Chapter 8: Assassination
Chen Yu stared intently at the girl, searching for answers in her icy blue eyes. But beyond a flicker of panic and a trace of stubborn defiance, he found nothing.
Forget it.
He didn't press her. If she wasn't willing to talk, forcing her would be pointless.
He leaned back against the headboard, relaxing his body but keeping his muscles primed to spring into action.
He watched her in silence.
Sensing his retreat, the girl seemed to deflate slightly. She shrank back into the corner, head lowered, her fingers unconsciously twisting the hem of her skirt.
The room fell quiet, save for the occasional fizz of the tungsten lamp and the drone of mosquitoes. Strangely, waves of chill radiated from the girl.
The mosquitoes avoided her entirely, choosing instead to swarm and harass Chen Yu.
Chen Yu's Observation Haki remained active, shrouding the room.
Aside from the girl's steady breathing and the rhythm of his own heart, there was no other movement.
A faint, ethereal scent—reminiscent of a pine forest after a fresh snowfall—mingled bizarrely with the room's musty odor.
Time drifted by.
Outside, the moon shifted its position, its light creeping across the floor until it illuminated the girl's exposed ankle. It was blindingly white against the gloom.
Chen Yu yawned, exhaustion washing over him like a rising tide.
The day's events had kept his nerves pulled taut; now that he had a moment of respite, his eyelids fought a losing battle.
It was strange—he felt more at ease in the presence of this mysterious intruder than he ever did around his stepmother, Zhang Li.
He forced his eyes open. The girl seemed tired too, her head nodding rhythmically like a dozing kitten.
"Hey," Chen Yu whispered. "If you want to sleep, go outside. Don't sleep here."
The girl startled awake. She glared at him, a flush rising on her cheeks. "None of your business."
"???"
"This is my damn room! If you sleep here, you're paying rent!"
Before the words had fully left his mouth, a bank card smacked into Chen Yu's face.
"No password. There's 60,000 inside."
Chen Yu caught the card, glancing at the gold lettering: Alliance Huifeng Bank SSS-VIP Gold. He calmly pocketed it.
"Miss, you are too polite."
"How should I address you?"
"Surname Ling," she said coldly.
"Miss Ling! So it is you! A pleasure, truly!" Chen Yu adopted a fawning expression. "Why don't you take the bed?"
The girl ignored him completely.
Chen Yu shrugged. Sleep or don't sleep, it was her choice.
But this card definitely has money, right?
Huifeng Bank was the largest private bank in the Alliance. This girl's background was terrifyingly substantial.
He leaned back against the wall, facing her, his mind racing. This impossibly beautiful girl had a mysterious background and clearly possessed combat skills—sneaking into his room undetected was no small feat.
Was someone of this caliber hiding at Lanjiang First High School? Impossible. With looks like that, he would have heard of her.
Was she sent by Zhang Li? No, his Observation Haki hadn't picked up any hostility from her.
As he pondered, suddenly—
His Observation Haki screamed a warning.
Chen Yu's blood ran cold. Drowsiness vanished instantly, his muscles tightening like a drawn bowstring.
The tremor didn't come from the girl. It came from outside the window. Several faint signatures, carrying biting killing intent, were approaching rapidly. Their footsteps were light as cats, but they couldn't escape his sensory net.
"We have company," he whispered, his gaze snapping to the window.
The girl looked up abruptly. The panic in her ice-blue eyes vanished, replaced by sharp vigilance. "This aura... they aren't looking for me."
Chen Yu was secretly shocked. Aura? Does this girl know Haki too?
Click—
The window latch was flicked open from the outside with a soft metallic sound.
A black shadow flipped through the window like a phantom, cold steel flashing in their hand as they stabbed straight for Chen Yu's face!
Chen Yu was ready. He sidestepped the blade and simultaneously drove his foot into the intruder's lower abdomen.
The assassin groaned and stumbled back, but a second and third shadow immediately flooded into the cramped room.
