Eating Fish

Wang Jixuan looked at the two Black Fire Gang killers lying on the ground, and a cold sweat broke out across his back.

Were Hidden Weapons really this powerful!?

He alertly looked up in every direction and spotted a rotating camera in the corner.

Wang Jixuan now knew that these cameras were controlled by the Security Team on this floor and could observe everything happening around them.

He quickly stepped forward, efficiently picked up a handgun, and retrieved the large bag of food he had thrown earlier.

The two burly men had not died peacefully.

A folding knife was embedded in one man's forehead, while a sharp tile shard had sunk deeply into the other's throat. Darkening blood had begun to seep across the metal floor.

At an intersection not far away, several young women who had arrived together were so frightened that they collapsed to the ground.

The Security Team was watching this place, so Wang Jixuan did not dare linger.

After getting his bearings, he hurried toward the passage leading to the safe house, stuffing the handgun that had barely been fired into his pocket. Just as he was about to enter the passage, he suddenly turned and headed in the other direction, swiftly vanishing beyond the cameras' range.

Only the girls' panicked cries remained in the circular hall garden.

About five minutes later, dense footsteps sounded out as Zhou Zhengde rushed in with a group of Security Team members.

Seeing the corpses on the ground, Zhou Zhengde's expression visibly turned even colder.

"Search the entire floor! Drive the Black Fire Gang out! Otherwise, I'll fire every last one of you!"

"Mark Mu Liang as a dangerous individual! He took a gun! Move!"

The Security Team members immediately fell into a frantic scramble.

Elsewhere, Wang Jixuan stopped running, got his bearings, and headed toward the district where Mu Liang had originally lived.

He was not entirely sure whether the so-called self-defense counterattack clause could cover the fact that he had killed two people while fighting back.

But he was certain of one thing;

If he did not go to the Lower City and wipe out the Black Fire Gang, his Dao heart would never know peace!

They had already bullied him to this point!

Even the Buddha had three parts anger. This Daoist would walk freely with a sword in hand!

As for how to get to the Lower City...

Mu Liang's memories contained no information about that.

But that was fine. Wang Jixuan had long since thought of a way to enter the Lower City.

Step one: eat fish.

"What a bunch of useless trash! You've searched for so long and still can't find Mu Liang! Do you even want the Black Fire Gang's reward or not!?"

Rotten Fish's curses echoed through the dim Capillary passage.

An ordinary citizen who was just about to leave home heard that voice, lowered his head, retreated into his room, and shut the door with extraordinary care.

Several scolded thugs stood with their heads lowered, their expressions mostly helpless, with a trace of disdain mixed in.

At the end of the passage, the alloy doors of two rooms had been removed, turning the area into a fairly spacious workshop.

Rotten Fish's real name was Lan Yuzai. Though only twenty-three years old, he had already gathered several dozen idle young people as his underlings.

They had their own line of work—squeezing blood bags.

So-called squeezing blood bags meant finding people with weak personalities who looked easy to bully, robbing them of their General Quota and Food Quota, making them obtain food and daily necessities, then secretly sending the accumulated goods down to the Lower City through concealed downward passages in exchange for rare items unavailable in the Middle City.

For example, the holographic Projection Screen that Lan Yuzai regarded as a "symbol of power."

The Projection Screen's memory card contained only a few movies from before the Great Cataclysm. They had been played over and over for two years, yet every time they were shown, the thugs still watched with great interest.

Lan Yuzai was currently stifled.

Incomparably stifled.

His neck was wrapped in thick bandages, and he considered the wound there an unbearable humiliation!

A prominent figure in a section of the thirteenth floor had actually been counterattacked by a blood bag! The bastard had grabbed him directly and used him to threaten his underlings into staying back!

Worst of all, Lan Yuzai had chickened out at the time and initially shouted for his underlings not to come closer.

Fortunately, he later realized that would damage his authority as their boss, so he changed his tune and ordered them to attack, claiming that he was not afraid of death and the like.

After this, what would the bosses of the other districts think of him?

What would his underlings think of him?

Wasn't the reason he could hold his ground here that he was ruthless and fierce enough?

Twenty days had already passed, yet Mu Liang had vanished into thin air. Lan Yuzai had been unable to avenge this grudge, and several fence-sitters who had previously followed him had already defected to Super Yellowhair from the neighboring district!

Besides, Lan Yuzai had a little ambition of his own.

Word had come from the Black Fire Gang that whoever found the guy named Mu Liang and got him down to the Lower City would be able to dine with the Black Fire Gang's BOSS and receive the gang's gratitude.

Lan Yuzai wanted to join the Black Fire Gang.

Lan Yuzai often went to the Lower City, so of course he knew how chaotic it was. But that chaos and lack of order only applied to ordinary people.

As long as he became a member of the Black Fire Gang, even the lowest-ranking lackey could throw his weight around in the Lower City. There would be no Security Team hanging over his head, and every day would offer countless ways to enjoy himself: cinemas, dance floors, hot girls, contraband. He could even learn some cool robot dance moves and get an awesome haircut.

Most importantly, there would be no nagging old woman yelling for him to come home for dinner all the time.

At that thought, a faint smile appeared on Lan Yuzai's lips, but the dull pain from his neck swiftly shattered the beautiful image in his mind.

That damned Mu Liang!

"Boss!"

