Han Su took a low, steadying breath. "Hold on."

  He turned to face the man in the baseball cap. Behind his sunglasses, his expression was unreadable. "A rather... unrestrained friend of mine once told me that hurting people is against the law. Especially when it's caught on camera."

  The two men blocking his path, one in front and one behind, simply grinned silently, as if Han Su had just told a hilarious joke.

  The man sitting in the chair with the baseball cap chuckled. "What are you thinking, kid? We're not here to hurt anyone. We just want you to cooperate with our investigation."

  "At worst, it might look like you got a bit too emotional, had a little misunderstanding and a scuffle with my associates here. This place has no cameras, so let's not say anything...

  inaccurate."

  "Besides, I think it would be in your best interest to cooperate."

  "Maybe you don't know this yet, but someone has posted a bounty for information on your kidnapping case on the Black Table."

  "The amount... is a full three million."

  He paused at the number, his narrowed eyes glinting with greed. "We won't be the only ones coming to find you. And we're probably the most... reasonable ones you'll meet."

  "Whatever you're hiding, you willtalk eventually."

  "Heh, kidnapped by monsters... as if anyone would believe that. What normal person would buy such nonsense?"

  "Why don't you just tell us what really happened back then? We can resolve this amicably, once and for all. It would be for the best, really..."

  "..."

  "Three million?"

  Hearing this, Han Su frowned slightly. A Black Table bounty?

  On this particular life path, he existed on the fringes of society, unaware of many of Qinggang City's darker curiosities.

  But in that other life, the one where he played the son of a wealthy family, he had become intimately familiar with the manners, lifestyles, and... methods of the upper echelons.

  Take this 'Black Table,' for instance. It was a rather shady website, one that even government decrees had failed to shut down.

  It frequently hosted clandestine private commissions, facilitating under-the-table deals. The services offered ranged from investigations and hires to smuggling and... less savory activities.

  Many private eyes, bounty hunters, and outlaws made their living by taking jobs or hunting bounties posted on that site.

  But this kidnapping case was a ten-year-old story to everyone else. Even the newspapers had lost interest in rehashing such stale gossip. Why would someone suddenly post such a high bounty?

  The three men surrounding him saw the change in Han Su's expression and knew he grasped the severity. They were in no rush now.

  With a slight nod, the two flanking him gestured for Han Su to sit back down.

  'If anyone would believe what I have to say, I'd claim that three-million bounty myself...'

  Han Su sighed inwardly. He looked up at them, a polite smile appearing on his face. "Smoking isn't allowed in the library."

  "Huh?"

  All three men were taken aback, especially the one with the cigarette dangling from his lips.

  Before they could react, Han Su suddenly swung his backpack into the face of the muscular man in front of him.

  In the same motion, he spun around and slapped the cigarette-smoking man hard across the face.

  "Hey! What the—?"

  The man was stunned, the knife in his hand held limply in mid-air, unsure what to do.

  Weren't we just hired muscle for a two-hundred-buck intimidation job? Since when did this involve getting physical?

  Before the thought could fully form, Han Su pressed his advantage. Following the slap, he stepped forward, grabbed the arm holding the knife, and wrenched it backward.

  A sharp crackechoed.

  The man screamed. The knife clattered to the floor and was promptly kicked under a bookshelf by Han Su.

  By the time Han Su turned back, the muscular man had shoved the backpack aside, a vicious glint in his eyes as he strode forward.

  He pushed off with his back foot, his fist shooting forward in a direct strike. His movements were fierce and swift, clearly someone with professional training, even possessing the stance of a seasoned fighter.

  What he didn't expect was that Han Su's expression didn't waver in the face of his incoming fist.

  His single remaining good eye watched coldly as the man entered striking range. Only then did Han Su shift his stance slightly, dodging the punch while his right hand, thumb splayed from the other four fingers, shot forward in a vicious strike aimed at the man's throat.

  The man was somewhat taken aback by Han Su's swift reaction, hurriedly trying to pull back. But Han Su stuck to him like a shadow.

  He grabbed the man's arm, drove a knee into his groin, spun around, and heaved with his shoulder against the elbow.

  Another sharp crackechoed.

  "Aaargh—!"

  The muscular man's howl of pain was choked in his throat. Veins bulged on his forehead as he stumbled backward, clutching his broken arm, his legs clamping tightly together.

  Han Su, meanwhile, acted as if nothing had happened. He calmly picked up his backpack from the floor.

  To others, he might seem studious and refined. But years of being trapped in the Dark Fortress, searching for escape routes under immense pressure, had honed in him an extraordinary spatial awareness and reflexes.

