Chapter 24: The Tuxedo

On the streets of America, Ma Jun walked with a cigarette dangling from his lips, gesticulating animatedly as if he were a performance artist. The locals, hurrying to their jobs, still cast puzzled glances his way. Yet Ma Jun paid them no mind whatsoever, wholly absorbed in his conversation with Xiaohua.

"You little rascal, you didn't even warn me before using two thousand units of energy to leap to a higher-level world! You know we only have three thousand left!" Ma Jun grumbled. "Sure, burning all bridges can push someone to their limits, but who would do that if they had another option? Afraid I wouldn't try my best, are you?"

"Hmph! Call me a little rascal one more time and I'll be angry!" Xiaohua retorted haughtily. "It’s because I trust your abilities, uncle! To seize a new world faster, I went ahead and picked a higher-level one."

Traveling between worlds cost two thousand energy units, both to enter and to return. Success in plundering a world would grant a reward of twenty thousand energy units. The maximum prestige point for this world was two thousand!

Xiaohua seemed eager for Ma Jun to conquer countless worlds, but this wasn't something to be rushed. One misstep, one failure, and Ma Jun would be stranded forever, left to live out his days in the current world.

"Plundering worlds is a slow and patient task, you can't be so hasty!" Ma Jun sighed. "You’re putting me in a difficult position. Sure, I might push myself to the limit once or twice, but if I slip just once, we're both finished. All of Mr. Neuro’s life's work would be wasted! I don't get it—why are you in such a hurry?"

"N-no, I’m not!" Xiaohua stammered, her tone flustered. "I just want you to have a better life, uncle!"

Rarely did the little troublemaker act so coy, sending a shiver down Ma Jun’s spine. He chose to ignore her nervousness, spreading his hands. "Alright, let’s make a deal—this is the last time! From now on, we always leave ourselves an escape route!"

"Fine, whatever you say, uncle!" Xiaohua replied, unusually forthright.

"In this world, to steal the show, I’ll need at least seventy percent of the prestige. Seventy percent of two thousand—that’s fourteen hundred," Ma Jun muttered to himself. "Also, the central plot here involves a female lead. If I’m going to steal the show, should I go after her too?"

In the Titanic world, because of the setting, it had been nearly impossible for Ma Jun, as an Asian, to win over a white woman. At least, that’s what he thought at the time, and he hadn’t risked trying.

But things were different in the Tuxedo world.

Though the main plot also took place in America, it was the new millennium, and the rise of Asian countries meant less blatant discrimination. In the original story, the male lead was Asian and conquered a white female lead! So Ma Jun’s idea of pursuing the heroine was entirely possible.

As for questions of loyalty or playing games with love, Ma Jun felt no inner turmoil at all.

Oh, and that male lead? None other than Mr. Jack Cheng.

As someone in the entertainment industry, how could Ma Jun not know Jack Cheng’s name? He was more familiar with Jack Cheng’s Hong Kong-era films, but he’d watched many of his Hollywood works as well.

As for not remembering every detail of the plot—hardly an issue. Xiaohua would be a generous tutor! The little rascal was a film and TV buff, always watching something or other. Her database was loaded with information.

The plot of Tuxedo wasn’t particularly complicated, but the reason this world ranked higher than Infernal Affairs or Titanic was all because of its technology. Imagine donning a suit and instantly becoming a low-level superhero—could you believe it?

That suit was the tuxedo, owned by the head of an intelligence agency.

In essence, the tuxedo was a peculiar kind of formalwear: short in the front, with suit lapels, and a long split tail behind, like a swallow’s tail fluttering from the wearer’s backside. In the West, one would only wear it on the most important occasions. It was rare to see at modern social dances, but the older the family, the more they adhered to such traditions—perhaps to show their noble status?

At present, Ma Jun was only a junior special forces operative. He asked Xiaohua about it, and she told him that if an ordinary person, after getting used to it, wore the high-tech tuxedo and fought him in an open space, Ma Jun wouldn’t stand a chance. Perhaps only Qian Moduo’s perfected special forces could put up a fight!

"Since I’m here, there’s no way I’m letting that tuxedo slip through my fingers!" Ma Jun chuckled. "Once I’ve conquered this world, I’ll bring in Old Qian and start mass-producing the thing!"

"How petty you are!" Xiaohua mocked. "You’re the master of the mighty world-plundering system—one day, countless worlds will live or die at your whim, and you’re fussing over something so small?"

A skyscraper starts with a single brick—without slow, steady accumulation, how could progress be made? Ma Jun lectured Xiaohua a little, finding their banter oddly entertaining.

"Alright, alright, uncle, you’re getting so long-winded!" Xiaohua complained impatiently. "I’ve already hacked into the traffic surveillance system and found Jack Cheng. I’ll guide you to him—go meet him!"

Ma Jun shook his head firmly. He already had a plan and had no intention of meeting Brother Cheng just yet.

Though he’d started by sternly rebuking Xiaohua for forcing him into desperate circumstances, it was really just to give her a warning.

It didn’t mean, however, that conquering this higher-level world would be all that difficult. The central plot of this world, to put it kindly, didn’t bear close scrutiny.

Confident, Ma Jun smoked as he checked into a hotel, pulling out some U.S. dollars from his spatial ring for the room.

He had exchanged a variety of currencies in the main world; using small amounts across worlds posed no problem. As for identification, the system took care of it. Of the two thousand energy units used to travel, a small portion was reserved to create a new identity for Ma Jun—always some nondescript background character, never a protagonist or major supporting role.

Perhaps, Ma Jun speculated, it was Xiaohua’s attempts to forcibly assign him an identity that triggered a string of subsequent events. Of course, this was only his own guess; he wouldn’t be foolish enough to ask now, since Xiaohua would never admit it.

Slouched on the hotel sofa, Ma Jun lazily watched a pay-per-view adult channel. "Xiaohua, keep an eye on Jimmy Tong for me and report his movements at once. If you delay the world-plundering mission, I’ll hold you responsible!"

Jimmy Tong was the name of Jack Cheng’s character in the story.

"Woo woo," Xiaohua whimpered, voicing her displeasure. "I want to watch TV, you meanie! You’re always bullying me!"

Defeated once again in their ongoing contest, the little rascal’s attempt to force Ma Jun into a desperate gamble had ended with her being played instead.

"We’re supposed to be partners! I need to conserve my energy now, so you have to help me!" Ma Jun said with