On my second playthrough, they were full of malice towards me.

After a few seconds of silence, Brian gave a wink to his men, one of whom immediately walked deeper into the bar and returned in less than half a minute carrying a case.

"Take it, then leave." Brian took the box and tossed it to the man's subordinate opposite him.

Irene breathed a slight sigh of relief at this scene. She felt that Brian's forbearance was the right thing to do. Although they had to pay an extra month's protection fee, at least they had avoided any casualties from the armed conflict.

Liao Ji, standing beside the girl, shook his head inwardly. He felt that things were not over yet. The black-clad leader had come in such a grand manner that he probably wanted more than just this.

The man glanced at the cash box and then held up three fingers to Brian.

"What do you mean?"

“Your money isn’t enough. I don’t know what standards Viper set for you before, but here, if it’s just this small box, then you’ll have to give me at least three more like this.”

The moment the man in black uttered those words, Brian's men were the first to lose their composure.

The man was demanding that they pay four times the protection fee. To put that into perspective, a box contains about five thousand Ash Coins. If they accepted, they would have to pay him a full twenty thousand Ash Coins every month!

Their bar's monthly income is far less than 20,000 yuan, and most of the time it probably doesn't even reach 10,000 yuan. And that's just income, not net profit. This isn't just robbery; this is blatant murder!

The members of the Sea Sand Bar immediately became enraged, and while hurling insults, some radical members even pulled out their weapons.

The tension in the bar lobby instantly escalated, and the situation looked like it was about to spiral out of control.

"Put your guns down!" Brian's loud shout brought the situation under control.

Seeing that several of his men were still seething with resentment and hadn't lowered their guns, Brian emphasized, enunciating each word clearly: "Put your guns down."

"But, boss..."

"So even my words don't work anymore? Put it down!"

Finally, with expressions of resentment, everyone at the Sea Sand Bar lowered their guns. Brian then spoke in an extremely calm voice:

"Wood, bring three more boxes."

Papapa

The man in black, who had witnessed the whole thing, started clapping. Even he had to admire Brian's patience. Of course, to the people at the Sea Sand Bar, the applause sounded incredibly ironic.

Irene clenched her fists so tightly that her nails dug into her flesh.

The girl's inner thoughts were actually the same as most people in the bar: she desperately wanted to fight these outrageous gangsters.

But perhaps because of the time she spent with Liao Ji that day, Irene's rationality soon told her that Brian's approach was actually the most correct.

The other party clearly came prepared. No one knows if there are any ambushes outside the bar. If a fight breaks out, the unprepared Hai Sha Bar will inevitably be the loser. At that time, it won't be about how much protection money to collect, but about the other party being able to openly occupy the place.

Of course, there is another way to win right now.

That's her.

Yourself.

Now she has become a Calamity, and her experience fighting the kobolds in the ruins cave has given Irene a full understanding of her now transformed and powerful combat abilities.

If she joined the fight, Irene believed they would definitely win. But then what? The enemy wasn't the clumsy kobolds with brute force they once knew, and she couldn't possibly protect everyone else amidst a hail of bullets. Even if they won, the casualties would be enormous. Irene knew very well that her brothers in the Sands Bar were no longer scavengers; they all had families, wives, and children. If they risked their lives here, what would happen to their families? What about Kaleva's subsequent retaliation?

In the end, what finally made Irene give up completely was...

Liao Ji.

The young man beside her had nothing to do with this matter. She couldn't drag Liao Ji into this incident because of her own impulsiveness. Theoretically speaking, she was acting as the young man's protector. How could a protector disregard the safety of his employer and instead actively make enemies for his employer?

Moreover, in this current "contract" situation, the young man is more like her "master" than her "employer".

Based on her understanding of Liao Ji, Irene was certain that even if she wanted to stand up for Hai Sha Bar, the young man would immediately strip her of control over her body.

Thinking of this, the girl subconsciously looked in Liao Ji's direction.

What Yilin didn't expect was...

She happened to meet the young man's gaze; it turned out he had been staring at her the whole time.

"You," Irene said, speechless.

"You did a good job, Miss Irene. I thought you would just rush in headfirst."

Liao Ji's praise here is genuine.

He had prepared for both scenarios. If the girl didn't communicate with him at all and ignored him, rushing forward on her own, Liao Ji would not hesitate to completely restrain Yilin and then consider changing his approach to the girl.

As Irene is currently his only Evil Transformer combatant, Liao Ji has only one simple requirement for the girl: she must place him in the first tier from the bottom of her heart and recognize her position as his "subordinate".

Liao Ji could tolerate Yi Lin's various shortcomings and bad habits, but he could not tolerate someone who did not care about him, a subordinate who did not respect his "boss".

Fortunately.

