Chapter 11: The Villain Turns Out to Be Me?

Chen Fan silently raised his guard in his mind.

Under the gaze of the crowd, he cautiously approached the open door.

Just as he reached the doorway, he heard a muffled conversation from within the room.

Chen Fan stopped, being careful to listen for more information from the vague voices.

After a few seconds of listening closely, his brow furrowed— the loud cries in the room completely drowned out the human voices, making it difficult for him to catch the specifics.

Just as he was about to give up, his gaze fell upon his right hand.

His eyes flickered, and he quietly asked, "One, do you have a solution?"

There was no response, but in his mind, the noise cleared up, and the pure human voices became audible.

This tech was amazing!

If he had this ability back in the day, he wouldn't have to worry about a lack of clients for his private detective agency!

Chen Fan marveled for a moment before focusing on the conversation.

"An eye for an eye, a debt for a debt, that's the way of the world!"

"When you borrowed the money, what did you say?"

"'I'll pay it back within three months,' but now look, it's been almost a year, and you still haven't cleared the debt."

The man speaking had a deep, rough voice, giving off a vibe of someone hard to mess with.

A clear, female voice followed: "Debt?"

"As far as I know, Aunt Shen paid off the debt months ago!"

The man replied slowly, "What about the interest?"

"Interest?" The woman sneered, "The interest has already doubled!"

Hearing this, Chen Fan suddenly understood.

So, they'd borrowed money through illegal means at high interest rates!

With his experience from his previous life, Chen Fan knew just how dangerous such debts could be.

Forget doubling the interest, sometimes ten times the principal was possible!

The man's voice continued: "I don't care. According to the agreement, we need to collect collateral of equivalent value."

"Let me see…"

"Her child's arm looks like a good collateral."

What?

An arm?

And the child's arm?!

This is getting gruesome!

No wonder the neighbors said the people inside weren't to be messed with— these were pure-blooded gangsters!

As Chen Fan was shocked, another tired-sounding female voice came from the room: "Xu Huai, stop arguing."

"Ultimately, it was my debt from the start. Even if this goes to the church, they won't support us."

The woman sighed heavily. "Since they want my son's arm, then... let them take it."

At that moment, Chen Fan's eyes went wide!

"...What?!"

He was completely stunned!

A mother, willing to give up her son's arm to repay a debt?

What the hell...

This is inhuman!!

As a socialist youth with strong values, Chen Fan couldn't stand to watch such a tragedy unfold before him.

He immediately ignored the need for more information and kicked open the already wobbly door.

Bang!

With a dull thud, the wooden door fell off its hinges and crashed to the ground.

Dust flew up from the concrete floor in the sunlight.

The loud crash immediately drew the attention of everyone inside the room.

Chen Fan stepped on the broken door, his voice booming:

"Stop—"

But his words quickly faded when he saw the scene inside the room.

"Stop?"

Inside the room, a burly man with a large frame was kneeling on a meditation mat, sitting upright.

In front of him, on a small round table, sat an immaculate statue of a god.

The man had his hands pressed together in prayer, gazing up at the statue, chanting something softly— it was likely the same man who had been making harsh comments earlier.

Upon noticing Chen Fan, the burly man tilted his head and looked at him in confusion: "...Who are you?"

Nearby, a middle-aged woman, who looked about the same age as the boy's mother, sat exhausted on a wooden chair.

Beside her, the young boy, his eyes red and swollen, stared at Chen Fan, his face filled with terror.

From the boy's expression, Chen Fan could tell that he probably didn't see him as a good person.

The earlier loud cries had vanished, and only the boy's soft sobbing could be heard.

To Chen Fan's disbelief, the boy raised his mechanical right arm, which shimmered with a metallic gleam, and wiped away the tears from his eyes.

Standing beside the boy, a young woman with a cold expression, her hair tied in a high ponytail, stopped comforting the boy and shot a puzzled glance at Chen Fan.

Chen Fan's lips twitched.

'One, did I misunderstand something?'

[...The system now believes you resemble the villain more.]

Damn.

In a backward, god-worshipping society where the only electrical device was a light bulb, they actually had advanced prosthetic technology!

Who could have imagined this?!

Chen Fan awkwardly scratched his head: "Uh…"

"Can I say I'm just passing by? Would you believe me?"

...

After a brief moment, the middle-aged woman recovered first.

Flustered, she quickly stood up from her chair and, from a distance, bowed deeply to Chen Fan: "Chosen One, how did you arrive here?!"

The room's silence was shattered instantly.

The burly man, who had been kneeling properly on the mat, narrowed his eyes and scrutinized Chen Fan.

He then sneered, responding: "Chosen One?"

"Did you just get chosen?"

Hearing the sarcastic tone in the question, Chen Fan instinctively furrowed his brow.

This burly man was different from the neighbors— there wasn't much reverence in his eyes toward the Chosen One.

In fact, he didn't even care about Chen Fan's identity!

Thinking back to the conversations from the neighbors earlier, Chen Fan's mind immediately went on high alert again.

He stared into the burly man's eyes and solemnly replied, "Yes."

Hearing this, the man's sneer grew even more pronounced.

"What?"

"Aren't you a Chosen One supposed to prepare for the ceremony next month, not bother with petty matters like this?"

"Debt repayment is the right of the one owed— even if it were the gods themselves, I'd still be in the right."

As Chen Fan pondered how to respond, the burly man slowly stood up from the mat, his mocking grin unwavering.

"Shen Jie, I'll give you one more month."

"After that, if you still can't repay the debt, I'll take Xiao Wen's arm."

The woman, Shen Jie, didn't argue, only nodding silently.

The burly man, satisfied, nodded back.

Then, under Chen Fan's watch, the man began to walk toward him.

In the morning sun, the sinister smile on the man's face became even more unsettling.

As the man reached him, his face twisted with a cruel expression, Chen Fan's mind flashed with a single thought:

It's over.

Am I going to be the only victim in this mess?