Chapter 2 I had no choice but to take it home.

On a rainy night, the girl held a large black mechanical umbrella in her left hand, big enough to cover her body, while her right hand tightly gripped a rope. The other end of the rope was tied around the man's waist. The man, whose legs had been cut off, was lying on his back on the ground being dragged along.

His white vest rolled up from the friction, revealing his firm abs and tight waist. His severed feet were like broken rubber, a smooth cross-section, without tissue, without blood, nothing at all. Stray hairs on his forehead would occasionally fall and then cover his forehead. His handsome eyes were still unfocused, and his mouth was still wide open beneath his high nose.

He was still smiling.

"I'm really in deep trouble," Ling Qiu thought to herself.

She didn't know what this thing was. When she cut off his legs, she heard him scream. The sound was sharp and a bit like a rat's, but strangely, Ling Qiu couldn't sense any pain from that scream.

Even with his legs severed, he didn't give up following her; he crawled on the ground, straining to reach her...

She couldn't cut off his arms anymore. Although she didn't know who he was and she didn't see any blood on his severed legs, she would be in big trouble if he bled to death.

Those at the bottom of society who commit murder are punished with a thousand cuts. Free people like Ling Qiu are at the very bottom of Mante City, like ants, and have no right to decide the life or death of others.

Therefore, if it is discovered that she has murdered someone, she will be executed.

With no other option, Ling Qiu had to take him home first. Fortunately, although it was a bit difficult to drag him along, he was very well-behaved.

"Woo woo..." He made strange noises, accompanied by a smiling expression as if he was enjoying himself. What was even stranger was that Ling Qiu could sense that he was genuinely happy.

...

He must be a pervert, right? That makes things easier.

Ling Qiu breathed a sigh of relief as she finally arrived home.

She pressed the elevator's up button, heard a "bang," and the elevator slowly descended.

The best thing about the suburbs is that although the surrounding environment is far inferior to that of the city center, the infrastructure is very complete and the public security is also acceptable.

The elevator doors opened, and a person stumbled out, startling Ling Qiu, who hurriedly backed away, trying to block the strange object behind her. Then, she tripped over something and landed on the man's waist.

"Hmm," he said again, a short, sharp sound.

Ling Qiu had no time to pay attention to these things; her eyes were fixed on the person who came out.

It was Wang Zheng, who lived on the third floor. He was also startled by Ling Qiu, and his glasses fell to the ground. His eyesight was very poor, and he was raising money to replace his prosthetic eye.

"Ah!" Wang Zheng hurriedly squatted down and groped around on the ground, looking for his glasses.

Ling Qiu knew she should kindly offer a reminder, but she was afraid Wang Zheng would see her bringing back a strange person, so she could only close her umbrella and hurriedly approach the elevator.

"Ling Qiu".

Wang Zheng called out to her.

Ling Qiu paused, slowly turned around, staring at Wang Zheng, ready to knock him unconscious at any moment.

Wang Zheng smiled kindly: "Haha, it really is you! I thought I was seeing things! Last time I forgot to wear my glasses, and someone came up and shook my hand, but I didn't even see who it was..."

Ling Qiu didn't know what to say, so she simply said, "I'll go up first."

“Okay.” Wang Zheng smiled, his gaze shifting to the pale, unidentified object behind Ling Qiu.

Even though he wasn't wearing his glasses, at such close range... Ling Qiu secretly broke out in a cold sweat.

"Did you get a new dog? It's so cute!" Wang Zheng exclaimed before continuing to look for his glasses.

Ling Qiu: "Thank you."

She quickly pressed the close button on the elevator. The elevator went up and stopped on the 6th floor. When she opened the door, there was no one outside. Ling Qiu breathed a sigh of relief and quickly dragged the man back home.

The door was a heavy steel door that required iris verification to enter. Such high-end doors were usually only installed by people in the city center. Ling Qiu couldn't afford it, so Lu Lulan sponsored it for free because she was worried about her safety.

When she got home, she first tied the man to the fixed bar counter in the kitchen with a rope, then went inside to change her wet clothes before going out.

The man without legs sat comfortably against the bar. Ling Qiu stared at him for a long time and noticed that he kept touching his stomach, intentionally or unintentionally.

Remembering his earlier request for her help, Ling Qiu wondered if he was hungry. Had he not eaten for days? His complexion didn't look very healthy.

Ling Qiu originally wanted to get him some nutrient solution from the refrigerator, but when she opened the refrigerator, she found that there were only ten bottles of nutrient solution left. One bottle of nutrient solution could last for a day, so after thinking about it, Ling Qiu took a bag of cheap instant noodles instead.

For Ling Qiu, instant noodles are actually a luxury item, not in terms of money, but in terms of taste.

