Sequence Beyond: My Wife is a Mysterious Boss

Blackrock City, on the eastern edge of the district.

It has no name, but it has a resounding name in the scavenger community.

"The Second Battlefield".

Lin Bai followed Shen Shu across the rusty barbed wire fence.

Even though I was mentally prepared, I was still taken aback by the sight before me.

This is an absurdly large semi-underground cavity, with the dome at least 100 meters below the ground.

A dense network of pipes covered the rock face, tirelessly spewing out scorching steam.

Below, there is a continuous "mountain range".

The mountains are made up of scrap metal and household garbage.

"Ugh—!"

A muffled whistle sounded overhead.

Lin Bai looked up and saw a bulky airship passing over the dome track.

The belly hatch suddenly burst open.

Splash!

Countless dark shadows cascaded down like a waterfall.

That was the trash that the gentry of the inner city didn't want, and what the people of the outer city saw as "airdrop supplies."

"Grab it! This time it's from the city center!"

"Get out of here! The Stray Dogs have taken over this territory!"

The bottom part exploded instantly.

Scavengers poured out in droves, completely disregarding the risk of falling objects from above, rushing like madmen towards the new garbage heap.

For half a gear that could still turn, someone brandished an iron bar;

To snatch a blood-stained silk shirt, a sharp blade was plunged directly into the ribs of one's own kind.

"This is Blackrock City's digestive system."

Shen Shu stood on the high iron platform, coldly observing the chaos below:

What the inner city discards as trash is what the outer city fights for.

"Sometimes, if you're lucky, you can find damaged prosthetics, extraordinary materials, or even alchemical items."

She turned and glanced at Lin Bai, her tone tinged with mockery:

"What? Are you scared stiff?"

Lin Bai didn't speak.

He squinted, watching a skinny scavenger in the distance pull an inconspicuous gray stone from rotten vegetable leaves and stuff it into his crotch with ecstatic joy.

[Question: What did that person find?]

[Driving simulation in progress...]

[Estimated simulation time: 0.1 second]

[Answer: Mithril ore by-product, 12% purity.]

[Note: Kid, tempted? Want to go scavenging for trash too?]

The parchment's answer flashed through my mind.

At that moment, the disdain in Lin Bai's eyes vanished instantly.

Instead, there is a kind of benevolence and greed that capitalists feel when they see an untapped gold mine.

Terrified?

What a joke!

This is no garbage dump.

This is clearly the largest "blind box" wholesale market in all of Blackrock City!

And it's the kind that's free and has an incredibly high drop rate!

With the "Omniscient Parchment" cheat code, this place is a goldmine for him!

If he didn't have important business to attend to today, he would have gone down to teach these scavengers a lesson on what "lower-dimensional attack-style bargain hunting" really means.

"What a great place."

Lin Bai took a deep breath of the polluted air and sighed sincerely:

"This is truly a blessed place. Are there any houses for rent around here? I'd like to live here."

Shen Shu: "..."

She looked at Lin Bai as if he were a lunatic.

Wouldn't a normal person be disgusted by this scene? Is this guy's brain short-circuited?

"Stop dreaming. The waters here are very deep. If you don't want to die, stick close to me."

Shen Shu stopped wasting words and skillfully led Lin Bai through the complex iron frames.

Walk towards a row of tin shacks in a corner.

"Old Jack! Bring out all your best stuff!"

Shen Shu kicked open the iron door of one of the shops, his manner even more aggressive than someone collecting protection money.

The shop owner was an old man in his fifties or sixties, whose most striking feature was his large, exaggeratedly red nose.

Upon seeing Shen Shu, his deeply lined old face immediately broke into a smile.

"Oh my, isn't this Miss Shen? What a rare guest!"

"Enough with the nonsense." Shen Shu slammed a list onto the counter.

"Prepare all the materials listed here within ten minutes."

She pointed to Lin Bai behind her: "Also, this is my man. He'll come to you to buy things himself from now on."

"If I find out you dared to cheat him, I'll gouge out your fake eye and use it as a marble."

"Of course! I wouldn't dare cheat your people even if you gave me the guts!"

Old Jack nodded repeatedly and told his men to go to the warehouse to move the goods.

Lin Bai wasn't idle either; he scanned the shop with his eyes.

Don't let the shabby appearance of this place fool you, it has a really complete collection of things.

Besides what Shen Shu needed, he was also able to find the materials for [Corrosion], [Cat Paw Pads], and [Sharpness Enchantment] that he himself required.

"This, this, and that jar of fluorescent powder."

Lin Bai pointed to the shelf and pulled out gold coins with an air of grandeur:

"I'll take them all, pack them up."

It feels so good to suddenly become rich. No need to be stingy and haggle with people anymore. The main thing is to "buy, buy, buy".

While Old Jack was packing, they took advantage of the moment.

Lin Bai leaned against the door frame, bored, his gaze aimlessly sweeping towards the distant garbage dump.

