Delabonte's gaze fixed on the two curved blades in Li Xi's hand, his pupils contracting slightly as if recognizing their origin. Suppressing his rage, he asked, "My friend, what brings you here so late at night?"
Li Xi's voice was hoarse. "I'm a bit short on cash lately. I was hoping you could lend me some."
"No problem. I have 200 gold coins in my room right now. I can give them to you, just to make your acquaintance."
"Boss..."
Delabonte's three subordinates behind him, hearing that 200 gold coins were about to be given away, all tried to intervene. That 200 gold was a significant portion of their circulating funds. If it was given to this person, their business would be affected, potentially even threatening the survival of their gang.
Delabonte merely shot a stern glance at his subordinates, and the three immediately fell silent, daring not to speak further.
"Go and fetch the gold coins."
Seeing their hesitation, Delabonte snorted coldly. The three immediately returned to the room and reluctantly brought out a small chest.
Delabonte opened the chest, revealing the dazzling gold coins neatly arranged inside.
"All 200 gold coins are here. You can take them now, friend."
Li Xi, behind his mask, let out a cold laugh. Delabonte appeared fearful, seemingly willing to pay to avoid trouble under his intimidation. However, the chest of gold coins was placed at his feet, and his fists remained tense, his entire body coiled, clearly indicating he had other plans.
Li Xi's hoarse voice continued, "Keep the gold coins for now. I also want some magic crystals. I wonder if the great leader can lend me a few. I'll definitely return them when I have the chance."
Delabonte's face instantly turned grim. He immediately understood that this person was here to provoke him. Even if he gave him the magic crystals, he would likely demand more. "My friend, aren't you pushing your luck a bit? Insatiably greedy, even the God of Wealth doesn't have such an appetite."
His eyes flashed with ferocity. "I see you mistake my concession for weakness."
Delabonte flexed the gloves on his hands, took a deep breath, and a faint glow circulated around his body. His already two-meter-tall frame grew another five centimeters, making him appear like a humanoid ferocious beast. This was a secret technique derived from cultivating battle qi, capable of instantly increasing combat power by 20%. High-level warriors could already augment themselves with battle qi, and upon further breakthroughs, they could imbue their weapons, greatly increasing their lethality.
Seeing that Delabonte finally realized he was here to cause trouble, Li Xi, behind the demonic mask, also showed an excited expression. His last encounter with Frank lasted only one exchange, failing to reveal his true strength. Delabonte, however, was a renowned high-level warrior with many years of experience, and also a notorious villain. He was the perfect touchstone.
"Heh, wouldn't it have been better to act like this from the start? Instead of acting so humble and submissive, it's just sickening."
Li Xi spun his curved blade, not forgetting to taunt Delabonte. He paused his steps and vanished from his original position.
Delabonte's heart leaped with surprise as Li Xi disappeared. Even a powerful high-level warrior like himself could only catch a glimpse of a figure that had moved behind him. Unable to turn to attack, he immediately rolled to create distance.
But upon looking back, Li Xi had indeed appeared behind him. However, Li Xi had used a flash step to disappear from his original location. Instead of attacking him, he had attacked Delabonte's three subordinates.
Two of his subordinates were intermediate warriors, and the other, Jado, was only a low-level warrior. They were no match for Li Xi.
As Delabonte rolled to create distance and looked back, all three of his subordinates had their heads severed by a single blade.
Delabonte's eyes widened in rage. These three subordinates had followed him for a long time and were incredibly useful. He had originally hoped to expand the gang together, but now they had all died here. Even though he knew this day would eventually come, facing it directly, he refused to accept his fate.
Delabonte gritted his teeth, a silent rage rising from his heart. His bloodshot eyes wished they could burn Li Xi to death. If his hatred could be converted into coins, it would be enough to drown Li Xi.
"Who are you, to strike such a deadly blow? It's only fair you show your face."
His height, which had already been forcibly increased by five centimeters, grew another five centimeters. Faint bloodstains appeared on various parts of his body, indicating Delabonte had used a secret technique, a last resort. Today, it would either be his death or Li Xi's, with no other possibility.
A powerful aura emanated from his body, like a primordial beast. His height of over two meters, compared to Li Xi's less than 1.7 meters, was like the difference between a scallion and leeks.
Li Xi flicked his curved blade, casually flinging off a drop of blood. "Who am I? You'll know when you take off my mask."
"Very well, as you wish."
Delabonte stomped heavily, the ground sinking an inch. He lunged at Li Xi, his fists raised, the air whistling as if the roar of death was smashing towards Li Xi.
Li Xi dared not to directly confront such a powerful attack. His body instantly vanished.
But Delabonte's eyes were fixed on Li Xi's trajectory. The moment Li Xi disappeared, he anticipated Li Xi's direction and delivered a sweeping kick like a battle axe behind him. Li Xi's body had not yet fully reappeared at that location.
"I've got you."
Just as Delabonte thought his powerful kick would crush Li Xi to death, a piece of wood inexplicably appeared, replacing Li Xi.
"Bang."
The wood was shattered. Delabonte's heavy kick landed on the ground with undiminished force, creating a small pit.
Delabonte's face, resembling a volcano about to erupt, showed confusion. How could a piece of wood suddenly appear?
