Repaying a Life-Saving Favor with Gunfire

What made Morrison so repulsive was precisely this: not only was he lazy and good-for-nothing, hated by gods and men alike, but he was also dirt poor.

Even shooting him dead with one bullet felt like a waste of ammunition—he really was that worthless.

That was why Qu Jianlei had gone at him with a blade.

Hearing that, he was not surprised. "Where are my Metal Rod and charcoal?"

"I traded them for food." Morrison had already admitted to stealing the Tricycle, so he simply admitted to taking those worthless little things too.

Qu Jianlei stared blankly at him for a while before speaking. "You'll pull my cart from now on."

If he could not get compensation, then he could only squeeze the other man for labor.

Morrison's eyes shifted. "Then... how will I be paid?"

Qu Jianlei pointed his long blade at him and asked coldly, "Payment... what else do you want?"

"You've got to feed and house me, right?" Morrison was truly shameless.

"Figure it out yourself." Qu Jianlei had no intention of indulging him. "Once you pay off your debt, I'll let you go."

"Tsk." Morrison helplessly clicked his tongue, but did not dare argue further.

He was used to stealing and pilfering. When he could barely make a living, he did not mind working in exchange for food and drink.

But working for nothing was something he found utterly unacceptable.

Then he would just have to find a chance to run. He quietly made up his mind.

Then his eyes rolled, and he looked at the short dagger at Qu Jianlei's waist with a cheeky grin.

"Little Qu, I can work for you, but... can you lend me a short dagger for protection? A lot of people have it out for me."

Qu Jianlei expressionlessly drew out the dagger and asked with lowered eyelids, "This one?"

"Yes, yes." Morrison nodded with a smile. "Don't worry, I'm only borrowing it."

The moment he finished speaking, Qu Jianlei moved, so fast that he could not be seen clearly at all.

The next instant, blood splattered everywhere, and a hole had been punched through Morrison's thigh.

Morrison had no time to react. He only felt a jolt in his leg.

Four or five seconds later, he finally clutched his thigh and looked at Qu Jianlei in disbelief.

He let out a loud cry. "You... you actually attacked me?"

Qu Jianlei could not even be bothered to raise his eyes. "Try screaming again."

Clutching his thigh, Morrison slowly sat down on the ground, continuously sucking in cold breaths.

He did not dare shout anymore. He only muttered through gritted teeth, "My leg... it's hurt. I can't ride the cart."

"Then pull it as you walk." There was no emotion in Qu Jianlei's voice. "Work, or die!"

"..." Morrison fell silent. I'm working for you, and you fucking stabbed me? This guy is completely insane!

After a long while, he sighed. "Then my work efficiency will drop. You can't blame me for that."

Qu Jianlei answered without hesitation, "You can try it and see what happens when you slack off."

Morrison could not help complaining, "Little Qu, Brother Qu... can you at least be reasonable?"

Qu Jianlei finally raised his eyes and looked at him coldly. "I'll allow you to rephrase that."

"Fine." Morrison sighed. "I was trying to help protect your goods. Do you have to attack people at the drop of a hat?"

Protect his goods, my ass! How could Qu Jianlei not know what the man was really thinking?

But he could not be bothered to explain. He merely said, "You can also try running away."

Morrison gave an awkward smile. "I won't... why would I run?"

He truly had planned to escape, intending to swipe a short dagger before he did. He had not expected the other man to stab him in the leg without warning.

Survivors of the Wasteland were very tenacious and had strong healing abilities.

The blade had pierced the outside of his thigh. After resting for about half a day, he would be able to limp around.

But escaping by relying on speed was out of the question for the next three to five days.

Moreover, injured Survivors were more likely to meet with accidents in the wild. Both Fallen and Mutated Beasts had keen senses of smell.

The two of them were over a kilometer from the Garbage Dump, and the surrounding trash concealed them. Normally, no one would notice what was happening here.

But a filthy woman happened to be standing atop a Garbage Dump, holding a pair of binoculars.

She took in the entire scene. After a long while, she sighed softly. "Decisive, aren't you... How did your temperament change so quickly?"

Beside her stood a burly youth. "Sister-in-law, this guy is a little dangerous. Should we tell the others?"

"Why tell anyone else?" The woman glanced at him. "It's enough that the two of us know he's not someone to provoke."

She really was a little surprised that Silly Qu could shed his former cowardice so completely. Still, all she had to do was avoid him.

She believed she was definitely not the only Scavenger who thought that way.

Qu Jianlei ignored Morrison's quiet groans and headed toward the Garbage Dump again.

When he was about half a kilometer from the Garbage Dump, he stopped and continued watching the people passing by.

Before long, the slightly chubby young man and Red Hair emerged and walked straight toward him.

Qu Jianlei did not need to consider their intentions—one of them was carrying a Gauss Automatic Rifle. Was there any need to ask why they had come?

So he faced them and slowly backed away.

The Wasteland was indeed chaotic, and human lives were cheap, but under so many watchful eyes, it was still not quite appropriate to strike first.

