Too Rash

Meng Chao was now confident of what had happened, so he said calmly, "Manager Shen, since we can't be certain who exactly dropped the item, based on the rules, we have the responsibility, and we're willing to pay half of the price difference as compensation."

"Half?" Shen Rongfa sounded as if he had just heard a joke and snorted through his nostrils. "Kid, you haven't even gotten into college yet, and yet you sound really high-and-mighty. When the item falls, its condition will fall by at least two grades, and the price difference is two hundred thousand. 

"Half of it would mean one hundred thousand. There are plenty of people who can't earn one hundred thousand even after they work hard for a year, and yet you're giving me a promise so lightly?"

He looked at the two bodyguards, who chuckled. 

Meng Yishan tugged at his son. "A'chao, ignore this. This is my problem."

"Dad, you've been working hard over the years. Since I'm back, what's the most important thing for you to do right now is to enjoy your blessings."

Meng Chao took a step forward in front of his father to stand as a wall. He stared at Shen Rongfa. "We all know whether my father really dropped the item. I can't be bothered wasting my breath and time with you. Let's end this after we settle accounts."

And once they settled accounts, he would immediately take away the entire team of harvesters. There were plenty of chances to earn money outside. Why should they continue mingling with a thief like Shen Rongfa?

"What do you mean?"

The boy's calm expression angered Shen Rongfa. Like a pufferfish that rose out of the surface of water, his plump face puffed out. "I have witnesses. Are you going to refuse to admit to your mistakes just because there are no CCTVs here? Besides, your dad wanted to buy that etherealized neurosphere through force. I was unwilling to give it to him, and he started yanking at the container. If he didn't do that, how would it have fallen on the ground?"

He stopped talking at that moment as if he had just swallowed a fly. He realized he was arguing with Meng Chao, which degraded his status. 

He faced Meng Yishan once more. "Old Meng, if you want to continue staying in the field, you should know the rules of harvesters. You were the one who was tempted first, and you wanted to claim this item as your own, but you damaged it, and now, you refuse to admit to your mistakes and do not wish to take responsibility. If these two things spread out, forget about working with me, you can forget about working anywhere else."

Meng Yishan shuddered. "I wanted to buy it!"

"Then you could buy it. Didn't I already agree to sell it to you for twenty thousand cheaper?" Shen Rongfa suddenly changed his stance and said with a grin, "We can fix up a contract. Sign a three-year level two contract, and you can take the item away immediately. After all, we're friends, aren't we?"

Meng Yishan stared at the black etherealized neurosphere. 

If it were in perfect condition, it would really not be expensive for two hundred and eighty thousand. 

But in its current condition, even if it was made into a spinal nerve regrowth liquid, the medicinal effects would be much worse. Could it even heal his son's wounds?

"Why are you still thinking? The more you hesitate, the longer the etherealized neurosphere will be exposed to the air, and the effects will be worse."

A thought appeared in Shen Rongfa's head. "How about this? Sign a two-year contract with me, and I'll pay you eighty thousand in advance. You can buy some supplements for your son, and he might be able to pass the exam."

His words struck Meng Yishan's weakness. 

He remembered how his son had tossed and turned restlessly on the hospital bed when he was injured the year before. 

Then, he remembered how his son had managed to get into a key high school three years ago. At that time, he came in front of him and his wife and pretended that he had not done well. When the two of them wanted to comfort him, the brat suddenly brought out the admission letter to boast about his success, and they had been so angry that they chased him around with a whisk broom.

Then there was the time even farther in the past. For the sake of the entire family's future, he had trained madly. When a rich person's child trained for one hour, he would train for two to three hours until he suffered cramps. But Meng Chao just bit down on a towel so that they would not hear him grunting. 

"Say no more." Meng Yishan gritted his teeth. "Pay me one hundred thousand in advance, and I'll sign it!"

"One hundred thousand, huh? So be it!" Shen Rongfa grinned. He quickly brought out the tablet he had prepared a long time ago. "This is the general terms and conditions. You don't have to look through it carefully. Just put your handprint over here and sign your name, and it'll do."

