On the Ark.

This rational explanation was naturally met with a torrent of abuse from Rusar. However, while Rusar was impulsive, he wasn't truly stupid; he knew perfectly well that finding the flaming pumpkin head was highly unrealistic. Moreover, as a member of the mafia, Rusar wasn't lacking in experience, knowing that the flaming pumpkin head was most likely someone capable of using fire-based Originium Arts. Such a person was difficult to deal with, and who knew who else was around her? Even if they found her, they weren't guaranteed a victory…

This is why Rusar is so furious now, but when he was knocked down, he did nothing, simply clutching his burned buttocks and quickly leaving the scene. Just as Kazan thought to himself, from a certain perspective, Rusar's rage was somewhat impotent.

"Let's keep looking for Guigu Xuehui!" Having calmed down a bit, Rusar knew exactly what they needed to do now. "Find her as soon as possible, and finish this job as soon as possible. I've had enough of this place!"

Hearing Rusar say this, Kazan breathed a sigh of relief and nodded repeatedly: "I understand, old friend, I'll go find you another set right away..."

"Shut up!" Rusar roared again. "Give up your damn suit! I, Rusar, would rather jump off this building, fall into a puddle, or land in a trash can than wear that damn suit again! You can wear it yourselves, I'll just stay by your side. But if anyone makes me wear that suit again, I'll kill their whole family!"

Kazan had no choice but to shut up again.

So, after the minor incident of the BOSS's butt being burned, the Syracuse mafia resumed their mission. This time, however, Rusar wasn't wearing the suit he'd worn before; instead, he walked normally alongside his suited subordinates. He looked somewhat like a wealthy boss walking his three pet bears in the street, except the boss appeared even more ferocious than his bears, attracting considerable attention.

Looking at the passersby standing around him, pointing and whispering, Rusar felt a surge of anger, a strong urge to kill them all. And why were there so many people on the street?! The sheer number of them was irritating.

"Get out of the way!" Frustrated, Rusar shoved aside the passerby blocking his path. The person pushed aside, seeing Rusar's attire and physique, dared not utter a word of anger, which slightly eased Rusar's mood. Then someone bumped into him again, and he flew into a rage. Turning around, he saw it was the big black dog's suit. "Luther, you dare bump into me?! Don't you want to live?!"

The big black dog tilted its head and made a puzzled sound: "Woof?"

……

……

The author's rant: I slept until 6:30 pm... and I feel terrible.

Chapter 388 Plus One: Mistaken Identity (Part 2)

Lin Ye never expected this to happen.

Although the other person hadn't completely removed the mask, only revealing the lower half of their face, Lin Ye could still tell... this wasn't Skadi at all! When was she switched? No, that's not right. From the moment we started until now, he'd been holding Skadi's hand the whole time, never letting go. How could she have been switched?

But if they weren't switched... it couldn't have been the wrong pair from the start, right?!

Compared to the shocked Lin Ye, Guigu Xuehui was much calmer. Although it was her first time being inexplicably led away on Halloween, and while some people had shown ill intentions towards her on Halloween before, none had been as direct as Lin Ye. Moreover, she had even changed her mask this time, so theoretically no one should know her identity. So, with the thought that "it's the last day anyway, let's see what this audacious person wants to do," Guigu Xuehui let Lin Ye lead her, and they ran aimlessly through the crowded streets.

Just as she was beginning to wonder where Lin Ye was taking her, Lin Ye suddenly stopped and bought her a cotton candy.

Guigu Xuehui had wandered this continent for many years, and she believed there was no situation she hadn't seen before. However, she had to admit that Lin Ye's actions were truly unprecedented. Nevertheless, she still found it quite interesting; after all these years, she was the one giving things to others, and this was arguably the first time someone had proactively given her something.

It's still something as worthless as cotton candy.

So she happily accepted it and started eating.

The cotton candy melted the moment it entered her mouth, and the sweetness spread instantly. This was also the first time that Guigu Xuehui had tasted sweetness on Halloween.

So she said "thank you" to Lin Ye.

But this "thank you" left Lin Ye even more speechless. Although she was wearing a mask, he could still recognize that the other person was a woman. Lin Ye had never seen such a carefree woman before. She was led around by a stranger for a whole day without resisting, and even happily accepted the food offered by the stranger. Although it was cotton candy bought from a street vendor, the possibility of it being drugged was unlikely... Did she really not have a single sense of vigilance?

In his past life, if Lin Ye had randomly grabbed a stranger's hand in a subway station or similar place and offered to take her to see the goldfish or buy her a drink, he would most likely have been beaten half to death by the girl, or have the police called to deal with him. How could she possibly let him hold her hand like that… Are women in Terra really bolder and more open than women in his past life?

