96 The Mantis Preys on the Cicada

In a market downtown, amidst the smell of rotting leaves and sewers, the youth trudged through the mud, looking at the messiness around him. "Senior, are you sure it’s here?"

"Don’t worry, don’t worry. I remember it’s right around here!" Charles nodded with extreme confidence. "Just walk forward and take a turn!"

"You said that ten minutes ago when we were still on a main road, and now we’re in this weird place!" Ye Qingxuan’s face was full of regret.

"This is Avalon!" Charles patted his shoulder strongly. "It’s always full of surprises! Ah, these carrots look cheap. How about we buy some for stew?"

"Can we do what we need to first? How cheap can carrots be…oh, those seriously are cheap. And these pumpkins look nice too! Boss, give me one kilogram. And how much are the cabbages?" Ye Qingxuan was immediately distracted by the vegetables and started bargaining with expertise. After a lot of skillful talking, the seller added in two eggplants. In the end, he bought a bunch of stuff at half the normal price, and Ye Qingxuan was in high spirits. Satisfied, he picked up the giant pile.

"My luck’s pretty good today. Senior, you’ve been drinking so much, a stew can help you…f*ck, where’d you go?!" He finally realized that his senior had disappeared!

"Boss, did you see where the guy who came with me went?"

The fat woman behind the vegetable stand rolled her eyes lazily. "I think a girl wearing red waved at him when you were buying and he left…"

"…" Ye Qingxuan almost spat out blood. He just wanted to scream, "Charles, you *ss, did you come to help me or to find girls?!"

Quickly, that was not what he was worried about when he started walking again. The alleys of downtown were dirty and confusing. He looked around at the unfamiliar surroundings and finally realized that he was lost.

In the silence, he heard faint sounds from afar. Someone was walking over.

--

--

"Lord, we’re here!" Outside the alley, a scruffy bum gave an affectionate smile. He rubbed his hands excitedly, watching the person before him. The man clad in a black robe stood at the entrance of the gate, looking into the distance.

Under the blazing sun, his face and body were hidden by the thick hat and robe. He emanated coldness like a ghost, sending fear into people’s hearts. "Are you certain?" a scratchy voice asked from under the hat’s brim.

"You’re giving me money, I’d never lie," the bum said quietly. "I saw him go in with my own eyes. A white-haired Eastern kid. I can’t be wrong!" Reverence filled his eyes, "And anyway, you’re important. Everyone in downtown knows that if we want to live, we can’t piss off Mr. Professor."

"Good." The man referred to as Professor nodded. His voice was like bones scraping together. "Otherwise, you won’t have any days left to spend the money." A pale and thin hand reached out from under the dark robe. It was pale as if it had never seen the sun, pale as death.

Seeing the hand, the bum’s eyes lit up with enthusiasm again. His gaze fell on the wad of green money orders held between two fingers, and he could not look away. Looking at the money, the bum could not help but laugh dumbly. The pile of money orders from the Church, each one worth one-thousand pounds…

Tying the papers with a string, the Professor tossed it and it rolled on the ground. "You can scram now." The Professor waved a hand and walked toward the alley without looking back.

"Thank you, Lord. Thank you!" The bum dived at the money like a starving dog seeing food. Picking up the money, he impatiently counted it and laughed ecstatically. "I’m rich!" His dirty fingers gripped the money tightly. With burning eyes, he put the beautiful little darlings into his pocket.

He froze when he looked up. A pair of feet was before him. He looked up in shock and was met by a cane adorned with silver and gems. It was held by a clean and elegant hand. A large ruby ring shone from the forefinger, a family emblem engraved into the gem. As if the wearer was preparing to attend a banquet, the precious stones on the sleeve cuffs of the detailed suit shone with a subtle but luxurious light.

"Mr. Professor, what’s with the hurry? Why don’t we have a chat?" The man with the cane had an elegant voice, gentle and anchored like a warning from a friend. He wore a top hat and, and leaning on his cane, he looked like a gentleman. There was a polite smile on his handsome face, fake and arrogant like all Sicilians.

