Today, Lansi was the last to arrive at the assembly point.
Last night had been absolute madness.
He and Wen Yu had fought all night, leaving Lansi exhausted this morning. If not for the helmet hiding his face, the instructor probably would have called him out the moment the team assembled.
After giving a few brief instructions at the meeting point, the instructor dismissed the reserve soldiers to carry out their assigned tasks.
Lansi and his teammates were assigned to patrol the southern district and maintain public order.
Normally, Lansi wouldn't care much about this kind of assignment.
But today, something felt off.
What was going on?
His teammates had been acting strangely around him all morning. They kept avoiding him, whispering together in groups, only to scatter the second he approached. Whenever he tried to ask what they were talking about, they would immediately change the subject.
"What the hell are you all doing?"
Finally losing patience, Lansi grabbed the captain by the collar, clearly irritated.
If they were avoiding him this obviously, then it had to be related to him somehow.
Could it be that they had discovered he was a mermaid?
"Ahem… Lansi, what exactly is your relationship with Wen Yu?"
The captain's eyes darted everywhere except at Lansi's face.
Under Lansi's pressure, the captain awkwardly handed him a book and gestured for him to open it.
Lansi glanced suspiciously at the plain white cover.
Nothing special.
He released the captain's collar, opened the book, and after only a few pages, froze in shock.
What the hell?!
It was actually some kind of wildly obsessive fan comic.
No—more importantly, who was the other protagonist supposed to be?!
Lansi sucked in a breath and continued flipping through the pages, but the farther he read, the redder his face became.
How could they draw him and Wen Yu together like this?!
They had even specifically drawn the reserve soldier uniforms!
Unable to continue, Lansi angrily threw the book aside.
"Well… Wen Yu is pretty outstanding and all, but you should still figure out whether you actually like him or not."
The captain looked at Lansi with the complicated expression of an older brother discovering his younger sibling's rebellious first love.
"I don't like Wen Yu!"
Lansi planted his hands on his hips and declared loudly,
"There's no way I'd ever like someone so arrogant, prideful, and impossible to talk to!"
The captain blinked, completely confused by Lansi's intense reaction. Following Lansi's logic, he subconsciously asked,
"Then who do you like?"
"I like Winsor!"
Lansi shot back angrily.
"Winsor and Wen Yu are two completely different people, so why would I like Wen Yu?!"
Until Wen Yu personally admitted that Winsor was his alter ego, Lansi had already decided to treat them as entirely separate people.
After making that declaration as though swearing an oath, Lansi let out a huff, turned around, and walked away.
"…."
The captain stared at Lansi's retreating figure before exchanging speechless looks with the others.
Hadn't they heard those two already kissed?
.....
Today's task was slightly more troublesome than the previous one, but it was still unbearably boring.
Lansi and his team had been assigned to inspect shops and check whether they possessed valid business licenses. If a shop owner lacked one, they would receive a warning at best. At worst…
Well, no one wanted to think about that.
A group of reserve soldiers huddled together nervously.
There was a saying: a powerful dragon could not suppress the local snake. The situation in District 25 perfectly embodied that phrase.
This was District 25, after all.
There were criminals everywhere, and people here had long since become accustomed to protecting their own.
Business licenses?
Most of the goods sold in these shops probably weren't even approved by the Alliance in the first place. Honestly, simply owning an expired license was already considered giving the Alliance some face.
The reserve soldiers clearly didn't understand the local situation. The moment they started checking licenses, they offended half the street.
"Tsk, tsk. What's with all the commotion over here?"
Suddenly, a green-haired delinquent squeezed through the crowd, carrying a mesh bag in one hand. After struggling his way to the front, he froze the moment he saw the reserve soldiers surrounded in the center.
His expression instantly changed, and he clearly looked ready to turn around and leave.
Lansi spotted the familiar figure immediately.
At that moment, he couldn't care about dignity anymore. Before anyone could react, he lunged forward, wrapped himself around the delinquent's leg, and shouted dramatically,
"Brother!"
Lansi had absolutely no psychological burden when it came to calling people "brother."
If this "brother" could save everyone from their current misery, then Lansi was going to cling to that lifeline no matter what.