Hmm, thinking about it carefully, it does seem to be true, but it's definitely impossible for it to have come to that.

But then again, instead of worrying about all this nonsense, why doesn't he think about where the real Skadi is?!

Thinking of this, Lin Ye didn't have time to ask who Guigu Xuehui was. He quickly took out his phone, intending to call Skadi.

But perhaps because there were too many people in Jim Town at the moment, Skadi's phone was completely unreachable, constantly showing a busy signal. This annoyed Lin Ye, who thought that Terra's communication base stations were far too weak compared to those in China.

While Lin Ye was on the phone, Gui Gu Xue Hui slowly finished eating her cotton candy. After finishing, she threw the stick into the trash can and then asked Lin Ye, "Where are we going next? I want to try some pumpkin pancakes too."

Lin Ye: "..."

He really didn't know what to say, but then he realized the other person's voice sounded familiar, as if he'd heard it somewhere before. So he looked at Guigu Xuehui again, mainly at her mask, and then he finally remembered—wasn't this the fox demon mask he'd wanted so much yesterday?! It was just that a woman had bought it in the end…it seemed to be this woman, because her voice was the same as the one he'd heard yesterday.

"You... are the person who bought the mask yesterday?" Lin Ye asked directly.

"Hmm? A mask?" Guigu Xuehui also remembered. "Oh, you're the one who tried to take the mask from me yesterday?"

Lin Ye's lips twitched slightly: "What do you mean I'm fighting you for it? I clearly gave it to you, okay?"

“It’s all the same,” Guigu Xuehui said calmly. “So, you still want the mask from me?”

"……what?"

"Otherwise, why would you treat me to something to eat?" Guigu Xuehui said. "So that's what you were thinking. It's amazing that you were able to find me among so many people. It seems you really like this mask."

Lin Ye thought to himself, "You're overthinking this. Is it really necessary for him to go through all this trouble for a mask? Besides, Skadi found a similar one. But even if Skadi hadn't found one, he wouldn't do something so stupid just for a mask."

He originally wanted to explain things directly to Guigu Xuehui, but he quickly realized that mistaking someone for someone else was more embarrassing than finding the mask, so he decided to go along with what Guigu Xuehui was saying.

"Yes, yes, yes, yes." Lin Ye nodded repeatedly. "Then could you give me this mask?"

Guigu Xuehui smiled and said, "You're going to trade that string of cotton candy for it?"

"If that's not enough, I can have another serving of pumpkin pancakes."

“Hmm…” Guigu Xuehui pondered for a moment, then nodded, “It seems quite sincere.”

"So you're agreeing?"

“I didn’t say that.” Guigu Xuehui shook her head, then paused for a moment before slowly saying, “However, if you really want it, I can give it to you after tonight.”

Lin Ye was somewhat puzzled: "Why does it have to be after tonight?"

Guigu Xuehui said softly, "Because after tonight, this mask will be useless to me."

To Lin Ye, this statement had a different meaning. He assumed that Gui Gu Xue Hui was going to wear the mask throughout Halloween, which was why she couldn't give it to him. But it didn't matter to Lin Ye; he didn't need it anyway, since he was still wearing the "perverted doctor" makeup and couldn't possibly remove it.

And more important than the mask is finding Skadi. Losing Skadi in the crowd would be incredibly stupid.

But just then, he heard Guigu Xuehui beside him say, "If you like this mask, can you do me a favor?"

Lin Ye turned to look at her: "What kind of help?"

"It's very simple," Guigu Xuehui said softly. "It won't take up too much of your time."

……

……

Author's note: Finally finished writing... I don't know if it's just my imagination, but I always felt like writing was incredibly boring, and my grades plummeted... I hope I can find my footing again in the next volume, otherwise I should probably consider ending it~

Chapter 390 Farewell, My People (3K)

"Strange." Luther stopped and looked around. "Where's the boss? How did he suddenly disappear?"

“Yes.” Kazan stopped and said with some confusion, “He was talking to us just a few minutes ago. Could he have gotten lost? Wasn’t he standing right next to you the whole time?”

Luther nodded, then complained, "He was definitely with me the whole time, and I don't know when he left. There are just too many people here, and with these clothes on, my senses are already very low."

"...Can you find him using your keen sense of smell?"

“Of course not.” Luther shook his head. “I’ve already said there are too many people here.”

"Then let's wait for him here." Kazan was increasingly convinced that Rusar was a complete idiot, more of a hindrance than a help. Getting lost at a time like this—he was no mafia boss, he was just a schoolchild! His subordinate Luther was far more reliable. Kazan now genuinely believed that if Luther were the boss, Onigu Yukie would have been captured long ago; how could it have dragged on until now?

