Denji-ko had always had a dream.
She wanted the life a normal person should have: not sleeping in a broken shack in the mountains, not fretting daily over the next meal, not shouldering a debt of over thirty million yen, not fighting devils every day at eighteen… and so on.
All of that was beyond her reach. But what she'd never told anyone was that she had an even more unattainable longing:
Find a handsome boyfriend, do naughty things with him every day, feel his defined chest, sit on his lap, and listen to his interesting stories.
But she knew it was impossible.
No man would be willing to live with her in a hovel like that.
So she simplified the longing—do naughty things with a handsome guy; then simplified it again—just touch a handsome guy's well-defined chest.
Sadly, even that remained a pipe dream.
In her memory, the last time she'd seen a man's bare upper body was the day after her father died. The gang had saddled her with his debt; if she didn't repay it piece by piece, she'd die. So, at a young age, she had tried to sell herself. But…
She remembered it vividly. The one who came was a greasy middle-aged man. Denji-ko certainly didn't want to give her first time to that sort of guy; even that she could endure. What she couldn't endure was that he laughed and said he wanted a free ride.
No pay.
How could anyone bear that?!
Furious, Denji-ko took Pochita's head and chainsawed the man in half the moment he took off his shirt.
Blood everywhere.
Since then, no one had dared book her services. Nobody wanted their head and butt to go separate ways.
So she'd remained pitiably "pure" all these years—logging deep in the mountains to make money and occasionally moonlighting as a devil hunter for extra cash.
The men she'd seen could be counted on one hand.
But today… it seemed luck had turned!
Denji-ko's breath came quick. She stared, unblinking, at the man the gang boss had called "Su Tang."
Young, handsome, strong, full of vitality… and, most importantly, friendly!
Was she about to skip past the "dream" stage and fulfill her "longing" first?!
Looking at Su Tang's upper body, wrapped in a thin white shirt—his chest rising and falling with breath and breeze—and the faint skin tone showing through the light fabric… Denji-ko's eyes glazed over.
"Um… what did you just say?"
The pounding of fists continued; the old man's cursing was still loud. All Su Tang had caught was the word "touch."
He wondered if he'd misheard.
Feeling a bit embarrassed, he cleared his throat and asked again, "It was noisy just now, and I didn't quite catch it. Could you say it again?"
Thump.
Thump.
Thump.
This time it wasn't fists—it was Denji-ko's heartbeat.
Her face flushed rosily all at once.
What… say it again?
How could she say it aloud!
She drew a deep breath, ready to shut her eyes and pluck up her courage—when a sudden inspiration struck.
Wait. If she asked to "touch" and got it, that would be a moment's joy; but if she reined herself in and won Su Tang over, wouldn't that be a lifetime of joy?
A moment versus a lifetime—she could tell the difference.
So she absolutely couldn't make Su Tang disgusted with her in advance!
In that instant, Denji-ko felt like her IQ had climbed another level.
She yanked back the words that had reached her throat and swapped in another line.
"Um… I mean… could I touch your… gun?"
Su Tang tilted his head.
He gave her a puzzled look, pulled the pistol he'd pressed to the punk's face from his inner pocket, and asked, "You mean… this?"
"Y-Yes!" Denji-ko bobbed her head like a pecking chick.
"Uh, alright." Su Tang handed her the gun. He hadn't expected all that hemming and hawing to be for a pistol, so after a second's thought he added, "If you like it, you can have it."
He still had several under his pillow.
And he didn't usually need a gun. He'd brought one this afternoon only because he was afraid Public Safety would find it if he left it in a drawer.
Watching the girl excitedly take the gun, sniff it and examine it from every angle, Su Tang shrugged.
As a member of the Black Hand, he'd probably never know what it felt like for an ordinary person to hold a gun for the first time.
"Alright—our business is settled. Let's look at the other side."
Clapping his hands, Su Tang turned around on the hood and looked at the gang boss.
Credit where due: even with all his men down, the boss had held out with a katana and was only down to one knee.
But that was his limit. The moment Su Tang turned, a Shadow Ninja straddling the boss delivered a finishing punch.
Crack.
The katana hit the ground, and the boss finally fell.
With a light smack, Su Tang hopped down from the car.
Dusting off his trousers, he walked to the boss, crouched, and smiled. "Now we can have a proper talk, right?"
"Kh." The old man spat a mouthful of clotted blood, lay on the ground to look at Su Tang, and rasped, "What… do you want to talk about?"
"I've said it from the start—my only goal is a license. You give me the license, I walk, and we call it square. How about it?"
This time, the gang boss didn't refuse as he had before.
After a few seconds of silence, he seemed resigned. Weakly, he said, "The license needs one last step—your name has to be entered into the hospital information network. That takes time."
"How long?" Su Tang raised a brow.
"Tonight. It'll be finished tonight."
"Good. I hope you keep your word." Tugging his shirt collar straight, Su Tang stood. "Otherwise, your gang's getting delisted."
"Fine…"
Su Tang left him to it.
If it weren't really as he'd said—that they were the only ones who could make the top-spec fake—Su Tang would've finished this already.
One fire and the whole place would be ashes, not a corpse to be found.
"Oh, right."
He was about to go when he glanced at the guns scattered all over the ground and hesitated.
He couldn't leave them for the gang. He couldn't take them all himself. So… call the cops?
"Wait—Mr. Su Tang, let me handle these! I've got lots of space!" Denji-ko was quick, stepping up.
Su Tang looked at her.
Alright, he thought.
Leaving Denji-ko a slip of paper with his number and address, Su Tang walked off.
By his count, Public Safety should still be at the clinic, so he planned to find a café and rest.
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Chainsaw Man: The Covenant of Flame Demon [ 71 Chapter ]