The green-haired delinquent had only come over to watch the excitement. Instead, he suddenly found himself with a reserve soldier glued to his thigh, and his face immediately turned green.
His eyes radiated murderous intent as he tried to glare Lansi into letting go.
But Lansi remained completely unmoved.
Looking up at him, Lansi smiled brightly, then deliberately sat on top of the man's shoes to stop him from escaping.
The poor delinquent's face twisted from the weight crushing his feet. He looked seconds away from smashing the mesh bag directly into Lansi's face.
But before he could act, Lansi lifted his helmet slightly, revealing his face as he pitifully hugged the man's leg tighter.
"Brother, I finally came back to see you! Don't abandon me!"
The delinquent felt like the veins in his leg were about to burst.
Taking a deep breath, he gritted his teeth and hissed,
"I'm not your brother."
"Don't abandon me, brother."
Lansi swore he was using the best acting skills of his life. He tilted his head up, blue eyes wide and innocent enough to fool almost anyone.
"I became a reserve soldier to earn money and support the family… Even our identity chips confirm we're related! Brother!!!"
The final two words rang out loudly and clearly.
District 25 might have been poor, but because of that poverty, the people here valued family and unity more than anything else.
To them, family was everything. No matter how chaotic the outside world became, family members were the ones who supported each other and provided the only warmth people could rely on.
The crowd suddenly fell silent.
Lansi's face was simply too convincing.
Whispers quickly spread through the surrounding crowd, and some people even began persuading the green-haired delinquent.
"Don't you always talk about your little brother? Now that he's finally back, just scold him a little and stop pretending not to know him."
"Exactly."
Lansi immediately seized the opportunity to add fuel to the fire.
"Brother, I even send money home every year!"
"You—!"
The delinquent pointed at Lansi, so furious he looked ready to explode on the spot.
He especially wanted to sue Lansi right now.
"Oh, so that's how it is. Matt, no wonder you never seem to work but still have money to eat. Turns out your little brother has been supporting you all this time."
Someone in the crowd finally couldn't hold back anymore and spoke up.
"Your brother might be a bit dumb, but at least he's responsible. As the older brother, you should appreciate that."
After speaking, the man glanced sympathetically at Lansi and sighed.
"With such a weak body, who knows if he'll even survive conscription."
Every word practically screamed at Matt to treasure his poor little brother.
Weak?
The moment Matt heard that description, his teeth started itching with anger as he recalled yesterday's events.
At first, he had also assumed Lansi was some fragile weakling. Even though Matt himself didn't dare claim to be one of the top killers in the Alliance, he was still ranked among the top twenty assassins in District 25.
Yesterday, all he had wanted to do was casually pull out a knife and slash someone's throat.
Instead, Lansi had snatched the knife away from him.
That alone would have been embarrassing enough.
What Matt absolutely had not expected was getting pinned down by Lansi immediately afterward.
Lansi had pressed him to the ground, forced down his thigh with one hand, and then claimed he was "stretching his muscles."
Stretch my ass.
Even now, when Matt thought about yesterday, his thighs still ached terribly. He was still limping while walking.
"Fine, my dear little 'brother.' Let's go."
Matt finally gave up resisting. Since he couldn't do anything about it anyway, he grabbed Lansi by the collar and yanked him to his feet irritably.
Once the surrounding crowd saw that someone from District 25 had stepped forward to claim Lansi, they lost interest and gradually dispersed.
After everyone left, Matt naturally realized he had just been used by Lansi.
Surprisingly, he wasn't even that angry. He merely glared at Lansi and turned to leave.
Then he discovered that Lansi was following him closely.
"What are you doing now?"
Matt turned around unhappily and glared at him again.
Lansi tilted his head instead of answering immediately. He first turned toward the captain behind him and said,
"I'm going to chat with my brother for a bit. Why don't you guys patrol another street first?"
"But…"
The captain hesitated. After witnessing the people here earlier, he honestly felt uneasy.
What if Lansi got sold off somewhere in District 25?
"It's fine. If we stay on this street any longer, we'll run out of time and won't make it back for assembly."
Lansi patiently persuaded him.
"Nobody wants to get punished."
The captain considered it for a moment before finally nodding.
"If anything happens, contact me through the pager."