  Even boxing coaches had remarked he was a natural fighter.

  Furthermore, to ensure his survival whenever he was kidnapped back, the present-day Han Su had maintained a strict training regimen. After all, when he returned to the fortress, he was trapped in a ten-year-old's body with limited physical strength.

  But his reaction speed and mastery of force application often allowed him to execute far more efficient actions.

  Moreover, the torment of the Dark Fortress had granted Han Su many different lives.

  Blind, disfigured, crippled, afflicted with serious illness... This made him especially adept at leveraging whatever functional parts of his body he still possessed.

  And of course, the most important point: no matter how fierce people in the real world might act, they were nothing compared to those monsters.

  I get chased around shrieking and scrambling by monsters in that fortress every damn day. Did you really think you could push me around here?

  Slinging his backpack over his shoulder, Han Su turned his gaze to the man in the baseball cap. He took two steps closer.

  "Give me your arm."

  The man in the cap had lost all trace of his earlier smug smile. Shock and horror churned in his eyes.

  That other guy, the one hired for a couple hundred bucks, was one thing. But the other one cost over five thousand! He was the regular enforcer for this private investigation gig. How had this unassuming student taken them both down so effortlessly, and in mere seconds?

  Sweat beaded on his forehead. He forced a strained smile. "L-little brother, there's no need for this, right? Hurting people is against the law..."

  "You said there were no cameras here."

  Han Su wasted no more words. He raised a hand as if to strike. Instinctively, the man raised his arm to block, only to have it seized in an iron grip. His body went rigid.

  Han Su looked at him with a faint, unsettling smile. "Since you're a private investigator, you should understand one thing: in this city, there are basically two kinds of people you don't mess with."

  "One is the rich. You can't afford to cross them."

  "The other is people like me, who have damn near nothing left to lose..."

  "..."

  "Wait, hold on—"

  Cold sweat of panic poured down the man's face. "You got into Qinggang University! You have a bright future ahead of you—"

  "But I'm pissed off every single day."

  Amidst the man's cries, Han Su had already grabbed his arm and slammed it down hard onto the edge of the table.

  Once. Twice. A third time.

  On the third impact, a third sickening crackcame from the man's arm, followed by a piercing, agonized scream.

  "GAAAH—!"

  The baseball cap flew off, revealing a man with slicked-back hair.

  Only then did Han Su release his arm. He straightened up, feeling remarkably refreshed. He rummaged around, found the paper with the symbol he'd drawn earlier for the long-haired female student, thought for a moment, and traced over it, making it more detailed.

  He slapped the paper down in front of the slick-haired man, made a "shush" gesture, and said, "I won't let you leave empty-handed. You wanted clues? This symbol is a clue. Go investigate it."

  "I'll give you thirty million if you actually manage to find something!"

  "..."

  After saying this, without another word, he left the library directly.

  While these private investigators and bounty hunters lurking at the bottom of society usually lack any real skill, Han Su still didn't mind casting a wider net. What if they actually got lucky and uncovered something?

  Of course, he didn't have thirty million himself.

  "Who suddenly posted this bounty? And who has the audacity to offer three million all at once?"

  After leaving the library, Han Su reined in his emotions a bit. Walking toward the bus stop, his mind was still racing.

  This was an era where twenty thousand could buy a person's life, and ten thousand could get someone's leg broken or leave them disabled. Three million was already an enormous sum.

  But the key issue was, for him, although this kidnapping case still clung to him like a shadow, for everyone else, it was actually a ten-year-old cold case.

  Why would someone suddenly post such a high bounty now?

  His "present" was unstable. This also meant Han Su had long stopped paying much attention to the events of his current life.

  The only thing he could think of now was that this bounty would likely bring him a lot of trouble again, but he didn't care. After all, within two weeks at most, he would be dragged back to the past. Whether he could escape back was still uncertain!

  Thinking this, Han Su arrived at the bus stop outside and silently pulled up his collar to cover part of his face.

  "Mr. Han..."

  But just as Han Su was patiently waiting for the bus to arrive, a figure appeared in front of him.

  Looking up, he saw a very thin man wearing a black raincoat, only a scruffy, bearded face visible.

  He looked to be only in his thirties, but there was a weariness between his brows. He carried a silver briefcase covered in dust, like a traveler who hadn't been home in a long time.

  What a day this is, with people seeking me out one after another...

  Han Su was already quite displeased, but since there were cameras here, he still looked at the man politely, his eyes narrowing slightly. "May I ask who you are..."

  "Song Chushi. We've met before."