She could only afford nutritional supplements; fresh vegetables, fruits, and grains were all supplied to the company's upper management, which she, as someone at the bottom, couldn't afford. Relatively speaking, a pack of instant noodles costing 5 Man Yuan was enough to occasionally improve her palate.

Ling Qiu walked to the side and made a phone call to Lu Lulan.

"What's wrong? Is there something you need to talk to me about?" Lululan answered carefully, and she didn't turn on her hologram. She explained, "My company is in a meeting."

Lululan works at the great Noah Corporation as a receptionist, and her salary is quite considerable for Ling Qiu.

“…Oh.” Ling Qiu didn’t know what company meetings were like. “I’ll hang up now. Nothing much, just letting you know I’m safe.”

She had just abruptly hung up the phone on alert, which might worry Lululan. Moreover, Ling Qiu felt that Lululan must have seen that strange thing; it was right behind her, so close.

Lululan didn't mention hanging up, but continued chatting with her: "Why did you say you were safe? Did something happen to you?"

Ling Qiu paused, then asked in confusion, "Didn't you see it just now?"

"What did you see?" Lululan's voice sounded puzzled. "Didn't you tell me you were almost home before you hung up?"

...?

Ling Qiu knew, of course, that she hadn't said those words. She was clearly on high alert at the time, and she hung up the phone hastily.

"...So, you didn't see someone following me?" Ling Qiu asked.

"Huh?!?!" Lululan exclaimed in surprise, "Someone's following you?! Where is he? How are you?"

Before Ling Qiu could even reply, she heard her boss's reprimanding voice coming from Lu Lulan's end, and then the communication was abruptly cut off.

Ling Qiu remained silent. At that time, she was fighting Lululan in holographic mode. Logically speaking, Lululan should not only be able to see her, but also the environment around her. It was impossible for her not to see that someone was following her from behind.

The screen in front of him flashed, displaying a message from Lululan: "And then? What happened? Tell me quickly!"

Ling Qiu typed to her: "He looks like a beggar or a homeless person. I took him home."

“Who are you bringing home? What if they’re bad people? What if they’re perverts?” Lululan replied quickly.

Ling Qiu's gaze was indifferent. She turned to stare at the man on the dining table who was frantically stuffing instant noodles into his mouth. Then her gaze shifted to the man's severed lower limb, and she twisted the corner of her mouth in a smirk.

It doesn't matter, she's not a good person anyway.

She told Lululan, "I think he should be a free man."

"..." Lululan was silent for a while, then didn't say anything more to object. She just told Ling Qiu, "Then remember to contact me anytime, and remember our emergency code, right?"

Free agents are like stray cats wandering around Mante City. Anyone who's unhappy with them can kick them a few times. If they can't escape in time, they might even be brutally killed. Ling Qiu almost had her brain removed last time, but luckily Lululan arrived in time to save her. Since then, the two of them have set up an emergency communication code.

After the code is sent, Ling Qiu's location will be immediately synchronized with Lululan. Fortunately, Ling Qiu has not encountered any danger since the last incident.

"I remember." Ling Qiu sent two words and ended the conversation.

She turned to look at the man. He had finished his instant noodles, and it looked like he had eaten them very cleanly. He was wearing the silver stainless steel pot on his head like a hat, with the pot pressing down his hair and completely covering the upper half of his face. When he saw her turn to look at him, he grinned again.

Ling Qiu: "..."

I don't know why, but I always felt that he was more like a moron than a pervert.

She took the pot down to take a look, expecting there would be a lot of instant noodle residue, but surprisingly the pot was very clean...

It was shiny and gleaming, as if it had never been used.

Did he lick it all over? Ling Qiu felt a chill run down her spine at the thought, and scrubbed the pot even harder.

“Then I’ll call you Anbot.” Ling Qiu put the washed pot aside and said, “I’ll find a suitable time to throw you out. I don’t plan to get a dog right now.”

As she spoke, she took a stronger steel rope from the toolbox and wrapped it tightly around Anbote. After confirming that he couldn't break free, Ling Qiu went into the bathroom to take a shower.

Even while showering, Ling Qiu never took her electric knife out of her sight. Her digital watch was waterproof, so she could wear it while showering. Her house had full-coverage surveillance, and if anyone other than her opened the door, it would immediately sound an alarm. So... there shouldn't be anything to worry about.

The rustling sound was very faint and easily blocked by the sound of water in the bathroom. The bathroom door was filled with steam, so Ling Qiu, standing inside, could not see it.

Unseen, at this very moment, a pair of large hands are groping around outside the bathroom door.

Even though he was separated by a door, even though he was just touching the cold, hard door panel, he seemed to be quite pleased with himself. The corners of his mouth kept turning up, and he kept making soft sounds. It was still that word with the umperatus syllable. With each time he said it, he seemed to get more excited.

The tall, slender man remained seated, not peering into the room, but simply stroking it.