With that, he led the others away to patrol another street.
Only after the patrol team disappeared did Matt turn back toward Lansi with an annoyed expression.
"Why are you following me?"
"Didn't I already tell you everything yesterday that needed to be said?"
Although Lansi's method of pinning someone down and forcibly stretching their thigh muscles was unbelievably shameless, it was admittedly very effective for gathering information.
After enduring that torture for a while yesterday, Matt had burst into tears and answered every single question Lansi asked.
As a result, Michael's carefully hidden identity had been completely exposed through Lansi's most primitive interrogation methods.
"I'm curious."
Lansi followed behind Matt step by step like a duckling imprinting on its parent.
"You're a really contradictory person."
According to Matt himself, he had extorted a large amount of money from Michael. But if that were true, then why hadn't Matt taken the money and escaped District 25 long ago?
At the very least, he could have improved his living conditions or moved into a better house.
The place Mattt currently lived in was honestly awful.
"None of your business!"
Matt snapped viciously. Turning around, he used the fact that he was a full head taller than Lansi to glare down at him contemptuously.
"If you keep following me, I'll kill you."
Lansi: "…"
What a weak threat.
He was just about to mock Matt when something in the distance suddenly caught his attention.
What was that?
A few seconds later, Lansi heard a faint sound in the air. His expression changed instantly as he grabbed Matt and dragged him behind an abandoned cart nearby—
Bang!
The moment the two of them ducked behind the cart, one of the wooden handles exploded into splinters.
"Fuck!"
Matt had still been confused at first, but the second he heard the gunshot, he immediately understood the situation.
"Someone's sniping me?!"
After the shot rang out, the entire street descended into chaos. People screamed and scattered in every direction, desperately fleeing the area.
Perhaps because assassination attempts were practically an everyday occurrence in District 25, the residents reacted with terrifying efficiency. Although the street became chaotic for a few moments, it emptied completely in less than a minute.
It was oddly organized.
Lansi stared blankly for a moment.
"Fuck… he actually wants to kill me."
Matt wasn't stupid. Hiding behind the cart, he thought it over briefly before immediately realizing the truth.
Michael had sent someone to silence him.
As for the reason, it was probably because Michael had learned that Matt failed to kill Lansi yesterday.
"So he finally decided to silence me."
Matt sneered as he untied the mesh bag in his hand and pulled out a small handgun.
Lansi stared at him silently before asking,
"Wait… were you originally planning to buy that gun and use it on me?"
The atmosphere instantly became awkward.
Matt coughed lightly and deliberately turned his head away, pretending to look elsewhere.
"Oh, they're coming."
Although it was a little embarrassing to admit, that really had been his original plan.
Since he couldn't beat Lansi with knives, then naturally he had thought of using a gun instead.
No matter how good Lansi was in close combat, he still couldn't block bullets.
The only problem now was that the gun had to be used somewhere else first.
The sniper's first shot had failed to kill Matt.
Several more shots followed immediately afterward, but thanks to the cart serving as cover, none of them managed to hit him.
If the assassin wanted to shoot Matt successfully, he would have to step out from hiding and get closer.
But that was basically suicidal.
After failing several times, the assassin clearly became impatient. He finally left his hiding place and cautiously advanced toward the cart.
"Tsk. Definitely a rookie."
Watching the assassin walk forward so carelessly, Matt couldn't help sneering in disdain.
Lansi quietly poked Matt in the back.
"Um… actually, there are two more."
Two additional assassins were circling around from the sides.
Matt: "..."
Ten minutes later, gunshots echoed nonstop throughout the entire street.
Matt fired behind him while dragging Lansi through the alleyways in a frantic escape.
As they ran, Lansi looked completely confused.
"Wait a second—they're targeting you. Why am I running too?"
"Hmph!"
Matt endured the pain in his leg as he dragged Lansi deeper into the maze-like alleys.
Honestly, pulling Lansi along had been pure instinct. Even he didn't understand why he refused to leave him behind.
The direction they were heading toward was the barracks.
District 25 was far too chaotic. Assassinations happened all the time, and the safest place nearby was the military barracks.
The closer they got, the safer they would be.
