The mantis stalks the cicada, all unaware of the oriole behind—who, then, is the true oriole?

After catching his breath, Joss looked up and realized that the person who had bumped into him was a girl of about seventeen or eighteen. She wore a tattered jacket, and her height only just reached Joss’s chin, yet the airbags on her chest were astonishingly ample—larger even than Joss’s head.

“Hm, still not quite up to Captain America’s standard,” Joss commented in mock seriousness.

The girl’s chestnut hair was matted and unkempt, suggesting that her family circumstances were less than ideal—perhaps she even hailed from the slums. Maybe thanks to her ample “airbags” cushioning her fall, she only seemed dazed for a few seconds before nimbly scrambling back to her feet, glaring at Joss with anger.

“Can’t you watch where you’re going?”

Moments ago, Joss had indeed been a little distracted. Normally, anyone witnessing such a pitiful fall—or simply captivated by the girl’s striking looks and her impressive airbags—would have apologized profusely in the face of her complaint.

But Joss merely regarded her with keen interest and said nothing.

Although he’d been lost in thought, his current control over his own body was exceptional. An accident like bumping into someone simply couldn’t happen—not even if the other person failed to notice him; he could have easily avoided any collision.

So for it to happen now, there was only one explanation: the girl had intentionally thrown herself at him!

“A pickpocket? No, that can’t be—it seems I still have all my belongings. So, she must have some other motive?”

As Joss pondered this for a second, the girl glanced behind her. He saw several men in black sprinting toward them from a distance.

“Hey, buddy, I’m leaving this with you—keep it safe, okay?” she said, slapping Joss’s chest with a flustered yet mischievous grin. Then, without hesitation, she spun around and bolted, leaving Joss standing there with a bemused expression.

“Well, well. I’m usually the one tricking others—never thought I’d get played myself.”

Yet, with just that brief gesture, Joss had already pieced together the situation: most likely, the girl had stolen something from those men and, looking for a scapegoat, had picked him at random.

“Stop him! That guy’s with her!” one of the men in black roared, pointing at Joss. The group immediately split—some continued chasing after the girl, while the rest charged toward Joss.

“Seriously… are you all really that dumb, or is this just how the story needs to go? How am I such an easy target?”

Despite his complaints, Joss could understand their reasoning. Better to be safe than sorry—if there was even a one percent chance Joss was her accomplice, ignoring him would have been truly foolish.

As for what would happen if they were mistaken?

Well, unless they happened to run into one of those so-called superheroes, what did it matter? At worst, they’d just rough him up a bit—in this messed-up world, that was practically friendly!

…

Joss surveyed the black-clad men sprawled across the ground and remarked coolly, “I only beat you up a little. I think I’ve been quite merciful, wouldn’t you say?”

“Yes, yes! You’re absolutely right! So merciful!” the men nodded rapidly, bobbing their heads like pecking chickens.

“Exactly. I’m not an unreasonable person,” Joss said with satisfaction, stowing away the jade dragon wok he’d been wielding.

For some reason, he was finding it more and more natural to use the thing to knock people on the head.

“Now, tell me what’s going on. I mean, sure, I didn’t like the look of you, so I gave you a beating—cough, I mean, because you attacked me, I had to defend myself. But I don’t appreciate being used as someone’s pawn.”

He actually admitted it outright! He beat them up for no reason, had nothing to do with their quarrel! The men in black wailed inwardly, but after weighing their options, they wisely chose to cooperate.

“It’s like this, sir… That little witch who just slandered you—she stole our… cough…” The man trailed off at the crucial moment, clearly unwilling to reveal whatever secret they were hiding.

“So that’s it. I’d already guessed as much… Can’t believe I really got played. Annoying.”

Joss had no real interest in what they were hiding. Judging by their gangster-like appearance, it was nothing more than illegal drugs, firearms, or perhaps some highly incriminating evidence.

Since the girl hadn’t had anything on her, the latter seemed more likely.

“All right, you lot—call the police and turn yourselves in. I’m going to find that girl for a little chat.” With a casual wave, Joss dismissed them and turned to leave.

“Heh… the fool. As soon as he’s gone, we’ll…”

“What was that?” The wok instantly appeared in Joss’s hand as his eyes flashed with menace.

“We’ll report to the police right away!”

“That’s better. But if you’re so cooperative, how am I supposed to find an excuse to beat you up? Don’t you think you have it coming?” With that, Joss swung the wok again.

…

“Damn it, what on earth have I gotten myself into?” the girl muttered as she tore through the alleyways, her impressive “airbags” bouncing with every frantic step, drawing the stares of nearby vagrants.

But as soon as the vagrants saw the fierce gangsters chasing her, they quickly ducked their heads, pulling their ragged clothing up to hide their faces and melting into the shadows.

Such was the law of survival in the slums. There was no mutual help, no friendship—no one would save her; in fact, if they could avoid causing her trouble at a time like this, they were already decent people.

Of course, it was just as likely they were worried about getting hurt themselves, and so chose to do nothing at all.

The girl clutched an envelope to her chest, given to her by someone who’d paid her two hundred dollars to steal it. She had no idea what was inside—she hadn’t had the time to check, and even if she had, she was illiterate. It would have been pointless.

All she knew was that she was about to die!

Even throwing the envelope away wouldn’t help. The men behind her would never let her go, not even granting her a chance at survival.

After all, she was just a nobody from the slums. As long as she didn’t starve to death out on the street, no one would care what happened to her in this alley. Well, maybe a few months down the line, someone might remember her and wonder aloud where she’d ended up.

“Damn it! If I’d known, I would’ve asked for double! Three hundred dollars—two hundred was nowhere near enough!”

Ordinary people might have been shocked by such thoughts, but for someone like her, it was perfectly normal.

She rounded another corner, only to find herself facing a dead end. The men behind her broke into sinister laughter, filled with all kinds of threatening undertones.

“Hah… So, here, there’s no one else around, is there?” Suddenly, a chilling smile spread across her face.

——————————————

Suffering from a terrible cold and fever… It’s been nearly four days and only getting worse… I’ll have to rely on my backlog for updates these next couple of days—no double releases for now…