Chapter 55: The Death of the Legendary Delivery Driver

What is wrong with this tree?
Did it get so angry it forgot how to speak?

Facing the utterly dumbfounded London plane tree, Liu Zheng was utterly perplexed.

"Li, this skeleton is Li, that legendary delivery man."
The London plane tree cried out.

"What?!"
Liu Zheng looked in shock at the skeleton, and the item description immediately appeared.

"Name: Skeleton of the Legendary Delivery Man"
"Type: Miscellaneous"
"Quality: Legendary"
"Effect: None"
"Remarks: The legendary delivery man, Li. During his lifetime, he delivered fine food and terror to countless property owners and security guards. The entire Bloody Restaurant bowed beneath his delivery fists. Yet, in the end, he still failed."
"Can it be taken out of the instance: No"

The legendary delivery man was actually dead.
Liu Zheng was shocked by this revelation.

Didn't Niu Ma say he was still alive? Was it lying, or did it truly not know the truth?
No, Niu Ma had only guessed he was alive and did not know his actual whereabouts.

If this was the skeleton of the legendary delivery man, then whose hand was the ghostly hand?
The palm of the legendary delivery man?

And what did the failure mentioned in the remarks mean?
A series of questions flooded Liu Zheng's mind, but none could be answered due to a lack of intelligence.

"Who could possibly kill Li?"
The London plane tree gradually calmed down, then asked a question to which it also desperately wanted the answer.

A mere courier vest had allowed Liu Zheng's strength to skyrocket. So, to what terrifying degree must the strength of the legendary delivery man have accumulated, seeing as he possessed the three-piece set, had worked in the restaurant for over thirty years, and had replicated countless dishes?
The London plane tree, which could beat Niu Ma to a pulp, had been forced into unfair trades by Li.
The legendary delivery man's strength was at least no lower than Oink's.

Oink had been able to slaughter half the restaurant and then run off to the black market, openly conducting business.
There was no reason Li couldn't have fled.
Was it that he couldn't run, or that he didn't want to?

"How did you get Li's skeleton?"
The London plane tree asked.

Liu Zheng recounted the incident with the ghostly hand.

"That hand doesn't look like his."
The London plane tree hesitated.
"Though Li was lean and slender, his hands were huge—twice the size of yours when you were still human," it recalled.

That truly was a sandbag-sized fist, then.

"Could they have shrunk after he died?"
Liu Zheng proposed a possibility.

"Are you an idiot? Muscles can atrophy, but can bones shrink?"
The London plane tree looked at him as if he were a complete moron.

Actually, Liu Zheng remembered that they probably could, though perhaps not by that much, so he didn't argue back.

"Hey, hand him over to me."
After a moment of silence, the London plane tree said.

"Even if you hadn't asked, I was planning to bury him by you," Liu Zheng replied.
Although this was a legendary-quality item with guaranteed durability that would likely make a fine shield, considering how much the legendary courier vest had helped him, it was only right to let its former master rest in peace.

His human sense of morality was the primary reason.
The secondary reason was the fear that the ghostly hand might sense the skeleton's state, discover he was repurposing trash, and bash his skull in.

"Was Li a human?"
Liu Zheng suddenly asked.

"Yes. And the strongest human I've ever seen," the London plane tree replied.

"Then bury him next to Natasha so he'll have some company," he said.

"Fine by me."

Tree roots broke through the black soil, revealing a small coffin.
Liu Zheng arranged the skeleton into a peaceful posture and tossed it into the grave pit.
There was no help for it; one could never be too careful against trees.

The tree roots retreated underground, and the grave pit was once again covered by black soil.
Thus, the legendary delivery man was crudely buried without even a proper coffin.

"Weren't you the one who hated him so much?"
Liu Zheng asked.

"Not hate, loathing," the London plane tree corrected.

"Then why are you burying him?"
"You think I let you bury him here because of sentiment?"
"Isn't that why?"
"Fool!"
The London plane tree looked at him and shook its branches.

"Of course I'm doing it for my collection. The skeleton of the legendary delivery man—that's a top-tier collectible in the entire city."
"Besides, since I loathe him, I should keep his skeleton right where I can see it. Haven't you heard that saying? I spit on your grave."

"Uh..."
Liu Zheng felt as though he had inadvertently scammed the legendary delivery man.
Still, he lacked the ability to snatch him back, so he could only let things be.

Putting the matter of the legendary delivery man aside for the moment, he took out the beverage he had prepared.
A glass of liqueur that had come with the family-size blood-sucking rat pizza.
It was an excellent-quality prop, though its effect wasn't particularly useful, so he brought it for the London plane tree.

Degas didn't refuse either, extending a root straight into the glass and drinking it dry in one gulp.

"Tell me, what are you trading for this time? Considering Li's skeleton, I can give you a discount."
"I plan to use that sick leave note you gave me, but Niu Ma told me that doing so will temporarily strip away my status as a restaurant employee. Do you have any way around this?"
Liu Zheng asked.

"You plan to go find the Fire Mage?"
The London plane tree saw right through his intentions.

"That's right. The legendary delivery man is dead; without the legendary delivery set, I'll only die faster."
"You're asking the wrong tree for intelligence. After all, I'm just a tree, and it's hard for me to know things happening beyond this street. That ox-horse knows far more than I do," the London plane tree answered frankly.
"As for protecting you, it's not out of the question, but it's limited to this street."
"And only against small fry. If something like the street sweeper shows up, I'll just play dead."

"Fine. Then do you have any collectibles suitable for me?"
Liu Zheng compromised and asked for an alternative.

"I sense the aura of the Circle God Cult on you."
The London plane tree changed the subject.

"You mean this?"
He took out the token.

"Indeed. Since you've obtained a token of the Circle God Cult, why not seek their protection? Though they can't compare to the restaurant and the black market, the Circle God Cult still holds some minor influence," the London plane tree suggested.

"I trust transactions far more than faith. Commodities at least have a price, while the blessings of gods are priceless."
Liu Zheng shook his head.

"Then there's nothing to be done. I do have a collectible suited for you, but you can't afford the price."
"Is adding these not enough?"
He pulled out all his money.

"I don't take cash, and even trading all of this for beverages wouldn't be enough," the London plane tree said.

"What about adding this?"
Gritting his teeth, Liu Zheng took out the Heart of the Ocean.

"Whoa."
The London plane tree widened its eyes.
"Now that is a rare collectible, with the soul of a mermaid infant imprisoned inside, and surprisingly uncorrupted by resentment."
It observed the pendant with keen interest.

"Still, it's not enough."
Just as Liu Zheng thought the trade had succeeded, the London plane tree shook its branches again.

The Heart of the Ocean plus all that money still wasn't enough? He was extremely surprised, but could not help feeling a surge of anticipation.
Could it be another perfect-quality item?
Only, he had nothing else left to trade.

The legendary vest and the legendary delivery box were absolutely out of the question.
Wait...
Liu Zheng's gaze shifted to the delivery box.
It seemed he could always steal another delivery...