He hadn’t expected that as soon as he left the electric scooter, a teenager would dart out from the nearby corner and go straight for the scooter. Immediately after, two more non-mainstream-looking teens emerged from the darkness—one brazenly holding a switchblade, the other casually gripping half a brick, both advancing menacingly toward Ryan Bennett.

The one with the knife, his face full of hostility, pointed the blade at Ryan Bennett and said:

“F*** your mother, what are you looking at? Hand over all your money. And your phone too.”

Ryan Bennett felt a chill run through his whole body. He’d spent time at the bottom of society and knew these little punks were the hardest to deal with—simple-minded, quick to anger, and with no sense of restraint! If it were any other time, he would have immediately backed down, only to seek revenge later.

But now, how could Ryan Bennett give in? How could he dare to?

At this moment, money and his phone didn’t matter. This place was remote, it was late at night, and there was no way to call a cab. That electric scooter was his only means of getting to Huichuan Pier No. 5 in time—it represented the sliver of hope Ryan Bennett still clung to!

So, Ryan Bennett made up his mind. He put on a look of fear and panic, fumbling to pull out his money and phone. The knife-wielding teen’s eyes lit up at the sight of the red bills and reached out to grab them.

At that moment, Ryan Bennett let go, and the cash naturally fell to the ground.

The teen instinctively bent down to pick it up.

Ryan Bennett drove his knee straight into the boy’s face! He could even clearly feel the other’s nasal bone deform and shatter with a crunch under the impact!

The knife-wielding teen let out a muffled, inarticulate howl of pain from deep in his throat, clutching his face and rolling on the ground. At this point, he couldn’t care less about the money—his mind was filled with only one thought: pain, pain, pain, it hurts like hell!!

After landing the blow, Ryan Bennett quickly snatched up the switchblade and charged at the teen who had tried to steal his scooter.

Seeing Ryan Bennett coming at him expressionlessly with the knife, and with his “boss” already writhing and screaming on the ground, the teen panicked, shouted, dropped the scooter, and ran. Ryan Bennett saw that his electric scooter was unharmed and breathed a sigh of relief.

But as the saying goes, “carelessness leads to loss”—just as Ryan Bennett relaxed for a moment, he suddenly sensed movement behind him. He spun around, but had only turned halfway when he saw the brick-wielding delinquent hurl the brick straight at him…

“Damn it…” Ryan Bennett had only managed to curse half a word in his mind before everything went black and he lost consciousness.

……

“Hey, hey, hey?”

The voice seemed to come from far away, yet also very close. Ryan Bennett struggled to open his eyes, his head throbbing painfully, ears ringing, and a bitter taste in his mouth.

When he finally opened his eyes, Ryan Bennett swallowed a mouthful of saliva tinged with the taste of rust. He saw light and shadows swirling before him, and as he struggled to lift his head to block the glare, his vision gradually cleared. At last, he saw a vaguely familiar face—oh right, wasn’t this the internet café attendant?

“Are you okay? After someone paid and left earlier, they suddenly came back and said you were lying outside. Do you need me to call 120 for you?”

The attendant still looked a bit flustered. After all, the incident had happened not far from the internet café entrance, and he was just a worker—how could he take responsibility for this?

Ryan Bennett was about to speak when a wave of indescribable fear suddenly surged up inside him. He abruptly pushed himself up, staggering, but quickly steadied himself against the wall. He asked urgently:

“What time is it now?”

The attendant glanced at his phone, then replied in surprise:

“Twelve fifteen. What’s wrong?”

Chapter 4: Better Late Than Never

Hearing the attendant’s answer, Ryan Bennett felt his head buzz, as if all the blood in his body was rushing to his head. He didn’t have time to think—he looked around, saw his electric scooter still lying nearby, and immediately got on and rode away.

After speeding several hundred meters on the scooter, Ryan Bennett took a few deep breaths, muttering to himself, “Stay calm, stay calm.” Gradually regaining his composure, he slowed the scooter to a normal speed. Clearly, there was no way he could arrive on time now—the only thing left was to clean up the mess. But if he panicked and made another mistake, he might not even get that chance!

Soon, Ryan Bennett arrived outside Huichuan Pier No. 5. He’d been here during the day—it was just a stretch of abandoned warehouses, with only some signs of use on the pier’s facilities, though even those were covered in dust.

But now, shrouded in darkness, the place felt eerie and terrifying, as if it hid untold dangers within, making his palms break out in a cold sweat. Fortunately, there were large patches of low-lying ground nearby, and plenty of frogs croaking away. Their noise helped mask the sounds of Ryan Bennett’s movements, which eased his nerves a little.