On the stage, Miss Rabbit, a voluptuous, scantily clad blonde dancer, twisted her waist like a water snake, slithering in an S-shape around the pole, her sapphire-like eyes sending coy glances, occasionally raising a finger to her red lips to blow kisses to the audience below.

Logically, Miss Rabbit’s dance had no technical skill and was not very aesthetically pleasing, but it still drew cheers and thunderous applause from the entire venue...

The audience’s focus was never on the artistry of the dance, but rather on the alluring curves of a woman’s body as she danced.

If this woman was also a former Witch Breed Strange Tales Dependents and possessed a body that had been modified by the Witch Breed Strange Tales organization, it would drive people even crazier.

The effect was almost comparable to a true Witch Breed exercising her charm ability.

After several exchanges of glances with Miss Rabbit that were completely on different wavelengths, Paper Cicada Immortal, sitting in a booth below the stage, froze and entered a fantasy.

...

In Paper Cicada Immortal’s fantasy, the girl on stage was only there because of life’s pressures...

She didn’t like it there, but she needed a well-paying job, so she worked diligently to earn her rightful pay while carefully avoiding harassment from ill-intentioned customers...

One day, while working, she stood on stage and saw that special man in the corner; with just one glance, she realized that she and that man were kindred spirits, sharing an ineffable spiritual resonance...

That man had the same thoughts as the girl, and as soon as she finished work, he immediately sought her out and exchanged contact information...

Soon after, they began dating, boating in the park and feeding swans, enjoying candlelight dinners at restaurants, seeing mountains and seas, their feelings gradually warming, becoming inseparable...

One day, under the moonlight, the man held the girl’s hand, placed a ring on her finger, and said affectionately, “Marry me, I’ll support you!” The girl wept tears of joy...

They got married, had two children in three years, and lived happily ever after.

【The END】

— — — —

Just as Paper Cicada Immortal thought he had met his destined woman, and in just a few glances, fantasized from acquaintance to growing old together, Miss Rabbit’s dance approached its end.

With only a small amount of thin fabric covering her private parts, she stood on stage with a shy expression, leaning against the silver pole, a thin layer of sweat glistening on her flushed skin, like a budding rose just watered by dew.

Immediately after, the stage lights suddenly went dark.

The lift at the back of the stage slowly rose, carrying a tall figure; from the silhouette, it appeared to be a graceful, tall woman.

Seeing this, the regulars present knew that intermission had arrived.

Performances at the Angel Rose Theater usually lasted from 8:30 PM to 6:30 AM, divided into three acts: upper, middle, and lower. The lights dimming now signified the end of the upper act.

The dancers’ performances just now were merely appetizers.

For the next hour, it was the dancers’ and customers’ break time, as even a Psychic would find it exhausting to endure ten hours straight.

During this period, there would be comedy, acrobatics, magic, and other performances, while customers could also express their affection for their favorite dancers with their lottery tickets.

There were three colors of lottery tickets: blue, red, and gold, redeemable for ten, one hundred, and one thousand US dollars, respectively.

During the dancers’ break, customers would give out their lottery tickets according to their personal preferences. After tabulation, the dancer with more votes could perform again in the next act; otherwise, she would be replaced by other dancers waiting backstage.

Of course, if enough lottery tickets were given to a certain dancer, and with her consent, one could go to a private room on the second floor to enjoy some indescribable special services.

These procedures were all too familiar to the regulars.

However, the host for today’s intermission seemed a bit different from usual...

“Clap!”

With a soft sound, a pure white beam of light, as if descending from heaven, shone down on the lift, revealing a cold-faced girl in a fitted suit, holding a microphone, appearing in everyone’s sight.

Her face was somewhat unfamiliar, her eyes a bit flustered, and she was not the usual pleasant-speaking Black man who sounded like a stand-up comedian.

At this sight, a murmur spread through the audience.

“What’s going on? Did they change hosts?”

“What’s wrong with this woman? She has a deadpan face?” 𝓯𝓻𝓮𝙚𝙬𝓮𝙗𝒏𝙤𝒗𝙚𝙡.𝒄𝒐𝓶

“Good figure, but her looks... not as good as Annie’s.”

“...”

And just as everyone was whispering, Vivian, Miss Rabbit, and Paper Cicada Immortal looked at the person on stage, their mouths uncontrollably twitching.

Vivian, “...”, Who is this woman? Why are there so many strange things happening tonight?

Miss Rabbit, “...”, Blue Yi? When did she start working at the Angel Rose Theater?

Paper Cicada Immortal, “...”, Holy crap, it’s that woman! How did she find her way here so quickly?

That’s right, the host lifted by the platform was Lu Yibei.

As for why she appeared here, it all started an hour ago...

— — — —

An hour ago.