Coincidentally, the two men thought the same way. Seeing Qu Jianlei retreat, they steadily closed in without haste.

Seeing this, Qu Jianlei quickened his retreat. Fortunately, his body was fairly nimble, and he actually managed to maintain the distance between them.

It did not take long for him to retreat nearly a kilometer, arriving not far from Morrison.

Then he stopped backing away and took off the Gauss Automatic Rifle.

Seeing this, the two men slowed down as well. The slightly chubby man called out, "Silly Qu, we don't want to make things difficult for you."

"We need to take back Third Master's Laser Gun. Name your price."

"I took the Laser Gun from Greedy Wolf," Qu Jianlei shouted back. "Third Master showed me kindness. I have to take it back."

Third Master had shown him kindness? The slightly chubby man was delighted. Unless absolutely necessary, he did not want to get into a gunfight with the other man.

"If that's the case, then I'll thank you on Third Master's behalf for recovering his lost property."

"That won't be necessary." Qu Jianlei did not want to rashly attack them either, so he tried to persuade them one last time.

"Third Master said he would look after me. This gun should be mine."

"The boss said he'd look after you?" The slightly chubby man raised his brows, looking rather surprised. "But the two of us are his people."

"Wouldn't it be only right for us to inherit his belongings?"

He had no intention of reasoning with Qu Jianlei. He only wanted to lower Silly Qu's guard so he could get close enough to launch a sudden attack.

"But..." Qu Jianlei had barely begun speaking when he raised the Gauss Automatic Rifle and opened fire without hesitation.

A rapid burst of bullets tore out, sealing off not only their routes forward and back, but even their chance of dropping to the ground.

Qu Jianlei's marksmanship was truly average, but his computational ability was extremely powerful.

Though his aim was not particularly precise, at this distance, it was close enough.

More importantly, the automatic rifle could fire continuously. Its recoil was somewhat strong, but Qu Jianlei's calculating ability was beyond question.

Three holes instantly appeared in the slightly chubby man's body. Though none were fatal, the Gauss Automatic Rifle was simply too powerful.

In an instant, his right arm was blown off, his left ankle shattered, and another shot took away his left ear.

"You!" The slightly chubby young man's eyes widened furiously, but it was already too late to do anything else.

His entire body was driven by the immense kinetic force, spinning heavily to the right before being flung away! He had never imagined that the other man, like himself, had intended to strike first.

At that moment, his mind was filled with rage. How dare you attack so viciously! After all, Qu Jianlei had always seemed far too harmless in the past, which was why others had underestimated him so badly.

The slightly chubby man had dared to demand the gun from Qu Jianlei based on that judgment, and Qu Jianlei's response had only fed his arrogance.

That was why he believed that he and Red Hair alone could take down this lone drifter.

At this moment, he was incomparably furious. "How dare you..."

There was no expression on Qu Jianlei's face, but he snorted inwardly. If I didn't dare, wouldn't I be the one dying? Red Hair, meanwhile, was dumbfounded. Then he dropped to his knees, both hands raised high. "B-Brother Qu, this has nothing to do with me!"

Qu Jianlei had no interest in even looking at him. He raised his hand and fired another three shots in quick succession.

The slightly chubby young man was holding a Gauss Automatic Rifle!

Until the moment he died, the slightly chubby young man's eyes remained full of disbelief.

Only after killing him did Qu Jianlei turn his head and look expressionlessly at Red Hair.

Red Hair held his hands high and spoke tremblingly. "B-Brother Qu... Third Master was my boss. He saved your life."

"Yes, Third Master was my lifesaver." Qu Jianlei nodded, then turned the muzzle and pulled the trigger.

Seeing Red Hair collapse into a pool of blood, he sighed softly and muttered, "But Third Master saved me... what did that have to do with you?"

Then he raised his head and looked coldly in a certain direction. "Have you seen enough?"

"Enough, enough!" Morrison answered hurriedly. "I'm recovering from my injury. I can't go far."

Qu Jianlei gave him a cold look. "I hope you can keep your mouth shut... You won't need my help with that, will you?"

"No, no," Morrison quickly replied, his wariness increasing severalfold.

He had always thought that after Silly Qu acquired weapons, he had become somewhat arrogant and reckless in his actions.

But now, it seemed this guy was extremely levelheaded.

He had only stabbed Morrison once, yet he had killed Third Master's two assistants without the slightest hesitation.

There was no shortage of ruthless killers in the Wasteland, but killing one group to warn another required an extraordinarily precise sense of restraint.

Morrison could vaguely guess why those two had died while he himself had been allowed to live.

But no matter what, killing people without the slightest warning was not something an ordinary person could do.

Facing two opponents without showing it, and winning... a coward could never have done that. The key was that he had succeeded.

At that moment, he completely believed the rumors outside: there really was something wrong with Silly Qu's head!

So he took the initiative to ask, "Want me to bury the two of them for you?"

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