Magician leaned against Zeo's left side.
She wore a dark green robe, her chest slightly full, with wide sleeves embroidered in golden patterns. Her slightly curled hair draped over her shoulders, and she wore a black wide-brimmed top hat. Together with her advisor-style sunglasses, they cleverly concealed her clear eyes.
"For now, Zeo can be considered my little assistant—helping me put on a bit of a show."
"So what exactly is this thing? Vill-V, is this really a chicken?"
Hua stood leaning against Zeo's right side. She wore a white long-sleeved hanfu, with silver cloud patterns embroidered along the cuffs and hem. Her hair was tied into a simple bun, and a red silk sash with elegant ink-wash patterns was fastened at her waist. Paired with black trousers and black training shoes, she carried the bearing of a martial artist.
In a city controlled by gangs, one had to dress in a way that blended in.
Vill-V had actually tried dressing the two of them in more villainous styles before, but Hua's honest and slightly dull demeanor made it impossible for her to look evil no matter what she wore.
As expected of Hua—upright and righteous to the core. It simply couldn't be concealed. Endearingly dense.
Magician patted Zeo's back and explained to Hua, "Of course not. This is a super, super, super advanced artificial intelligent lifeform developed jointly by me and Dr. Einstein. It's not simple cloning—it's more advanced biotechnology combined with Equipment · Living Form technology. This is the Black Kite."
(Conductor: Rather than saying it was developed with Dr. Mobius, it would be more accurate to say Magician directly 'borrowed' a little puppet from Mobius' lab, then had the Expert and Dr. Einstein modify it.)
As she spoke, Vill-V made a gesture symbolizing "wisdom."
"Wisdom?" Hua cast a skeptical glance at Zeo, who was flapping its tiny wings.
Cluck, cluck, cluck!
Hua shook her head regretfully. "No matter how I look at it... it doesn't seem intelligent."
Cluck?
"Since it's still in the development and testing stage, it's far from a true intelligent lifeform. At best, it's around the level of a two- or three-year-old child. Slightly smarter than a normal chicken, but it doesn't even have proper language ability. Right, genius?"
Vill-V poked Zeo's little wing with her finger.
Cluck!
"I see... so... what's the point of creating something like this?" Hua asked.
"With its help, the credibility of scams can increase by two percent!" Magician patted her chest confidently—this confidence came from the big fat chicken. "Back then, I had to spend days convincing Su. But if I had this thing and just showed it to him right away, he would've trusted me completely at first sight!"
"Hey! Don't ignore me!"
The thug to the side shouted as he disengaged the safety on his pistol and fired directly at Zeo's belly.
Bang!
When the smoke cleared, Zeo's belly was completely unharmed. As an Equipment · Living Form, it naturally wouldn't be so easily injured.
Cluck, cluck, cluck! (angry)
Zeo was enraged by the attack. It pulled out the nunchaku at its waist and charged forward, swinging it.
Well... it spun the nunchaku around a bit, then simply sat down on top of the thug.
Zeo still didn't quite know how to use weapons.
The thug from Kowloon Stronghold was crushed under the massive Zeo, foaming at the mouth before fainting.
Cluck, cluck, cluck! (happy)
Then, with utmost seriousness, Zeo walked over, lifted the unconscious thug's hand, and helped him sign, stamp, and complete facial recognition on a contract of servitude.
Thus, the Taixu Gang gained another nominal member.
"Why are you so skilled at forcing people into contracts?!"
Cluck, cluck, cluck! (happy)
While Zeo wasn't good with tools, it was extremely proficient at forcing people to sign agreements.
"See? Zeo just 'convinced' another one so quickly. (Physically.)"
Cluck, cluck, cluck! (happy)
Rumble!
Several grenades were hidden in the thug's clothing. Due to Zeo's crushing weight, they were triggered.
"Vill-V, watch out!" Hua noticed them out of the corner of her eye and quickly pulled Vill-V into her arms.
However, these grenades were not typical fragmentation grenades—they were smoke bombs.
The thugs of Kowloon Stronghold valued their own lives. In case stray bullets triggered an explosion, they only carried smoke bombs, allowing them to attack or retreat as needed.
However, even smoke bombs were toxic. The thugs carried antidotes for this reason.
But Vill-V and the others had no such antidote.
A cloud of toxic smoke burst forth, enveloping Zeo.
Not long after, Zeo was choked unconscious by the toxic fumes.
If even an artificial lifeform like Zeo could be knocked out, it was clear how dangerous the smoke would be to a human body.
"Eh?! That was sudden!"
Held in Hua's arms, Vill-V blushed slightly as she looked up at her. Then she realized—this was supposed to be her cool moment, wasn't it? And Hua had beaten her to it. How annoying!
Hua's reaction was simply too fast.
Hua covered both her own and Vill-V's faces with her hands, making Vill-V feel a bit suffocated, so she gently pushed Hua's hand away.
"Cough, cough... it's fine, cough."
After regaining her footing, Vill-V rummaged through her pocket and pulled out a straw. "Ta-da! A Toxic Substance Detection Straw!"
"Using this, can you filter out toxic gas?" Hua took it and placed it in her mouth, asking with her eyes.
Vill-V shook her head. "Nope. This straw can identify what kind of toxic substance you're inhaling."
Pfft—
Hua had just been about to inhale when she immediately spat the straw out after hearing that.
Right... one should never expect too much reliability from Magician Vill-V...
Still held by Hua, Vill-V grinned. "See? We've been talking inside this toxic fog for so long... and nothing's happened, right?"
Hua looked around and noticed that an invisible thin barrier was indeed blocking the toxic gas around them.
Feeling slightly embarrassed, she released her hold on Vill-V's shoulders. Just now, she had even been preparing to carry Vill-V out, risking exposure to the toxic fumes.
"My portable core device has a barrier system. It can even block high-frequency cutting blades for a while—mere toxic gas can't penetrate it."
The core device was extremely versatile, but only Vill-V possessed one.
It wasn't that she was selfish. To keep it lightweight, the operating system of the device was so complex that only a genius could use it.
Moreover, the precision device required constant maintenance and repairs. At present, Vill-V was the only one capable of handling it.