I Don't Want To

The next day, I went to work as usual.

All morning, there was no sign of Lu Xiaobei. It was unclear whether he had gone out or hadn't gotten out of bed at all.

At noon, I sent her a message: "Where are you? Do you want me to bring you lunch?"

She sent me her location.

So, I went to Aunt Xue's Restaurant and bought her favorite Kung Pao Chicken rice bowl. For myself, I got a serving of shredded pork with garlic sauce. Then, carrying both meals, I walked into the Old City District.

Finally, we found her on a street lined with guesthouses in the Old City District. Instead of setting up a stall to earn extra money as usual, she was sitting alone in the scenic area, staring blankly at the many bonsai trees displayed in the open space.

"What's wrong?" I handed him the lunchbox.

Don't ask.

Lu Xiaobei smiled and said, "Adults all have worries, let alone someone my age."

"Too."

I sat down to the side, opened my lunchbox, and started eating.

"Ding Han..."

Lu Xiaobei didn't have a particularly good appetite and asked, "Have you ever thought about leaving Creek City?"

"Have."

I nodded. "Creek City is not a place to stay for long. My final destination is the Crimson Dragon Country. I heard that the wages are higher there. I want to go there to work, earn money, buy a house, and get married!"

"Promising..."

She rolled her eyes at me, and we didn't continue the conversation.

In the afternoon, at Feiyang Internet Cafe.

I sat in the internet cafe manager's seat, my eyes slightly closed, and suddenly I felt my body flip over, and in the blink of an eye, I was standing on a huge star map, where many players were chatting.

"Has the fighting ceased outside the city?"

"Yes, the ceasefire has ended; it happened this morning."

"Holy crap... We've been fighting for so long, so many of our players have died, how can we just quit like this?"

"We just can't beat them..."

Someone scoffed, "The Dark Tide is deeply entrenched and powerful, while Creek City only has a mere Flame Wielder Regiment. How could it possibly be a match for the behemoth that is the Dark Tide? Moreover, the Crimson Dragon Country's army has not intervened. I feel that Creek City may not be able to hold out any longer, so the two sides started contacting each other this morning to begin discussing peace talks."

"Are they really going to talk peace?"

"Who knows..."

I frowned, leaned back in my chair and pondered for a moment, but didn't speak into the star map.

Since peace talks are underway, it means that Creek City is not yet in danger of becoming a city in peril. However, if the peace talks do not go smoothly and war breaks out again, the Dark Tide will definitely launch a full-scale attack. At that time, the mere Creek City will probably be reduced to dust in the blink of an eye.

Therefore, the seemingly peaceful Creek City is like an active volcano beneath the surface, ready to erupt at any moment!

I got off work around 4 p. m.

Lin Qingying didn't send any messages, which meant she was probably going to work overtime today. So I wasn't in a hurry to go back to my place. Instead, I went into the Old City District to visit the Player Black Market.

"Ding Han, you've arrived."

Old Ma looked somewhat haggard, with sunken eyes and very noticeable dark circles. He said, "What do you want? Let me explain first, there's a shortage of ammunition. Bullets for the Wind Whisperer and Roarer are in high demand and short supply. I can't supply any more at the moment."

"Um."

I nodded. "Old Ma, I wanted to ask... do you have any 25mm caliber Explosive Gun ammunition here?"

"Explosive Gun?"

Old Ma shuddered, his eyes wide with disbelief. "You got your hands on such a high-end item as Explosive Gun?"

"Um."

I nodded and said, "I did manage to get one. The high firepower of the Explosive Gun is really tempting, so I came to ask if you have any Explosive Gun bullets?"

"There really is!"

Old Ma said, "At this point, other ammunition may be out of stock, but there's still a considerable stock of 25mm bullets specifically for Explosive Gun. After all, there aren't many Explosive Gun among the players in the entire Creek City. What quality is your Explosive Gun? White or green? If it's green, it's cost-effective. I don't recommend using white; the bullets are too expensive, so it's not cost-effective at all."

"Green!"

I hesitated for a moment, not daring to mention that my Explosive Gun was purple. That was too shocking. Old Ma, a veteran in the black market, might not keep his mouth shut. Once the news got out, people would inevitably be eyeing the weapon in my hand.

"OK!"

Old Ma said, "There are four types of bullets for the Explosive Gun: high-explosive, armor-piercing, fragmentation, and thermobaric. Which one do you want? Or all of them? I have to warn you first, the bullets for the Explosive Gun are 25mm in caliber, which is practically like small cannonballs, so the price is a bit high. Currently, it's 10 Star Coins per bullet. Be prepared."

"Holy crap, that's expensive!?" I was slightly taken aback.

"What do you think? This is fucking weaponry..."

Old Ma glared and said, "Think about what prices the US charged its sworn allies for weapons in our previous world? A single artillery shell cost hundreds of thousands. Compared to that, do you still think ten-dollar Explosive Gun in our <Star Abyss> are expensive?"

"Damn it..."

I frowned. "Old Ma, if you put it that way, then the bullets for this Explosive Gun seem incredibly cheap and good value..."

"That's right, that makes sense."

Old Ma laughed and said, "Tell me, which one do you want? How many?"

I glanced at my Dimensional Storage Space and found I still had over 70,000 Star Coins. I only needed to keep over 10,000 as pocket money, and exchange the rest for Explosive Gun bullets. After all, this Explosive Gun is my capital for dominating the Star Abyss for a while!

