When Zhou Xiaomeng finally made it back to us, she downed an entire glass of beer to calm herself before sticking out her tongue. "Where the heck did these young masters even come from? So disgusting…"

I answered, "Well, the boss of your boss, Wang Dongliang, is called Pillar of the Nation in Heavenblessed. The one who tried to kiss you just now is Lu Chao, son of the president of Shanghai Hanying in real life, or Roaming Dragon in the game. They are the lord and master of the guild Purgatory Mad Dragon. As for that guy playing dice with his girlfriend, his name is Little Piglet. You know him, right? He should be famous enough…"

Zhou Xiaomeng rolled her eyes at me. "I’m only Level 71 in Heavenblessed. I’ve heard of Lu Chen, Lin Yixin, He Yi, Candlelight Shadow, Warsky, Stranger of Three Lifetimes, and I think that’s it. I really haven’t heard of Pillar of the Nation or Roaming Dragon before…"

"Eh, it doesn’t matter. The important thing is that you’re okay…"

"Yeah. Thanks again, Lu Chen. You wanna go for one more?"

"Sure!"

After we toasted to Zhou Xiaomeng’s safety, she said, "Alright, give me your autograph and phone number. They’re the perfect ammo to show off in front of the gaming addicts I call sisters and drive them crazy, heehee~"

I looked around me for a pen, but He Yi fished a signing pen out of her handbag and passed it to me. "Here!"

I was surprised. "You carry a pen with you all the time, Eve?"

"Of course. It’s for signing contracts."

"..."

I looked for a paper next but couldn’t find one anywhere. "I can’t find anything to scribble on besides this tissue. Are you okay with this?"

Zhou Xiaomeng blinked once when suddenly, an evil smirk overcame her features. She pulled up her miniskirt to reveal her delicious thighs and pointed at it. "It’s fine, you can sign here instead. Okay? Okay!"

My mouth twitched. "I can see your pink undies!"

Beside me, Lin Yixin clenched her fists like she wanted to punch someone. "This is going too far!!!!"

Zhou Ping laughed so hard that tears threatened to slide down her cheeks. "Xiaomeng, please, my bar can’t handle a homicide!"

Zhou Xiaomeng giggled. "Relax, it’s just a joke…"

Me: "..."

These days, any girl who possessed even a tiny bit of street experience was difficult to handle. An inexperienced young lad might find themselves drowning if they weren’t careful.

In the end, Zhou Ping motioned for the bartender to bring us two cards. I signed one for Zhou Xiaomeng, and Zhou Xiaomeng signed one for me. I placed it carefully in my pocket because I didn’t want to crease it before passing it to Beiming Xue.

……

We stayed until 2 am or so, but the number of people in the bar actually increased instead. All those people with excess energy were pouring in to spill their sweat of youth. All I felt was growing fatigue though. It was time to head back to the hotel and catch some sleep!

"Come on, it’s time we return to the hotel…" I said.

"Yeah!"

As Lin Yixin and He Yi nodded, Zhou Xiaomeng asked, "By the way, which hotel are you staying in?"

"Shangri-La Hotel. What’s wrong?"

"Oh, what a wonderful coincidence! I’m staying in Shangri-La as well! Let’s head back together then!"

"Sure."

We rose to our feet and got ready to leave, but a commotion suddenly erupted from a distant booth. There were sounds of loud swearing and even violent thumping noises. Something seemed to be going on in there.

"What’s going on?" I asked.

"Let’s head over and take a look."

"Yeah."

I walked over to the source of the commotion only to discover that it was Purgatory Mad Dragon’s booth. The area was already jam-packed with onlookers, and I saw Little Piglet pointing a broken beer bottle at Roaming Dragon and shouting at the guy. Even more shocking was the blood all over his hands. "Lu Chao, you motherfucker! How did your parents even give birth to a monster like you!?"

I frowned deeply. Despite the dim lighting, I could see that Little Piglet’s face was covered in blood. Not far away from him, a drunken, unconscious Shangguan Wan’er was lying on the sofa, but her clothes were very disheveled. Her miniskirt was half way down her thighs, her black underwear was hanging on one leg. Worst of all, Roaming Dragon was rising next to her while pulling up his pants. His red face suggested that he had a bit too much of a drink, but he possessed enough sobriety to smile disdainfully at Little Piglet and say, "I don’t think this is your business, Little Piglet. Who are you to stop me when even Brother Dongliang didn’t say a word about this?"

Blue veins popped across Little Piglet’s face as he roared, "Not my business? NOT MY BUSINESS? The entire Purgatory Mad Dragon knows that Shangguan Wan’er is my woman, and not only did you rape her while I went to the toilet, you’re telling me that it’s JUST THE RULES OF THE GAME? Let’s see if that excuse will fly after I’ve sent you to the king of hell myself, you bastard!"

Little Piglet’s shout left no room for misinterpretation. I could only stare at the scene in complete shock. I had heard stories about youngsters going way overboard while playing their games in the bar, and that it wasn’t even uncommon for a girl to ride three dudes on a "dare". However, that was still consensual sex, and this one could only be described as rape through and through. Clearly, Roaming Dragon was burning up after losing Zhou Xiaomeng, and he decided to vent it by extending his filthy hands to Shangguan Wan’er.

"Little Piglet… calm down, man!" Wang Dongliang shouted.

Little Piglet knocked Lu Chao to the ground with just one punch to the chest. He then shouted at his employer, "Wang Dongliang, you coward! This sonuvabitch raped your player right in front of your face, and you just let him? You absolute coward!"