Before his father could take the tab, Meng Chao grabbed it. 

"What is this?" Meng Chao swept his gaze over the tablet, and his pupils narrowed until they were as thin as needles. "A work contract for employees who will recover resources at a danger level of level two?!"

'Hurts!

'It hurts!

'My head hurts!'

The words "level two contract" were like a fire bomb that set his mind on fire. It brought nightmarish scenes set in the flames. 

He remembered it now. 

In his previous life, his mother was burned by the Ghost-eyed Golden Winged Flame Beetle. To pay the large medical fees, his father signed a level two contract with Shen Rongfa and went to harvest high-risk monsters, which were highly poisonous, very corrosive, could easily turn into the undead, and had a risk of exploding. 

Soon, he was injured badly, because an accident happened during an assignment. 

But when Meng Chao wanted to help his father claim his medical insurance so that he could be treated, he found that even though the bastard Shen Rongfa had claimed that he deducted money from his father's wages to pay for the special insurance for those who took high-risk jobs, he was taking money from his father's wages to pay for a normal insurance, and the price difference went into his own pocket!

That was the darkest hour of the Meng family during his previous life. 

Meng Chao went to settle accounts with Shen Rongfa, but the bastard went into hiding. When Meng Chao sued Prosperous, he found that the contract had been tampered with, and there were many conditions in it which were not beneficial for the employee. He had a hard time fighting in the lawsuit. 

This matter had taken away his younger sister's last vestiges of trust in the justice system. She said something like "the laws only protect the rich. The poor can only rely on themselves, and they have to use every means possible to live in this cruel Other World."

This matter was another important catalyst behind why she turned into the Dark Witch. 

Meng Chao's eyes turned completely bloodshot, and the tablet started cracking in his hands. 

Shen Rongfa glared at him. "How dare you snatch what's mine?!"

Crack!

Before his voice could fade away, the tablet broke in Meng Chao's hands. 

The shards flew everywhere, and sparks scattered. Some of the sharper components stabbed into his palms. 

"Meng Yishan, your son has no respect for the law!" Shen Rongfa flew into a rage. 

As the brother-in-law of a superhuman, he could do whatever he wanted in his company. The harvesters in his palm had to be careful even when they breathed. He had never run into a reckless fool like Meng Chao before. 

He pointed at Meng Chao and screeched, "Throw this brat away!"

The two bodyguards pounced on him. 

Meng Yishan had once seen the two bodyguards beat up five harvesters from another company just so that they could snatch materials. 

He immediately went up. "How dare you?!"

The two bodyguards shoved him, and he staggered five steps backward before he fell on the ground.

"Dad!"

The way his father fell on the ground overlapped with the way he lay on the hospital bed with his incomplete body, and Meng Chao's mind went blank. All he saw was red. 

The two bodyguards swung their stun batons toward his shoulder. 

"Get lost!" Meng Chao shouted. 

His Specialist Level Reckless Bull Technique exploded forth. His body first shrank before it expanded, and he let out a shout from his chest. He was just like a raging rhinoceros. 

Bang!

He rammed into the first bodyguard's chest. That bodyguard fell on his back and started coughing up blood. 

Sizzle!

The second bodyguard's stun baton stabbed into Meng Chao's shoulder, but due to his roaring anger, he did not notice it. He took a huge step forward and crashed into that bodyguard, and with a flip, he threw him thirty meters away. It nearly shattered all of the man's bones. There was no way he could get up on his feet. 

The electricity had shocked Meng Chao so much that his hair stood up. His bones crackled loudly, and his features twisted into a mask of ruthlessness. 

'Kindling, activate Ripple Force and push it to Specialist Level!' he shouted fiercely in his heart.

All sorts of details instantly appeared in his head, and like waves, they surged into his blood, muscles, and nerve endings. 

Meng Chao took his first step toward Shen Rongfa. 

With monstrous strength, he jumped up. The strength surged from his calves to his waist, and his legs were like two pile drivers when they rammed fiercely into the ground. 

