Chapter 112: The Three Thugs
"What was that all about?" the audience asked, looking confused.
"Maybe it's a new show~"
"Cool~ Cool~"
The Shadow Realm
"Oh~ So you want me to perform face-changing for someone else?" The face-changing actor asked, taking the piece of paper from the captain.
The paper read: "I need you to perform for an adult. The performance fee is 6,000 yuan."
"So, how do I perform?" the face-changing actor asked.
The captain wrote again on the paper: "You will hide in the wooden box. When the music starts, you will open the lid and begin your performance."
"No problem!" The face-changing actor patted his chest confidently, but after looking at the box he was supposed to lie in, he complained, "Are you sure this isn't a coffin?"
Silas's Room
"Did the Talisman Squad find it?" Silas, who was about to drift off to sleep, immediately woke up. In the next moment, he entered the Shadow Realm.
The Shadow Realm
"Hmm? Is this wooden box what you found?" Silas looked at the wooden box on the Shadowkhan ninja's shoulders. It looked suspiciously like a coffi—
The captain immediately nodded. Master, I believe you will be very satisfied. Please take your seat first.
"I hope so," Silas said, sitting on a stool. He could hear movement coming from inside the wooden box and couldn't help but wonder if the Shadowkhan ninjas had captured a monkey.
Seeing that Silas was seated, the captain jumped down from the lid of the wooden box. Thump! The lid was opened, and a face-changing actor, dressed in an opera costume and wearing a mask, stood up.
"Face-changing, face-changing~ Change! Change! Change!" Then the face-changing music started, and the actor began changing masks inside the wooden box. The Shadowkhan ninjas carrying the box also began to dance to the music.
"..." Silas truly hadn't expected the Talisman Squad to give him such a big surprise! Good grief! They even brought a face-changing actor over.
"This is not what I was looking for," Silas said, exasperated. The face-changing was good, but it wasn't the clue.
Hearing that this wasn't it, the Shadowkhan ninjas immediately sent the face-changing actor back, stuffing ten hundred-dollar bills into his arms.
"Wait up! Didn't you say 6,000 yuan! Why is it foreign currency!" The last words the face-changing actor said before being thrown out of the Shadow Realm reached Silas's ears.
"You gave him money?" Silas was surprised that the Talisman Squad was so rich, just giving money away. He had never given the Shadowkhan army a single cent.
The Talisman Squad captain nodded. We took the money from the bank. We saw so much money there that they couldn't spend, so we helped them share the burden.
"Fair enough," Silas suddenly felt the captain had a point. Since they couldn't spend it all anyway, they were just helping to relieve their pressure.
Seeing that the Talisman Squad hadn't brought what he wanted, Silas returned to his room to rest. The Talisman Squad in the Shadow Realm looked at each other, then unanimously decided to go find the objects they still suspected.
Morning, The Sun Slowly Rises
"Silas! Get up!" Peter climbed through the window into Silas's room, went to the bed, and started shaking Silas awake.
Silas was shaken awake, yawned, and was forcefully dragged out by Peter toward the bathroom.
"Wait! I don't have my pants on yet!" Silas looked down at his shorts.
Peter paused, preparing to put Silas down. Just then, a Shadowkhan ninja appeared beside Silas, putting his pants on for him, as well as the shirt he would wear today.
"Your subordinate is truly convenient," Peter said, continuing to drag the expressionless Silas to the bathroom to wash up.
The days passed one after another, until one day...
"Hey! You should apologize when you do something wrong. Didn't your mother teach you that?" Peter shot a web and jumped in front of a thief.
The thief, holding a handbag, gasped for breath, looking at Spider-Man in front of him. Without a word, he turned to leave.
A black shadow appeared behind him and slowly solidified into a human figure.
"Friend~ Care for a trip to the police station?" Silas said, smiling with his back to the thief.
The thief swallowed, immediately looked up, and prepared to climb the wall to escape, but a massive mouth appeared in front of him.
"My belly is already starving!" Klein said, opening his maw wide.
"Ah! I'll go to the police station! I surrender!" The thief was on the verge of a breakdown. He had heard rumors that three "thugs" had arrived in Hell's Kitchen. Seeing them today, it was true.
"Should've said so sooner. Coffin, come!" Silas yelled.
Doo-doo-doo~ Doo-doo-doo~ Doo-doo-doo-doo!
Music started playing, and four Shadowkhan ninjas appeared carrying a coffin. The thief dropped the stolen goods and, shedding silent tears, lay down inside the coffin. This was the rule there: if you were caught by the "Three Thugs," you had to obediently get into the coffin; otherwise, the consequences were unpredictable.
Doo-doo-doo-doo! Doo-doo-doo!
The Shadowkhan ninjas carried the thief, re-entered the Shadow Realm, and transported the thief to the police station.
"Great job, Teacher!" Peter said to Klein, who was overhead.
Klein jumped down, retracted his bone blades, and high-fived Peter. "Silas, is this okay for us to do?"
"Don't worry, it's perfectly fine. This is the only way to leave a deep impression on these people and ensure they won't re-offend," Silas said with a smile. The inspiration came from the last time the Talisman Squad carried the face-changing actor, and it gave these criminals a unique experience.
Since revealing their identities to each other, the three of them had been teaming up every night to fight crime. Although Silas was occasionally absent, Peter and Klein remained consistent.
"Alright, but I still feel weird about it. You know, Silas, what we're doing feels more like a criminal gang," Peter complained, jumping onto a wall.
Silas shrugged, indicating he didn't care. He didn't consider himself a good person anyway, and this was just for his own twisted pleasure.
"Haha~ Hell's Kitchen is now spreading the name of the 'Three Thugs' for us," Klein teased.
"Oh no! I told you we're called the 'Spider-Man Trio'," Peter said, making the web-shooting hand gesture.
"No, Peter, I still think the 'Void Trio' is funnier," Klein added. After a month, Klein had also appeared in the public eye and was even dubbed the 'Void Predator,' because of his resemblance to a praying mantis. For some unknown reason, all the brown fur on Klein's body had shed, revealing an insect-like carapace. Coupled with his curved bone blades, he earned this moniker.
"Seriously, is your naming standard kindergarten level?" Silas looked at the two arguing boys, feeling slightly helpless.
After a month, the Monkey Talisman clue remained unsolved, and netizens had not provided the correct answer. This made Silas wonder if such a thing truly existed.
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