Blind Spot

'Floral Dress Evolution Level: 100%. Evil Thoughts: 45.'

"....." After sensing the progress of the Floral Dress on the Evil Flower, Li Chengyi was not surprised.

Not unexpectedly, these evil thoughts must have come from Meng Dongdong in the blind spot.

Although he didn't know what kind of psychological changes she had undergone, she must have completely eradicated her thoughts in the end.

'In that case, permanent coma and death should also be considered the elimination of evil thoughts... That would make things much simpler.'

He calculated this in his mind.

Walking into the residential area, he followed the tree-lined driveway straight ahead.

Suddenly, Li Chengyi's mind flashed back to the last two words that Meng Dongdong didn't finish.

Reinforced?

'Could it be that she thought I was a Reinforced Human with a modified body?'

Nowadays, not everyone could be a Reinforced Human; while ordinary prosthetic limbs are indeed not expensive, Reinforced Humans are different.

Such expensive surgeries, requiring extensive logistics, real-time maintenance, and the establishment of extremely powerful firewalls and neuronal systems, are far beyond what average people can afford.

Even capital companies are not easily willing to shoulder the cost of Reinforced Humans.

'So, how could she think I am a Reinforced Human?' Li Chengyi was puzzled.

In his previous life, he never saw any Reinforced Humans because it's said that they are equipped with special simulation skin, and they look no different from common people on the outside. Only when they use their reinforced abilities can their differences be seen.

After thinking about it for a while and not understanding, Li Chengyi put it at the back of his mind; with his boss backing him up, he didn't need to worry too much about many things.

The key now was that if the Evil Thoughts could be collected quickly... the Floral Dress might even achieve a greater boost.

From the first time he fought with the face monster, which resulted in the mutual destruction of the Floral Dress,

To the second time he was ambushed by the face monster, only a small part of the Floral Dress was damaged, which did not hurt his body underneath.

The evolution of the Floral Dress had clearly strengthened a lot.

Therefore, Li Chengyi also held considerable expectations for the enhancement after the Evil Thoughts were completed.

When he got back home, his sister had already retired to her room to rest, his father was filling a kettle with water, and his mother, Feng Yurong, was preparing for tomorrow's breakfast, slowly removing the tough stems from a bunch of green beans.

Li Chengyi entered, glanced at the two of them, but faintly felt that the atmosphere was somewhat off.

"What's wrong?" he asked. He was in a good mood, not only because he had adjusted his mental state but also because he found a way to absorb Evil Thoughts and obtained new clues about the blind spot.

Moreover, Meng Dongdong's death had bought him an extra month or so.

He didn't expect that just as things eased for him, there seemed to be an issue at home.

"Nothing much, how's work going? You've been leaving early and returning late recently, any progress?" Feng Yurong adjusted her expression and asked with a smile.

Li Chengyi took off his shoes and came inside.

"I've found it, the paycheck is pretty good, a bit over ten thousand; it's just going to be very tiring, often requiring work outside." He didn't mention all his salary in order to keep some for buying flowers.

"Over ten thousand? That's quite good," Feng Yurong brightened up when she heard the salary amount, clearly in a better mood.

"I'm not afraid of hard work; finding a suitable job these days is already great. Do well and be diligent in fulfilling your duties, the company will see your efforts." She still held the conventional idea, unaware that work required not only diligence but more than that.

Li Chengyi didn't wish to argue, just nodded noncommittally.

"I understand, I'll work hard."

"Right, which company is it? What's the name? Let us help you check it out," Li Zhao came out from the kitchen with a smile that seemed more relaxed.

"Hongjin Biopharmaceuticals." Li Chengyi took out his phone, pulled up an employment contract, various certificates of the company, and even its specialized products for his parents to see.

Xindela had created not just a shell company to serve as a cover, but an actual operational and profitable biopharmaceutical company.

The only issue was that this company had an unusually high number of employees with additional positions, that's all.

His parents scrutinized the phone for over ten minutes, searched hectically on search engines, and even found the company's online store with some rather exaggerated monthly sales volumes. Seeing this, the old couple quickly believed that it wasn't a scam.

They repeatedly told Li Chengyi to work hard, now that he had found a job, to be serious and steadfast in his work, to diligently learn and keep up with the times...

They went on and on with their advice.

In the end, just as Li Chengyi was about to get up to wash up, he suddenly remembered the strange atmosphere when he entered the house.

He asked about it right away.

"Right, was there something happening earlier? You both seemed to be in not such a great mood?"

As soon as he spoke, Li Zhao's expression changed, and he sighed.

"Your mother will tell you." He didn't want to say more and returned to the kitchen.

Feng Yurong also sighed.

"It's your sister, her spot was taken away by someone."

"Didn't we pay money for it?" Li Chengyi was astonished. His sister, Li Chengjiu, had been preparing for an exam for a certificate known as Mecha Engineer.

This certificate was incredibly hard to attain and was highly valued, with registration and examination fees costing over a hundred thousand. He didn't expect...

"We don't know what happened either. When we asked your sister, she wouldn't say, just lost her temper. Now the money is paid, but the spot is gone... we don't know what to do..." Feng Yurong sighed deeply, looking weary.

