to get closer to him, he might be able to follow Reese's lead. If he could recruit Reese from the Soviet Union and bring her into his camp, it would undoubtedly be a great help.

but……

Yan Liang squinted, looking at the neon lights blurred by the rain.

Upon closer examination, this idea lacked a clear plan to support it.

Hayakawa Aki and Himeno were confident in winning them over because he knew that what they cherished most was each other, and he understood their personalities very well. He devised a targeted plan, saving Himeno during the battle with the Sword Demon, which finally made them submit to him.

Leisel is different; at least he hasn't come up with a plan to win her over yet.

"Perhaps it's too early to talk about this now; we might end up getting ourselves into trouble..."

This is Yan Liang's current thought.

At this critical juncture, the safest approach is to wait and see. Since Leisei's mission is to contact him, she will definitely take further action. As long as he doesn't reveal any weaknesses, he can always find a way to break the deadlock.

"call……"

After exhaling a sigh of relief, Yan Liang still felt it best to take things one step at a time.

So much happened today, from the attack at the coffee shop to the standoff between the Public Security Bureau and Machima, and finally, running into Reese on my way home...

He's not made of iron, so he can still feel tired. And this kind of fatigue is a double burden, both physical and mental, so much so that he didn't utter a single word on the way home with Xiao Hong.

Before they knew it, the two had returned to Yan Liang's upscale apartment in the city center.

Having lived under the same roof as Yan Liang for so long, Xiao Hong had become familiar with her duties. As soon as she entered the room, she quickly took out slippers from the shoe cabinet and placed them beside Yan Liang's feet. Then, she stood on tiptoe and carefully took Yan Liang's slightly damp suit jacket and hung it up.

"Team leader, these clothes still need to be washed today..." Xiao Hong said softly, looking at Yan Liang's slightly tired profile.

"No need, I'll just take a quick shower and go to sleep. You should get some rest too."

Yan Liang rubbed his temples, casually gave an order, and then walked straight into the master bedroom.

That night, accompanied by the gradually subsiding sound of rain outside the window, the extremely exhausted Yan Liang finally got a good night's sleep.

……

The next day.

Yan Liang had a rare chance to sleep in and wake up naturally. When he got up, it was almost noon.

Opening the curtains, the sky outside remained overcast and rainy. Just as Yan Liang finished washing up, changed into a new suit, and stepped out of the room, he smelled the aroma of fried eggs and toast wafting from the kitchen.

"Good morning, Captain!"

Xiao Hong, dressed in a cool maid outfit, was busy in the kitchen.

Incidentally, this is a problem left over from when Higashiyama Koko overheard her conversation with Hayakawa Aki at the cafe. Yan Liang's original words at the time were:

"Since you like wearing this outfit so much... fine, then don't take it off, just take it home and wear it all the time."

It's unclear why Dongshan Xiaohong took this particular sentence so seriously. Ever since then, she would change into that maid outfit whenever she had to do housework. Yan Liang was too lazy to correct her, partly because his constant changes of mind would make him seem unreliable.

Secondly, having an attractive maid at home does provide some emotional value...

On the other side, Xiao Hong served breakfast to the table while carefully handing over a file.

"Captain, this is intelligence sent from headquarters this morning. It's about the locations of gang activities that have been active in the area recently."

Yan Liang pulled out a chair and sat down. With his right hand, he deftly picked up a knife and fork to cut the food, while his left hand casually took the file and opened it.

"The intelligence says that one of the gang's recent hideouts is located in this neighborhood."

Xiao Hong stood to the side, pointing to the accompanying map coordinates, and dutifully reported the findings.

This is also one of the pain points of police officers being attacked. Normally, such incidents would be handled by ordinary team members like Hayakawa Aki who would gather intelligence and then make the final decision.

Unfortunately, Hayakawa Aki and the others are currently hospitalized, and it's estimated that they won't recover for at least a week.

Moreover, the Anti-Magic Department was already short-staffed, and recently, many people felt threatened by the attacks and chose to submit their resignations and leave the department. This trivial matter ultimately fell on Yan Liang's shoulders.

At this point, Xiao Hong paused, as if she had thought of a good idea.

“Um… Captain, I looked at the map, and there happens to be a pretty good coffee shop near this gang's hideout. If gangs operate in this area, they'll probably charge protection money to the surrounding shops or leave some kind of trace…”

"Maybe we could stop by that cafe and ask the staff there?"

Coffee shops near the street?

Yan Liang, who was about to take a sip of his coffee, paused. After carefully examining the map attached to the file, a hint of suspicion arose in his mind.

Isn't this the bus stop near where they parted ways with Leisai last night?

Before leaving, Leisai said that I could visit her sometime, which turned out to be quite a coincidence.

Yesterday he was thinking about how to wait and see, but he never expected that the location of his mission today would be near her.

The X-wheel of destiny seems to be turning in a very mysterious way.

"It just so happens to be nearby..."

After a quick breakfast, Yan Liang put down his coffee cup, and the image of the purple-haired girl smiling sweetly in the rain last night came to mind.

Judging from yesterday's events, since the other party doesn't have any ill intentions towards me and still wants to contact me.

Taking the initiative to visit them could be a good opportunity to break the deadlock if you actually run into them.

"can."

Yan Liang stood up, casually picked up the suit jacket draped over the back of the chair, and put it on.

"Let's go, let's go take a look together."

Chapter 153 What are you being so sour about?

Even though it rained last night, the sky hasn't improved today; it's still overcast.

On the street, a black Crown sedan was driving smoothly.

At this moment, Dongshan Xiaohong was sitting in the driver's seat, gripping the steering wheel and staring at the road ahead. Yan Liang, on the other hand, was sitting in the passenger seat, looking out the window at the street scene that was constantly receding, without saying a word.

The soundproofing in the carriage was excellent; the two were so quiet that they could hear each other breathing. This silence had lasted for about ten minutes, which inevitably made Xiaohong feel a little uncomfortable.

After all, in the past, if the two of them were alone, Yan Liang would say a few words to her.

Using the rearview mirror, Xiao Hong secretly glanced at Yan Liang next to her several times. For some reason, ever since they got on the bus, Yan Liang had maintained this posture, refusing to even look at her, just staring out the window as if he were thinking about something important.

"Are you thinking about Hayakawa Aki and Himeno-senpai who are hospitalized?"

"Or did I do something wrong again to upset the captain?"

"Is it that I'm unhappy about having to go out and gather information myself?"

"..."

"You can't possibly still be thinking about that girl you met last night, can you?"

No, that's ridiculous. He knows the captain better than anyone. He's never been swayed by women before, so how could he possibly be so interested in a woman he's only met once?

Xiao Hong was lost in thought. As a subordinate, seeing her superior so troubled, she felt it was her duty to share some of the burden.

"That...captain?"

Xiao Hong cleared her throat, breaking the silence in the carriage.

"Hmm?" Yan Liang did not turn around.

"You haven't said a word since you got in the car..." Xiao Hong said tentatively, turning the steering wheel.