《The Living Hell》 PROLOGUE War. War wiped out an entire era, yet war created a new world as well. No one knew exactly when it started, but the nights were no longer shrouded in darkness. Under the curtain of night, two small, dim glimmers emerged in the distance. They drifted about in the air. Thick, dark green sewage that consistently released its dense putrid odor flowed everywhere around the area encompassed by these fireflies¡¯ weak lights. The sewage emanated a dismal green glow even in places that were relatively darker, lighting up a small region. Other than the unbearable filthiness of this place, the most dangerous aspect of this place was the radiation present in the sewage which could be found everywhere. Within the puddles of accumulated sewage, pieces of cloth that had long lost their original colors, thoroughly rusted pots, rotting corpses of unknown creatures, and all types of filthy things floated up and down. From time to time, giant rats over a meter in length would emerge from unknown locations, screeching as they rushed past the sewage before disappearing into the darkness again. The enormous rats seemed almost unaffected by the radiation that was strong enough to kill a robust horse. However, pieces of flesh and hair would occasionally fall from the enormous rats¡¯ bodies, and upon closer inspection, one would find that the flesh had long rotted. It seemed like not even the giant rats were completely unaffected by the radiation. The two lights rose several meters before stopping at the very top of an inclined steel beam. They then gazed down upon the world in this dark evening. Reflected within those red lights were large buildings left with only their outer shells, houses with half their walls collapsed, and the remains of cars dispersed everywhere. The gloomy green fluorescence could be seen everywhere under the night sky. This place was considered a ruin fifty years ago, but now, it was known as a city. A dazzling flame suddenly erupted at a street corner not too far away. Crazy and hysterical shouts sounded, and the noise was quickly approaching. The red lights seemed startled, and four transparent wings spread out as they quickly flew high into the sky. A fiery light shone over; a meter-long giant beetle was flying away. The individual carrying the torch didn¡¯t seem interested in the beetle at all and continued to run after the stream of people in front of him. Occasionally, beast-like roars could be heard. The flame disappeared into the distance, and the enormous beetle once again concealed itself within the darkness. However, an intense gust of wind suddenly blew past. The giant beetle immediately released a miserable shriek. Its legs that were as sharp as a blade continuously struck down on the bricks and steel bars, drawing forth bright sparks. The four wings continuously fluttered as it struggled for its life, yet it was still slowly dragged into the darkness. Soon after, what accompanied its screeching sounds were crunching noises. Within a dark alley, hurried footsteps suddenly sounded. A woman that seemed rather flustered rushed in. As soon as she entered the small alley, she immediately noticed a figure leaning against a wall. The individual was completely covered by a black blanket, and with its head drooped, it was impossible to make out a face. From the rather petite build, the body seemed to belong to an eight- or nine year-old child. The woman clenched her teeth and rushed over with a few steps. She forcefully stuffed the cloth wrapping from her arms into that individual¡¯s bosom. With a bitter voice, she said, ¡°I beg you, please save her!¡± The fluorescence from the pool of sewage beneath the wall illuminated the woman¡¯s facial features. Even though the light was rather dim, it revealed an extremely young and beautiful face. Her appearance seemed like she was around twenty years old. She had snow white skin that was rarely seen in this era, so much so that it was enough to make other women want to cut her face a few times out of jealousy. Her neck was also long and slender. Frow underneath her jaw, a near perfect curve was outlined. Continuing downwards, her white skin sudden stuck out, drawing out a deep cleavage. Her clothes were extremely thin, and only a few buttons were carelessly buttoned, leaving most of her large breasts exposed. Two alluring protrusions could vaguely be seen from the clothes, and around that area, a few small wet spots were visible. They were likely left behind after feeding a child. All of this did not even take a full second. Without even waiting for that person to reply, the woman suddenly got up and ran towards the depths of the alley. After running for more than ten meters, she suddenly released an earsplitting scream. Her scream traveled far throughout the rather noisy night. The loud and hysterical group not far off immediately released cries of joy and excitement, and before even a minute had passed, the alley was lit up by torches. More than ten individuals clad in tattered clothing rushed into the alley. Their faces revealed expressions that were both cruel and stimulated as they forced their way into the alley depths. A rather robust individual waved a large wooden club with iron nails sticking out. His arms shoved the people in front out of the way, and as he chased, he shouted, ¡°When we catch that woman, I want the first taste! I am going to smash apart the head of whoever disagrees!¡± Behind him, a slender middle-aged man spoke with a volume that did not match his physique. He laughed loudly and teasingly said, ¡°Fine, Black Duncan. However, that woman had slept with a demon before, so who knows what kind of stuff her body carries. Are you still going to fuck her? Aren¡¯t you scared that when you put it halfway in, your little fellow will rot inside?¡± Black Duncan retorted, ¡°Maybe not. I can handle more radiation than you guys.¡± However, his voice now clearly carried a bit of hesitation. His hesitation immediately raised the roaring laughter of many people. ¡°Black Duncan, you even dare to fuck a mutated swine, so what are you scared of? Could it be that your little fellow is already rotten? However, your little fellow truly doesn¡¯t seem to match your actual body!¡± Black Duncan roared a few times in fury. ¡°I don¡¯t care anymore! If you think your thing is big, then go up. Either way, I¡¯m not going to do it anymore!¡± Suddenly, someone screamed, ¡°If you guys aren¡¯t going to, then I will! Either way, my thing is already half rotten. If I can do it with a fair-skinned woman, then it¡¯s worth it even if it completely rots!¡± The one that yelled was a skinny and shriveled old man. Other than the filthy cloth that covered his body, he didn¡¯t seem to have anything. His skinny body was covered in rotting wounds and his head was almost completely bare. Only a bit of white hair could be seen on it. He gasped for breath as he ran over, his chest released hulu hulu sounds, as if he was a living ancient wind box. He was only barely able to keep up with the group. However, the dark thing below his waist was like a short and skinny steel rod as it suddenly stood straight against his stomach. The alley was not long, and in the blink of an eye, the dozen or so thugs rushed through the other end. After the flickering flames passed by, darkness once again consumed this area. The fair woman held all of the violent and lustful mob¡¯s attention, so they never even noticed that the lump in the corner was a person. In reality, even if these thugs did see him, they wouldn¡¯t pay him much attention. After all, dying figures lying in pools of radioactive sewage weren¡¯t rare at all. Not far from the alley, the mob¡¯s shouting suddenly became increasingly louder, and mixed within was the miserable screaming of a woman that no longer sounded like that of a human¡¯s. Not long after, the woman¡¯s outcry became muffled, as if something was stopping her from making any more noise. The mob¡¯s roaring laughter became louder and louder, and in the end, the woman¡¯s voice was completely drowned out. Within the dark alley, the figure wrapped in the black blanket suddenly moved, his drooping head slowly lifting. An infant appeared below the blankets, and from the edges, part of a small hand was exposed. The tender outline clearly belonged to a child that had not matured yet, but despite that being the case, the child¡¯s skin was clear and smooth. It was so bright that it was somewhat dazzling, greatly contrasting with the surroundings. From within the blanket, a deep green light shone; it came from his eye. At this moment, he was silently observing the infant within the cloth wrapping. The infant did not cry or fuss. A pair of large blue eyes also looked back at the deep green light. Her skin shone with a luster similar to that of the highest grade of cream, completely different from the large patches of dark blue and ashy green skin found in infants of this generation. Her small lips were well defined. In short, she was extraordinarily beautiful, especially for an infant that hadn¡¯t stopped drinking milk yet. He blinked, and the green light on the baby girl¡¯s face also flickered. Finally, he reached out and loosened the tight cloth a bit. The baby girl could also hear the surrounding sound. She could hear the mob¡¯s roars, as well as the woman¡¯s wretched screams every now and then. Her slender white arm and delicate long fingers were like clouds in a night sky. After blossoming into view momentarily, they once again returned into the blanket. The baby girl¡¯s head was slightly tilted to the side. Her ears were trembling slightly, as if she was taking in all of the surrounding sound; she seemed to be completely engrossed in listening. Only now did he realize that the ends of her ears were pointed, making them a bit longer than that of normal humans. In the distance, the brutal and immoral feast did not continue on for long. Following a shout that was full of despair, the mob gradually quieted down. Soon after, fiery light erupted. Thick smoke rose into the air, bringing with them waves of burnt odor. A large fire blazed, and from time to time, it would even rush ten meters into the air. It was so great that the light from the flames momentarily lit up the dark alley. There was nothing left in the alley but sewage. The child wrapped under the dark black blanket was nowhere to be seen. --- The sun rose as usual. The scorching sunlight beamed through the thick gray clouds, scattering down on the ground that alternated between black and yellow. From time to time, a strong breeze would push aside a piece of the gray clouds and allow the sunlight to shine down unobstructed. The strange and bizarre animals would scatter in all directions in search of shade or underground caves to hide from the harsh and fatal solar rays. The only living things that weren¡¯t scared of the sunlight were a certain species of tall vegetation. The sickly white stems were of half-meter long spikes. Each time the sunlight beamed down, it would turn itself to absorb the powerful light. It would then grow frantically at a visible speed. Bang, bang! Noisy sounds clamored about, disturbing the early morning tranquility. An old fellow around fifty years of age was ferociously beating on a metal pipe that stuck out from the ground while shouting hoarsely, ¡°Time to work! All of you bastards better crawl out here right now! Let this Old Hans see just how many lucky fellows there are left!¡± Over a hundred people immediately emerged from the ground and ran in this direction. However, they all voluntarily stopped five meters before the old man, as if there was some kind of intangible barrier that prevented them from taking a step further. There were a few among the group that were not aware of the customs who pushed and shoved their way forward. The large and robust males around them immediately scolded, ¡°Newcomers start at the back! What are you shoving around for?¡± Those individuals immediately realized what was happening. Their faces already suffered from several fists, and their bodies were lying on the ground. The people around them immediately contributed relentlessly with their arms and legs. Only after a while did those robust men toss these nearly dying individuals outside the ranks. They even spat a mouthful of spittle hatefully at the newcomers. Old Hans had long grown accustomed to these savage acts. He simply shrugged his shoulders indifferently towards the act. Currently, he was wearing a leather jacket that had completely lost its luster outside a dull red coarse checker-patterned shirt. Below was a pair of oil splattered jeans, and on his feet was a pair of tall military boots. Compared to the refugees around him who looked no different from beggars, Old Hans was simply like a king. His attitude was also just like that of a king¡¯s. In front of his chest dangled a silver emblem. The backdrop of the emblem was a faraway city, and embedded at the center was a tank. Under the sunlight, the emblem shone brilliantly, making it extremely eye-catching. The hundred pairs of eyes would frequently drift past the emblem. Among those gazes, there were some that revealed fear, others that revealed jealousy, but the most common were looks resembling the ones starving wolves had for meat. Faced with these hundred or so wild wolves, Old Hans didn¡¯t seem to be scared in the slightest. He moved behind a metal table and retrieved a few cans with indiscernible labels. He slammed it onto the table and roared, ¡°Same as before! A hundred kilograms of ore can be used to exchanged for five cents! The price for food is the same as yesterday. Out of pity for you bastards, there are even a few cans here today. It¡¯ll depend on you guys to see who walks away with what! Don¡¯t crowd your way forward, come over one by one!¡± These people were well aware of the rules. After lining up properly, they walked over to the metal table one by one. Old Hans seemed like a butcher picking out his meat as he swept his eyes through their bodies, skin color, and complexion. He would then casually shout out ¡°You¡¯re okay, you can go over there and work!¡± or ¡°You¡¯re no good!¡± The refugees that obtained approval immediately hurried towards the pile of tools. After grabbing a metal pick and a basket to wear on their backs, they immediately sprinted for the mines several hundred meters away, fearing that if they were even a second slower, Old Hans might change his mind and deem them as a useless person and say the terrifying words ¡°You¡¯re no good.¡± ¡°Why am I not good enough?¡± A muffled roar pulled back everyone¡¯s attention. It came from an individual who was about 6¡¯2 in height. A black individual with the build of a mountain bear smashed his fist down on the metal table and roared towards Old Hans. Old Hans brought out a clean handkerchief and slowly wiped away the saliva that landed on his face. He pointed towards a large bowl-sized rotting lesion and said unhurriedly, ¡°You¡¯ve contracted an illness! If I let you go down into the mines, then you¡¯ll infect my strongest workers. Who will complete the work then?¡± ¡°I can work! I need to eat, and I have three children to raise!¡± The black man did not attentively listen to what Old Hans said. He continued to shout while beating loudly on the metal table. Old Hans frowned. He stroked his beard and hinted towards the people behind him. As soon as a bang noise sounded, the black man¡¯s shouting abruptly stopped. As he looked at the large cavity that appeared in his chest with disbelief, his throat tried to make sounds, but not a single word came out. Behind Old Hans, a bald robust man once again pulled the trigger on the double-barreled shotgun in his hands. Another loud sound exploded, sending several hundred pellets into that black individual¡¯s chest. His wounds doubled in size, and this time, it completely blasted through his thick and sturdy chest. The robust man was wearing a black suit that had so many wrinkles that it became completely shapeless. There were many holes in it as well, revealing just how ancient the clothing was. There were a total of three robust men like this behind Old Hans. Once Old Hans finished wiping his face, he said to the empty air in front of the metal table, ¡°Also, ****, your saliva stinks!¡± From his manner of speaking, it seemed as if the black man was still standing in front of the table. There were still more than a hundred refugees that had not entered the ore mines yet. As of this moment, a bit less greed and a bit more fear could be seen in their eyes. Several individuals walked over. They dragged away the large black man¡¯s body and dropped it somewhere several hundred meters away. The line in front of the metal table quickly shortened. Before the sky had even brightened, most of the refugees had already entered the ore mines. The ones that had not been chosen began to walk towards the city in search of potential opportunities. ¡°The number of sick laborers is getting higher and higher. This month¡¯s amount seems to be a bit tight...¡± Old Hans frowned. He stood up and stretched out his sore waist and back. However, when he had only stretched back halfway, he suddenly stopped. He then propped himself up with two arms and leaned forward to look at the child that was barely taller than the metal table. The child was covered in a blanket that was so filthy that its original color had long disappeared. The child¡¯s face, arms, and every place that was exposed was covered densely in cloth strips. Only the left eye could be seen, and it was currently looking calmly at Hans. The child seemed roughly eight or nine, and it was unknown if the child was male or female. Originally, Old Hans definitely would not waste any time on an obviously unsuitable refugee. However, it might be because he was feeling a bit of charity, maybe the sight of blood just now made his heart soften, possibly the anxiety from lacking laborers this month, or even the child¡¯s gaze, but regardless, he hesitated. Suddenly, he opened his mouth and asked, ¡°You want to work?¡± The child nodded his head. ¡°Fine! However, are you male or female?¡± Old Hans asked. ¡°Male,¡± the child finally spoke. Compared to other children of similar age, his voice was clearly deeper and possessed an indescribable type of attraction. ¡°Good. Boy, go over there to grab your tools. Follow the others. For every hundred kilograms of ore you dig up, you can exchange it for five cents. This is the best treatment I can give you. From the way you are dressed, don¡¯t tell me that you are hiding some kind of disease? Alright, you don¡¯t have to worry. At least there isn¡¯t any smell coming from your body. Old Hans¡¯ nose is still pretty good. Go, the sooner you finish, the sooner you can feed yourself. Once you can¡¯t work any longer, find Crippled Peter. He¡¯ll tell you how much money or food you can exchange for.¡± Under Old Hans¡¯ chatter, the boy picked up the metal pick that was taller than himself. The basket on his back nearly touched the floor as he slowly walked into the depths of the mines. Only when his figure disappeared did Old Hans shake his head. He suddenly turned around and faced the large men in black suits and said, ¡°Did I speak too much today?¡± In front of this seemingly nervous old man, the bull-like robust men in suits couldn¡¯t help but take a few steps back. They immediately hurriedly and decisively shook their heads. Old Hans released a few forced chuckles and said, ¡°You are quite smart, and that¡¯s why I made you the leader of the guards. However, you have to remember that in this place, I am the company¡¯s sole agent. I can easily make you kill those dog-like refugees, and I can also turn you into a dog tomorrow. Older people tend to have some some eccentric traits. You only need to do your job properly, understand?¡± ¡°Understood, Mister Hans.¡± ¡°You should call me your majesty Hans!¡± ¡°Understood, your majesty Hans!¡± Old Hans hummed a mysterious tune and walked into a small house made out of metal sheets. This small house, invulnerable to wind and rain, could also be considered a type of luxury. --- Dusk soon approached. The rotting wolves that slept an entire night in hunger woke up and released long howls. They began to wander about like ghosts in search of things to fill their stomachs. Old Hans pushed open the small house¡¯s metal gates and walked out. His eyes squinted as he looked at the sun that was about to set. He felt much better after taking a nap. The mines were already completely deserted, for the workers had long left. They had finished their portions, so they returned to where they lived. Once the sun dropped below the horizon, the messy mines would be covered in vicious meter-long rats. These creatures were ridiculously ferocious, with sharp incisors that could easily bite through steel rods over two centimeters thick. Even the toughest rocks were useless before the rats. Once the sun rose, the vicious rats would dig underground and go into slumber, leaving the miners with most of the day to excavate ore. As soon as the sun was about to completely disappear, the small figure appeared from the mine entrance. Behind the boy was a basket of ore that was almost as tall as himself. He was currently walking over unsteadily. Old Hans¡¯ eyelids jumped a few times. There wasn¡¯t a single word or movement from him as he watched the small child make his way to the small mountain of ore and pour the contents from the basket on his back. He then slowly walked over while holding the slip of paper he received from the foreman. The strips of fabric wrapped around his body were splattered with large patches of red, yellow, and various dark colors from the mines. Seeing the boy walk over, Old Hans moved towards the back of the house. There was a large shed next to the metal house. Crippled Peter, who was missing half a leg, moved his body that exceeded a hundred kilograms in weight with difficulty and shouted, ¡°Boy, come here!¡± The boy arrived before the shed and handed over the paper slip. When Crippled Peter swept his eyes over it, he couldn¡¯t help but release a whistle. ¡°Youngster, not bad! You¡¯ve done more than a lot of the others.¡± Peter used his thick finger to point towards a long list of items, and the boy began to look at the list as well. His gaze stopped momentarily at the words ¡®drinking water¡¯, and then continued to look down until it was blocked by Peter¡¯s thick finger. ¡°Just this one.¡± The boy pointed at the list with a cloth wrapped finger. Peter immediately cried out, ¡°Ah ha! Grade three drinking water! Youngster, you are definitely from nobility, right? I¡¯ve heard that the nobility¡¯s bodies are so weak that they can only drink pure water. It has to be water without any impurities or the slightest bit of radiation!¡± ¡°Just this one.¡± The boy pointed at the list. His voice did not fluctuate in the slightest, making others doubt if this really was the voice of a manual laborer. Peter shrugged. From the wooden chest behind him, he brought out a beverage with a similarly unrecognizable production date and threw it towards the boy. ¡°Here! Grade three drinking water, extravagant brat.¡± The boy carefully placed the small can carefully into the blanket and turned around to leave. Crippled Peter shook his head and brought out a fist-sized piece of bread that was as large as a fist. He threw it towards the boy and said, ¡°Youngster, mining is a strenuous task. You won¡¯t last long if you don¡¯t eat. Take this and remember that you owe Crippled Peter five cents. I¡¯ll take it out from your payment tomorrow!¡± The boy caught the bread and carefully put it away in a similar fashion. He then bowed deeply towards Crippled Peter before leaving into the darkness. Within the dark wilderness, ten pairs of wolf-like eyes focused in on the boy. Whispers continuously rose and fell. ¡°That brat seems to have done quite a bit of work. Why don¡¯t we take a look to see how much he exchanged for? There might even be half a loaf of bread.¡± ¡°I bet he has a large piece of roasted rat meat!¡± From the side, a lazy yet fierce voice interrupted their conversation. ¡°Hey, stupid newcomers. Don¡¯t you know Old Hans¡¯ rules? Within his territory, no one is allowed to rob exchanged items.¡± The voices from before didn¡¯t seem to be convinced. ¡°Old Hans? What is he going to do about it? I can beat up ten old farts like him!¡± The seemingly lazy person laughed. ¡°Just you? You aren¡¯t even qualified to lick his ass!¡± Those that were called stupid newcomers became indignant. Just when they wanted to fight back, who would have guessed that the other individual suddenly lost interest and shouted, ¡°Guys, chop these fellows who want to cause a disturbance into pieces and feed them to the rotting wolves!¡± Ten more figures responded and surrounded this place. Miserable cries sounded briefly, and the wilderness became peaceful again. Everyone wanted to rest as much as possible to mine out another piece of ore tomorrow. From the shed, Crippled Peter could no longer see the boy¡¯s figure. He scratched his nearly bald head and muttered, ¡°Where is that youngster going? If he gets eaten by the rotting wolves, then I would¡¯ve lost those five cents. Hey, Old Hans, do you think that I¡¯ll lose those five cents?¡± Old Hans, who was leaning against the shed, raised his hands and said, ¡°Who knows.¡± Crippled Peter stood up with difficulty and began to clean up the food and inventory list. His remaining leg was thick and solid enough that it could support his body that was over a hundred kilograms in weight without crutches. He picked up the slip of paper he received from the boy and was about to throw it away when he suddenly remembered something. He looked at it again and said to himself, ¡°Grade three drinking water... I really don¡¯t know what he needs such a thing for. The radiation inside the mine is many times more powerful than the sewage outside. This isn¡¯t something that drinking a bit of clean water can get rid of.¡± Old Hans took the slip of paper from Peter and looked it over. After sweeping his eyes over the number, he crumpled it up and threw it into the fire pit outside the shed. Old Hans coughed a few times and spat on the ground. ¡°Peter, go and tell Mad Dog Mida to deduct ten less kilograms from the child¡¯s basket. If he can work here for a full month, then count it as the full amount.¡± Peter said, ¡°That seems a bit unfair.¡± ¡°He¡¯s raising a kid.¡± Old Hans lit a cigarette that only had half of its length remaining. His voice sounded a bit gloomy.The author''s narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. Peter was somewhat startled and raised his head. ¡°What? With his age, how could he be raising a child?¡± Old Hans blew out a smoke ring and said, ¡°If a child under three years of age only drinks water without radiation and eat clean things, right, if only ridiculous things like grade three water and food are consumed, then there won¡¯t be any mutations when growing up.¡± Peter¡¯s eyebrows jumped. ¡°Heavens! I always assumed that everyone would mutate. How do you know this?¡± Old Hans calmly replied, ¡°Because I have also raised a child before.¡± Peter was shocked. ¡°You never spoke about these things before! How old is he? He should be about twenty now, right? Lord have mercy, he absolutely cannot turn out as ugly as you.¡± Old Hans chuckled and said, ¡°I was very poor then and couldn¡¯t find enough clean water and food. Mutation happened when he was five, and he wasn¡¯t able to make it.¡± Peter didn¡¯t know what to say. After a moment of silence, he said, ¡°Old fellow, sorry about that. I shouldn¡¯t have said those things. You know that... I have never encountered a woman that has been able to give birth in this lifetime and never had the chance to raise a child.¡± Old Hans deeply inhaled the smoke and gazed into the faintly green night sky. ¡°Partner, you don¡¯t need to say things like that to me. Back then, if it wasn¡¯t for you, I would have became food for the rotting wolves already. I wouldn¡¯t be in this position as the company¡¯s agent either.¡± Peter lifted a fifty kilogram storage trunk. His sole leg bent, and he immediately jumped over a meter into the air to gently place the trunk on the highest shelf. He then shook his head and said, ¡°I didn¡¯t intentionally save you... You have to remember that I was a wrestling expert. My defense strengthening was already at the second level, so that wolf king couldn¡¯t bite me to death no matter how hard it tried. However, it was different for you. For frail people like you magic users, it could tear off half your bottom with a single bite!¡± Old Hans gave the remaining bit of the cigarette to Peter and patted his shoulder. ¡°Partner, don¡¯t sleep too late. No woman would come here at this time.¡± Peter sucked in a deep breath and held it within his lungs. Only when he couldn¡¯t hold on any longer did he exhale. Old Hans had already returned into the metal house. Only a thump could be heard, implying that he had already thrown himself onto the bed. Peter brought out a green metal box from below the main table, and from within, he carefully brought out a magazine that seemed to be on the verge of breaking apart. Borrowing the bonfire¡¯s light, he began to flip through the page one by one, his breathing gradually getting heavier. The magazine¡¯s cover suddenly detached and fell onto the floor. The beautiful and sexy bodied woman on the cover had already become blurry due to the passage of time, but the striking words ¡®Playboy¡¯ could still be seen on its cover. Below those words were a line of small words that revealed the magazine¡¯s publishing date: February 1982. --- Regardless of how many new refugees came from the wilderness or how many refugees mysteriously disappeared, the sun would always rise as usual. The young man was the same as yesterday. Within the mine bathing in sunlight, the amount of ore he dug up was the same as yesterday. The items he exchanged for were the same as well. The only difference was that the amount of money he owed Crippled Peter went from five to ten cents. A month later, whether due to having enough to eat, or because the boy became stronger himself, the amount he earned each day increased a bit. As a result, the amount he owed Crippled Peter gradually lessened. Life in the wilderness monotonously repeated. A year of time quickly passed just like that. In this era, being able to live monotonously was already a rare luxury. There was no need to fight against the rotting wolves over food, and he also had water without too much radiation to drink; what else could he ask for? As for boredom, that was simply a question of extravagance. Only madmen would rarely think about such a thing. At first, many newcomers had their eyes on the boy, but the cloth strips around his body scared them away. There were at least ten greatly infectious diseases, and there were no medications that could cure these conditions. In addition, all of these illnesses had a similar trait, and that was precisely rotting. Many people had already begun to make their guesses as to how badly he had rotted under the cloth strips. They even made wagers on how much longer he could live. However, when even the date that the most daring gambler bet on passed, there were four newcomers that were daring and ignorant enough to follow the boy into the darkness. Three of them were never seen again, and the one that returned lost track of the boy. Early the next morning, the refugees found that individual hanging from the tall wooden pole outside Old Hans¡¯ house. The bodyguards in black suits had used their dual-barreled shotguns to fire a total of ten rounds at him, yet he had not taken his dying breath yet. It seemed like on the field of torture, these men in black were quite talented. From that day forth, the refugee newcomers all knew never to provoke that boy. Three years passed. The amount of ore the boy mined had already quadrupled his initial amount, but the amount of food he needed to exchange for also continuously increased, so he never had much savings. The amount of wrinkles on Old Hans¡¯ face had also deepened a bit, and Crippled Peter¡¯s ¡®82 playboy also went from fifteen to ten pages. During the fifth year, the amount of ore that could be mined from the caves began to gradually decrease. The happiness of a simple wilderness life had also reached its limit. One evening, after he once again received the food and drink from Crippled Peter, Old Hans stopped him. The boy from back then that had now become a man entered into the steel house with Old Hans. The house was full of junk, but there was a bed. There really was a bed, one with a pillow and bedding. Just this bed alone was enough to distinguish Old Hans from everyone else. The youth did not give the bed more than a glance, but rather had his eyes glued to the hand-drawn map hanging from the wall. The map was extremely crude, and there were large patches of blank areas. There were even some areas that were clearly marked as dangerous in red. ¡°This is where we are.¡± Old Hans pointed towards the map. Then, his finger moved to the west and stopped at an area circled in red to indicate its danger before continuing, ¡°This area is the lair of the flaming ants, and those meter-long things are extremely troublesome. They can¡¯t shoot flames, but you still need to be particularly careful around them. The sour liquid they shoot out will hurt even more than being burnt alive. The worst thing about this place is that those fellows always travel in large numbers, but they also carry good stuff on their bodies. Their front claws are even tougher than steel, yet they weigh a lot less. Not many people dare to kill these flaming ants, so they can be sold at quite a few places at a decent price. Behind their hind legs, there is a small piece of flesh without radiation or poison. The only problem is that the amount really is bit too small.¡± The youth silently gazed at the map, as if he was trying to carve every stroke into his mind. The single eye that could be seen was a deep green, and around the pupils were a few gray patterns. It was sparkling and translucent, as if it was a piece of jade of the utmost quality. After all these years, this was the first time Old Hans was able to take a good look at the youth¡¯s eye. Old Hans cleared his throat and then pointed again at the southern extremity of the flaming ants¡¯ lair. There was only a ¡®w¡¯ there, and it was unknown what it represented. ¡°There is a cave here, and inside is a pond of sewage. Inside of the pond is a large mutated leech. If you feed it with your blood, it will expel the excess fluid from its body. This water will only contain an insignificant amount of radiation. There is not much inside and will be barely enough for a five-year-old child.¡± ¡°The flaming ants¡¯ nest should be about a hundred kilometers or so from here, so you might have to walk a few days. The mine is going to close tomorrow, so you don¡¯t have to return.¡± Old Hans waved his hand, and the youth quietly left the metal house. Before exiting through the door, the youth looked at Old Hans and softly gave his thanks. The youth¡¯s voice was as gentle as the wind and possessed a mysterious type of allure. If he was placed in an earlier era, he might have the potential to be a great superstar. Early the next morning, the sunlight chased the rotting wolves back to their lairs. However, frantic winds began to whistle about, bringing with it fist-sized rocks and sand. West of the mines was a barren desert that stretched as far as the eye could see. The fiery red rocks were transformed into stone pillars that were riddled with holes. Only a few short plants covered in sharp spikes could be seen, and around their branches and leaves were a few poisonous sand berries. The rock scorpions and the enormous black-bellied wasps here were extremely deadly, but the most dangerous part of it all was that there was no water here. Not even the radiation-filled sewage could be found here. When the rock scorpions all concealed themselves within stone cracks to avoid the sunlight, a youth appeared at the edge of the desert. His entire body was covered tightly in a felt blanket, and his completely bandaged arms were leading a small child wrapped similarly within a black blanket. Under the compound eyes of the rock scorpions, two figures, one large one small, slowly walked hand in hand into the depths of the desert. Suddenly, a frantic gale blew about, blowing back the blanket covering the small child¡¯s head. A head of gray, silk-like long hair scattered down. Under the sunlight, it released tens of thousands streaks of dazzling radiance. The youngster stopped his footsteps and carefully gathered her long hair before once again covering her face with the blanket. He then once again picked up her hand to continue walking into the depths of the desert. They continued like this for an entire week before finally reaching the cave that Old Hans spoke about, and they finally found the mutated leech. The youth helped the girl settle inside the cave. Under the cover of night, he walked towards the flaming ants¡¯ lair alone. Only during dusk on the third day did the youth make it back with difficulty. The small girl was quietly sitting at the cave entrance, waiting for his return. It was unknown just how long she had sat there for. That night, the young girl¡¯s brows were furrowed as she used her snow white little teeth to tear at the clear white flaming ant flesh that was as hard as rubber. The ant flesh was both tough and smelly, but she earnestly chewed and swallowed. Even the liquid sticking to her fingers was licked clean. Within the depths of the cave, the youth began to deal with his wounds under the cover of darkness. The injuries were so deep that even his bones could be seen. The mutated leech that had sucked enough fresh blood crawled out from the porcelain bowl and soundlessly slid into the sewage pond flickering with green light. It submerged itself into the pond, and left behind was half a bowl of clear water. A single trip to the flaming ant¡¯s nest required three days. As a result, the youth, little girl, and leech¡¯s lives would revolve around these three days. The process was like a cycle, returning back to the start every three days. Three years later, the leech died. Once again, regardless of any change, the sun would always rise again. The youth and little girl stood shoulder to shoulder at the cave entrance. The strong winds blew through their tattered blankets, and from time to time, a piece of cloth would fall off. ¡°We should find another place to live.¡± The youth¡¯s voice was always gentle yet decisive. The voice¡¯s previous enticement had now become much greater. The girl had now grown up to the young man¡¯s chest. She leaned against the young man¡¯s body and wrapped the blanket tightly around her body. In a soft voice, she muttered, ¡°I¡¯m scared.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t be scared. I will protect you.¡± The young man¡¯s voice was firm and resolute. As for how much confidence he really had, only he himself knew. The young man brought with him four flaming ant forelimbs that he carefully selected. Old Hans had previously said that items like these would sell for good prices in inhabited areas, and good prices implied that they would have food and clean water to drink. He had learned from his experiences in the mines that items of value couldn¡¯t be carried in excess, or else it would bring problems. The young man walked in front, and the girl followed while holding onto the corner of his clothes. The sight of the two walking through the desolate land gave off a feeling of despair. Yorktown was an inhabited area that had developed only in the last ten years. There were already five to six hundred figures living within this small town. Bars, hotels, restaurants, grocery stalls, and clinics were lined up one after another. There was even a sheriff standing guard to maintain public order, with the submachine gun he carried further emphasizing his presence. What the sheriff believed to be grounds for justification would precisely be the grounds for justification. That day, a great figure had arrived in Yorktown, so some of the town¡¯s influential figures had left the town to welcome the guest. Those that did not have the qualifications to go with this group were all excitedly discussing about this great figure even though they didn¡¯t even know if this figure was male or female. As a result, none of the residents paid particular attention to the youth that had just entered the small town. The city¡¯s butcher also happened to operate the town¡¯s sole inn. After receiving a high quality flaming ant blade, he became extremely happy, offering the young man and girl a room as well as a complimentary dinner. Of course, if he wanted goods with low radiation, a single flaming ant blade was not enough. The young man allowed the girl to rest within the room. He, however, brought the remaining flaming ant blades with him and left the inn. He had heard that these things could be sold for even better prices at the markets. Before leaving, the young man carefully laid out an inconspicuous mechanism by the room door. From the butcher¡¯s unnatural smile, the young man had already guessed that there might be some trouble, but he never expected it to come so soon. As soon as he passed an intersection, he was stopped by two individuals. From the square wooden clubs they were holding restlessly, it was obvious that they did not come with good intentions. ¡°Hey, brat! I heard that you have flaming ant blades for sale. Our leader wants to have a chat!¡± The youngster hesitated, but he still followed the three individuals to a small secluded alley. He then entered a large house that could still be considered relatively intact. The leader felt rather satisfied when he looked at the young man with his head lowered. ¡°Youngster! You can call me Viper. I heard that you have flaming ant blades. Good, no matter how many you have, I want them all. This is your reward!¡± The youngster looked at the rock hard loaf of bread that rolled down to his feet and slowly bend down to pick it up. At the same time, he threw the three flaming ant blades on the ground. When he stood up again, he noticed that the three individuals did not have any intention of letting him go. The wooden clubs in their hands were still aggressively held in their hands. Viper stood up and pulled a hand-made single barrel pistol and laughed maliciously. ¡°You know how to behave and adapt to the circumstances. Originally, I would have left you alive after completing this transaction. However, the butler told me that you brought a fair-skinned little girl, so it can¡¯t be helped. In fact, I¡¯m not the leader, but rather the second in command. The leader is called Black Bear, and he is probably energetically climbing up and down that little girl¡¯s body right now! What can I do? The leader¡¯s body is close to becoming mutated, and he likes little children. Alright, youngster, I should send you along your way! Hopefully, the girl hasn¡¯t died yet by the time I get there!¡± At that very moment, the young man¡¯s ears that were covered under bandages suddenly heard a weak drip sound. This was the sound created when the metal piece he placed in his room broke. This kind of high frequency sound wave was not something that ordinary people¡¯s ears could pick up. He suddenly raised his head. Even though his face was deeply concealed within the blanket¡¯s shadow, his single left eye suddenly shone. It was as if a green flame had ignited! ¡°You...¡± Viper cried out in fear. When the shouts ended, the loud noise of gunpowder firing echoed through the room. The bullet shattered the last intact window, and the smell of gunpowder immediately filled this place. The youngster wrapped in a black blanket was like a ghost, suddenly appearing at the entrance to the butcher¡¯s inn. The inn¡¯s door that was carelessly put together with pieces of wood was half opened. The distinct smell of blood could be smelled from quite a distance away. The inn was unusually quiet. Inside, a small voice was softly sobbing. The young man hesitated a bit before walking into the inn. Behind him was a trail of blood. The butcher was at at the entrance of the young man¡¯s room. His eyes were widened to their limit, and a look of utter fear was plastered across his face. Only his head remained; his body was nowhere to be found. The door to the room was not tightly shut. Blood flowed out continuously from below the door like water, and there was so much that it was rather frightening. The young man stood within the blood. He could feel that the blood was still rather warm. He gently pushed open the door, and became completely silent. The girl was sitting in the middle of the room while holding her knees, and her head was buried deeply within her knees as she sobbed softly. The black blanket that was always wrapped around her body was thrown off to the side, and the bed that was crudely crafted from wood was completely broken. The young girl was wearing a rather crudely designed yet extremely clean dress. The skin that was exposed, regardless of whether it was her arms or her small legs, were so white that it made those that saw it go mad. Even though she was still young, even if she existed in an earlier era, she would still turn all the men within the city into wild beasts. The inside of the room had become hell. There were pieces of flesh and limbs scattered everywhere, making it so that there was almost no good place to step on. There were a few organs that seemed to still be wriggling about on the ground, and the walls had been thoroughly dyed a dark red. Blood flowed out from pieces of limbs and other body parts, forming pools of blood that were several centimeters deep. It was unknown if the butcher¡¯s body was here, or if these chunks of flesh belonged to Black Bear. Even less clear was whether or not these belonged to three or four different individuals. Everything had been chopped up and then mixed together. The girl sat on the ground at the center of this hell formed from blood and body parts. Her beautiful gray hair that seemed like silk fabric scattered down like a waterfall. The tips of her hair were dipped in blood. Beside the girl was an enormous rectangular executioner¡¯s blade that was over a meter in length stabbed into the ground. The edge of the blade was covered in nicks, and strips of muscles and flesh dangled from it. Only when dealing with ferocious violent plated bears whose bones were tougher than rocks would the butcher use this rectangular executioner¡¯s blade forged from stainless steel. After hearing the door move, the girl raised her head and saw the young man. She immediately revealed a smile that was like a blossoming rainbow. Under the sunlight that seeped in from the window, the teardrops hanging from the corners of her eyes were like two resplendent diamonds. The young man sighed. He carefully found places within the ground full of corpses to step on and walked towards the girl. The girl did not seem to care that much, however. She immediately jumped into his arms, sending pieces of flesh and blood flying everywhere. The young man softly rubbed the long gray hair that was just as soft as before. Even though it had made contact with blood, none of the droplets of blood lingered on her head. ¡°I¡¯m scared!¡± the girl quietly said. Her small hands tightly gripped the cloth wrapped all around the young man¡¯s body, pulling until it probably left him in quite a bit of pain. The young man knew that she was truly scared, yet he didn¡¯t know how to comfort her. Places where people lived always brought about trouble, but within the wastelands, it was truly becoming harder and harder to find food. What he lacked the most was clean water. In this era, the first thing every single person worries about is survival. Before survival, there was no such thing as leniency, and no such thing as sharing with others. The existence of any person might only equate to clean food and water in the eyes of another. Noisy voices suddenly sounded outside the inn. Someone shouted loudly, ¡°An outsider has committed murder! The butcher has died! I just saw them inside!¡± The shouts became louder and louder, and from time to time, the contrasting clanking of metal could be heard. There were at least ten people surrounding this four roomed inn. The youngster quietly patted the girl and silently pulled out a flaming ant blade. This blade had been cut in half, and only the sharpest part remained. Sharp teeth lined the blade that shone with a deep green light. In addition, a grip had been carefully polished and was carefully wrapped in thick cloth strips. It seemed quite powerful; an item like this was already comparable to the military daggers from the former times. The young man tightened his grip on the blade as he quietly awaited the moment when the group of people would break in. The girl also stopped weeping. Her beautiful blue eyes darted around the room and landed on top of that rectangular executioner¡¯s blade. She reached out her small hand towards that blade, because it was an item she was comfortable using. The young man¡¯s left hand stretched out and pulled back the girl, not allowing her to touch the blade. He moved the girl behind him and calmly watched the door and window. Even though the window was nailed shut with wooden strips, it wouldn¡¯t last long against those that wanted to break in. ¡°Quiet!¡± Outside the inn, the forceful voice of the sheriff sounded. The clamoring immediately quieted down by a bit, showing the authority of the sheriff. However, it wasn¡¯t powerful enough, as there were still muttering going on. ¡°Let me see what is going on first! Fuck, it reeks of blood. Just how many people died inside?¡± With a crash, the door of the room was kicked open, causing the group of people to immediately cry out in alarm. Following that, with thunderous sounds, the sheriff¡¯s uzi already began to rapidly fire. Right at that time, an extremely cold and deep voice that was full of killing intent sounded. ¡°Get out of the way! Make room for the madam!¡± The young man immediately heard a miserable cry and the sound of something dropping onto the ground. It was obvious that the arriving individuals did not give the others any time to move out of the way. However, the noisy commotion outside had completely disappeared. The group of people, including the sheriff, had all become deadly silent. No one dared to make a single sound or movement, let alone speak out in rebellion. Then, following a rumbling sound, smoke and dust rose everywhere as the inn¡¯s walls, entrance, and roof were forcibly dismantled. A ripping sound could be heard. A hand covered in dark black leather grabbed the thin metal strip blocking the wall. It was completely torn off and casually tossed more than ten meters away. It was done by a tall, handsome, and arrogant youth with a cold expression. His short blonde hair stood up straight, as if they formed a burning flame. On his body was a half-body armor forged from a greyish silver alloy that covered his chest, back, lower abdomen, and other key areas. Underneath the armor was a dark black uniform with golden stripes stitched in, and on his feet were tall leather boots that were polished until they shone brightly, making him completely stand out from the dirty and disordered people around him. Just now, it was precisely this individual who bare handedly tore apart everything from the streets ten meters away to this place, creating a great five-meter wide path. The young man, girl, and the room¡¯s hellish scene was completely displayed in front of everyone¡¯s eyes. The girl raised her head and felt overwhelmed as she looked at the surrounding people. This was the first time she had seen so many people gathered together. She instinctively felt danger and wanted to grab that rectangular executioner¡¯s blade again, but she was tightly held in place by the young man. The instant the girl¡¯s facial appearance was revealed, a wave of deathly stillness swept through the crowd. Even the arrogant blonde warrior¡¯s expression froze somewhat. Every single person¡¯ breathing reverberated clearly through the youngster¡¯s ears, and it was clearly becoming more crude and heavy. He sighed and lifted his head to look behind the blonde warrior. On the other end of the path that had been torn open a few minutes ago rested a carriage. It was an eighteenth century four-in-hand carriage with a black and gold colored body. Even the copper framed carriage lights were sparkling clean, giving the carriage an antique and elegant appearance. Pulling the carriage were four tall horses, and it was rare to see four horses with similar snow white unblemished fur. No one in Yorktown could have recognized that these were four pure-blooded horses. However, it didn¡¯t matter, because regardless of what kind of horses they were, they were a luxury that far surpassed the limits of their imagination. In front and behind the carriage each stood eight fully armed warriors with alloyed armors that were exactly the same as the blonde male¡¯s. The only difference was that the blonde male did not carry a weapon, while the sixteen warriors were armed to the brim with firepower. Compared to those four minimi heavy machine guns, the sheriff¡¯s uzi was simply like a toy. The four attendants brought out a large roll of red carpet from the cargo wagon in the back. Starting from the four-in-hand carriage, they laid out a path that directly led to the young man and girl. The room was a hellish area of flesh and blood. The thick, scarlet carpet was laid down over the half-solidified blood, and the attendants continued to place the ridiculously expensive carpet layer after layer on the ground until it reached five centimeters above the blood. Only when the blood definitely wouldn¡¯t get onto the carpet did they stop. The items that the four attendants wore, regardless of whether it were their black swallow-tailed coats, snow white shirts, or neatly worn bow tie, were all items that did not belong to this era. In Yorktown, even the relatively dignified individuals could only be compared to beggars in the olden days. There was a large hole on the sheriff¡¯s jeans, but since the opening wasn¡¯t around his buttocks, the article of clothing properly represented his identity. In addition, since water was precious, the townspeople did not shower. Unlike other people, the young man was looking at the attendant¡¯s feet. They gracefully stepped on pieces of broken body parts and were as nimble as a butterfly. The body parts¡¯ muscles had clearly loosened, yet they only dipped slightly when the attendants stepped on them. When they finished laying the carpet and left the room, only the bottoms of the eight polished and shining black leather shoes had a bit of blood. After seeing this, the young man¡¯s green eye slightly narrowed. A relatively older butler walked in front of the carriage before slowly and gracefully opening the door. Afterwards, he placed a clean white towel on his arm. An arm reached out from within the carriage. It was elegant like an orchid, slender and exquisite as it placed itself onto the butler¡¯s arm. The ring on her middle finger had a dark blue gemstone embedded within that was the size of a quail egg, and it seemed to leave everyone amazed. The only thing that felt a bit odd were her five-centimeter long fingernails. They were in excellent condition, and on top were scary alternating black and red patterns. From within the carriage walked out a woman wearing splendid ceremonial clothes from the medieval age and hair arranged into a spiral fashion by golden japanese flower styled bands. From her appearance, she seemed to be around twenty. Her light gray eyes carried the coldness and indifference of a noble, and her skin was so soft that it seemed as if it would be damaged if wind blew on it. She was beautiful no matter what angle you looked at her from, even if she was judged based on outdated beauty standards. When the woman got off the carriage, Yorktown¡¯s residents seemed to forget the neighbor at their feet that had been shot dead. Suddenly, the place became noisy as everyone pushed and shoved about to get a better look. The majority of people here had never seen a woman with such bright and clean skin before, let alone the clothes and jewelry that would even make upper-class women from the olden days jealous. The woman did not seem to have a single item around her that matched this era. To be precise, everything around her was so extravagant that it had long surpassed what the people here were capable of understanding. The excited and moved group shoved about and gradually crowded towards the carriage. Within the crowd, even the most cowardly individual would feel a strange sense of bravery, let alone the people in this era where most of them were like wild beasts. Right when everyone was about to go crazy, a guard suddenly raised a firearm. The minimi¡¯s muzzle suddenly fired out a blazing stream of bullets. Within the storm of gunshots, hundreds of bullets tore through the wall of flesh in front of the guard. A large hole was carved out through the crowd of people. Only when the entire belt was emptied did the guard lower the already burning hot heavy machine gun. No expression could be seen from his face, as if the ones he had killed just now were not a dozen or so humans, but rather a dozen or so livestock. In the ears of Yorktown¡¯s residents, the sound of the guard reloading a new belt of bullets was clear and extremely cold. The sheriff swallowed a mouthful of saliva and quietly hid the uzi behind his back. The woman did not seem to notice the massacre around her in the slightest. From the moment she stepped off the carriage, her eyes were glued to the girl. She gracefully raised her hand and pointed her black and red fingertips at the girl. ¡°I want this girl.