After leaving the crematorium, even the wheels of Feng Mu's bicycle seemed to be floating, reflecting his current mood.
On the way, Feng Mu deliberately stopped twice, placing a hand into his bag, gripping the cold, irregular texture, making the illusory dialogue box in his eyes seem to regain its reality.
Feng Mu rubbed his eye sockets, murmuring to himself: "Nine Nether Evil Iron... can this really exist in this world, is it truly not a system error~"
"Even the game I play is integrated into the world background, there shouldn't be such an outrageous material, just hearing the name sounds extremely fantastical."
"Did the system apply an upgrade patch, but this patch seems to violate the material background, completely disregarding the basic rules."
"But, what if there's no mistake, and if I ingest this Nine Nether Evil Iron... then what traits would Iron Eater extract from it..."
Feng Mu couldn't completely imagine it, but he was absolutely certain that the extracted traits would be much stronger than those from [Ordinary Pig Iron].
Although he hadn't even acquired the [Ordinary Pig Iron] ones yet.
[Detection for aberrant metal—fragment of Nine Nether Evil Iron.]
[Edibility: Yes!]
[Current consumption slot—Pig Iron, no empty consumption slots.]
[Prompt: If consuming new iron, please first remove the already occupied consumption slot and reset the edibility.]
[Remove and reset?]
Staring at the prompt box, after a while, Feng Mu closed his eyes, inwardly answering: "No!"
Very much wanted to eat.
Very much wanted to replace.
But,
It wasn't possible.
Currently, he only had one piece of Nine Nether Evil… ahem, when in Rome, just temporarily call it "Black Core."
One piece of Black Core, it wouldn't suffice for sustenance, at least have to gather a... a sack?
Thinking this way, the burning in his heart gradually subsided, after all, according to Wang Jian, the drop rate from Calamity Corpses was about 10%, so to gather a sack, he'd have to open at least a thousand of them.
Unknowingly, the dreadful and decaying Calamity Corpses in Feng Mu's mind turned into golden loot boxes.
"In any case, I must accept this job at the crematorium." He contemplated.
....
"Hang couldn't have killed someone and fled."
In the dim light, the reflection in the glass eye was eerie, Zheng Si yanked open his collar, like a resentful hungry wolf, his voice sinister and hoarse.
In the cleared-out bar, several burly men stood scattered, all with heads bowed, silent.
"Hang has always been obedient, even when he killed before he would tell me, he wouldn't make me worry."
Zheng Si muttered to himself, suddenly standing up, he kicked over the tea table.
He grabbed a nearby subordinate by the collar, asking fiercely: "So tell me, why didn't Hang tell me this time, where he's hiding, is he rebelling like other kids, not listening to daddy anymore?"
The subordinate's face turned pale, meeting that venomous and pallid eye, teeth chattering: "No, young master he isn't disobeying you, he maybe, maybe…"
Zheng Si pressed his face closer: "What is it?"
The subordinate braced himself to answer: "The young master is most likely harmed!"
Words spat out from his throat, the hot blood splattered onto Zheng Si's face, staining his features more madly.
From outside walked in Ma Bin, eyelids drooping as he glanced at the corpse on the floor, the throat having been torn out and twitching for air.
He frowned, coldly saying to the shivering members nearby: "What are you idling there for, clean it up?"
Zheng Si looked towards Ma Bin, accepting the white handkerchief handed by him, slightly easing his anger: "How did the investigation go."
Ma Bin took out his phone, opened an email containing several photos of the crime scene.
He flicked through the photos with his hand, a cold smile playing: "Those Chief Constables didn't tell the truth, the crime scene didn't just have a female corpse, there was an altar etched into the ground."
Zheng Si's face darkened: "Evil Sacrifice?!!"
Ma Bin answered solemnly: "Yes. I had people stationed at the school entrance for surveillance, found that the Patrol Office used sacks to load rocks and transport them out, presumably to have crushed the altar and sent it to the crematorium for incineration."
Gazing blankly, his eyes turned red and wet: "Hang is neither seen alive nor dead, what do you think?"
Ma Bin remained silent for a moment, speaking gravely: "The young master couldn't have been foolish, so most likely, the young master is gone, we need to avenge him."
The atmosphere was oppressively tense, several mopping underlings froze their movements, cold sweat covering their foreheads.
Long after, Zheng Si bared his teeth, as if ready to bite Ma Bin's neck off, grinding his teeth, "How to avenge."
Ma Bin lowered his head, adjusting his glasses with his fingers, calmly answering: "Identify the perpetrator and eliminate their entire family to accompany the young master."
Zheng Si: "Can you find them?"
Ma Bin responded: "Since the crime scene was in the school warehouse, the perpetrator is most likely hidden among the students or teachers of the 47th Academy, give me a month, I'll identify the person."
Zheng Si's eyes bulged, voice as sharp as ice: "Two weeks."
A hint of difficulty appeared on Ma Bin's face, but he ultimately gritted his teeth and harshly said: "Fine, but everyone in the gang must follow my orders, you can't intervene."
Zheng Si agreed, his massive form hunched slightly, sluggishly heading toward a room deep in the corridor, every subordinate he passed dropped their gaze to the floor.
"Send that mother and daughter to be reunited, to serve Hang together in death."
The chilling voice echoed in the corridor, making every gang member who heard it feel a shiver in their bones.
Ma Bin bent down to pick up the blood-stained white handkerchief from the floor, neatly folding it and tucking it back into his jacket pocket, slightly bowing as he replied: "Understood."
After speaking, he straightened up, glanced at the closed door deep in the corridor, and turned to casually call over a few gang members, instructing them in a gentle tone: "The person is at the 4th Hospital, go take care of it."
"Yes." The gang members responded in unison.
Ma Bin added: "Oh, and also have Niu Tong's family brought to the gang for care, he shed blood for the gang, we cannot neglect them."
The gang members drew a cold breath, their hearts trembling, collectively replied: "Yes, Brother Bin."
Ps: Niu Tong is the extra who lost an arm this morning and was arrested by the Patrol Office.
....
Back home, Father Feng Ju returned today.
"Why did you come home so late?" Feng Ju sat on the sofa, frowning at his son, his tone habitually tinged with questioning.
Feng Mu changed into slippers, walked over to sit in a corner of the sofa, facing Feng Ju as he said: "Went to the crematorium, a classmate introduced a job."
"A job, didn't I say I'd arrange it for you?" Feng Ju froze for a moment, then as if realizing something, continued, "Is everything settled with the school?"
Dropping out, quitting exams, what is there to settle?
Feng Mu quietly laughed in his heart, the original's father was truly both harsh and hypocritical.
Feng Mu took out a piece of thin, creased graduation certificate from his pocket, throwing it on the table.
This item, besides leaving a memory, held no social value, but Feng Mu still brought it back, just to prove to Feng Ju that he genuinely gave up the idea of the military exam, and wouldn't waste the family's money anymore.
Feng Ju picked it up, glanced at it, then casually set it aside, somewhat satisfied with his son cutting off unrealistic thoughts.
His expression eased slightly, saying: "Forget about the crematorium, stay home for now, I'll later arrange for you to work on the street under the Patrol Office..."