Wang Dongliang said with an ugly expression, "Do you have to react like this? It’s just one woman!"

Little Piglet lifted Shangguan Wan’er into his arms and returned her attire to normal. Some of his blood became smeared across her legs as a result. He replied, "I may be a greedy asshole, but I would never betray my country, and I would never betray my woman. You’d do this to us after everything we’ve done for you? Very well. I swear on my life that I will annihilate your Purgatory Mad Dragon. You too, Lu Chao. I will destroy you eventually!"

He sneered while rising to his feet with Shangguan Wan’er in his arms, "I know you have a good family. I know if I call the cops now and accuse you of rape, all I’ll get is some corrupt policemen bullshitting to my face and scrubbing your criminal record clean afterward. That’s fine. I like taking revenge my own way anyway. I’ll make you lose everything. It’s time you pay your penance for all the women you’ve toyed with anyway!"

As Little Piglet turned away to take his leave, he came face to face with me. For a time, neither of us could say anything.

"Little Piglet, you…"

"I envy you now, Lu Chen. You were right. A man shouldn’t just live for money. You are a good man, but I chose the wrong person to follow. Goodbye!"

……

I watched as Little Piglet left with Shangguan Wan’er. I wanted to console him, but there was literally nothing I could’ve said that would make him feel better. This was literally the worst thing that could happen to any man.

"C-cops, call the cops! Don’t let him escape!" Lu Chao yelled drunkenly.

I walked up to the fucker and kicked him in the face. "What for? To take you to jail for rape?!"

Lin Yixin dragged me away before I could do worse. "Come on, Little Cheat…"

A short distance away, Profound Puff abruptly smashed the beer bottle he was holding and muttered seemingly to himself, "A man’s lower half is an original sin, man. Shit, shit! We lost Little Piglet and Shangguan Wan’er. How the fuck is Purgatory Mad Dragon going to conquer the world with a couple million low-level players? Shit!"

Profound Puff raised his leg as if he wanted to kick Roaming Dragon, but the latter suddenly raised his head and glared hatefully. "Are you going to hit me too, Zhao Yufeng?"

Caught off-guard, Profound Puff withdrew his leg and muttered, "I was just stretching my leg is all…"

"Coward!"

Profound Puff kicked Roaming Dragon hard and shouted, "The fuck you just called me?"

It was chaos. Inconstant, Iron Pardon and Profound Puff quickly got into a brawl, and all this time Roaming Dragon’s actual woman, Coldmoon Rose, was sleeping in her chair, drunken and half-exposed. Had she been awake, she would’ve been forced to watch her boyfriend raping Shangguan Wan’er with her own eyes. Though, it wasn’t like there was anything she could have done to stop him.

……

Little Piglet was already gone by the time we raced to the streets.

"Where did they go?" Lin Yixin voiced out all our thoughts.

I shook my head. "I don’t know. He probably doesn’t want anyone to know where they’re going."

Zhou Xiaomeng said, "I don’t think he’ll call the cops."

He Yi gazed into the distance and said, "Yeah. This memory alone is going to haunt Shangguan Wan’er for the rest of her life. If Little Piglet truly loves her, he won’t ever mention it for as long as he lives, much less put her through a dialogue with the cops. He will bear all the pain by himself."

Lin Yixin sighed. "I can’t believe this actually happened. Roaming Dragon and Hegemon Palace’s surprise merge had carried them to the Top 5, and they could’ve advanced even further with Little Piglet’s help. After this though? They’ll be lucky if they aren’t history as soon as tomorrow."

"I wouldn’t be so sure about that…" I said.

"Why?"

I looked up as a drizzle began to fall. "Shanghai Shengyi and Shanghai Hanying’s partnership was founded atop billions and billions of capital. Why did you think Wang Dongliang was almost silent from the start until the end? Shangguan Wan’er may be his subordinate, but she is nothing compared to his partnership with Lu Chao. There are no eternal friends, only eternal profit. From the moment Wang Dongliang acquiesced to Shangguan Wan’er’s rape, he had made up his mind to give up on both her and Little Piglet. And so, they left."

Lin Yixin asked, "Is now a good time to recruit Little Piglet?"

He Yi shook her head. "No. Little Piglet is like a wounded animal right now. Friend or foe, he will attack anyone he meets. We should at least wait until he returns to the fray, and who knows, he may yet surprise us. He is an extremely capable man after all."

Lin Yixin smiled and slipped her arm into mine. "What would you have done if you were Little Piglet?"

I clenched my fists and answered in a serious tone devoid of hesitation, "I would have killed Lu Chao."

Lin Yixin: "..."

Beside her, Zhou Xiaomeng giggled. "As expected of the Little Heavenly King."

"Little Piglet actually wanted to kill Lu Chao right there and then. He just knew he wouldn’t succeed because everyone including his own boss would stop him. That was why he ultimately chose to simply leave with Shangguan Wan’er. He’s similar to Candlelight Shadow in that he’s decisive, smart, and capable of forbearance. Purgatory Mad Dragon may have bitten off more than they can chew…"

"Seriously, what a mess this night has been. By the way, what are we gonna do now?"

"We eat some mudbugs and go to bed, duh. Also, who among you are going to service me tonight?" I tossed out a most inflammatory question.

He Yi pouted. "I’m tired…"

Lin Yixin chided me. "So shameless!"

Zhou Xiaomeng pretended to be embarrassed. "I suppose I can…"

Lin Yixin and He Yi: "No way!!"