¡± She spoke in an unquestionable tone that could not be disobeyed. At present, it was spoken towards the young man, as well as towards her butler. The butler bowed slightly and said, ¡°As you wish, madam.¡± The young man clearly understood that this was an order completely without the slightest leeway for discussion. His head had been lowered the second she left the carriage and hadn¡¯t given her a single look. However, his body still began to shake uncontrollably. Each step the woman took made his body shake a bit more violently. The old butler that served as an armrest also followed her, only, he was walking respectfully and cautiously outside the carpet. Even though he walked on the blood tainted ruins, not a single speck of filth appeared on the old butler¡¯s leather shoes. Moreover, unlike the attendants, even the soles of his shoes were completely clean; none of his steps completely made contact with the ground. The woman continued walking until she faced the young man. She reached out her hand and pulled the girl from behind him until the two were face to face. She leaned over slightly and carefully observed the girl¡¯s extremely delicate face. Only after some time had passed did she release a sigh and say, ¡°What beautiful eyes.¡± The girl had been ridiculously beautiful from the day she was born. As she matured, her beauty only grew with each passing day. Perhaps due to her age, the girl did not really understand fear and similarly gazed at the woman. During this entire process, the young man¡¯s head was lowered as he stood there without moving a muscle, allowing the woman to pull the girl away. Even though a thick blanket covered him, it couldn¡¯t completely mask his trembling. The woman looked at the young man with amazement. With a nod, she said, ¡°The one you are scared of is me and not those under me. Good! Seeing how smart you are, you should understand what you should do. What do you think are the choices I¡¯m about to give you?¡± The young man was silent for a while. He then said, ¡°I live, and she goes to you. Otherwise, I die, and she is still yours.¡± The young woman became even more astonished. However, it was not because of his response, but because of his voice. Her tone became a bit more gentle as she asked, ¡°Tell me your name.¡± ¡°...Su.¡± Before speaking, the young man would always remain silent for a moment. He needed to control his body¡¯s shaking in order to maintain a steady voice. The woman revealed a slight smile. ¡°Alright, Su. My whole name is Angelina Von Lanaxis. I am going to take this girl away. You can¡¯t protect her right now, and only by staying with me can she display her full potential. Remember my name. If you become strong enough one day, then you can find me.¡± Her body leaned forward. With the long fingernails on her left hand, she tilted the young man¡¯s head upwards. The two faces were not more than ten centimeters apart, and the mysterious fragrance from her breathing seemed to completely envelope his face. Then, she used two fingernails to slowly pull back the bandages surrounding his face. The bandages appeared to be incredibly filthy, yet for some reason, there wasn¡¯t any odor. The sharp, black and red fingernails slowly stroked his skin. The old butler standing to the side¡¯s head was lowered, and he only looked at the tips of his leather shoes. The guards had all of their bodies turned with only their backs facing this direction. The weapons in their hands were aimed at the surrounding group. The muzzle of the dark black gun seemed to make Yorktown¡¯s residents become a bit smarter as well. They realized that lowering their heads was no longer enough, and that only by turning around would they have a chance of living. Under the extreme silence, everyone¡¯s sense of time itself seemed to have become distorted. What was a moment in reality seemed like an extremely long time. Unknowingly when, Angelina had once again pulled the young man¡¯s bandages up. She laughed while covering her mouth and said, ¡°I look forward to the day you look for me!¡± After speaking, Angelina pulled the girl to the carriage. Behind her, that melodious, resounding, unrestrained, and ambiguous laughter continuously sounded along the crimson carpet. The girl did not cry, nor did she resist in the slightest. She only looked back repeatedly until the carriage door obstructed her deep blue eyes. Angelina suddenly pulled up the curtain covering the carriage window, revealing half of her beautiful face that was full of classical beauty. She spoke towards the young man, ¡°In this age, the most difficult thing is living a life of dignity. Hopefully, you did not choose this terrible path.¡± Only when the four-in-hand carriage had completely left Yorktown did the young man slowly raise his head. At that moment, he still did not know what the name Lanaxis represented. He also did not know what the Blood Parliament¡¯s Spider Empress signified. CHAPTER 1 Places that had four seasons still had four seasons in this new era. Only, these seasons were not quite the same. Spring represented an awakening. Large numbers of violent bears, rock lizards, blood-sucking flies, and fluorescent fleas would all rise from their slumber. The small blood-sucking flies, compared to the violent plated bears, weren¡¯t really less dangerous. Only heaven knew just how many diseases there were in this era that could quickly end one¡¯s life, and in addition, it seemed as if the bacterium strains in these diseases were all blood-borne, making the blood-sucking fly the most suitable carrier. Moreover, the types of diseases only seemed to quickly increase. The profession of medicine had never been so important, yet at the same time, doctors had never felt so helpless. However, spring was still the best season. Summer was filled with torrid heat. The harsh ultraviolet sunlight was fatal to most creatures, and even mutated creatures and humans were no exceptions to this. Autumn was no longer the season of harvest. The fruits and food from the olden days had long been extinguished due to the unfavorable changes the environment had experienced over the years. After all, food was something that all creatures worried about. The majority of the plants that were able to thrive in these utterly vile environments were even more dangerous than rock lizards. As for winter, the only problem that needed to be considered was whether one would starve to death before spring came around again. The thin ashy clouds in the skies continuously shifted about, exposing an extremely beautiful blue sky. Sunlight beamed downwards like flames, pouring itself onto the scorching and dry land. The moment the sunlight descended, Turner lowered the protective goggles from his helmet. These were military goggles from the olden days, and they could filter out the bright light and ultraviolet rays to protect his eyes. Even though the ultraviolet rays right now had become many times stronger than in the past, the humans that survived were also adapting to the environment. Weaker humans had long became dried bones in the wilderness. Turner¡¯s right hand held a refurbished M3A automatic rifle. After surveying the surroundings, his left hand made a gesture. His group then continued forward. Forty-three-year-old Turner had almost twenty years of army experience, and he was also a reliable commanding officer. Currently, he was leading his troop through a barren mountain ridge, allowing them to gain a clear line of sight. Everything within an area of over ten kilometers was within the scope of their vision. As for trees that could block the sunlight, Turner did not seem to care much about them. Large expanses of greenery often signified unpredictable dangers. The howls of rotting wolves echoed from within the mountains. Turner immediately looked towards the direction of the noise, and his pupils quickly dilated and contracted, and his eyeballs¡¯ shape also seemed to correspondingly change a bit. Without using any binoculars, his eyes locked onto several small black specks several kilometers out. Only now did Turner raise his binoculars, and from within the lens, he could see several gray and black rotting wolves. They were currently restlessly roaming about the reddish-brown cliffs, and from time to time, they would roar towards the sky. The range of Turner¡¯s eyesight was only 1.5 times that of a normal human¡¯s, and it had used up a point of evolution, or in other words, a chance at genetic modification. An ordinary person only had chance to undergo genetic improvement once or twice in their lifetime, so most people chose to improve their physical strength or their bodies¡¯ defenses. However, Turner decided without the slightest regret to use his evolution point in his eyesight. While trying to survive within the wilderness, if one could notice danger a moment faster, it would be equivalent to obtaining another chance of survival. ¡°Fuck! Those fellows look like they¡¯ve grown larger in size again.¡± Turner cursed a few times and set out with his men towards a valley in a different direction. These rotting wolves were able to move about under the powerful sunlight for some reason. These were creatures that were usually nocturnal in nature. However, Turner did not need to know these things. Through his experiences, he deduced that there was a wolf¡¯s den within the mountains and valleys, and that was all he needed to know. Summer was the mating season for the rotting wolves, and so there should be a few small wolves that have only recently weaned within the wolf¡¯s den. His mission was to find out information about these rotting wolves and their variations, as well as report back if there are any new unknown creatures that have emerged. Lastly, he had to bring back a few rotting wolves¡¯ corpses to be researched within the base.This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it. Typically, this mission required Turner and his men to walk around the wilderness for half a month, but the difficulty wasn¡¯t that high. This wasteland region that stretched roughly a hundred kilometers in circumference was something Turner knew like the back of his hand. The places that were suitable for different species to live in were things he could recite with his eyes closed. As for his nine-man party, even if they encountered a large wolf pack with over a hundred rotting wolves, they would still be able to deal with them. However, the biggest problem lies in how quickly everything changed in this world. Turner had personally witnessed the gradual enlargement of the rotting wolves. At first, a single bullet would be enough to deal with a mature rotting wolf, yet now, they frequently needed to be shot two or three times successively before dying. Their movement speeds were becoming faster, and their bodies were only getting stronger. From what the base¡¯s research director said, in just the last twelve months, the fully grown rotting wolves on average were 12% heavier, their muscles became 23% more powerful, and their nimbleness increased by 18%. In addition, their defensive capabilities improved by 35%, and their resistance towards radiation increased by 50%. Turner naturally couldn¡¯t remember all this, nor did he have any interest in memorizing such precise statistics. His thinking was much simpler: the rotting wolves are growing larger and becoming more and more dangerous. His small troop that could defeat a hundred and fifty rotting wolves in the past could only deal with no more than a pack of a hundred now; that was all there was to it. Even though the situation seemed to still be within the base¡¯s control, each time Turner left for his mission, the bad feeling in his mind would become stronger. What if the wolves became as large as tigers, and had the wisdom of man? This thought had crossed Turner¡¯s mind more than once. To Turner and his well-trained small troop, several kilometers of mountain roads was merely half an hour of traveling. When the mature male rotting wolves above the mountain cliff saw Turner¡¯s group, they all concealed themselves. Saliva dripped down as they bared their fangs, and a low roar continuously sounded within their throats. This was the typical behavior rotting wolves displayed when they were protecting their territory, indicating that the wolves¡¯ den was right behind them. Inside, there were still quite a few young wolves that had not weaned. They were unable to keep up with the larger wolves yet. The rotting wolves¡¯ territory was quite large. The valley full of caves likely only had packs of rotting wolves. Turner had no desire to search every single cave. He made a hand signal, and a veteran behind him lifted up his automatic rifle. The first round sent a rotting wolf flying into the air, and then a second round followed. The third round of fire completely blasted through its struggling body, sending it tumbling backwards. The remaining rotting wolves whimpered and grieved their comrade. They fled towards the valley depths with their tails between their legs. Turner¡¯s M3A moved into position as he said, ¡°Lucas, your turn!¡± ¡°Understood!¡± A young man that seemed barely twenty with a nose that was double the size of an ordinary person¡¯s walked out. He continuously sniffed this valley region as he walked into the mountain depths. Even though the strong smell of rotting wolves was everywhere within the mountains and valleys, Lucas¡¯s nose was not inferior to the rotting wolves¡¯. For him, every single rotting wolves¡¯ smell was distinct, and since they had just came in contact, there was no way he could be wrong. The troop of nine walked unhurriedly, yet their pace wasn¡¯t slow as they gradually arrived at the center of the valley. Their goal was extremely clear: it was the cave several hundred meters from their current location. A few dried bones could be seen at the cave entrance. It was just like in the past. Turner left behind two men to guard the cave entrance while he led the remaining soldiers inside to search the cave. He didn¡¯t fear an ambush, because the powerful M3A was simply invincible within such a narrow cave. Moreover, from the eight that he brought along this time, five of them were veterans that had experienced over ten missions. Their genes were strengthened at least once and they could adapt to any situation. The cave wasn¡¯t deep. They were able to reach the end after walking only thirty meters or so. However, other than a pile of dried bones, there was only a stack of hay. There was no sign of small wolves at all. CHAPTER 2 Turner¡¯s face became ashen. He stared at the pile of hay with the corners of his eyes repeatedly jumping. He suddenly used the muzzle of the gun to scatter the pile of hay, and what he saw below was only rocks covered in filth. There were still no traces of young wolves. ¡°Lucas, you...¡± Before that individual finished his sentence, he was harshly cut off by Turner. ¡°Shut the fuck up! Lucas wouldn¡¯t make a mistake!¡± Turner crouched down and fished out a sharp knife to dig up a piece of wolf feces that still seemed relatively fresh. After carefully inspecting it, he suddenly stood up and pulled the trigger on his M3A with a loud noise. He shouted, ¡°This is a trap! We are leaving!¡± An old veteran followed behind and said, ¡°Hey, leader, who could have set up a trap for us? Don¡¯t tell me that you think it is the rotting wolves? Haha...¡± He laughed a few times, but after noticing that not a single individual responded to his question, he could only resentfully stop and shrug his shoulders. He also had a bad feeling, but this kind of joke was supposed to alleviate some of the nervousness. Turner quickened his footsteps and said in a downcast voice, ¡°It¡¯s most likely rotting wolves! God I hope I¡¯m wrong!¡± They left this place quickly, and in just a few moments, they made the final turn before the cave entrance. However, the two individuals¡¯ backs were bent and shaking as they retreated into the cave step after step! Turner directly rushed to the head of the cave without a word and pulled back those two individuals to look outside the cave. Turner¡¯s eyes suddenly widened. Reflected within his dark brown pupils were rotting wolves that crammed everywhere. ¡°Heavens! There are at least three hundred rotting wolves!¡± Turner¡¯s heart suddenly constricted, making him feel as if he couldn¡¯t breathe! Turner suddenly smelled a faint fishy stench. The instincts that had been acquired from years of experience made him quickly fall in reverse. At the same time, he fired at the cave entrance. A black figure streaked across the air, its sharp teeth tearing at where Turner¡¯s nape was. Soon afterwards, five bullets completely ripped apart its stomach! This was a male wolf that was at least thirty kilograms in weight, and at this moment, it was blasted several meters outwards from the barrage of bullets. After dropping onto the ground, even though almost all of its internal organs seemed to have fallen out, it still struggled to its feet. It staggered towards the cave entrance while releasing an intimidating roar and only stopped when another male wolf snapped its neck with a bite. Putong! Turner fell heavily onto the ground, knocking down the two soldiers behind him. Only when he was helped back up did he noticed that sweat had completely soaked through all of his clothes! One of the veterans looked out of the cave and immediately felt his face go pale. ¡°Leader, it seems like we are trapped.¡± Another individual looked at the walkie-talkie in his hand and shook his head. ¡°There is no signal from base.¡± ¡°We can last ten days with the amount of food and water here.¡± ¡°Our ammunition is in the single digits as well. It¡¯s not enough to kill them all.¡± The veterans took the initiative to give a report on the circumstances of their supplies. The more Turner listened, the uglier his face became. He carefully looked out of the cave a meter from the entrance, feeling the chilliness at the bottom of his heart grow stronger the longer he watched.This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. The strong and sturdy rotting wolves wandered back and forth. As their saliva dripped down onto the scorching valley rocks, strands of white mist would rise. Despite how hungry they all were, they all stayed a fix distance of five hundred meters outside the cave entrance. It was as if they knew that outside this distance, the power and accuracy of the automatic rifles would be greatly decreased. The three hundred rotting wolves surrounding this valley left Turner¡¯s small troop in a hopeless situation. If they left the cave¡¯s protection, the quick and nimble rotting wolves would surround them from all sides. A single assault would easily tear their small troop into pieces. Turner retreated into the cave and sat down while leaning on the cave walls. ¡°It seems like these rotting wolves want to trap us to death. Two people will guard the cave entrance, and we will rotate every two hours. Lucas, Burke, you two are up first. The rest of you, rest for now. I am hoping that our luck will be good enough for the military to find us.¡± The soldiers sat down, closed their eyes, and leaned against the cave walls one after another. They had to conserve their energy now, because no one knew how long they had to stay here. However, no one could get any real sleep. A question lingered within their minds: how were these rotting wolves able to suddenly become so smart? They knew how to set up a trap and even understood the effective range of their automatic rifles. Moreover, despite their hunger, not a single one of them crossed that intangible line. An army!! ¡°Leader, come look!¡± Lucas suddenly cried out in an urgent tone. He deliberately lowered his voice, as if he was scared of alarming something. Turner carefully moved towards the cave entrance. His gaze followed Lucas¡¯ finger and finally saw the wolves¡¯ leader. This wolf was completely different from the other wolves. Its body was enormous, and its sleek black fur was rare within rotting wolves. However, the most frightening thing was that this wolf was standing! This wolf would occasionally fall onto its four claws, but it spent most of its time standing like a human. It was using high and low pitched growls as well as its front claws to command the groups of rotting wolves. One of the veterans with ample experience listened for a long time before sighing and saying, ¡°There are at least thirty different syllables! If these syllables were assembled together, it will basically be a language. Is that really a rotting wolf?¡± Turner had already sat down with his back against the cavern wall. He closed his eyes and said in a low voice, ¡°Of course it¡¯s a rotting wolf. It¡¯s not that strange for a rotting wolf to speak. Nowadays, anything can happen... We need to find a way to kill it!¡± Burke was the sniper within their group. He set up his SVD sniper rifle and slowly lined up the crosshairs on the scope with that wolf. There was at least a thousand meters between the wolf leader and the cave entrance. The wolf leader was clearly much more vigilant and shrewd than ordinary rotting wolves. ¡°... need to find a way to kill it!¡± Burke continuously repeated this within his mind. The crosshairs continuously followed the wolf leader. Finally! The wolf leader straightened its body and extended its neck into the air as if it was sniffing something. Burke naturally wouldn¡¯t let such a great opportunity go; he immediately pressed the trigger! Bang! The tremendous recoil slammed into Burke¡¯s shoulder, sending him roughly ten centimeters backwards. However, the split second the gun fired, the wolf leader suddenly moved downwards for some unfathomable reason and hid within the group of wolves! A split-second later, blood blossomed from a rotting wolf, and its strong and flexible body was almost completely obliterated. Now that he missed this opportunity, there would not be a second chance. Burke powerlessly buried his head into his shoulders. A large, rough, and strong yet warm hand patted his shoulder. Then, Turner¡¯s calm voice sounded next to Burke¡¯s ear. ¡°In the past twenty years, I¡¯ve experienced many situations worse than this. Lad, don¡¯t think too much. If you couldn¡¯t do it, then no one among the rest of us would be able to do any better. Sometimes, we just need to do what we can and leave the rest to luck.¡± Three days passed. The wolf leader continued to command the wolves and kept them in order. The rotting wolves that did not obey were personally killed by itself one after another. When needed, it would stand on two legs, but it never stayed in one location for too long. Most of the time, it was completely hidden within the group of wolves. Other than its outer wolf-like appearance, its face reminded one of a cool-headed, merciless, and cunning human commander. ¡°We need to find a way to kill it...¡± On top of the mountain ridge, a green eye with gray patterns was staring at the wolf leader. No one knew when he arrived at this position where he could overlook the entire valley. A thick, tan colored blanket surrounded his entire body, perfectly camouflaging him within the surrounding rocks. After observing for who knows how long, the front of a gun wrapped in brown cloth slowly emerged from underneath the blanket. The old-fashioned front sight on top of the gun slowly overlapped with the wolf leader¡¯s head. CHAPTER 3 The gun¡¯s body was partly revealed. This was a modified old-fashioned rifle that had some manual alterations as well. The body of the gun had undergone meticulous solidifying, allowing it to shoot bullets that were more powerful. A steel pipe was added to the gun¡¯s barrel, allowing for an increase in range. However, there was no new age advanced sighting device at all on top of the gun, to the point where there wasn¡¯t even an outdated rear sight; there was only an extremely primitive front sight. The distance from the muzzle to the wolf¡¯s head was over a thousand five hundred meters. Even if the old-fashioned rifle¡¯s firing rage was enough to hit the target, it would all still ultimately fall on luck, and not any ordinary type of luck. ¡°It¡¯ll come down to luck again...¡± The rifle¡¯s muzzle followed the wolf leader¡¯s movements, moving slightly back and forth. The precision of these movements seemed to be down to a thousandth of a millimeter. Bang! The enormous and crude gunshot resounded throughout the entire valley! The wolf leader¡¯s thick chest was almost completely blasted apart. It lowered its head, but as soon as it saw the terrifying wound, it already fell onto the ground. With the wolf leader¡¯s collapse, the rotting wolves immediately sank into chaos. The majority of the rotting wolves were furious and ran throughout the valley in search of the murderer that dared to provoke the entire wolf pack. However, other than the scattered smell of gunpowder under the echoing winds, there wasn¡¯t any other strange odors. The rotting wolves with sharper senses of smell had already rushed up the mountain ridge, but there was nothing there. Dozens of furious wolves rushed towards the targets that had been there for a while -- the cave Turner¡¯s group was hiding in. This kind of assault was simply suicide. Out of the forty or so powerful rotting wolves, even the furthest only made it ten meters inside the cave before being showered in a rain of bullets. The only thing they accomplished was exhausting a third of the small troop¡¯s ammunition. After half an hour passed, the wolves entered into an even greater state of restlessness and chaos. A robust male wolf began to roar repeatedly at the top of its lungs in an effort to replace the wolf leader¡¯s position. Bang! Another terrifying gunshot sounded, and the new wolf leader fell in response. This time Burke finally noticed a strand of smoke rising from the other side of the mountain. He immediately picked up his binoculars to take a look, but all he saw within the lens were mountain rocks. He didn¡¯t see any figures at all. ¡°How far was the firing range?¡± Turner, who had moved next to Burke sometime earlier, asked. Burke estimated the distance and said with a low voice, ¡°... A thousand and four hundred meters.¡± His voice contained both admiration and envy at the same time. To accurately hit a target from such a distance, moreover succeeding with two out of two shots, this signified that the other party was a sniper at least two levels higher than himself. This implied that the individual should have experienced gene evolution at least three times. The gunshots were crude and resounding and they carried a metallic smell only outdated firearms possessed. Regardless of whether they were newcomers or veterans, Turner¡¯s party were all connoisseurs in the domain of firearms. In their ears, these gunshots held a different meaning. For an outdated firearm to accurately hit a target from 1500 meters away meant that it had to sacrifice everything else for range. However, the hiding high-level sniper was clearly proficient at movement and concealment as well, because not even the rotting wolves could find traces of him. Together with his insane sniping distance and his terrifying hit rate, even if his tracks were discovered, it wouldn¡¯t matter much. One truly needed great luck if they wanted to survive under this individual¡¯s sniper.This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings. The mountain valley became quiet again. The afternoon sun burned even more ferociously, leaving the rotting wolves dry and uncomfortable. Even though their terrifying evolution rate allowed them to become stronger and craftier, their hatred and patience towards the sunlight was not improved by much. After losing the control and leadership of the wolf leader, the rotting wolves went from strictly disciplined creatures back to wild beasts that relied on their natural instincts. When there was only an hour left before dusk, they lost their patience and began to leave the valley in groups of twos and threes. The soldiers in the cave all sighed a breath of relief. Even Turner himself felt his previously tense mental state quickly relax. During these three days, the soldiers had all suffered under the torment of inevitable death. Even though their bodies were loosening up, their minds were still incredibly tense. If their way of dying could be measured in degrees of horror, then being eaten by rotting wolves would be second only to being the food of zombies. It was close to nightfall. A figure appeared on the other side of the mountain. The tan-colored camouflage headgear and uniform allowed him to completely merge with his surroundings. The rifle behind him that was almost as tall as his body looked to be precisely the one that continuously killed those wolves. The few rotting wolves still roaming about charged at him, but following a few thunderous gunshots, those rotting wolves immediately fell onto the ground without any suspense. They continuously wailed and twitched about, but they no longer had the strength to climb back up. He did not use the gun behind his back. Instead, a powerful unusual pistol appeared in his left hand. It was obvious that this was also a modified item. The automatic rifle needed two bullets to kill a rotting wolf, but he only needed one shot from this weapon. This was already something that could not be explained by the power of the weapon; this was a result that could only be produced by continuously hitting only the rotting wolves¡¯ vital points. The gunshot of this pistol was just as terrifying as its power. It seemed like it wasn¡¯t much inferior to the sniper rifle. Crude, sturdy, simple, and direct; it was just like a robust man with a full beard. After shooting dead six rotting wolves in succession, with a movement of his finger, the gun barrel popped open and six red-hot ammunition cases fell out. Another six bullets were placed inside by nimble fingers, and then with a kacha sound, the barrel was returned to its original position. The gun slightly raised itself, and before the individual even seemed to aim, another round of fire began. Within the resounding gunshots, the entire body of the seventh rotting wolf which pounced towards him shook before tumbling backwards in the air. It flew past that individual¡¯s head before slamming heavily onto the ground. It continuously whimpered as blood poured out endlessly from its body. However, the position in which it lied on the floor did not reveal where it was injured. It was truly strange how that gun could get rid of such a ferocious and tenacious rotting wolf. There were ten or so rotting wolves wandering within the mountain valley. However, following the the automatic rifle¡¯s concentrated and resounding noise, none of the remaining wolves could flee the rain of bullets. Turners M3A released a quick and light burst of sound, ending the life of the last rotting wolf before it made it all the way up a mountain. Only now did he lower his gun and make his way through the valley towards the mysterious individual on the other side of the hill. Turner¡¯s hand was on the shaft of the rifle, and with just a slight movement, his arm would pop up quickly in reflex. The people behind him scattered a bit, but if needed, that mysterious individual would immediately be drowned within their group¡¯s firepower. It could be said that the entire small squadron¡¯s lives were saved by that person, but their precaution against the stranger was part of their instinct. Even though that individual had already returned the pistol to his waist, it simply left them with too deep of an impression. Almost every single one of them remembered that there were still five bullets within that pistol. With the speed and nimbleness that the individual could reload his bullets, if he had any ill intent, before Turner¡¯s group could even shoot him, he would be able to fire at least three bullets. From what they¡¯ve seen just now, those three bullets signified the end of three lives. CHAPTER 4 Turner stopped ten meters in front of him and carefully sized up the strangely dressed man. The majority of his face was hidden under the thick tan-colored cloak, but under the light of the setting sun, he could see that the individual¡¯s right eye was covered by a black eye-patch. Messy ashy blonde hair covered most of his forehead. Even though only the individual¡¯s left eye region could clearly be seen, the thin, long, and fierce curved eyebrow, his green pupil with gray lines embedded within, as well as the line running out from the end of his eye created an almost perfect image. Turner suddenly felt his throat become a bit dry. Even though he could tell from the individual¡¯s build that he should be male, he couldn¡¯t confidently say that what laid hidden beneath those bandages was human. However, In this era where survival was the only goal, the restraints on desire had long been lost. Violence and sex had long become instinct for a great majority . Regardless of whether you were male, female, young, old, human or inhuman, in the eyes of those that thirsted for stimulation, all boundaries were blurring rapidly. After struggling on the fine line between life and death for so many years, Turner had become cool-headed. He was glad to find that there was no hostility within the other party¡¯s green eye. After a moment of hesitation, Turner loosened his grip on his M3A and stretched his arm towards the stranger. ¡°I¡¯m called Turner.¡± For an interaction between human parties, this was a rarely seen amicable exchange. The stranger was clearly a bit strange, but his eye slightly turned, and a smile appeared on his face. He shook Turner¡¯s hand. ¡°I am... Su.¡± Su¡¯s hand was tightly wrapped in bandages, and not a bit of skin could be seen. However, Turner could feel through the bandages that even though his arm was more slim and soft than that of a normal person¡¯s, there was an explosive strength within that softness. This contradictory feeling gave him the feeling that he wasn¡¯t shaking the hand of a stranger but instead the sharp teeth of a stone lizard. Turner¡¯s hand trembled softly and he quickly pulled it back in a slightly rude manner. However, Su did not seem to particularly mind. Turner waved his hand and made a gesture indicating that it was safe. The small party of soldiers released a breath of relief and began to inspect the dead rotting wolves. Turner stood together with Su and brought out a wrinkled pack of cigarettes. He carefully took out two and handed one to Su. ¡°You saved my men¡¯s lives! Take one.¡± Su smiled and said, ¡°This is good stuff. Why not?¡± After a flame was lit, Su took a deep breath through a gap between the bandages. Only after three or four minutes had passed did he exhale a faint vapor. It was obvious that he knew how to enjoy tobacco. Turner watched the people below him skillfully dismember the rotting wolves¡¯ corpses while absent-mindedly asking, ¡°Apart from rotting wolves, this region really doesn¡¯t have anything. How did you end up here?¡± ¡°I was following some rotting wolves that had abnormal movements to see if they had undergone some type of transformation and noticed that you guys were trapped within the valley. It was due to luck that the wolf leader died.¡± Su¡¯s voice was smooth like flowing water. Creatures that had undergone variation, regardless of whether they were dead or alive, fetched a good price in any base or inhabited area. The genes of these creatures were the source of gene improvements. As a result, there were those that specialized in pursuing these abnormal creatures to exchange for money, known as hunters.This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings. ¡°You are a hunter?¡± Turner asked. ¡°First rank hunter and a junior mercenary,¡± Su replied. ¡°What company is your license from?¡± asked Turner. Hunters and mercenaries were professions that anyone could go for. In addition, they would be assigned a rank based on past achievements that was highlighted on an issued license. This license could have originated from one of many different organizations and scattered bases, and it could also be tied to a large corporation. Depending on which organization you received your license from, one would receive a certain amount of recognition and corresponding benefits from within that organization as well as other friendly and ally organizations. Of course, any organization could decide to refuse the license provided by another organization. As a result, having the first rank hunter license from a large company was far more useful than a fourth rank license from a small organization. ¡°Grace Company.¡± Turner was considerably startled, and his voice became somewhat more respectful. ¡°This is a pretty big fellow!¡± However, when he thought back to Su¡¯s sniping, firing, hiding, and movement skills, this kind of license was not still not undeserving. When he thought back to the wolves shot dead by Su, the corners of Turner¡¯s eyes couldn¡¯t help but jump a few times. He sucked in a deep breath of smoke and spoke in a rather low voice, ¡°Who would have thought that even rotting wolves would develop near human-like intelligence. What a shitty world!¡± Su watched as the soldiers wrapped up the rotting wolves¡¯ corpses and carried them on their backs. He sighed and said, ¡°These types of wolves will only become increasingly common from now on.¡± Turner released a few strong curses before shouting in a loud voice, ¡°Fellows, move faster! We are going to travel several nights in succession to hurry home!¡± After giving his orders, Turner then said towards Su, ¡°Looks like you¡¯ve been out for a while as well. Come back and gets some rest at the base!¡± Owning a license meant having a history, making him no longer a dangerous stranger. At the very least, Grace Company¡¯s power and influence was quite strong within this region. As dusk fell, Turner¡¯s men borrowed the cover of night to leave. The trip from this place to the base required a few days of walking. Even though it was dangerous to travel at night, this area was even more dangerous. Moreover, following their group was the ghost-like existence of Su. Burke intentionally fell towards the back to walk alongside Su. Borrowing the faint green light of night, he would sneak a few glances at the enormous modified rifle at Su¡¯s back. However, what left him bewildered was that there was only a simple and crude optical sight on it. Even an amateur could tell from the size of the scopes that this ¡®toy¡¯ was far inferior to Burke¡¯s SVD sniper rifle. Burke was clearly a rather shy person. His face was completely red, and he could only ask in a low voice, ¡°Sir, no, senior, may I ask what level your sniping skill is at?¡± Su remained silent. Burke became even more nervous and stammered, ¡°I¡¯m sorry, I had no intentions of provoking you... Your esteemed self should know that I am only twenty years old, merely a first level sniper. I have never met someone like you before.¡± Spirit energy domain... Simple weapon mastery... Sniping expertise... These contents momentarily passed through Su¡¯s mind. Hundreds of numbers changed within his head, and three seconds later, he finally produced a result. ¡°Third level,¡± Su smiled and replied. Burke became even more excited. Su truly was just like how he had imagined, already reaching a third level sniper. Each increase in level signified double the amount of evolution points consumed. Third level meant that he had at least undergone seven points of evolution. For Burke whose lifetime goal was to become a level two sniper, Su was already like an idol. The bashful Burke was somewhat hesitant to say anything else to Su, and Su seemed to remain silent for a majority of the time. As a result, the back of the party became quiet again. The ten or so men peacefully and quickly travelled through the night. The crude, simple, and outdated modified rifle on Su¡¯s back became a rough, direct, and powerful work of art. He, however, was not aware that Su had not spent a single point of evolution on any sniping proficiencies. CHAPTER 5 The distinct hydraulic pressure sounds of machinery echoed through the depths of the cave. The ventilation hidden behind the rocks released large bursts of steam from its three-meter wide opening. The powerful reinforced steel gear wheel that radiated with a cyan luster slowly lowered into the mountains, but when it made it a meter inside, even though it had only caused this place to rumble a bit, a hidden passageway was revealed. Even though it was already dusky outside, Su could still see through the rising steam. He saw that there were various weapons hidden within the mountain body and passageways. ¡°Hey! Turner! It¡¯s truly good to see you make it back in one piece!¡± These people had just exited the passageway when a black man over two-meters tall walked over. He gave Turner an extremely powerful embrace. Turner returned with a similarly strong hug and said, ¡°If it wasn¡¯t for Su, then the problem wouldn¡¯t be whether or not we would return in one piece. You would have to dig out our remains from within the rotting wolves feces, if there was even anything left.¡± The black man followed Turner¡¯s gaze and saw Su, who was standing at the very back. He walked over with large steps and offered his hand. He revealed a mouthful of white teeth and smiled. ¡°I¡¯m called Tony! I am in charge of Base N11¡¯s logistics. You saved Turner, so you are already my friend. I welcome you to Base N11! After a simple scan and quarantine procedure, most of the mission¡¯s soldiers dispersed throughout the base, returning to their residences. Meanwhile, because Su earned the great recognition of saving Turner¡¯s small troop, and also in part because he had Grace Company¡¯s hunter and mercenary credentials, he received generous treatment. Not only did he have his own room, he was even allowed to purchase goods at the price a local could. Base N11 wasn¡¯t that large. The internal structure only had four hundred or so residents. As for whether there was any extra space, not only had the qualifications to live here reached an extremely harsh state, there were even complex provision in place that strictly regulated the number of guests allowed inside. Back then, Base N11 was one of many nuclear shelters, and this region was named N11. From its size, it seemed like a rather small refuge. However, inside, there was drinking water, food, shelter, medicine, and even clean air; there was everything one needed to survive inside. A refuge that could protect against nuclear warfare and was self-sustaining would be the same in any country: they were not prepared for ordinary folk. The equipment inside was advanced, and they would be periodically replaced. When the war completely broke out, refuge N11 was not used at all. Not a single one of the influential officials and wealthy individuals that had the authority to use the refuge were able to make it to the refuge. When the automatic defenses were activated and refuge N11 closed on its own, only sixteen staff members in charge of daily operations were inside.. Fifteen years later, the refuge that seemed to have been closed off forever followed proper procedures and once again opened up. The world from back then had already been buried under the passage of time, and the new era had just awoken. Base N11 replaced refuge N11, just like how the new age replaced the old. Su closed his eye. As he cleaned himself within the steady stream of water, the history of Base N11 played in his mind. The base¡¯s capabilities were faultless: there was a life division, logistics division, army division, and a center that controlled the four divisions. In the back of the base was an emergency exit that lead to a natural cave. Rumors had it that it was connected to an abandoned subway network several kilometers out. It was a rather well known fact that those underground tunnels had long become a paradise for many dangerous creatures. As a result, within a map of Base N11, that region had been marked with a glaring red ¡®Danger¡¯.If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. The brief shower only lasted two minutes, yet it used up fifty yuan of Su¡¯s currency. This was already the price that locals paid! The currency of the new age was far different from the old age. A currency that was left behind and difficult to counterfeit could only be an assortment of different coins. As a result, for a normal person or even a local resident of the base, fifty yuan was a number that was difficult to fork over. Even if money wasn¡¯t a problem, the time for showers still couldn¡¯t be that long. Even though the water for bathing had been cleaned, lowering the radiation by a large amount, it was still far from the level of drinking water. Showering for too long would leave irreversible harm on your body. Despite being so costly, one could still wash themselves; this benefit was something that the base was proud of. The stream coming from the nozzle quickly became weaker and ultimately stopped. The last drop of water dropped somewhat reluctantly on his shoulder, creating a small splash on his bright and clean jade-like skin. It followed the gentle curve of his skin downwards, but once it reached the hips, the drop of water completely disappeared. It was absorbed by his skin. When the shower concluded, Su¡¯s body didn¡¯t seem to have any traces of water on him. He slightly wiped his body, and bandages were wrapped in circles around him. He had already carefully inspected his room and did not find any bugs installed. In addition, it was unlikely for others to realize that a few galleons was used. After all, this was just cycled water that could not be drunk. His body¡¯s current condition had been examined while showering. He now had to examine the condition of his weapons, ammunition reserves, money remaining, and then draft up a short-term plan as well as refill the supplies he needed for his travels. This was something that Su would do each time he arrived at a new base. He still had quite a bit of the common bullets used for his modified rifle, but he only had three rounds of the handmade special bullets remaining. He had to increase it to twenty rounds at the very least. The modified revolver he owned used the rifle bullets of the olden days. These weren¡¯t too difficult to find, and this base should have them in adequate supply, moreover at a fair price. ¡°I only have 110 yuan left?¡± Su counted his coins one after another, his handsome brows slightly creasing. This amount of money was probably only enough to purchase food, water, and ammunition. As for his goal, the RF series rifle produced by Carter Roman Company was still a bit far off. As an introductory level firearm product of the new age, the RF series rifle¡¯s standard model needed 3000 yuan. Meanwhile, the various additional subtypes were even more precious than the original rifle. The great companies would even offer them a complete evolution point that could be used for primary gene modification. A single dose of drug was ten thousand yuan, and this was just the common grade drug. The efficacy of the drug was stable, and its biological action could directly bring about a particular effect. Even the lowest cost version would have an effect several times that of similar drugs. Convenience was an important factor of life in the outside world. No one wanted to carry tens of thousands of coins across the wilderness. As a result, many companies and organizations tried to create their own source of credit, to a point where paper currency and credit cards have been distributed. However, they all faced the same problem, which was that their competitors might not accept their form of credit. Gradually, without the existence of banks, objects became the primary form of exchange. Firearms, weapons, and ammunition all become interchangeable commodities. As for genetic modification drugs, they had already been turned into a currency of great value. Of course, this kind of currency could easily collapse, and they couldn¡¯t be preserved for a long time. Su¡¯s travel supplies were extremely simple: A standard military canteen, bullet pouch, and a small bag that was ten centimeters long and five centimeters wide. It was used to store money, medicine, and other items. These items could be hung at his belt without greatly affecting his movement. Regardless of whether it was a hunter or mercenary, the less weight one had to bear, the greater the chances of one¡¯s survival were. Su grabbed a piece of paper and drew out a diagram with a few strokes. After writing out a corresponding number, he then exited the door. CHAPTER 6 By following the markings on the wall, Su easily found his way to the logistics domain. The residents he encountered all took the initiative to greet him. For them this light blonde young man was simply dressed a bit differently. Without talking about his third level sniping capability, or his Grace Company credentials, just his charming and mysterious left eye was enough to offset his bandaged body. After finally making his way into the military area, Su saw a large black man who was currently busy within a large pile of firearms. ¡°Tony, could you help me make a few bullets?¡± Su handed over a blueprint. Tony swept out his large hand and cleared up a small area on the table with firearms piled everywhere to properly lay out the blueprint. He only glanced it over once before cracking open a smile and speaking with astonishment, ¡°Hah, the recoil of these bullets could shatter your shoulder! Only those abnormal individuals that genetically improved their defenses could use this stuff.¡± ¡°I need twenty rounds.¡± Su¡¯s green eye revealed a clear smile. He liked this robust man¡¯s straightforwardness. ¡°Alright, twenty rounds. Either way, you third level snipers are all freaks,¡± Tony grumbled. He evaluated the supplies needed and then reached out a large hand. ¡°Ninety yuan and a day¡¯s worth of time. I can¡¯t go any lower.¡± For handmade bullets that weren¡¯t standard make, this price was extremely fair. Su handed over a majority of his funds without any hesitation. After receiving the money, Tony couldn¡¯t help but stare at Su¡¯s shoulder. He couldn¡¯t imagine how his weak and frail shoulder could handle such a violent recoil force. Regardless of whether it was someone who has undergone defensive or strength genetic modification, they would all show clear characteristics of it, such as developed muscles or thick bone structures. Regardless of whether it was the somewhat frail body or his 179 centimeter height, Su did not seem to have experienced any of these enhancements. Tony shook his head and decided not to think any more about this question he wouldn¡¯t be able to find an answer to. From his perspective, those that became level three snipers were all freaks regardless of what areas they modified themselves in. He himself, was not included however. Tony¡¯s third level specialized in firearm remodeling. This fell under the ability category, and so it was quite different from those that specialized in combat. ¡°Early tomorrow morning, the base committee wants to have a talk with you.¡± Tony allocated gunpowder while speaking. ¡°They should have some kind of mission for you. You should understand that opportunities for our small base to hire a third rank mercenary are not high. Committee chairman Old Anthony is also a combat specialized third level soldier, but while defending the residents in a battle ten years ago, he lost an arm and half a leg, and as a result retired and became the committee chairman. He is a kind and honest person that understands what a third level soldier represents. I believe that he will give you an appropriate mission and suitable reward. I advise you to consider his offer.¡± ¡°Thank you.¡± Su¡¯s reply was simple yet extremely sincere. Tony¡¯s large mouth cracked open as he chuckled. His snow white teeth were extremely eye-catching as he said, ¡°You saved Turner, so you are my friend as well. I, Tony, will never treat a friend unfairly. Although...¡± Tony shrugged his shoulder and continued, ¡°Although in this era, the word friend has practically become forgotten.¡± After choosing a box of explosives, Su then left the military region. ¡°Hey, if you are looking for some fun, then go to Red X! There are some sexy girls there!