The two men supported each other, walking slowly beneath the trees lining the road.
Suddenly, the younger thug, Yaozi, stiffened and stopped in his tracks, his gaze fixed on something in the distance.
The man in the tank top noticed the underling supporting him had stopped abruptly. He turned his head in confusion to look at him.
Seeing the younger manās eyes locked on the distance, he followed his gaze.
A young man in his early twenties was carrying two cups of milk tea, walking slowly toward a row of parked shared bikes.
"You got a problem with that guy?" the man in the tank top asked his subordinate.
"..." Yaozi snapped out of it and nodded instinctively. "Boss," he said, "thatās the guy I ran into today. The one who hurt my hand."
As soon as the words left his mouth, Yaozi regretted them.
He knew that in his bossās current state, hearing that the man whoād hurt him was just up ahead, he would definitely go over and teach him a lesson.
And just as heād expected, after hearing what Yaozi said, the man in the tank top immediately pushed his subordinate away, declaring he was going to teach the guy a lesson and get revenge for him.
In his drunken state, the man in the tank top had completely forgotten all the words of caution his subordinate had given him that afternoon.
"Boss, letās just forget it! The Superpower Administration Bureau is cracking down hard right now. We need to lie low and avoid trouble." The more sober of the two, Yaozi, quickly moved to stop the tank-topped man from marching over to start something.
"Get out of my way. You got pushed around, and if I donāt step up for you, I wonāt be able to live with myself as your boss."
The man in the tank top made this self-righteous declaration, then pulled a pack of cigarettes and a lighter from his pocket. He stuck a cigarette in his mouth and lit it.
When Yaozi saw his boss light the cigarette, he knew he was about to make a move, and his heart sank.
*HUFF...*
The man in the tank top took a deep drag from his cigarette, then exhaled a stream of white smoke from his nostrils.
He then raised his right hand. A faint golden Spiritual Light appeared at the tip of his index finger, and the white smoke heād just exhaled stopped drifting away, instead beginning to rapidly converge on his fingertip.
*HUFF...*
Within two or three breaths, all the exhaled white smoke had gathered together, forming a fist-sized ball of smoke.
"Boss, donāt!"
Yaozi watched the ball of smoke hovering over his bossās fingertip grow steadily larger, the anxiety on his face intensifying.
Not far away, a new milk tea shop had a long line of people waiting to buy drinks.
If a fight broke out, a lot of those people in line would definitely look over. If they pulled out their phones and started recording, it would be a disaster.
In reality, the drunk man in the tank top didnāt care that much about getting revenge for his subordinate.
He was just drunk and not thinking clearly, wanting to vent his own aggressive feelings. That was why he was being so persistent, ignoring Yaoziās warnings to go pick a fight.
This was a common state for many drunks; only after sobering up would they regret their actions.
Ignoring the pleas, the man in the tank top smirked at the young man in the distance who had just unlocked a shared bike and was about to leave. He let out a low grunt.
"Go."
The ball of smoke hovering above his finger, which had already more than doubled in size, shot swiftly toward its target.
āFinally got them,ā Lin Li thought. āWhen I pass by Happiness Garden District, Iāll have Su Yue come down and grab one.ā
After waiting in line for over ten minutes, Lin Li had his milk tea. Heād just finished dinner not long ago and couldnāt drink two cups by himself. After a momentās thought, he decided to have Su Yue help him out with one.
*BEEP.*
He took out his phone, scanned the QR code on the shared bike to unlock it, and placed the two cups of milk tea in the basket.
Just as he was about to get on the bike and leave, Lin Li suddenly sensed a Spiritual Energy Wave behind him.
"Huh?!!"
He spun around to see a white ball of smoke, about the size of two fists, flying rapidly toward him.
āWhatās going on?ā
Having survived numerous ambushes by Mutant Beasts in the wilds, Lin Li was quite experienced. He reacted quickly to the sudden attack.
Stomping his left foot, he leaped to his right, dodging the unusual white ball of smoke that had appeared out of nowhere.
*SWOOSH.*
*BANG.*
The ball of smoke missed its target and exploded in mid-air, white smoke billowing outward.
But surprisingly, the dispersing white smoke didnāt dissipate into the air. Instead, it swirled rapidly and began to gather together again.
In less than three seconds, the reformed ball of smoke shot back into the hand of its controller.
Lin Li stared expressionlessly at the two men standing a short distance away.
Yaozi noticed Lin Liās gaze fall on him. His eyes flickered away, not daring to meet Lin Liās.
*Hic...* The man in the tank top who had ambushed Lin Li let out a hiccup. He was slightly surprised that Lin Li had managed to dodge his sneak attack.
Lin Li recognized Yaozi instantly. A grim smile touched his lips. "I was wondering why someone would suddenly attack me. So it was you, coming back for revenge!"
"I..." Yaozi started to explain, but swallowed his words. His bossās action had been a clear ambush; any explanation would be pointless and indefensible.
"Youāre the bastard who bullied my guy and hurt his hand, right?" the man in the tank top demanded, his words muffled by the cigarette dangling from his lips. The white ball of smoke still hovered over his hand.
Even as he spoke, the smoke puffing from his nostrils flew toward the ball hovering over his hand, causing it to grow a little larger.
āSo his awakened Superpower is smoke manipulation...ā Seeing this, Lin Li got a general idea of the manās Superpower. He then replied in a hostile tone, "That was me. What are you going to do about it?"
āThis guy is just begging for a beating, talking to me like that,ā thought the man in the tank top, who had been looking for trouble to begin with. He found Lin Liās retort incredibly arrogant.
So, without waiting for Yaozi to try and stop him, he once again threw the ball of smokeānow two or three times its original sizeāat Lin Li.
*SWOOSH.*
Now the size of a watermelon, the ball of smokeās flight speed had slowed considerably due to its increased volume. Lin Li would obviously not be hit by such a sluggish Superpower attack.
"Boss, stop! The people in line for milk tea have already noticed whatās happening over here. We need to get out of here!"
Seeing his boss launch another Superpower attack at Lin Li, Yaozi grew frantic and quickly tried to persuade him.
"You shut up and stay put! Watch me make him beg for mercy." His temper now flared, the man in the tank top wasnāt about to back down just because of Yaoziās words.
His desire to crush Lin Li was now unshakable.
Facing the enormous ball of smoke rushing toward him, Lin Li simply leaped to the side as he had before, easily dodging the attack.
*BANG.*
The ball of smoke exploded, and a vast white cloud spread out, enveloping an area of several square meters.
Unlike before, the dispersed smoke didnāt gather together and return to its controllerās hand.
Instead, it remained in its dispersed state and rushed swiftly toward Lin Li, who had just dodged the attack.
...