We agreed on the twelve zodiac animals, but you've transformed into the Monkey King?

Late at night, at the Xiafei Road apartment.

The confrontation at Dafeng Money Shop exhausted Wen Xiao's last bit of mental strength. He collapsed onto the Persian carpet in the living room.

The fire in the fireplace was burning brightly, and the air was filled with the scent of expensive incense.

Has anyone been here?

Wen Xiao propped himself up, walked to the dressing mirror, and tore open his shirt, which was stained with blood and mud. The man in the mirror was still thin, but his body, which had been thin and pale due to illness, now had a layer of well-defined muscles, as strong as a cheetah's.

He closed his eyes and mentally recalled the system notifications he hadn't had time to look at during the day because he was too busy:

[Hidden Clue Unlocked: You have merged with the bloodline relic (1/2) of the deceased Monkey King Sequence, the Fourth Strongest (Sun Shaoshang, the Monkey King of the Late Qing Dynasty)!]

[Note: Only by connecting cause and effect can one achieve a complete outcome.]

Wen Xiao stared at the three words "Sequence.4", his pupils contracting little by little.

The mud and water in the alley during the day, the tattered Monkey King costume, and the smudged paint flashed through my mind frame by frame.

"Ah Man's life is cheap... Here, take this, it will protect you from illness..."

"A worthless life..."

Wen Xiao's voice trembled uncontrollably, sounding so pale and powerless in the empty, luxurious apartment.

He finally glimpsed the cruelest truth about the Sumeru world.

The power of sequence never favors mortals.

Wen Xiao's eyes reddened. He grabbed his trench coat from the sofa, ignoring the bloodstains on his body, and strode to the entrance, pulling open the apartment door.

"Click".

Outside the door, Yuan Jie's hand, holding the key, froze in mid-air. Behind her stood Shelly, draped in a black velvet cloak.

Shelly sized Wen Xiao up and down. A knowing smile played on her refined lips.

"You looked really cool today, Fifth Master. How did it feel to throw around my HSBC bank drafts at the Shiliupu Wharf, buying people's hearts? Was it fun spending my money?"

Wen Xiao's mind was now filled with the image of that thin, frail figure waiting to die in the icy rain.

"Shelly! You've come at the perfect time!"

"Are you sick?!" Sister Yuan smelled the pungent smell of blood on him, and seeing his arrogant attitude, her face immediately turned as cold as ice.

Wen Xiao pounced on her, grabbing Shelly's shoulders, which were covered by a velvet cloak, with both of her large hands.

"It's great to spend your money, it's really great. Now, can I also spend your body?!"

"How dare you! Don't be so rude to the young lady!"

Her instincts as a top-notch bodyguard erupted instantly, and her right hand, like an eagle's claw, swiftly gripped Wen Xiao's collarbone, attempting to dislocate his joints using grappling techniques.

Wen Xiao didn't turn his head, nor did he make any defensive stance. He simply raised his foot.

"Bang!"

A powerful front kick landed squarely on Sister Yuan's abdomen.

"Wow--!"

Before Yuanjie could even dissipate the force, her feet left the ground, and she flew four or five meters away, crashing heavily onto the carved solid wood wall of the corridor with a loud "thud." She slid to the ground and vomited a mouthful of bile.

The corridor was deathly silent.

Only Sister Yuan's heavy, labored breathing echoed. She clutched her stomach, her body drenched in cold sweat, and her usually haughty phoenix eyes trembled violently with horror.

How is this possible?!

Last night, she had just given this frail, sickly man a sound beating right here. In her eyes, Wen Xiao was nothing more than a dog that Shelly had paid money to pamper.

Even Shelly, who had always been arrogant, suppressed her anger, and a look of shock flashed in her eyes.

Only then did Wen Xiao turn her head.

"I'm sorry, I've just recovered from my illness and haven't quite mastered my power yet."

Wen Xiao braced his hands against the wall, pinning the tycoon's daughter against the door frame.

"Shelly, I want you to spread out all your intelligence networks, informants, thugs, your connections in the police station, your connections in the black market... for me, okay?"

I smelled Xiao's warm, panting breath.

Shelly didn't struggle; her beautiful eyes narrowed slightly. "What are you going to do?"

"Find me a little girl named Aman. She's about ten years old, wearing a tattered Monkey King costume, with face paint on, and wandering around the Shiliupu and Huajie areas."

"Wen Xiao, are you out of your mind?"

Shelly sneered, "Do you know that I received a tip this afternoon that you broke Kuroda's wrist and utterly disgraced the Japanese One-Sword Style? The Black Dragon Society has gone mad! The ronin and assassins of the Hongkou Dojo are searching the world for you! Your life is now a sitting duck with a bounty on your head!"

She took a sudden step forward, closing in on Wen Xiao: "How many police officers would I have to bribe? How much hush money would I have to pay to hide you in this upscale apartment in the French Concession? I'm using Jardine Matheson's name to protect your dog's life, risking the wrath of the Japanese!"

"Now, for a complete stranger like a beggar, you want me to deploy all my shady intelligence networks? Do you know how many of my undercover agents will be exposed by making a big fuss about searching for someone in this concession? How many of my rivals will have something to hide?!"

Shelly stretched out her slender finger and forcefully tapped Wen Xiao's hard, iron-like chest: "What makes you think I would sacrifice my carefully cultivated career for a worthless person who can't even afford to eat?!"

Yeah, why should we?

In this man-eating "Sumeru Ship," human life is worth less than half a cheap cigar on the Bund. Every day, countless people die like stray dogs in the stinking ditches, not even getting a shroud. If others can rot away silently, why can't Ah Man?

At the bottom of the retina, the system panel floats quietly.

Main Quest: Take control of the six core power nodes in Shanghai's underworld.

[Remaining stay: 12 days and 8 hours.]

Currently, he only barely controls the Gonghexiang Wharf, and the Shiliupu area is still fraught with danger. His actual health is still hovering on the verge of terminal illness.

He came here to beg for survival.

Just take half a step back.

He could survive as long as he closed that door, retreated to the Persian carpet and the glowing fireplace, enjoyed the protection of the rich lady, and laid out his plans securely on the bones of others…

Let's abandon an NPC who's destined to die in the mud. That's the optimal solution.

"What? Did I hit the nail on the head?" Shelly looked at the struggle in Wen Xiao's eyes, a mocking sneer curling her lips. "Wake up, Fifth Master Wen. This is Shanghai, not a stage play where you wreak havoc in heaven. Doing good deeds requires capital."

"……capital."

Wen Xiao's voice was very low.

"It's warm here." His voice was flat. "The carpet is soft, and the wine is red. Standing here, I can feel my blood flowing quickly through my veins, my lungs don't hurt anymore, and every breath I take is refreshing."

He paused, a flicker of self-mockery flashing in his eyes.

"But what about her?"

He turned to the side and pointed to the dark rain outside the window. The winter rain, like dense needles, was pricking the rotten silk of Shanghai.

"Shelly, do you even know what cause and effect is?" Wen Xiao stared into Shelly's eyes. "If I don't find her, and I can stay in this mansion of yours with a clear conscience, watching her die in this winter rain... I, Wen Xiao, am not even a human being."

"I can't even be a human being anymore... what's the point of my life?"