I'm a proper student; I only take nine kinds of potions every day.

When Evan, clutching his stomach and pale-faced, walked back to Guding Street, it was already 7:30 p.m.

Old Tom sat on a low stool, a woman's leather boot tucked between his knees, still threading a needle in his hand.

He looked up and saw Ivan turning the corner from the street corner. A clear look of surprise flashed in his eyes behind his reading glasses.

Judging from the way Zach looked like he was about to eat someone alive, this kid should at least be missing an arm or a leg.

He returned unharmed.

Although his face was as white as a sheet of paper and he walked with a limp, he had all four limbs and could walk on his own.

"Are you alright?" Old Tom asked tentatively.

Ivan smiled, but the smile looked somewhat forced against his pale face.

"It's nothing, just a misunderstanding, it's been resolved."

Old Tom didn't ask any further questions. He nodded, then lowered his head and continued sewing the shoes.

Ivan turned and walked into the stairwell, then climbed up the wall while holding onto the railing.

The cramping pain in my stomach and the stinging pain from the bruises on my back created a double whammy. I had to grit my teeth and hiss as I climbed each step.

He pushed open the door and saw Mary.

She stood in the corridor, half of her face swollen high, the color having changed from red to bluish-purple, her right arm draped over her chest with that dirty scarf.

She was stuffing something into a cloth bag when she saw Evan push the door open and walk in; her movements froze.

"Damn sick person, how could you come back?"

Her voice was shrill and trembling, and her eyes were filled with astonishment.

In her mind, anyone who dared to offend Zack like that was definitely going to die tonight.

Having just ingested the Witcher's extraordinary abilities, Evan felt like his stomach was on fire and had no desire to waste any more words with this woman.

"Get out of here, you bitch. Leave the key behind."

His voice was cold and weary, like a piece of frozen iron.

"Go to the Gus gang, and you'll find out."

He doesn't have the ability of those gangsters to kill someone and then get away with it from the police.

But the Gus gang will soon find out what happened to Zack and his twenty-odd men tonight.

By then, Mary will naturally understand what has happened.

Upon hearing this, Mary's face turned deathly pale.

She stopped cursing and shouting.

She took two keys out of her pocket, placed them on the shoe cabinet in the hallway, then grabbed the half-full cloth bag and rushed out the door without looking back.

The footsteps faded quickly into the distance in the stairwell, like a wild cat whose tail had been stepped on.

Ivan closed the door and locked it.

The apartment fell silent.

There was no smell of smoke, no cheap perfume, no heavy breathing from men, and no muffled thuds of the bed hitting the wall.

Only his own breathing could be heard, along with the dull, burning pain in his stomach.

He walked back to the bedroom with a grin, plopped down in a chair, grabbed the aspirin bottle from the table, poured five or six white pills into his palm, stuffed them all into his mouth, and then rinsed them down with water.

Then he poured out two small, grayish-white pills from the bottle of mercury pills and swallowed them together.

You have taken a mercury pill. Effect lasts: 6 hours.

[Effect: Syphilis rash slightly subsided.]

You reversed the side effects.

Your digestive ulcers have been relieved! 9% → 8%

Your brain nerve damage has been alleviated! 14% → 13%

Your oral cavity has been strengthened, and your physical constitution has been permanently increased by 0.001.

……

You have taken a large dose of aspirin. Effect lasts: 6 hours.

[Effect: Your pneumonia has improved, from 9% to 6%. During the course of the medication, your pain perception has decreased.]

You reversed the side effects.

Your digestive function has improved, and your constitution has been permanently increased by 0.001.

Your hearing has improved, and your physical constitution has been permanently increased by 0.001.

Aspirin takes effect in about ten minutes.

The burning sensation that spread from my stomach to my whole body was wrapped in a layer of soft cotton wool. It didn't disappear, but it became bearable.

The bruises on my back are no longer so painful, and I've gone from feeling "pain so bad I want to die" to "pain so bad I can still move."

"Painkillers are truly a great invention."

Ivan stood up, changed into the denim overalls and canvas shirt his father had left him, locked the door, went downstairs, and headed straight for the dock area.

It was already pitch black at seven o'clock in November.

The warehouse of Bryce Transportation Company was brightly lit, and workers were busy at work.

Evan walked briskly to the registration desk, picked up his employee badge, and pinned it to his shoulder strap.

Parker stood at the warehouse entrance, a pipe dangling from his lips. When he saw him arrive, he nodded but said nothing more.

But today, Ivan made a new request.

"Uncle Parker, I don't want hourly wages anymore, I want piecework."

Parker took the pipe out of his mouth and glanced at him.

Piece-rate system means you get paid for whatever you move, with no minimum wage but no maximum pay.

For the company, the more workers do, the better.

For workers, unless you are really capable, it's safer to take an hourly wage.

After all, it's your own body.

Parker did not object.