Several thugs ran over from the end of the corridor and carelessly sat down on a filthy old sofa.

"They said they still haven't found Mu Liang! It's been so many days already. Could Mu Liang have gone to another floor?"

"Boss, I heard from my uncle that Captain Zhou was transferred down from the Upper City and has a powerful background. Wouldn't it be easy for Captain Zhou to hide Mu Liang on another floor?"

"What do we do? We can't exactly tie up Captain Zhou and force him to talk. The Security Team all carry guns. I heard they even have Sniper Rifles."

—News of the shooting counter-kill case that had just occurred had not yet reached this place.

"Shut the hell up! Can't any of you use your brains!?"

Lan Yuzai slapped the table and cursed at the top of his lungs:

"This happened on our turf!

"Brother Hua of the Black Fire Gang was killed! Do you know how serious that is?

"If we can't find Mu Liang, I'll chop you all up before the Black Fire Gang gets to me!"

The underlings all shuddered.

They knew Rotten Fish had never actually chopped anyone up. He had merely been taken to the Security Office several times for fighting a few years ago, making him a Level 1 Citizen with quite a record—the lowest rank.

After venting, Lan Yuzai's mood visibly improved.

He glanced at several boxes in the room to his left. "Put all those supplies together and see if there's enough for one box. If there is, I'll take it down and ask around."

"Not enough yet, Fish! We just sent a shipment down last week!"

"Not enough? Then what the hell are you all still doing here? Go squeeze some blood banks!"

Lan Yuzai glared with his fish eyes and cursed:

"Anyone who dares resist, beat them! This time, don't just scare them! If anything happens, I'll cover for you! Get moving! What time do you think it is!?"

The underlings hurriedly agreed, lowered their heads, and quickly left. Only three thugs remained in the room to guard the cardboard boxes and the holographic Projection Screen.

Lan Yuzai lit a cigarette, curled up his left leg on the edge of his chair, looked up at the dim light tube on the corridor ceiling, and slowly blew out a smoke ring.

He was not actually thinking. He was simply spacing out.

He thought about those laced cigarettes. Every puff made him feel wonderfully comfortable and free, but afterward, he would always sink into a deep emptiness.

"Who's there!"

"Ah!"

"Fish, save—"

Several cries mixed with screams suddenly came from the end of the passage.

Lan Yuzai froze, cigarette hanging from his mouth. Tilting his head, he instinctively narrowed his eyes and stared into the dark corridor.

The energy-saving lights, set to their lowest brightness, revealed only the outline of a figure slowly falling over.

Lan Yuzai could tell that the person falling was one of his underlings.

It was as though the man had been exhausted and simply collapsed into sleep.

A vague figure stood silently in the shadows at the end of the passage.

Lan Yuzai's Adam's apple bobbed several times.

He felt beneath the table for a wooden knife handle, drew a slender sharpened machete, and gripped it tightly.

"Who the fuck is there!?"

Lan Yuzai spat out his cigarette smoke and shouted.

The thugs in the room beside him blankly looked at their boss. Only then did they realize what was happening. They rose and rushed out, grabbed several metal pipes, and followed behind Lan Yuzai.

Whoosh!

A piercing whistle suddenly exploded through the air!

Before Lan Yuzai could react, a dull impact sounded beside him. One of his underlings clutched his throat, making hoarse choking sounds as his face turned red and his body weakly sank to its knees.

Clink—

A Nut Cap as thick as a thumb rolled across the concrete floor.

Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!

The dark passage filled with piercing whistles!

The three underlings behind Lan Yuzai were struck in the neck almost simultaneously. They could not even cry out as they slowly fell one after another, three nuts striking the concrete with crisp sounds.

Clink, clink, clink—

Naturally, they could not see the tiny strands of energy wrapped around those nuts.

These thugs would not die either. They would merely suffer for a while, perhaps fall unconscious or go into shock, with some Aftereffects at most.

What... what was that...

As cold air blew from the vent, a chill ran down Lan Yuzai's back.

His sweat-soaked shirt clung to his skin.

The hand gripping his machete trembled without stop as he stared fixedly at the end of the corridor.

What the hell was this?

How had that been done? Nut Caps?

That person over there... was that Mu Liang?

Wang Jixuan stepped into a slightly better-lit area. Wearing a mask and clasping his hands behind his back, he slowly walked forward. Every step he took seemed to tread directly on Lan Yuzai's nerves.

Lan Yuzai's nostrils trembled repeatedly. He suddenly let out a meaningless roar, raised his machete, and charged madly toward Wang Jixuan!

"Ah—"

Wang Jixuan remained perfectly calm. Unhurriedly, he took out the alarm Captain Zhou had given him and pressed it three times. A faint red light began flashing from the device.

By the time he finished, Lan Yuzai had charged right up to him.

Faced with the fear of the unknown, this thug boss actually hardened his resolve and raised his blade to strike!

Wang Jixuan calmly drew a handgun from his clothes. The dark muzzle pressed against Lan Yuzai's forehead, and with instinctive ease, he flicked off the safety.

Immobilization Spell: Pistol Firepower Limited Edition.

Clang, clang.

The slender machete fell onto the metal floor.

Lan Yuzai dropped to his knees with a thud. His Adam's apple trembled a few times, and the corners of his eyes grew slightly wet.

"I surrender, boss. I surrender. Don't... don't shoot..."