Lu Yibei followed the Black man and three teenagers through a dark alley, all the way to a secluded open space behind the Angel Rose Theater.

This area was separated from the tent district by just one wall and was surrounded by numerous trash bins.

This was one of several staff entrances to the Angel Rose Theater.

Behind a cluster of trash bins, a heavy iron door with a password lock was tightly shut. From the faint Ling Neng circuits visible on the door, it was clear that numerous defensive Spells were in place. Forcibly breaking in would likely trigger an alarm and attract unnecessary trouble.

But fortunately, Lu Yibei seemed to have no need to break in...

Watching the Black man lead the three teenagers to the heavy iron door, she secretly rejoiced that her judgment was correct, and that following these guys would indeed allow her to sneak into the theater. At the same time, she prepared to jump out as soon as the Black man opened the door, knock all four of them unconscious, and sneak into the theater.

The next moment, as the Black man finished entering the password, and before Lu Yibei could act, an unexpected scene unfolded.

With a soft “creak,” the heavy iron door opened, and two burly men suddenly darted out, one on each side of the three teenagers, then lifted their clothes, entering the arms display segment.

The Black man, with a clumsy smile, squeezed out an awkward expression, “Sorry, gentlemen, it seems you won’t be able to go in and have fun today.”

After a brief silence, the teenager in the red hoodie mustered his courage and growled, “Why? You’ve already taken our money!”

Why? Isn’t it obvious you’ve been scammed? They never intended to take you in from the start! Lu Yibei rolled her eyes.

The scene before her reminded her of when she was a child, after “bribing” an older classmate, who then didn’t take her to the family internet cafe.

That guy told her at the time, “It’s a special situation today, the boss doesn’t serve little kids.”

Later, she found out that there was no such thing as a family internet cafe in that residential area at all...

It’s all a scam!

I bet that guy will come up with a similar excuse next to fool them. Lu Yibei thought, looking at the Black man.

“This... I’m very sorry, but didn’t we agree before? I only said I might be able to get you in, and if anything unexpected happens before going in, you can’t blame me, right?” The Black man said, glancing at the two burly men as he spoke.

“If we ran into security while sneaking in, you can’t blame me, right? You guys are just too unlucky.”

Lu Yibei, “...”, See, it appeared after all!

She guessed that the three teenagers were experiencing the same scam she had as a child, but she didn’t expect that the three teenagers, born and raised in Free City, would be much more vengeful than she was as a child...

When she realized she had been scammed as a child, facing an older student who was much stronger than her, she chose to endure it immediately, pretending nothing had happened and turning to leave...

After returning to Peony Street, she went to the overpass and spent fifty yuan to hire Liu Banxian to go to the school during the flag-raising ceremony on Monday, pretending to be the older student’s grandfather, and publicly give him a carton of cigarettes.

However, those three teenagers, after realizing they had been deceived, chose to seek revenge on the spot!

They pulled out pistols, God knows where they got them from, from their hoodies, aimed them at the two burly men, and then growled.

“Don’t move!”

“Today, either you let us in, or you refund the money, otherwise...”

“Hmph! It’s just a gun? Who doesn’t have one?”

The “freedom” of Free City was perfectly displayed here.

Lu Yibei shook her head expressionlessly, sensing the faint Ling Neng fluctuations ★ 𝐍𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 ★ from the guns in the burly men’s hands through her Ling Neng perception.

Silly boys, those are Alchemy firearms. Compared to theirs, what are your toy guns?

Seeing this, Lu Yibei stood up from her hiding place, stretched her limbs, and leaped, arcing through the air to land steadily in the middle of the group. Then, with lightning speed, she disarmed everyone and skillfully removed their magazines.

Who knew if anyone would survive after a passionate shootout? If they all died, wouldn’t she be unable to get in?

“Everyone, don’t be impulsive, don’t be impulsive, let’s talk it over nicely!”

“I saw everything that just happened from the side. To be fair, both of you are at fault, aren’t you?”

“You... scamming little kids, that’s really unprofessional.” Lu Yibei raised an eyebrow at the Black man, then turned to look at the teenager in the red hoodie, “You, a little kid, why are you going to a strip club? Isn’t it your own fault for being scammed?”

“If you ask me, why don’t you all take a step back? This young man shows some professional ethics and doesn’t make things difficult for them, and these three young men put down their guns, give them a little more money, and then we all go in together, how about that?”

Everyone, “????”

Where did you come from? Why should we let you in? Did “taking a step back” mean stepping all over you?

Seeing all six people cast unfriendly glances at her, their fists clenching audibly, Lu Yibei shrugged expressionlessly, “So, there’s nothing to discuss then? Then there’s only...”

Mid-sentence, a crimson glow lit up in the depths of her pupils.

Charm ability, activate!