The Villain Is Too Popular

Saturday, the fifth day since Tendo and the others arrived in Deep Blue Metropolis.

"Hey! Kong, Tendo, the beef in the fridge is almost gone. Which one of you is going to the supermarket to buy some more?"

In the villa's living room, Chen Xing emerged from the kitchen wearing an apron, her spatula hitting the doorframe with a thump.

This sudden noise startled Tendo, who was leisurely lounging on the sofa, munching on snacks and happily watching a melodramatic comedy film.

On the other side, Chen Kong, who was diligently working on two sets of homework, quietly put down his pen upon hearing the commotion.

As for why he had two sets, that's because Tendo, being lazy, had handed his own homework over to Chen Kong. He even had the gall to call it a gesture of goodwill, meant to help Chen Kong consolidate his knowledge.

Of course, Chen Kong wasn't foolish. He knew Tendo was trying to pull a fast one on him. However, he didn't have much of an issue with it. After all, writing one set was writing, and writing two sets... was also writing.

But his current act of doing homework, in Chen Xing's eyes, was no different from Tendo lounging on the sofa watching TV—they were both slacking off.

Thus, seeing herself working tirelessly to prepare dinner for everyone while Tendo and Chen Kong were goofing off, Chen Xing felt incredibly annoyed. We're all here on a mission, so why are only you two so idle?

What made Chen Xing even more furious was that Tendo, upon hearing her words, not only didn't respond but immediately put down his potato chips, quickly grabbed a document from the coffee table to cover his face, and instantly feigned busyness. His acting was so terrible, it wasn't acting at all; it was all just obvious pretense.

"Ten... do..."

Chen Xing gritted her teeth, her eye twitching uncontrollably. The spatula in her hand visibly bent, clearly indicating she was struggling to contain her anger.

Fortunately, Chen Kong got up just in time to mediate between the two.

"Sis, I'll go. I don't have anything to do anyway."

Hearing this, Tendo, who had been feigning seriousness, immediately followed up on his words, "Yes, yes, Xing, let Kong go. It's not far anyway, just a street or two away."

Chen Xing gave Tendo a deep look, then huffed coldly and returned to the kitchen, clearly unwilling to bother with that guy.

However, what Chen Xing didn't expect was that the certain person outside the living room, seeing this scene, felt no guilt whatsoever. Instead, just as Chen Kong was about to leave, he shouted:

"Kong, when you get to the supermarket, remember to buy some more snacks for me! Thanks!"

"Okay, Tendo."

Chen Kong closed the door and then turned to walk out of the villa. However, before he had taken many steps, he heard the sounds of things breaking and crashing from inside the living room. There were also some indistinct 'arguments,' such as, "Why don't you go yourself and always make my brother go?" and "If you do this again, I'll make you eat out alone."

Although Chen Kong wasn't inside the villa at the moment, he guessed what was happening. Nine times out of ten, after he left, Chen Xing immediately came out of the kitchen and started chasing Tendo, who was running around trying to dodge her.

Thinking this, Chen Kong couldn't help but shake his head and laugh.

But after laughing for a while, he suddenly sighed.

"Ah, if only this kind of life could continue forever..."

Although he said that, Chen Kong knew it was just his unrealistic fantasy. After all, a month later, he and Tendo would have to return to the base. At that time, he would once again become that unnoticed, uncared-for background character.

"Forget it, I'll think about future matters later. For now, I should quickly help Sis buy the ingredients she needs, and Tendo's favorite snacks, too. Otherwise, everyone will go hungry..."

Chen Kong patted his face, regaining his composure.

Then, he pushed open the gate of the villa courtyard and walked straight towards the nearest pedestrian street.

Not long after he left the villa area and arrived at the pedestrian street outside, a figure sitting on a rooftop excitedly stood up.

"I've waited all day, and finally, the fish has come out."

"Claude, how long can your Coffin of Silence last?"

Hearing Fushan's words, Iron Coffin Claude put down the rag he was using to wipe his coffin and calmly replied, "One hour. Beyond that, the commotion you make will be observed by the nearest Star Energy detector, attracting the attention of the Star Envoy Association."

"Only an hour? Well, that's enough. After all, dealing with a mere Rank One Star Envoy doesn't require that much time, even if they're a genius."

Fushan gazed at Chen Kong below, who had already merged into the crowd and was walking towards the nearest department store supermarket. A pathological and cruel smile spread across his rugged, bearded face.

"While not the toy I wanted most, as an appetizer, this guy named Chen Kong is barely adequate."

Fushan placed his hand on Claude's upright iron coffin and reached out to open it.

Inside the metallic coffin, there was no tangible object.

Instead, there was a strange, black energy vortex.

As Fushan submerged his hand into the black vortex, he spoke, "This feels great. After enduring for so long, I can finally see those arrogant, conceited geniuses kneeling at my feet, begging for mercy again."

With that, Fushan fully entered Claude's iron coffin.

Bang!

As Fushan completely entered the coffin, the opened iron coffin slowly closed. When it was fully shut, a ripple, like that of water, suddenly appeared on the rooftop ground beneath it. Under the effect of this ripple, the iron coffin containing Fushan slowly sank into it, completely disappearing from the rooftop.

Seeing that his 'Iron Coffin' and 'Fushan' had both departed, Claude immediately sat cross-legged in the center of the rooftop.

Whoosh!

A cold wind swept across the rooftop, lifting a corner of Claude's black cloak, revealing the metallic-skinned body beneath.

He gazed at the 'Iron Coffin' that had already appeared at the main entrance of a department store supermarket on the pedestrian street. His red electronic eyes continuously flickered, seemingly calculating something...

[Name: Claude Ironvault]

[Type: Mechanoid/Control]

[Level: Rank One Star Envoy]

[Star Source: Mechanical Shrine]

[Crimes: Once single-handedly slaughtered hundreds of people, solely to perfect his 'human body data'...]

[Federal Wanted Level: One Star]

[Federal Bounty: 350,000 Star Source Coins]

In the evening, Chen Kong pushed open the supermarket's glass door; the twilight sun outside cast a long shadow behind him.

Inside the supermarket, several housewives pushed shopping carts, weaving between the aisles. Not far away, the television above the checkout counter was playing a weather forecast, while the cashier below yawned boredly, occasionally glancing at their watch, silently counting down to quitting time.

It was an ordinary daily scene, but full of the warmth of life.

Looking at this scene, Chen Kong couldn't help but sigh inwardly, Such peaceful days are truly wonderful, but unfortunately... they don't belong to me.

After his moment of reflection, Chen Kong prepared to head towards the fresh food section of the supermarket. But before he could take two steps, he suddenly felt a presence behind him.

Clang—

Under the terrifying aura, the supermarket's glass doors began to tremble, and the lights flickered. This eerie sight caused everyone in the supermarket to panic, constantly looking around.

Chen Kong, who had sensed the aura first, immediately turned to look outside the door.

A strange black vortex had suddenly appeared on the ground directly in front of the supermarket's main entrance.

From within the vortex, a peculiar iron coffin covered in circuitry... slowly emerged.

Bang!

As the iron coffin opened, a stocky dwarf with a full beard walked out, smiling.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, unknown genius Star Envoy—Chen Kong."