- Where on earth is Kuroda going to be…

Chóngzi looked around as she walked.

As she turned the corner towards the next shop, a thug punk with torn jeans, necklaces, and dyed golden hair suddenly appeared from behind a utility pole.

"Miss~~~ Haven't seen you before." (Thug A)

The thug approached Chóngzi with a grin, and instinctively, she took two steps back, only to bump into another person unexpectedly.

But this person who got bumped into was not surprised at all that Chóngzi bumped into him.

"Oh, you bumped into me, miss~" (Thug B)

At some point, another thug had already cut off Chóngzi from behind, waiting for her.

"Oh, how come you both didn’t call me when you saw such a cute miss?" (Thug C)

Immediately after, another thug approached, speaking in a strange manner with typical thug lines.

The three of them formed a triangle, surrounding Chóngzi.

The thugs' actions drew the attention of onlookers, but no one stepped forward to stand up for justice.

The shopkeepers nearby pretended not to see, each busying themselves with their own tasks.

Passersby also avoided the situation, not wanting to get involved.

This was a shopping street, the territory of the Hēi Tián gang.

Chóngzi was completely isolated.

"Miss, have some fun with us~?" (Thug A)

The thugs taunted while slowly closing in on Chóngzi, a tactic they were familiar with.

But Chóngzi showed no sign of fear at all.

In fact, she completely ignored them.

Her gaze passed over the thugs' heads, still searching for the figure of a certain person around.

These thugs didn't catch Chóngzi's eye.

"Miss, what are you looking at?" (Thug B)

One of the taller thugs noticed that Chóngzi was looking elsewhere, so he maliciously stood in her way.

At this point, blocking her vision, Chóngzi impatiently sighed.

"If you don't want to die…" (Chóngzi)

But before she could finish her sentence, from out of nowhere, someone suddenly appeared, pushed Thug B aside, and stood in front of Chóngzi.

"Hey, didn't you see she's troubled?" (???)

This person opened his arms as if to protect Chóngzi.

From the back, he looked like a high school boy.

But his stature made Chóngzi vaguely familiar.

His voice, Chóngzi also vaguely recognized.

"Who are you to meddle here in the shopping street? Trying to play the hero and save the beauty?" (Thug B)

The thug B who was pushed away by the mysterious high schooler was very unhappy. He quickly got angry, stepped forward, grabbed the high schooler by the collar, and tried to lift him up.

But the mysterious high schooler remained calm, used his elbow to block the thug's arm, and then twisted it to force the thug's arm in the opposite direction, making Thug B cry out in pain, "Ouch, it hurts, it hurts!" incessantly.

"Gentlemen, can we talk things over? This girl is my classmate. Please give us a break, don't make things difficult for us, alright?" (Mysterious High Schooler)

The mysterious high school student kept talking as he turned around to seek approval from Chongzi.

Little did he know, Chongzi had long gone from behind him.

Nor was he inside the encirclement of the three tough guys.

Chongzi had slipped away at some unknown point.