Suddenly, his gaze stopped.

There was a person on a mountain of discarded tires not far from the shop.

He was a man who didn't fit in with his surroundings.

He was wearing a faded sweater.

The strangest thing is that he was drawing.

At the top of this stinking garbage heap, there was a bright white canvas.

The man had his back to Lin Bai, his long, dry, yellow hair dancing wildly in the wind.

He had a dark red blindfold over his eyes, but his paintbrush danced wildly across the canvas.

The movements were so large that it was as if he were conducting a silent symphony.

In this hellish scene, this moment is filled with absurd beauty.

"Performance art?" Lin Bai wondered to himself.

Are all lunatics this crazy these days?

Looking for inspiration atop a garbage dump?

Out of caution, and also out of curiosity, Lin Bai habitually brought the parchment to his mind.

[Question: Who is that blind man who paints on Tire Mountain?]

However, before the parchment could respond...

Shen Shu, who was playing with a ballpoint pen in front of the counter, seemed to notice Lin Bai's gaze.

I subconsciously looked in that direction.

Upon closer inspection, it became clear that something had gone wrong.

"Clang!"

The ballpoint pen that had been flying between her fingers fell straight to the ground.

Shen Shu's face, which usually wore an expression that said "I'm so noble," was now completely drained of color.

Pale white as paper.

She was stiff all over, like a small animal that had encountered its natural enemy in the wild, and even forgot to breathe.

"How...how could this be..."

Shen Shu's expression was stern.

"What is he doing here?"

Lin Bai's heart skipped a beat.

The other party must be no pushover to have scared the fearless Shen Shu to this extent.

"Who is he?" Lin Bai lowered his voice, his hand secretly reaching for the revolver at his waist.

"Don't ask questions, go! Go quickly!"

Shen Shu's voice was urgent.

She didn't even care about the expensive, packaged materials on the counter; she grabbed Lin Bai and tried to rush towards the back door of the shop.

At the same time, the bright red writing on the parchment appeared in Lin Bai's mind.

[Answer: Yan Qingzhou]

[Sequence 7: The Illustrator]

[Note: This guy is insane! He has deep entanglements with Gu Canglan and Shen Shu! He's not after you, but I suggest you run away quickly and don't meddle!]

......

Lin Bai felt a chill run down his spine.

Sequence 7?

That's a jump of two major ranks!

And this guy is clearly a lunatic with an unstable mental state!

"run!"

Lin Bai reacted faster than Shen Shu, grabbing her wrist with his other hand.

Activate the "Aura Disguise" skill of the [Trickster] directly.

They minimized their presence and dragged her towards the back door.

Without saying a word, Ah Ya silently stood behind the two of them.

However, just as they stepped out the door...

On the distant Tire Mountain, the blind man who had been painting madly suddenly stopped.

He tilted his head slightly, and a chilling smile slowly spread across his pale face.

It's like... a hunter who has finally caught his prey in the net.

"Found it!"

"Little Shu... since you're here, why didn't you say goodbye to your uncle before leaving?"

Om-!

The surrounding air suddenly became viscous.

Lin Bai was horrified to discover that the previously noisy sounds of the garbage dump had disappeared.

Scavengers grabbing trash, roaring transport boats, metal plates beneath your feet... all the colors begin to fade wildly.

The world has become a sketch composed only of black, white, and gray lines!

"So... you're starting to draw?"

Lin Bai's heart pounded wildly.

"Don't look back! Charge out!"

Shen Shu gritted his teeth and suddenly pressed the switch on the robotic arm.

Click!

The arm deformed, revealing two rows of tiny jet nozzles.

boom!

An explosion of air propelled the two of them like cannonballs toward the edge of the sketch world.

He didn't even care about Ah Ya behind him.

"Trying to run away?"

The mad voice rang out, carrying a hint of mockery, like a cat toying with a mouse.

"No one in this world can escape my frame... unless he is a superfluous stain on the canvas."

"And the stain... needs to be scraped off with a scraper."

Sizzle—!

A sharp, piercing friction sound rang out.

The towering mountain of garbage in front of Lin Bai seemed to have been struck by a colossal object, collapsing suddenly and crashing straight towards the two of them!

"Damn it!"

Shen Shu slammed on the brakes, leaving a trail of black and white sparks on the sketch-like ground.

The artist's work continues.

The house caught fire, the garbage collapsed, and the fragments turned into sharp blades.

At this moment, Lin Bai felt as if he was being rejected by the entire world.

This is not a battle at all.

It's like playing a game you're destined to lose against a madman who can rewrite the world at will.

This is outrageous!

This is Sequence 7: The Power of the Artist?

This is completely unreasonable!

Impossible. It's only Sequence 7, how could it be this strong?

While frantically dodging, Lin Bai roared in his mind:

[Question: What's this blind man's weakness?! I don't want to become a dead man in a painting!]

......