"Are you Zhang Li's dogs?" Chen Yu demanded coldly, parrying a strike.
The assassins didn't speak. Their moves were vicious, every strike aimed at his vitals.
They were here to kill.
However, Chen Yu's mastery of the Marine Six Styles had reached a proficient level; even fighting three against one, he held his ground.
The leader, realizing they couldn't suppress him quickly, made a decision. His muscles visibly swelled, radiating explosive power—a physical enhancement technique.
He punched out, the air vibrating from the force. Chen Yu dodged, but the wind of the fist grazed his shoulder, stinging sharply.
The other two assassins seized the opening, attacking from both flanks.
Chen Yu's eyes narrowed. He pushed his Observation Haki to the limit.
"Paper Art!"
Chen Yu's body went limp, moving like a falling leaf caught in a breeze. He drifted through the void, causing every attack to miss by a hair's breadth.
"Who are you?!" Chen Yu roared, unleashing his Conqueror's Haki.
A blast of invisible pressure exploded outward. The three robed figures froze, their pupils dilating in shock.
To them, the boy's face suddenly became the source of primal fear.
"You showed an opening!"
Chen Yu's hands blurred into afterimages. "Finger Pistol: Rain!"
Pfft! Pfft! Pfft!
The sickening sound of fingers piercing flesh rang out rapidly. The three assassins retreated, staggering and bloody. Their eyes exchanged glances of utter disbelief.
They were three mid-level Awakened Ones, yet they couldn't take down a kid who had just awakened his powers!
Suddenly, the temperature in the room plummeted.
The girl in the corner launched her surprise attack. Barrages of razor-sharp ice spikes exploded toward the three assassins.
Caught off guard and already injured, they took the hits, fresh blood spraying onto the floor.
The assassins looked at the corner in horror. Why is there another person? And she can control ice?!.
From the distance, a clear shout pierced the night: "Night Patrol inspection! Who goes there!"
The assassins froze. Realizing the mission was compromised, they didn't linger. In unison, they crashed through the window, disappearing into the darkness in a few swift leaps.
The room fell silent again, filled only with Chen Yu's heavy panting and the girl's steady breathing. Outside, the footsteps of the Night Patrol faded away.
Chen Yu stared at the open window, frowning. Zhang Li had moved faster than he anticipated.
His Conqueror's Haki wasn't strong enough to knock opponents unconscious yet; the need to get stronger was burning in his chest.
And this mysterious girl...
If he wasn't mistaken, those ice spikes were the power of a Devil Fruit.
The Ice-Ice Fruit? Good heavens, she's a powerhouse!
"Thank you for helping me," Chen Yu said, turning to her.
The girl gave a soft grunt and collapsed sideways, fainting on the floor.
???
What kind of plot twist is this?
For a moment, Chen Yu debated the ethics of the situation. In the end, he chose not to be a beast. He simply covered her with a blanket and kept watch.
Meanwhile, in a dark alley several streets away.
The three assassins shook off the Night Patrol and knelt before an old woman.
The old woman's face darkened instantly. "Failed again? And you alerted the Night Patrol..."
"We..."
They never finished the sentence. A shadow beneath the old woman surged forward, snapping the necks of the three men in a single, fluid motion.
The night passed uneventfully.
When Chen Yu woke, the sky was just turning the grey of early dawn. He sat up abruptly, looking toward the corner.
It was empty.
A thin layer of frost on the floor and the folded blanket were the only proof that last night wasn't a hallucination. The crisp scent of pine was gone, replaced by the room's usual moldy odor.
He walked to the corner and touched the frost.
"She left?"
This was more puzzling than her breaking in. A living person appears, fights, sleeps, and vanishes.
He checked under the bed, the bathroom, even the lamp—nothing.
"Weird." Chen Yu scratched his head.
It felt like an absurd dream.
He shook his head, tossing the mystery to the back of his mind. If he couldn't figure it out, he wouldn't waste energy on it.
The urgent matter now was school.
There was still a month before military training began.
As a student, his main job was attendance.