¡± Tony hollered towards Su who had not yet walked through the doors. Alcohol, hallucinogens, and women in Su¡¯s eyes all equated to trouble. He did not like trouble at all, and as a result did not pay any attention to Tony¡¯s suggestion. Instead, he returned to his room to rest.Love this story? Find the genuine version on the author''s preferred platform and support their work! After carefully locking up the door, Su then arranged an indiscreet mechanism that looked like nothing more than a strand of metal within the keyhole. Turner was rather popular within the base, and in fact, was one of the seven members of the committee. Since Su saved his life, as well as his entire small troop, he should be rather safe here. However, nothing in this world was absolute, and Su preferred to be careful. After making all of the necessary preparations, Su lied on top of the bed and his green eye closed. His breathing slowed and his body temperature slowly reduced as he sank into a strange state of sleep. The large modified pistol was placed at his feet, and his left arm was lightly laid atop of the gun. In Su¡¯s opinion, the time he was awake was one world, and the time he spent asleep was another. This world of darkness would at times be peaceful, and at times one of clamoring and fragmented monstrosities. When awake, most of these fragments would fade from his memory. In new environments, Su¡¯s sleep would normally be extremely light. This signified that he would be in a quiet and dreamless state of sleep that would allow him to react to any small changes. Base N11 was definitely a new environment, and as such, Su was very careful when asleep. However, today was not a night without dreams. Su once again sank into an irresistible world of dreams. This was a green world, and everything in his line of sight was floating within water ripples. It was as if this entire world was immersed within the green liquid. Through the rippling light, he could see countless faces. There were those that belonged to humans, and even more that didn¡¯t. These faces appeared before him one after another, and their lips opened and closed, creating clashing sound waves. It was as if they were repeatedly saying something, but no matter how hard he tried, he couldn¡¯t understand a word. Whenever a face appeared, it would trigger a completely different feeling within him each time. Numbness, itchiness, and aching covered him seemingly endlessly, inflicting upon him a pain that made him want to tear his body apart! These faces would mostly appear once, with only a select few emerging more than two times. There were only two that appeared more than twice. However, no matter which face it was, they were all blurry and unrecognizable. As a result, Su had no idea whether he had encountered any of those faces before. The dreams repeated themselves, and when he woke up, they would fade from his memory. As a result, Su never really knew what he experienced within those dreams. This time, his dream had not continued for its full duration when it was interrupted by an outside source. A signal immediately triggered within the depths of Su¡¯s mind, and ten messages immediately spread throughout his body. As a result, his body suddenly shifted thirty centimeters. He stood up, and his left hand gripped the pistol. He jammed it forward with lightning-like reflexes into the uninvited guest¡¯s chin. This string of movements were carried out in an extremely fast manner, and only when the gun was aimed at its target did Su open his eyes. In the darkness, his eye shone with an eerie green light. This was a true light, as well as his sharp gaze. ¡°Who are you?¡± Su said in a low voice. His deliberately suppressed tone together with his naturally soft voice added even more attraction to his voice. On the other hand, the almost fifty centimeter long pistol contrasted greatly with that smooth voice. The large gun, its exceedingly long barrel, and the gun point made it quite clear that it could easily shatter the brains of even the most powerful iron-plated bear from this distance. This was not a pistol that a normal person could use, with a recoil force that was comparable to an old style automatic rifle. If wielded single-handedly, if the first shot did not fracture all the bones within one¡¯s arm, then the recoil force would still greatly affect the arm, making it much more difficult to aim future shots. However, the pistol had already been jammed into the intruder¡¯s chin, so there was no need to worry about accuracy. Even if this one shot broke Su¡¯s arm, it would still only happen after the intruder¡¯s head was blown off. The head in front of the gun seemed rather fragile and weak. Forget about this extremely rough pistol, even an ordinary handgun would be able to easily take this individual¡¯s life. However, not many people would quickly pull the trigger. After seeing this individual¡¯s face, even less men would want to immediately pull the trigger. This was an extremely beautiful young lady, and from her outer appearance, she didn¡¯t seem to have reached twenty years of age yet. Under the harsh conditions of the new age, women often looked much older than their actual age, so she might be even younger than eighteen. She had maroon colored eyes and wheat-colored skin. Her erotic lips had a somewhat strange purple color applied on top, and a beautiful pair of large eyes were looking at Su. Within them was panic, but also a excitement and expectation. She wore short leather clothes, with the collar area cut extremely low and the hem being short as well. A smaller half of her bulging breasts and much of her slender waist could be seen. She didn¡¯t seem to have much else underneath her leather clothes. A pair of jeans covered her lower body, tightly sticking to her large bottom and slender legs as if they were a second layer of skin. CHAPTER 7 The young lady was fully confident in her appearance and physique, evident from the strong smell of alcohol spreading from her body. She seemed to be full of energy and excessive vitality. It was obvious that she drank too much, to the point where her mind was focused excessively on stimulation and excitement. The amount of importance she currently attached to fear was far from enough. Even though there was a pistol stuck to her chin that could blow her head off at any moment, the alcohol had made her lose her depth perception. Her eyes were focused on Su¡¯s fascinating left eye and the hand holding the gun. His hand was not currently bound by bandages. Regardless of whether it was the strips of his skin, they made the young lady want to compare them with her own arms. A flash of killing intent ran through Su¡¯s eyes. He had already seen the metal silk on the ground. This girl could break through his alarm traps even in such a drunken state? The thin and long finger on the trigger tightened slightly. If he pulled it back another millimeter or so, then it would immediately fire. The young lady seemed to finally notice this detail, and her eyes sobered up quite a bit. They were now full of fear. Su continued this pressure and used the pistol to make her stand up! If Su¡¯s finger trembled in even the slightest manner, that beautiful face would immediately be turned into mincemeat! The pistol pressed against her until she stood completely on her toes before stopping. On top of the young lady¡¯s face and necks were beads of sweat created from her incredibly nervous state. She had to keep herself in this ¡®ballet¡¯ position as much as she could, because the slightest movement would trigger the pistol¡¯s firing. However, it was at this moment that Su began to roam about her body. Su¡¯s right hand first moved aside her hair and then her ears. After lightly pinching her neck, he even placed his fingers into her small mouth that was still gasping for air! She truly wanted to bite down and break those two icy and soft fingers, but she didn¡¯t dare. Su¡¯s hand then undid the two buttons on her short leather jacket, completely exposing her body that wasn¡¯t covered in the slightest by any undergarments. He then ran his hand over everything carefully and precisely, inch by inch. They weren¡¯t large, but her breasts were quite perky. They obviously received quite a bit of attention, with the tips being repeatedly squeezed a few times. Su¡¯s right hand was similarly bare without any bandages wrapped around it. His fingers carried a cold and slippery sensation as if they were wriggling snakes, but they were also like the tongue tip of an intimate lover. The lower body came next. Su undid the button on her jeans without any qualms and crudely pulled it down to her knees. He then began to roam towards the crucial area. Somewhat unexpectedly, Su¡¯s hand suddenly became drenched in fluids, but this did not stop his third area of probing in the slightest. In this generation that was full of variations and mutated genes, the body of a woman could be hiding fatal weapons or biological factors within any concavement or protrusion. Living alone within the wilderness, Su had seen just too many similar situations. ¡°Ow!¡± The young lady creased her brows and uttered a hoarse and painful cry. The body search finally came to an end. Su took a step back and retracted the pistol. Her body did not contain any equipment, and her intoxication didn¡¯t seem to be faked either. She didn¡¯t seem to possess any evil intentions. ¡°Who are you? What did you come for?¡± Su asked in a quiet voice. Her eyes were burning fiercely. ¡°I¡¯m called Lizzy. I heard you were new and ruthless, so I came here to take a look! Oh, right, my field of expertise is lock picking.¡± Su knew that this type of occupation was quite common. In this era filled with violence, their physiques being naturally weaker made them inherently inferior. As a result, their status were lower as well. Many women could only depend on their bodies to exchange for the food and water needed for survival. Meanwhile, those that lived within Base N11 were all doing things like this, and the cost of living here was quite high. However, with her youth and pretty appearance, it was still doable. If she wanted to live relatively well, then it would be far from enough. They had to possess technical ability at a high enough skill level to provide the base with substantial contributions.Unauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings. As both a mercenary and a hunter, Su was not unfamiliar at all with money, violence, woman, or business. Right now, he did not see a particularly good opportunity, as it did not match completely with his principles. ¡°I don¡¯t any any more money.¡± Su currently did not even have five yuan on him right now. What he had left had long went towards ammunition and lodging. This young lady was worth far more than that. The young lady¡¯s eyes began to burn even more ferociously. She suddenly threw herself over like a female panther and directly pushed Su down with great strength. She breathed heavily while tearing apart the bandages covering Su. What came out of her mouth was muddled, and in a low and hoarse voice, she said, ¡°I don¡¯t need money this time! Just now, you searched so hatefully. Hurry up and give it to me, right now!¡± Her direct actions directly produced the desired result. She could feel that burning, hard, and enormous thing which was about to enter her body. However, she had no choice but to stand up, separated from the position that could immediately extinguish the desires from her body. That pistol was once again pressed against her chin, forcing her up. ¡°I am going out for a mission tomorrow and need to save my energy.¡± Just now, Su was like a raging flame, yet now, he was like a block of ice. The young lady seemed to have gone mad after going from a heated situation to this cold result, but she had no choice but to leave under this gun. Her nearly nude body hugged her clothes while helplessly staring at the heavy metal door in front. With a loud bang sound, it was slammed shut. Su sat completely upright on the bed with the pistol flat across his knees. A hysterical and extremely angry voice threatened from outside the door, ¡°Su! There will be a day when I will have my way with you!¡± He merely laughed indifferently when he heard this. This girl named Lizzy was without a doubt top quality stuff. Even though her skin had become a bit rough due to showering in water contaminated with radiation, it was still clean, which was rarely seen. Moreover, her skin possessed a shocking amount of elasticity and suppleness. This type of woman definitely possessed a great amount of sex appeal. However, Su felt that there was some type of energy within her that greatly contrasted with him as soon as she entered. Even though he didn¡¯t know what it was or whether this energy even existed, Su always had great faith in his intuition. His intuition had never failed him, and his luck had always been above average. As a result of the encounter, Su no longer had faith in the door lock or the mechanism he put in place himself. He quietly sat while facing the door until daybreak. Base N11¡¯s strategic infrastructure was composed of a seven member committee with Chairman Anthony leading it. Turner was in charge of the twenty men army and police. The other members were made up of Tony, chief of medical affairs, head of research and others. For the sake of safety as well as a certain level of stability, the base even maintained a marriage system. There was no one man, one woman restriction here; the only requirement was that the man could afford the costs and wedding taxes. The wedding would then be safeguarded by the committee. To a certain degree, this ¡®safeguard¡¯ was extremely weak, but at the very least, it possessed an absolute authority within this base. Turner and his group of twenty or so soldiers and police were the cornerstone of this authority. What was amazing was that no matter what grade of water it was, the price it was sold at here would be cheaper than outside by at least half. The base was so extravagant that one could shower with water that had been processed on the basis that they could pay the cost. This drinking water became Base N11¡¯s greatest asset in exchange with the outside world. Food, medicine, weapons, ammunition, and other goods were all exchanged for with water. This meant that the base possessed a hidden and abundant water source, and on top of that, some type of highly efficient water purifying system. Only then would there be enough for the base to use and enough left over for sale. By having a stable supply of water, even though it wasn¡¯t equivalent to having everything, it was still not too far off from it. Within a scope of a hundred thousand kilometers, Base N11 was without a doubt the richest and most powerful location. With fifteen genetically enhanced soldiers, a small but faultless logistics center, standardized army equipment, and even a laboratory that could manufacture gene enhancing medicine, this base was armed to the teeth with things necessary to survive in this world. Meanwhile, the surrounding bandits and mobs, no matter how large their numbers, were not even comparable to rotting wolves in the base¡¯s eyes. They were at most just biting rabbits. While on a mission, Turner had once suffered an ambush from a mob consisting of over fifty armed men. After their small squadron relocated to a hill, a battle broke out between automatic rifles, old-fashioned pistols and rifles. The armed mob even had grenades, but none of them dared to brave the storm of bullets raining down from a hundred meters away. The casualty count at the end was zero to thirty-five. From that day forth, no mobs or bandits dared to set their eyes on Base N11. Within the central conference room, Su was sitting alone on a metal chair. In front of him was a semi-circular aluminum conference table, and seven committee members were sitting behind it. This type of arrangement was quite similar to the interrogations of the olden days, not those in a court of law, but rather those that happened at police stations. Luckily, both Turner and Tony were here, so the atmosphere in this conference room was still somewhat relaxed. CHAPTER 8 The seven committee members began to use the base¡¯s way of assessing Su¡¯s capabilities. As the questioning that seemed almost like idle chatting proceeded, all of the committee members, including Turner, would gaze towards the modified lengthened rifle at Su¡¯s feet from time to time. Even without Tony¡¯s expertise and knowledge in firearms, they could tell that the rifle was old-fashioned and primitive. The only benefit to it was that it was steady, reliable, and sturdy. Of course, its parts were also cheaper. However, when it was compared to the refined M3A series that came from the final period of the olden days, there was simply an entire grade of difference. This rifle¡¯s modifications were extremely eye-catching. Even if it was a heavy machine gun bullet or some kind of unique ammunition, to be able to reach 1,500 meters was still something worth smacking your lips at. There were many other questions as well, such as the accuracy and power of recoil. Something else that caught these people¡¯s attention was the aiming device. This kind of simple and crude aiming lens could only be used on a medium range automatic rifle. It wasn¡¯t suitable for the accuracy needed for a sniper rifle at all. Of course, the more advanced sighting devices naturally carried heavier price tags, to a point where it might even be more expensive than a firearm of the same grade. However, this kind of price shouldn¡¯t be something that a third level sniper couldn¡¯t pay. Reaching the third level was equivalent to undergoing seven points of standard gene evolution. If that was converted to money, it would be enough to purchase three or four top quality optic sights. However, Su¡¯s circumstances were a bit different. He chose to enhance his own body instead of investing in advanced firearms. This is a decision that not many people would make. After all, from the perspective of earning one¡¯s livelihood, a good sniper rifle is capable of simply and directly improving a marksman¡¯s power, which would result in a higher income. After all, the gun was what a soldier used to put food on the table. From this perspective, Su¡¯s choices did not seem to make economic sense. As questioning continued, it became a bit more serious. The committee did not need to completely understand Su¡¯s abilities. After all, missions usually involve great risk, and the employers did not need to hold any responsibility for their employee¡¯s life. At the same time, Su definitely wouldn¡¯t reveal all of his trump cards before an organization he only had a business relationship with. He merely complied with what the base¡¯s regulations required. During the ten or so years following the war, Base N11 had unavoidably given birth to bureaucracy and many formalities. Third level of Mental Domain¡¯s sniping expertise, and first level of Perception Domain¡¯s strengthened sight; this was what Su decided to disclose to the committee, but this was already enough to leave the seven-member committee shocked. The root of their shock was in the extra level in strengthened sight. The enhancement of ¡®sniping expertise¡¯ is actually a synthesis of different enhancements. It included physical power, endurance, sight, control, coordination, and a series of other improvements. Then, through specialized training, the transformed individual would experiences changes that were suited for them. This kind of enhancement was extremely thorough. In addition, after enhancing up to the third level, adding a level of Perception Domain¡¯s strengthened sight was still quite normal. After all, the fourth level of sniping expertise was still rather imperfect, and there was also the difficulty of improving the further you continued, so eight or maybe even more evolution points were needed. Comparatively, one would receive more benefits from the first level of strengthened sight instead. However, one point of evolution was still equivalent to ten thousand yuan of wealth. On the contrary, for Su, who wasn¡¯t even twenty years of age, this addition ten thousand yuan was definitely not a small amount. This implied that Su was quite good at making money, even though it seemed like he was even better at spending it. These seven members of the committee quickly converted this ten thousand to the wine, smoke, firearms, water, or women, whichever they respectively preferred, but when they looked at Su¡¯s eyes, they felt that it was somewhat different.Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. Wrapped in bandages, it was already a body that should not belong to a human. It was a body that was worth close to a hundred thousand yuan in wealth. The rather gloomy segment of questioning finally passed. What followed now were the contents of the mission. Su¡¯s mental state that was becoming drowsy immediately became sober, and he began to listen to each and every word carefully. The contents of the mission were both simple and complicated. Out of worry for the base¡¯s safety, the seven-member committee decided to investigate the cavern system outside the base¡¯s back gate. In particular, they wanted to look into the subway passages that were as complex as spider webs to maybe find an escape route should the base ever face dire circumstances. This mission was also divided into two parts. If the investigation of the subway system directly lead to a dead end within the cavern, then the reward would only be five hundred yuan. If he was able to create a safe escape route within the subway system, then the reward would be a dose of primary gene modification medicine produced by Base N11. After thinking it through briefly, Su understood that the mission¡¯s risks and reward were quite fitting. Several dozen kilometers from Base N11 was an enormous city ruin with all types of sly, merciless, and strange creatures. Mutated people, living corpses, bandits, and all types of organizations with unclear intentions were illegally occupying this area. It was just like a labyrinth. It was divided into six layers, and it was much more dangerous than the surface. The underground world was not suitable for a sniper. Instead, it was the vast city filled with many buildings that was truly the sniper¡¯s domain. As such, cleaning up the natural cave passages was the mission most suitable only for a third level sniper like him. In the past, the missions Su accepted were of a similar difficulty, with rewards ranging from three hundred to a thousand yuan. However, the high reward that came with the following mission interested Su. He might not need the primary grade medicine, but it could be used to exchange for at least five thousand yuan¡¯s worth of items. For Su who was practically impoverished, this kind of reward almost carried a type of irrefusable enticement. Once he accepted the mission, he could withdraw a hundred yuan early as funds for preparation. Grace Company¡¯s license was still worth at least this amount of advance payment. When dusk fell, this hundred yuan became a box of bullets, ten rounds of special bullets, and two bottles of purified water that had already reached the fourth grade. At nightfall, a fully equipped Su departed for the natural caves from the base¡¯s emergency exit. While leaving, he learned by chance that the girl named Lizzy had already left the base in the morning. She originally wasn¡¯t a resident of this base, and lockpicking wasn¡¯t a skill that was useful here, so staying here wouldn¡¯t bring in any income. In less than a month, all of the money she had on her was used on her luxurious lifestyle. Since she wasn¡¯t willing to sell herself like other women, she had no choice but to leave the base today. This was a rather regretful event, for there were many men who yearned to have their way with Lizzy in bed, and they were even willing to pay a generous price to do so. Now that she left the base, Lizzy¡¯s life would definitely not be as great as it was in the base. At the very least, there was a sufficiently powerful system of order and law here, meaning that even if she was forcefully raped, the individual involved would still be forced to reimburse her. One¡¯s personal conduct had to be be in accordance with the base¡¯s laws. Meanwhile, chaos was the everlasting theme of the outside world. The ever-lurking males were filled with excessive lust and violence, and none of them had money. Currently, Su didn¡¯t care enough to think about Lizzy¡¯s matters. His green eye swept through the deep and seemingly endless caves in front of him. Behind him, the base¡¯s thick iron door had already firmly closed, locking him out. CHAPTER 9 ¡°Genes determine everything.¡± This was the Doctor Maxim Rosheda¡¯ famous saying. Around the end of previous era roughly sixty years ago, Dr. Rosheda specialized in the field of biology and genetics. He had a mad passion and fanaticism for science, as well as his own body. Due to a lack of volunteers, or maybe the right term was experimental subjects, to test the fruits of his genetic research on, he turned to himself. In just ten years, countless genetic segments had been inserted into his body. These genes acted simultaneously and blended together, eventually even undergoing mutations. In the later stages, Dr. Rosheda¡¯s body had become a genetic battlefield. Countless genes fought with each other and underwent variations in an effort to control or extinguish other genes. As a medium for these genes, several hundred fatal viral genomes could be found within the doctor¡¯s body at any time. It was precisely like what Dr. Rosheda¡¯s daughter Kacey said: from a genetic perspective, towards his later years, Dr. Rosheda was already no longer human. Dr. Rosheda in his later years no longer considered himself human either, instead claiming to be the apostle of deities. His belief was affirmed with even greater faith when his genes underwent a series of reorganizations and ultimately formed a mysterious, yet stable new genome. Back then, the doctor¡¯s left hand could tolerate an abnormally high temperature, one that could set alcohol aflame. This was a temperature that that the human body definitely should not be able to tolerate, yet the doctor¡¯s left hand was not injured in the slightest afterwards. ¡°This is god¡¯s left hand!¡± Rosheda looked at his own left hand and spoke his second most famous saying. After this year, the doctor¡¯s ability to control high temperature gradually stabilized, and the temperature he was able to tolerate continuously increased. The doctor recorded the first stable genome, as well as the highest temperature he could tolerate. Furthermore, he divided his data into three portions. The first two portions he kept for himself, the final part he published, releasing his own results. The day that the doctor was going to hold his press conference, the war erupted without any signs. Scorching flames and shockwaves destroyed everything, including the doctor who possessed the ¡®body of a god¡¯. However, the doctor¡¯s short yet shocking speech reached every corner of this world. The abruptly started war ended just as suddently as it began. The survivors began to emerge from the various refuges and ruins, discovering with shock that the world before them had changed beyond recognition. There were a few who still remembered Dr. Rosheda¡¯s speech, and eventually they discovered the safe the doctor left behind. The safe created with the science and technology from before the war was safe and sound, and the data stored within was also perfectly intact. These resources were the abilities of the magic domain: the prototype for fire magic. All of humanity¡¯s abilities originated from this. Ten years later, all types of abilities began to emerge in this era of turmoil ike insects. Some of these abilities were stable, some only had a short duration, and there were some that brought about fatal results. Moreover, those that lived in the ruins and rural areas, under constant exposure to radiation, began to show all types of abilities even without any artificial recombination. Through classifying, summarizing, as well a series of disputes, the various abilities were clearly defined. The abilities that were stable were categorized into the five domains of power: Magic Class, Combat Domain, Perception Domain, Mental Domain, and Mysterious Fields.The author''s content has been appropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. Magic Class is a collective term for the various abilities that manipulate energy. As a way to commemorate the doctor that had been obsessed with magic, the earliest discovered domain of ability was coined Magic Class. Combat Domain included all types of offensive, defensive, as well as movement abilities. Perception Domain, as the name implied, included the abilities that could sense and read both things known and unknown to this world. The mental domain is made up of all types of control abilities, with the most popular and often seen types being weapon operation. This included the basic operation of regular weapons, ordinary firearms, sniping, all the way to the manipulation of complex weapon systems. Finally, there was the Mysterious Fields. This is a domain that includes all types of abilities of little value or interest. Any vague abilities that could not be classified could be thrown in. Within the Mysterious Fields, the most representative ability was luck, all types of it. However, those that have invested large amounts of evolution points into the Mysterious Fields often times never received the fortune that they imagined. They did not discover any rare and precious resources, nor did they receive any great wealth or any type of exceptional ability. Those that died by violence were not any less than those that selected the other domains of abilities. In the past, there really was someone that discovered a precious deposit of ore, but in the end, he was chopped into minced meat by a greedy mob. Over time, those that decided to invest in the Mysterious Fields grew fewer and fewer. Of course, the differentiation between the various domain was no longer that clear cut now. As time flowed on, more and more abilities continuously emerged. There were many newly emerged abilities that were not so easily categorized into a certain ability domain. There were even some abilities that had to be matched with another ability domain before they would emerge. At this moment, the once ¡®mad doctor¡¯ Rosheda became the father of abilities domains. The doctor had opened up a great gate, a bargaining chip for survival in this bitter world. However, even now, no one knew whether this ¡®gate¡¯ of his lead to the paradise of heaven or the depths of the underworld. When the people living within the various bases gradually woke up from the awe of their abilities, they were shocked to find that nothing in this world was forever stable, including the genes of all creatures. All creatures, including humans, were quickly changing. The evolution and mutation process that had taken seemingly endless years to complete was compressed into a few short years in the new age. The knowledge humans had accumulated over thousands of years was deteriorating at an astonishing speed. For example, look at the figure that had just scuttered across outside the wire netting. That was a red-eyed, long-eared, docile-natured rabbit that was depending on its speed to avoid its natural predators. However, no one could be sure what this creature whose current speed was already faster than that of a leopard would be like next year. It was because this brand new era had become an era of turmoil. Su cautiously made his way through the dark and quiet cave. His steps were light and soft like a agile cat as he moved soundlessly. The thick cloak around him as well as the bandages covering his body made it so that not a bit of his scent would leak out, so much so that not even those dangerous creatures that depended on their sense of smell or infrared vision would be able to notice his existence. He carried a thick steel pole with three sharp edges and a tip that was extremely sharp. It allowed him to strike and pierce at any moment; this was an extremely terrifying weapon. The modified rifle and pistol were carried on his back and under his cloak respectively. The power of his pistol was extremely great, but it lacked accuracy. However, in a place like this cave tunnel, the power of this pistol naturally increased tremendously. The problem was that since he was in this dark and quiet tunnel, the sound of a gunshot would travel extremely far. This was the same as telling all the monsters within several kilometers that he was coming. Su¡¯s eye emitted a weak green light. This radiance would constantly adjust based on the darkness of the surroundings, allowing him to have a clear observation of his location at any particular time. This was the ability of the third level in the Perception Domain: Glimmer Sight. Within this cave, base N11 had arranged a few small lamps that illuminated a hundred meters around the base. This project was done the last time the base decided to explore this area. Even after the lamps further out were destroyed, the base sensibly decided not to send anyone to repair them. For Su who was equipped with Glimmer Sight, he only needed a minute amount of light to clearly see everything in his surroundings. Su was currently walking through the dark tunnel. From time to time, there would be glowing moss, as well as sewage that emitted weak lights. This was already enough for his Glimmer Sight to display its effect. At a certain corner, Su suddenly stopped his steps. His entire body retracted into his cloak, slowly merging himself with the darkness. CHAPTER 10 An extremely soft rustling sound could be heard within the cave. A vicious rat that was a meter in length scuttled past. The nose that was ridiculously disproportionate to its head sniffed continuously in the air Su, who was hiding within the darkness, suddenly moved! The three edge steel pipe pierced down as fast as lightning towards the rat¡¯s nose. It went straight through its upper and lower jaw and nailed it to the ground. The vicious rat¡¯s nose was its most important part. It viciously shrieked, and its four stocky but sharp claws frantically scratched against the ground. Crushed rocks flew in all directions, and in just a split second, a hole was dug out in the solid ground. Su¡¯s left hand grasped the upper part of the steel pipe. His arm that seemed fragile and delicate was steady like a boulder. The vicious rat whose most important part was injured wasn¡¯t even given a chance to support itself again. Its body violently twitched before ultimately lying on the ground unmoving. Su slowly pulled out the steel pipe and flipped the vicious rat over. He noticed that this was a female rat. Male vicious rats usually operated alone, however, when female rats appeared, there would always be a male rat close behind. Su quickly shifted his body outwards. He stood in front of the tunnel where the vicious rat came from. His front leg was in a half squat position, and his back leg was fully squatted as he held the steel pole horizontally, aiming it towards the dark tunnel. Almost the instant he held the steel pole horizontally, a gust of fishy odor suddenly swept out from the tunnel. An even more robust male vicious rat rushed out from the darkness and chomped downwards at Su from midair. The steel pipe didn¡¯t move in the slightest and continued to face the incoming vicious rat. The steep pole¡¯s sharp tip hacked deeply through the rat¡¯s throat, into his inner organs, and almost straight through its anus. Su loosened his grip and quickly backed up several steps. His movement was quick and nimble, as if he was gliding on top of water. A ka sounded. The vicious rat used all of its strength to close its mouth and ferociously chomp down on the steel pipe. Even though its front teeth could chew through almost all kinds of stone, it still couldn¡¯t win against this type of reinforced steel. Within a kacha sound, the steel caved in, and the male rat¡¯s front teeth began to crack apart as well. The male rat was exceedingly violent and fierce. After falling from the sky, it crawled out several meters and arrived in front of Su. Su raised his right leg and stepped on the male rat¡¯s head. The male rat screeched and struggled about, but it couldn¡¯t raise its head off the ground. Any large movement it made would result in intolerable pain from the steel pipe that pierced through its body. Even though it suffered such a severe injury, it still struggled for more than a minute before it finally stopped breathing. Su¡¯s pretty eyebrows moved. From his perspective, these vicious rats seemed to have developed even more endurance and vigor compared to a few months ago. This speed of mutation made him feel extremely uncomfortable. Su did not decide to use the steel pipe impaled within the male rat¡¯s body anymore. He fumbled about the cavern walls and pulled out a thread of wire. This was the illumination line that had been installed by the base, but now, it had already become useless. Su removed two meters of this wire and tore off the paint covering it, revealing the alloy threading within. He twisted the two electrical wires around his arms separately and continued to head into the darkness. Even within the dark and rugged cavern, Su¡¯s dark green eye and his plentiful experience could make out the vicious rat¡¯s tracks. Not long after, he discovered the vicious rats¡¯ lair. Within the rat nest, there were more than thirty large and small vicious rats. The larger ones seemed to have fully matured, while the smaller ones hadn¡¯t even opened their eyes yet. He could see that there were three generations of rats here. The mature rats that seemed to have reached three months of age could give birth to another batch of infants.Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions. ¡°The bearing period has shortened by ten days.¡± This was what Su estimated in his head. The uncomfortable feeling he felt grew stronger. However, his negative mood did not prevent him from using the alloy threading to lock down the vicious rat that was throwing itself over. Then, with a tug and shake, the rat flew through the air back in the direction it came from, only this time, blood frantically spurted out from its neck. It slammed into the cave wall, and after calming down, it no longer crawled back up. As the blood dyed alloy thread swept across the ground, seven or eight little rats instinctively bit down on it. However, the alloy thread shook slightly, and their heads were almost completely sliced in half. A minute later, this nest of vicious rats was completely wiped out. Vicious rats were extremely territorial creatures. With this nest of vicious rats around, it was unlikely that there would be a second rat lair within a scope of a kilometer. Su brought out a map and drew in a tunnel on top of an empty space. He marked the location of the rat nest and then carefully put away the map. After following the cavern for several hundred meters, Su stopped for a bit at a place that caved in a bit. A seemingly man-made tunnel entrance was revealed behind a pile of earth. This tunnel entrance led to the deep, maze-like subway tunnels filled with danger. Reaching this point meant that the 500 yuan reward was already in his pocket. On the other side of this tunnel entrance lay the requirement for the reward which was even more enticing for him at the moment: the genetic modification medicine. Su kneeled at the tunnel entrance and listened attentively. The wind that blew through the subway tunnels would fluctuate violently from being strong to being weak. Vague rustling sounds could be heard within. The air was full of the smell of filth, and the quality of oxygen was extremely poor, unsuitable for ordinary people to live in. This was one of the reasons why Base N11 could not explore deeper into the subway tunnels. Su, of course, was not an ordinary person. With three levels into the Perception Domain, as well as two levels in the Mysterious Field, whether or not he could still be considered human anymore was not something that Su knew for sure himself. After slaughtering through the vicious rat nest, Su felt the genes within his body becoming restless again. He had already collected three gene evolution points, and walking a bit around this subway tunnel might allow him to obtain a new evolution point. Evolution point is a term that came about during this era of turmoil. The so-called evolution point was just shaking up the genes so that space could be made for brand new genes. The more evolution points one had, the more space and tolerability for more powerful abilities one possessed. There were all types of ways to obtain evolution points, but most of them were born naturally. It was not clear where evolution points originated from. There were two areas that humans could be said to have control over: genetic modification medicine and combat. Of course, after obtaining an evolution point, one still needed to obtain a specific genome before they could acquire the complementary ability. There were many definite abilities within every ability domain; however, most abilities lay in gray areas. Evolution points obtained through fighting would often be accompanied with new abilities. Most of the time, the abilities received this way were not the same as those that were researched. As a result, many fighters viewed their own abilities as their greatest secret. When two ability users met and engaged in a life and death struggle, there would even be a tiny chance to obtain the opponent¡¯s ability. As a result, ironically, killing in this era of turmoil would truly allow one to become stronger. Su closed his eyes. The vague rustling sounds sketched out a clear image of the living corpses. They paced back and forth aimlessly, and their dull red eyes swept through their surroundings in hunger. They were quite different from the jiangshi that often appeared in the fiction stories of the olden age. The bodies of these living corpses were slim and nimble. When they moved, they were even faster than humans. Their powerful muscles and flexible bodies allowed them to crawl on walls and even ceilings. From a genetic perspective, living corpses could actually be considered humans. The high-level fighters that had experienced several genetic modifications were actually even further away from that of a normal human. Fifty years had already passed since the war. The living corpses now were of the second or third generation. Compared to their former counterparts, they were faster, more nimble, and more robust. They were extremely adapted to living in harsh environments. Many of the living corpses living within the subway tunnels have developed infrared sight, making them suitable for places without the slightest bit of light. After making sure that there weren¡¯t any dangerous creatures at the tunnel entrance, Su brought out his pistol and carefully leapt into the subway tunnels. He then jumped again and landed on the steel rails before moving forward. He travelled quickly, his feet not creating the slightest bit of sound. In addition, he didn¡¯t seem unsteady in the slightest as he moved across the narrow steel rail. CHAPTER 11 In front of the tunnel, the chaotic sounds gradually became louder. The putrid odor of the living corpses became even stronger. Around the corner was a train lying on its side, blocking off a large portion of this entire tunnel. The subway carriage had long rusted to a ridiculous level, and the doors were wide open. The windows were shattered to bits and pieces. Through the train window, two living corpses could be seen within the outermost carriage. They were currently turning and tossing things around in search of something to eat. Su observed his surroundings for a bit, and then he noiselessly began to move. He picked up a few rusty iron plates and an iron thread before quietly retreating. He set up the iron thread around the central part of the tunnel and arranged the iron pieces on the ground. Then, he began to form the iron pieces into cone shapes. Afterwards, he stealthily headed towards the subway trains. Ding! Su lightly tapped the carriage wall. The sound wasn¡¯t loud, but under the sharp senses of the living corpses, any unusual sounds was like thunder to their ears. The two living corpses immediately stopped their search for food and turned around together, just in time to see a figure vanish from the train window. In the eyes of living corpses who only had their raw instincts left, anything that could move was delicious prey. After waves of snarls sounded, the living corpses rushed out to the edge of the train carriage with nimbleness that wasn¡¯t any inferior to hounds. The living corpse that was in the front soared up and smashed apart the broken carriage window with one hit.Half of its body forcibly squeezed through the carriage¡¯s window. As soon as it made its way out of the carriage window, the living corpse impatiently looked left and right for traces of its prey. A light pu sounded. The cone shaped iron sheets pierced out from below, easily making their way through its throat. It was such a solid hit that even most of its bones were broken with this strike! Su slowly stood up. He didn¡¯t bother pointlessly trying to pull out the steel cone from the living corpse. He continued to head towards the passage. The other living corpse that was being obstructed by the carriage had long become impatient. It howled and grabbed the leg of the living corpse in front of it, ferociously pulling it back into the carriage. The carriage window¡¯s sharp glass sliced open seven or eight deep gashes, causing dark red blood to pour out together with its inner organs. The living corpse straightened its neck and ferociously howled before abruptly erupting with force. Its hard feet that had long claws growing out of them stamped on the ground, and like a gust of wind, it rushed around the corner of the passage! The living corpse that was running so fast it seemed to be flying suddenly did soar into the air! It shot back and forth in midair a few times before falling down. As soon as it landed, it immediately howled painfully again. On the ground were a few sharp iron cones that were pointed upwards that penetrated deeply through its back. Meanwhile, a large portion of its chest was torn through by the iron silk that was arranged in midair. A sharp ka da sound rang out as Su cocked his gun for insurance. He walked past the living corpse that had already sank into an involuntary struggle, not paying it any attention. He slightly raised his head and swept his eyes above him. With a slight jump, he soared two meters into the air and landed on the abandoned train¡¯s roof. A cold glint suddenly flashed past Su¡¯s green eye. He suddenly erupted with force and ran along the train with a lightning speed that was far faster than even that of a living corpse. Even though he was dashing at such a speed with his body slightly bent, he still didn¡¯t seem to create the slightest bit of sound. From the back, he looked like a wisp of black smoke that was quickly disappearing into the distance. Bang! Bang! Two thunderous gun sounds tore through the previously peaceful subway tunnels. Within the subway train, the heads of the two living corpses were shot through. The tremendous force of the bullets practically blew straight through their brains! Bang bang bang bang! Four more gunsounds continuously sounded. Su had already reached the end of the subway train. He didn¡¯t stop in the slightest and directly leapt off the train roof. Following four light sounds, Su once again stepped on the ground. The bullets in the pistol had already been completely reloaded. His feet exerted some more force, allowing his speed to slightly increase. The ten meter long tunnel was quickly covered. Su seemed to have transformed into a breeze, brushing past the four living corpses that were quickly running through the tunnel. Su suddenly stood still. His body sharply turned around, and he released three shots! Three living corpses fell. The last one quickly spun around and threw itself towards Su with a roar. Su calmly looked at the living corpse without moving at all. After running forward several meters, he plummeted face down. Unknowingly when, a steel dagger that did not reflect any light was gripped backwards in Su¡¯s hand. It was covered in black paint, and in that instant when he passed those living corpses, it was precisely this dagger that sliced open the ribs of this living corpse. Su turned around and looked in the direction the four living corpses came from. Sure enough, there were two living corpses that appeared at the other end. The strange thing was that these two living corpses were cooperatively raising an adult vicious rat¡¯s corpse. From their scarlet red pupils and their mouths that had endless saliva flowing from them, Su could see they were currently starving. However, they didn¡¯t partake in the food in their arms. This completely contrasted with what Su knew about them. The primary goal of creatures like living corpses was to satisfy their appetites. They knew nothing about exerting self-control. If they were given enough food, it was entirely likely that they would eat until they died from bursting. It wasn¡¯t just these two living corpses either; just now, he could tell that the four living corpses that had sprinted over previously also suffered the torment of hunger due to their shriveled bellies. This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.Living corpses that didn¡¯t immediately consume the food in front of it? Bang bang bang! Su lowered the pistol that was still emitting smoke and walked towards the two living corpses that would never stand up again. This time, one of his shots did not hit its intended target; he had originally aimed for the forehead, but it struck the chest, so he had to add a shot. The distance was over ten meters, so the modified pistol¡¯s accuracy was a huge issue. This time, his great luck did not display its effect, so that shot alone wasn¡¯t enough. The living corpses that were made of flesh were no match for the firepower or metal. In such close quarters, no matter which part was hit, a twenty centimeter thick hole would be opened up. With kacha sounds, Su¡¯s pistol reloaded with bullets. Only then did he make his way through the living corpses to carefully inspect them. Living corpses were creatures with shocking levels of vitality. Even if half of its body was blown to pieces, it was still entirely possible for it to leap up and chomp down. The two living corpses that were carrying the vicious rat were much thinner than the four he fought before. Moreover, Su, who had fought his share of living corpses, felt that these two living corpses were already well on in age. They still possessed their mobility, but their power was already starting to decline. Moreover, what made Su¡¯s eye narrow was that there were clearly more clothes on the four living corpses from before than on these two. They were also more sturdy. However, between the group of four living corpses and them, there wasn¡¯t much difference. Everything was now quite clear. The four living corpses that were roaming about before were in charge of hunting and battle, while the latter two that were older in age were in charge of odd jobs like transport. This was a clear division of labor; those that were more robust and better at fighting would be able to gather more food, so the clothes they wore were better as well. The older living corpses were assigned odd jobs, and they weren¡¯t given enough food. The most important part was that these living corpses already weren¡¯t acting on their instinct. They were starting to learn moderation! This proved that these living corpses had already become a race, moreover, there was a clear division of labor, and there were evidently social classes as well. They were completely different from the living corpses he killed before in the subway train. Su had encountered a small hunting party. ¡°I dislike smart things.