Chapter 326: Testing the Skills
"Are you Faun? Hand over the Pink Lion," John said, looking down at the agonized man sprawled on the sofa.
"Yeah~ be a good boy and listen, or I'll feed you to Little Five," Jenny added, her eyes wandering curiously around the room.
Faun stared at the pair in disbelief—an adult man and a little girl. How on earth had they reached the fifth floor?
"You guys..." While shocked by their presence, Faun was mentally cursing his subordinates. People had made it all the way up here without a single warning; they were all useless.
"Answer us," John demanded. He had no interest in chatting with a gang leader; he intended to drop him off at the police station once this was over.
"Look, everyone... it's just a diamond. Is it really worth all this? How about this: I'll give you twenty million dollars! What do you say?" As he spoke, Faun's finger surreptitiously pressed a hidden button nearby.
It was a silent alarm. In a few moments, the men downstairs would come swarming up. However, such a clumsy move couldn't escape the eyes of two Shadow Generals.
"Truly dishonest." John took a step forward and delivered a direct, powerful kick to Faun's midsection.
The impact sent Faun flying off the sofa, crashing into the floor on the other side of the room. The wound on his backside tore open again, and blood began to spray out like a broken faucet.
"Ah! My ass!" Faun screamed about his rear, but his hands instinctively clutched his stomach where John had kicked him.
"Now, are you ready to be honest? If I don't kill you, you're going to bleed to death anyway," John said coldly. He didn't care about the life of this piece of trash.
Jenny tsk-tsked, shaking her head. She began skipping around the room to explore, summoning two small Shadow Eaters to wander with her.
Outside the Door
Two subordinates arrived, ready to burst in, but they were suddenly torn in half by two tall, gaunt Razor Shadow Ninjas. After the deed was done, the ninjas melted back into the shadows, waiting for the next prey to stumble into the trap.
Back in the Room
Faun's face and lips were turning pale. Cold sweat broke out across his skin, and his breathing became shallow and rapid—classic signs of hypovolemic shock. If the bleeding didn't stop soon, he would be dead. He didn't want to be the first gang boss in history to die from a bleeding backside; it was far too embarrassing.
"I'll talk! On the second shelf of the bookcase... there's a copy of Robinson Crusoe! Pull it out, and the Lion will appear!" Faun had lost his will to play games. He would rather be shot by John than die in this pathetic manner.
"Is it this one?!" Jenny happened to be standing by the shelf. She pointed to a book above her head with a grin.
"Yes... someone... please stop the bleeding..." Faun croaked. He was at death's door.
John considered helping, but he had no desire to touch that man's ruined rear, and his Shadow Ninjas only had sharp Razors, not hands. "You'll... have to pray for your own luck." John signaled a Razor Ninja to pick him up and toss him out the door for his own men to find.
John walked over to Jenny and glanced down at her, a smirk playing on his lips. "Oh dear~ it looks like our Jenny isn't quite tall enough."
"Who says?" Jenny huffed. A five-foot-tall Shadow Eater rose from her shadow, lifting her up until she was eye-level with John. She reached out with a dainty finger and pulled Robinson Crusoe from the shelf.
Click!
The bookcase rotated, and a square wooden box slid out. As if sharing a single mind, John and Jenny both lunged for it simultaneously.
"Children shouldn't be playing with things like this. We need to return it to its rightful owner!" John used his height advantage to snatch the box mid-air, then performed a backflip to put distance between himself and the girl.
"Aw, man! I was a second too slow," Jenny pouted.
John chuckled. A child was still a child; even as a Shadow General, her personality remained the same. He turned his attention to the wooden box and slowly pried it open. Inside lay a pink gemstone. In the glow of the room's lights, the Pink Lion shone with a deep, blushing radiance.
Snap!
John closed the lid. He had to confirm it was real, and now he knew.
"It's so pretty... I really want it," Jenny said, her big, watery eyes filled with undisguised longing.
"Wait! Jenny, you said it yourself: whoever gets it first, keeps it," John reminded her quickly.
"Oh, come on~ it's not like I'm going to sell it! I just want to play with it for a few days. I promise I'll give it back after that!" Jenny clasped her hands together in a pleading gesture.
Seeing her acting so pitifully, John didn't hesitate for a second. He shook his head. "Sorry. No."
Jenny's face immediately darkened, followed by a mischievous grin. "Captain John, we did say whoever grabs it keeps it, but..."
"But we never said when the grabbing phase ends!"
As fast as a rabbit, Jenny blurred across the room toward John. Catching him off guard, she leaped into the air and delivered a bicycle kick, striking the wooden box in John's hands. As the box tumbled toward the floor, a tiny Shadow Eater popped out of the darkness, opened its oversized mouth, and caught the box.
"Now it's mine, Captain John," Jenny chirped. Once she made up her mind, nothing could stop her. While she truly didn't intend to steal it permanently, she was like a little girl who had found a shiny treasure and wanted to hide it away for herself. She mentally promised she'd hand it over to the police in a few days.
"Sigh~ then I have to apologize in advance, Jenny," John said with a chuckle.
A larger shadow loomed behind the tiny Shadow Eater. A Razor Ninja lunged, its sharp talons reaching for the box. The Shadow Eater squeaked and hopped away, narrowly avoiding the swipe, and scurried back to Jenny's feet.
Jenny knelt down to secure the box. "Captain John! You're actually using your Razor Ninjas?"
"Weren't you using your Shadow Eaters?" John retorted.
Jenny was momentarily speechless, though she wanted to argue that she was only using an "underveloped" one.
"Fine then..." Realizing the room was too cramped, Jenny phased through the wall to the outside. John moved with lightning speed to follow her. In that moment, they reached a silent agreement: no entering the Shadow Kingdom. This was a race of pure skill.
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