Apocalyptic Era: Starting from picking up a Bishoujo
Chapter 102 - 99 Shadow Swapping Monster 3

Chapter 102: 99 Shadow Swapping Monster 3

"From my perspective, the very existence of such a pleasure quarter is an undeniable evil and darkness," Zhu Shi expressed his opinion.

And I asked Changan, "What did you discover?"

"Each time I entered that nightclub, I was focused on Jinyu, so I didn’t really look around much at first. But as I visited more often, I noticed something. There were many young girls there — that fact alone wasn’t unusual, as it’s typically a young person’s game. At first, I thought girls like Jinyu, who are college-aged, were young enough, but I realized..." Changan hesitated and then said, "The youngest ones there looked even seven to eight years younger than Jinyu."

"What?" Zhu Shi was shocked and couldn’t help but scrutinize Jinyu’s face.

Jinyu appeared to be around the same age as Zhu Shi and me, no more than twenty. If there were those even seven to eight years younger than her, that would mean...

Changan didn’t go into detail about the specific duties of those young girls in the nightclub, and he continued with a very gloomy expression.

"Although I’m not a gentleman who always talks about morality, that sort of thing absolutely crosses my line," he said in a deep voice, "Initially my goal was just to persuade Jinyu to give up her revenge plan. After discovering that, my objective expanded — I wanted to destroy that nightclub."

"That place is not so easily destroyed, I advise you to abandon such thoughts," Jinyu glanced at him, "You must be well aware of the wealthy clients frequenting there. Once a problem arises, it differs greatly in nature from issues at other pleasure quarters. Hence, their backing is incredibly strong, not something that can be taken down through normal means."

"How to know without trying? As long as the evidence I secretly gather is complete enough and reported to a high enough level, I refuse to believe it won’t have any effect," Changan remained resolute, then turned to me and said, "Two days ago I was attacked, kidnapped, and beaten nearly to death. The first thing I thought of was that nightclub."

"Do you think that your covert evidence-gathering was discovered by them, which is why your life was targeted?" I smoothed out the logic.

In other words, it’s possible the operators of the nightclub are monsters, or that a monster is their backer. Therefore, when Changan endangered the nightclub, the monster sent its Shadow Clones to eliminate the threat in the cradle. Why they didn’t simply kill Changan outright but instead chose to brutally beat him was unclear.

On this basis, there were still inconsistencies, and I asked, "Then why didn’t you tell me the truth last time?"

"I was afraid you would kill someone," Changan gave this answer, leaving me even more confused.

"I don’t understand. Regardless of the possibility that the nightclub operators and their supporters might be the masterminds threatening your personal safety, just the acts you’ve discovered they’ve committed are already evil enough. Do you think their crimes do not deserve death?" Although I felt I had no position to judge others’ evil, I said it anyway, "Or do you think they must be judged by the law, that individuals have no right to decide others’ life and death? I didn’t realize you had a Batman side."

"It’s not because of those reasons," he said complexly, "If you want me to explain specifically, I am also unsure how to express it to you, only..."

"Only?" I asked.

"When you reacted, it was just too calm," he said, "Later when I realized things were different from what I had thought, I truly breathed a sigh of relief."

It took me a moment to realize, by "that time," he meant two days ago when I had killed those two Shadow Clones in front of him.

Initially, I didn’t know those Shadow Clones weren’t human, yet I still killed them. Although it was an accident, my heart did not feel much turmoil.

But Changan seemed to see it differently.

After realizing they weren’t human, he felt like he finally let go of a heavy stone in his heart.

"Just because of such a trivial reason..." I was astounded.

Facing his complex gaze, I truly couldn’t empathize with his thoughts and found his remarks quite inappropriate.

It felt like in a story filled with bloody and brutal magical battles, a character who seemed to have walked out of an everyday urban tale suddenly appeared; studying how mutual harm between people can affect one’s mental health, why people should not harm others, and the like. We were simply not on the same wavelength.

Such finely detailed discussion should stay in those everyday urban tales where even a fracture from falling off a bicycle is a big deal—here, even if a few people randomly died, it wouldn’t be strange.

After having that realization, I instead became aware of the root of the problem. Indeed, just as the values suited to magical battle stories differ from those suited to everyday urban stories, Mazao and Zhu Shi’s world is inherently different from Changan’s world.

