Jill Young didn’t need to worry about the rest—her only job now was to handle this little troublemaker. She cracked her knuckles, making a loud popping sound. For now, Jill wasn’t planning to do anything wild or violent to this underage girl. But if this kid turned out to be as much of a handful as that old man, well, who knows what might happen down the road.
But, to Jill’s surprise, this kid was actually pretty easy to deal with. Maybe too easy. This three-no girl (no expression, no opinion, no interest) basically had no strong opinions about anything. She had this breezy, go-with-the-flow attitude, and barely spoke.
What’s your name? “Elsie Nightwater.”
Where do you want to go for fun? “Anywhere.”
Let’s go grab a beer. “Never tried it.”
Yes or no, just say it. “Yes.”
How’s the taste? “Weird.”
That’s pretty much how their conversations went. Still, even though Elsie didn’t talk much, she was way cuter than that old man. If you took her out for karaoke, she wouldn’t object. But it’d end up with Jill singing and dancing like a maniac, while the Lady of the Night just sat there calmly, watching and listening. If you asked her to sing, she’d say she hadn’t heard any of these songs and didn’t know how.
All in all, putting these two together was pretty entertaining. The Lady of the Night’s three-no attitude couldn’t kill Jill’s high spirits, and Jill’s fiery energy couldn’t get a reaction out of the Lady of the Night. Of course, Jill was a bit of a schemer—wasn’t a three-no girl the perfect target for some creative training? Don’t get it twisted, it’s nothing creepy. She just wanted to see what it’d take to get a reaction out of this calm queen.
So, Jill tried all kinds of tricks. She led Elsie through alleys full of thugs, crossed streets packed with johns, and Elsie Nightwater strolled along with the poise of a true heiress, never speeding up or even glancing sideways. Not a single change in expression or a stray look. Jill thought it was a shame—if this girl had come out alone, just wearing that goth-loli outfit, something interesting would definitely have happened.
But now, with Jill Young by her side, even the thugs stopped thuggin’ and the johns stopped prowlin’—everyone was acting way too well-behaved.
In the end, Jill didn’t take the girl to a love hotel—she brought her somewhere girls actually go: the Holy Garment Society. Right at the entrance, there was already a statue of the Gunfire Angels. Elsie paused, looked up at the statue, and softly asked, “Who’s that?”
“Gunfire Angels. Alright, come on in, let’s get you some new clothes.” Jill grabbed her hand and led her into the Holy Garment Society. The two shop assistants immediately snapped to attention, ready for orders from the boss. “Look at you, that goth-loli outfit is way too weird.” Jill couldn’t help herself and blurted out, “Seriously, don’t you feel kinda embarrassed walking around in that?”
“I don’t usually go out.” Elsie replied coolly, and for the first time, a ripple appeared in her calm eyes. She added, “And my clothes aren’t weird.”
"Hahaha!" Finally, a reaction! Women really do care about clothes, huh? Jill pressed her advantage: "Not weird? Can you find a second outfit like that in the whole store?"
Elsie didn’t say a word—she just walked over to the rack and pulled down a high-hanging outfit. “This one.”
Jill took one look—it was the Platinum Princess Outfit. She slapped her forehead. Of course! How could she forget? Back when Xiao Di was mixing and matching random stuff, how did it end up as a complete set hanging up there now?
Elsie pointed at Jill’s Forged in Hatred outfit and said, “Your outfit is the weird one. Try this on.”
"Uh..." If my crew saw me strutting down the street in a goth princess dress, my legendary reputation would be toast!
“Put it on.” The Lady of the Night stepped closer, holding the outfit right up to Jill’s face. “Put it on.”
"Alright, alright, alright!" Jill scratched her head, feeling a bit exasperated. But since Elsie finally said more than two words, Jill was all in. When Jill strutted out in the Platinum Princess Outfit, you had to admit—it worked. The two of them stood side by side in front of the mirror: one black goth-loli, one white princess. The style was on point. Honestly, they looked like a cosplay group performing a tragic princess-sisters story.
"Not bad… actually, it kinda works." Jill spun around and realized she looked pretty good. "Come on, let’s take a pic—hey, lose that annoying veil." Jill whipped out her phone, threw an arm around the Lady of the Night, leaned in, and snapped a selfie at a forty-five degree angle: "Three, two, one, smile!"
Click—selfie complete. Jill was grinning like a schemer, while Elsie’s face got pinched into a hilariously awkward expression. "Nice face! I’ll send it to you later."