¡± Su straightened his body and began to carefully think things through. These living corpses made him involuntarily recall the wolves in the mountains. At the moment before their death, eyes that were full of shock, confusion, anger, and hatred were carved into the bottom of his heart. It was clear that these living corpses had already developed a division of labor that was far different from the elementary organization the rotting wolves had. There was definitely a leader within these living corpses that possessed intelligence. For Su, this definitely wasn¡¯t some good thing. In the underground subway tunnels, living corpses were already monsters that were difficult to deal with. Living corpses that had developed a system of organization were definitely several times stronger. Regardless of whether it was the era of turmoil or the olden days, there were no free lunches. Killing a nest of organized living corpses was already a price that far surpassed the reward of a primary genetic medicine. A small hunting party already had six living corpses, so the nest of living corpses could very well exceed thirty. Killing this many living corpses should already be enough to obtain an evolution point. It was possible that Base N11 already knew about how there were organized living corpses living in these tunnels, and that was the reason why they were willing to pay such a price to invite him to clean it up. Su recalled Turner and Tony¡¯s sincere smile, and a shadow that was not particularly great or small crept through his heart. However, he quickly tossed this thought to the side. After travelling through so many inhabited area, Su had already learned that he shouldn¡¯t have any types of expectations for anything. Su gazed into the dark and deep tunnel. His green eye penetrated the endless darkness to search for traces of the living corpses. Currently, he was first and foremost a hunter that needed to complete his mission. The rest could be discussed later. At the end of the tunnel, there was practically complete darkness. Even Su¡¯s Glimmer Sight could only see five or six meters out. Moving under this kind of environment was practically suicide, so he naturally wouldn¡¯t do such a thing. Su released a light breath of air, and a faint lump of mist seeped out from the bandages. He softly pulled down on the bandages covering his face, revealing a straight nose that almost seemed like it was sculpted. The skin that was revealed was moist and sparkling like ivory. Within the dark passage, the putrid smell of the living corpses pervaded the air. The stench was especially thick in this part of the passage, indicating that this was an area the living corpses frequented. If it was an ordinary person, they simply wouldn¡¯t be able to move about under this thick smell. This was also one of the ways that living corpses marked their territories. He began to distinguish the odor at the end of his nose. Hundreds of numbers began to flow through Su¡¯s consciousness like a stream, and finally, he locked in on the scent that belonged to the six living corpses lying on the ground. Su tightened his cloak, and like a ghost, he soundlessly moved into the depths of the passage. The smell of the six living corpses was like guide that gradually lead Su towards their nest. From the strength of the scent, it seemed like these living corpses had already been out for two days for this hunting trip. The passage was rugged and uneven. Inside, there were a few places where empty cans were purposely placed. These simple traps shouldn¡¯t have mattered at all to Su, yet his movements began to slow down. Su suddenly leapt out two steps. Then, with a leap, he landed and stuck close to a corner where the ceiling and the wall met. Then, like a lizard, he began to soundlessly crawl inwards. After winding around a corner, Su descended as light as a feather. He noiselessly landed on the back of a living corpse that was crouching by a corner. The living corpse held an iron pipe in its hands, and its two eyes were emitting a faint red light. They were staring into the deep passageway. Su extended his hand and lightly tapped its shoulder. CHAPTER 12 Roar! The living corpse¡¯s throat suddenly released a low roar and ferociously turned around! However, before it was even able to react, the sharp sawtooth dagger in his hand had already sliced open its throat. The strength was so powerful that the entire neck seemed to have been hacked apart. Su leaned over and softly placed the living corpse on the ground. From what his fingertips felt, he could already sense that this living corpses¡¯ flesh was more sturdy and robust that the ones he had encountered in the past. Moreover, the iron pipe¡¯s point had gone through careful sharpening. It seemed like this was a sentinel, and the only good thing out of all of this was that it seemed like the living corpses didn¡¯t seem to understand that there should be two individuals on sentry duty. Su gazed into the end of the passage. Half of a sand brick construct had been built, but fortunately, there weren¡¯t any living corpses standing guard here. Behind the sand construct was an extremely large wall. Past the half covered door, there was a fiery light that fluctuated between dark and light. Inside, the sounds of living corpses could be heard. Some of them were overcast, and some of them were resounding. These mutated creatures that had just recently developed intelligence would often have a leader that would possess both intellect and strength far surpassing that of those around it. The best way to deal with them would be to wipe out that leader in one blow, and with the remaining living corpses¡¯ inferior intellect, they would break out into disorder. The danger level between creatures that fought on instinct and an organized army was as different as the sky and earth. Su stood still. He gently pulled back the bandages on his face to cover his nose. Then, he began to slowly walk towards the nest of living corpses. The more he walked, the quicker he became. When he was able to reach the door, he was already close to a running speed! A creaking sound rang out! He fiercely pulled back the thick metal door and rushed into the living corpses nest! This was a large hall that covered an area of several hundred square meters. Inside, more than thirty living corpses were scattered in various places. There were a few that were lying in rest, and also a few in the corner tending to a large cauldron to cook vicious rat meat. A pair of living corpses from the corner of the hall was gasping for air and howling as they busily engaged in copulation. At the center of the hall was a large and eye-catching bed. On top of the bed was a single living corpse, and from its body structure, it seemed to be female. She was actually wearing a business suit with a mini skirt that working women from the olden days would wear. Her skin also did not seem to be covered in large black patches and wrinkles like the other living corpses either. Her skin could already be considered to be somewhat glossy, and her appearance was even more like a human working woman from the olden age. Compared to the other living corpses, her physique was petite, and her appearance was proper. Her crossed legs even more so resembled the actions of a young female office worker. The other living corpses were extremely cautious and respectful around her, not daring to approach this bed. The radiance within her eyes was far brighter than that of an ordinary living corpse. It was clear that she was the true queen of this nest! The door to the great hall was pulled open, and an enormous sound was created. Almost every single living corpse instinctively gazed in that direction, but they didn¡¯t see anyone there! In the instant the door was opened, Su suddenly bent his body and erupted with strength. His body immediately soared several meters, making it appear as if he teleported straight into the center of the great hall. Meanwhile, at the same time, the living corpses had just looked towards the door, so they couldn¡¯t see what had happened. While the living corpses were dumbstruck, Su rushed forward another three meters! Su¡¯s pupil quickly shrank down, and a bizarre cross-shaped star emerged within it. This cross-shaped eye and the pitch-black pistol formed a perfectly straight line, one that pointed straight at the space right between the eyebrows of the living corpse queen! Within the entire great hall, only the living corpse queen did not look at the door and instead looked at Su. Her mouth suddenly opened wide, as if she was startled. Her eyes were also full of fear, and she didn¡¯t dare to make the slightest bit of movement! Seeing her startled expression that resembled that of a small deer, the finger Su had on the trigger naturally carried a slight bit of hesitation. He ceased the forceful behavior, and his gunpoint also began to lower. The living corpse queen¡¯s eyes suddenly lit up with dazzling red light. Two inch long teeth were revealed, and it pounced out with a speed that was far faster than that of an ordinary living corpse! The mouth that was widened to the extreme distorted her appearance to an almost unrecognizable level.If you encounter this narrative on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. Peng peng peng peng... Six bullets seemed to be released almost simultaneously. The first tore through her neck, and the remaining five drew an arc through her collarbone. It completely separated her head from the rest of her body. Su slowly retracted his pistol. Only now did the living corpses in the great hall snap back to reality. All of their eyes were blood red as they howled hysterically. They began to rush towards Su like madmen. Su once again slipped out as if he was sliding on a wet surface, just in time to slip out from the encirclement of these living corpses. Then, he quickly rushed towards the well-built living corpse guarding the entrance and suddenly extended his left hand to forcibly grab the iron pole that was striking down. Su twisted his hand, and that iron pole became his. Then, his entire body rushed towards that living corpse¡¯s chest, sending that living corpse who was a complete head taller than him flying backwards until its back violently struck against a wall near the door. Su withdrew his body and separated himself from the chest of that living corpse. He disappeared from outside the door and vanished inside the deep tunnel. Meanwhile, an inch thick hole that was incredibly deep appeared in that living corpse¡¯s body. The living corpses in the great hall madly howled and swarmed towards the door! A strange and sharp cry suddenly reverberated through the air. The iron pole that the living corpse used had already flown into the main hall at an inconceivable speed and pierced through three living corpses in succession before it finally exhausted its force. With a dang sound, it fell onto the ground and bounced about a few times. Even the instinctively ferocious living corpses couldn¡¯t help but stare blankly for a moment. An intrinsic fear began to dampen the atmosphere. They began to hesitate, and some had already moved away from the door. Within the darkness outside the door, another bloody object flew into the center of the great hall. It was formed in the shape of a small crown. Roar!! An uproar immediately erupted among the living corpses. Their longing for the fresh blood overwhelmed the fear in their hearts, and they began to rush out from the great hall to outdo each other. They then began to chase into the passage depths. They didn¡¯t know, however, that the world of darkness belonged to Su. The oppressive and heavy gunshots rang out from time to time along the winding tunnel. The sound waves travelled far into the distance. Ten minutes later, Su slowly walked into the great hall. It seemed like the great hall that the living corpses occupied was originally the lounge of a subway station. Of course, it would never again receive another subway train, and there was no longer anyone that would board a train from this station. Su walked towards the large bed in the middle and stopped temporarily. He picked up a magazine that he found on top and casually flipped through it. It was a 1997 May issue of ¡®Fashion¡¯, and it seemed like it had been preserved rather carefully. Su lowered the magazine and walked next to the body of the living corpse queen. He stroked his hand softly across her face. The scarlet radiance in the living corpse queen¡¯s eyes gradually faded, and the luster within them also disappeared. Su retrieved a ten centimeter long fine aluminum case and carefully opened it. He brought out a surgical blade and removed the living corpse queen¡¯s eyes. He then stored them inside the case. The genes within her two eyes had already been obtained by Su. Infrared sight was always the next ability Su wanted to obtain, and the living corpse queen¡¯s ability on this aspect was clearly far stronger than that of an ordinary living corpse¡¯s, so it fitted Su¡¯s needs perfectly. As long as he accumulated eight evolution points, Su could rely on the gene specimen of the living corpse queen and the structure of the eye to bring about the infrared sight. Su followed the great hall up a flight of stairs until he was eventually stopped by a door obstructed by wire netting. He moved aside the junk blocking the door and blasted apart the iron lock that had long rusted. Only then did he push through the iron netted door. He then walked up another ten meters. Su¡¯s green eyes immediately narrowed slightly. A streak of bright sunlight immediately illuminated his face. After moving around in the darkness for so long, this streak of sunlight was a bit uncomfortable for his eyes. After adjusting slightly, Su walked to the surface. The ¡®METRO¡¯ sign at the stair entrance was extremely distinct. It did not become completely indistinct over the passage of endless years. Su looked about, but the only thing he saw was a boundless wilderness. To the east, there were countless tall buildings obscured within a fog. It seemed like this was a subway station that was located in the outskirts of a city. The surroundings didn¡¯t really have any excessively dangerous mutated creatures. The area around this subway should all be a part of the hunting grounds of the living corpses from the great hall, as there probably weren¡¯t any other creatures that would try to fight them for this territory. Even though living corpses dreaded the sunlight and would only rarely roam about on the surface, the night was their world. At times of great hunger, they would also roam through this city under the cover of night. Su pulled out his map and made a few markings on the subway station location, indicating that it was safe. At the same time, within Su¡¯s memory, an accurate and precise map emerged. The corresponding areas on the map gradually lit up, and following a sweep of Su¡¯s eyes, the outlines of a major city gradually appeared as well. Right now, Base N11¡¯s mission was finally completed. CHAPTER 13 Su then carefully inspected the area along the tunnel a few times, and only after determining that there were no problems did he return to Base N11. This rigorous style of work was extremely welcomed by Grace Company¡¯s large infrastructure, and it allowed him to quickly obtain two licenses from them. The process of handing over the mission went smoothly, just as how Tony stated before. Old Anthony was still a decent person, and after ascertaining that Su succeeded, at the very least, the reward aspect was handled smoothly without any signs of backing out. However, he found it difficult to conceal his shock at how quickly the mission was completed. As for the living corpses that were organized and possessed wisdom, Old Anthony did not say a thing. This naturally did not mean that he did not know about it. However, from what Su had experienced in other inhabited areas, Old Anthony could still be considered rather trustworthy. From this point, Tony was not wrong. As for the small amount of information not matching, this was something that became practically insignificant in this era. A ten centimeter long test tube filled with dark green liquid was Su¡¯s primary reward: the primary grade gene evolution medicine. In reality, the amount of medicine that Base N11¡¯s laboratory produced was not a lot, because most of the formulations were inclined towards abilities in the Mental Domain, with much weaker effects on the other domains. Even though the Mental Domain could be considered the domain with the widest range of uses, medicines that were partial towards a particular domain would be much less valuable than stable, extensively used models of medicines. With the drug in hand, Su could already sense that this was a half-common medicine that leaned towards the Mental Domain. If he found a suitable buyer, this less effective medicine could still be sold for around 4000 yuan. Even though it was twenty percent less when compared to the 5000 yuan he had anticipated, Su did not decide to bicker about it. Old Anthony most likely did this out of his shrewd merchant nature. To negotiate required power, and Su did not believe that he had the strength to go against Base N11¡¯s twenty first level soldiers. After inspecting his current equipment and ammo, Su bought three more cases of rifle bullets for his pistol, and he restocked a bottle of high purity water before quietly leaving Base N11. The rewards he received from the mission this time could still be considered abundant. After deducting his living expenses and natural expenditures, his net gain was around 3500. This didn¡¯t include the evolution point that he almost completed from cleaning out the nest of living corpses. With Su¡¯s strength that had already reached third level, the living corpses that could have given an ordinary person one and a half evolution points didn¡¯t even completely fill up one of Su¡¯s. Of course, normal people would find it difficult to survive such a difficult battle. It was another clear day. Sunlight suffused with ultraviolet rays ruthlessly scorched the great earth. However, the thick cloak around Su¡¯s body protected him from all sunlight. His walking speed wasn¡¯t fast, but it was constant. He continued all the way until he stopped in front of the isolated ruins of a building. Under the blazing sunlight of day, most mutated creatures would choose to rest within their homes. As a result, Su actually decided to hurry along his way during this period of time even though he could display more of his power at night.Unauthorized usage: this tale is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings. Su carefully inspected the villa that had half of its roof missing. Only after confirming that there were neither deadly living creatures hiding within nor was there a den of carnivorous beasts like violent armor-plated bears did he relax. He brought out bullets that he used for his pistol as well as an alloy file. He then began to carve some strange patterns on the bullets. By treating these bullets in this way, the bullets would immediately explode soon after leaving the pistol, or as soon as they entered their target¡¯s body, thus improving their destructive power. As for the issue with precision, it wasn¡¯t something he needed to consider. When Su used the pistol, the distance from his target would never exceed thirty meters. Su calmly modified the bullets one after another as if he would never get bored of doing such a thing. A box of bullets had already been completed, and the patterns on every single bullet were exactly the same. Even if they were carved by a precise machine, it would probably not be any better. Su carefully put away the bullets and then brought out the second case of bullets. The two hours of repetitive labor didn¡¯t seem boring to him at all. Through the experiences of living alone in the wilderness, he learned that having enough patience was essential to survival. Su¡¯s brows suddenly furrowed. He sensed an extremely weak, yet unusual vibration. With a seemingly inconceivable speed, he collected his tools and bullets and readied his rifle. His right hand flashed, and a modified bullet was shoved into the cartridge. Then, he quickly moved towards the wall with a few steps and gazed outwards through a crack in the wall. During this entire process, other than the metallic sound of a loading the bullet, Su did not make any other noise. Right now, Su¡¯s rifle didn¡¯t have any sighting device. The old-fashioned aiming piece on the rifle was completely useless for Su whose eyesight had already been improved to the third level. The only reason he left this thing on was for the people within inhabited areas or bases. Su slightly narrowed his eyes to prevent the glare from interfering with his sight. He carefully glared outwards. He was proficient at long distance shooting, so he naturally knew what would expose his tracks. Several kilometers out, he could see smoke and dust roiling about what seemed like a group of vehicles. From the vibrations that had transmitted over, he could tell that there was at least one tank within this motorcade. With the speed that the smoke and dust flew, the vehicles didn¡¯t seem to be moving too fast, but there were only about twenty kilometers between them. From the direction in which the vehicles were moving, it seemed like they were heading for Base N11. Su was slightly moved. He sat down for a few minutes before finally standing back up. He lowered his body and began to run towards Base N11 at a velocity of 25 kilometers per hour. Even though he couldn¡¯t be considered a friend of Base N11¡¯s residents, Su still decided to go and take a look. At the very least, Base N11 gave him a warm feeling, one that felt similar to a ¡®home¡¯. This was something that he had never felt before. As a result, even though he knew that it was impossible for Base N11 to survive by themselves, he still wanted to take a look. Due to their ability to purify water, to a point where they might even have a hidden water supply, Base N11 had become this region¡¯s fattest sheep. There was no one that didn¡¯t have thoughts on Base N11. Base N11 was either going to be exterminated, or it would have to attach itself to a strength like Grace Company in order to preserve its existence. After all, it was impossible for Turner¡¯s twenty men to defend a place that could purify water on their own. Su seemed to have arrived at the outside of Base N11 at the same time that the group of vehicles did. After moving side by side along the way, he already had a clear idea of the fleet¡¯s composition. CHAPTER 14 There was an old modeled tank from the olden age at both the front and back of the group. In between were three trucks that were packed with soldiers. The most eye-catching one was a rotating type command truck with vehicle armor. The goal of this fleet was clear: once they reached the destination, the two tanks stopped in front of Base N11 and seal off its entrance. The soldiers that numbered more than a hundred on top of those three trucks formed two defensive lines behind the tanks. Even though these soldiers weren¡¯t equipped with one level of ability like Turner¡¯s small troop and their gear weren¡¯t as high quality, their numbers were five times greater. Together with the two tanks, they were perfectly capable of crushing through Base N11¡¯s armed forces. The armored command vehicle had a few fighters on top of it as well. Their dark camouflage, modern age automatic rifles, and strong movements all distinguished them from ordinary soldiers. Su, who was hiding a kilometer away, narrowed his eyes. These fighters were prepared with second level abilities, and among them, there were even two soldiers who were third level! After seeing the excellent sniper rifle in the third level soldier¡¯s hands, Su hid himself even better. The soldiers in front had already used their loudspeakers to advise surrender, and a few of their specialized fighters entered the cave. At this moment, the roof of the command truck opened, and two individuals wearing commander attire emerged. They sized up the hill that concealed Base N11. ¡°Listen up, people inside! We are operating under the orders of Roxland Company! As of this moment, Roxland Company will assume control over this base. All of you have three minutes to open up the gate and surrender. All of the base¡¯s facilities need to be perfectly intact! Otherwise, you all are voluntarily suffering the consequences!¡± The loudspeaker repeated the monotonous yet effective threat. As it rang through the air, gunshots suddenly sounded from within the mountain cave. Even though he was still far away, Su immediately knew that these were the shooting sounds of the automatic defenses around the base. Soon after, the special soldiers emerged from the cave entrance in rather sorry states. When they came out, their numbers had lessened by two; however, the package that they brought in was no longer on them. A moment later, an enormous explosion sounded. The cave erupted with thick smoke and countless crushed rocks. Soon after, cracks appeared all around the mountains. The rumbling sounds continued, and eventually, half of the hillside was blown off by the powerful explosion! Rocky fragments continuously scattered down, some of them pounded on the tanks¡¯ exterior and the soldiers that had long lain low on the floor. Roxland Company¡¯s soldiers were all equipped with steel helmets and bulletproof vests, so almost no one was injured as a result. Under the rain of stones, even though the command truck flew more than half a meter into the air, the two commanders continued to stand perfectly straight as if they were nailed to the truck. After the entire hill cover was blown off, Base N11¡¯s large gate was revealed. There were no longer any signs of the automatic defensive weapons outside of the base. The gear-shaped door caved in, and the transport machine could be seen. As long as there was another explosion, or even a few rounds from the tanks, the door into the base would be opened. From the firm infrastructure of the base¡¯s gate, even though this explosive power was great, it still shouldn¡¯t have caused such a thorough destruction. However, unknowingly how, the gate of the base was ruined like this. Right at this moment, something unexpected happened. The intense shockwaves travelled over a kilometer away, directly collapsing a small two story house. Su, who was on the roof of this abandoned building had no choice but to jump off. He softly landed on the ground. As soon as he was exposed, the two commanders on the command truck immediately noticed him! The two individuals seemed to raise their binoculars at the same time towards Su¡¯s direction. Meanwhile, the elite soldiers around the command truck also also noticed Su, and they raised their gun sights one after another. Of course, with a distance of over 1200 meters, only the third level sniper with the RF 1000 sniper rifle produced by the Carter Roman Company could pose a true threat to him. When Su landed, he immediately half kneeled on the ground. He propped up his long rifle and aimed it straight at the third level sniper. The ground continued to tremble, and the winds brought about by the explosion howled about, raising Su¡¯s cloak. However, the sniper rifle in his hands didn¡¯t seem to move in the slightest.If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. Su¡¯s pupils immediately shrunk to form a cross, but he did not pull the trigger. At this distance, there was no need for him to use any optical instruments. Su had already recognized that one of the commanders on top of the truck was Lizzy, the woman who broke into his room! The woman wore a well-fitted senior officer uniform, and on her shoulder loop was a glaring gold star. Her short hair was completely hidden within a beret, and a layer of moral integrity covered her face. Her eyes seemed to be flickering with killing intent. At this moment, Lizzy had completely turned into a cold-blooded soldier. Where did the completely drunk and passionate girl from that night go? The commander beside her pointed towards Su¡¯s distant figure and shouted, ¡°Kill that person!¡± The third level sniper replied and made his move. His finger closed in on the trigger and aimed for his shot. Su was like a sculpture, not moving a muscle. His green eye continuously enlarged that sniper¡¯s movements, to the point where even the slight twitches of his facial muscles could clearly be seen. Su did not rush his shot. Under this distance, as soon as that sniper showed any signs of firing, Su could easily dodge first. In addition, he had a strong feeling that he shouldn¡¯t be the one to shoot first. ¡°Stop!¡± Lizzy immediately shouted. She pressed down the other commander¡¯s hand. The sniper naturally knew who was truly in charge. After hearing the order, he immediately loosened his finger from the trigger. The instant he loosened his finger, the heavy pressure he felt suddenly disappeared. ¡°Senior officer, that person is extremely suspicious. It seems like he followed us this entire time. In addition, he seems like a sniper, so I think it¡¯s better if we get rid of him...¡± The other commander seemed to not agree with Lizzy¡¯s order. Lizzy coldly interrupted him. ¡°I said to let him go! Do not provoke him!¡± ¡°But...¡± The other commander was not an easily convinced character. Lizzy¡¯s face became even more overcast. ¡°Are you going to doubt my command a third time? Give me an answer, middle-rank officer!¡± The other commander stood straight with a pa sound and responded in a loud and clear voice, ¡°I will completely obey your order! General!¡± Even though this commander was young, courageous, and was rather talented in military affairs, he did not dare challenge her authority a third time. Despite the fact that he could clearly tell that Lizzy had some kind of hidden relationship with that far off sniper, which sparked his jealousy and made him want to immediately kill that fellow, it did not make him lose reason, especially since this was the third time Lizzy reiterated her command. In Roxland Company, outside of her outstanding talent, nearly every single person knew about Lizzy¡¯s decisive, merciless, and unscrupulous nature. She allowed anyone to doubt her commands, but only for the first two times. Those that wanted to try for a third time never left the battlefield alive. The plan to annex Base N11 was precisely her style, giving the base practically no chance for peaceful negotiations and instead using large amounts of chemical explosives to blast through the base¡¯s gate. Only after that would she open up the so-called negotiations. From Lizzy¡¯s opinion, a turtle that has lost its shell did not have any haggling power. After blasting open its gate, the people inside Base N11 only had two choices: they would either unconditionally surrender, becoming either slaves or free individuals depending on her mood, or they would all die, should they decide to resist. Lizzy swept her eyes over the elite soldiers around the command truck and coldly said, ¡°Lower your weapons! Do you need me to repeat a second time?¡± These elite soldiers immediately lowered the weapons in their hands. They knew that there couldn¡¯t be the slightest bit of hesitation when following her orders or any movements or words that could cause any misunderstanding. After the suppression ended, she looked towards the distant Su. From her intuition, even though he didn¡¯t have any sighting devices, she knew that Su could definitely see each and every expression on her face. She raised her hand and pointed at the distant Su. The corners of her lips revealed a vague smile. Her eyes were so bright that they seemed like they would begin burning. She believed that Su would definitely be able to read her meaning. ¡°You will become mine sooner or later!¡± This was what her left eye said. ¡°I will definitely find you!¡± Her right eye held this meaning. Su remained silent and did not try to predict what would happen to this place. He put away his modified rifle, turned around, and disappeared into the wilderness ruins. When Lizzy turned around and looked towards the second-in-command at her side, the vague smile that was full of desire made his eyes burn with fury. She reached out with her left hand and lightly tapped the secondary officer¡¯s forehead and said, ¡°I know you are still unwilling. However, under such a distance, he could easily blast through your brain!¡± The secondary officer¡¯s face fell. He didn¡¯t believe for a second that someone could hit a target 1200 meters away without any sighting device. However, the secondary officer suddenly noticed the third level sniper out of the corner of his eyes. The sniper was half kneeled on the ground with a completely pale complexion. Sweat had already completely soaked through his military uniform, and the reason he hadn¡¯t completely collapsed was purely due to the second level sniper rifle¡¯s support. CHAPTER 15 Only now did the second-in-command become astonished. He knew how many battles this sniper participated in, and knew even more so how great his military accomplishments were. A veteran like this who climbed his way out out of the dead was most effective at this range. He was equipped with a Carter Roman RF1000 sniper rifle, while the one he was up against only had a modified rifle without a sighting device, yet in that brief encounter that didn¡¯t last even a minute, he had already collapsed to this state? It seemed almost unexplainable. There were too many unexplainable things in the new era, and this was just another one. However, the secondary officer¡¯s face still fell ashen, and he no longer dared to challenge Lizzy¡¯s authority. However, this didn¡¯t mean that he was scared of her. Within the company, his sponsor had an even higher position than Lizzy¡¯s. The fiery sun finally submerged itself within the clouds. Then, the entire sky grew dim, and the darkness covered every corner of the ruins. Another night without a moon or stars had arrived. Within the darkness of night, Su was like a specter as he moved about. Sometimes, he would move quickly, and at other times, he would appear to be moving extremely slowly. He did not like to move through the night, but right now, he wanted to reach his destination as quickly as possible. The distance between Base N11 and Su¡¯s figure gradually grew. The moment he took a shower in the base, Su already knew the fate of Base N11. If the one that came wasn¡¯t Roxland Company, then there would be other organizations. Other than himself, Su didn¡¯t have the strength to save anyone else, and it was even less likely for him to try and resist an entire company for a base he only had one simple business deal with. He wasn¡¯t an idiot. The reason why he even paid a visit to Base N11 was not something that Su thought through. Taking advantage of a crisis for personal gain wasn¡¯t his style, especially the conflict between a company and a base. Meddling in something like that would most likely only end up in trouble. Moving without reason was something that Su believed to belong to intuition. The woman named Lizzy was precisely the main reason why Su wanted to leave as quickly as possible. The Lizzy standing on that command truck was completely different from the completely drunk woman from that night. Even when they were face-to-face, Su did not notice any type of ability from her body that day. However, someone without any abilities, especially a woman, would never be allowed to lead a company¡¯s army, let alone a heavily armed troop. This meant that Lizzy either possessed more than three levels of ability, or unique abilities that lied outside the known scope of abilities. Both of those reasons were bad news for Su. As long as Base N11¡¯s people didn¡¯t resist, Lizzy wouldn¡¯t give the order to kill them. This was the information he received from her eyes. However, what did this count as? Was this some kind of promise to Su? Any kind of promise carried a price. What was the price that she wanted? Moreover, Su never considered himself a savior of any sort. When he thought of Lizzy¡¯s ridiculing, wild, yet prepared eyes that seemed to belong to a cat looking at a mouse, Su felt extremely uncomfortable. He did not like any situation he didn¡¯t have control over, and he disliked being viewed as another¡¯s possession even more. Under the dim light of night, all types of creatures moved about through the darkness. Among them, there were a few whose senses were sharp enough to notice Su¡¯s tracks. Those that moved at night all loved to move in secret until they were right next to their target. The most dangerous range of Su¡¯s pistol was ten meters. Should the distance be any closer, he was quite adept at using his dagger as well. After an entire day and night of travelling, a bustling town appeared within Su¡¯s field of view. This town was completely different from the other messy and filthy habitats. Wire netting surrounding the town, and sandbags were piled at the entrance into the town. There were a few armed soldiers standing guard. At each corner of the town was a concrete sentry that was seven or eight meters tall, and inside the tower was a black gun that silently but carefully watched the vast and barren wastelands. In the center of the small town was an extremely eye-catching ten floor building. It was so clean that there didn¡¯t seem to be a single speck of dirt on the dark blue glass. At the top was an enormous billboard showing an eye-grabbing flame sign. This was where Grace Company¡¯s headquarters was located: Asmo. Su did not hide himself and walked towards Asmo. It was obvious that the surrounding guards had deep impressions of Su, and after a routine inspection of his license, he was allowed into Asmo. Asmo wasn¡¯t large, and with the general headquarters inside, most of the local space belonged exclusively to Grace Company, with only company members allowed inside. The remaining area was divided respectively into an inn, bar, warehouse, parking lot, and other facilities for clients that did business with the company and other residents. After all, the company¡¯s members would often come here for entertainment and to relax during leisure time. Behind the restaurant was a line of factories. They manufactured cans, cement, steel, weapons, equipments, and things like these. The other side was a small power plant that supplied this place with power. The amount of production produced by this place was naturally not comparable to that of the olden era, and there wasn¡¯t much of an economic scale. However, in this era of turmoil, there was no choice. Reconstructing within the ruins would often only produce enough for one person. Even though trade was omnipresent, no company would trade their most valuable goods to their enemy.Unauthorized usage: this narrative is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings. They were just like any company. Grace Company also had their own armed forces, one that was composed of 150 men. They were all armed with PE02 rifles developed by Grace Company themselves. Meanwhile, in Asmo Town, other than the three olden era high heavy artillery weapons, there were also two old model tanks for defense. With this type of power here, no refugees dared to provoke Asmo, to a point where they wouldn¡¯t even dare to do so within fifty kilometers of it. Otherwise, they might unknowingly run across the company¡¯s patrol. Whether they were deported or whether they were killed at that point was something that would be resigned to fate. The upper echelons of Grace Company clearly understood that safety was the best guarantee for profit, and as a result, they spared no effort in striking down the refugees that tried to seize any territories for themselves. Grace Company¡¯s military strength was much greater than Base N11¡¯s, but it wouldn¡¯t be able to capture Base N11 without paying a large price. This was also one of the reasons why the company did not take action against the base. Another reason was that there was an uncontaminated water reservoir below Asmo. Even though no one knew when this underground water source would be polluted with radiation, it was not a problem right now. There was no reason to lose large numbers of trained soldiers. In Asmo, one could restock their supplies, purchase weapons, or even work for Grace Company. It was even possible to find beautiful females or males. Of course, the basal premise for all of this was money. In the past three years, Su had already completed three missions for Grace Company and even delivered four new mutated species specimens. As a result, he was able to obtain the hunter as well as the mercenary licenses. Regardless of whether it was annihilating armed refugees or the clean up of a certain region, Su always completed his portion efficiently and meticulously. This allowed him to obtain a license faster than others and even become friends with the director of external work. Even though the term friend was an extremely rare word used in this era, the near bald Berne still considered Su a friend. Moreover, each time Su returned to Asmo, he would always invite him for a drink. Su¡¯s return to Asmo this time was no exception to this. As soon as the curtain of night had just descended, he was dragged by Berne to the pub. The lighting within the pub was rather dim, and the air was suffused with the smell of alcohol and hormones. Woman wearing revealing clothes walked around in search of men that could pay for their services. On top of a stage that wasn¡¯t too large, two women who were wearing practically nothing were frantically twisting their bodies about. Under the effects of hallucinogens and alcohol, they could crazily dance for almost two hours. When they became too weary to continue, they would be taken off the stage. There were even a few males who had desires for these girls who were exhausted to the extreme. Of course, the appearances of these dancers were quite good, and so their price would naturally match their faces and bodies. Berne was particularly fond of this atmosphere that was full of dejectedness, desire, and extravagance. Each time he came, he would always order a large bottle of strong whiskey. Of course, this was not the same whiskey as the fine commodity of the olden era, and was instead alcohol produced by Asmo. This alcohol didn¡¯t have the varied and rich fruit tree fragrance from the olden days, but at the very least, it was strong enough. Su actually did not like this place. The dense aura that seemed impossible to scatter was just like being under the influence of hallucinogens or other drugs for many people. However, for Su whose senses were especially sharp, it was instead a type of torment. In addition, each time he saw Berne raise that 90 yuan bottle of whiskey, he couldn¡¯t help but compare it to twenty rounds of custom bullets or two highly explosive grenades. In the wilderness, these types of ammunition could save Su¡¯s life, while the whiskey couldn¡¯t. As soon as one glass went down, Berne would start talking non-stop. Half of it would be types of heroic achievements of his youth, and the other half would be all types of trifling events that happened recently in Asmo. Su was not interested in any of these topics, so he would remain silent for most of it and just listen. He knew that Berne only needed someone to listen to him. In Asmo, Berne was not a small figure. This old man controlled all of Grace Company¡¯s external work, so the fate of many mercenaries and hunters were in his hands. The first time Su went drinking with him, it was because he felt like he owed him a favor. The first he was receiving his reward, Berne gave Su exactly what he was commissioned without giving any excuses to deduct any. Under Su¡¯s experiences, not deducting anything was a favor in itself. After drinking with him once, Berne already proclaimed Su to be a friend. Their future drinking outings were inevitable and right, and the amount of favors Su owed only grew more and more numerous. These acts of kindness included no deducting anything from Su¡¯s missions, and also giving him missions that were more suitable to his skills. Moreover, each time, once the missions concluded, through Grace Company¡¯s regulations, he would give Su even more points. Points were signified the promotion of his license grade, as well as preferential treatment towards purchasing of Grace Company¡¯s goods. Berne had sufficient reason to act as such, and Su had already accepted these. He needed money, and a lot of it at that. Despite earning money several times faster than other hunters, Su did not have any savings and couldn¡¯t even purchase a few better firearms. However, he still raised the jealousy of other hunters and mercenaries, and as a result, in a single month, he had been chased after or ambushed three times. Su would always punctually return to Asmo based on the scheduled time, and those that pursued him would never again reappear. Berne poured himself an entire glass and sighed with content. He said towards Su, ¡°Hey, youngster, you said that you provoked Roxland Company? I¡¯ve heard of it before. That¡¯s a truly large one! Their industry relies on on steel and ore, and their troops number a hundred at the very least. The only good news is that it¡¯s quite far from this place, so far that it¡¯s impossible for their tanks to travel here. Meanwhile, not only do we have tanks, we also have artillery weaponry!¡± Su laughed and softly shook the alcohol in his hand. Berne had already wiped out most of the bottle, while he was still on his first cup, and most of it was still there. Tanks were good, artillery were fine as well. Even if Grace Company were to possess an armed helicopter, it would still be unrelated to him. Grace Company would never clash against another company for the sake of an insignificant outside mercenary like him. ¡°Right, youngster! Just now, what did you say that Roxland Company girl¡¯s name was?¡± Berne hiccuped from the alcohol while asking. Without waiting for Su to reply, he laughed loudly and smiled while saying, ¡°Your luck can¡¯t be that good to have provoked Roxland¡¯s murderous dictator, right?¡± ¡°She said... her name was Lizzy.¡± Su calmly spoke. ¡°Li!!¡± Berne¡¯s mouth suddenly widened to a point where it seemed like it could devour all of the alcohol in front of him. CHAPTER 16 Sweat continuously flowed down from Berne¡¯s bald head. He, who was previously already seventy to eighty percent drunk, suddenly sobered up a large amount. Berne looked at Su, loosened his shoulders, and laughed bitterly. ¡°Your luck really isn¡¯t bad. You actually provoked the worst person in Roxland Company, their murderous dictator. Right, her name is Li, not Lizzy. However, from what you said, I already know that it¡¯s her!¡± Su calmly waited for Berne¡¯s next words, for example, anything about the murderous dictator¡¯s past deeds or any of her unique abilities. This was extremely important information. However, Berne seemed like he wanted to say something, but then after looking left and right, he sighed and closed his mouth. Su continued to swirl the alcohol in hand. Even though Berne didn¡¯t say anything, he knew that it was possible Berne knew quite a bit. In order to become the commander of a large company like Roxland Company, she definitely had to be exceptional. However, how could she subdue those elite soldiers that did not care about law or natural morality? Moreover, she even had intimate contact with Su before, yet Su couldn¡¯t sense any of her abilities. Someone like this, who was still so young, definitely had a status within her that far surpassed Berne¡¯s level of status. If trouble really did come knocking on his door, then forget about Berne, not even Grace Company could save him. From the two times he¡¯s interacted with Li, what left Su with the deepest impression was the wildness and stubbornness in her eyes. Su did not doubt for a second that she remembered every word he said. As for himself, there was one fierce sentence Li said that he had to keep in mind... Su suddenly felt as if there were tiny beasts of sweat in his palm. He felt extremely uncomfortable. Right at this time, Berne suddenly looked at Su, and a vague smile appeared on his face. He intentionally lowered his voice and quietly said, ¡°This might not necessarily be a bad thing. If you truly end up in the hands of that murderous dictator, then she probably wouldn¡¯t want to kill you. Heh! I¡¯m someone with experience. Listen, if we are talking about how men look at women, Li is definitely a beauty.¡± Su naturally didn¡¯t tell Berne everything that happened, so after hearing these words from Berne, he felt like he didn¡¯t know whether to laugh or cry. Inside the bar, he naturally wouldn¡¯t wear the thick cloak. Instead, he wore the camouflage that was popular among mercenaries and hunters as well as a pair of black gloves. Despite having half of his face covered by bandages, his green eye and his pale lips still possessed considerable attractiveness. The black eyepatch covering his right eye gave him a rather rough and mysterious style. As if to further prove Berne¡¯s words, with a dang sound, a bottle of brandy from the olden era was placed in front of Su. An already half drunk young woman sat next to Su, and at a distance where she was practically sticking to him, she said to his ear, ¡°Hey! Pretty boy, why don¡¯t we have a drink together? Look, this alcohol isn¡¯t bad, and I¡¯m not bad either!¡± From Asmo¡¯s standards, she truly wasn¡¯t bad. Normally, after having just completed a mission, Su would have some pent up desires. However, tonight, her timing was just too poor, appearing right after Berne spoke that sentence. Su did not have the slightest interest in her. His troubles seemed to always stem from women. Before Su had even decided how to reject her, a big hairy black hand smashed down on Su¡¯s alcohol glass and completely crushed it on the bar counter. Afterwards, the black arm flung around cockily in the air. The glass fragments gradually fell onto the ground with slight sounds. Meanwhile, there wasn¡¯t a single scratch on his hand. Standing behind Su was a two meter tall large man. The muscles around his body were like a layer of leather armor. He was like a bear as he stared at Su and fiercely said, ¡°Brat! Are you trying to seduce the woman that I have my eyes on?¡± The entire pub became quiet, and everyone seemed to look in this direction. There were hunters, soldiers, and women here that needed to put food on the table tomorrow, as well as Grace Company¡¯s members. Security stood at the side with their arms crossed, as if they were watching a play. ¡°You¡¯ve dirtied my glass,¡± Su calmly said. His voice was soft, sweet-sounding, and extremely alluring. The half-drunk woman¡¯s eyes shone after hearing it. ¡°Son of a bitch! What did you say?!¡± The robust male seemed to have been humiliated, and the veins around his neck continuously throbbed. The muscles began to quickly wriggle about as if there were bugs wriggling under his skin. The people here immediately erupted into a clamor. They commented on the woman¡¯s appearance and began to discuss among themselves. For his muscles to reach this this type of transformation, it proved that this male¡¯s strength was third level at the least. Of course, this level of power wasn¡¯t enough to let him do whatever he wanted, but at the very least, no one was willing to provoke him for no reason. Support the creativity of authors by visiting the original site for this novel and more. The robust man coughed once, and a thick clump of spittle had already been gathered in his throat. He prepared to spit on top of that weak-looking small white face and then punch his neck. However, when the spittle reached his throat, he wasn¡¯t able to spit it out. The robust man opened his mouth and widened his eyes as he stared at the modified pistol that had been stabbed into his mouth. He didn¡¯t where this gun came from at all. However, the large fifty centimeter gun immediately reminded him that it could easily blast his brain to pieces, which was not worth the result of just breaking a cup. Following a soft sound, Su pulled back on the safety device. The face of the robust male immediately paled. Without even giving the robust male a chance to think about the situation, Su had already pulled the trigger! Ka ta! The sound was completely overwhelmed by the horrified scream the robust male released. However, the tremendous gunshot that should have sounded did not emerge. The already fainted robust man fell onto the ground, knocking down two tables as well as several bottles of alcohol and numerous glasses. The women in the bar continuously screamed, not out of fear for the robust male, but rather out of excitement for Su. Su lifted the extremely expensive bottle of brandy and poured some of it on top of his gunpoint. Then, he set it aflame. Only after the light blue flames finished burning did he open up the barrel and put in six new bullets with his right hand. Those that had stayed in Asmo for a bit all knew not to lightly provoke Su. This peculiarly dressed individual that seemed quiet, reserved, and even a bit weak was actually vicious and merciless. The robust male only came to Asmo for a few days and didn¡¯t know about this, so everyone in the bar was waiting for his downfall. After experiencing this ordeal, he naturally didn¡¯t feel like drinking anymore. Su left the bar by himself and walked towards the hotel he was staying in. He prepared to organize his equipment and get a grasp of what goods he had to replenish. The next day, he would get rid of the genetic medicine, and after restocking his ammunition and supplies, he would leave Asmo. After leaving, Su had no plans to ever return. Even though this meant that the license he worked hard to obtain from Grace Company would be equivalent to a useless piece of paper, Su did not feel any regret. He hated trouble, and this Li with unusually high status in Roxland Company was the very embodiment of it. Night quickly passed. At nine-thirty, most of Asmo¡¯s large stores had just opened up, yet Su had already completed the things he needed to do. After selling the genetic modification medicine, he received 4000 yuan, which he exchanged for two bulletproof plates, a set of fine tools, and several rounds of special bullets. After purchasing these, Su became completely impoverished again. There were no banks in this era, and what remained was just coins. Most money signified a burdensome amount of weight, so there was only meaning in using it. Moreover, there were too many areas for Su to spend money on. At the very least, he wouldn¡¯t find himself with too much money to spend in the near future. At nine-forty, Su had already finished preparing all of his equipment. With his entire body covered by the thick cloak, he walked out from Asmo. A hundred meters before the exit, Su suddenly stopped. The ground lightly trembled, and dust surged from the distance. Then, the sound of engines rumbled from far away, breaking Asmo¡¯s tranquility. The soldiers guarding the entrance became nervous, and they hid behind the obstacles set up at the base. Then, their weapons were all aimed towards the roiling dust. Under the nearly crazy rumbling sounds, two all terrain Jeeps emerged from the dust. They roared towards Asmo with two streaks of smoke behind them. These two off-road vehicles were armed with bulletproof vehicle armor, so the weapons of Asmo¡¯s guards posed almost no threat to them. Meanwhile, the 12.7 MM anti-aircraft machine guns sitting on the Jeeps was not something that the sandbags set up in front of the entrance could handle. The faces of Asmo¡¯s guards were pale, and sweat continuously poured down from their helmets. The pitch-black muzzles of the anti-aircraft machine gun placed their lives in danger, but the glaring tank sign on the off-road vehicles made it so that they didn¡¯t lightly pull the trigger. This was Roxland Company¡¯s insignia. It was as if there was a tyrannosaurus rex roaring among the dust. The howling noise covered the rumbling sounds of two Benz. Soon after, a dark black motorcycle leapt over the two off-road vehicles and rushed towards Asmo! This motorcycle was modified to an extremely coarse and wild appearance, and the rumbling sounds of the motor completely matched its inconceivable speed. The motorcycle seemed to completely ignore the guards at the entrance and directly rushed through. Only after rushing through Asmo¡¯s great gate did the rider step harshly on the breaks! The ear-splitting screeching metallic sound reverberated through Asmo. The glass of the houses near the great gate shattered, and the motorcycle caused the earth around it to rush into the skies. After experiencing the harsh hundred meter breaking, the motorcycle made a final jerking motion before steadying itself, reflecting the driver¡¯s near perfect control of the vehicle. The motorcycle properly stopped roughly three meters from Su¡¯s position. The rider of the motorcycle wore a black skintight leather suit. The two legs that stretched across the motorcycle revealed an impressive length. She didn¡¯t wear a helmet, so her maroon-colored short hair flew crazily about. The motorcycle would release a muffled roar from time to time, making the surrounding people feel an even greater pressure from the pits of their stomach. This was clearly a wild beast! In front of everyone¡¯s faces, Li pointed towards Su and spoke, one word after another, ¡°From today on, you are mine!¡± CHAPTER 17 Outside of Asmo¡¯s large gate, there were already over a hundred people, consisting of mercenaries, hunters, and several officers. Hunters and mercenaries were usually domineering and fierce, and they looked down on women. In their eyes, women were mere tools meant to satisfy their desires no matter how valiant or pretty they were. However, they weren¡¯t stupid. When they saw that even the guards and officers that should interfere stood quietly from the side, they chose to act the same. A hundred individuals, a hundred pairs of eyes that contained hostility or offended expressions; these were all like air to Li. The sound of engines rumbled again outside Asmo. Two off-road vehicles suddenly rushed forward another ten meters, and their hoods practically touched the Asmo¡¯s barricade. As they advanced, the two anti-aircraft machine guns adjusted their aim. When the vehicles stopped, the pitch-black muzzle perfectly placed the surrounding people within its range. The two operators¡¯ eyes were cruel and bloodthirsty. It was clear that they were a bit impatient and wanted to pull the trigger. Seeing the two anti-aircraft machine guns, Grace Company¡¯s officers became even more gloomy. They did not want to become enemies with Roxland Company for the sake of a single hunter even though Roxland Company¡¯s actions were close to provocative. Under the current situation, as soon as conflict sparked, the two companies would start a war. Ordinary mercenaries and hunters might not know, but the officers were higher level figures within this bitter land, and so they naturally knew a bit more than ordinary people. Starting a war against Roxland Company was equivalent to suicide. Su slowly raised his hand and began to loosen the ties around his cloak. Li¡¯s pretty eyebrows jumped as she watched Su¡¯s movements. Her eyes became more and more bright. Bang! Bang! Two abrupt and enormous gunshots shook through all of Asmo. It was to a point where even Li was affected by the explosive sound waves of those attacks! ¡°I died?