"How about this..."

After a moment's thought, I said, "Give me 1,000 rounds each of high-explosive, Thermobaric Round, and fragmentation rounds, and then 3,000 Armor-piercing Rounds."

"Damn, they need so many Armor-piercing Round?"

Old Ma couldn't help but narrow his eyes and said, "Trying to take down Dark Tide's Power Armor?"

"Um."

I said calmly, "This time, two of my best friends died at the hands of the Dark Tide. I will remember this debt..."

"Ding Han, you are this one."

Old Ma gave me a thumbs up and said, "Wait a moment, I'll go get you some ammunition. Want something as a bonus?"

"Perfect, how about giving me ten extra empty Hellfire magazines?"

"Damn, so many?"

Old Ma looked pained, hesitated for a few seconds, and then said, "Alright, we're all on the same side, I'll go get it for you!"

He turned and walked away in anguish.

"Thanks, Old Ma!" I said with a smile.

He didn't even turn his head, just raised his hand and made a "thank you my ass" gesture.

Not long after, Old Ma returned, followed by four young men carrying two heavy boxes.

The bullets from the Explosive Gun were too large, indeed looking like small cannonballs, and were very heavy. I quickly sent all of these weapons into my Dimensional Storage Space, and then accepted the ten Explosive Gun magazines that Old Ma had given me as an extra gift. Without thinking much, I immediately filled half of the magazines with bullets to avoid encountering a battle as soon as I left the black market.

Better safe than sorry; it's always good to be cautious.

Afterwards, they left the Player Black Market and arrived at the residential area.

Li Xiang didn't come out to play today. The whole Creek City is in a state of panic. Everyone knows that the Dark Tide may attack the city at any time. Some wealthy people have already left Creek City and gone to the neighboring city of Crimson Dragon Country to avoid the storm.

I lost interest in playing arcade games, so I wandered around the neighborhood for a bit, then went into a mutton restaurant, ordered a small hot pot of Tibetan mutton, and started eating it with some white rice cakes.

Halfway through the meal, the restaurant's glass door was pushed open, letting in a gust of cold wind, and then two people walked in.

I looked up and glanced at them. At first, I didn't think much of it, but I soon realized that these two people were not ordinary people. There was a faint murderous aura in their eyes, and they exuded a capable air. They were definitely not ordinary people. As for their appearance, one of them was more rugged, while the other had a slightly more scholarly look.

In addition, both of them carried "iron rods" wrapped in black cloth on their backs, which, if I'm not mistaken, should be swords.

"What would you two like to eat?" the owner asked.

"Two bowls of hot mutton soup, and ten flatbreads will do," said the slightly bookish man.

"Okay!"

Soon after, the mutton soup was served, and the two devoured it.

I put down my chopsticks, scanned the code to pay, and turned to leave.

"Ding Han."

Suddenly, a man with a scholarly air called out my name, stood up, and said with a smile, "Can we talk?"

Who are you? What are you talking about?

I frowned, already on guard, ready to enter Combat Form at any moment.

Let's talk outside.

The other person cast a warm glance my way and smiled, "There are too many people here, it's not convenient to talk."

So, I led the two of them away from the shop, turned a corner, and entered a sparsely populated alley. I raised an eyebrow slightly and said, "So, what are you? Who are you? What do you want with me?"

"Snort!"

The bookish young man smiled slightly, "Ding Han, our people detected half a month ago that a furnace has awakened within you, and this furnace is of a very high level."

"You..."

My brow furrowed.

"Take it easy."

He said calmly, "We have no hostility towards you. We made a special trip to Creek City this time just to try and recruit you."

"Join what?"

"Ding Han, have you ever heard of the Great Wall?"

"Great Wall..."

I was slightly startled; of course I'd heard of it.

"Ding Han, do you know why the capital of the Crimson Dragon Country is called BH City?"

"Why?"

I don't know anything about that.

He smiled faintly and said, "Because, on the northern border of the Crimson Dragon Country, our ancestors for generations have devoted their lives to building a Great Wall. North of the Great Wall is called the North Sea, which is the land of the demon realm. The Great Wall is the seal of the demon realm. Inside and outside the Great Wall, there is a million-strong army stationed, called the Great Wall Watch."

He gave me a deep look and introduced himself, "Cheng Feng, Sentinel Deputy Captain Great Wall Watch Legion!"

Another burly man nodded. "Captain, Qin Lang."

I frowned.

As far as I remember, the beta version did mention the Great Wall Watch faction. The Great Wall Watch Legion and the Crimson Dragon Legion were hailed as the twin stars of the Crimson Dragon Country and the two pillars of the Republic!

The Great Wall Watch Legion consumes a large amount of funds and manpower from the Crimson Dragon Country every year in order to suppress the demon spirits that have lived in the North Sea for generations. In fact, the content of version 2.0 is the "Demon Realm Rift". Once the Demon Realm Rift is opened, the Demon Realm will officially declare war on the Crimson Dragon Country, and then another inevitable war will break out!

Cheng Feng's gaze was fervent as he said excitedly, "Ding Han, you possess a high-grade Essence Furnace. You have no idea how terrifying your potential is... But this world is not peaceful. The Star Maple Federation is eyeing you Undercurrent's Prying, the Zerg are lurking, and the North Sea Demon Realm is stirring. With great power comes great responsibility. Therefore, I formally invite you to join the Great Wall Watch and become a Sentinel. Are you willing?"

"I refuse!" I said firmly.