He took his second step. 

An endless wave of power flowed from his chest to his arms, making them tremble. Then, it reached his fingertips. His muscles seemed to have turned to monstrous waves that pushed a violent and boundless seaquake to his burning palms. 

With just three steps, he arrived in front of Shen Rongfa. He looked down on him with a savage expression. 

Shen Rangfa was so scared that he curled into a ball. His features were scrunched up, and he shuddered. "We can talk…"

"Go talk to your ancestors' butt!"

Future version of Ripple Force, Specialist Level! Go to hell, bastard!

Meng Chao's right arm formed the shadow of a whip. His palms were now as red as burning steel, and he swung a hand at Shen Rongfa' fat face. 

Slap!

His first slap made all the people in the area hunch their shoulders. Their cheeks ached from pain. 

Shen Rongfa's fat body weighed more than 140kg, and he was struck so hard that he spun three times like a top. He felt half of his face burning. 

Slap! Slap!

The next two slaps brought Shen Rongfa up. His face became so swollen that he looked like a tottering braised pork head. 

Slap slap slap slap slap slap!

Meng Chao swung both his arms wide, and they moved like lightning. He delivered his slaps like a storm, and all those who heard felt their faces hurt. But he had an accurate control of his strength, and he did not make Shen Rongfa faint. He just made him start foaming at his mouth. Shen Rongfa was in so much pain that he wanted to die, and he did not even have the strength to cry for help. 

Meng Chao might have finished executing the entire set of Ripple Force, but his anger had not disappeared yet. He took two steps backward, and the shoelaces on his rubber work boots almost snapped. He swung his leg and kicked Shen Rongfa's abdomen, sending Shen Rongfa flying more than ten meters away like a ball. 

Bang!

Shen Rongfa crashed into the compartment of the refrigerated truck, and the truck quivered. 

The man fell to the ground like a boneless heap of flesh. His expression was part dumbfounded and part pained. There was a patch of wetness at his crotch, and it stank. The patch continued spreading. 

"A'chao!"

It was only at that moment that the harvesters snapped out of their stupor. 

They looked at Meng Chao as if they were looking at an Apocalyptic Beast.

Meng Yishan rushed to his son and held him tightly. "Enough! Do you want to go to jail?!"

Meng Chao sucked in a few deep breaths and gradually calmed down. 

"Dad, are you okay?" He carefully sized up his father.

"Of course I'm fine." Meng Yishan forced himself to smile through great difficulty. But his smile looked even more horrible than someone crying. "But what about you?"

The harvesters sighed. Meng Chao was too young and reckless. It was easy for him to throw a punch, but how was he supposed to put an end to the situation now?

'I was too rash.' Meng Chao felt a little frustrated as well. 'If I really wanted to beat up that Shen Rongfa, I should have waited until it was completely dark. I could have beaten him however I wanted then. 

'Forget it, I already beat him up. Should I go and kick him a few more times though? I'll get my fill of beating him up, and next time, I'll be absolutely calm and remember my identity at all times. I'm supposed to be a gentle and elegant high school student!'

Once he made his decision, he exercised his fingers and walked to Shen Rongfa, who was puking and peeing himself. Blood gushed out of his nose. When he saw that Meng Chao still wanted to hit him, he screamed like a eunuch who had gone back. 

Meng Yishan and his friends quickly stopped Meng Chao. "A'chao, you're mad! Are you going to kill him?!"

"Dad, I was wrong! I'll change! Next time, I'll definitely change! Just let me kick him three more times today! Just three more! If not, just two more! If you really won't let me, just let me kick him one last time! Next time, I won't kick him anymore, I promise!"

Meng Chao was engaged in a tug of war with his father, and even if eight men pulled him back, they could not manage to do it. 

"Stop!"

At that moment, a man who was pale, had no facial hair on his face, and looked like an elaphe carinata strode over with a dark face. 

Behind him was a large, built man who was covered in a cloak soaked in monster blood. 

"Superintendent Gu, Mr. Hu!"

The harvesters' expressions changed drastically.