¡± After hearing these two gunshots that could even overwhelm the sounds of machine cannons, this thought instinctively emerged within Li¡¯s mind. A black cloud submerged her vision, her body lost its balance and fell onto the ground. The instant her back touched the ground, her waist suddenly erupted with force, allowing her to bounce back up. She furiously pulled off the cloak covering her head just to see Su run away at a shocking speed in a camouflage suit. He went straight for the wire netting surrounding Asmo, and without reducing his speed in the slightest, he leapt into the air without stopping for a second. It seemed to violate the laws of physics as his entire body soared over the meter and a half tall wire netting. He was as light as a feather, and upon landing, he quickly ran towards the depths of the wilderness. Meanwhile, the modified motorcycle that was ridiculously bold and powerful flopped over on its side. Both tires had a bowl sized hole, clearly opened from Su¡¯s gunshots just now. Ta ta ta! One of the anti-aircraft machine guns on top an off-road vehicle roared, causing earth to splatter behind Su¡¯s back. Earth and rocks flew towards the sky, and then they would fall back down on top of his retreating figure, as if it buried him within! It was clear that the two shooters of the vehicles had at least one level of proficiency in heavy weaponry. Su suddenly changed direction, removing himself from the anti-aircraft machine gun¡¯s trajectory. He continued to run frantically towards the distant forest ruins. ¡°Stop fucking shooting!¡± Li furiously howled. She ferociously jumped and rushed towards an off-road vehicle at a speed that didn¡¯t lose to Su¡¯s. She grabbed the shooter on top of the vehicle and fiercely kicked him off, sending him flying several meters outwards. With a pu tong sound, the shooter tumbled about on the ground like a sandbag. Even though his body was strong and robust, a single move made him momentarily unable to crawl back up. Li pulled open the car door and similarly threw the driver out several meters before sitting herself in the driver¡¯s seat. The off-road vehicle roared and backed up several meters. Then, the rear wheels began to spin extremely quickly, causing earth and dust to fly everywhere. The car trembled momentarily before rumbling and rushing outwards! If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. The off-road vehicle drew a powerful arc and drove around Asmo. It then sped in pursuit of Su. Right as the off-road vehicle fell back, a tall male dressed in an officer uniform jumped off of the other vehicle. He rushed to Li¡¯s vehicle with a few steps and barely managed to jump into the secondary piloting position. As for the unfortunate former driver in this position, he was similarly flung out several meters. He began to groan together with his two comrades. The other off-road vehicle was given an order. They stayed in their original position without following them. In addition, since it was Li who was driving, they couldn¡¯t catch up to her even if they wanted to. In the boundless plains, Su dashed at a speed that should have been impossible for an ordinary person. His steps were graceful and fast, and each time he leapt up and descended, the streak his bent body drew out would appear rather elegant. However, his speed far surpassed that of an ordinary individual¡¯s. There was still approximately two kilometers between himself and the forest ruins. With Su¡¯s current speed, he only needed two minutes to complete this short distance, but behind him, dust rushed into the skies. The off-road vehicle howled as it chased after him, and the distance between the two was quickly closing. Li clenched her teeth and fiercely stamped down, pushing the gas pedal all the way down. The off-road vehicle ferociously charged straight towards Su¡¯s back with a speed that made the four wheels seem like they left the ground. Right when the distance between the car and Su¡¯s back was less than a meter, Su suddenly turned into a sphere and rolled out to the side, preventing the off-road vehicle from colliding into him. The off-road vehicle immediately rushed past, and following an ear-splitting braking sound, the off-road vehicle made a perfect 180 degree drift, drawing out a semi-circle wall of smoke and dust. However, as soon as the vehicle turned around, Su¡¯s figure rushed out from the smoke and dust like an apparition and seemed to move right along the off-road vehicle. Su and Li¡¯s faces were less than a meter apart through the car window. With a breaking sound, the instant they crisscrossed, Su brandished his dagger and sliced off the off-road vehicle¡¯s rear view mirror. Then, like a startled elk, he quickly sped towards the distant forest ruins. Li once again stepped on the gas pedal until it reached the ground. The off-road vehicle made another 180 degree turn and rushed after Su. With simple movements, Su once again avoided a collision from the off-road vehicle. Then, when the vehicle¡¯s speed was reduced, he suddenly appeared from its right side and continued to sprint forward. Within the vehicle, the tape recorder had already been turned to the loudest volume, and the song that was playing was ¡®Welcome to the Jungle¡¯, a song created by the rock band Guns N¡¯ Roses during the olden era. The peculiar voice and powerful rhythm mixed together perfectly reflected the mood within the car. Li¡¯s teeth were tightly clenched, and her sinisterly smiling face actually revealed a unique type of beauty. Veins appeared on her two hands, and the steering wheel created from plastic began to create cracking sounds. If there wasn¡¯t a metal alloy forming its interior framework, it might have been long crushed by her. Despite this being the case, each time Li turned the wheel at a frightening speed, the steering wheel would always release a groan from not being able to bear the burden. Under this kind of spinning, this sound would be produced every few seconds. Li¡¯s legs continuously clutched, braked, and accelerated in a crazy manner as well. The off-road vehicle was like a wild beast as it howled and shook while chasing after the fleeing Su. Even though the window was closed, the violent shaking of the car made her short hair fly everywhere as if the wind was blowing through it! With no safety belts fastened and legs that were sloppily crossed, the male sitting in the auxiliary seat should have been flung outside of the vehicle, had his neck twisted, and probably even most of his bones broken, he sat smoothly and steady on top as if he had previously superglued his buttocks to the seat. His age didn¡¯t seem that great either, likely under thirty. However, the stubble around his face made him seem different. He wore a leather suit that didn¡¯t seem like the clothing belonging to the army. In addition, half of the buttons in the front were unfastened, revealing a chest that was full of curly chest hair. The male watched Su who was as nimble as an antelope with interest. After releasing a whistle, he said, ¡°This little fellow truly isn¡¯t bad! It seems like his speed should have already reached sixty kilometers per hour or higher. He¡¯s been at it for a whole minute already too. Are you sure that he has never promoted any abilities in the Combat Domain?¡± Li gnashed her teeth in anger and said, ¡°Don¡¯t be stupid. Would someone I want be lacking? I¡¯m willing to bet that he definitely has no abilities in the Combat Domain! Hey, give me a smoke. You know what I want, so don¡¯t think about giving me anything half-ass!¡± The male immediately revealed a helpless and reluctant expression. However, he brought out a genuine cigar from his jacket pocket, and with a light movement, he removed the top portion of the cigar. Afterwards, he brought out a blue flame to ignite the cigar before passing it crudely to Li¡¯s mouth. Li took a teep breath, and a stream of smoke came out from her nose. Her mind was immediately stimulated. She used her teeth to bite down on the cigar. She laughed crazily while saying between her teeth, ¡°Little darling, I want to see just how far you can run!¡± CHAPTER 18 The interior of the vehicle was ringing with the engine¡¯s rumbling and screeching from the tire¡¯s friction with the ground. However, Li and that male¡¯s interactions were completely unhindered. The volume of their voices seemed to even overwhelm the sounds created from the vehicle. Li¡¯s voice was sharp and penetrating, while the male¡¯s voice was deep and thick just like the engine¡¯s rumbling. Other than the fact that their volume was a bit too loud, both of their voices possessed quite a bit of sex appeal. Su sped frantically through the wilderness. From time to time, he would make a turn without warning to break away from the unrelenting pursuit of the off-road vehicle. Each time he evaded, he would become a bit closer to the city ruins overgrown with vegetation. Even though Li¡¯s driving skills were near perfection, she still couldn¡¯t do anything to Su. Su, who had already sprinted several kilometers straight, didn¡¯t seem to show any signs of slowing down. When the male saw how Su was running, he laughed maliciously a few times and said, ¡°Li, it doesn¡¯t seem like you can catch this youngster.¡± Li fiercely turned the steering wheel and bit down on the cigar. She fiercely shouted, ¡°Li Gaolei! Can you shut the fuck up? I just wanted to see how far he could run. Otherwise, I would have shot him dead a long time ago!¡± Li Gaolei laughed loudly. He didn¡¯t seem to give Li any face and said in a straightforward manner, ¡°That might not be the case! Let¡¯s give it a try!¡± He fished out a desert eagle and directly smashed the window. His arm reached out, and with a casual lift of his hand, his aim was already locked onto the back of Su¡¯s head. Su seemed like he didn¡¯t realize that his life was in imminent peril at all. Instead, he no longer weaved in and out and began to speed along in a straight line. Lu suddenly twisted the steering wheel about, making the off-road vehicle turn in a large S shape before returning to its normal path. Li Gaolei laughed mischievously. His smile was like a fox as he said, ¡°What are you panicking for? I had no intent to shoot.¡± Li fiercely inhaled the cigar¡¯s smoke, pretending to not have heard what was said at all. A flash of killing intent appeared in Li Gaolei¡¯s eyes and he suddenly said, ¡°This time it¡¯s for real!¡± His right arm that was hanging outside the vehicle raised at lightning speed and once again aimed at the back of Su¡¯s head! Peng! The desert eagle roared, bringing about a burst of dust. During the instant Li Gaolei aimed, Su suddenly continuously flipped to his left twice. He evaded from the front of the vehicle to the left side. Li Gaolei¡¯s shot struck empty air just like that. Li Gaolei¡¯s pistol continuously aimed towards Su¡¯s back or head, but Su¡¯s speed would immediately change from quick to slow. Sometimes, he would continuously flip to the left. He would always evade the instant Li Gaolei locked his aim on him. ¡°Do you see?¡± Li Gaolei turned around towards Li. His right hand casually fired three times at Su without even aiming, and Su didn¡¯t even try to avoid it this time. Instead, he sped along in a straight line, avoiding these three shots naturally. Li suddenly beat down on the steering wheel fiercely, and her foot hammered down on the brakes. The off-road vehicle¡¯s tires stopped, and a loud groan sounded as deep marks were left on the ground before it finally stopped. At this time, the vehicle was only ten centimeters away from a bush outside the ruins. Meanwhile, Su had already vanished into the ruin depths. Li and Li Gaolei stood next to each other in front of the ruins covered in thick shrubbery. While standing next to the 190 centimeter tall Li Gaolei, Li¡¯s figure seemed extremely petite and slender. There was absolutely no sign of her explosive power from before. Behind them, the off-road vehicle continued to sing Guns N¡¯ Roses ¡®Welcome to the Jungle!¡¯ hysterically. Li took a final hit of the cigar, and with a pu sound, the cigar was spat out several meters. She closed her eyes. Then she coldly sized up the forest ruins ahead. Li Gaolei similarly looked into the forest. He loosed his shoulder and said, ¡°I know you want to have your way with him. Let¡¯s go in together. You can¡¯t handle him alone.¡± Li coldly replied, ¡°This is my matter, why are you getting involved?¡± Li Gaolei chuckled and said, ¡°I can help you stop him. That way, you can go at it as much as you want!¡± Li spat out heavily with a pah sound and said, ¡°Get lost! He¡¯s mine, and I want to enjoy him alone. You should mind your own business!¡± Li Gaolei looked at Li strangely and suddenly said in a low and mysterious voice, ¡°You are acting a bit strange! Could it be that this pretty youngster took advantage of you before, and that¡¯s why you so urgently want payback?¡± Li¡¯s face became ashen and didn¡¯t pay him any attention. With a hua la sound, the zipper of her outer garment was pulled all the way down, revealing quite a bit of her tan skin. It almost seemed like she didn¡¯t wear anything under this leather suit. Li retrieved two small and refined pistols and casually flung them out. She then pulled the zipper all the way back up. Li then lifted up her right leg and removed a small thin dagger from her shoes. She clenched it tightly in her hand. Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon. Her two eyes revealed a wolf-like expression, and the corners of her lips formed a slight cold smile. She directly headed into the forest. Li Gaolei spread his hands in a helpless manner. He raised his voice and shouted in Li¡¯s direction, ¡°Hey! The atmosphere of this place isn¡¯t too bad. I¡¯m quite confident that something will happen between you two! However, being the one to do it and being the on the receiving end are quite different things!¡± Li¡¯s furious voice sounded from the forest depths. ¡°Motherfucker, shut the hell up!¡± The forest ruins became peaceful again. Li Gaolei laughed deeply and brought out a pack of cigarettes from his pocket. He lit it up and took a deep breath before blowing out a ring of smoke. The cigarette was already wrinkled and not at all like the cigar Li was smoking that was precious even in the olden era. The cigarette burned extremely quickly and was used up with just a few of his breaths. More and more cigarette butts appeared on the ground, and in the end, the case was tossed down as well. Li Gaolei picked up the pair of pistols Li tossed out and returned to the off-road vehicle. He rested his legs on top of the steering wheel and closed his eyes. Even though the deafening ¡®Welcome to the Jungle!¡¯ was still playing, he didn¡¯t pay it any attention. This was an abandoned town. A sparkling, small green river was running through it. If one ignored the suspiciously glowing water from the water source and surface, as well as the many creatures that lived at the river bed, it could still be considered a rather nice river. With the adequate water supply, the vegetation that was bursting with shocking levels of vitality was everywhere. After being abandoned for several dozen years, there were even a few trees that reached several tens of meters into the air. Even though it was still morning, the sunlight was already scorching. However, these ruins still gave off an eerie feeling without the slightest bit of warmth. Within a four story building, a weak light shone from behind the completely shattered windows on the third floor. Su lowered the canteen in his hand extremely slowly. He silently watched Li making her way through the shrubbery like a cat. Su¡¯s eyes swept across her body. Her black clothes were extremely tight, perfectly revealing her figure. After what happened that night, Su was extremely familiar with her body. He could tell that it was impossible to hide any weapons within the leather suit, so it seemed like she entered with only the dagger. ¡°It seems like she wants to fight me with just her physical strength.¡± Su understood Li¡¯s intentions. When Li¡¯s figure disappeared within the forest, Su peacefully closed his eye. His breathing gradually slowed, and eventually, he would only breathe once every minute. His body temperature began to gradually drop until it was the same as his surroundings. Su drank several sips of water and then closed the canteen containing the fourth grade water. He fetched a leaf that he had just plucked and slowly began to chew it in his mouth. The tree leaf¡¯s juices slid into his throat bit by bit, and the leaf was quickly sucked dry. Su held the pistol in his hand and entered a state of half sleep. His body that was almost exhausted to its limit from running began to slowly recover. At his side was his pistol and a neat pile of bullets. This was an abandoned house. Within the ruins, these types of houses could be found everywhere. Even though Li was an expert at combat within both forests and cities, Su, who had been struggling for survival in the wilderness all this time, believed that he did not leave any traces for Li to find. It was possible that Li wouldn¡¯t be able to find any traces of Su in these forest ruins even if she was given an entire week. Su decided to sleep a bit first to recover his energy and at the same time exhaust a bit of Li¡¯s patience and strength. He already decided to deal with Li here. If he couldn¡¯t completely settle this situation, from her nature of doing things, she would definitely not give up and annoy him until the end. Even though he wasn¡¯t clear about Roxland Company¡¯s true strength, the fact that Grace Company remained silent after their clear provocation represented that they were definitely an enormous power. After leaving this forest, he didn¡¯t know how far he would have to travel before he could leave Roxland Company¡¯s range of influence. In this region, other than Roxland Company, there were a few other various companies and organizations. Even though Su disliked trouble, he knew that it was impossible to avoid interactions with these companies and organizations. At the very least, abilities higher than fourth level were mostly monopolized by large companies and organizations. Roxland Company was a colossus that could provide fourth-level and higher abilities. Li only carried a single dagger with her and entered the forest alone. In reality, she only set this rule for the purpose of this game. Su had no choice and could only accept it. Within this forest, he remained under rules of this game. Once he left, then it was back to the laws of survival. From the first time he saw the male next to Li, he already associated him with danger. Unless absolutely necessary, he didn¡¯t want to face this male. Right now, within this forest, it was just Su and Li. Su didn¡¯t think about anything else and peacefully slept. Li squatted by a brush. Her sharp eyes scanned the lifeless, almost completely identical houses in front of her. Sudden, a bead of sweat slid down from her eyebrow into her eye, immediately bringing about a sharp sting. Li cursed inwardly and wiped off the thin layer of sweat from her forehead. She had already roamed about these mountain ruins for three hours, yet she didn¡¯t find the slightest sign of Su. She was an expert at fighting within forests and alleys, and she touched a gun as soon as she could walk. When she was thirteen, she fought and struggled for survival alone within the wilderness, and at sixteen years of age, the number of refugees and bandits that died at her hands already numbered in the hundreds. Not even outstanding hunters could survive under her pursuit. She had never encountered anyone like Su before, someone who didn¡¯t leave behind the slightest bit of scent or any traces. If not for her incredible intuition, she might have already thought that Su left these ruins. The sky gradually became dim. Li practically visited every corner of this forest, but there was no sign of Su. However, Li could sense that she was being watched. Of course, this was just a feeling, as she didn¡¯t see any light reflecting from any eyes. Su was like an extremely cunning and patient beast as he hid himself, waiting for his prey to become tired. Li finally acknowledged that she was no match for Su¡¯s hiding and tracking skills. If this continued, she would never be able to find Su. Li suddenly stood up and shouted loudly, ¡°Are you a fucking man or not? If you have the guts, then come out!¡± CHAPTER 19 As she had anticipated, sure enough, a building a hundred meters out gave off a unique feeling. However, contrary to what she expected, a flash of light appeared from deep within a window. The enormous gunshot immediately sounded, startling a nest of birds that were preparing to rest. The scorching winds blew through Li¡¯s short maroon hair. The bullet flew right past her head, and it shattered a branch that was the thickness of a human thigh. Li stood in place without moving with an ashen expression. She had originally thought that with Su¡¯s intelligence, he would have chosen to accept her game. If he was going to use firearms, then she could only call Li Gaolei in. However, at the location where the branch broke, not only did wooden fragments fly out, but also a repulsive liquid. Li took a step to the side to avoid the smelly downpour. She reached out to collect a drop of the foul-smelling liquid and too sniff. Outside of the odor, she could also detect the bitter and astringent smell of neurotoxin. The exposure to air had already oxidized the poison, weakening the concentration of the poison by quite a bit. However, from what remained of it, it was clear that the poison possessed an extremely high level of potency. Soon after, she saw a creature that she had never seen before. Its body did not have a head, and it seemed like it was entirely made of muscle. It moved by squirming about, and it seemed to possess a high level of mimicry ability. From its palm-sized body¡¯s muscle fiber-like composition, the small creature seemed like it could move at a fast and nimble speed when necessary, to a point where it could shoot itself out like an arrow. Meanwhile, the fatal neurotoxin that could kill within seconds was its weapon. Li¡¯s expression became a bit unpleasant. After searching about stealthily for several hours in a row, her physical strength and vigilance had declined drastically. If that little creature¡¯s attack had been successful, she would have probably turned into a corpse that didn¡¯t rot and be slowly absorbed as food. It seemed like Su¡¯s shot did not break the rules that she had set. More importantly, this shot revealed his location. Li¡¯s eyes flashed with an excited and merciless light. Like a black leopard, she sped in the direction Su fired from. ¡°When I catch him in a bit, I should still give him some face...¡± As Li thought this, the fire in her eyes burned more and more fiercely. In under a minute, Li already stood within the location Su was hiding at. She silently looked at the rifle on the ground, the pistol, and a pile of bullets. Su was already no longer here. She scanned the room¡¯s condition, and suddenly, she jumped out the window. As soon as the front part of her body left the window, she grabbed the ledge of the window and with its support, she shot upwards. Following a tap of her leather boots on the fourth floor window ledge, Li already reached the roof. There was no one on the roof. Li instinctively shot towards the flight of stairs at the corner. With a single kick, she opened the locked door and rushed downwards on the fire escape path. The instead she rushed past two floors, Li suddenly raised her right leg and stepped into the wall on the other side, abruptly stopping her movement. Her upper body curved backwards until it was completely parallel with the ground, and the movement was so ridiculous that it was enough to make one wonder whether there were any bones in her body. Li gazed into the second floor corridor, and she was just in time to see a figure disappear from the other end. Li laughed coldly and retracted her right leg. She followed the second floor corridor all the way. As her heels pounded down on the ground full of dust, it sounded like the drumbeat of a chasing soul. When Li¡¯s body had just left the corridor, a tungsten dagger quietly hacked towards her ribs. The small dagger in Li¡¯s right hand shifted at an unimaginable speed over to her left hand and parried the incoming attack. Her right hand reached out to grab towards Su¡¯s throat! A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation. Su¡¯s tungsten dagger and the small dagger intertwined at an extreme speed. Both weapons wanted to shove the other out of the way to continue in their trajectory. In that instant, the two daggers shoved back and forth and engaged in over ten exchanges. It was clear that both individuals possessed similarly astonishing dagger skills. Both sides¡¯ other hand did not stay idle. Su¡¯s left arm pushed aside Li¡¯s right hand and instead grabbed Li¡¯s arm. However, with a shake of her body, she shook off Su¡¯s arm. Then, she sent a fist towards Su¡¯s chest. Su used his left arm to defend himself, and at the same time, he raised his right leg to block Li¡¯s leg that had quietly kicked over. He suddenly saw the sneer in Li¡¯s eyes, causing him to immediately become more vigilant! Li¡¯s right hand stopped in midair, and her feet suddenly changed from a kick to a heavy stamp towards Su¡¯s right leg! From her boots, four levels of strengthened power surged, sending Su flying with the kick. The door behind him was smashed apart and he fell inside the room. Li took her time walking into the room. Now that she had locked onto Su¡¯s tracks, it wouldn¡¯t be easy for him to escape. Moreover, the unexpected kick contained a thousand kilograms of weight, so it most likely created fractures in his leg. In their last encounter, Li had assessed the strength of Su¡¯s body, so she was extremely clear about what his body was capable of withstanding. When Li walked into the room, she noticed that this room was rather large. There was an office table and several chairs with their metal frames remaining. Su stood in the corner and had already taken off his jacket. He began to untie the bandages around his body loop after loop. At this moment, he was already at the final loop around his waist, so his entire upper body was revealed. Su was still barefooted. Before, he was wearing the military boots, but now, it was placed in an orderly manner next to his jacket and unwrapped bandages. Su¡¯s upper body was full of perfect muscles and power, but it didn¡¯t make anyone feel excessively robust. In particular, his skin was a soft, ivory white and sparkled like a fine jade artifact. Li¡¯s eyes immediately brightened, and her eyebrows jumped as well. She whistled towards Su. Following an unbridled laugh, she continued and said, ¡°It seems like you are rather tactful. You actually already began to take off your clothes! However, you should still struggle a bit more. Waiting like this will make it better!¡± At this moment, other than the camouflage pants and the bandages that wrapped around half of his face, there wasn¡¯t a single piece of clothing on him. He seemed rather compliant, for right after hearing Li¡¯s words, he actually rushed forward! RIght at that moment, the sky completely darkened, and even the last bit of light vanished. The originally gloomy ruins entered a state of darkness. Only a few glowing creatures emitted some radiance, enticing insects to recklessly throw themselves into their traps. The room Su and Li were in entered an even greater darkness. For Su, who possessed Glimmer Sight, this level of darkness was already enough. Li laughed coldly. From the glimmer that seeped in from the window, she already saw Su¡¯s figure throw itself over. Li did not move out of the way and instead used her abdomen to take on Su¡¯s fist. Then, she kicked out with her leg, hacking out with powerful force! Even though Su quickly dodged, he was still struck by the side of her leg, causing him to stagger back a few steps. Su¡¯s fist that flew out just now was extremely heavy and landed cleanly on Li¡¯s abs, but Li only felt a sharp wave of pain. Afterwards, it was as if nothing happened. After that punch, Su understood that Li¡¯s body had at least two levels of defense strengthening. Su suddenly sucked in a breath of air. When he inhaled, it was rough and wild, and when he exhaled, it was similarly long and hoarse. A wave of heat seemed to sweep through this room, and this wind carried extremely danger. The fine hair on the back of Li¡¯s neck stood up one after another. She suddenly developed a strange perception, she felt that within the darkness was an ancient tyrannosaurus rex. However, just the head of T. rex should be able to fill this room. Right now, this T. rex was watching her in this darkness. Within the darkness, Su pounced forward again. If he was described as cold and fierce like a leopard before, then right now, he was ferocious and berserk like a vicious bear! Li¡¯s arms covered her head and her right leg was brought up in a defensive position. Following that, pu pu sounds continuously sounded within the room. Over ten punches rained down on her body! Eventually, a knee strike struck her lower back, destroying her body¡¯s balance and sending her tumbling forward. Then, in the instant her body lost its balance, Li also kicked at Su¡¯s chest, blowing him back! Without waiting for Li to climb up, a wave of heat swept outwards. Su rushed up and knocked her down! CHAPTER 20 What followed was a struggle of physical strength in the darkness. The two of them completely relied on their strength and reaction speed. Li¡¯s complex fighting and killing techniques were completely useless here. For a long time, Li and Su were engaged in a wrestling state. The chaotic fight had not even reached a minute when both sides were gasping for breath and dripping with sweat. Then, Li suddenly began to develop a bad feeling. They were under extreme darkness, so she should be able to block his eye and smash his face, but Su seemed to be able to see her every movement to a near perfect degree. Even though Li strengthened four levels of strength and two levels of defense, as well as even three levels of dexterity, if this struggle continued, her body¡¯s consumption would far surpass Su¡¯s. During the search earlier, she had already exhausted too much strength. A terrifying thought suddenly passed Li¡¯s mind. ¡°Could it be that he could see me?¡± Another round of ferocious wrestling began! Li¡¯s body suddenly became weak, and her chest even began to emit waves of fishy smell. It was as if she couldn¡¯t breathe. She knew that the last bit of energy she had was exhausted. Waves of intense pain came from her arm, and at this moment, her face was pushed into the ground. Her two hands were pulled behind her back and held firmly in place by one of his arms. After releasing a final breath of air, Li immediately felt her entire body go soft. The slightest movement seemed to require all of her concentration. From Li¡¯s perspective, Su¡¯s power had reached an incomparable level. His movements were clean and efficient, not leaving her the slightest chance to resist. ¡°Does he never get tired?¡± This thought suddenly appeared in Li¡¯s mind. She couldn¡¯t help but recall Su sprinting for an entire minute at 60 kilometers per hour. Even though she immediately thought of what was about to happen, a layer of sweat immediately appeared on her body as she struggled. However, Su¡¯s movements would always be precise and powerful, leaving her with not even the slightest bit of hope. His left hand tightly grabbed Li¡¯s two arms, and his right leg pinned down her legs. With a raise of his left hand, he lifted her off the ground. ¡°You wanted to rape me?¡± Su¡¯s voice was always soft and alluring. It completely contrasted with his previous rough actions. Li clenched her teeth and shouted, ¡°Yes! This time, you are quite lucky. Next time, your luck won¡¯t be that good. I said you were mine, so sooner or later, I will have my way with you! Why don¡¯t you escape now. I want to see how far you can run!¡± Su seemed to smile a bit and said, ¡°Why should I run?¡± Li laughed coldly and said, ¡°If you aren¡¯t going to run, are you saying you are going to let me fuck you?¡± ¡°Wrong, I am going to be the one doing you!¡± Su¡¯s voice and what he said contrasted greatly. Li¡¯s hair seemed to almost stand up on end as she screamed, ¡°You dare!!¡± It was just like what Li Gaolei said. She couldn¡¯t prevent this result, only, she definitely wasn¡¯t willing to passively take it. Su¡¯s right hand flashed, and reached for the zipper of her upper garment. Then in just a few seconds, Li¡¯s sturdy yet thin upper garment became a tool for binding her arms. Su raised her up and then pressed her down on top of the table. His flexible right hand easily removed the leather lower garments. ¡°Su! You dare...¡± Li howled for a short moment, but then she abruptly inhaled. The powerful and rough battering directly caused her to swallow back her threats! Su¡¯s battering was simple, direct, and rough like a great storm. He easily shattered Li¡¯s defenses. She had long become weary and exhausted, so under these ferocious attacks, she couldn¡¯t even endure five minutes. The roars and threats immediately became uncontrollable moans. Li felt as if her second level of defense strengthened body was like a small boat being battered by a storm in the middle of a great sea. It was possible for her to completely collapse if this continued for even a minute longer. However, the raging tempest persisted for an entire hour! Su meticulously once again wrapped his bandages around himself, and only after he completely dressed himself did Li release a groan. She barely managed to raise her head and lift her eyelids that felt like they weighed several tons. She fiercely stared at Su. Her arms had already recovered her freedom, and her black leather clothes were folded in a neat and tidy manner at her side. However, every single bone in Li¡¯s body seemed to have become detached, so she couldn¡¯t even reach her hand out to grab them. The clothes that were so neatly arranged that they seemed to be carved out of a knife seemed to be ruthlessly mocking her. So fucking humiliating! This was what Li weakly thought. Su reclined on a long table and brought out a cigar. After cutting off the tip and lighting it, he took a deep breath and said, ¡°The flavor isn¡¯t bad!¡± Li recognized that this was the cigar in the pocket of her clothes and couldn¡¯t help but release a curse. She didn¡¯t know where she got the strength, but she suddenly got up and stood up bare naked in front of Su. She stared hatefully at him. Only, her legs immediately became weak and almost dropped back onto the ground. The fierce appearance she struggled to produce weakened just like that. This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report. ¡°These are the rules of the game you created, so I¡¯ve participated and won. That¡¯s why you should pay the cost.¡± Su¡¯s voice was pleasant to listen, to as usual, but Li truly wanted to smash his nose in even though she never truly saw what it looked like. ¡°I¡¯ll admit it this time! Relax, I won¡¯t cause trouble for you for this. However, in the future, Su, you have to be careful and better not fall into my hands!¡± Li narrowed her eyes and said fiercely. Su laughed. With exceeding resentment, she noticed that his lips seemed to be prettier than even her own. Meanwhile, the remaining half of the cigar seemed to match him better as well. ¡°I also have my own principles, and that is that after using a woman, I would always pay.¡± Su spoke and reached his hand into his pockets. Only, his hand suddenly went rigid and stopped in his pocket. However, immediately after, a smile appeared on his face again, and his hand was pulled out. In his palm was was a sparkling coin. Li felt as if there was a rock stuck in her chest, and her full chest suddenly undulated up and down. Her eyes seemed to gush out with even more flames as she clenched her teeth and said, ¡°This is how much I¡¯m worth?¡± ¡°This is all the money I have on me.¡± When she heard what Su said, much of the fury in Li¡¯s chest immediately scattered. Su got up from the long table and placed the single yuan on the table before walking away from the room. Li grabbed the clothes on top of the table and put them on. When she had pulled up the zipper all the way, Su had just reached the door. ¡°Stop!¡± Li¡¯ve voice was ice cold. A bit of the murderous dictator¡¯s grandeur had returned. Su turned around and quietly looked at her. ¡°You¡¯ve fucked me and also took my cigar. You¡¯ve already paid the money for me, but you still haven¡¯t paid for the cigar. Hand over the money!¡± Li looked at Su¡¯s stunned expression with satisfaction. Su never would have thought that Li would use this type of argument. Li¡¯s eyes were extremely cruel and saw through his principles that weren¡¯t easily breakable. However, it was impossible for Su not to feel embarrassed, for there wasn¡¯t a single coin on him. It could be said that ever since Su killed the blood sucking creature above Li¡¯s head, his mental state had already been under incredible pressure. Moreover, the hour of great effort had exhausted even more of his mental state. The cigar was a good way to relax, and under the intense state of excitement and nervousness, Su revealed a rare bit of negligence. He never expected Li to be different from his past prey. ¡°However...¡± Su bitterly looked at the coin on the table and said, ¡°This is already all the money I have. How about this. Give me some time. I¡¯ll complete some missions and give you the money later.¡± ¡°I want your pistol!¡± Li¡¯s expression was resolute. Su wanted to say something, but in the end, he silently left the room. When he came back, all of his equipment was on him. Su placed the modified pistol and two cases of bullets on the table and pushed it towards Li. Li picked up the pistol that was a bit unreasonably sized and weighed it in her hand. Then, without any trace of politeness, she stuck it into her back and said, ¡°The debt is settled!¡± This time, Su did not walk out of the door, and instead directly went to the front of the window. The hinge of the window was knocked out with a single kick. ¡°Su!¡± Li stopped him. Her left hand aimed between his brows and made the motion of firing with her hand. ¡°Next time we meet, I will definitely be the one to do you in!¡± Su hesitated for a moment before finally saying, ¡°If the rules are the same, then no matter how many times we play the game, it will always end in today¡¯s result.¡± After speaking, Su left the ashen faced Li and soared out of the window opening. He disappeared into the night forest. Li stood by herself in the room for quite a long time before the anger and humiliation in her chest dissolved. She walked a few steps and kicked with her boots. The small dagger on the floor seemed to come alive as it voluntarily returned to her hands. Li similarly jumped out of the window like Su did. Before leaving, she did not forget to take the coin on the table with her. Within the darkness, Li was like a black cat, a bit abnormal yet graceful as she silently landed on the ground. Only, when she landed, her legs became a bit weaker, and only after swaying a few times did she steady herself. This action did not have any of the intimidating pressure from before. The forest is a dangerous place at night. All types of mutated creatures came out from their dwellings to feast, and all of them were vicious in their own way. However, the mutated creatures that encountered the furious Li and her fine dagger were truly unlucky. Li hacked apart all of the creatures in her way, and among them were hundreds of blood sucking mosquitos. With a putong sound, Li threw herself onto the off-road vehicle¡¯s driver seat. She casually tossed Su¡¯s pistol onto the dashboard. The enormous pistol immediately drew Li Gaolei¡¯s attention. He grabbed it and flipped it around before asking, ¡°This is his gun?¡± ¡°It¡¯s mine now.¡± Li replied in a cunning voice. Guns N¡¯ Roses ¡®Welcome to the Jungle¡¯ tirelessly roared. This was normally her favorite song, but right now, it sounded extremely annoying. Ka la! Li directly punched the radio, and it was finally given a chance to rest after howling for an entire day. Li Gaolei sat beside her obediently. He placed the pistol back to its original position. Then, he began to stare into the pitch-black forest with a lifeless expression. Li silently sat for a while. Then, she said, ¡°Give me a smoke!¡± Li Gaolei handed a cigar over without cutting off the tip or lighting it up. She chopped off the tip of the cigar and lit it up before abruptly starting the car. The off-road vehicle roared. It first backed up a few meters, and then with a full turn, it sped into the darkness. Li Gaolei watched the scenery change outside his window and listened to the rumbling of the engine and howling of the wind. With a chuckle, he asked in a seemingly profound tone, ¡°From your state, it seems like it didn¡¯t go too well?¡± Li continued to stare in front of her, and her words seemed to be squeezed out of her clenched teeth. ¡°Bullshit! My mind and body are both perfectly fine!¡± Li Gaolei indifferently shrugged his shoulders. A while later, he felt a bit bored and began to hum... Welcome to the Jungle! We got fun and games... A teeth aching breaking sound suddenly reverberated through the darkness. Then, the off-road vehicle¡¯s right door was opened, and the robust Li Gaolei flew out. He fell heavily seven or eight meters outside. The off-road vehicle raised a storm of smoke and dust before turning and leaving abruptly. CHAPTER 21 Pendulum City was where Roxland Company¡¯s central branch was located. This place was 200 kilometers from Asmo and 150 kilometers from Base N11. In this ruined and scattered era of turmoil, there were no highways and most of the ground was uneven, so 150 kilometers was already the limit that the olden era tanks could travel. When the sky had just brightened, Pendulum City was already roused awake by the rumbling sounds of engines and powerful yet concise oral commands. Five lightweight transport vehicles formed a line at the central city plaza. Fully armed soldiers mounted the vehicles one after another. On the side, there were two powerful off-road jeeps parked, and on top, the shooters were leaning somewhat lazily against the anti-aircraft machine guns. Li was standing in her military uniform without the slightest trace of a smile on her face as she coldly watched the soldiers board the vehicles. When all of the soldiers boarded the transport vehicles, she raised her hand to look at her wrist. The amount of time that had passed was thirty seconds less than she had expected. Only now did Li walk towards her own off-road vehicle. This time, she was the one personally driving. The command vehicle¡¯s four wheels simultaneously moved, and under earsplitting friction sounds, it fiercely rushed out. It surpassed the military vehicles and soon reached the very front of the fleet. When she reached the very front, the command car rumbled even louder and increased further, rushing outwards. The command vehicle carried five or six elite soldiers. These soldiers with two or three levels of ability sat rather stably. They did not show any signs of being flung outwards, to the point where their bodies didn¡¯t even move that much. Seeing the command vehicle speed up, the drivers of the military vehicles behind all began to sweat. They no longer cared about the well-being of their passengers or their formation and stepped down on their pedals. They chased after the command vehicle like it was a race out of Pendulum City. Inside Pendulum City, an eighteen floor office building had been completely restored, now serving as Roxland Company¡¯s central branch. Li Gaolei stood in front of the eleventh floor window and watched the troops leave. This time, even though Li did not bring any tanks, these were the elites among her subordinates, so their fighting strength might not necessarily be lower than that of Base N11¡¯s subjugation group. Using this kind of team to wipe out some refugee troops that only recently occupied some of the land controlled by Roxland Company was truly a bit excessive. Moreover, did Li even have to personally lead it? In the wilderness, not even Li Gaolei himself wanted to meet an opponent like Li. This time, it could only be said that these refugees were unlucky, as they just so happened to appear when Li¡¯s mood was bad. Li Gaolei did not have any pity for these refugees that established homes everywhere. It was just like what Roxland Company¡¯s insignia depicted: a tank running over everything inside a city. In this era of turmoil, power represented what you could do. Having power was the same as having everything. There were no laws, and there were no rules. All of the so called rules would only exist between those of similar strength, as only then would they be followed. Preserving the rules also required power. If either side lost their strength, then that meant that the rules have ceased to be effective. In short, during this age of turmoil, countless rules were being created each day, and countless rules were broken each day. Only a large company like Roxland Company could bring up someone like Li. At the same time, only within Roxland Company could Li mature and make use of all her strong points. If they each brought five people, then Li Gaolei could completely defeat Li. If they both had twenty, then the conclusion would be hard to say. If if was two hundred or more, then Li Gaolei¡¯s troops would most likely be completely wiped out, while most of Li¡¯s men would still be alive. Only a colossus like Roxland Company would have over 200 men for Li to command. The group of vehicles had already traveled extremely far. The trails of smoke that were raised up flew high into the air. Li Gaolei left the window and walked over to the spacious office table. After pressing a few buttons, a sharp, yet unconcealably older voice sounded. ¡°Hello? Doesn¡¯t company regulations clearly state that this is my experimenting time?¡± If you come across this story on Amazon, it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it. ¡°Li Gaolei.¡± The voice on the line muttered a few sentences. In an unwilling voice, the other person said, ¡°Fine! What do you need from me? I still have a bunch of experiments to carry out.¡± ¡°Has the analysis of that item been completed?¡± While standing in the office, Li Gaolei no longer had that laid-back and dejected appearance. Instead, he was rather imposing, and his words were concise and clear. ¡°The results have just come out... Hold on! What is going on?! This... you better come here and take a look yourself. I can¡¯t describe it clearly over the phone!¡± Li Gaolei immediately dropped the phone and rushed out from the office. He rushed through the corridor with extreme speed, not waiting for the elevator that had stopped at a lower floor at all. Instead, he used the fire escape stairway to directly climb sixteen floors to reach the Biochemical Laboratory. After his identity card was inspected, Li Gaolei walked past the researchers that were immersed in work. He directly walked towards the central laboratory that occupied half the floor. There was only a single withered up small old individual within this laboratory that measured over a thousand square meters, and he was inspecting something under a microscope. From his cheeks that were constantly moving, it was clear that he was excited. This old man was the chief scientist within Roxland Company¡¯s biochemical division that had once developed a fourth level ability: Lawston. Li Gaolei patted his back, and Lawston immediately handed the digital microscope to Li Gaolei. When his eyes looked through the eyepiece, Li Gaolei immediately became stumped for words. Within the glowing green field of vision, he could see dead cells everywhere, and among them, he could see some bacteria that he knew possessed extraordinary vitality. ¡°This is...¡± Li Gaolei straightened his body and gave an inquiring look towards Lawston. Lawston took out a handkerchief and wiped the sweat from his forehead. He groaned, ¡°Heavens, I¡¯ve never seen this type of thing before! Where did you get such a thing? This... how do I describe this?¡± Lawston began to hammer down on the keyboard of the computer next to the experiment platform. The screen immediately transmitted an extremely disturbing image. Within the glowing green background, a large amount of cells were squirming about and were full of vitality. These cells or bacteria slowly moved about, and they were attacking each other. They were just in time to see a cell abnormally expand and then blast apart. Several dozen new cells that were clearly different from the mother cell flowed out from inside. All of the cells¡¯ movements seemed extremely slow, but this was not what Li Gaolei was thinking. In the current world, the movement of these cells or bacteria was actually ridiculously fast. If someone was infected with these bacterium that would make a cell undergo mutation, they wouldn¡¯t even last a day. Right at this time, something astonishing appeared. A type of medium sized cell suddenly appeared at the edge of the scope. Their movements were extremely fast, moving at a speed that seemed to be a hundred times that of the others. When these cells encountered the other cells, no matter what type they were, they would similarly stretch out a needle-like horn and pierce into the interior of the other party, injecting their own contents inside. In just a few seconds, the penetrated cell would immediately split apart and produce more than ten cells identical to the invader. The intruder cells would immediately diffuse in all directions with extraordinary speed like all-road vehicle through a group of turtles. Before even a minute had passed, all of the cells were affected. Not even a single cell escaped this fate. They were either broken or directly pierced to death. On top of the screen, only a single invader species could be seen! The invaders knocked against each other. Then, they began to shoot around like balls to collide with even more invading cells, causing movements that were even more complex. However, there were no longer any other cells or bacteria that they could use. The intruder cell type, regardless of whether they were original or new, all began to frantically bounce around. A minute later, all of the intruders died, and the image became deathly still. There were cell corpses everywhere, just like what Li Gaolei saw through the scope. This was the recording taken by the digital microscope. Li Gaolei felt his scalp going a bit numb and his palms covered in cold sweat. The sticky and wet feeling was extremely uncomfortable. Only after a moment had passed did Li Gaolei say, ¡°You are saying that these cells were discovered from the sample I gave you?¡± Lawston nodded and added, ¡°The recording you saw was the later half. In the beginning, there was only a single live cell that I added. It is precisely as how you see it. This single cell immediately killed every single cell that it made contact with and even made it its own breeding nest! When I saw this scene from now, I was instantly terrified. Only later did I remember to start recording!¡± His voice was both hurried and shrill. It seemed like he was still struggling from the terror of seeing that scene just now. Li Gaolei fowned and stared at the cell cemetery in front of him. Suddenly, he said, ¡°If...¡± Lawston immediately knew what he wanted to say. ¡°If this cell entered a body, then it would turn into a monster within half an hour! Moreover, no one could know what kind of thing it would be!¡± CHAPTER 22 Li Gaolei¡¯s hand immediately trembled. This was an extremely rare occurrence for someone like him who was usually cool-headed. However, Lawston did not noticed this and pointed at the screen before saying, ¡°I don¡¯t know whether this is good news or not, but if the intruder cell cannot find food within a minute, it will die. This could in part explain why they possess speed almost a hundred times greater than other cells, as they needed large amounts of energy. Moreover, the intruder cells would never slaughter their own kind.¡± ¡°Immediately analyze their genes.¡± Lawston shook his head, and another tap was made on the keyboard, bringing up another image. What appeared were scattered and smashed gene fragments, so it was practically impossible to piece them back together into a comprehensible genetic sequence. Lawston pointed towards the image and said, ¡°Look, this is the intruder¡¯s genome. It cannot even be considered a gene, but rather short strands of DNA that don¡¯t hold any significance! There can only be a single explanation. At the intruder cells¡¯ moment of death, they completely destroy their own genome. Look, these intruder cells completely look like they already have the intelligence to make choices by themselves!¡± ¡°How is the sample? Can a live intruder cell¡¯s genome be formed?¡± Li Gaolei¡¯s tone was serious. Lawston once again shook his head and said, ¡°The sample no longer has any live intruder cells. You¡¯ve seen for yourself how this cell will never leave much time for either other cells or itself. The short image we saw just now was the last intruder cell I found. As soon as I moved it into the petri dish filtered with standard genes, its vitality was immediately restored and it began to devour. This process continued until all of the creatures inside the petri dish were killed, taking a total of...¡± The doctor looked at the time on the monitor and spoke a number that made Li Gaolei broke out in cold sweat again: two minutes and eleven seconds. If Li Gaolei stood on the top floor of the branch building and looked as far as he could, he would be comparable a cell and the scope of his vision would be the petri dish. ¡°If this thing enters an organism, would there be an incubation period? Would it change again?¡± Li Gaolei asked in an overcast tone. ¡°Currently, it doesn¡¯t seem like it will. Such a vicious cell does not need an incubation period. However, that might not be the case after they change. The actions of a single cell might be completely different after it forms a complete organ,¡± Lawston replied. He continuously wiped the sweat that appeared on his face, seemingly still having some lingering fears. ¡°Fortunately, I was careful enough when I received your original sample and proceeded based on experimental regulations, so none of it got on my hands.¡± He suddenly noticed that Li Gaolei¡¯s expression was extremely unpleasant. His mouth suddenly widened and gasped. He stammeringly said, ¡°You... there¡¯s no way that you...¡± ¡°Damn it! I made contact with that stuff!¡± Li Gaolei spat out the overcast words that were pent up in his chest. Lawston immediately backed up a few steps, and a cabinet of glassware was suddenly smashed apart. The medicinal cabinet released a groan, and a bottle of strong acid on top of it swayed a bit. It suddenly fell, dropping straight for the doctor¡¯s head. If this strong acid that was 1000cc landed on his head, the safety of his head definitely could not be guaranteed. Li Gaolei walked forward and steadily grabbed the bottle of strong acid. His muscular arm was only a few centimeters from the doctor¡¯s head. When the doctor raised his head, his bloodshot eyes behind his thick glasses immediately opened wide! However, the amount of fear he felt towards the strong acid was far less than the fear he felt from looking at Li Gaolei¡¯s arm. Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon. Li Gaolei laughed bitterly. He picked up a syringe from the tray nearby and pierced it into his own arm¡¯s blood vessel. He sucked out a tube of blood and then carefully placed it into the vacuum test tube. He extracted a total of three tubes of blood. His left palm then shot out a wave of blue flames, immediately turning the syringe infected with his blood into ashes. Only a needle that was burnt black remained. ¡°Help me examine it, see if I... If I have been infected by that strange thing.