The scene shifted, and where there was once an interface of a smartphone in his sea of consciousness, a common space portal from the fantasy game suddenly appeared. He sent a strand of his mind, mimicking how he used to operate the phone’s function modules, to click on this portal to see what it was all about. After locking onto the target, his sea of consciousness immediately resonated with a series of vibrant light waves, just like preparing to teleport in the real world’s fantasy game. Ding! A menu of options appeared: Enter Game; Learning Mode; Leisure Space. After locking onto the space gate, several menu sub-items appeared above it, continuously switching as his mind lingered. The fluid and dazzling interface was as smooth as ever.
Naturally, he avoided the learning mode, and as for entering the game, he felt some apprehension, fearing another spectacle or having to throw money around, which he was reluctant to do since he wasn’t rich enough to casually throw money at people. What would the leisure space be like? Curiosity got the better of him, so he confirmed his choice. The dazzling menu vanished instantly, and the light on the space gate grew brighter, oscillating in circles. Lin Feng’s sea of consciousness rumbled, feeling as if his soul was about to leave his body, losing all external sensory perception. He struggled to steady his mind, suppressing his fear. The light grew brighter, almost on the verge of successful transmission. However, just as the space gate seemed to reach its critical moment, it suddenly stopped and returned to its initial, motionless state. Then, a system prompt appeared in his sea of consciousness: “Player Ghost Hand Merciless, due to your current karma value not meeting the transmission requirements, this teleportation attempt has failed. Please work on accumulating more good karma!”
“Damn it! Accumulate karma? Again with the karma?! What’s wrong with my karma?” Lin Feng was utterly confused and couldn’t help but shout out loud.
“Accumulate karma? You really should accumulate some, listen to me, can you understand what I’m saying? You can control people’s minds with your supernatural powers, just like that little demon Lan Yu, right? But why did you risk harming people at the Lan residence? Can you even afford to mess with the Lans? And that crazy old man, did he offer to give you all his property because you controlled him with your powers? Is this your way of getting back at Lan Yu? Hey, are you even listening to me?”
“Uh, what?” Lin Feng, still reeling from the fear, only then realized that Xu Xiaoman had been talking to him the whole time. “What the hell, how could I forget there was someone next to me? She didn’t notice anything strange, did she?”
“Why would you take such risks with your powers? Aren’t you afraid of getting caught again?”
“Super… what powers? Stop playing dumb, and what about your other identity, Ghost Hand Merciless, that super hacker in the online world, aren’t you scared of getting caught doing those things? You’re really crazy, you know that? What are you doing all this for? To become famous?” Xu Xiaoman was growing impatient as she tried to speak slowly and gently, feeling a bit bored. Every time they touched on a crucial topic, the guy on the bed would act dumb, either sighing deeply as if pondering something profound or putting on a mysterious face as if lost in thought. She was already struggling to contain her irritation. When she brought up the subject related to superpowers again, only to have Lin Feng dodge it once more, and saw him automatically switch back into his contemplative mode, Xu Xiaoman was finally annoyed. “I can’t be bothered with you!” she said angrily, brushing her sleeve and storming out of the hospital room.
“Oh, she left!” Lin Feng wasn’t sure if Xu Xiaoman’s anger was real or feigned, nor did he know if she had uncovered his true secret. Watching her leave in a huff made him feel uneasy. Since Niu Niu suddenly appeared in his consciousness, Lin Feng’s emotions had been in a mystical state, half asleep, half awake. Although he listened to Xu Xiaoman’s words, they seemed to morph into a hypnotic, demonic sound due to his unique state. He was completely oblivious to Xu Xiaoman’s emotional shifts; naturally, he was unaware that his behavior had angered her enough to leave.
However, when Xu Xiaoman, in her fury, mentioned something about accumulating good karma, Lin Feng quickly snapped back to reality. This reaction was fortunate because it prevented any accidental exposure of Niu Niu’s secret inside him due to a lapse from not having enough good karma to enter the leisure space. This was his luck. But with Xu Xiaoman gone, the hospital room suddenly fell silent. Lin Feng, in his semi-conscious state, glanced around the empty room, where everything was pale, making his thoughts drift even more in the chaotic sea of consciousness.
Unsurprisingly, his mind slipped back into deep thought, replaying the scene of the assault at the Lan residence. “I was injured, badly, and unconscious for a day and a night. My head is so foggy,” he thought, recalling the adversary he had unwittingly provoked—the wealthiest Lan family in Yushan. His already gloomy mood grew darker. Especially after unknowingly causing casualties in the Lan family and remembering the hateful glare from Lan Jianren, he knew this matter wouldn’t end well.
Clearly, whether or not he actually intended to inherit the billions from the mad old man Lan Suoluo, Lan Jianren would be more than happy to see him completely vanish from this world. As the saying goes, “Men die for wealth, as birds do for food.” This has been true since ancient times. With a wealth of a hundred billion dollars, and the vast financial power behind the Lan family of Yushan, it was a myth beyond myths that the mad old man Lan Suoluo could transfer all his wealth to him without even batting an eye! Lin Feng was overwhelmed by the thought. If all this were true, if the mad old man wasn’t actually insane, such a fortune would not only allow a fish to turn over, but even a fish skeleton, if not entirely dead, would struggle to come back to life and crush any adversary daring to threaten its interests.
Lan Jianren, as the legitimate heir of the Lan family, would never willingly give up such a vast fortune. Lin Feng would never forget the poisonous look Lan Jianren gave him when he was coughing up blood out of anger. Thinking of this, he felt anxious. “I wonder how the old man Lan is doing now! Right, Sister Xiaoman mentioned that Lawyer Cai visited our home. Could he really be executing the mad old man’s commission regarding the property transfer? Damn, I forgot to ask if that bastard Lan Jianren has been harassing my mom. He must have, right? What a headache! How frustrating!” Lin Feng had already formed a definitive opinion about Lan Jianren, and he knew that after this incident, despite their brief encounter, they were now in a deadly feud.
To put it bluntly, Lan Jianren wanted him dead! And he, in turn, could only retaliate. Lin Feng certainly didn’t want to die, but he wasn’t so conceited to think he could take on the entire entrenched Lan family with his current strength. Especially after witnessing their private armed forces, he was more concerned about being crushed in his confrontation with this behemoth. He wasn’t an arrogant person, but if pushed to the edge, he believed he could make any opponent pay the price.