But that was not enough for the bum to cry out in shock. Behind the man was a group of thugs wielding knives and metal staffs. The burly men had appeared suddenly and soundlessly in the small alley. Their dark eyes were filled with haughty ferocity, smiling mockingly at him as if looking at a clown. There was only one group of thugs in all of Avalon who dressed so brightly, and they were all Sicilians!

"Black-black-black Hand Gang…" The bum finally processed the situation and screamed as if he had seen a ghost. The young man loosened his grip, and the bum collapsed on the ground. He scrambled up, stammering, "I—I—I…"

The young man did not care about him and waved his hand, telling the bum to get out of his sight.

The bum hurriedly crawled forward, and when he was far enough, he scrambled up and fled. He did not even dare to pick up the money on the ground.

Now, there was only the surrounded Professor and the young man leading a group of thugs.

"It seems that I’m surrounded." The Professor did not act as if he were surrounded, and just gazed at his unfriendly "friends."

"Nice to meet you, Mr. Professor. I am the second son of the Luco family. You can call me Lorenzo, Palermo Eagle Lorenzo." The young man put a hand to his chest like a gentleman. But when he looked at the Professor, his eyes were taunting. "The legendary Viper just jumped into a trap without even realizing? This is surprising."

"Lorenzo? Schwartz’s son?" The Professor studied the man as if he had expected this. "You’re faster than I had thought. I thought the first to arrive would have been the Indians."

"Actually, they were indeed the first." Lorenzo shrugged and looked back. Behind him, blood flowed under the feet of the Sicilian thugs. The blood had come from another alley, and flowed into an open sewer.

Some burly men were still tidying up the site. They threw two mutated corpses into the sewer and watched as they disappeared into the darkness. It was clear that the Indians had been taken care of by the Sicilians.

They did not even have the time to realize they had been ambushed before they had been completely destroyed by an attack.

At the back was a fat corpse with his eyes still open in shock. Shahrukh, one of the Indian leaders, had been slashed like a crazy painter’s canvas. He had died without a sound.

--

"Seems like I’ve underestimated you." The Professor looked back from the sewer. "It seems like you had prepared beforehand. Did you think like the Indians, waiting here and capturing your supposed partners? You also want that kid?"

"Are you trying to make time?" Lorenzo saw through the Professor’s thoughts and laughed, cocking his head. "There’s no use. We’ve already cleared out everything within a few hundred meters of here. Now, Professor, you better understand this clearly. We are enemies, but seeing that you once helped us with our business, we can let you leave here unharmed. What do you think of my offer?"

"Oh? I must thank you for your pity," the Professor said lightly, "but I’m afraid I won’t be able to leave."

"You’re worried that I’m not trustworthy?" Lorenzo furrowed his brows, his eyes cold. "I am the second son of the Luco family. Keeping my word is something that my father has taught me. We Sicilians never break promises. Because of Ghosthand, I’m willing to let you go if you promise to never interfere with this again."

"Idiot." The Professor sighed. "You thought I was talking to you?"

Lorenzo blanched. He opened his mouth to say something, but his expression changed. Suddenly, he felt the ground shake. In the stillness, the tiles beneath him trembled as if hammers were pounding the ground. Heavy footsteps came from both sides of the alley. The footsteps were sharp like metal scraping against stone. Lorenzo looked up in all directions in shock. It was like a nightmare. Metal shone from both ends of the alley. It was the color of heavy plate armor!

"F*ck," Lorenzo could not help but swear when he processed what it was.

--

Defenseless, he waited as the group of armored men rounded the corner. It was as if the hungry wolves meant for battle had taken a wrong turn and ended up the alley. The fully armored men walked in synchronization, like an army parade! The axes and swords in their hands shattered the tiles, creating fierce and piercing sounds.

But this was not a battlefield! This was Avalon! Why would heavy armored soldiers be here?!