¡± The doctor pressed his body against the medicinal cabinet, not willing to get even the slightest bit closer to Li Gaolei. He simply nodded in a stupefied manner. Li Gaolei thought for a moment and then instructed, ¡°Delete all of the backup data of the image and only leave one set for me. Do not mention this to anyone, including the upper echelon of the company. Those in the division cannot know about it either, especially General Li. She absolutely cannot know about this! If someone finds out, regardless of whether you were the one to leak it, Pei Li will die.¡± Lawston immediately trembled, and only now did he wake up from his state of fear. Pei Li was his only daughter, and this year, she was seven. During the next three days, Li Gaolei silently sat in his own office. His hands continuously propped up his jaw as he gazed into the dusky sky. He didn¡¯t speak a single sentence for the rest of the day. When his subordinates came in to do their daily report required by the company, Li Gaolei simply listened quietly before indicating for them to leave with a wave of his hand. Li Gaolei passed the entire night in his office like this. He did not eat anything and only drank two cups of water. Early morning the fourth day, smoke and pollution surged outside Pendulum City. Li¡¯s troops had returned. Li Gaolei finally changed his frozen posture and stood up. He raised his hand and reached over to the telephone. As soon as he pressed a few buttons, he hesitated for a moment. However, his hand was on the telephone the whole time. The phone suddenly rang. Li Gaolei¡¯s hand became stiff momentarily. Only when it rang several times did he press the answering button. Lawston¡¯s voice sounded from the phone. ¡°It¡¯s me! Is there anyone there?¡± ¡°I¡¯m listening.¡± Li Gaolei replied. His voice was coarse and hard on the ears. After sitting there for several days in a row, his throat had long become stiff. Fortunately, the doctor still recognized his voice and said, ¡°It¡¯s good that you are there! The blood sample tests have been completed. I¡¯ve used every single method, and all of them showed that there were no traces of the intruder cell in the three blood samples. Thank goodness!¡± Li Gaolei suddenly felt his body¡¯s energy leave his body. He couldn¡¯t even stand straight and sat down on the chair next to his desk. The phone immediately transmitted the doctor¡¯s somewhat nervous voice. ¡°Hello! Hello? Are you okay? Hello, give me a reply...¡± Li Gaolei composed himself and said, ¡°I¡¯m fine. Wait for me there. I will take a look at the test results now.¡± He hung up the phone without waiting for the doctor¡¯s reply. An hour later, Li Gaolei walked out from the sixteenth floor laboratory. His hair was a bit messy, and his eyes were a bit sunken. His messy beard seemed to be a bit longer than it usually was. If it was the olden era, should a tall, downcast, cool-looking male like him enter the show business, he might have quite the prospects. Almost as a way of expressing his body¡¯s terrible condition, Li Gaolei¡¯s stomach suddenly growled. Only now did he realize that the was hungry, moreover not an ordinary type of hunger. Abnormal amount of sweat broke out over his body. Li Gaolei suddenly recalled that he did not eat for the past few days, so he decided to eat a good meal in the lower dining hall. After thinking for a moment, he still decided to use the phone in the corner. ¡°This is Li Gaolei. Where is General Li right now?¡± He was connected to the central operator, and the crew inside naturally recognized Li Gaolei¡¯s voice. An immediate reply came. ¡°General Li is currently practicing in the underground firing range.¡± Li Gaolei felt a wave of anxiety for some reason. However, he walked towards the elevator and rode it all the way down to the underground second floor weapon shooting range. He pushed through the shooting range¡¯s soundproof gates, and the stinging smell of gunpowder immediately assailed his senses. The earsplitting gunsounds echoed loud and clear throughout this place, producing an indescribable type of coarse and roughness. Li Gaolei was proficient in most of the firearms of the olden era, but he couldn¡¯t recognize what kind of gun this noise came from. Two shooting range staff members were currently discussing quietly behind the counter. ¡°Hey, what kind of person can use that kind of thing?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know. Probably only some king or a mutated individual could use that thing!¡± CHAPTER 23 ¡°Who knows? I¡¯ve never seen this kind of pistol before. I truly don¡¯t know what kind of madman would make such a thing.¡± The two individuals quietly chatted. They suddenly saw Li Gaolei enter, which immediately startled them so much they stood perfectly straight. They gave the proper greetings. Li Gaolei nodded towards them and walked into the shooting range. As soon as he entered it, deafening gunsounds could be heard. Comparatively, the volume was even louder than his beloved modified desert eagle. Bang bang bang! Three gunshots sounded continuously, and a wave of heat even roiled over. Afterwards, Li cursed angrily. ¡°God fucking dammit!¡± Li Gaolei arrived behind Li and followed her gaze. The wall fifty meters out was full of enormous bullet holes. These bullet holes were all completely unorganized, and the only common factor was that almost all of them were quite far from the target sheet. The upper body sheet only had two bullet holes, yet they seemed to tear completely through the paper. In Li¡¯s hands was precisely Su¡¯s modified pistol. In front of the shooting stage were two cases of bullets. She had already fired two rounds of twelve bullets, yet under the distance of fifty meters, she only hit her target twice. When three rounds were fired in succession, the results were even worse, without a single one hitting anywhere close to the target. Under a distance of fifty meters, no matter what kind of military standard pistol it was, Li only needed to fire a few shots. After that, every single shot would land perfectly within the bullseye. The two cases seemed like they contained ordinary 5.56 millimeter standard rifle bullets, only, the way light reflected off their surface seemed a bit different, drawing Li Gaolei¡¯s curiosity. He picked up a bullet, and after inspecting it, he found that there were fine and complicated carvings on its surface. They seemed just like the decorative patterns one would see on precious metal instruments during the old era. However, the patterns were clearly not as simple as those of decorations. Li Gaolei picked up another bullet and compared them. The carvings on the two were exactly the same, as if they were carved from an extremely precise machine. Li Gaolei suddenly seemed to recall something. His expression changed slightly, and he silently returned the bullets. Li already reloaded a round of bullets and stared at the target sheet like a wolf. She stood without moving for a long time, then suddenly, she threw the pistol to Li Gaolei and said, ¡°Hey, give this freakish gun a try!¡± Afterwards, the pistol suddenly dropped from the sky, landing on the ground. The pistol¡¯s hammer was shaken, and the gun suddenly released a burst of smoke. A bullet flew out, striking the center of the target and completely blowing apart the damaged upper chest target sheet. Meanwhile, the tremendous recoil blasted the pistol back, not stopping until it struck against the wall. Li suddenly turned around and looked at Li Gaolei. She saw that Li Gaolei¡¯s face was a bit pale. A bead of sweat sliding down his face made its way through the layers of stubble with difficulty, and ultimately entered his collar. ¡°My bad. My mind wandered just now.¡± Li Gaolei¡¯s explanation was just as weak as his smile. Under Li¡¯s gaze, Li Gaolei awkwardly chuckled and asked, ¡°The mission this time, did you bring that pistol with you?¡± Seeing Li¡¯s grimacing expression, it was clear that this question struck right at her sore spot. During the battle, Li used this pistol to fire a round of six bullets. The amount of power it produced surpassed even the group¡¯s two anti-aircraft machine guns, yet not a single one hit its mark. This pistol¡¯s tremendous power and its abysmal accuracy became a topic of discussion. If this happened to someone else, this would have definitely become a long term matter for ridicule. However, this was Li¡¯s personal command, so all of the soldiers were well aware of Li¡¯s terrifying power. Therefore, the problem had to lie in the gun. As a result, the topic during idol chatter became the origins of this gun. This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there. Little did they imagine that this subject pissed Li off even more than her terrible aim. Unfortunately, Li couldn¡¯t flip out over this. As a result, as soon as she returned to Pendulum City, Li immediately headed for the underground shooting range to test the gun. Li Gaolei recalled the terrifying scene on the doctor¡¯s computer screen. He then looked at the two cases of 5.56 millimeter bullets that came from the same place, and he suddenly released a laugh. He walked over to the wall and picked up the modified pistol. Walking over to the shooting platform, he immediately fired five shots in succession with a raise of his hand! The enormous gunshot sounds reverberated through the shooting range, to a point where quite a bit of dust even fell from the ceiling. Li Gaolei¡¯s results were quite a bit better than Li¡¯s, with two shots hitting out of five. The remaining three were not that far from the target either. However, this result was enough to make Li Gaolei frown. For him, whose simple weapon proficiency had already reached the fourth level, after getting used to the trajectory, his shots within this fifty meter range should not have deviated more than three millimeters. This signified that every single bullet could land in the bullet hole of the former bullet. However, this pistol was too unusual. Every single bullet¡¯s fired trajectory was different, so even with Li Gaolei¡¯s instant reaiming ability, he still could not correct every shot. Being able to land two shots was already quite amazing. After emptying the barrel, Li Gaolei removed the ammunition case and carefully inspected the pistol¡¯s composition. The sample he gave Doctor Lawston was precisely from this pistol. If he was infected by the intruder cells, then who knows what kind of monster he would have transformed into. Moreover, this pistol had already been at Li¡¯s side for several days. From what he had seen of the intruder cells¡¯ life cycle, the cells on the pistol should have long died out. Moreover, he touched this pistol at the very beginning, and he had just touched the bullets too. If there truly were still some intruder cells alive, then he wouldn¡¯t be able to escape them. Thus, Li Gaolei understood. The craftsmanship of this pistol was rather crude. For the sake of accommodating rifle bullets, all of the modified components were handmade. Moreover, the precision wasn¡¯t that high, and from just a glance, it was clear that it wasn¡¯t the work of any great master. It seemed to be a gun produced by some black market weapon creator in a random inhabited land. Even the front sight of the pistol was crooked, and the original owner of the gun did not calibrate it at all. It was clear that he couldn¡¯t make use of this front sight at all. It could be said that other than its great power, there was nothing good about this pistol. Moreover, a large portion of its power came from the carvings made on the bullets. Li Gaolei pulled over a display screen from the side of the shooting platform and pressed a few times on top of it, bringing up the high speed recording of the trajectory. From the display, he could see that when the bullet flew roughly fifty meters, it already completely exploded, turning into several dozen high speed metal granules. Even though the penetrative force of the bullets decreased, the potential it had of killing living organism was improved several tens of times. However, as a result, the bullet¡¯s trajectory already became unsteady after ten meters. ¡°Look,¡± Li Gaolei said towards Li, ¡°I believe that the pretty boy of yours would only use this pistol within twenty meters.¡± Li received the pistol and casually inserted it into her waist. The moment the gun left her hands, Li¡¯s sharp senses detected a sudden exhale from Li Gaolei. She looked at him with a strange expression, as this action left her somewhat confused. Li put away the bullets and walked out of the shooting range. When she walked past Li Gaolei, she patted his chest and said, ¡°Thanks! I¡¯m going to shower first, then let¡¯s go for lunch, my treat!¡± Looking at Li¡¯s back, Li Gaolei couldn¡¯t help but say, ¡°Hey, you¡¯ve left for several days, I think it¡¯s better if the doctor tests your blood to avoid...¡± Li stopped her steps and looked strangely at Li Gaolei. Li Gaolei rubbed the beard around his lips that felt like steel wires and said in a dismissive manner, ¡°I¡¯ve heard that recently, there are many types of new mutated creatures. After leaving for so long, it¡¯s better if you examine yourself. Just in case!¡± Li frowned and impatiently said, ¡°You are getting more and more annoying! Alright, I¡¯ll go and test my blood in a bit. Lunch will still be on me, but you are paying for the booze!¡± After speaking, Li didn¡¯t even turn her head around before walking out. With a clang sound, a coin sprung up from Li¡¯s left hand. It quickly turned, releasing a pleasant ringing sound. It seemed like it was just about to hit the ceiling before it dropped down and once again disappeared within Li¡¯s left hand. Li had already left the shooting range for a while, yet Li Gaolei still felt like the coin was spinning in the air. The continuously flickering radiance was extremely blinding. CHAPTER 24 When noon had just passed, the wilderness was still blistering hot despite the fact that the sun was concealed behind the clouds the entire time. In a part of the wilderness that could be considered rather flat, two shabby looking loading trucks continuously roared as they made their way forward. Their speed wasn¡¯t much faster than that of walking humans. The truck was loaded with people, and even the roof of the driving compartment had two people sitting in it. Their hands were holding AK rifles that were a hundred years past their time of popularity, and they were currently vigilantly running their eyes around the seemingly boundless wilderness. Thirty or so people followed behind the truck. These people ranged from both fat and skinny, and there were all types of things worn on their bodies. The weapons in their arms didn¡¯t match either, to the point where some of them even had firearms designed only for killing birds. They all had lifeless looks in their eyes as they walked through the torrid heat in a robotic fashion. The two trucks were separated at the two ends of the procession. The front was to pave the way, and the back was for providing support, preventing those in between from escaping. Su carried the eye-catching modified rifle close to him. He moved along with the truck, shaking back and forth as he leaned against the side of the carriage. He sat on the back of the truck, occupying a space that was relatively good. There were a few others that were like him that took up a position that was close to the side, all of which were fierce-looking fellows. As for everyone else on the carriage, they could only crowd together. The fierce looking fellows were all fighters with one level of ability, so within this randomly assembled troop, they could be considered people that no one was willing to provoke. Meanwhile, the reason the relative frail-looking Su received similar treatment was due to the modified rifle in his hands. These veterans that experienced many battles clearly understood that during an intense battle, the sniper would frequently save their lives. They were not willing to pointlessly exhaust the strength of a sniper along the way. As a result, Su was able to close his eyes and rest on the truck without paying any extra cost. Su¡¯s body was already completely relaxed, but his brain never stopped working. He continuously thought about the state of his own body. Fighting against Li allowed him to free up two complete evolution points, and even the hour long intense struggle of flesh improved a bit of his evolution capabilities. After the battle, watching Li, who had already exhausted every last shred of fighting strength, collapse bit by bit under his attacks gave him a sense of conquering that merged with his feelings of pleasure. It left Su with an incredibly shocking feeling. Could it be that excessively powerful stimulation could also bring about evolution? Su carefully thought about this question. For everything regarding evolution, Su always approached it with machine-like precision and a serious attitude. He definitely would not allow any of his emotions to get in the way. Right now, he had six evolution points, so as long as he obtained two more, he could evolve the infrared vision. Only after obtaining infrared vision could he be considered the true king of night. However, before he obtained the evolution points, he had to obtain money. Su had long since become penniless. The coin he gave Li was the last bit of money on him. Of course, things like ammunition and plated armor were not included here. In reality, only impoverished mercenaries like Su would treat these like treasure. For those like Li who were high level figures within a large company, they couldn¡¯t care less about these things. Su found an inhabited area that he had visited in the past and also accepted a mob subjugation mission. Within the wilderness, there were mobs everywhere, and they only seemed to increase in numbers. It was impossible to completely eliminate them. The reward for this mission was extremely meager. Soldiers like Su who had specialized equipment and abilities received the highest level of reward, yet it was only a hundred yuan. The refugees walking between the two trucks, other than their rather sturdy figures and their weapon, didn¡¯t have any other equipments. They were going to be the first line of offense on the battlefield, yet their reward didn¡¯t exceed twenty yuan. However, those that signed up were still several times more than what was needed, and most of these only had reinforced steel bars or wooden sticks as weapons. The chief of the inhabited land only chose thirty armed refugees, as his budget was extremely limited. The meaning of money was different for everyone. For these refugees, twenty yuan mean that they did not have to worry about food for an entire month. As for places to live, they could sleep anywhere in the wilderness, and there were many places in the inhabited area to take shelter from winds and rain. For Su, however, a hundred yuan was only equivalent to twenty rounds of modified bullets. Even if he didn¡¯t participate in a mission, Su would still expend several dozen bullets in a day while roaming the wilderness. Su¡¯s current poverty was extremely severe, yet he couldn¡¯t return to Asmo to accept missions. As a result, he could only accept missions like these with laughable rewards. For as long as he could remember, Su knew that his body was different from that of others. During the new age of turmoil, everything was mutating, to the point where even a married couple living together would show great genetic differences after ten years. However, Su knew that his own body was different from these mutating people. His body was flexible and nimble, to a point where he could control every single part of his body. Levels of radiation that were deadly for others were endurable by Su. After living for a while in a vile and harsh place, his body was correspondingly adapt and changed, increasing his tolerance to this environment. Through his days of wandering alone, as Su¡¯s understanding of abilities improved, he determined that even though he did not undergo any Combat Domain strengthening, he possessed at least a level of ability in every single ability category. Su slowly adjusted his body¡¯s condition. His breathing, heart rate, and body temperature all slowly decreased in an effort to preserve every bit of strength. When he arrived in the inhabited area, he did not replenish any food, and his water supply had long been emptied. Only after this mission finished would he be able to restock food and drink. It wasn¡¯t like Su never looted mobs in the wilderness, but the targets of his plunder were never places that were going to become his employer¡¯s land. In this era, perhaps survival was the only principle, but when he still had a bit of power, Su still prefered to follow his few principles, for example, paying a woman after making love. During this era of disorder, where power was above all else, women were especially frail. Su¡¯s money perhaps might allow them to survive a bit longer. This story has been unlawfully obtained without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon. Of course, this wasn¡¯t the case for Li. The fleet traveled for three hours, and the ground had started to become uneven. Not far off, a collapsed highway could be seen, and from time to time, abandoned countryside villas emerged. They had travelled for such a long time, yet they didn¡¯t see any signs of the refugee mob. Even the soldiers on top of the truck were in low spirits, and the armed refugees travelling on foot were even moreso approaching exhaustion. Su suddenly widened his eyes! His heart began to beat forcefully, and his body temperature quickly climbed. In just a few seconds, he transitioned from a near hibernating state to a completely awake, pre-combat state. The few veterans on the same car had also struggled between life and death repeatedly, so when they saw Su¡¯s transformation, they also became alert and looked out towards both sides. Ta ta ta! Heavy and forceful gunshots suddenly sounded. A few fist-sized holes immediately appeared on the truck¡¯s body. A huge expanse of dark blood splashed onto the dashboard glass and slowly snaked their ways downwards. The reeking smell of blood filled the air. The armed refugees in the center of the fleet also fell. The commander of this fleet jumped out from the rear truck¡¯s driving position and laid on the ground. In a loud voice, he shouted, ¡°Dammit! Heavy machine gun! Get down, all of you bastards, get down! Sniper, get rid of that son of a bitch!¡± Before his shouting voice stopped ringing, an extremely rough sounding gunshot resounded in the skies above the troop. As if to respond to his command, the heavy machine gun firing from an abandoned villa a hundred meters out ceased firing. The results were so good that they surpassed the commander¡¯s most optimistic imaginations. He fiercely hammered his fist on the ground and roared, ¡°Well done!¡± The firing of weapons continuously sounded from both sides. There were at least ten guns that were firing madly at the fleet, and the frantic screaming was even more resounding than the concentrated gunshots. Bullets rained down, suppressing the barely armed refugees until they didn¡¯t dare to lift their heads. Apart from a few veterans who were able to nimbly find bunkers between the truck and its doors to retaliate with some fire, the remaining people were practically shooting with their eyes closed, praying that their bullets would somehow hit their enemies. As for where the enemies were, they had absolutely no idea. Su laid on the ground, and his earthen cloak was extremely close to the ground. However, in a battlefield where bullets flew everywhere, this did not guarantee his safety. Only luck could truly ensure such a thing. The rifle fired once again, and the most vicious assault rifle in one of the houses immediately became silenced. The shooting sound of Su¡¯s rifle was truly too frightening. Each time it fired, another weapon would be silenced; when the gunshot sounded, there would be an enemy that lost their life. In addition, the gunshots sounded one after another, shooting with a frequency that was not like that of a sniper at all. It seemed like this sniper didn¡¯t even need to aim at all. The morale of the fleet¡¯s men immediately received a great boost, and the few veterans even soared out from the ground. They seized the openings between their enemy¡¯s shooting to outflank the refugees hiding within the buildings at both sides. Enemies entered Su¡¯s sight one after another, and they left his vision one after another. Their expressions were each completely different. Meanwhile, the expression of Su¡¯s green eye was steady and calm as he watched these people¡¯s lives vanish one after another. Ta ta! The heavy and dreadful heavy machine gun began to fire once again. The bodies of the two veterans that rushed up in front immediately went rigid. A spring of blood erupted from their chests out their back. The others once again lay on the ground without daring to lift their heads. Su moved his gun almost the instant he heard the heavy machine gun¡¯s shooting, placing the shooter within his scope. However, the finger around the trigger wasn¡¯t immediately pressed. The one operating the machine gun seemed to be a little girl that was only eleven or twelve years old. She had a delicate and pretty appearance that was rare among refugees, and her large eyes had some tear stains that hadn¡¯t dried yet. She bit down fiercely, and strands of blood flowed between her teeth. The firing of the heavy machine gun made her face that was full of bitterness flash between dark and light. From this little girl¡¯s face, Su seemed to vaguely see another expression, one that belonged to a little girl that he had almost forgotten about. Just when Su was hesitating, another miserable sound could be heard. A soldier that was lying on the ground was caught by a heavy machine gun bullet, and several streaks of blood flew outwards. Su¡¯s pupils shrunk into a cross again, and the gunpoint moved slightly, and the trigger was pulled. The modified bullet carried tremendous force, directly flying towards the muzzle of the heavy machine gun! The howling of the heavy machine gun immediately stopped. Then, it abruptly exploded, and burning fragments flew in all directions! The little girl stood for a few seconds before backing up. A piece of the heavy machine gun was deeply embedded within her forehead. Su buried his face into the earth that was suffused with the smell of gunpowder. The battle quickly ended. This region was where this group of refugees resided. The fleet¡¯s fighters began to search the houses, and regardless of whether they resisted or not, adult or child, in the end, they met the same fate without exception: death. This was the usual practice of the wilderness. Any inhabited area¡¯s capacity revolved around the amount of food and water supply. They did not have any extra for captives. The younger women among the refugees might still have some uses, but men would only be a burden. Most inhabited areas didn¡¯t have production capacity, so they did not have any need of manpower. As for the refugees¡¯ children, that was a source of hatred. They definitely would not be spared. Su leaned against the carriage truck and smoked the final cigarette on him. He did not participate in the refugee¡¯s search, and there was no need for him to either. In the fight just now, he completely proved himself. If he didn¡¯t dismantle the machine gun twice, the one that was completely defeated would have been their fleet. Right now, even those condescending veterans were full of respect towards Su. They knew that the continued firing couldn¡¯t have been done by a sniper of the first level. The commander walked over to Su¡¯s side. When he saw that Su¡¯s cigarette was nearing its end, he handed over another and lit it. He asked, ¡°Are you uncomfortable?¡± ¡°A bit tired.¡± The commander was already approaching fifty years of age. He established the inhabited area after experiencing over ten years of combat. Just now, he already inspected the machine gun¡¯s position, so he understood Su¡¯s current mood a bit. After all, the refugee mob this time was a bit different than in the past. Their bodies lacked rotted parts, and their faces weren¡¯t too different from other humans. In reality, ten years ago, the men that the commander brought about in search of a home weres just like this group they encountered today. The winds stirred up the commander¡¯s gray hair. His face that was full of scars had an understanding smile. For this type of smile, the corners of the mouth pointed downwards. As he watched the residences where gunshots would still sound from time to time, the commander blew out smoke from his mouth and said, ¡°Your performance today was truly excellent. I highly doubt that you are just a first level sniper. Haha, you don¡¯t need to worry. I don¡¯t want to know anything. When we return, your reward is 200 yuan. I don¡¯t think anyone will object.¡± Su forced a laugh and said, ¡°This is the best news I¡¯ve heard these past few days.¡± CHAPTER 25 After obtaining his reward, all of the 200 yuan was exchanged for pure water, food, and ammunition. Su did not have any intention of staying in this inhabited area. After some simple replenishment, he prepared to leave. Within the map in Su¡¯s consciousness, this place was a hundred kilometers from Asmo, so it was rather close. Even though Li did not seem to want his life, she was still sufficiently troublesome. Moreover, Su had a bad premonition that she would bring him great trouble. As a result, Su chose to leave. Before leaving, Su would walk around and visit every corner of the habitat out of habit. Every detail would be recorded in his mental map. Based on the coordinates, he marked this habitat as K7. As soon as he thought of this, next to the area that corresponded to the inhabited land appeared the marking K7. Habitat K7¡¯s commander hoped for Su to stay. Su¡¯s performance proved just how crucial a sniper was to the outcome of a battle. Of course, Su¡¯s refusal was not outside of what he expected. Only a large company could have the ability of making someone like Su stay. Habitat K7 was just too small and poor. In the previous battle, their opponent¡¯s strength was exceedingly strong. Being able to hire Su for 200 yuan was something the commander thought to be fortunate. If he hadn¡¯t, the end result might have been completely different. With Su¡¯s combat performance, the commander estimated that hiring him would cost at least 500 yuan, but K7 definitely didn¡¯t have this amount of money. Within the darkness of night, Su left Habitat K7 and headed west. Before he left, the commander gave Su a map, and a certain location was marked on it. It was the location site of a mercenary group called Falcon. Falcon¡¯s head was a former war comrade of the commander, so what the commander was implying was that if Su lacked money, it was worth heading there to try his luck. No matter where it was, good snipers were always welcomed. Early morning arrived as usual in Pendulum City. The sky had just brightened, yet the military anthem was already resounding above the eastern region¡¯s skies. Soldiers began to march and exercise under the light of dawn. Li stood on the rooftop of a five floor building and coldly watched her soldiers complete their drills. She was standing on the defensive wall surrounding the building, so the slightest bit of carelessness might cause her to fall. Even a soldier with three levels in the Combat Domain would not casually stand in such a place. If they fell down, even though they wouldn¡¯t die, breaking a few bones was unavoidable. Pendulum City¡¯s environment was comparatively better than that of the surrounding areas. The amount of radiation and pollution was comparatively less here as well. Even though these soldiers didn¡¯t undergo any immunity strengthening, they were all healthy and robust, so they could completely endure radiation that was even a level higher. Contrary to how the era of turmoil emphasized individual combat strength, Li highly valued the military training of the olden age. In addition, she paid particular attention to the soldiers¡¯ teamwork and equipment quality. It could be said that eighty percent of Roxland Company¡¯s northern region funds were used on this troop under Li. Yet, the amount of profits earned by this group wasn¡¯t even enough to support the lives of fifty people under Li. It hadn¡¯t even been three months since Roxland Company¡¯s northern region was established, yet there were already five hundred men under Li¡¯s command. It seemed like half of Roxland Company¡¯s elite troops were assigned here, and it was clear that they hadn¡¯t been gathered just for the sake of Base N11. Under Li¡¯s command, the more people there were, the more powerful they became. The number of armed refugees and mobs might number in thousands upon thousands, yet these 500 elites of Li could easily sweep through them. Within Roxland Company¡¯s northern region, Li Gaolei supervised the agents while Li controlled the armed forces. Of course, many of these agents possessed powerful individualized abilities, or else they wouldn¡¯t have any footing in the wilderness. Contrary to Grace Company¡¯s Asmo, Pendulum City did not welcome outsiders, and the northern region did not do business with the outside world. After selecting Pendulum City to be the base, Li used half a month of time to clean up the entire city, and another half a month to clear up the underground tunnels. All of the tunnels they couldn¡¯t use were blown up with explosives. They then set the surrounding ten kilometers around Pendulum City as forbidden land. Refugees naturally couldn¡¯t reside within this area, and not even those from other companies or inhabited areas could pass through this place. Even if they were mercenaries or hunters with a license issued by Roxland Company, if they didn¡¯t have a mission that involved an area within these ten kilometers, they were similarly refused entry. Those that ignored these rules would suffer the attacks of Roxland Company¡¯s guards. Within the wilderness, being attacked often meant death. The light of dawn gradually became brighter. The scene of smoke and dust rising could vaguely be seen in the distance. The sentinel placed inside the highest construct within Pendulum City¡¯s border noticed this abnormality. Through the binoculars, the individual could vaguely make out a large vehicle fleet within the smoke and dust, and they were currently speeding on their way over. The sentinel immediately released the safety of the heavy machine gun, and at the same time the division was notified through a walkie-talkie. The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there. Not long after, the sentinel received a reply. This was the head office¡¯s fleet. It seems like the one that came this time was a great figure. At the center of the fleet were three old era style black recreational vehicles. Their protective force was made up of two armored vehicles that were filled with soldiers. For the sake of traveling through the wilderness that had practically no roads, these recreational vehicles had all undergone modifications. It was essential that the bottom of the cars could be raised at least a meter off the ground, and it needed enough horsepower to travel through anything that the armored vehicles could. No matter which era it was, imposing appearances could only be created through materialistic means. The fleet was still a kilometer away from Pendulum City, but Li Gaolei and Li were both already outside the city to welcome them. The one that got off the recreational vehicle was a white-haired elderly man that was already starting to put on weight. His light gray suit was well-ironed, and his shining black leather shoes were spotless. The smile on the elderly man¡¯s face seemed to always be there. Just from his outer appearance, he didn¡¯t seem to have any extraordinary ability. In this quickly changing era, the majority of people actually did not have any unique abilities. Since the ancient times, people were separated by talent, and in this age of turmoil, it was the same. Most people didn¡¯t have the natural talent for obtaining abilities. Even those that did would be restricted to a certain domain, and they would stop at the first level. Genetic evolution medicine allowed ordinary people without natural talent to develop evolution points and thus obtain abilities. However, the price and rarity of the medicine was an even greater barrier than talent itself, so ordinary people wouldn¡¯t be able to collect enough money to purchase a single dose of the medicine even if they saved for their whole life. However, if they were willing to do everything they could, and their luck was good enough, after a few battles, they might obtain an evolution point. Ever since humans developed wisdom, there were always two rules that had never changed. The first was that life was inherently unfair. The second was that through hard work, one could overcome this unfairness. However, what was ironic was that throughout history, most of the time, the result of this type of ¡®hard work¡¯ would only lead to a society that was even more unfair. Even though the elderly man had no abilities, Li and Li Gaolei were both extremely respectful towards him. This elder named Fazir was one of Roxland Company¡¯s founders, as well as one of the five current board members. He was a great figure whose words truly held power within the company. Behind Fazir were two brilliant youngsters. They wore the exact same dark black suits, and at their cuffs were two faint golden decorations. Their clothes were vastly different from what the other members of Roxland Company wore, and much more luxurious as well. They were well-fitted and exquisitely hand crafted, with the materials used being not much inferior to Fazir¡¯s own suit. Apparently, these two individuals weren¡¯t members of Roxland Company and belonged to another organization. Outside the city was naturally not the best place to talk. They returned to the vehicles and headed straight for the division¡¯s building. A short while later, they were all seated within the top floor¡¯s conference room. Every single middle or higher ranked supervisor was gathered to participate in this meeting. What was shocking was that those two youngsters who clearly weren¡¯t members of Roxland Company were also seated within this conference room. They didn¡¯t say a word and simply sat quietly at Fazir¡¯s side. The conference was rather short. Towards the northern division¡¯s achievements so far, Fazir was extremely satisfied. Moreover, in place of the company¡¯s upper echelon, he even raised the average salary by 30%. Following the meeting, Fazir had Li Gaolei stay behind. The division knew that there would be a secret discussion afterwards, and as a result, they all happily left. Even Li got up and left the conference room. However, those two youngsters stayed in the conference room, quietly sitting upright in the back row seats. Li Gaolei sat in front of the spacious conference room table, and without knowing why, he suddenly felt an uneasy feeling. Li Gaolei had already served the company for more than 11 years. He was extremely clear on how much power this seemingly always smiling, amiable, slow-looking elder had. In this world, power represented the authority one¡¯s words carried, and in terms of wisdom, it was hard for him to be on top. Those two youngsters drew Li Gaolei¡¯s curiosity. At the same time, he felt a sense of danger. The youngster on the left was tall and imposing, with a height that was not any less than his own. His shoulders were broad, and his body was so robust that it resembled a fort. His physique was extremely well proportioned and full of power. This youth looked like he was about twenty or so years old. He had a nose that seemed almost like it was sculpted, and a pair of hawk-like eyes. His expressionless face carried an undisguisable bit of arrogance. The other individual looked a bit younger, seeming to have just reached twenty or so years of age. He had rather unique looking gray hair, and his eyes were similarly a rarely seen ashy green color. He appeared rather different from his large and robust companion. This youngster was particularly quiet, to the point where he almost seemed a bit bashful. He was also looking curiously at Li Gaolei. Li Gaolei suddenly noticed a vague radiance flash through the depths of the youngster¡¯s eyes. At the same time, Li Gaolei felt as if his body had been doused with cold water. His intuition told him that this youngster had already completely seen through him. Fazir stood up and paced back and forth a few times. Then, he personally closed the conference room door. Upon returning to the conference table, he sat down. He repeatedly intertwined his fingers, and only after a long time did he sigh and say, ¡°During this period of time, I was extremely satisfied, but I was also extremely disappointed.¡± CHAPTER 26 Li Gaolei looked at the old man¡¯s movements and didn¡¯t say anything. He leaned on the back of his chair and casually asked, ¡°What do you mean?¡± Fazir brought out several photographs from his pockets and gently pushed them. The photographs glided across the glossy table and arrived in front of Li Gaolei. After just a glance, his face immediately changed. He hatefully cursed, ¡°That son of a bitch!¡± On the green background, there were pictures of intruder cells and dead cells everywhere. This was the image Li Gaolei saw back then on the doctor¡¯s computer screen. All of the pictures were of this scene. Fazir removed his glasses and used a white handkerchief to carefully wipe them. The seemingly muddled eyes looked at Li Gaolei. ¡°When I saw these pictures, I was extremely disappointed. During these past two days, I haven¡¯t been able to sleep properly at all. I¡¯ve always been thinking about this matter. You have to understand that I¡¯ve always had a favorable impression of you and personally brought you up to your current position. Don¡¯t you think that you owe me an explanation and tell me exactly what happened? Was this some wild scheme or something else?¡± Li Gaolei didn¡¯t reply and instead looked towards the two youngsters behind Fazir. He asked, ¡°These two are?¡± Fazir shifted his body and pointed towards the two youngsters. ¡°Ha! It seems like I¡¯ve truly become old, forgetting to even do introductions. This one is Mister Laiknar, and this one is Mister O¡¯Brien. They are both members of the Black Dragonrider, and they¡¯ve come specifically for this... intruder cell incident.¡± When their names were mentioned by Fazir, the two youngsters stood up and lightly greeted Li Gaolei. They displayed a rather refined etiquette. When the gray-haired youth bowed, a melodious and sweet-sounding voice could be heard. ¡°Black Dragonriders first class soldier, O¡¯Brien.¡± The other person followed suit and said, ¡°Black Dragonriders lower member, Laiknar Fabregas.¡± O¡¯Brien earnestly made his greetings, while Laiknar¡¯s carried a hint of arrogance. It seemed like he was particularly proud of his family name. Li Gaolei didn¡¯t know whether there really was a family named Fabregas or not, but from Laiknar¡¯s expression, it was most likely a well known name. However, as for what kind of family Fabregas was, it was already no longer important. When he heard the words Black Dragonriders, Li Gaolei¡¯s eyes immediately twitched. He originally wanted to light a cigarette, but his match didn¡¯t produce any flames even after several attempts. Li Gaolei stared at Fazir and asked, ¡°If my assumptions aren¡¯t wrong, you should already have people investigating this branch, right?¡± Fazir reached out a hand and said, ¡°There hasn¡¯t been a big fuss made over this, and there is no need for such actions either. After all, other than you and Lawston, no one else knows about this. Li is still a child, so I don¡¯t think she knows about it either. If she didn¡¯t get infected by this... intruder cell, then there is no need for her to know.¡± Li Gaolei crumpled the cigarette that hadn¡¯t been lit. WIth a voice that was clearly a bit hoarse, he asked, ¡°What do you want me to do?¡± Fazir¡¯s body that was putting on weight leaned backwards, and with a smile, he said, ¡°This is how it should be. You know the source of the intruder cells, so what you need to do is aid these two Black Dragonriders in finding the origin. Oh, right, I almost forgot to tell you. The most important part of our cooperation with the Black Dragonriders is honesty. In order to make sure that this honesty is not broken, Sally has already been sent to the Black Dragonriders to receive a year¡¯s time of free education. I can promise that it will definitely be the Black Dragonriders¡¯ standard education. This is something that many families and companies offer large amounts of money for, yet they can only beg without receiving any opportunity.¡± This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it ¡°Sally!¡± Li Gaolei¡¯s eyes abruptly widened. His messy short hair seemed to completely stand up straight! However, Fazir was still all smiles, as if he didn¡¯t receive any of Li Gaolei¡¯s pressure. The roaring tiger immediately restrained his anger and abruptly sat back down. Fazir smiled and said, ¡°This is how it should be. The benefits of staying a year with the Black Dragonriders will leave endless benefits on Sally¡¯s life. Moreover, she is already thirteen years old, so if her body¡¯s mutated tissues doesn¡¯t receive treatment, she will be changed forever. The Black Dragonriders have already promised to completely cure her. You know that Roxland doesn¡¯t have that kind of technology.¡± Li Gaolei¡¯s weakness was attacked once again. His expression distorted, and his breathing became so heavy that it resembled a steam train. His head was deeply buried within his two hands. Only after a bit of time had passed did he raise his head and say in an overcast voice, ¡°Let Li go.¡± Fazir smiled delightfully and said, ¡°I¡¯ve already said that Li is still a child. Moreover, she is extremely talented. The company needs her.¡± At this time, Laiknar stood up and said with a smile, ¡°I am glad that we are able to cooperate. Right now, I need to know all of the details concerning to how you¡¯ve obtained the intruder cell specimen.¡± A while later, a colored sketch of Su appeared in front of Li Gaolei. He had to admit that this portrait was close to perfection, especially the calm green eye that seemed to hide a volcano. It made Li Gaolei feel as if Su was truly standing right in front of him. This image was produced by O¡¯Brien¡¯s hands. The quiet and even a bit bashful young first class soldier possessed a one-of-a-kind talent for the arts. Purely based on Li Gaolei¡¯s oral recount, his colored pencils produced this near perfect replica after making only a few changes. Laiknar carefully looked at Su¡¯s portrait and said, ¡°His outward appearance is rather distinctive. It shouldn¡¯t be hard to find him. Mister Li Gaolei, we need the assistance of your men. If they ever receive news of this individual, they should immediately report to us. We are preparing a few vehicles right now and are heading for Asmo first.¡± Li Gaolei looked at Laiknar. Even though this individual¡¯s arrogance was a bit discomforting, his strength was undoubtedly great. Despite merely standing next to him, Li Gaolei felt a prickling sensation on his skin. ¡°Do you need reinforcements? This Su is rather hard to deal with,¡± said Li Gaolei. Laiknar gave O¡¯Brien a glance and calmly replied, ¡°There is no need. We¡¯ve brought our own men. No matter how troublesome this Su is, as long as we can find his traces, me and O¡¯Brien will be enough to deal with him. All you need to do is provide transportation and show the way.¡± An hour later, Li Gaolei left the general headquarters building on his off-road vehicle and sped along the road that led outside the city. The one sitting next to him in the front was Laiknar, and O¡¯Brien occupied the machine gun¡¯s operating position. They looked left and right along the way, observing Pendulum City with great interest. When the off-road vehicle passed the western plaza, Li was standing on the rooftop, coldly watching the soldiers do their drills. Her fluttering maroon-colored hair was extremely noticeable. Laiknar¡¯s eyes were focused on Li, engraving every single one of her curves into his memory. From the moment he first saw her, Li¡¯s slender yet powerful legs gave Laiknar an extremely profound impression. Only when the off-road vehicle turned the corner and he could no longer see Li did he retract his gaze. He laughed and said to O¡¯Brien, ¡°I truly never thought that a small place like this would even have such a babe! When we finish what we have to do, I have to find a way to have a night with her. But to be honest, once might not be enough! Regardless, do you have any interest? If you do, I¡¯ll leave her to you!¡± O¡¯Brien frowned. He keenly noticed a shred of anger that was difficult to sense seep out from Li Gaolei¡¯s body. Towards Laiknar¡¯s question, he calmly said, ¡°I already have someone I like.¡± Laiknar laughed out loud and said, ¡°Hey! There¡¯s no need to be so strict with yourself. Isn¡¯t the point of coming out to relax? Alright, alright, let¡¯s not talk about this subject anymore. However, I truly want to know what kind of person could move a fellow like you.¡± O¡¯Brien laughed gently and didn¡¯t answer this question. CHAPTER 27 Laiknar and O¡¯Brien each brought along five subordinates, and they drove four off-road vehicles closely behind Li Gaolei¡¯s car. Their group moved quickly towards Asmo. Li Gaolei noticed that other than the pistols the subordinates carried, they didn¡¯t bring any other firearm. Laiknar and O¡¯Brien didn¡¯t even have a single firearm on them. At midnight, the fleet arrived at Asmo and even woke up the calm small town from its slumber. After simply stating the purpose of their visit, Laiknar and O¡¯Brien inspected the room Su stayed in before. Moreover, they questioned everyone that Su had come into contact with, including Berne. Some of the items that Su had previously used were collected and carefully isolated. Laiknar¡¯s subordinates seemed to all emphasize strength, while O¡¯Brien¡¯s included a biochemist, a machine master, communications and electronics specialist, a hunter, and a single soldier. Su¡¯s relations within Asmo were not particularly good or bad. Many people were fond of this quiet yet mysterious youngster, and they were particularly curious about his enchanting eye. There were also a similar amount of people who loathed Su, hating that excessively beautiful eye. No matter what kind of person it was, when they saw the Black Dragonriders¡¯ imposing manner and Grace Company¡¯s silence, they understood that Su was out of luck. Those that hated Su were obviously ecstatic, adding more fuel to the flames when questioned by adding more accusations. They wanted him to die even sooner. Those that liked Su didn¡¯t want to cooperate at first, but they ended up suffering quite a bit because of it. Laiknar¡¯s personnel were all torture connoisseurs. Even Berne¡¯s will only lasted half a minute, because after a simple questioning, Laiknar¡¯s subordinates had already pulled off two of his fingernails. The only one that opposed them to the end was a female, the woman who tried to seduce Su within the bar. Her appearance wasn¡¯t bad at all, but it wasn¡¯t what Laiknar preferred. Either from growing up in the wilderness or from the activity she indulged in during recent years for her livelihood, Laiknar smelled the scent of variation from her body, and as a result, he no longer had any interest. Moreover, he was someone who didn¡¯t have much patience to begin with, so after a few minutes, the hotel that the interrogation took place in gave off a sinister red fiery light, as well as a woman¡¯s miserable cries. When O¡¯Brien and Li Gaolei hurried over, they only saw Laiknar¡¯s indifferent face and a woman¡¯s charred black corpse. O¡¯Brien sighed, but he didn¡¯t say anything. The fleet made some simple preparations, resupplying some water and fuel. They also rested for two hours. Once twilight arrived, they sped towards Asmo¡¯s jungle. The woman that died was reportedly a relative of Grace Company¡¯s boss. However, from the start of the process until the fleet left Asmo, not a single face from Grace Company¡¯s upper echelon could be seen. Under the sky¡¯s light that wasn¡¯t all that bright, O¡¯Brien and the hunter under him carefully searched the forest. O¡¯Brien¡¯s subordinate was the best of all the hunters Li Gaolei had ever seen. It was as if he knew everything in this forest like the back of his hand. Even though several days had already passed, that hunter seemed to advance exactly along the route that Li took. Moreover, he even noticed a few tree branches that were shattered by a bullet. The rather silent O¡¯Brien and the hunter seemed to gaze towards a small building in the distance at almost the same time. Li Gaolei stood at the very end of the party, but he was able to understand what was going on. Laiknar¡¯s strength lied purely in his physical strength, while O¡¯Brien was harder to see through. The gray-haired, gray eyed, pure-looking youngster seemed to grasp just too many things, including drawing skills which were completely useless in the wilderness. However, as for exactly what ability O¡¯Brien had and what level that ability had reached, he had absolutely no idea. The hunter and O¡¯Brien spent half an hour to search the small building, and finally, they entered the room where Su and Li fought fiercely. As soon as they entered the room, the experienced hunter took a whiff of this area. He could faintly smell Su¡¯s scent. Something like this was rarely accomplished. You have to understand that they reached this area purely by relying on Li¡¯s trail. In the entire forest, Su didn¡¯t seem to leave them the slightest clue. The ones that could enter the room were the hunter and O¡¯Brien; everyone else had to remain outside in order to avoid losing their trail. After the hunter examined the entire room, his gaze landed on a long table leaning against the wall. The area between the table and the wall had clear damage, with large scratches marked on the wall. The marks were rather fresh, as if the table and the wall had experienced an extended period of collision and grinding. The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation. The hunter brought out several spray bottles from his knapsack and alternately sprayed them on the long table. Then, he took out a pair of lenses and carefully inspected this area. Through the lens¡¯ filtering, a blurry outline of an individual¡¯s upper body emerged on top of the table. Curves undulated throughout, and the body¡¯s framework seemed to be relatively more delicate, so it should belong to a female. At the outline¡¯s edges were continuous multi-colored streaks. These streaks represented different moments in time, allowing the origin and movement of these traces to be determined . After looking over these traces, the hunter already had a rough idea of what happened. He then handed the lenses to O¡¯Brien. O¡¯Brien received the lenses and took a look, and when he did so, his brows slightly creased. Obviously, he knew what happened as well. After thinking for a moment, O¡¯Brien cast a look over towards the hunter and shook his head. The hunter was a bit shocked, but unconditionally obeying his masters was the duty and responsibility of a subordinate. When Laiknar and Li Gaolei were finally allowed to enter, the mist that had been sprayed on the table had already evaporated. What they knew was that an intense struggle had taken place in this room. As for the traces Su left behind, the main thing was his scent. For the hunter who had strengthened three levels into smell, he could distinguish Su¡¯s tracks purely through the faint smell. If Su had covered it up, then there wouldn¡¯t be any traces here. However, areas that Su has rested in before, especially the places where he relaxed both his body and spirit, would still have a bit more traces left behind. What Laiknar did not know was what had happened on the the table. He wasn¡¯t aware of the intense, hour-long struggle that took place. Laiknar thought for a period of time before saying, ¡°Su doesn¡¯t have the pistol anymore, and he doesn¡¯t seem like someone that carries a backup. In that case, the first thing he should do is replace a close quarters weapon. Therefore, we should find clues in nearby inhabited areas. Kang Wen, bring up all of the surrounding inhabited areas.