I couldn’t expect Changan to judge things based on my values. From his perspective, it would be astonishingly irresponsible for a friend to be so nonchalant about murder. This wasn’t something that could just be brushed off with a, "You really are bold."

I turned to look at Zhu Shi, and found that she was also looking at me.

Then she turned and said to Changan, "So, what next? If you think that nightclub is behind the attack on you, why did we see you coming out of there earlier? What did you do inside, and weren’t you afraid they would attack you again?"

"I planned to report the evidence I had already gathered directly to the relevant authorities, and before that, I wanted to get Jinyu out," Changan candidly replied. "As for being attacked again..."

"Though I don’t quite understand what you were discussing just now, they wouldn’t dare make a move on a guest in public. If they were to do anything, it would be done secretly, while maintaining a facade of harmony. Otherwise, who would want to visit them?" Jinyu said.

"That’s part of the reason, but mainly I realized that they seem to be very wary of me. Probably because their attempt on me two days ago failed, and they can’t gauge my abilities. I also took this chance to bluff a bit and get Jinyu out first," explained Changan. "However, since you coincidentally met me outside the club, they might have noticed us already. So, after thinking it over, I felt it was better to be honest with you all."

"You should have been honest with us from the beginning. Even if you wanted to get someone out first, you could have asked us for help. If you didn’t want to consult Zhuang Cheng, then you could have come to me. Whose habit is it to try to handle problems alone?" Zhu Shi said reproachfully.

Changan seemed to glance at me inadvertently. Wait, was it my fault?

"I see..." Mazao suddenly spoke, "Then, the person leaning by the door eavesdropping on our conversation, is he from that nightclub too?"

"What?" Both Changan and Jinyu exclaimed in surprise, while Zhu Shi remained unfazed.

I planned to light a "Firefly" to sense if there really was someone outside. But before I could do so, the door to the private room was pushed open, and a man in his thirties or forties, dressed in a black suit, strode in confidently.

"A sharp young lady! Now that I’ve been exposed, there’s nothing I can do. If you had pretended not to know, I would have let you breathe a bit longer," he said in a deep voice, then turned to Jinyu, "Judging by your tone just now, you’re really on Zhu Changan’s side, aren’t you? I wondered how Zhu Changan could navigate so accurately while gathering clues in the club; you must have been supporting him in secret. The boss valued you so much, yet you let her down."

"Hmph..." Jinyu showed a hint of fear but still tried to remain composed.

Zhu Shi, unflinching, asked, "Did the nightclub owner allow my brother to take Jinyu outside to see if Jinyu was the mole?"

"It was just a secondary concern. The main thing was to follow Zhu Changan afterwards to test his limits," the man in the black suit said with a confidence that suggested he controlled everything. He even casually closed the door and looked back at Changan, "The boss was still wary of whether you had any hidden powers, but you just revealed your weaknesses. It seems your escape two days ago was due to other factors, not your own strength. And since you’ve only met these people outside by chance, it means they’re not your backup. You’re finished."

"Who is this man?" I asked Jinyu.

"He’s the boss’s most trusted assistant," Jinyu finally couldn’t hide his fear, "I heard he used to be a professional killer, and now he’s responsible for the boss’s security. In the past, some outsiders who tried to interfere with the nightclub’s operations disappeared from the mortal world, rumored to be killed by him."

"Do you still have the leisure to chat?" the man in the black suit scoffed, "Or do you think that just because you have five people on your side, you don’t need to be afraid of me alone? I don’t even need weapons to deal with you. But fine, to crush your hopes, let me show you something you’ve never imagined in your entire lives..."

Saying so, he snapped his fingers, and a very noticeable change immediately occurred in the room. Shadows, like ink seeping out of wallpaper, flowed out from every nook and cranny of the room, accumulating into a dark and deep pool.

And from that pool crawled one monster after another, resembling demons from hell.

These were all Shadow Clones of the Shadow Swapping Monster.

Jinyu, witnessing this nightmarish scene, began to tremble all over. Changan also reflexively became very tense.

"How about that? These demons are soldiers bestowed to me by my boss’s partner. They now follow my commands," the man in the black suit spread his arms wide, displaying a confident smile as if he were an emperor with the power of life and death, "This is power that transcends mundane understanding. If you don’t want the demons to start nibbling away at your fingers and toes, just obediently follow my instructions..."

"...Huh? You three, what’s with those expressions? Why are you looking at me like that?"

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