Forge a path to success.

Chapter 3 Striving for Employment
"Is that his 'skillful hand'?"

“I heard he’s a demon possessed…” another person whispered.

Some people are worried: "It's too dangerous to let a demon-possessed person into headquarters."

"What's there to be afraid of? Captain Huaisu is personally overseeing things; what can possibly go against the heavens?"

Curious or worried gazes were fixed on Chu Hengkong's arm. The white tactical mask concealed people's expressions, but could not hide the deep hostility in their eyes. Chu Hengkong was oblivious to this. He carefully observed everything around him, as focused as a tourist visiting a metropolis for the first time.

The battle with the fanatics had taken place half an hour earlier. After encountering him amidst the tide of weapons, the blonde woman, Ji Huaisu, took him to the "Resurrection Force" operations headquarters.

This was a brightly lit hall. Large bulletin boards on the walls were covered with menacing wanted posters, each bearing a hefty sum of money. Masked officers, armed with various weapons, stood or sat, scrutinizing Chu Hengkong as if he were a criminal.

"Make way! There's an injured person!"

Suddenly, urgent shouts rang out, and people immediately made way. Two masked team members ran past carrying a stretcher. The injured man on the stretcher groaned in pain; his injuries were extremely severe, with mangled organs and bone fragments protruding from the wounds, as if his chest and abdomen had been torn apart by the fangs of a wild beast.

Chu Hengkong noticed that Ji Huaisu pursed her lips at that moment. She hurriedly walked into a corridor to the side of the hall and opened the iron door of the interrogation room. The room contained only a long table and a few chairs, and Chu Hengkong obediently sat down at the end of the long table.

Neither spoke; they had already briefly introduced themselves on the way. Chu Hengkong was an assassin, while Ji Huaisu belonged to the "Resurrection Unit," the local police. They silently observed each other, like swordsmen in a duel, searching for the perfect moment to strike.

Ji Huaisu found it strange. There were many extraordinary people in Huilong City, but this was the first time she had seen someone like this. The man wore a dark green hooded coat and looked like any ordinary student. His demeanor was peaceful to the point of being docile. He had countless opportunities to attack or escape along the way, yet he had cooperated relentlessly without the slightest resistance. It was hard to imagine that such a person had killed Alex and his followers with his bare hands, but the fanatics' gruesome injuries were enough to prove his brutality.

Chu Hengkong had a similar thought running through his mind. He thought that compared to his fully armed subordinates, this girl's attire was surprisingly casual. She had her long blonde hair tied in a ponytail, wearing a white sports vest with a brown waistcoat, and only light denim shorts on her lower body. This outfit was suitable for any female college student who loved sports, and it was good for showing off her tall and proud figure, but it was clearly not related to special forces at all.

But he hadn't forgotten the gleaming golden shield in her hand; that was probably another kind of supernatural power, like the eerie "summoning spell" of a great wizard. The fact that such an unprofessional person could be the leader meant she was stronger than all her subordinates.

Chu Hengkong silently prepared his speech. Negotiations are like a duel between masters; the first move often sets the tone. Now, with the other side possessing ample intelligence, they were at a disadvantage. Saying too much would only lead to mistakes; it was better to observe their tactics first. Thinking this, Chu Hengkong nodded slightly. The girl opposite him also received this signal and, without hesitation, made the first move.

"Do you eat roast goose rice noodles?" Ji Huaisu asked.

"……what?"

Chu Hengkong began to doubt his own judgment. What the hell was this strange turn of events? It was true that it was well past lunchtime, but shouldn't the police start with their usual routine of explaining what they were doing, where they came from, and where they were going? Besides, shouldn't we be explaining the concept of demons to this outsider after leaving the eerie ritual site?
Why did this girl skip the questioning and jump straight to the traditional "Are you hungry? I'll make you a bowl of noodles" part... How am I supposed to respond to that?
The iron gate opened, and someone indeed brought in a bowl of roast goose rice noodles. A whole roast goose leg lay generously on top of the noodles, its fat infused into the broth, releasing an enticing aroma. The delivery guy greeted him and left. Chu Hengkong's eyes twitched slightly: "No, thank you..."

"You really don't want to eat?" Ji Huaisu beamed. "That's great, it's mine! I haven't eaten all day and I was just thinking about having a midnight snack."

She picked up the bowl and started eating seriously. The girl ate with great relish, taking bites of goose meat and rice noodles, not even leaving a drop of soup; it was clear she was very hungry. Chu Hengkong felt a rather subtle regret amidst his astonishment. This regret was like missing out on the cafeteria's ribs because he was late leaving get off work at noon—it wasn't a big deal, but all afternoon his mind was filled with that plate of uneaten ribs.

"I..." Chu Hengkong silently rubbed his forehead, "Fine, you win. I admit this is the first time I've ever been interrogated like this..."

Ji Huaisu slurped on a goose leg bone: "What's the rush? You haven't caused any trouble on the way here. You're not stupid enough to cause trouble in our base, are you? You're ruthless enough to deal with the cultists, so why are you being so cooperative with me?"

“Living alone in another world is very challenging, and I don’t want to add another hellish start to my life as a ‘wanted criminal’.” Chu Hengkong took out his spoils and placed the transparent bead, tobacco, and watch on the table one by one, but did not touch the pendant and the silver-eyed book.

“Your men are very disciplined. They didn’t lay a hand on me, steal anything from me, or even handcuff me. I think the leader of such a group can’t be an unreasonable person,” Chu Hengkong said.