His ears twitched as he sensed movement behind him. Delabonte leaped forward and turned, seeing Li Xi rapidly forming complex hand seals.
"巳 - 未 - 申 - 亥 - 午 - 寅"
"Fire Style: Great Fireball Jutsu."
Delabonte, directly in front of Li Xi, had never seen anyone spit out such a large fireball from their mouth. Its diameter reached over three meters, illuminating the dark night. The intense heat made Delabonte's face feel slightly hot. If hit, he would surely die.
But as his body began to move, even with his high-level warrior skills, he could only manage two steps. Due to the sheer size of the fireball, half of his body was still struck.
At that moment, Delabonte felt as if he had been struck by a red-hot hammer. Along with the powerful force came a faint scent of roasted meat. As Delabonte was sent flying, he immediately felt that half of his body had suffered a severe injury, with excruciating pain on its way.
The fireball from the Great Fireball Jutsu burned for a full three seconds before extinguishing. The high temperature even made the ground feel like it was melting.
Seeing the Great Fireball Jutsu succeed, Li Xi shifted his stance and used a flash step to disappear from his original position. He reappeared directly behind Delabonte.
Delabonte's half-body, struck for only an instant, felt as if it had been burned by a raging fire for several minutes. It cracked... bled... cooked... and any slight movement sent heart-wrenching pain.
Delabonte's previously powerful aura deflated like a punctured balloon, and his strength plummeted. His body became incredibly weak, his over two-meter frame seemed to shrink back to under two meters. His eyes were tightly shut, like fish on a chopping block.
Li Xi drew his curved blade, preparing to deliver the final blow to the unconscious Delabonte, ending his life. But just as Li Xi was about to swing his blade, Delabonte, without any warning, slammed his intact hand towards Li Xi.
The distance between them was so close, Li Xi had no time to use a ninjutsu. He could only manage to hold his curved blade horizontally in front of him.
"Peng!"
Delabonte's punch, imbued with all his strength, struck the curved blade. Li Xi couldn't withstand such immense power and was instantly sent flying, as if hit by an oncoming small car.
"Go to hell!"
Delabonte, dragging his severely injured half-body, his blackened face making him look like a demon emerged from the abyss.
Li Xi was flung against the courtyard wall, a faint trickle of blood flowing from the corner of his mouth behind the demonic mask.
Looking at Delabonte, who was severely injured yet still capable of fighting, Li Xi gave a wry smile. "I'm a fragile ninja. Until I gain some proper taijutsu, I shouldn't be thinking about close-quarters combat."
With that thought, he sheathed his curved blade and took out his steel needles.
His hands moved, creating an afterimage. Li Xi suddenly seemed to have grown seven or eight arms.
"Swish."
"Swish, swish."
In two seconds, Li Xi fired all thirty steel needles on his person. Delabonte's severely injured body was naturally unable to dodge. His head wanted to evade, but his body was powerless. The fatal injuries sustained from the Great Fireball had left him too weak to dodge.
The steel needles pierced his injured half-body completely, from his eyes and throat down to his chest and knees, densely packed.
Delabonte cast one last look at the steel needles all over his body, his pupils dilating. He collapsed to the ground.
Li Xi drew his curved blade. Fearing he wasn't dead, he stepped forward and cut off Delabonte's head, only then feeling truly at ease.
After Li Xi pulled out all the steel needles, the sounds of gambling from the front yard were still ongoing. Li Xi couldn't help but chuckle. If he had been a little more ruthless, none of these people would have survived today.
He walked into the room where Delabonte and Jado had been holding their meeting. He found his property deeds in several large chests and began his treasure hunt.
Delabonte's small gang's territory was all in the slums, with little profit. Li Xi searched the entire house but found no extra gold coins. Only under a floor tile, he discovered a small chest.
Opening it, he found five ping-pong ball-sized magic crystals. These five magic crystals were the same size as those from the Tukha beast Li Xi had killed. They were all level two magic crystals, with a market price of about twenty gold coins each, totaling one hundred gold coins. Added to the two hundred gold coins outside, that made three hundred.
Three hundred gold coins. Li Xi would have to work for a considerable time to earn so much. Now, he had acquired it with such ease.
"Are there no other good things? This is my first time robbing someone, and I'm being dismissed with only three hundred gold coins. Doesn't it seem a bit unworthy of my transmigration status?"
Li Xi continued to search inside the room, even slicing open the walls with his curved blade, carefully checking for hidden compartments.
After searching for a long time and turning the place upside down, he found nothing. Just as Li Xi was about to give up, he noticed something unusual about the pillow on the bed. It was made of wood and was square.
In this world, no one liked such pillows; they were hard and uncomfortable. An abnormality often indicated something unusual.
A flash of his blade, and the wooden pillow split in two, revealing a hollow space inside.
"Clack."
A dark token fell out.
Li Xi picked it up and looked. The front depicted a devil with horns, and the back showed two crossed, dripping daggers.
"This looks familiar."
Because his knowledge had been vastly inherited, it was impossible to digest it all in a short period. The knowledge inheritance felt like someone had crammed many books into his mind at once. His brain would automatically try to memorize it, but the process took time. Only when encountering something unfamiliar would his brain automatically retrieve the information.
Soon, his brain located the information about the token. "So, it's the Assassin's Alliance token."