In Matt's original plan, bringing along a reserve soldier like Lansi was basically equivalent to carrying a pass card. Once they reached the barracks, the soldiers there would naturally deal with the assassins chasing them.
Unfortunately, reality was much crueler than imagination.
After running for a while, both of them started suffering from leg pain.
They truly were a pair of unfortunate brothers.
Matt's injured thigh was cramping badly, while Lansi's legs—fragile by merfolk standards—were already reaching their limit after such a long sprint.
The two exchanged exhausted looks before Matt finally gave up.
Stopping beside a clothesline, he yanked down two pieces of cloth, tossed one to Lansi, and wrapped the other around himself.
"There's a black clinic nearby. I'll pretend to be a patient, and you help me walk in."
"And… what if the assassins follow us inside?"
Lansi removed his helmet while wrapping himself in the cloth, instantly transforming into a ragged little beggar.
"Relax. Around here, you can offend anyone except a doctor."
Matt glanced toward the clinic ahead, his expression unexpectedly complicated.
Lansi found the whole situation fascinating.
Still, if this helped them avoid getting hunted down, he was more than willing to cooperate.
So he supported Matt with considerable effort as they headed toward the clinic entrance.
The entrance to the black clinic was incredibly narrow. If not for the faded cloth marked with a red cross hanging outside, no one would have guessed it was a medical facility.
After taking only a few steps inside, two massive men approached them.
Both men were nearly twice Lansi's size. Their chests bulged with muscle, and their eyes were as large as copper bells. They looked fully capable of smashing Lansi's head in with a single punch.
Looking at the two terrifying "door gods" before him, Lansi instinctively shrank back and weakly explained,
"My brother hurt his leg…"
Matt instantly began acting.
"Ohhhhhh… forget about me, little brother. Just let me die quietly at home. Save the money and buy yourself something good to eat… you're still growing, after all…"
Lansi: "..."
He had already finished growing, thank you very much.
Even though he hated admitting it, he truly wasn't getting any taller.
But in the eyes of the two bodyguards, Lansi's speechless hesitation looked completely different.
To them, it looked like this poor younger brother desperately wanted to comfort his injured older brother but was too overwhelmed to find the words, leaving him on the verge of tears instead.
The intimidating aura around the two men immediately softened.
One of them, a giant with a braided beard, even bent down and gently patted Lansi on the head.
"Doctor Li is seeing patients today. No payment is needed. Hurry and take your brother inside."
Lansi's face instantly turned red beneath the enormous hand nearly the same size as his entire head. After holding it in for several seconds, he finally managed to mumble,
"Thank you…"
Then he helped Matt continue deeper inside.
Meanwhile, Matt shamelessly shifted even more of his body weight onto Lansi.
"I'm warning you, don't push it too far."
Hidden beneath the cloth covering them, Lansi viciously twisted the flesh at Matt's waist.
Matt grimaced in pain, and the expression actually made him look even more convincingly ill.
"The two brothers really have a good relationship."
Watching them leave, the two guards sighed emotionally.
"I wish I had a younger brother like that."
At that exact moment, hurried footsteps suddenly sounded from outside.
An assassin stormed directly into the clinic holding a gun. The moment he entered, he shoved the muzzle against one of the guards' heads and demanded aggressively,
"Did two people come in here? One tall, one short?"
The two massive guards exchanged glances before turning back toward the assassin.
One of them spoke in a deep, muffled voice.
"This is a clinic."
"I don't give a damn whether it's a clinic or not."
The assassin sneered dismissively.
Even faced with the bulging muscles of the two giants before him, he showed no fear at all. Instead, he calmly pulled out another gun from his waist and pointed it directly at the second guard's forehead.
"Move aside, or I'll blow your heads open."
However, in the very next second, countless gun barrels pressed against the assassin's head from every direction.
One after another, massive men emerged from the shadows.
All of them were the terrifyingly muscular type whose chest muscles practically looked capable of shaking on their own.
Assassin: "..."
In the blink of an eye, eighteen enormous men surrounded him in a tightening circle. Several of them casually confiscated the assassin's guns along the way.
Standing in the middle of a mountain of muscles, the assassin trembled violently.
Weak.
Pitiful.
Utterly helpless.
"That… this is all just a misunderstanding. A misunderstanding."