Ji Huaisu took out a pair of handcuffs and compared their size to the tentacle from a distance. The tip of the tentacle was only slightly thicker than a normal person's index finger; even if it was handcuffed tightly, it would slip out with a gentle pull.

"Unless you voluntarily tie a knot with your tentacles, what use is this thing against you?" Ji Huaisu said. "It's much easier if you still have rationality. Tell me about your next steps. You'll have an amputation first, then stay in the observation room for three months. After everything is confirmed to be normal, you can sign a confidentiality agreement and return to a normal life. Isn't that gentle?"

Chu Hengkong remained calm: "To chop off someone's arm just because of a suspicion is far too domineering."

"I say, which dusty island are you from? How can you not even understand your own situation?" the blonde girl gritted her teeth. "You're possessed by the Demon of Imagination! If you don't deal with it quickly, your personality will be gone!" "Maybe you've mistaken me for someone else?" Chu Hengkong shook his tentacle. "I heard them say this is the 'Hand of the Omniscient God'..."

"It's a common misunderstanding among believers. An omnipotent creator, an all-knowing being, a great being... they love using words like that. But it has nothing to do with the devil's true intention; it's just that people see the illusion of what they crave in the devil," the third person said.

The interrogation room door opened silently, and a man in a casual sweater walked in. He carried a paper folding fan that looked like a dog-headed strategist and walked to the center of the room with a smile.

"Imaginary demons are purely spiritual beings. They are distorted in form and bizarre in temperament, making it difficult for them to exist independently in the material world. Therefore, they often possess the bodies of intelligent beings." The man with the folding fan turned to Chu Hengkong, "Do you have hard candy in your hometown?"

Chu Hengkong was puzzled: "Yes."

The man with the paper fan took a pink hard candy out of his pocket and threw it into Ji Huaisu's noodle bowl.

"Dad! I haven't finished eating yet!" Ji Huaisu protested loudly.

"Be careful not to gain weight if you eat too much at night," Old Man Huaisu said with a smile. He closed his paper fan and pointed it at the bowl of noodles. The hard candy melted little by little in the hot soup, turning the pink soup cloudy like vomit.

“This piece of candy is the demon of fantasy, and your body is the bowl of soup. The candy has just fallen, and there's still time to scoop it up. If it's any later, once the candy has completely melted, the soup will be ruined.” Old Man Huaisu gave Chu Hengkong a deep look. “Don’t be blinded by knowledge and abilities. Amputation is the best solution right now. The demon’s corruption will deepen over time. You don’t want to turn into an octopus-headed monster or a noodle monster, do you?”

Chu Hengkong felt a chill run down his spine. Old Man Huaisu's eyes held no strange patterns, nor did they glow, yet a sharp, steel-like edge lurked deep within his gaze. Standing before him, you felt as if you had become transparent; his dark pupils seemed capable of piercing flesh and bone, revealing the deepest, most hidden thoughts in one's heart.

But the sharp sensation vanished the next moment, and Old Man Huaisu still stood smiling in the distance, like a harmless convenience store owner. Chu Hengkong slowly loosened his clenched right fist, stood up and said, "Mr. Ji, your skill is excellent."

"Young man, your skills are not bad either." Old Man Huaisu took out a badly deformed stone and placed it on the table. It was a fragment of the stone staff that Chu Hengkong had kicked in the earlier. "What kind of knowledge did that tentacle give you that allowed you to have such skills?"

Chu Hengkong was taken aback, then smiled. Since the battle, one unexpected thing after another had happened, and the unpredictable nature of these guys had kept his plans from coming to fruition. But now, the subtext of Huaisu's father's words had given him a glimmer of hope; he had finally waited for an opportunity, a chance to take the initiative.

Chu Hengkong tucked his left tentacle behind his back and tapped the table lightly with his right hand. As the tapping sound rang out, the stone on half of the tabletop jumped up on its own.

Ji Huaisu stood up warily: "Telekinesis? The rate of erosion is so fast?"

Old Man Huaisu blocked the way with his folding fan.

“Don’t be nervous, Huaisu,” he said. “It’s a ‘transmission of force.’ He used the table as a medium to complete the tapping, just like hitting a cow across a mountain.”

Chu Hengkong slowly stretched out his right hand, demonstrating that it was definitely a human arm and had nothing to do with supernatural power.

“You two seem to have misunderstood. This tentacle arm didn’t give me any ‘knowledge’ or ‘ability.’ My skills are self-taught and have nothing to do with demons,” Chu Hengkong said. “In the end, it might not even be a demon’s arm. Maybe it came from a squid that wandered in like me? Cutting off someone’s arm is a serious matter, so please think it over.”

"What do you know!" Ji Huaisu pointed at him with a goose leg bone. "Do you think I've killed countless demon-possessed people? Yours is definitely..."

Old Man Huaisu opened his folding fan with a flick of his wrist, seemingly lost in thought: "That makes sense..."

"Hey, what kind of logic is this? You'd rather kill the innocent than let the guilty go free!" Ji Huaisu exclaimed in shock.

Chu Heng sat back down in his chair, assessing the situation. He had finally regained some initiative, and the next sentence would be crucial. What was the current situation? What did the other side need and what were their concerns? Most importantly, what did he himself need most?
He had made all the plans before setting off, so Chu Hengkong spoke with confidence.

"Since everyone needs a win-win solution..." Chu Hengkong said, "Have you considered hiring me to do the work?"

　(The Tentacle Killer's hilarious adventure stories are updated daily at 8 PM. Welcome to read and comment!)

　　
　
(End of this chapter)