“We can only wait for him.” Luther nodded helplessly. “The BOSS has a better sense of smell than I do, and his tracking ability is just as sharp. Anyway, this street is only so big, he should be able to find us quickly.”

Even so, Kazan still felt uneasy; Rusar's insults seemed to echo in his ears again. He glanced at Luther beside him, thinking he might try to sow discord between the two when Rusar wasn't around. After all, in Syracuse, where "filial piety" was the norm, loyalty wasn't exactly a solid thing. Besides, Rusar was such a brainless boss. If Luther really pushed himself to the limit and killed Rusar, it would be revenge for Kazan, and it would also pave the way for his future work. After all, in his opinion, Luther was far more reliable than Rusar.

However, just as he was about to speak, he suddenly caught a glimpse of long, gray hair walking past him out of the corner of his eye.

Kazan paused for a moment, then quickly turned around, searching for something in the crowd.

"What's wrong?" Luther asked. "Have you found the boss?"

“No, it’s not him.” Kazan frowned. “I think I’ve found Guigu Xuehui.”

Luther looked surprised: "Guigu Xuehui? Where is she?!"

“They just walked right past me,” Kazan said to Luthor. “Let’s go, we have to catch up.”

“Chase after them? No way.” Luther shook his head. “I have to wait for the BOSS to return.”

Kazan immediately became impatient: "What the hell are you waiting for? What's there to wait for? Guigu Xuehui is practically in our faces, are you going to waste this opportunity?"

Luther hesitated for a moment: "But BOSS..."

“We waited for Rusar only to find Guigu Xuehui. Now that we’ve found her, what do we need him for? Anyway, I’ve already paid my reward, and the final payment isn’t going away. After finding Guigu Xuehui, can’t you just take her back to our place with me?” Kazan said quickly. “Where else can we go? At that time, Rusar won’t need to do anything. He’ll just be strolling around on Halloween and get so much money for free. Isn’t that a good deal? Or do you really think your boss, the head of the Syracuse Mafia, would be in danger in a place like this?!”

Luther was convinced by Kazan, and he nodded solemnly: "You're right, let's chase after them now."

……

boom.

"Ah ah ah ah ah ah!"

The giant "black dog" grabbed Rusar's head and slammed him against the wall, causing the stone bricks to crack and reveal a head-sized gap.

“'Silver Wolf'!” Rusar roared, “I will never forgive you!”

"Huh?" Lappland tilted her head. "What did you call me?"

Rusar gritted his teeth and said, "'Silver Wolf'!"

“…Do you know me? When did I ever get such a stupid nickname?” Lappland said. “Let’s find another one, this one sounds too silly.”

As she spoke, she released Rusar.

Rusar pressed the wound on his head, glaring fiercely at Lappland: "'Silver Wolf,' don't think you've won. I'm not afraid to tell you, I brought a lot of men with me. With just one order, they'll rush to my side and tear you to pieces."

"Huh?" Lappland nodded, saying nonchalantly, "Then give the order! Hurry up and call all your friends over. You alone aren't enough for me to take on."

Rusar: "..."

Yes! Where are his friends?! No, wait, where are his men?! Where are all his men? Weren't they all by his side just now? Why could they just watch as he was kidnapped by the "Silver Wolf" and taken to an alley?! Why did they just watch?! Have all his men already betrayed him?

At this moment, such a pessimistic thought arose in Rusar's mind.

“How interesting.” Lappland slowly walked towards Rusar. “I can’t believe I’m seeing my lovely kin in all sorts of places. But you called me ‘Silver Wolf’? I think I had that title a long time ago. So you do know me?”

Rusar gritted his teeth, glaring intently at Lappland: "'Silver Wolf,' stop pretending. Are you trying to say you don't remember me? I was the one who dealt you a heavy blow back then. If I hadn't taken the wrong medicine that day and gotten diarrhea, my blade would have only needed to be slightly higher to cut your head off. How could you possibly still be standing here talking to me?"

“Even if you say that, I still can’t remember who you are.” Lappland recalled for a moment and muttered, “So you had diarrhea that day? The kind where you pooped in your pants? I don’t remember fighting someone with such a peculiar taste.”

"Shut up!" Rusar roared, his neck red. "I won't allow you to insult my character!"

"...You said that yourself."

"Enough talk, let's duel!" Rusar struggled to his feet, drawing his sword from his clothes. "Let's end our feud in the Syracuse way."

"Tsk, so suddenly it's a duel? You old fogies really have no originality." Lappland shook her head. "Texas is more interesting, but she doesn't really like talking to me anymore... Ah, that damned quack doctor, I remember now, he promised to teach me how to get close to Texas again!"