Li Chengyi fell silent.

He had a poor impression of Li Chengjiu, but he thought well of his parents in this life. In a certain sense, Li Zhao and Feng Yurong were quite similar to his parents in his previous life.

So many times, he naturally thought of the two of them as his family.

Their home was already not well-off, and now over a hundred thousand had been lost...

"I'll support you with my salary when I get paid," he said.

"How much money do you even have? Just focus on your job, we'll talk about it later. Take good care of yourself and don't worry us, that's all we wish for," Li Zhao said impatiently from the kitchen.

"Your dad's right. You're still young; leave the family concerns to us. Just take care of yourself, we'll handle everything," Feng Yurong echoed.

They still treated Li Chengyi as a child, their attitude completely different from how they interacted with Li Chengjiu.

"Alright, I understand. If anything comes up, I'll remember to tell you," Li Chengyi didn't argue back, unlike his predecessor, who would have certainly started to resist, saying things like "I'm not a kid anymore" and "What's wrong with sharing my opinion on things?"

But he wouldn't do that.

After resting, he mentioned his business trip the next day to them, and Feng Yurong immediately started packing his suitcase, choosing clothes to bring based on the destination's climate.

It wasn't until eleven o'clock at night that everything was finally packed.

He slept deeply that night, pondering over the Flower Language Ability and Blind Spot clues, and not a single dream disturbed him.

He had never slept so peacefully before.

The next morning, a ringing phone alarm woke him from his slumber.

'This world is beautiful; in the past, it was like air, fragile to the breath. Smile joyfully every day—life has enough sorrow, adding a bit of sweetness makes it better....'

This song was one of the previous Li Chengyi's favorites, titled "Beautiful World," sung by Huang Bin, who also wrote and composed it. Huang Bin was a rather niche, second- or third-tier singer.

His voice was filled with a world-weary texture, the voice of a man in his forties that could imbue the ordinary with depth and soul.

After listening to it, Li Chengyi grew to like it too and set the song's climax as his ringtone.

Picking up the phone, he pressed answer.

"Mr. Cheng Yi?" A deep voice came from the other end, "This is Song Ran. The boss asked me to accompany you to Tiamog. My car is at the entrance of the community."

"That fast? Okay, wait ten minutes for me," Li Chengyi said briskly, immediately getting up and throwing off the covers.

He quickly washed up and gathered his essentials—ID, wallet, cell phone—as well as his suitcase, and after briefly greeting his father Li Zhao who was sitting in the living room peeling fruit, he dashed out the door.

Dragging his suitcase, he arrived at the community entrance.

The car looked rugged, a black off-road vehicle.

The whole vehicle had the appearance of a truck, with the back half open like a cargo bed.

The two square headlights at the front were as big as a human head. Between the lights was a honeycomb pattern of rectangular black cooling grille.

The vehicle had only two doors, one on the left leading to the driver's seat, the other on the right to the passenger's seat.

On the side of the car body, messy lines were painted in red and green—their meaning was unclear.

"Let's go, get in," the driver rolled down the window, revealing the face of a sallow man with a flat-top haircut.

"Okay," Li Chengyi said, dragging his luggage into the back of the vehicle before climbing in the passenger seat.

"This car is a bit cramped," he frowned slightly.

"As long as it's functional," Song Ran replied.

Only then did Li Chengyi take a good look at the man.

He was very sturdy, his arms nearly as thick as a typical person's thighs, wearing a black T-shirt with a scribbled line of blue writing on the chest that was illegible.

His skin was somewhat pale, and his facial features were sharp and definite, somewhat foreign-looking.

The engine hummed to life, and the two of them sped along the road, heading into the distance.

"The boss asked me to go with you. If you have any problems, I'll help you handle them. It's a bit far, and we don't have many people there, so remember to keep a low profile," Song Ran instructed.

"Don't worry, I'm so weak I can't make a splash even if I wanted to," Li Chengyi replied earnestly.

Song Ran didn't respond, just gave him a glance. He didn't think someone who had survived in the Blind Spot three times in a row could be weak.

"It'll take about three hours by car from here, do you want to sleep a bit to rest up?"

"Just the two of us?"

"There are some other company employees, but they're on the periphery. Don't talk much with them, and don't mention the Blind Spot," Song Ran answered.

"Are you from Yi Country?"

"My dad is," he replied.

"And then?"

"My dad died, my mom abandoned me, and it was the boss who raised me," Song Ran said flatly. That's why he didn't like talking about his mother.

"Okay then..." Li Chengyi had no words. He had stumbled upon a sad story.

"Don't mind it. I've talked about it so much it doesn't affect me anymore. We don't live for the past," Song Ran said nonchalantly. "We're going to charge the car when we leave the city, so if you need to buy any food or drink, or use the restroom, get it done beforehand. We need to save time."

"No problem."

Seeing that Song Ran wasn't interested in chatting, Li Chengyi also kept silent, sitting back and closing his eyes to rest.

He understood why they had to drive there themselves; after all, they were not ordinary people, and they had to bring too many things with them.

On him alone were two guns, three magazines, and a full-featured bulletproof vest.