Chapter 85: Chapter 73: America’s No. 1, King

So lazy. So utterly lazy. Li Wei was sick with frustration.

’Just as long as it doesn’t lead to another blunder like that time with the toilet water.’

With his stealth ability and one-quarter of the Silver Body, he shouldn’t run into any major trouble as long as he didn’t barge into a gang stronghold.

His Silver Body was currently stuck at 1/4 progress, and his agility was just a few missions away from its next advancement.

This feeling of being held back at the last second made him itch with curiosity, desperate to find out what incredible new abilities the next advancement would bring.

Li Wei contemplated this while sipping a protein shake and waiting for the bus.

However, just as he was preparing to ditch Don Quixote and go adventuring on his own at night, it seemed Knight Don Quixote had returned.

...

That evening, Don Quixote once again came home late from work, but he looked to be in high spirits.

"I’ve been dead tired lately. I wasn’t this exhausted even when I was counting cattle on the plains of Argentina," he said, sinking into the sofa and cracking open a beer. "Oh, you bought more beer... Nice, nice. But remember, no more Heineken next time. I prefer Trappist ale."

"One bottle of Trappist ale costs as much as three Heinekens," Li Wei said. "You wouldn’t know, since you’re not the one paying the bills."

Faced with this rebuke from his nephew, a man more than twenty years his junior, Don Quixote just chuckled and shrugged.

"All the broken pipes and safety hazards are fixed," he said, giving a huge stretch. "Once this batch of tenants’ leases are up, we can justify a rent increase. Ah, so my two weeks of hard work weren’t for nothing. You really don’t want to know what I found down in the sewers..."

"Don’t tell me you found slimes?" Li Wei joked. "Is New York just one giant jungle of monsters?"

"..."

The mention of slimes seemed to trigger something in Don Quixote. Without even eating dinner, he gave a dismissive wave, returned to his room, and fell into a deep sleep.

"What was that about?" Li Wei muttered as he went upstairs. ’There can’t really be slimes in the sewers, can there?’

Just after midnight, Li Wei slipped downstairs, dressed only in a thin layer of clothing.

This was the first time he’d gone out exploring on his own, without Don Quixote.

The chill of the sea breeze at Bei Ling Ridge in late October was enough to send any night runner scurrying home, but Li Wei, despite being so lightly dressed, didn’t feel the cold at all.

Passing by Mr. Maurice Stanford’s house again, Li Wei noticed that he hadn’t just installed bulletproof glass and cameras; he’d replaced the entire door.

Seeing the lights were still on, Li Wei thought for a moment and decided to drop in.

The door opened to reveal Mr. Stanford’s weary face.

"Oh, it’s you," he said, a smile breaking through his fatigue. "Where’s your uncle? Not out adventuring with you tonight?"

"It’s my shift tonight," Li Wei replied. "I’m just checking to see if there are any security issues I can help with."

’After all, this man is one of Don Quixote’s ’subjects,’ and I did get a lot of quests from him last time,’ Li Wei thought. He wanted to see if there were any more quests he could squeeze out of him.

"No security problems, but a whole heap of community ones," Stanford sighed. "The renovation company we’d arranged everything with just dissolved overnight and skipped town. Can’t get ahold of anyone." 𝕗𝐫𝚎𝗲𝘄𝐞𝕓𝐧𝕠𝘃𝕖𝐥.𝐜𝚘𝚖

He suddenly noticed Li Wei’s thin clothes and smacked his forehead. "Look at me, how rude. Come in, kid, before you catch a cold."

Mr. Stanford’s home was much more opulent than Li Wei and Don Quixote’s. It was filled with a dazzling array of trinkets, decorations, and antiques—no wonder it had been targeted by thieves.

Stanford made Li Wei a cup of hot tea (’Thanks, but I’d like to sleep tonight’), then sat down and began to pour out his woes.

"The whole thing is very strange," Mr. Stanford said, scratching his thinning hair. "Those Italians, they were always a bit lazy, but you could get ahold of them. For years, they’ve been the ones to handle our community’s holiday festivals and decorations. But starting two weeks ago, their company was suddenly dissolved, and all our contacts have become unreachable."

’I have a pretty good idea why,’ Li Wei thought, keeping his face impassive. ’But I’m not going to say it.’

"Yes," he said calmly. "That is strange."

"Halloween is at the end of October," Stanford said, picking up the teacup in front of Li Wei and taking a large gulp. "I’m still looking for a suitable company to handle the festival celebration for us."

DING!

That wasn’t a system notification. It was a sound effect Li Wei supplied in his own head.

"My uncle happens to be a senior manager at an asset management company," he said. "Perhaps his people could handle it?"

"Your uncle got another promotion? Congratulations!" Mr. Stanford said, momentarily stunned. "I had no idea. I’ll see if I can talk to him about it tomorrow. It would be best to get this settled quickly. If he can take on the project, that would be wonderful."

After a bit more small talk, Li Wei took his leave of Mr. Stanford and continued his nightly patrol.

Unfortunately for him, public safety in Bei Ling Ridge was, on the whole, quite good—it certainly felt much safer than Sunset Park, with its frequent sirens. Li Wei wandered around for a long time without triggering a single new quest and finally had to head home, frustrated.

"Hmm..." he muttered to himself, looking at a map on his phone. "South of Bei Ling Ridge is Dyker Heights... that’s probably the wealthiest neighborhood in Brooklyn, so I’m not likely to trigger any quests there... To the east is Sunset Park, and further east is the Bronx. The South Bronx is where Jose used to live; the security there must be terrible..."

"I’ll head east next time," he said, closing his phone. "Otherwise, having to passively wait for my uncle to trigger quests is just too—"

"ATTENTION!"

Don Quixote’s booming voice, especially jarring in the dead of night, immediately seized Li Wei’s attention.

’Two weeks of honest, hard work,’ Li Wei muttered, sprinting toward the sound. ’And the one day I’m not watching, you break loose?’

When he rounded a corner, he saw Knight Don Quixote, in his first appearance in two weeks, once again clad in full armor. Head held high and chest puffed out, he was pacing back and forth in front of a row of bushes.

"Excellent!" he declared, his eyes closed. "I presume you are all aware that I was cursed by a detestable Witch."

The sea breeze made the leaves RUSTLE, and Don Quixote nodded in satisfaction.

"Therefore!" he boomed. "I have decided! Starting today, we begin a great expedition! We will march ever forward until we have eliminated the Witch’s true form!"

"What are you doing out here?" Li Wei asked, walking up to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with him and gaze at the bushes. "Giving a speech to your soldiers?"

"My friend, you have arrived," Don Quixote said, recognizing Li Wei’s voice and nodding. "That detestable Witch actually placed a vile curse upon me. Though it was purified with Holy Spring Water, my body still feels unwell."

"So, starting today," he continued, speaking as if to himself, "I shall organize my forces and lead an expedition against the distant Witch. This is the pre-battle rally."

He then turned back to the bushes and spouted a long, rambling string of inspiring words before, satisfied, he sounded the retreat. He returned to his room, shed his armor, and immediately fell back into a deep, snoring sleep.

Li Wei, meanwhile, lay in his bed, studying Google Maps and pondering where to explore next.

’I’ve done the bus station... explored around Sunset Park...’ He carefully studied New York’s transit lines. ’I don’t think I’ve triggered much along the subway lines yet.’

Just as he was about to put his phone away and go to sleep, the screen lit up again. A message had arrived from someone whose profile picture was just a solid black square.

Of course, Li Wei knew who was behind that profile picture.

’A message from Anya?’