"I knew it."
Looking at the sign for Building 3A in front of him, Liu Zheng rolled his eyes.
Who knows where they picked up this annoying habit, writing Building 4 as Building 3A, or writing Building 18 as Building 17A, or simply skipping it altogether.
He took the elevator to the sixth floor and found apartment 606 in the northeast corner.
"Hello, your delivery is here."
Liu Zheng knocked on the door.
No response.
He knocked harder a few times, and finally, there was a stir inside.
"Leave it at the door, I will get it myself in a bit."
A weak yet irritable voice called out.
Leave it at the door? That wouldn't count as delivered, would it?
"Sorry, but the restaurant requires that the delivery be signed for in person; could you please open the door to receive it?"
Liu Zheng spoke cautiously.
"I'm busy! Stop bothering me!"
The voice inside grew more irritable.
"Really not opening?"
He was starting to lose patience as well.
"No! Bother me again, and I'll call the police."
The voice screamed.
So there are police in this world?
Even if there were, Liu Zheng wasn't afraid.
Last time, he had killed all the security guards at Yipin Villas, and nobody had come to arrest him; this time, he was simply knocking on a door.
Even so, Liu Zheng still called Niu Ma.
"The number you have dialed is out of service."
The recorded message sounded.
Fine, fine, playing the disappearing act, huh?
It seemed asking Niu Ma for help when in doubt wasn't going to work anymore.
Liu Zheng looked at his phone screen, and suddenly a string of numbers popped into his head.
Si Xue surely knew more than Niu Ma.
"You don't die if you don't seek death."
He shook his head vehemently, discarding the crazy idea.
"Just open the door a crack, and I'll toss the delivery in and leave, I won't delay you a second."
Liu Zheng shouted.
"Won't open, please, just leave me alone."
The person inside wailed.
"Really is a nutcase..."
He was somewhat speechless.
Not a single normal person among these delivery customers; couldn't the restaurant filter their clients at least a bit?
While complaining, Liu Zheng raised his own tentacles.
If they won't open the door, they'll get the grass; these days, who isn't a bit mad?
The tentacles drummed against the anti-theft door from various angles, giving him the sensation of playing a drum set.
Liu Zheng was having fun, but the person inside couldn't stand it anymore.
"Stop knocking!"
The anti-theft door suddenly swung outward, and a pale-faced person glared at him.
"Huh, it's actually a girl."
Liu Zheng said, surprised.
The person in front of him was petite, with an oversized T-shirt covering down to her knees, casually revealing half a shoulder.
Her facial features and face shape were also very youthful; she looked like a middle school student.
But other areas seemed quite fully developed.
"I won't sign for it, you'd better leave now or I'll really call the police."
The girl threatened, her voice quite androgynous, no wonder he hadn't discerned her gender at first.
"I'm sorry, I'm leaving now."
Liu Zheng apologized with a bow, his tone sincere.
The girl's expression eased a little, and just as she was about to close the anti-theft door, a shadow suddenly flew past her ear.
"Till I see you again."
Liu Zheng said with a smiling eye, then thoughtfully helped her close the door.
"Aaah!"
A few seconds later, a belated scream echoed from inside the apartment.
He pricked up his ears to listen, as if savoring delightful music.
Harassing a girl like this, compared to blowing up the heads of those burly men, held a different kind of pleasure.
However, although the sneak attack was successful, Liu Zheng didn't let down his guard immediately.
From his first delivery experience, he knew that as long as it wasn't time, these customers still had the option to refuse the delivery.
He stretched out his four tentacles and leaned forward, his body's center of gravity shifting to firmly brace against the door.
Sure enough, the sound of something banging against the door soon came from inside.
Once, twice, three times...
The violent banging noise made Liu Zheng's head buzz.
It seemed having too high sensitivity wasn't necessarily a good thing; not only did it make losing rationality easy, but it also tormented the senses.
"She's got quite a kick."
The anti-theft door kept being knocked ajar, only to be braced shut by his effort.
Through the slight gap, he could catch a glimpse of the girl's face twisted with fury.
If it weren't for the "Flesh Deformation" augment and the bonuses from the "Legendary delivery man" identity, he guessed he would have been flung out on the first try.
"Ahhhhhh!"
The girl, failing to break through the door, finally erupted in fury.
Serrated bone spikes bore out from her delicate arms, transforming into two mantis-like forelimbs.
"Damn."
Liu Zheng, quick on his feet, immediately leapt to one side.
The next second, accompanied by a grating metallic cutting noise, the heavy security door immediately fell apart.
"Take your delivery and get lost, or I'll kill you,"
the girl said viciously, hooking up the delivery bag with her bare foot.
"Think you can beat me?"
He didn't look at the delivery bag or the crystal-clear little foot, but at the fearsome saw-like limbs.
If he really had to block that last strike, it wasn't like he couldn't have managed it.
The strength of his body had now reached a new level, and such cutting wounds weren't a big threat to "Blood and Flesh Rebirth."
But who knew if the opponent had other tricks up her sleeve.
"Let's make a deal,"
Liu Zheng suddenly said.
"What kind of deal?"
The girl paused for a moment.
"You all want flesh, right? I should still have a healthy amount on me."
"Who needs your fat?"
the girl said disdainfully.
"Only you laborers need that stuff."
"Oh."
Liu Zheng nodded.
Words successfully fished out; this woman indeed wasn't just any seductive wretch.
Not wanting "flesh," she clearly operated at a higher level than the enemies he had encountered before.
If he could win by wit, there was no need to battle with brute force.
"Then, let's make a different trade. I'll teach you how to write novels, and you sign for the delivery,"
he considered aloud.
"Teach me to write novels? You?"
The girl let out a series of giggles, like a little hen that eats people.
"Where do you publish your novels? Are they in print, or serialized online?"
Liu Zheng asked.
"Er, serialized online,"
the girl replied.
"On a free platform, or paid subscription?"
"Paid subscription."
The girl's expression grew serious.
"Male-oriented or female-oriented? What genre?"
He asked again.
"Male-oriented, rebirth career literature,"
she answered honestly.
"How many average subscribers?"
"Still, haven't signed a contract. My new novel was rejected upon submission,"
the girl said, somewhat shyly.
"Heh."
Liu Zheng scoffed dismissively.
"I've written rebirth career literature as well, with an average subscription of 3000+."
Afterwards, he kept flopping and switched to journalism.
"That's a lie, then why are you delivering food now?"
the girl challenged.
"Collecting material,"
he said indifferently.
"Really?"
The girl wasn't dumb; skepticism remained in her eyes.
"Enough talk, hurry up and show me your manuscript,"
Liu Zheng said, checking his phone. There were still twenty minutes left, enough to read the beginning.
"All right,"
the girl said grudgingly, eyeing his four tentacles.
She took an electronic notebook out of her pocket and handed it to Liu Zheng.
It took him only three minutes to skim through the 7,000-word beginning.
"What kind of crap is this."
Liu Zheng commented unreservedly.
"Isn't that a bit too harsh?"
The girl objected.
"The protagonist is set up as an average-looking gloomy man, toxic."
"Your reason?"
the girl asked.
"The readers are all handsome; where would they find any relatability with that?"
Liu Zhengyi stated authoritatively.