¡± The electronics specialist that O¡¯Brien brought along took out a centimeter thick laptop. After opening it and pressing a few times, a map emerged. From the markings on the map, there were three inhabited areas within a range of a hundred kilometers. Laiknar casually drew out a semicircle on the map that linked the three inhabited areas together and said, ¡°We¡¯ll search these areas out one by one in this order.¡± The biochemist inserted his opinion here, saying, ¡°I believe that we should search this forest first and make sure that the intruder cell didn¡¯t originate from this place before pursuing this person.¡± Laiknar slightly frowned and said, ¡°Let¡¯s do it this way. O¡¯Brien will be in charge of searching this area, while I go after Su. After completing the search here, hurry and regroup with the rest of us. O¡¯Brien, what do you think?¡± O¡¯Brien nodded and said, ¡°I will need two days here. After two days, I will look for you.¡± The matter was agreed upon like this. While Laiknar¡¯s group left the forest, Su was currently helplessly looking at the cup of strong alcohol in front of him. The alcohol¡¯s scent was extremely strong, and it was from the olden era. Even though it wasn¡¯t some extremely expensive wine, the amount of time that had passed already made this cup of alcohol precious. A vague spiciness could be detected from the alcohol¡¯s scent, and Su¡¯s skin also felt a bit of prickling. This drink¡¯s radiation was still passable, and adults living in the wilderness could tolerate it. Of course, the longer the amount of time that passed, the more it might change. However, for mercenaries, who knew if they would even live to see the day their own bodies mutated? Around the table sat twelve robust, husky men who looked like tigers and wolves. Each and every one of them had noticeable scars on their exposed skin. The head of this group was already more than forty years old, and his body was so large that it could completely smother Su. The table was extremely refined, another item from the olden area. The house, however, was simple and crude with cracks on all four sides. The food on the table mainly consisted of various types of barbecued meat ranging from vicious rats, rotting wolves, to who knew what kind of creature¡¯s meat chunks. There was a lot of meat, but only a single bottle of wine. Moreover, half of the bottle had already been poured into Su¡¯s cup, leaving Su with a bitter laugh. These robust men around this table with clothes that weren¡¯t much different from those of refugees and beggars were precisely the renowned Falcon Mercenaries. The beaten headquarters and the food that was only slightly better than what the roaming refugees ate was what they used to welcome Su. The Falcon Mercenaries were extremely well known in the surrounding area, as their mission completion rate and efficiency were quite good. However, even though the mercenary industry was one with an extremely high mortality rate, the Falcon Mercenaries didn¡¯t abandon their injured members like other mercenary groups and instead gathered in a nearby inhabited land to recover. This was an extremely large expense and practically used up all of the Falcon Mercenaries¡¯ income. Not everyone approved of the falcons¡¯ leader, so to this day, this group only had twelve members remaining. For the sake of earning more money, the falcons had no choice but to risk their lives for the surrounding organizations and accept a few dangerous missions that other mercenaries would hesitate before accepting, such as fighting at the front lines of a battle. Looking at the full cup of wine if front of him, Su truly didn¡¯t know what was the best thing to say. He didn¡¯t particularly like to drink, especially strong inferior wine, but what was in front of him was the group¡¯s final bottle of alcohol. He didn¡¯t exactly know how to refuse it. CHAPTER 28 It really was as K7¡¯s commander said: snipers were welcome anywhere, especially in mercenary groups like the falcons. With long range explosion weapons being rarely seen nowadays, snipers were the main force in suppressing the other side¡¯s firepower. As soon as he arrived in the falcons¡¯ headquarters and stated that he was introduced by K7¡¯s commander, he immediately received the falcons¡¯ enthusiastic welcome. They immediately asked Su to join the falcons. What K7¡¯s commander failed to mention last time was that he and the leader of the falcons were friends during their youth, and both of them trusted each other with their lives. Even though friends were far fewer than mutated creatures in this era of turmoil, men that have fought side by side still easily developed unchanging friendship. This was why Su, who received K7 commander¡¯s introduction, immediately earned the falcons leaders¡¯ trust. Su only wanted to accept one or two missions and explore the western region along the way while slowly moving further. He never thought that he would meet such an unusual group of mercenaries. Su forced a smile. When he turned around, he was able to see a brilliant smile on the leader¡¯s face. ¡°Actually...¡± When Su opened his mouth, the entire room immediately quieted down, and everyone looked at him. Ever since Su came to the Falcon Mercenaries¡¯ base, Su hadn¡¯t had the chance to say anything. The Falcon mercenaries¡¯ leader had been talking non stop. When they saw that Su was going to say something, these few and old robust men all looked at him with bright eyes. Their expression contained hope, passion, anxiety, and even more worry about what was to come. Because they lacked a sniper, there would be casualties almost every time the falcons accepted a mission. With the falcons¡¯ current situation, a single casualty meant one less useable member. The room became more and more quiet, and a rather unsettling atmosphere could be felt. It was no longer just the twelve men in the room; outside the window, several women, elders, and children¡¯s faces appeared outside the window. The women and men seemed similarly robust, they possessed just as much passion to survive, and they loved this piece of land like everyone else. Within the extremely poor wilderness, only the falcons acted so unconventionally and sheltered completely worthless individuals that were old or crippled. Su suddenly felt that every word he uttered now would be extremely heavy and needed to be seriously considered. ¡°Actually...¡± Su¡¯s soothing and soft voice rang through the room, and an echo could almost be heard. ¡°I can be said to be a third level sniper.¡± The area exploded with noise, and the men in the room immediately became excited. When they looked at Su, their eyes held much more admiration and respect. This was a truly great figure! The leader of the falcons simply advanced one level in strength and one level in simple firearms. Other than the leader, no one in this house had ever even seen anyone with three levels of ability. The men and women were all excited, and they were already celebrating for the future. They could now fight under the protection of a third level sniper. However, the leader did not think this way, and instead, his heart immediately fell. No matter what kind of angle you looked at this, there was no way the falcons could make a third level sniper stay. He understood clearly what kind of price a third level sniper was paid for missions in the market. As expected, Su looked at the falcons¡¯ leader and said, ¡°I came here to see if I could complete some missions along the way. After completing one mission at most, I will leave.¡± The leader of the falcons looked at Su, looked at the house full of dumbstruck men, and then looked at the tableful of barbecued meat and the cup of wine that hadn¡¯t been touched. He rubbed his nose, and with a forced smile, he said, ¡°I know the value of a third ranked sniper. For people like you to go on a single mission, even the cheapest price would be enough to purchase the falcons. When you first came, we thought you were a first level sniper... You can also see our circumstances. To be honest, we cannot afford to hire you at all.¡± The falcons really were poor. Apart from their weapons and encampment that were still okay, they didn¡¯t even have any water or food reserves. Their weapons were all produced by nearby inhabited lands, and they were staying at a rather shabby manor that couldn¡¯t be considered much. The era of turmoil definitely didn¡¯t lack abandoned constructs. Su suddenly picked up the glass in front of him and drained it in one gulp! Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator. A wave of fire immediately extended from Su¡¯s throat down to his stomach. Su immediately felt as if his stomach had been bombarded with explosions. ¡°I owe the falcons a mission,¡± Su said. His green eye was as bright as jadeite. The leader of the falcons was left momentarily confused by this sudden turn of events. He mumbled, ¡°But... we truly don¡¯t have money. Even this mutated meat is barely edible. You have to understand that we have more than thirty old members that need to eat...¡± ¡°The reward has already been paid.¡± Su pointed towards the empty cup in front of him. The leader of the falcons opened his mouth, but he couldn¡¯t speak a single word. Only after a moment had passed did he reach out with his large hand and pat towards Su¡¯s shoulder. ¡°Brother...¡± However, his large hand didn¡¯t hit anything and directly landed on the back of the chair. The leader was stunned to find that Su was already knocked out on top of the table and was completely drunk. The room was quiet for a short period of time. Everyone looked at that third level sniper that had blacked out from a single cup. They then looked at each other in dismay, completely confused by the situation in front of them. The leader of the falcons was the first one to snap back to reality, and only now did he think of supporting Su. He looked at his large hands, and then he hurriedly shouted for two robust women to bring Su to the female¡¯s room in the back to find a place for him to sleep. Within the Falcon Mercenaries, the women¡¯s bedroom was the cleanest and best place. Even the leader himself slept with the group of crude men. The leader knew that most high level fighters had matters they wanted to keep private, so he strictly commanded that no one was allowed to look through Su¡¯s things or enter Su¡¯s room. A little girl that wanted to see Su¡¯s face beneath his bandages not only received a strong flick in the forehead, but was also punished with no dinner. Falcon manor sank into sleep under the curtain of night just like that. Daybreak was the time when it was darkest. Within the darkness, a dark green eye slowly opened. The green eye seemed to be in a daze momentarily, and then it abruptly lit up! Su sat up and reached out with his left hand to customarily touch his gun. However, when he reached out, he touched empty air, and a layer of cold sweat immediately appeared on his body. Su straightened his back. His body seemed to have lost its weight as it popped up as light as a feather towards the ceiling, where he seemed to be stuck in place. In his hand was a piece of ceramic armor plate. This item was extremely light, and it was thin and sturdy as well. If it was thrown out, it could easily separate a person¡¯s head at the neck. Su hung from the ceiling for three whole seconds, and during that time, he noticed that even though the inside of the room was unfamiliar, there wasn¡¯t a single soul in sight. As a result, he soundlessly descended. All of his equipment was neatly placed in the room¡¯s corner, and his cloak was folded in a tidy manner on the side. Su then recalled last night¡¯s events and remembered that the leader¡¯s mouth had opened to say something, but he couldn¡¯t hear a single word. His chest then erupted with a explosive-like wave of heat, and as for what happened after that, he did not remember a thing. Only now did Su understand that for the first time in his life, he had gotten drunk. The feeling of getting drunk was extremely strange, but what was the most incomprehensible was that this sudden intoxication actually gave him a tiny increase in his evolutionary point progress. On its own, this little bit was rather insignificant, but as a part of a whole, it was actually enormous progress, because he finally accumulated six complete evolution points. He didn¡¯t know whether to laugh or cry right now. Could it be that getting completely drunk every day from now on would be a good thing? Ten years ago, Su might have tested something like this, but right now, forget about the fact that wine was extremely expensive, the rate at which he earned evolutionary points by completing two missions was much faster than doing something like this. Su silently put on his attire, and then everything in the room was cleanly dealt with. After all traces of his existence were removed, he leapt through the window and disappeared into the boundless night. Just now, the moment he had woken up, Su suddenly had an extremely uneasy feeling. It was a feeling that was exactly the same as the one he had when he was ten years old. At that time, he had been targeted by a few rotting wolves, and they tracked him for an entire night. Su immediately thought of Li, but Li should not have had any intent to kill him. The feeling he had when he was being pursued by Li was completely different from what he was feeling right now. Su was almost certain that what was tracking him was not Li, but rather a pack of wolves. He decided to immediately leave. Anything that could make Su feel such intense danger, regardless of whether it was human or other mutated existences, were not things that this naive group of mercenaries could deal with. The falcons¡¯ naive and unrealistic ideals in this era of turmoil were like a tiny flame in a world of darkness. It couldn¡¯t light up the world, but instead attracted destruction. Under the cover of darkness, Su left the falcon manor without alerting anyone. He then began to advance swiftly through the boundless wasteland. The modified rifle hung heavily from his back, giving Su some baseless confidence. He had to properly deal with the pack of wolves in this vast and complicated region. What he had to do first was to clearly determine what exactly was on his trail. What came afterwards was incredible patience and maybe even luck. The vast world was a paradise for wolves, but it was also Su¡¯s paradise. Wolves had a lot of patience, and so did Su. CHAPTER 29 A strong wind blew through the skies, creating an opening in the dense clouds and allowing scorching sunlight to shine downwards. The various creatures that were moving about scattered in all directions in search of shade to hide themselves in. The temperature of the ground where the sunlight shone upon quickly climbed, and the hot air that surged as a result began to distort the scenery. Apart from the whistling of the wind, the wilderness did not seem to have any other sounds. No traces of life could be seen either. Within an abandoned villa, Su was sitting next to a window on the second floor, carefully wiping down his rifle¡¯s components. When the final part was cleaned, he used slow yet precise movements to reassemble the rifle. He then pushed in the firing device, and only now did he carefully place the rifle by his side. He plugged up the muzzle with a piece of a cloth to prevent dust from getting inside the weapon. The weapon was Su¡¯s lifeline, and after losing the pistol, the modified rifle became Su¡¯s sole weapon. Moreover, when fighting against a pack of wolves, this rifle became even more important. Su leaned against the wall and sank into a state of sleep. He had already roamed about this region for five days. Within the map in his mind, he could clearly see the trajectory he traveled during these past five days, and the shape it formed was a large arc that almost drew out a semicircle. The region he was in right now was an area on the map that had been mostly explored. Su wasn¡¯t willing to fight against another in a completely unfamiliar region. Exactly half an hour and not a second later, Su opened his eyes. By now, the opening in the clouds had already closed, and the sky above the wilderness was covered in an overcast and dark expanse. The ground that had been roasted by sunlight did not disappear. If one stepped on that area, they would still feel blistering heat from the soles of their feet. During the past five days, Su would always walk for two hours and then rest for half an hour, alternating like this day and night. He advanced quickly when moving, maintaining roughly ten kilometers of distance every hour. Of course, Su¡¯s speed could surpass ten kilometers an hour, but this process was done for the sake of confusing the pack of wolves on his trail. At the crucial moment, even the slightest mistake could lead to a change in the battle¡¯s outcome. The pack of wolves was getting closer and closer to Su. However, without coming into contact with them, he wouldn¡¯t have any idea why these wolves were after him. After making a complete circle, he might be able to find a few clues about this pack of wolves. There was still plenty of time right now. Su slowly stretched his body. His skin slightly trembled, and a faint prickling sensation could be felt on his body¡¯s surface. This signified danger, proving that those behind him didn¡¯t give up their pursuit. Many wild beasts had natural intuition towards danger, and on this aspect, Su did not belong merely to the majority of wild beasts and had his perks in this area. After selecting the Mysterious Fields ability domain, one¡¯s perception towards danger would become much sharper. This might be one of the benefits of the Mysterious Fields that few people knew about. Su began to sort out his equipment, and at the same time, he searched the map in his mind to plan his next course of action. When he saw Base K7 on the map, Su¡¯s heart suddenly jumped. No matter where these wolves came from, when they came, or what direction they came from, Base K7 was the most likely starting point. Su left the small building. After walking out several kilometers, he suddenly changed directions and moved towards Base K7. Less than 90 kilometers away from Su, Laiknar¡¯s group found some new traces underneath a large tree. The electronics specialist opened the map that was not any less precise than Su¡¯s. It shockingly revealed Su¡¯s movements during these past few days without any bit of mistake. The electronics specialist made a marking on this new position, and as a result, a seemingly complete circle appeared on the map. Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author. Several areas on the map had been marked with red Xs. They were bright red and extremely striking. ¡°He definitely noticed us already. Crafty fellow. He probably wants to make us go around in circles,¡± Laiknar said with a cold laugh. He gave the electronics specialist a look and asked, ¡°Is your thing reliable?¡± The electronics specialist raised his head and said seriously, ¡°Other than sir O¡¯Brien, there shouldn¡¯t be anyone in this group that can detect better than my device.¡± Laiknar¡¯s face showed some clear discontent, but he didn¡¯t act out. Instead, he looked at the map and coldly said, ¡°If this fellow truly wants to go around in circles with us, then I hope you can give him a big enough surprise.¡± Laiknar then looked at the hunter and asked with some dissatisfaction, ¡°Is there no way to increase our speed?¡± The hunter was currently analyzing the traces on the ground. When he heard Laiknar¡¯s question, he raised his head and said, ¡°We can¡¯t go any faster. The traces he leaves behind are extremely faint. We are already at our limit. We¡¯ve only been able to come this far due to our luck and due to the lack of extreme weather. Otherwise, a single tornado would wipe out everything. Judging from the time these traces were left behind, the distance between him and us should be less than a hundred kilometers. In three days time, we should be close enough to outflank him.¡± ¡°Three more days?!¡± Laiknar was clearly unsatisfied with this answer, but there was no point in criticizing a third level hunter. Laiknar didn¡¯t have anyone from his own team that could replace him, and no fourth level hunter would willingly become his subordinate. ¡°Continue the pursuit! Just like before, use every method to infuriate him and make him want to come find us. We will rest for thirty minutes. After thirty minutes, we will depart!¡± Laiknar gave the order. The subordinates set up a collapsible military pot and tossed in the standard rations they were allocated into the pot together with some water. There was a switch at the bottom of the pot, and as long as it was pressed, the originally solid fuel would produce a high temperature flame that could cook the rations within three minutes. Each pot had one kilogram of fuel that could be used for an entire month. Li Gaolei slowly consumed his own ration. Either way, he had ten minutes to eat, so he wasn¡¯t in a rush. As for Laiknar and O¡¯Brien¡¯s actions during these past few days, Li Gaolei watched with the cool eye of a bystander, remembering everything silently within his heart. Laiknar and O¡¯Brien were both extremely talented young men, and within their ten subordinates, six of them had three levels of ability, with the remainder having two levels. Roughly speaking, Roxland Company could create a team like this as well, but individuals with two levels of ability that were simultaneously either biochemistry, electronics, or other occupation specialists were extremely rare within Roxland Company. Multi-talented individuals like these all occupied high positions within the company. Would they willingly become like these subordinates who were practically no different from servants? Apart from this, in regards to the equipment the Black Dragonriders possessed, whether it was its complexity, practicality, or simplicity of use, it all seemed to surpass Roxland Company¡¯s technology. For example, this military pot was not something Roxland Company could produce on its own. Metallurgy, electronics, and mechanical processes weren¡¯t an issue, but the efficient solid fuel far surpassed what the company¡¯s research could produce. Three minutes to cook, two minutes to separate meals, ten minutes to eat, fifteen minutes to rest. The troop¡¯s actions were as precise as a clock. After going around a full circle while chasing after Su, all of the off-road vehicles ran out of fuel, and as such were abandoned. Moreover, because the vehicles were fast, they often missed Su¡¯s traces, so it was more efficient to move on foot. Li Gaolei took a fifteen minute power nap. As soon as the alarm rang, he woke up while seemingly full of energy. When Laiknar looked at Li Gaolei, a bit of respect could be seen. During this relentless five day pursuit, even those third level subordinates began to tire. Only Laiknar, O¡¯Brien, and Li Gaolei didn¡¯t seem to show any sign of fatigue. Night quickly descended. Cold winds quickly dispersed the daytime heat. Su stood quietly while observing Habitat K7 from a kilometer away. From this distance, even with his Glimmer Sight, he could still only see a rough outline. Winds slammed against his face, and waves of putrid odor continuously passed by. This kind of smell could be smelled from time to time in the wilderness, but today, this odor was unusually dense, and it was a lot more fresh that what usually drifted through the wilderness. CHAPTER 30 Habitat K7 was completely quiet. Even though most of this inhabited area had already entered the land of dreams, there were still some individuals who indulged themselves in the pleasures of alcohol, drugs, and sex. Tonight, however, Habitat K7 was a bit too quiet. The night was Su¡¯s domain. He retrieved his modified rifle and loaded the bullets. Like a specter, he headed towards K7. Every corner of Habitat K7 was recorded within Su¡¯s mental map; moreover, it wasn¡¯t flat but rather three dimensional. It could be said that Su already knew K7 like the back of his hand. K7¡¯s refugees numbered around two hundred. Compared to other inhabited lands, it wasn¡¯t a large number, nor was it a small one. After their renovation, the habitat¡¯s constructs formed a ring shape. The purpose of this was mainly to defend against outside threats. At the center was a small vacant area that the refugees normally used to hold gatherings or conduct business transactions. The habitat¡¯s commander lived in a small metal house that was situated at the fringe of this vacant area. Right now, there were a few things in the vacant area that weren¡¯t previously there. On top of a three or four meter tall wooden pole hung a corpse that was being blown around by the intense night winds. The winds would sometimes flip the corpse around. Through his Glimmer Sight, Su recognized this corpse to be K7¡¯s commander. A rope was wrapped around the commander¡¯s neck, hanging him from the wooden pole; however, the rope didn¡¯t seem to be the cause of the commander¡¯s death. There were traces of burns all around his body. His entire body seemed to have been burned into processed coal except for a few limbs that seemed to have been purposely left intact. The burnt clothing had been deeply embedded into the skin surface. Meanwhile, his face miraculously didn¡¯t have any signs of burns either. Only through this process could his pain and suffering before death be perfectly preserved. Below the wooden pole was a thick pedestal, one formed from layer upon layer of corpses. Su slowly examined them one after another. There seemed to be something similar between these corpses: regardless of how badly mangled their limbs were, their faces were all left perfectly intact, along with the despair, pain, anger, and cries that their expressions held. Su recognized some of these faces, while the rest were unfamiliar. However, they should all be K7¡¯s refugees. In the quiet vacant area, Su stood all alone, as if he was this cemetery¡¯s vengeful spirit. Not only the vacant area, but also the various houses of K7 were emitting a fresh stench. K7 became a cemetery. There were only a few areas where weak breathing sounds could still be heard. He slowly stooped down to pull up the scorched arm of a corpse. When he made contact with the arm, coal ashes immediately flew everywhere. It was clear that the flesh had been completely burned through. What was strange was that the outer layer of the arm had been thoroughly carbonized, while the inside flesh was left intact. This meant that the temperature at which the corpse was burned was extremely high, far surpassing that of ordinary flames. Only then could the flesh be carbonized in such a short period of time after making contact with the fire. Su sank into a moment of thought before standing up again. Su didn¡¯t touch the corpses in the vacant area again. Instead, he lightly pushed aside the door leading to small house. Inside, he saw inside a skinny and shriveled old man. When the old man heard the noise, he turned around and looked towards the door. He swept a hurried look over Su¡¯s body, but he didn¡¯t show any reaction. Inside the several square meter house, apart from this elder, there were three corpses: one male, one female, and one child. The corpses had long begun to rot, and a thick stench filled this entire room, but the elder seemed completely unaffected by it. Su disappeared like a ghost. Meanwhile, the old man continued to sit in a stupor. Those that remained in K7 were all immobile elderly people that were awaiting their deaths, while the survivors had long left this place. Apart from being relatively safer, there was nothing in this inhabited area that was worth staying behind for. Once K7¡¯s corpses began to rot, the plague that would ensue would quickly seize the lives of those that remained. Regardless of whether it was the new or old era, this fact had never changed. As Su prepared to leave, he suddenly stopped; something caught his attention. It was the sound of wind flipping through pages of paper. Within the pile of corpses, the corner of a booklet could be seen. It all happened quite abruptly. Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road. Su slowly untied the bandages around his right hand. His fine, long, satin-like finger gently made contact with the book¡¯s cover, and they slowly retrieved it from the corpse. It was a palm-sized booklet roughly a centimeter in thickness. The black hard cover was extremely refined, and a single golden word was etched on its surface: Revelation. When the cover was opened, he saw that the title page was inscribed with words written with an extremely beautiful calligraphy:"Those that have lost their way will find rest from here on out." The signature on the bottom read: O¡¯Brien. Su closed this ¡®Revelation¡¯, and placed it in front of the pile of corpses. Then, he disappeared into the night. Under the dim light of night, thirteen people moved like a pack of wolves through the wilderness. They were true kings of this land¡¯s night. Even the packs of rotting wolves seemed to sense danger and disappeared without a trace. The hunter in the lead suddenly stopped and carefully began to differentiate the traces on the ground. He sniffed the air and said, ¡°He changed directions here.¡± Laiknar looked in the direction the hunter was pointing at and saw that it lead towards K7. A cruel smile surfaced on the corners of his lips. ¡°It seems like our trap has done its job.¡± The group of wolves smelled blood and turned directions. They began to slowly quicken their pace. In the blink of an eye, the sky had already brightened. Borrowing the dim light of dawn, Su could see the Falcons¡¯ manor while he was still several kilometers away. Without even using his high level sight strengthening, he could see twelve stakes, and on top of those stakes were twelve corpses. Su didn¡¯t stop and continued to speed towards the manor¡¯s door. Only then did he stop. The twelve robust men whose eyes were focused on him that night were all here. The fourth from the left was the Falcons¡¯ leader. It seemed like the other party did not seem to take his leader status or his single level of ability into consideration when he was put on the stake. This time, none of them were set aflame, but their suffering were not any bit lighter. The dried blood that had flowed down from the stakes showed that they were still alive when they were pierced. All of the houses in the manor had been burned, leaving ashes and collapsed ruins everywhere. From time to time, limbs could be seen sticking out from the debris. There were even more dark and indistinguishable scorched objects. From the amount of scorched ruins, it seemed like a portion of the elders, children, and women were buried here. As for the rest of them, he didn¡¯t know their whereabouts. He didn¡¯t know if they were driven out or if they died elsewhere. At the bottom of the first stake from the left was a familiar black-covered ¡®Revelation¡¯. On the title page, it was written, ¡°Immortality is gained through an ideal. By returning, there is redemption.¡± The signature was once again O¡¯Brien¡¯s. It was similarly written in graceful calligraphy. Su ran his finger over O¡¯Brien¡¯s name. Between his fingers, it was almost as if he could feel the stability and force of the hand that signed this name. ¡°O¡¯Brien...¡± Su read this name once silently. He returned this ¡®Revelation¡¯ to its original position. His gaze landed at the feet of the Falcons¡¯ leader. There was a bottle that lied crooked in that area, and there was still a bit of turbid liquid inside. From the bottle¡¯s shape and completely indiscernible label, this should be a bottle of alcohol from the olden era. That night, when the Falcons¡¯ leader brought out this bottle, there were still two-thirds remaining. Half of that had entered Su¡¯s mouth as payment for a mission, and the other half was currently in front of Su¡¯s face. Su walked over to the bottle. After taking just a single step, he suddenly stopped. His eyes narrowed as he looked around. Su¡¯s chest tightened, and his heart rate sped up. His blood began to flow at an extraordinary speed, and his body temperature quickly climbed. His light blond hair continuously moved about, as if wind was blowing through them. However, there was no wind right now. This was a feeling of extreme danger. Moreover, it was getting closer and closer! The muddled liquid within the bottle suddenly began to boil, and then the bottle completely left the ground and flew in a slanted manner. When it had just shifted half a meter, cracks appeared on the bottle¡¯s surface, and then it blasted apart! The scenery reflected within Su¡¯s eye was distorted. Then, several jet-propelled engines roared. The intense fluctuations went from a low frequency of dozens all the way to tens of thousands, and these sound waves slammed into Su¡¯s body! Hundreds of wounds appeared on the corpse of the leader of the Falcons in that instant. At first, they were just thin unseeable seams, but soon, they extended outwards and turned into endless deep wounds. The leader¡¯s blood had long ran dry, so when the injuries appeared, hundreds of chunks of rotting flesh flew everywhere like blue or green moths. Wounds also appeared on the corpses near the leader, only, there weren¡¯t as many, and they were less severe as well. The further they were from the leader¡¯s corpse, the less injuries they carried. However, Su seemed to take on the greatest impact from this sound wave! The cloak around his body was blasted into hundreds of pieces, and the bandages around his skin flew everywhere. Countless cracks appeared on the modified rifle¡¯s wooden shell, and quite a few white scratches appeared on the gun barrel. Just like the Falcons¡¯ leader, hundreds of criss-crossed lines appeared on his body. Large amounts of blood immediately flowed out from the fine lines. The threads opened, revealing interweaving red and white flesh. There were some crisscrossed wounds where entire pieces of flesh fell off! In that instant, Su had turned into a blood-covered man! CHAPTER 31 Su slowly lowered his arms from his face. At the moment of sudden change, Su¡¯s arms protected his face, but he couldn¡¯t do anything about the other areas. His arms were badly mutilated, and only his face and eyes were unscathed. Blood poured out from the bandages around his ears. Against the ferocious attack of these soundwaves, his ears which were capable of overclocked hearing were just too fragile. Su stood there while looking at the place where the alcohol bottle exploded. What remained was an electrical circuit board that was smaller than a fingernail in size, and its edges were all scorched. All of the deadly soundwaves and motion sensing devices were integrated into this nearly unseeable piece of electrical circuit board. This kind of trap and technology were things Su had never seen before. Su slowly raised his hand to grab a piece of glass that was inserted in the his chest. With some force, the glass fragment was rigidly pulled out from his sternum. As soon as he exerted himself, large amounts of blood poured out from his arms and the upper half of his body. The shining red blood flowed down his body, gathering into a small pool next to Su¡¯s feet. Glass and bone rubbed against each other and released sharp and ear-splitting sounds, and only then did it unwillingly separate from the flesh in his chest. This was the base of the bottle. There was still blood on its surface, and bits of flesh were stuck to it. Su pulled down the bandages covering his face and raised the bottle¡¯s base to his mouth. He stuck out his soft and flexible tongue and licked the blood that was mixed with alcohol. The fishy taste of blood was transmitted from the tip of his tongue, along with the dense smell of alcohol and bits of flesh. He completely downed this cup that had alcohol, blood, and flesh. Su stooped over and placed the bottle¡¯s base at the feet of the Falcons¡¯ leader. This cup of bloody alcohol was the rest of the balance for the mission he promised the Falcons! Su¡¯s green eye became incomparably deep. He bent down and picked up the chunks of flesh that fell from his body one after another, and then he placed them in his mouth piece by piece. He was extremely careful in his search, not even letting the chunks that were slightly larger go. Finally, in front of the puddle formed from his own blood, he began to lap it up like a wild beast! Su needed physical strength, and physical strength originated from food. Right now, the best food was his own flesh. When Su stood up again, the only thing left on the ground was the dark colored soil. Blood no longer flowed from his body, but hundreds of wounds covered his body like small gaping mouths. Deathly pale flesh was visible around his wounds. For Su, the entire world was currently silent. His ears couldn¡¯t hear any sounds. The world before his eyes would scuttle with various colors from time to time. WIthin his brain, hundreds to thousands of nerves were endlessly firing and releasing lacerative pain. Despite this being the case, he still smelled danger from the winds that suddenly stirred. Su tore apart his clothes that were as tattered as they could be and ripped off the strips of cloth. He placed two pieces of bulletproof porcelain plates one in front and one behind his body to forcefully cover these wounds. He abandoned all of his equipments and only brought twenty rounds of hand-crafted bullets and the rifle. Su did not flee towards the distance, and instead welcomed the wolves head on. RIght now, he was a wounded lone wolf, as well as a soldier that had been employed for a mission. The advancing wolves suddenly stopped. The electronics expert supported his ear and patiently listened for a moment. He raised his head and said, ¡°Someone has triggered my trap.¡± At this moment, their group was only forty kilometers from trap set up within the Falcons¡¯ headquarters. A deep glint appeared within Laiknar¡¯s eyes, as if he was a wolf eyeing his prey. He promptly gave out orders for his party to quickly set for the Falcons¡¯ headquarters. Together with O¡¯Brien and Li Gaolei, he took the lead and hurried towards the Falcons¡¯ headquarters. An hour later, the pack of wolves had already gathered inside the Falcons¡¯ headquarters. Sure enough, there were many nice surprises waiting for them here. The biochemical specialist collected the earth that was dyed with Su¡¯s blood, and he even used a magnifying glass to collect every single piece of flesh that might have came from Su. What was rather unexpected was that the amount of flesh fragments here was truly rather pathetic, but there were still some. With the advance technology of the Black Dragonriders, this amount of specimen was already enough. If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. ¡°I¡¯ve found intruder cells, but they are all dead.¡± The biochemical specialist announced. These news still caused everyone to release a breath of relief. Those present all understood the intruder cells¡¯ terrifying capability to massacre anything. Even though they came precisely for these cells and were all rather capable individuals, they still didn¡¯t have any confidence in dealing with an infection from the intruder cell. When faced with a live specimen, they were still somewhat anxious and frightened. The biochemical specialist used the portable apparatus he carried with him to conduct a simple inspection on the acquired specimen. As expected, what he saw was the wreckage of already dead intruder cells as well as other dead cell types. After a preliminary dye was applied, he found that the intruder cells¡¯ genome was completely fragmented and impossible to restore. There was no way to find out the intruder cells¡¯ true appearance. ¡°I need more time to see if I can find samples of intruder cells that are still alive.¡± The biochemical specialist raised his head and revealed a rather discontent expression. Right now, his only hope was that the intruder cells¡¯ activity and invasive nature were equally vicious. He could only try to find live intruder cells from the earth or other places and use the cryogenic spray to immediately freeze them. Only then could he hope to obtain the complete genome. As for how terrifying the intruder cell was, no one knew better than the biochemical specialist. No matter how committed he was to his field, he still wouldn¡¯t be willing to come in contact with this kind of stuff, let alone outside of the laboratory with only a few crude tools and simple defensive measures. Only heaven knew which route the intruder cells could infect the body through or what type of effect it would have once it entered. Within a ten meter area inside the scene of attack, the biochemical specialist was hurriedly working. The others all strictly followed regulations and stayed outside the ten meter area. The biochemical specialist picked up piece after piece of specimen and hurriedly sprayed the cryogenic liquid over them. He carefully placed them inside separate pouches and then properly marked them. Laiknar left behind two people to assist the biochemical specialist. Everyone else followed the hunter to pursue Su¡¯s tracks. However, as soon as they left the Falcons¡¯ headquarters, Su¡¯s trail completely vanished. O¡¯Brien¡¯s hunter was equipped with two or three levels of Perception Domain ability and two levels of dexterity in the Combat Domain. He had even struggled for survival in the wilderness for almost twenty years and possessed extensive experience in tracking, yet despite all of this, he still had to look extremely carefully before finding a tiny trace of Su that was nearly undetectable. ¡°He is extremely cunning. The performance before was just to confuse us.¡± This was not the first time the hunter¡¯s expression became serious like this, and each time, he wouldn¡¯t fail to add another sentence. ¡°Of course, his injuries are extremely severe.¡± From the fragments of flesh splattered about and the large amount of bloodstains, anyone could see that Su¡¯s injuries weren¡¯t light. However, repeating this obvious fact wasn¡¯t enough to calm down everyone¡¯s distress and irritation, especially Laiknar¡¯s. As long as he was able to capture Su, he would be able to obtain endless glory, rewards, and status upon his return. In Laiknar¡¯s mind, Su was the same as a moving treasury. Even though they had never seen Su for themselves, they could see from the portrait alone that Su was a man who could greatly move others. If not for the horrifying intruder cells, Laiknar truly would have wanted to have a taste himself before offering Su up. Even though he knew that this treasury was already within reach, he still had to endure his impatience and search bit by bit. Something like this was truly a great test of patience. Calmness and patience were values that every single member of the Black Dragonriders repeatedly ingrained within their minds. Laiknar was an irritable individual by nature, but the strict education he received allowed him to suppress his inner agitation and prevent himself from berating the hunter. That was O¡¯Brien¡¯s subordinate, and within the Black Dragonriders, it was common sense to trust a professional. The troops advanced at an extremely slow speed. After several hours had passed, they had already circled the Falcons headquarters three times, yet they¡¯ve only travelled two kilometers at most from the central point. Su did not leave; this was the conclusion that the hunter and O¡¯Brien came to. In this short period of time, while suffering such severe injuries, there was no way Su could move quickly without leaving behind any traces. The traces Su left behind were distributed around the manor¡¯s surroundings, making it seem as if he went around in circles to confuse his pursuers. Currently, within this land full of ruins, abandoned villas, broken highways, isolated transmission towers, as well as warped vegetation, Su had enough areas to hide in. If they couldn¡¯t find any trace of him, even if this area was only a kilometer in diameter, a thorough search would still take an entire day. This was all under the assumption that the target didn¡¯t move. Time passed by bit by bit. The night scene quickly surrounded this land. Even though these people couldn¡¯t move at night as freely as in daytime, they had a third level hunter among them, so they still didn¡¯t give up, because Su definitely couldn¡¯t have traveled far. Toward this kind of cunning prey, they definitely couldn¡¯t give him any time to catch his breath. The hunter turned on his advanced flashlight, but no visible light was released. This was an ultraviolet flashlight, and with the hunter¡¯s specially modified eyes, he could see the ultraviolet rays. While the hunter was carefully inspecting the traces on the ground, the others were aimlessly searching around in the pitch-black night. Most of them had no idea what the hunter could obtain from the ground that seemed to have practically nothing, but there had to be some clues, or else he wouldn¡¯t be searching so carefully. CHAPTER 32 Wind blew through the night. This wind was rather chaotic; it could suddenly become quicker or slower at any time. Within the darkness, a fiery light suddenly flickered. O¡¯Brien¡¯s complexion changed greatly. It was already too late to cry out. He quickly reached out towards Laiknar who was several meters away! A soft bang sounded. With Laiknar at the center, a powerful gust of wind was raised. O¡¯Brien¡¯s gray hair continuously flew about chaotically, and his black uniform stuck tightly to his body. The second level ability users were caught off guard, staggering backwards without a way to defend against the wind¡¯s pressure. Li Gaolei stood unmoving from his original position, but he was still greatly shocked by the powerful wind that was slamming against his face. A light ripple sounded. A ball of fiery light suddenly emerged in front of Laiknar¡¯s body. The front of the bullet seemed to have collided with an invisible wall, quickly slowing down its speed. Then, the bullet began to undergo an intense transformation. A normal bullet would have likely split open here without accomplishing its goal, but this bullet¡¯s momentum was too great, far surpassing that of an ordinary one. Even though the bullet began to emit fiery red light under the powerful, high speed friction, to the point where it almost became molten iron, it still ultimately broke through that invisible wall with a pu sound. It turned into a propulsion of fiery metal and screamed towards Laiknar¡¯s chest! Even though the speed of this propulsion had been greatly decreased, its power and heat could still easily penetrate thin steel plates. However, when the bullet was temporarily blocked, Laiknar was given a chance to react. His eyes became suffused with a bright red color, and his body suddenly erupted with a blazing storm! When this metallic propulsion entered these flames, the frantic whirlwind immediately engulfed, tore apart, and scattered it. Large drops of metallic fluid brushed past Laiknar¡¯s side, creating large amounts of smoke as they landed on the ground. Once the scorching gale quickly rotated several dozen times, they suddenly dispersed in various directions. Everything within ten meters of Laiknar¡¯s surroundings was burnt to a crisp. An intangible force field seemed to have appeared around Laiknar, separating his body from the scorching winds. However, this all happened too quickly, and so the range of the forcefield couldn¡¯t be adjusted as precisely. As a result, the Black Dragonriders uniform he wore couldn¡¯t endure the heat, and large amounts of cloth began to burn. Only now did the muffled sound of a gunshot faintly ring through the air. While standing within the blazing flames, Laiknar looked at the scorched earth that was still emitting strands of smoke not too far off and suddenly broke out in cold sweat! The trajectory of that bullet was aimed straight at his heart. If not for O¡¯Brien sensing that something was off and placing a timely forcefield around him, there would be a large hole in his chest right now. With Laiknar¡¯s ability and the Black Dragonriders¡¯ technology, even if he had been shot in the chest by a sniper, as long as his brain was left intact, his life could still be saved. However, the power of this gun was far greater than that of an ordinary sniper rifle, comparable to even an anti-material rifle. If that shot had hit its target, it was entirely likely that the larger half of Laiknar¡¯s chest would have been blasted flying. At that time, no matter how advanced the Black Dragonriders¡¯ technology was, they still wouldn¡¯t be able to save him. One of Laiknar¡¯s subordinates chose a suitable place to set up his long-range sniper rifle and then used the advanced sighting device to search for signs of Su. The remaining subordinates got into a battle formation and prepared to head for the area where the bullet came from. ¡°There is no need to go.¡± O¡¯Brien stopped the subordinates that were just about to move and calmly said, ¡°He has already moved far away.¡± Under the bright fiery light, O¡¯Brien¡¯s face appeared extremely pale. Sweat completely soaked his forehead. His normally free-flowing and soft gray hair was glued to his forehead, and his eyes had lost quite a bit of spirit. Right now, he looked like a large frail and pale boy. If his clothes had been changed, he could easily become a rather pretty androgynous-looking female. However, Li Gaolei was not misled in the slightest by O¡¯Brien¡¯s weak outer appearance, for he was deeply shocked at his powerful and mysterious abilities. Not to mention that powerful defense, the fact that he was able to detect the incoming danger and even promptly protect Laiknar from such a terrifying attack was inconceivable. If that shot had been aimed at Li Gaolei, he had already inwardly realized that he would have died. The extremely knowledgeable, calm, meek, and even somewhat delicate young man was like a bottomless pit. It was simply impossible to measure the depth of his skills. Laiknar suddenly released a roar, and a ring of flames rushed in all directions. Everything within ten meters turned into a sea of flames! The group of subordinates immediately moved away to avoid the flames, for they definitely didn¡¯t dare to stand inside these seemingly ordinary flames. These unusual flames possessed extraordinarily high temperatures, and they only needed roughly ten seconds to completely burn through a person¡¯s body. ¡°He couldn¡¯t have gotten far! I will personally kill him!¡± Laiknar roared. Not only were his eyes red, but even the skin on his face became covered in a faint red color. The high temperature flames continuously burned around him, as if they could burn through everything. O¡¯Brien spread his arms and blocked Laiknar¡¯s way. In a serious tone he said, ¡°He is far more dangerous than what we had originally thought! The two of us alone aren¡¯t enough. Let¡¯s go back to headquarters and ask for reinforcements!¡± ¡°Reinforcements?!¡± Laiknar roared, ¡°Why do we need to ask headquarters for reinforcements? Why do we need to share credit with them? Do you know what kind of promotion we will receive once we return? Do you know how much power we will gain?!¡± The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. Faced against Laiknar who was in a violent rage, O¡¯Brien could only sigh. ¡°I understand all of this. However, if we continue to chase him like this, we might suffer severe casualties.¡± After venting out his anger for a bit, Laiknar¡¯s mood calmed down slightly. The high temperature flames around him disappeared as well. He pushed O¡¯Brien away and replied in a similarly serious tone, ¡°The purpose of these subordinates is to assist us. Even if they have to give up their lives, they should not hesitate in the slightest.¡± ¡°But...¡± O¡¯Brien wanted to retort, but in the end, he didn¡¯t say anymore. Laiknar pointed at the hunter, and with an unquestionable tone, he commanded, ¡°You, lead the way. Find that little bastard!¡± The hunter had some hesitation, but in the end, he still complied and said, ¡°Yes! Commander!¡± He was O¡¯Brien¡¯s subordinate, but he was also an outside member of the Black Dragonriders. As a lower officer of the the Black Dragonriders, Laiknar was the highest ranking individual here. An order he gave had to be obeyed unless O¡¯Brien clearly opposed it. After firing a bullet towards Laiknar from a kilometer away, Su immediately evacuated from his location. He did not cover up the location he fired from, and as such, the hunter and Laiknar quickly found the location. There was a hole there that wasn¡¯t particularly large or small, just enough to bury one person. There was only a bit of sparse grass around this place that didn¡¯t offer much in concealment. The hunter inspected this place and said to Laiknar, ¡°It seems like he buried himself here during the day to avoid our pursuit. It seems like he should have left east.¡± ¡°Chase!¡± Lainknar¡¯s face darkened as he gave this order. Ten people turned and headed east. Laiknar had already decided to completely ignore the biochemistry specialist and the two soldiers he left behind in the manor. The only thing in his mind right now was catching Su. Nevertheless, doing so only lead them closer to death. As soon as the group advanced, O¡¯Brien suddenly stopped his footsteps! He stopped extremely suddenly, to the point where the subordinate behind him couldn¡¯t stop himself in time and collided into him! ¡°What is it? Did you find him?¡± Laiknar turned around and asked in a rather troubled manner. He understood O¡¯Brien¡¯s skills. O¡¯Brien¡¯s face paled even more, and sweat once again moistened his hair. He smiled with difficulty and said, ¡°I¡¯m fine. Let¡¯s continue.