No unpleasant scene unfolded. Liao Ji didn't need Yilin to explain much; the girl's glance back at him said it all. For Liao Ji, that was enough.

After all, they had only spent less than half a day together.

It seems I was quite efficient at building up my favorability rating earlier.

After muttering something to himself.

Liao Ji took the initiative to speak, mentioning earlier that he had prepared two plans, and this was the second one.

“Miss Irene, given your improved performance, I think you deserve a reward.”

"so."

"Go ahead and do whatever you want to do."

What?!

Irene looked surprised, almost unable to believe her ears. Before, Liao Ji had always given her the impression of being a cunning and extremely cautious person, or, in their scavenger's parlance, a Voldemort. But now, he had suddenly transformed from a scheming old fox into a hot-blooded, strong man.

It seems they could read the girl's mind.

Liao Ji said somewhat speechlessly, "I just hate trouble, but if trouble comes knocking on my door, I don't mind turning it into experience points, which I happen to need."

Experience points?

What's the meaning.

Irene's mind didn't quite register the word, but the excited girl quickly put it out of her mind. She felt a surge of heat throughout her body, a kind of exhilarating feeling that had been building up for so long and was finally about to be released. Irene now had one last concern.

"But...but they have guns, and there are a lot of them. I'm afraid the others might..."

“Miss Irene, they do have a lot of guns, but don’t forget what you have. You have the legendary ‘inheritance’.” Liao Ji interrupted the girl directly.

The young man's words seemed to have a magical power, giving Irene unparalleled confidence and dispelling her last worries.

The dormant turbid energy within the girl's body began to circulate, and streams of power belonging to the Calamity Transformer surged forth like a tide.

A faint dark red glint began to flash in the girl's eyes, and the contract emblem on the back of Irene's neck emitted a dim light.

"I see!!"

Previously, both the gangsters and the bar staff were focused on the lobby at the entrance, so they did not notice that there were two "outsiders" who had not left in the back.

But as Irene walked step by step, the crisp clatter of her high heels on the floor was particularly loud in the empty bar, instantly drawing the attention of everyone present.

Gazing at the girl's retreating figure, who had become the center of attention,

Liao Ji, who was behind, didn't forget to give a final word of advice.

"Oh, right, remember to kill them if you can, and try not to leave any survivors."

Chapter 19 Great-Aunt

In negotiations between the wolf pack and the hyenas

Suddenly, a soft, white lamb slowly walked in.

This is roughly how everyone in the Sea Sand Bar felt at that moment, whether they were from the gang or the bar itself.

Brian was stunned.

The black-clad man known as "Grey Wolf," who had just risen to become the new leader of the neighborhood in the internal power struggle within the Kaleva gang, was also stunned.

After a brief moment of stunned silence.

The same group of Brian's men who had "teased" Irene earlier were the first to exclaim in surprise: "Isn't that the rich girl from earlier?"

"Damn! Why hasn't she left yet?"

"Could he be drunk? Damn it, why did he have to come out now of all times!"

"That stupid girl! Now she can't leave even if she wants to!"

The sounds of his men finally brought Brian back to his senses.

While mentally cursing this "rich girl" who couldn't even read the room and was practically an idiot whose brain seemed to have been pulled by a donkey, he also subconsciously took a few big steps and used his burly body to shield Irene from the burning gazes coming from all directions.

"Go back!" Brian turned his head slightly and growled at the girl in his shadow behind him.

He can bring his men to flirt with the pretty girls in the bar, which is a common practice in bars. However, as the owner, he should also ensure the safety of every customer in the bar.

Many drinkers, after getting drunk, gradually became unruly and began to cross the line in flirting and teasing women, even trying to forcefully touch them. Without exception, all of these people ended up being beaten up and thrown out by Brian.

So the success of the Sand Bar wasn't solely due to Brian's past fame.

However this time

Several of Brian's astute subordinates immediately understood their boss's meaning. They quickly headed towards Irene, eager to drag this rich, naive girl away from there as soon as possible.

pity.

Bang!

A gunshot brought the people at the Sea Sand Bar to a halt.

The gray wolf put away his smoking gun and stared intently at Brian, or rather, at the beautiful figure that Brian had obscured.

"Get out of the way."

Brian didn't move, staring into the other man's eyes as he said, "We've brought the four boxes of protection money. You should leave now."

"I told you to get out of the way, can't you understand human language?!" the gray wolf roared impatiently.

"I've changed my mind. The protection money from your Sands Bar isn't enough with four boxes of cash. We need to add the woman behind you right now!"

Gray Wolf bluntly stated without any attempt to conceal his feelings that, to be honest, his momentary daze, aside from the time it took to react, was entirely due to being completely captivated by the "little lamb."