Mark Brooks was just about to respond when he suddenly remembered he wasn’t supposed to speak, so he only nodded. Unexpectedly, another slap flashed across his face. Mark Brooks was truly on the verge of tears, unable to understand what he had done wrong or what this old man was thinking. This place felt like a nightmare. After more than a dozen slaps, he had long forgotten about Deng Sha, forgotten all those vows of eternal love, forgotten that he had just said he couldn’t live without Deng Sha. On the contrary, he now believed that simply staying alive was the most important thing.

“Now that you’re sober, why aren’t you getting out?” Edward Clark stood up, clapped his hands, and let out a sigh.

He thought he was slow to react, but he hadn’t expected there to be so many people even slower than him.

Mark Brooks came to his senses, nodding repeatedly, a look of joy in his eyes. He suddenly stood up and took a step toward the door, but a kick came from behind, sending Mark Brooks tumbling to the ground, his head banging against the wall. In that moment, he almost wished he were dead!

But no one really wants to die. Just a moment ago, he thought the sky would fall without Deng Sha, but now he finally realized that the world keeps turning no matter who’s missing, and life goes on just fine without anyone.

Suddenly, seeing Edward Clark staring at the shards all over the floor, Mark Brooks wondered how his parents had made him so clever. Inspiration struck, and he took off his jacket, carefully cleaned up the broken bottle pieces and water stains on the floor until it was spotless, then, wearing a Mona Lisa-like mysterious smile, he slowly walked out as if carrying a Ming dynasty vase, afraid to let even a drop of water fall.

This time, Edward Clark didn’t stop him. He just stood there, watching Mark Brooks’s back. Mark Brooks felt a chill run up his spine, his mind suddenly crystal clear. As he left the room, he even closed the door behind him out of habit. After all those years of Chinese education about the “Five Stresses and Four Beauties,” which he’d never really understood, it was as if his soul had been miraculously possessed and all those lessons rushed back into Mark Brooks’s body.

But this also fully proves that old saying: “Spare the rod, spoil the child.” Even if there’s no scientific proof, it’s certainly well-tested in practice.

Only after the unlucky Mark Brooks closed the door did Edward Clark leisurely walk to his own room, ignoring the two beautiful women who looked at him as if he were a monster. He closed the door, stretched, lay down on the bed, and took out that all-purpose NPC device. He pressed it a couple of times. For some reason, after nearly a year, it still had power. He’d never seen a charger like this before—if cell phones used this kind of charger, half the charger manufacturers would go out of business.

But no one answered on the other end. Edward Clark sighed. For the past year, his only companions had been loneliness and that so-called Hermit. That person always called himself the Hermit. Edward Clark never asked, just went along with it.

He didn’t know where he came from or where he was going. He just felt that this kind of life was comfortable—at least he didn’t have to think about anything. When he had money, he spent it; when he didn’t, he went hungry. But, he’d never actually gone hungry.

He found that he seemed capable of doing many things and never had to worry about starving. Besides, his needs were simple, so there was no reason to starve. He was also a good fighter. Bai Bo Pi was the boss of the east side of S City, worth over a hundred million, notorious for his evil deeds. Of course, he worried about retribution. Even his bodyguards could tell, just by looking, that Edward Clark was a formidable fighter.

They had guns, too. Anyone would think that going to confront them was suicide, that he had a death wish. Bai Bo Pi thought the same. He was just wondering how to deal with the unexpected Edward Clark to get the most pleasure out of it, when suddenly he found himself at the peak of pleasure—he lost control of his bowels and bladder!

In an instant, three of the four bodyguards were taken out by Edward Clark, and the last one, terrified, knocked himself out with his own baton, just hoping to pass out quickly. When Bai Bo Pi finally pulled out his handgun, he realized his wrist was broken.

He tried to speak, but Edward Clark twisted off one of his arms. Bai Bo Pi stared at Edward Clark’s face in terror, almost believing he was a messenger from hell. Edward Clark hadn’t shown his real face—he knew how to protect himself and didn’t want trouble. He’d just made a few changes to his face and added a couple of mustaches, and even he could barely recognize himself. Was this also something he was born with?

In the end, he didn’t kill Bai Bo Pi. Even though he knew that someone like Bai Bo Pi deserved to die ten thousand times over, he also knew that a living Bai Bo Pi was much more useful than a dead one!

‘Knock, knock, knock’—there was a gentle tapping at the door. Julia Cooper found the door unlocked and pushed it open to come in. Her expression was perfectly normal, as if nothing had happened earlier. “Edward Clark, have you eaten yet?”

Edward Clark shook his head.

“Let’s eat together.” Julia Cooper looked at Edward Clark and said softly, “I made enough food for three people.”

“But I haven’t paid for meals yet. Isn’t that a bit inappropriate?” Edward Clark sat up. Even as he said this, he was already heading for the door.

Julia Cooper grabbed his sleeve, misunderstanding his meaning. “Edward Clark, the food outside isn’t nutritious. You had 1,158 yuan, paid 1,000 for rent, and today you went out looking for a job. At most, you have a little over a hundred left. How can that last until you find work? Besides, even if you do find a job, you won’t get your first paycheck for at least a month.”