"Bet you didn't expect this - I can actually teleport."

Liu Zheng thought for a moment before speaking.

"Is that so?"

The tree root crossed dozens of meters to reach before him, swaying slightly.

"If I give you a big slap right now and you can dodge it, then I'll believe you."

The plane tree said with a cold laugh.

"Alright then, actually someone transported me out."

He promptly admitted defeat.

"Who?"

The plane tree was shocked.

Someone it couldn't fish out had actually been rescued by another being.

This street couldn't tolerate such an overwhelmingly powerful existence!

"I don't know their true identity, but their appearance was that of a red ghost."

Liu Zheng replied.

After all, Rust never said he couldn't tell others.

"Never heard of it." Follow current novels on NoveI~Fire.net

The plane tree thought for a moment before speaking.

"If you haven't heard of it then forget it. By the way, I think I encountered the Fire Mage down there too."

He changed the subject.

"Mon dieu!"

The plane tree was so frightened its bark stood on end.

"Where is he?! Where is he?!"

It screamed shrilly.

"He left. After he cleaved through the sewer's floodwaters and hurricane, he just departed."

"Oh, that's good, that's good then."

The plane tree patted its own trunk.

"I thought my tree life had reached its end."

It let out a long sigh of relief.

"Don't worry, I think he looked quite well-fed, probably doesn't need to chop you up for firewood to cook a meal."

Liu Zheng comforted.

"Gloating idiot human."

The plane tree glared at him.

"So that's who caused such a huge commotion. If it's the Fire Mage, then that explains everything."

"Too bad you locked me in that tree cage - I didn't get to see the grand spectacle, nor could I strike up a conversation with him."

Liu Zheng said regretfully.

"If I hadn't locked you up, you'd have become sewer waste by now. You should learn gratitude, idiot human."

"Fine, fine, thank you for your assistance, noble Lord Delago."

To show sincerity, he even used his tentacle to touch his left chest while giving a slight bow.

"Hmph, at least you know your place."

The plane tree withdrew its roots.

If this human dared to spout nonsense again, it wouldn't mind letting him experience a rollercoaster ride without the rollercoaster.

"By the way, I caught many fish from the sewer. Do you want any?"

Liu Zheng asked.

"Any of that megamouth whale?"

"None of that, just these."

He displayed the net bag filled with fish.

"Don't want them. I've long grown tired of eating these."

The plane tree expressed no interest.

As the street bully of this block, was there anything it couldn't eat - things flying in the sky, things dug from the ground, or things swimming in the sewers?

What it mainly lacked was drinks.

After all, sewer wastewater nourished people well.

As everyone knew, nutritious beverages often didn't taste good.

"Alright then, can you watch these for me? I'll pick them up on my return trip."

Liu Zheng said.

Dragging the net bag while delivering takeout would be too cumbersome - what if it triggered the angler-specific "get lost after catching a big fish" mechanism?

Moreover, if he got into fights along the way and damaged the fish, that wouldn't be good either.

Even without having sold fish before, he knew that premium and substandard products were completely different price categories.

"Why should I? I won't watch them."

The plane tree flatly refused.

"One bottle of beverage."

"Just that?"

The plane tree cast a contemptuous look.

"I'll watch them for at most one hour. After that, I'll feed them to the birds."

"Deal."

One hour round trip was completely sufficient.

Liu Zheng thought for a moment, then selected a relatively good-looking fish from the net bag to take with him.

"Leaving."

He bid farewell and headed toward Green Osmanthus Garden · Crazy City.

He had already delivered to this residential community three times, so he knew the route like the back of his hand.

Never mind not needing to check a map - with Liu Zheng's current memory, he could reach it blindfolded.

Soon, he arrived at the community entrance.

Familiar face, familiar white hair.

The prematurely white-haired security guard spotted Liu Zheng from afar and immediately threw away his cigarette before hiding inside the security booth.

"Lucky you hid quickly."

He gave a cold smile.

He still hadn't settled the score from last time's waist-cutting incident.

If he got the chance, he would definitely test his blades on this guy to see how high his ingredient grade was.

Passing by the security booth, the prematurely white-haired guard made a throat-slitting gesture toward Liu Zheng.

Liu Zheng responded with two thick blobs of phlegm.

One spat on the security booth's door, the other at the entrance.

"You grandson, your Grandpa Liu Zheng is waiting for you."

He said viciously.

The prematurely white-haired guard paused momentarily, sensing that this time Liu Zheng didn't seem to be bluffing.

But he didn't appear to have grown stronger either - could he have some hidden hole cards?

The guard watched Liu Zheng's retreating figure with suspicion and uncertainty until he disappeared deep into the community.

"Open up, food delivery."

Liu Zheng knocked on the security door.

"Coming, coming!"

Hurried footsteps sounded from inside the door.

It seemed like every time he came to deliver food, the Novelist was always in such a rush.

Was this woman engaged in some unspeakable activities?

Like eating people or something.

Oh right, he forgot - in this world, eating people seemed to comply with Zhou rituals.

Never mind then.

"Thank you for your hard work, Senior."

The moment the door opened, the Novelist gave a deep bow.

Today she wasn't wearing a towel but rather home clothes.

But somehow, some people always seemed to experience more gravitational pull than others.

"Huh? This isn't what I ordered."

The Novelist noticed the fish in Liu Zheng's hand and said curiously.

"This is something I caught along the way. It looked quite presentable, so I brought it for you."

He said.

"Ah, how could I possibly accept this?"

The Novelist blushed.

"Don't misunderstand - I just think we might become long-term trading partners, so I want to maintain our relationship."

Liu Zheng emphasized.

"Mhmm, don't worry Senior, I have no interest in you beyond the physical."

The Novelist said.

So you really do want to eat me and inherit my talents, is that it?

He rolled his eyes internally.

After giving both the fish and the takeout to the Novelist, Liu Zheng prepared to leave.

"Wait a moment, Senior. Could I trouble you to help me with one more thing?"

The Novelist called out to stop him.

"What is it?"

He turned around.

"Could you help me take the trash down?"

The Novelist said apologetically.

"Uh, alright then."

Liu Zheng said somewhat reluctantly.

Actually, he had a slight cleanliness obsession, particularly disgusted by household garbage, snot, saliva, and similar things.

At restaurants and in sewers it was unavoidable, but this counted as extra work.

However, since the Novelist had helped him several times already, he couldn't bring himself to refuse.

Come to think of it, when Liu Zheng was extremely busy writing manuscripts in the real world, he'd also asked delivery personnel to help throw out trash.

Thirty years east of the river, thirty years west of the river - how times change.

"Long live the Senior!"

The Novelist cheered happily, then skipped and bounced back to her room.

Liu Zheng smiled slightly.

Setting aside how this woman always coveted his body and talents, just considering her appearance and mannerisms, she was quite adorable.

But soon, Liu Zheng's smile froze.

Because the trash the Novelist dragged out was a pile of dismembered body parts.

From head to toe, every section was precisely divided according to anatomical standards.

And judging by the mirror-smooth cut surfaces, the Novelist had likely done this manually with her own hands.

"The person who usually helps me with trash can't make it anymore, so I had to trouble you, Senior."

The Novelist said with lowered head, her tone gentle.

Like a blood lotus flower, shy and delicate against the fishy wind.