¡± Laiknar had some suspicions, but he didn¡¯t dwell on them. O¡¯Brien had enough ability to protect himself. If he couldn¡¯t even protect himself, then there wasn¡¯t much Laiknar could do to help him. The hunter ahead had already found the route Su took, so he began to quicken their pursuit. Laiknar hurriedly followed behind. O¡¯Brien moved at the very back of the group, and this was actually to protect the entire latter half of the group. He advanced silently while contemplating what he felt in that moment. When the group was just about to chase after Su, O¡¯Brien suddenly felt as if a needle pierced him right between his brows. O¡¯Brien clearly understood that at that very moment, he had already been targeted by another! Just as he was about to deploy the force field, the pricking feeling disappeared. O¡¯Brien suddenly understood the message that was transmitted when he had been aimed at just now: Next time, I will kill you first. Within the boundless night, O¡¯Brien had no way of sensing Su¡¯s location and no way of finding signs of him when he had been targeted just now. This meant that Su was outside the range of his detection. However, from just two short interactions alone, Su shouldn¡¯t be able to guess O¡¯Brien¡¯s range of detection. As such, the next time he revealed himself, O¡¯Brien might be able to lock onto him. After all, O¡¯Brien¡¯s detection range was 800 meters. Borrowing the protection of night, Su was like an agile black cat as he moved at a speed of roughly ten kilometers per hour. It wasn¡¯t that he couldn¡¯t travel faster, but rather that if he traveled any faster, the wounds that were barely closed might open again and leave behind drops of blood. These drops of blood would be enough to attract the group of wolves behind him and expose his current route. However, despite doing this, there was still difficult terrain and hiding scavengers that required Su to take action, affecting his wounds. Most of the time, Su would lean down and use his tongue to lick up all traces of blood. He already couldn¡¯t hear any sound, and within his head, unbearable stabbing pains would flare. There was even less of a need to describe the anguish his entire body was going through. Su¡¯s perception was also extremely sharp, signifying that the pain he felt was also several times that of what a normal person felt. Once the pain reached a certain degree, it became a numbing sensation. As a result, both his senses and perception became a bit sluggish. Only the sensation at the very tip of his tongue had not declined, allowing him to suck back all of the blood that fell. Su was determined to save every bit of energy he could. He was going to completely crush the group of wolves behind him. From the moment he could remember, he had constantly struggled between life and death. Right now, what Su was gambling on was that these wolves who were clearly accustomed to a superior lifestyle were inferior to himself who could endure pain, fatigue, hunger, and filth. On the fourth day, enormous city ruins entered Laiknar¡¯s field of vision. This city was precisely linked to Base N11¡¯s underground region. At this moment, he already lost his calm, graceful, and slightly arrogant bearing. His eyes were sunken, and his blonde hair was a terrible mess as they sat in chunks on his head. The scorched and tattered Black Dragonriders uniform was even filthier, and the originally faint golden insignia could no longer be seen. Even Laiknar¡¯s appearance was like this, so the subordinates were in an even more battered and exhausted state. Many times, they doubted whether or not Su was even injured. Otherwise, how could he endure for so long, almost as if he had been running away non-stop? However, every ten kilometers or so, they would find several drops of blood and even a piece of flesh, restoring their confidence. O¡¯Brien was slightly better off. His youthful face was full of fatigue, but his eyes were still full of luster. Apart from himself, no one knew the pressure he endured this entire time. As for Li Gaolei, his face was originally covered in beard stubble, and his appearance was that of a beaten and dejected style. Right now, his beard merely grew a bit longer and his clothes a bit filthier. Apart from this, there wasn¡¯t much difference from the past. Laiknar released a cold laugh and walked into the city. O¡¯Brien pulled him back and frowned. ¡°It seems like this is the place he has chosen to fight in. We should still go back and ask headquarters for reinforcements. Inside this kind of large city, a sniper will bring about great troubles.¡± ¡°What are you scared of?! Isn¡¯t this perfect? The mouse is finally going to stop running.¡± Laiknar¡¯s eyes were full of bloody streaks, making him appear rather malevolent. ¡°We¡¯ve all received anti-sniper training. Moreover, a third level sniper only has the chance to fire a single shot in your presence, right?¡± O¡¯Brien¡¯s brows furrowed deeper and deeper. However, he couldn¡¯t stop Laiknar and could only follow him into the city. For these ten people, the city in front of them was like an incomparably large monster. It was coldly watching them, waiting for its prey to walk into its mouth. CHAPTER 33 Su sat next to a window on the thirtieth floor, coldly watching the troops below advance in an extremely careful manner. He did not aim his weapon, reveal any killing intent, or prepare to adopt any type of movement. He simply watched them and remembered everything he saw. Only when a person showed up alone, would he act. He was familiarizing himself with every person¡¯s pace, posture, and every other movement down to their most customary actions. Only by acting like this could he avoid the sharp perception of his enemy. During the past 24 hours, Su continuously drew closer to them and then quickly disappeared into the shadows. He used his consciousness to continuously lock on and then immediately erase his targeting on different enemies. Through these actions, he was able to test how sharp the enemy¡¯s perception was as well as place them under pressure. Su¡¯s physical strength was quickly declining, but he believed that his enemies¡¯ strength was being exhausted at an even faster rate. Their water supply had already been completely exhausted, and there was barely any high energy food left over. However, the biggest factor was that the enemy was not able to receive proper sleep. Su wandered around them, constantly looking for a moment to pick one of the sentinels off. Su received two opportunities, but he didn¡¯t take action. The sentinels¡¯ expressions were a bit unnatural, and this was true for the other team members and underlings as well, putting Su on guard. Even though all ten people were present and Su didn¡¯t believe there was anyone else lying in ambush, he still felt as if it was too easy to be true. The other party weren¡¯t people who would make these types of mistakes. After carefully inspecting the surrounding terrain and silently take note of all positions suitable to snipe from, Su began to understand a bit of the other side¡¯s trump cards. The city¡¯s topography was rather complex. It was not equipped with wide enough space for long-range sniping. During both of the times the other party rested, the furthest place that a long-rage shot could be made from was 700 meters away. This was true for both instances. It seemed like there was someone among the other party that was definitely skilled at perception and detection, and that individual¡¯s range should be 700 meters. In addition, Su immediately thought of the one that stopped his shot earlier, the shot that he was sure would hit its mark. He seemed rather delicate and even a bit weak. Moreover, when he followed silently behind the troop, he rarely expressed his opinion. However, it was precisely this young man that not only sensed his killing intent but also managed to block his snipe at a moment of imminent peril! Exactly how many unknown abilities was this gray-haired, gray-eyed young man hiding? Su¡¯s head felt another wave of intense pain. He collected his gaze, and his two hands clasped his head as his entire body trembled lightly. After roughly half a minute, his body¡¯s shaking slowly stopped. Su leaned against the wall while slowly breathing. Each time, he would release a long and silent breath. He couldn¡¯t conduct any intense movements, because the pack of wolves was advancing not far away. Even the slightest sudden change would attract their attention. At this time, a muffled gunshot sounded from the distance. It was like a pent-up thunderous noise, and it rang through the air. At practically the same time the gunshot entered their ears, the troop¡¯s subordinates each made evasive movements. Laiknar and O¡¯Brien both took a step almost before the gunshot even sounded. Only Li Gaolei stood in his original position without moving and continuing to smoke his cigar in a rather indifferent manner. If the one that Su had aimed at was him, then he would have already resigned himself to death. It would be pointless to try and hide. If O¡¯Brien was willing to save him, then by standing still in his original spot, it would still make it a bit easier for O¡¯Brien to do so. The author''s tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. There was only a gunshot. No bullet was shot. Laiknar abruptly increased his speed. Even though he was running with seemingly no pattern, his speed was frighteningly quick. In the blink of an eye, he had already found the source of the gunshot, but it only made his face fall ashen. This was an abandoned seven floor house, and it was one that was considered old-fashioned even in the olden era. The most distinctive traits of it were that the room¡¯s ceiling was rather tall, and that the windows were narrow. However, because of the number of windows, it shouldn¡¯t have affected the room¡¯s lightning. However, due to the modifications made later to this construct, most of the windows were sealed up, so the few windows that remained made the room extremely dim. Even creatures like living corpses that feared the sunlight could move about here. There was practically no furniture in this room, making it rather spacious. A large pile of burning flesh was piled up on the other side of the wall. Half of the living corpse¡¯s chest as well as an entire arm had already disappeared, and it was currently rolling on the ground in agony. On the ground was an empty ammunition case. A few rocks and pieces of scrap metal were scattered randomly on the side. There was also a bullet embedded into the ground. It was an incendiary device, and on top of the bullet were blood and chunks of flesh from an unknown creature. It seemed like these living corpses thought that there was even more delicious bone marrow inside, and after continuously beating down, one of them ended up detonating the bullet. The living corpse struggling on the ground was clearly the unlucky one to have done so. This was a simple yet effective trap. It was a continuous trap! When Laiknar suddenly realized what was going on, his mind was sudden suffused with an intense wave of chilliness! As if by instinct, he suddenly laid low and simultaneously pressed down a subordinate at his side. A bullet flew from the window on the other side and closely stuck to the subordinate and Laiknar¡¯s body as it flew past. It sped towards the window sill where O¡¯Brien was unsteadily standing after just making his way up. When the bullet reached its target, O¡¯Brien had long deployed his force field. The bullet slowed down a bit just like before, and with its tremendous kinetic energy, it began to turn red and distort. However, it ultimately still broke through the force field. Turning into a stream of metal, it shot towards his chest. O¡¯Brien¡¯s two legs were nailed to the balcony, and his entire body suddenly toppled over to the side, barely avoiding this fatal metallic stream. He gently pulled on a discarded electrical wire, and his body once again sprung back up, allowing him to stand up perfectly straight again. Li Gaolei placed another cigarette into his mouth and climbed up along the drainpipe. He suddenly felt as if the top of his head was a bit hot, and as a result, he immediately released a cry from his bad feeling. He immediately jumped to the side, landing on the balcony of another house. Over ten extremely hot drops of metallic fluid descended, and quite a few landed on Li Gaolei¡¯s previous position. If not for his fast actions, he would have been struck by the metallic droplets, and each droplet that landed would mean one chunk of skin and flesh lost. O¡¯Brien stood perfectly straight on the balcony. Regardless of whether he was sitting or standing, he would always maintain the bearing of both a military personnel and a noble. His face at the moment was dreadfully pale, and sometimes, an abnormal redness would flush past his face. His lips were a pale purple color, and large beads of sweat fell from his forehead. The moment the bullet was blocked, another vague stabbing pain transmitted from O¡¯Brien¡¯s head. This time, the message that was sent was again, ¡°Next time, I will kill you.¡± Inside an abandoned office building a thousand meters out, Su calmly sat on the ground where some cement was exposed while wiping down the gun barrel that had just released a shot. What remained of the glass screen covering the building reflected the light of day and also hid Su¡¯s silhouette. Next to Su¡¯s side was a row of ten extra rounds, and each bullet was a different color. The different colors respectively represented incendiary devices, armor penetrating bullets, highly explosive bullets, and various other types of bullets. In Su¡¯s mind, the map continuously adjusted its angle as he recalled every detail of this area. The afterglow of dusk reflected off the glass screen wall, producing a glaring multi-colored brilliance. Su knew that this kind of powerful radiance would only persist at most for another twenty minutes before this entire city would sink into a deep darkness. CHAPTER 34 Twenty minutes later, the final bit of light punctually disappeared over the horizon. The enormous abandoned city completely sank into darkness. In a small alley, Laiknar raised his head and gazed towards the towering buildings on both sides of him in silence. O¡¯Brien stood at his side, and his face was finally unable to cover up his fatigue despite the faint smile on his face. Even Li Gaolei with the least workload felt like it was becoming more difficult to move about. This game of pursuit was not easy; both the roles of hunter and prey were continuously being switched around. Each person had to remain vigilant against bullets that could arrive from any direction. Even though Su only fired a single bullet this entire time and only laid down one trap, the persistently tense situation was quickly exhausting everyone¡¯s strength. When that shot had been fired, O¡¯Brien¡¯s mind seemed to have become extremely weary, and a large part of his strength had been consumed as well. Who knew how many more bullets he could block? At night, the city was like an enormous dark beast. It was as if it could topple over at any moment and crush everyone into minced meat. They had already roamed about this maze-like city for an entire day and night. Fatigue crept into Laiknar¡¯s mind like a vine, and that vine was slowly extending its branches into every corner. This was the first time that Laiknar felt that the glory he would receive from capturing Su was no longer as attractive as it was in the beginning. Compared to the great future prospects he could receive, the danger to his life felt more realistic. During the earlier pursuit, even though it was extremely difficult and every kilometer closer to their target was a small victory, he had always remained confident in the backing of his group¡¯s strength. Others might feel fear, but the Black Dragonriders wouldn¡¯t, for every standard member of the Black Dragonriders experienced strict anti-sniper training. Su might be far more dangerous than an ordinary sniper, but with O¡¯Brien¡¯s troops here, they still had the resources to chase after him. Now, their prey was almost within reach. This enormous city seemed to be suffused with Su¡¯s aura, and he didn¡¯t seem to have any intention of leaving, however... When Laiknar turned around, what he saw was O¡¯Brien¡¯s pale face. This stirred up his final bits of ambition. ¡°You might be right. Let¡¯s leave this place for now and ask for headquarters¡¯ assistance.¡± Laiknar¡¯s smile was a bit forced. Now that their strength had been exhausted and their minds were on the verge of collapse, they finally began to regret the energy they wasted in Habitat K7 and the Falcons¡¯ headquarters. Back then, the energy used to set aflame those provocative or even deceitful refugees seemed insignificant, as only a few hours of rest could completely recover it. However, how could they have anticipated that they wouldn¡¯t even have the ample time to rest during the next few days and nights? Even though their manpower was sufficient, and in theory, it shouldn¡¯t be a problem with their rotation of men standing guard, the sniping ability Su displayed made it so that no one dared to enter a deep state of sleep. Under the shadow of a muzzle like that, even their comrades-in-arms became completely unreliable. Right now, every ounce of strength and energy was extremely precious. Thinking back, even the intense excitement and thrill of torturing those people was a great waste of energy. While hidden within the darkness, Su was just like the most crafty rotting wolf, patiently waiting for his prey to tire out. Undoubtedly, the heavily wounded Su should have fallen before the strictly trained Black Dragonriders, yet after this game of back and forth pursuit, the first ones to show signs of collapse were Laiknar and his troops! The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement. It was possible that Su might collapse after another minute and give up, but this possibility no longer existed. The group of people silently moved within the darkness. Apart from Laiknar, all of the subordinates seemed to have relaxed. Past the intersection in front of them was the edge of the city where they could find a safe place to set up camp and also call the Black Dragonriders Headquarters for assistance. After experiencing Su¡¯s perseverance and craftiness, all of the subordinates believed that only by transferring high level dragonriders here would there be a possibility of capturing this cunning existence. The abandoned city was full of large chunks of cement, randomly protruding reinforced steel bars, and geological faults along the road. It all seemed particularly sinister within the darkness. Flap flap flap! A large group of giant bats flew from the distant city. They seemed to have been startled by something, and as a result, large numbers of them flew across the sky above Laiknar. The originally nearly pitch-black night seemed to have now been fully covered up. Crash Less than ten meters away from Laiknar¡¯s location, a piece of fingernail-sized concrete fell and rolled down a pile of abandoned earth and trash. Laiknar suddenly stopped his steps. When he turned around, he saw a brilliant spark ten meters away! At this moment, Laiknar¡¯s mind entered an extremely nervous state, as well as an extremely calm state. He seemed to be able to see that bullet rotate as it arrived, as well as the faintly discernable trace of fire around the bullet caused by the high speed friction with the air. It then disappeared above his field of vision. ¡°Actually between the brows...¡± Laiknar still had the time to produce this thought, but unfortunately, his level of awareness was far above his flesh¡¯s ability to react. As the bullet flew from ten meters away, Laiknar¡¯s body was completely unable to avoid it. The bullet passed through Laiknar¡¯s forehead, and then it flew out from the back of his head. The tremendous kinetic energy sent his head flying backwards, and as it smashed into one of the subordinates, an entire ear was torn off, causing blood to immediately pour out like a waterfall. The abrupt change stupefied everyone here! From within the heap of trash ten meters away, a faint black shadow nimbly entered the nearby subway tunnel and disappeared into the pitch-black passages. Laiknar was still standing there, maintaining his pencil straight posture He then slowly fell backwards. A warm, trembling hand held Laiknar¡¯s body and gently rested him down onto the ground. Laiknar stared blankly into the night sky, and his right hand slowly reached upwards, as if he was trying to grab at something. O¡¯Brien grabbed Laiknar¡¯s hand. A hint of consolation flew past his eyes, and his right hand gripped tightly like a drowning person grabbing onto a piece of straw. He opened his mouth and wanted to say something, but right at this time, the expression in his eyes suddenly vanished. His right hand gradually lost strength and loosened its grip. This time, it was O¡¯Brien¡¯s turn to tightly grab Laiknar¡¯s hand, preventing it from sliding away. His left hand that was holding Laiknar¡¯s head was filled with a warm and moist sensation, but O¡¯Brien didn¡¯t dare to look in that direction! O¡¯Brien¡¯s grey hair suddenly flew upwards, and he roared angrily towards the darkness, ¡°Wasn¡¯t I the one you were going to kill next?! You liar!¡± His roar rumbled outwards for who knows how far, echoing throughout the towering skyscrapers. If one didn¡¯t see it for themselves, who would have thought that this delicate body could release such a tremendous volume of sound! The subordinates looked at each other in dismay. They couldn¡¯t comprehend the meaning behind O¡¯Brien¡¯s cry of anger. It was as if O¡¯Brien could see through the boundless night sky and see Su coldly laughing, mocking his innocence. He had always maintained his perception at around 500-800 meters, as this was the optimal distance where a sniper fired from, yet he never expected that Su was actually hiding by their route of departure, moreover waiting until they were within ten meters before firing. No matter how powerful one¡¯s defensive capabilities were, they still needed time to be activated. If this shot had been aimed at O¡¯Brien, he similarly wouldn¡¯t have been able to block it. Even though he wouldn¡¯t have died, he would have at least been seriously injured. However, this shot was aimed at Laiknar. O¡¯Brien gently placed Laiknar down. Then, he suddenly stood up and ran towards the pitch-black underground tunnel! As soon as he exerted some strength, his body immediately turned into a light wisp of smoke and traveled at a speed that didn¡¯t seem any bit slower than Su¡¯s. CHAPTER 35 ¡°Mister O¡¯Brien!¡± The subordinates only had enough time to cry out before O¡¯Brien disappeared into the depths of the underground tunnels. They immediately rushed into the underground tunnel, but Li Gaolei¡¯s cold voice immediately transmitted over, ¡°Are you all trying to kill O¡¯Brien?¡± The subordinates stopped moving on the spot and furiously turned around to stare at the outsider Li Gaolei. In fact, they knew clearly themselves that once the angry O¡¯Brien entered the underground tunnel, there was no way they could catch up to him. ¡°There is practically no light down there, and the terrain is extremely complex.¡± Li Gaolei ignored the subordinates hateful expressions. In a slow and unhurried voice, he said, ¡°None of you will be able to display your skills. If something unexpected happens, your master wouldn¡¯t be able to completely ignore you all. For the sake of saving you guys, he would likely throw away his own life! As such, it is best if you all just wait here.¡± The subordinates gradually calmed down, and then they began to disperse. They collected Laiknar¡¯s corpse, asked headquarters for assistance, and even set up camp and established a cordoned area. The work was split up, and everything was done in a clear and orderly manner. These seven subordinates¡¯ capabilities could completely match Roxland Company¡¯s most elite secret guard, while their equipment and military experience far surpassed those of the secret guard. A hint of concern could be seen within Li Gaolei¡¯s eyes as he silently watched everything. In the darkness, there was only a bit of fiery light that flickered between light and darkness. It originated from Li Gaolei¡¯s cigarette butt. Even though it was rather conspicuous, no one stopped him. O¡¯Brien had already personally went to chase down Su, so this extremely dangerous and cool-headed individual in all likelihood wasn¡¯t going to be picking them off unexpectedly. Li Gaolei smoked one cigarette after another. When Laiknar was ambushed, he saw Su, and he believed that Su had long known of his existence. The jadeite like eye that left him a deep impression didn¡¯t seem to contain the slightest bit of emotion. His ice cold gaze was like a bucket of iced water that completed drenched Li Gaolei. Su didn¡¯t give him any message and directly entered the subway tunnels. Li Gaolei believed that the ice cold gaze contained enough information on its own. As for O¡¯Brien, Li Gaolei had absolutely no idea what kind of abilities this young man would display under such fury. Meanwhile, Su with his pretty and strange eye seemed to be the king of darkness. Inside the underground passages that were as complex as spiderwebs, countless deadly creatures thrived. As for what kind of conclusion the two¡¯s life and death struggle would lead to, only the heavens knew. Li Gaolei¡¯s cigarette box was empty. He rummaged through his pockets, but he didn¡¯t find a single cigarette, only two delicately wrapped olden era cigars. He rubbed the two cigars in an avaricious manner, as if those careful and fanatical fingers were rubbing the body of a dream lover. In the end, Li Gaolei still took out his hand from his clothes pockets. He looked at the temporary camp that had been established by the subordinates, and then with a pah sound, he spat out a clump of spittle. These subordinates didn¡¯t smoke or drink, as if they were just like the puritans of the olden era. Not even Laiknar, who seemed to gain strange enjoyment from burning people alive and hearing their miserable screams, touched alcohol or used any stimulating substances. If Laiknar hadn¡¯t shown such undisguised desire back then, then Li Gaolei truly would have thought that Laiknar didn¡¯t have any interest in women. Otherwise, why would he directly torture the pretty woman from Asmo to death? This fellow might just be a soft egg that can¡¯t get hard. In the end, Li might have just used a lash to ruthlessly give him a beating, and he would end up climaxing from the trampling and pain. If he was a bit more of a pervert, he might even ask Li to to give it to him with Su¡¯s enormous pistol. If Li just happened to press the trigger during that time... Li Gaolei looked towards the camp set up by the subordinates. Laiknar¡¯s corpse had been placed inside a waterproof sack and was temporarily laid at the center of the camp. A strange gas was filling the inside of the sack, seemingly for cooling and antiseptic purposes. Towards this dead person, Li Gaolei didn¡¯t have any feeling of respect, to the point where he could use the most vile thoughts to guess at his nature. Those born in large companies typically wouldn¡¯t think of people living in inhabited areas as similar species as themselves. It was just like how in the eyes of inhabited area residents, there was no difference between mobs and refugees, both of which were regarded as wild beasts like rotting wolves. However, before joining Roxland Company, Li Gaolei had also been a refugee, so the way he looked at them was a bit different from how others did. In the era of turmoil, the difference between rank and social class might sometimes be even greater than that between races. Even if it was Li Gaolei, currently, he wouldn¡¯t think much about killing a habitat refugee that dared to offend him. However, Laiknar was different. He didn¡¯t kill only one or a few refugees, but instead tortured large numbers of people to death. Inside K7 and the Falcons¡¯ manor, all of the subordinates watched Laiknar brandish his flames and burn through human bodies as if this was normal. They looked like they were used to seeing things like Laiknar randomly sticking the leader of the Falcons onto a stake, used to seeing things like the eleven remaining Falcons members struggling to the end as they were pierced by the stake. All of the elders that resisted were thrown into the burning farm house. When the subordinates were about to do the same towards the women and children, O¡¯Brien was the one that hurriedly stopped them and allowed them to leave. Even though these women and children wouldn¡¯t suffer a fate that was much better than these men after losing their home, they would at least be able to live for a few more days. Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. Consequently, Li Gaolei understood that in the eyes of the Black Dragonriders, those from inhabited area weren¡¯t even of the same species. Even though O¡¯Brien was like this, showing mercy towards the women and children, this kind of mercy was the same as that shown towards harmless small animals. When he thought of the scene from back then, Li Gaolei¡¯s body felt strangely uncomfortable, as if those stakes were driven one after another into his own body. He cursed in a low voice. When he thought of the sight of Laiknar¡¯s brains leaking out, a strange feeling of joy stirred inside of him. He truly wanted to take the remaining half of those brains and smash them up as well. Su¡¯s loud and resounding shot gave Li Gaolei a refreshing feeling, to the point where he even wanted to invite Su to a drink even though basic reasoning told him that the reason the shot hadn¡¯t been aimed at him during that time was because he wasn¡¯t worth it. With such a great opportunity, the one that was to be killed was obviously going to be one that was more valuable. In the maze-like underground tunnels, a frenzied wave of footsteps rang through the air. A faint luster flickered within the depths of O¡¯Brien¡¯s pupils. The world in his eyes had already become multi-colored, and within the colors were extremely prominent traces that revealed the route Su took. O¡¯Brien didn¡¯t purposely lighten his footsteps, because he knew that there was no point. Su was clearly an individual with exceptional perception ability, so he couldn¡¯t avoid Su¡¯s detection no matter how careful he was. Moreover, O¡¯Brien didn¡¯t have the experience of extensively seeking survival in the wilderness, so Su was clearly more suited to the wilderness. Once Su was given enough time to hide himself, O¡¯Brien would never be able to find him again. This was why O¡¯Brien didn¡¯t hold back on speed and sped through these tangled and complicated tunnels at a velocity of over fifty kilometers per hour. What he needed to do is use his own physical strength and speed to overwhelm Su and then get rid of him. The instant Su entered the underground tunnels, O¡¯Brien clearly saw many criss-crossed slits all over his exposed skin. He believed that under these types of wounds, Su couldn¡¯t persist much longer. Hiding and sniping was one thing, while a frontal confrontation was a different matter. Intersections swept past O¡¯Brien¡¯s body as he ran with flying speed. The flames of rage burned within his gray pupils. A converging intersection appeared before his eyes. O¡¯Brien suddenly leaned his body backwards, and his two legs abruptly pressed against the steel rail! The ear-splitting sound of friction transmitted far into the underground passage as the metal alloy soles of his boots grinded against the steel rail, bringing with it a stream of blinding sparks. O¡¯Brien maintained his posture as he avoided this converging intersection. The converging intersection connected a set of parallel maintenance tunnels. Su stood within the maintenance tunnel and steadily held the rifle while aiming at this area. In the darkness, his green eye was like a bright gemstone as it released a deep radiance. When O¡¯Brien saw Su, the entire tunnel was lit up by the flame released by the muzzle. When the resounding gunshot transmitted to O¡¯Brien¡¯s ears, the bullet had already struck the tunnel wall, moreover blasting off a large piece of concrete. The rubble that flew about landed on his face and hands, drawing forth a sharp pain. Su had fired in advance, and the bullet stuck close to the tunnel¡¯s wall as it flew out. However, he never anticipated that O¡¯Brien would slide past the tunnel while leaning backwards. As a result, the bullet passed by merely ten centimeters above O¡¯Brien¡¯s chest and struck air. O¡¯Brien extended his left hand the moment he saw Su, and afterwards, he was completely overwhelmed by the fiery light and booming gunshot. The momentum that remained in his body carried him past the tunnel. When O¡¯Brien appeared again in the converging intersection, Su had already disappeared. Embedded within the maintenance tunnel wall was a round piece of ice that was at least thirty centimeters in diameter. The edges of the ice chunk were extremely sharp, sharp enough to carve ten centimeters into the concrete wall. When O¡¯Brien pulled out the chunk of ice from the wall, he didn¡¯t see any bloodstains on the edges. The ambush from both sides failed to connect this time. Su¡¯s abrupt shot completely quelled O¡¯Brien¡¯s fury, but it didn¡¯t dispel his fighting spirit. O¡¯Brien followed Su¡¯s traces in pursuit. After missing this opportunity, he didn¡¯t know what would happen the next time he would encounter Su face to face. The battle just now proved that even after being seriously injured, Su was still an extremely dangerous opponent, to the point where he could take O¡¯Brien¡¯s life at any point. However, O¡¯Brien continued to chase after him. He knew the dangers he was facing, but he didn¡¯t believe himself to be as respectable as his subordinates thought he was, and he definitely wasn¡¯t someone that liked to brave dangers. What was driving him on was something else, something known as honor. The maintenance tunnel quickly ended, connecting to a subway station that had been abandoned for a long time already. The tracks Su left behind were more and more concentrated. They made a turn and disappeared into the restroom on the platform¡¯s side. Bang! O¡¯Brien completely knocked down the restroom door with a single kick and rushed inside. The ceiling above him had already been torn apart, revealing a deep ventilation device. Looking at the size of the ventilation path, it was barely enough to fit a single person. Su¡¯s escape seemed extremely hurried, as he did not even bother closing the cover of the ventilation path. O¡¯Brien rose with a single bound, and his head as well as his upper body entered the ventilation path. Then, with a horizontal movement of his elbow, his elbow actually broke through the stainless steel ventilation wall, stabilizing his body in place. The ventilation path initially headed straight upwards, and then it extended outwards in a horizontal manner. The other end was entirely dark, and not even O¡¯Brien could clearly make out what was there. O¡¯Brien¡¯s right hand pushed towards the passageway. A flicker of light passed through his two eyes, and with a muffled bang sound, it was as if the entire subway station began to shake! A formless force field quickly extended all over inside the tunnel. The stainless steel that made up the ventilation duct groaned and struggled, and then, as if it could no longer bear the amount of force, it began to distort. The entire passageway began to twist, shrink, and collapse, as if countless boulders had bashed against it! From the other end of the passageway, Su tossed out his modified rifle. Then, Su rushed out from the passage exit and grabbed the modified rifle out of midair before gently landing on the ground. He suddenly raised his head and fixed his gaze on the passage exit that he just jumped out of. With only a bo sound, the passage exit released endless amounts of dust and garbage. Then, it began to warp and twist about, as if it was being dug by an enormous invisible hand. If Su had emerged a minute later, he might have been crushed to pieces by the steel forged ventilation duct! Su only gave the distorted passage a single look before lifting the rifle and disappearing into the dark and deep underground tunnels. The battle was far from finished. CHAPTER 36 O¡¯Brien was not familiar with this region¡¯s underground tunnels, and he even gave up on following Su based on his tracks. The speed at which Su moved through the ventilation duct was extraordinarily fast, to the point where the attack that O¡¯Brien was sure to land failed to be effective. However, after coming into contact with Su several times, he had already locked onto Su. Within his mind, Su was like a little dark green light that continuously shifted about. Even though O¡¯Brien wasn¡¯t clear about this area¡¯s terrain, he was continuously getting closer to Su. With his speed that was almost double that of Su¡¯s , even if it was through a roundabout path, he could still quickly get back on track and continuously close the hundred meters or so distance between them. All types of dangerous creatures lived within the underground tunnels, yet right now, not a single one emerged. They all quickly departed from this region. Regardless of whether it was O¡¯Brien or Su who was no longer hiding his aura, it caused the creatures to intuitively feel great danger. This region was unfamiliar for both Su and O¡¯Brien. The places Su passed would all be recorded on his map, so he never had to worry about getting lost. O¡¯Brien also seemed to have an exceptional memory for the terrain he passed, so even if he was following Su around in circles within these maze-like tunnels, the distance between them was gradually shortening. Su quickly noticed this point as well, but he continued to maintain the same speed as if he was prepared to compete against O¡¯Brien in the amount of strength that was consumed. O¡¯Brien¡¯s speed was constantly 1.5 times that of Su¡¯s. It wasn¡¯t fast, nor was it slow; there were no significant signs of energy being consumed. When the distance between the two had been decreased to thirty meters, Su suddenly stopped. O¡¯Brien¡¯s gray hair suddenly flew, and he abruptly exerted force. A large stream of sparks flew out between his military boots and the steel rail, and he immediately picked up speed! He had passed by this passageway previously as well, and he knew that at this moment, Su was two corners away. With this kind of distance, O¡¯Brien only needed two seconds to arrive in front of Su¡¯s face. He had confidence that he had to ability to avoid Su¡¯s bullet, or at the very least not allow Su to hit a fatal area. Once he himself took action, Su wouldn¡¯t have any opportunities again. The wind around O¡¯Brien¡¯s body whistled as he directly flew over and rushed towards the other wall! He took two heavy steps on the wall, and his entire body fiercely and forcefully passed the first corner as if he was running on the walls. Meanwhile, large cracks appeared in the concrete where his feet landed. When he turned the corner, O¡¯Brien¡¯s pupils suddenly shrank. A metal bucket filled with grease had appeared around the corner unknowingly, and a tracer bullet had just shot into the oil bucket from the other side! Fiery light immediately lit up every dark corner in the tunnels. The vicious flames roiled, following the enclosed space of the tunnels as they surged forth! O¡¯Brien¡¯s heart throbbed vigorously. The danger that abruptly arrived made almost every single hair on his body stand up. He had rushed into the surging flames at a speed of over seventy kilometers per hour, and his body was in midair. It was too hard to change directions again! O¡¯Brien instantly bent his body and protected his head with his arms. His front leg was bent, and his back leg was straight as he adopted an all-around defensive stance in midair. The instant the flames attacked his body, an ice barrier that was several dozen centimeters in diameter suddenly appeared in front of O¡¯Brien¡¯s boddy. The ferocious oil and gas flames completely devoured O¡¯Brien. Not only did they completely neutralize his momentum and shatter the barrier of ice, they even pushed him flying backwards. He slammed ferociously into the tunnel wall, the pressure slamming ruthlessly against O¡¯Brien¡¯s weak body. Meanwhile, the great flame on the walls had no place to go and could only turn around to the left, rushing towards the other side¡¯s passage. The power of the explosion quickly faded, leaving behind blazing flames everywhere. These flames that originated from gasoline were difficult to extinguish. The temperature of the underground tunnels abruptly shot up to a level ordinary creatures could not survive in. O¡¯Brien fell from the wall, and even though he descended with the proper posture, he still almost fell to the ground. Large areas of flames were burning on the Black Dragonriders uniform, and his pretty gray hair was burned into a mess. He began to cough forcefully, causing blood to continuously flow from his mouth and nose. He slowly got up while supporting himself against the wall. An ice cold energy continuously diffused from his uniform, quickly weakening the burning flames around his body. After flickering about a few more times, the flames were all extinguished one after another. O¡¯Brien¡¯s handsome face seemed to be covered in a layer of frost. The indistinct anger was like thawing lava within the layer of ice that could erupt at any time. This narrative has been purloined without the author''s approval. Report any appearances on Amazon. He suddenly released a roar! Suddenly, layers of cold fog diffused in a ten meter radius around the typically quiet and shy young man. All of the raging flames were instantly extinguished! On the other end of the passageway, Su¡¯s body bent down, and then he fell back at flying speed. If O¡¯Brien didn¡¯t see it for himself, he wouldn¡¯t have believed that a person could reach this type of speed when falling back. Su¡¯s left hand stabilized the modified rifle, aiming the muzzle forward. In front of him were fiercely surging flames. Ultimately, the flames were still a few meters too short and didn¡¯t reach Su¡¯s body. The most violent phase of the flames had passed, and afterwards, Su was able to widen the distance between them. O¡¯Brien didn¡¯t charge through the flames like Su had anticipated. It seemed like the injuries he suffered from the explosion weren¡¯t light. If he had truly rushed out from the flames, Su wouldn¡¯t have been startled either. The abilities this quiet and delicate young man possessed were truly immeasurably deep, and there were no unintended miracles in his actions. This was the impression Su had of O¡¯Brien. Su stood within the tunnels that flickered between light and darkness. He calmly watched the tunnel in front of him that was burning all over. The gray-haired young man was indeed formidable, displaying mysterious abilities that far outclassed Su. As soon as he thought of the completely distorted ventilation duct, Su would feel a chill run through his body. However, this didn¡¯t make Su¡¯s resolution or confidence waver. The ruins and wilderness were Su¡¯s world. If O¡¯Brien really had rushed out from the flames just now, Su¡¯s waiting gun would have most likely blasted off a leg. The modified rifle was slowly lowered until the muzzle pointed at the ground in a slanted manner. Following a staircase, Su steadily walked towards the surface. At the entrance of another subway station, O¡¯Brien pushed open the half covered wire-netted door and walked up the stairs step by step. He could have completely sent the wire-netted door flying outwards just now when he pushed the door, but O¡¯Brien slowly calmed himself down and still chose to walk towards the surface in the conventional manner. He moved up while supporting himself with the wall at both sides. When the upper portion of his body protruded out of the subway exit, his body suddenly leaned forward and fell down perfectly straight. Only when he was about to collide with the floor, did his right hand lightly lean out, stopping his body. He maintained this posture and stared into the darkness. Several hundred meters away, Su stood calmly at the center of an intersection, his eye currently looking straight at O¡¯Brien. The modified rifle did not take aim and was instead carried on Su¡¯s back. Just now, he only released an aiming intent, yet O¡¯Brien already sensed it and immediately avoided the area that the intent targeted. O¡¯Brien revealed a rarely seen serious expression. His right hand exerted force, and his body sprung up as if there was a spring installed on him. He walked out from the subways station exit and stood at the center of the road, facing Su. After desperately struggling and chasing, O¡¯Brien finally understood that he couldn¡¯t catch Su. Even though he had locked onto Su¡¯s position, it was useless. When Su¡¯s injuries recovered, he would have even less of a chance. Meanwhile, Su also knew that his sniper rifle was useless before O¡¯Brien, regardless of whether it was up close or from far away. If Su had his pistol, then it might be a different story. However right now, he didn¡¯t have his pistol. In the world of ruins and wilderness, there were no what ifs. Su and O¡¯Brien looked at each other face-to-face, and then both sides left, gradually getting further apart. ¡°Next time, I will kill you.¡± The sharp pain between O¡¯Brien¡¯s brows gave him this message. ¡°Likewise.¡± The night wind that blew against Su¡¯s face seemed to become a bit chillier. Early in the morning, Su sat within the top floor of a skyscraper and watched the troop depart from the city. His green eye¡¯s gaze crossed the distance of a thousand meters, landing on Li Gaolei¡¯s body. Laiknar and O¡¯Brien, these two formidable and extraordinary figures¡¯ sudden appearance was definitely tied to Li Gaolei. At the very least, Li Gaolei served as their guide. Trouble, no, the proper word was disaster, had just started. This was something that Su understood the moment he shot down Laiknar. From the uniforms of Laiknar and O¡¯Brien which were practically the same, as well as the well trained subordinates, it was quite clear that they belonged to an exceptionally large organization. From Laiknar and O¡¯Brien¡¯s age, it was likely that they were only low level members of the organization! However, why would Li Gaolei suddenly bring people from an organization like this to chase after Su? Could it be related to Li? Li¡¯s appearance appeared before Su¡¯s eyes. Her fluttering maroon-colored hair, her supple skin, soft yet strong waist and legs, as well as arrogant and unyielding eyes fluttered past his eyes one after another. He didn¡¯t believe that Li was the instigator of this pursuit. A monster like the Black Dragonriders was definitely not a power Roxland Company could urge on. The attitude Laiknar possessed when he chased after Su was the same as the attitude one had when catching a rare and precious creature. Su was a hunter himself, and he had caught many of the mutated new species. When he looked at those types of prey, the gaze in his eyes was no different from Laiknar¡¯s. A game had been played between Li and himself, and the rules of the game had even been established beforehand. Could Li have broken the rules? Su didn¡¯t know, and he didn¡¯t want to think about this matter. He only knew that Roxland Company took part in his pursuit, and it almost resulted in his death. Su did not plan on remaining silent towards these actions. Life within the wastelands taught him that simple, direct, and cruel retaliation was more effective than any threat. Su might not be able to do anything major to the Black Dragonriders, and after killing Laiknar, his days would be full of endless troubles, so he had to leave this region. However, before leaving, Su was definitely going to let Roxland Company understand what kind of price had to be paid after provoking a sniper raised in the wilderness. Regardless of whether it was the olden era or the era of turmoil, there were no free lunches. Similarly, there were no profits without costs, and Roxland Company was no exception. If the pursuit truly originated from Li, then Su wouldn¡¯t mind adding a pretty name to his to-kill list. CHAPTER 37 Only the third day after O¡¯Brien¡¯s party left did Su depart from these city ruins. This city was absolutely tremendous in size. During its greatest years in the olden era, the main city was situated in the center, while the southeast, southwest, west, and north edge cities surrounded and protected it at its sides. Roads, canals, and high-speed rails weaved about the city like an enormous spiderweb. Despite the fact that the buildings had now collapsed, the canals dried up, and the roads broken apart, the parts that remained gave one a glimpse of how magnificent it was at its prime. The main city resembled an enormous dormant beast lying within the wide plains. Both the east and west city stretched continuously for almost a hundred kilometers. Even the series of life and death struggles that took place during the past few days only allowed them to explore a fraction of this city. The heart of the city, as well as further regions still had great dangers hidden within them. Su had carefully avoided these regions even during the battle¡¯s most difficult times. Meanwhile, O¡¯Brien didn¡¯t have any intentions of fighting in those regions either. Inside a high building that reflected the red clouds of morning, Su had already sat there for three days. When night passed, day would come. When day ended, night would return. When the third night descended, Su left this enormous and strange city. Until he left, he always felt as if there was a pair of eyes observing him. After three days of tranquility, all of the wounds on his body began to close, and a large part of his hearing ability was restored. As Su moved in the darkness, his green eye had a vague red radiance at its center. This was the sign of infra-red sight, and what this signified was that from this day forth, Su possessed true vision in the darkness. It was also from this point where darkness truly no longer became a hindrance. The night wind blew gently. Su¡¯s light blond hair lightly fluttered about. His strangely beautiful eye and the black eyepatch over the right side of his face formed a stark contrast. Most of his face was also hidden under layers of bandages. Meanwhile, the tattered and ruined bandages around his body could only cover most of his body. The skin that was exposed was sparkling and delicate. Under the night sky, it emitted a faint glow, making it look just like ivory. Even though he was walking barefoot through the ruins that were covered with rubble and steel bars, he wasn¡¯t injured at all. The band that carried the modified rifle had long been broken. Right now, it was being held in Su¡¯s hand with the muzzle pointed at the ground. It swung back and forth with a seemingly uniform motion. Su departed from this reinforced concrete forest at a constant speed. As the glow of twilight illuminated his back, a distinct silhouette was cast in front of the city ruins. The wind blew about his hair and the cloth strips on his body. The endlessly extending road in the darkness did not have a beginning, nor did it have an end. When Li Gaolei arrived at the top floor of the general headquarters building, he took two deep breaths of cigarette smoke. Then, he raised his leg, and with a single kick, he kicked open the deep maroon-colored hardwood door in front of him. This forceful method of entering clearly left everyone in the room shocked. Fazir was holding a pile of documents in his hand, and they were currently frozen above his briefcase. A pair of muddled eyes behind a pair of tortoise shell styled eyeglasses stared at Li Gaolei from a slanted angle. There was not the slightest bit of expression on his face. However, it was this lack of expression that was the most wonderful expression. This story has been unlawfully obtained without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon. The decorations in this office were extremely luxurious, completely replicating the style of a large company¡¯s executive office from the sixties. Every piece of furniture and every decoration were extremely precious and uncommon, to the point where there were even classic economic hardcover books lining the bookcases. There was a total of three of such offices, and they were specially arranged by Li Gaolei. They were to be used by the higher level figures of the parent company when they came. Growing up in the wilderness made Li Gaolei clearly understand just how important it was to make crucial figures happy. At this moment, Li Gaolei seemed to completely forget this doctrine that had allowed him to quickly climb the ranks. He took a forceful breath of his cigarette. After walking up two steps to reach the spacious writing desk, he forcefully put out the cigarette butt on Fazir¡¯s favorite alligator skin briefcase. Fazir continued to stare at Li Gaolei¡¯s eyes and didn¡¯t give his briefcase a single look. However, his cheeks drooped slightly, and his face that had become unknowingly older trembled a bit, revealing his true feelings. ¡°I¡¯ve returned.¡± Li Gaolei stared into the pair of bluish gray eyes twenty centimeters in front of him without the slightest intention of cowering. The strong smell of the other party¡¯s cologne became even more prominent at this distance. ¡°I¡¯m aware,¡± Fazir replied. He could also smell the muddled mix of blood, cigarettes, body odor, and an indiscernible stench. Even though this tormented his nose, Fazir did not show any signs of backing up. ¡°Then you also know the result?¡± Li Gaolei smiled as he asked. The smile was forced through clenched teeth. ¡°Of course! Laiknar died, but the Black Dragonriders will quickly send more people.¡± The tortoise shell styled glasses slid a little further down his nose. ¡°We¡¯ve provoked a vicious wolf!¡± What came out through Li Gaolei¡¯s clenched teeth was not only this sentence, but flying spittle. Of course, quite a bit of it landed on the face of Fazir less than twenty centimeters away. ¡°Not even the most ferocious wolf can remain savage for long! Laiknar wasn¡¯t a simple figure. In a world that is impossible for you all to contact, the Fabregas name is extremely well-known!¡± Fazir also raised his voice, returning three times the amount of spittle back at Li Gaolei. ¡°When the people those old nobles send crawl over from who knows how far away, this vicious wolf will have already torn us to pieces!¡± Li Gaolei began to fumble through his pockets for cigarettes, but all he found were cigars. He sliced off the tip of the cigar without the slightest hesitation. ¡°But I gave you all five hundred fully armed soldiers!¡± Fazir grabbed a small bottle of cologne and fiercely pressed down on the nozzle, spewing the dense perfume on the cigar¡¯s open end. ¡°Those five hundred sheep, no matter how you arm them, they won¡¯t become lions!¡± Li Gaolei brought out a large match from who knows where and fiercely struck it on Fazir¡¯s alligator skin briefcase. The glaring scratch was just like a blazing flame. ¡°Pah! Even a hundred sheep with first to third level abilities can overturn a group of vicious wolves! Are you trying to prove your own incompetence?¡± Fazir began to spray at Li Gaolei¡¯s nose. ¡°There is a famous saying from the olden era. It isn¡¯t that my army is incompetent, but rather the enemy too cunning!¡± Li Gaolei began to light the cigar. ¡°That is one of the olden era¡¯s most famous jokes!¡± Fazir unscrewed the cologne¡¯s cap. ¡°This isn¡¯t a joke! I grew up in the wilderness and know what kind of people cannot be provoked!¡± Li Gaolei¡¯s cigar began to burn. The cigar that had been sprayed with cologne produced an especially strong and sharp smell. ¡°But we¡¯ve already provoked him!¡± Fazir was trying to prove that if the remaining lesser half bottle of cologne was poured smartly, it could extinguish the large cigar. Li Gaolei bit down on the ridiculously strong smelling cigar and laughed maliciously. When he was about to say something, a large flame suddenly erupted between the two with a bang sound, and the nose stinging smell immediately diffused in all directions. This small explosion occurred too quickly. Forget about Fazir without any abilities, not even Li Gaolei could react in time and was struck head on.