"The youth used his finger as a sword and sliced off a large chunk of flesh from his left arm, blood flowing freely."
"He then broke the little finger on his left hand and threw it along with the flesh in front of the grave."
"He loudly said, ’Today I return bones to my father and flesh to my mother, and from now on, I sever all ties with you.’
’As for this vendetta of annihilating my family, it’s better you seek someone more capable. Farewell!’"
"Having said that, the youth sprinted away."
The arena fell into an eerie silence.
Despite being barely human-shaped, the novelist’s face was full of great confusion.
What the hell did I write?
This thought crossed the minds of all the novelists present.
But weirdly enough, it made me take another look.
Finally, after the first novelist applauded, scattered applause began to sound throughout the arena.
The applause was initially hesitant but soon merged into a raucous sea.
Amongst the clapping, there was no shortage of both unrestrained and restrained laughter.
"It still has to be humans."
Even Liu Zheng overheard such phrases.
Hmm... I feel like I’ve perhaps added to the weird residents’ misunderstandings about the humans of Metropolis again.
Oh well, since my reputation has been harmed before, now we’re even.
Once the applause ceased, Black Cat also put away Liu Zheng’s work.
"I trust that everyone, after seeing the two entries, already has their judgements."
"Of course, the final judging rights for this competition belong solely to me."
It winked playfully, eliciting a round of laughter.
"As I’m sure you all understand, the very foundation of the Novelists Association is at stake. Without the constant influx of new blood, our value at City Hall will continue to diminish."
"Therefore, in an effort to encourage newcomers, I have decided that the winner of this competition is Mr. Delivery Man from the Bloody Restaurant."
Black Cat initiated the applause, and the other novelists clapped along.
Only Fei Shibu glared at Liu Zheng, her look fierce enough to kill.
Even though she didn’t care about the prize, and would have hypocritically congratulated the winner if it had been someone else,
losing to that wretched woman’s lover was something she couldn’t swallow!
But now, Fei Shibu couldn’t burst out.
No matter how the members of the Novelists Association formed cliques and suppressed newcomers behind the scenes, they had to abide by the association’s rules in public.
If she offended Black Cat "The Fool," and it later influenced the president after becoming the vice-president, she could indeed face a demotion.
That was a consequence she couldn’t bear.
So, even though Fei Shibu had mentally killed the novelist and Liu Zheng thousands of times, she could only stand still on the spot now.
"Next, I will present the prize for this competition. Mr. Delivery Man, please come to the center of the square,"
Liu Zheng nodded and then took the novelist’s hand.
"The Fool called you, senior."
The novelist whispered.
"But I am your partner, and I won’t go where you are not," Official source is novel·fıre·net
Liu Zheng imperiously said.
She lowered her head, letting Liu Zheng lead her down.
As he stepped off the stair, the novelist looked back at Fei Shibu, and then smiled, making a throat-slitting gesture.
The originally pale face of Fei Shibu turned blood red in an instant.
Descending the stairs step by step, countless gazes turned their way.
Some were encouraging, some cautious, and others were malevolent.
If it had been before, Liu Zheng might still have felt uncomfortable, but now he was quite at ease.
After all, the stares of the bugs on the 11th floor were much more blatant than those of the novelists.
Seeing his calm demeanor, the novelists who had initially looked down on him gradually changed their attitudes.
Some female or gender-ambiguous novelists even cast amorous glances at Liu Zheng.
The novelist snorted coldly, his invisible knife-arm sweeping across, severing all those gazes.
Faced with her protective action, the authors below the rank of green feather hurriedly shifted their gazes, fearing her attention.
Meanwhile, those above the rank of golden feather didn’t care and even made provoking gestures.
In the face of this situation, the novelist had no good solutions.
Within the novelist association, the color of the feathers represented the level of achievement, as well as status and power.
Although her background was profound, she couldn’t confront so many golden feather novelists at the same time.
Ultimately, it was because she hadn’t achieved notable success in the field of long novels.
Even though the novelist was now a red feather author, others still wouldn’t dare blatantly steal from her plate.
"When I get back, I must thoroughly study that ’Dragon Clan’ and write an outstanding fan-fiction!"
She resolved firmly in her heart.
With the insights of a gold-badge editor and the original works meticulously selected by Liu Zheng, she felt quite confident this time.
The two arrived in front of Black Cat, who looked at Liu Zheng with an appreciative gaze.
"I originally thought Mr. Deliveryman was just somewhat unconventional, but I didn’t expect such a high level of accomplishment in literary creation. I’m currently co-launching a new publication, and I welcome your submissions when the time comes."
"If you can become an author above the rank of green feather, I can help you get the president to intervene and transfer your employment from Bloody Restaurant to the novelist association."
"Of course, the condition is that you transfer the ownership of the ’faith’ character to me."
What it meant was, "The ’faith’ character is still with Liu Zheng, and he will transfer it whenever he thinks he is ready."
"Is the novelist association that well-connected?"
Liu Zheng exclaimed in surprise.
If it’s that incredible, then why isn’t it marked with a dot on the map?
"The novelist association naturally can’t compare to Bloody Restaurant. But the most important thing for Bloody Restaurant is the restaurant itself, not individual employees. Our novelist association is different; every novelist can realize his personal value,"
Of course, ordinary members couldn’t sufficiently influence the novelist association to intervene; it had to be at least someone above the rank of green feather.
"Then I’ll thank you for your kind offer in advance."
Liu Zheng said without much interest.
Black Cat picked up on his perfunctory response but didn’t say much more.
This Mr. Deliveryman obviously hadn’t been on the job long; he’d understand after working a bit longer.
In terms of status and power, the novelist association certainly couldn’t compare with Bloody Restaurant.
But in terms of treatment and freedom, Bloody Restaurant was no match for the novelist association.
It gestured with its paw, and a waiter immediately scurried over with a tray.
Black Cat unveiled the red cloth on the tray, revealing a red pill and a blue pill beneath it.
"These are the prizes for the competition."
"For a novelist, these are very precious drugs. Many prominent novelists wrote their breakthrough works after taking them."
"However, it’s best not to take them unless you’re confident, especially avoid taking both pills together."
"I wish you luck in joining our big family at the novelist association."
Black Cat handed the entire tray to Liu Zheng, then patted him on the shoulder.