After all, the company's goods are never-ending, and the more his subordinates do, the more commission he, as the foreman, earns.

Then, over the next four hours, Parker's pipe went out three times, each time because his mouth was open too wide.

This young man is like a tireless machine.

Except for a 15-minute break for lunch, he didn't rest for a moment.

With four sacks on his shoulders at the same time, weighing 180 pounds, he still walked steadily.

Moreover, they were stacked neatly, with the bag openings facing inwards, layer upon layer, more orderly than many veterans who have been doing this for ten years.

When the four hours were up, Parker counted the work in the work log three times before he could believe the numbers.

This kid did the work of two skilled workers all by himself.

"You brat, what kind of magic pill did you take?" Parker asked, his face full of disbelief, a stub of his extinguished pipe dangling from his lips.

Ivan was covered in sweat and panting, but he grinned.

"That's the advantage of youth, Uncle Parker."

He wiped his sweat and turned to scan the warehouse.

"Where's the foreman, Kerry? I haven't seen him."

Parker's expression subtly changed.

"He got sick. Then he was fired."

"Are you sick?"

Ivan didn't ask any further questions.

In this neighborhood, when "sick" and "fired" are said together, it usually means something more complex than the literal meaning.

Parker counted out a handful of coins from his pocket and handed them to Evan.

"Eighty cents. You brat."

He tapped his palm with the pipe stem, his tone filled with genuine admiration.

"You're the temporary worker who took the most pay from me this year."

Ivan's fingers clenched the handful of coins and banknotes.

The metallic feel came from my palm, heavy and solid.

A genuine smile bloomed on his tired face.

"Thank you, Uncle Parker!"

"May the Lord bless you, hardworking and capable child." Parker waved and put the pipe back in his mouth.

On the way back, Ivan kept looking at the panel as he walked.

The reversal effects of the Night Demon Potion have already been observed.

You reversed the side effects of the Night Demon Potion.

Your eyesight has been enhanced, and your physical constitution has been permanently increased by 0.01.

Your perception has been enhanced, and your spirit has been permanently increased by 0.01.

[You like the sun more now; your Spirit has permanently increased by 0.01.]

After reading these three points, Evan immediately understood.

"In other words, consuming too much Night Demon Potion will make one increasingly averse to the sun, and will also permanently damage one's eyesight and perception."

"Based on what Hill said, all potions have side effects. The only difference lies in the type and severity of these side effects."

He memorized this pattern and continued walking home.

The streetlights on Guding Street were dim late at night, and there was almost no one on the street.

Only a few drunkards who refused to go home were shouting in the distant tavern, and a stray cat was meowing in some alley.

When he reached the bottom of his building, Evan stopped.

Three people were standing at the top of the stairs.

The leader was a tall young man wearing a well-tailored dark suit, a dark red tie, and polished leather shoes.

This contrasted sharply with the two bodyguards behind him, who were dressed in work jackets.

The most incongruous thing was the pair of gold-rimmed glasses perched on his nose, the lenses reflecting a cold light under the streetlights, making him look more like a bank clerk than a gangster.

Evan knew this person.

Nok. A big shot in the Gus gang.

Zach had to bow and scrape before him, addressing him respectfully as "Mr. Knok."

"What's up?"

Ivan tensed up, his eyes filled with vigilance.

Nock turned around and, through his gold-rimmed glasses, sized up the young man in front of him, who was covered in sweat and had just finished four hours of strenuous work at the dock.

His gaze slowly swept from Ivan's face to his shoulders, then to his dusty and fishy work boots, and finally back to his eyes.

Then he smiled.

The smile was gentle and restrained, like a respectable gentleman showing goodwill to a stranger in a social setting.

"fine."

His voice was calm and steady, deliberate and clear, with each word pronounced distinctly.

"Just letting you know that Mary will never bother you again."

"Don't worry about Zack and the others, we've taken care of it. The police won't come after you."

"Here's another piece of advice: as long as you don't interfere with our business, we won't bother you."

He paused for a moment, his smile unchanged, but a thin layer of sharpness appeared in his tone.

"I hope you know how to behave appropriately."

After saying that, he put his hands in the pockets of his suit trousers, turned around and walked down the steps. The sound of his leather shoes tapping on the stone surface was unhurried, as if he were taking a stroll.

Two attendants followed silently, and the three figures quickly disappeared into the night on Guding Street.

Ivan stood at the top of the stairs, watching the direction they had left, and remained silent for a few seconds.

Pulis has stepped up his game.

Feeling the pressure, the Gus gang is flexing its muscles as a warning to itself.

But it was within expectations.

He doesn't want to cause trouble. At least not now.

I got home and took a shower.

The cold water splashed on my body, and the two bruises on my back ached again from the stimulation of the water, but it was much less painful than before.

The self-healing power has begun to take effect, albeit only a little, but it is indeed helpful.