I Received Messages From Future Self!
Chapter 576 - 572 Pawnshop - City God

Chapter 576: Chapter 572 Pawnshop - City God

Tom uncertainly counted the corpses again.

He counted several times but still found five bodies.

Tom furrowed his brows and gripped the dagger tightly.

At this moment, Tom felt a foreboding sense of unease.

In the next instant!

A sinister gust rushed at the back of his head, startling Tom.

Without time to think, he immediately ducked his head to dodge.

The act of ducking his head was incredibly dangerous.

But time was tight, and aside from ducking, Tom couldn’t afford any other movements.

Swish—

A blade narrowly grazed Tom’s hair.

Tom felt a tingling sensation on his scalp.

Lustrous golden strands of hair fell elegantly before his eyes.

"Close call!"

Tom muttered in fear and trepidation.

It was truly perilous.

A moment of delay and he’d be done for.

He stabbed backward with the dagger in his hand while spinning up and turning to face his attacker.

Opposite Tom stood a man dressed in a black Zhongshan suit with gold patterns, wearing sunglasses—the pawnshop manager, who stared at him with venomous malice.

The manager held a steel whip in his hand.

Tom’s gaze quickly swept over the steel whip before settling on the man’s face.

"This guy’s aura is intense."

Tom murmured internally.

While Tom sized up the manager, the manager was equally studying Tom.

"You must be Tom?"

A chilling voice called out.

The manager had spoken.

Tom smiled and nodded: "Indeed, I am!"

Tom had no intention of hiding his identity.

His information had already been thoroughly scrutinized.

In the pawnshop, if not everyone had his dossier, the senior managers certainly had reviewed it.

Tom figured hiding would be as futile as covering one’s ears to steal a bell—it would only invite ridicule.

"Allow me to introduce myself. Pawnshop manager, codename: City God!"

The City God confidently introduced himself.

Tom nodded: "Pleasure to meet you, esteemed City God."

Pausing briefly, Tom shifted his tone: "However, City God, my mission is to kill you all, so pardon me!"

Before the words had finished, Tom moved.

His figure flickered, charging straight at the City God.

The dagger pair in Tom’s hands lunged like two serpents, targeting the City God’s throat and abdomen. The City God, however, demonstrated his ability to anticipate small strategic setups from Tom with remarkable precision.

Facing Tom’s assault, the City God stepped back while swinging the steel whip, bypassing all defensive moves entirely. He aimed directly to smash down on Tom’s head, seemingly prepared for mutual ruin.

At this sight, Tom’s pupils contracted.

He immediately understood the City God’s strategy.

He swiftly retreated, putting distance between himself and the City God.

"Long weapons are superior in range; short weapons are riskier."

The City God wielded a steel whip akin to Wei Chigong’s legendary one from *Sui and Tang Dynasties*. Excluding the handle, the whip’s sheer body matched the length of an adult man’s arm.

Coupled with the City God’s long reach, his attack range exceeded two meters.

Tom’s ordinary daggers placed him at an obvious disadvantage in terms of reach.

The City God’s feigned reckless attack was, in essence, just bullying Tom for his shorter range, leaving him no chance to retaliate.

If Tom hadn’t retreated and insisted on attacking, the outcome would have been his skull crushed by the steel whip, while the City God walked away unscathed.

Thankfully, Tom’s sharp intellect saved the day.

If it had been Taotie in Tom’s place, he would have fallen for the ploy.

After all, Taotie was notorious for his reckless bravery.

Seeing Tom withdraw, the City God was unsurprised, curling his lips into a cold smirk.

"You’re just as clever as the reports suggested."

The City God praised him with faint approval.

This tactic of his had caught countless impulsive opponents off guard—successfully at least five or six out of ten times.

A success rate exceeding fifty percent was indeed remarkable, worthy of being called a killer move.

"Reports are overly superficial, only for reference."

"Reality is what truly matters."

Tom chuckled playfully upon hearing the City God’s remark, even lacing his voice with mild mockery.

Tom believed the intelligence staff at the pawnshop were professional, but the information available on paper was always rigid.

Not to mention that people adapt and change, how could they ascertain that the data collected wasn’t precisely the image their target wanted them to have?

Relying on reports to understand someone, especially one’s enemy, was sheer folly.

Those documents could only serve as reference material; clearly, the City God lacked this fundamental realization.

Instead, he seemed blindly reliant on the intelligence he possessed.

"Reference material? Reality is what counts? Do you think you’re instant noodles?"

The City God sneered coldly.

"Our pawnshop intelligence is collected by highly trained professionals. Your data is crystal clear to us—how could it be inaccurate?"

The City God’s smug expression made Tom itch to deliver two heavy blows to his face.

"It’s hard to convince a ghost destined to die."

Tom cursed inwardly, unwilling to waste breath on a soon-to-be-dead man, and his eyes swept quickly for weaknesses in the City God’s posture.

Shortly, Tom smiled.

He was certain now—the City God’s death was inevitable.

Because—

On the branch behind the City God, Tom spotted a familiar figure.

Unhappy!

Unhappy had come to assist.

Tom had been fretting over how to plan the City God’s demise. After briefly clashing, Tom could ascertain that, short of deploying explosives, his close-combat skills couldn’t match the City God’s. The proximity between them made using explosives impractical—too much setup time for the City God to evade or counter.

Now that Unhappy was here, every problem would be solved effortlessly. No need for meticulous planning.

The strategy was simple: distract the City God, giving Unhappy the moment to strike with a fatal blow.

If Unhappy couldn’t finish the job in a single move, they’d coordinate to execute the City God together.

Just a mere City God.

In a one-on-one fight, he wasn’t even a match for Unhappy.

Let alone with Tom beside him.

With confidence solidified, Tom no longer hesitated.

He rushed forward, launching himself at the City God.

Seeing Tom’s sudden attack, the City God displayed a hint of surprise.

But he didn’t underestimate Tom. He prepared to give it his all.

His focus tightened instantly.

The City God wasn’t afraid of a hand-to-hand fight with Tom.

What concerned him was the potential threat of Tom’s bombs.

Reports had detailed that Tom’s true terror resided not in close combat but in his enigmatic use of explosives—make one careless move, and Tom could "lay eggs" at any moment.

Watching Tom enter his attack range without showing signs of "laying eggs," the City God laughed.

Wasn’t this just asking for death?

The City God swung the steel whip straight at Tom.

His whip’s range far exceeded Tom’s.

With this defensive, opportunistic combat style, he had the advantage of terrain and controlled the confrontation entirely. There was no fear of Tom charging up for a reckless melee.

As the steel whip came down toward Tom, Tom reacted swiftly. At the very last moment before impact, he performed an extreme split to evade the whip.

Simultaneously, the daggers in both his hands struck toward the City God’s hand clutching the steel whip—