Meanwhile, Xiao Di and Pierce tossed that old man into a room like he was a dead pig. He was completely out cold. "What do we do when he wakes up?" "Just make him lose his memory." "Lose his memory?" "Yeah, whack him on the back of the head or something. No big deal. The real problem is the boss—will she tear the Lady of the Night to pieces?" "True, that’s the part I’m worried about…" They dusted off their hands and walked away.
But the old man lying on the bed twitched his eyelids and suddenly opened his eyes. He gave a cold smile. Those two had only knocked him out—they hadn’t searched him. They thought he was just a mean old fool who loved trouble, but they had no idea he was just playing a role.
"Hey, Syndicate, Elsie Nightwater’s been taken off alone by that woman. You can move now. If anything happens to the Night family’s heiress during her visit, she’ll be done in Steelbull City. Just make sure you pay me right away." The old man’s grin was twisted—greed had already eaten him alive.
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This chapter isn’t over yet ^.^—click next page to keep reading!
In the night wind, Jill Young and Elsie Nightwater walked one after the other along the sidewalk. It was already three in the morning—on Earth, hardly anyone would be out at this hour. But for folks living in Steelbull City’s Night City, three a.m. was like three in the afternoon—prime time for action. Years of living under the night had totally flipped their body clocks.
"So, why’d you come looking for me this time?" Jill asked. "You showing up isn’t a big deal, but you really freaked out my crew."
Elsie Nightwater said calmly, "Just came to see you."
"To see me?" Jill was genuinely surprised. "We don’t even know each other—why’d you come to see me?"
"Curious."
Well, that’s about as kid-like as it gets—and it actually explains everything. Nobody says you need a connection or a motive to drop by. She’s just an underage girl, out for a stroll because she’s curious. "Sigh—" Jill let out a long breath and shook her head. "So, what exactly are you curious about?"
"Everything." Elsie’s expression shifted a little—she seemed to be thinking about her words, then delivered her longest line yet: "I’ve seen a lot of gangs, but none like yours. You make enemies everywhere, but you’re not afraid of it. You mess with a lot of people’s interests, but you never back down. That’s kind of crazy. But real madmen don’t fight for turf—they don’t care about lives, and they just love killing for fun. Only the truly twisted like them. But from what I’ve seen, people living in your territory are actually more energetic than anywhere else. In other places, especially the Rock District, going out at night without a gun is unthinkable. But here, I’ve seen plenty of people doing just that."
She looked at Jill and said slowly, "I want everyone in Steelbull City to live with more energy, so I want to know how you do it."
Jill turned to her, making a face like she had a toothache. "You’re just a kid—why are you worried about stuff like that?"
"My last name is Nightwater," Elsie said seriously. "I’m Victor Nightfall’s descendant. It’s my responsibility."
"I don’t care what your last name is—a kid’s still a kid. Kids should be playing or studying, goofing off or behaving, but not getting tied up by some old geezer and worrying about the world." Jill messed up Elsie’s black hair, then couldn’t help but add, "So the last boss was called Victor Nightfall, huh? I just found out. That name sounds pretty badass."
Elsie finally showed some emotion—pure disbelief. "You live in Steelbull City and didn’t know the last boss’s name?"
"Doesn’t matter what his name is. He did what he wanted, and I’ll do what I want—that’s enough." As Jill finished speaking, several cars sped up and screeched to a stop nearby. They were news vans, and a bunch of reporter-types jumped out, pointing cameras and microphones at them from every angle.
"You’ve got a lot of fans—and they’re a clingy bunch."
"Mm." Elsie slipped back into her three-no mode and nodded calmly, then couldn’t help but add, "Super annoying."
"Heh!" Jill grinned, about to say something, but her face suddenly changed. She grabbed Elsie Nightwater just in time. Bang! A gunshot rang out, someone screamed and hit the ground. The bullet had hit exactly where Elsie had just dodged.
It was an assassination attempt targeting Elsie Nightwater.
Chaos erupted—screams, people running everywhere. Jill’s eyes flashed cold; she flipped her right hand, gun appearing, and fired three lightning-fast shots. Three people dropped. They looked like TV cameramen, but Jill stepped up and smashed a camera, only to find it was actually a modified gun—that’s what they’d tried to use for the hit.
Grabbing Elsie with her left hand, Jill strode to the news van, tossed the three-no girl into the passenger seat, and jumped in herself, slamming the door. "You’ve never been in a car going over sixty?" "Nope." "Well, today’s your lucky day." Jill floored it—the tires screeched, and the news van shot off down the street.