Kill Them and Be Done with It

Jiang Zhaosu had guessed right.

Qi Xing had been rushing along these past two days because someone really was pursuing them.

The Ability User Team Qi Xing had originally belonged to was under upper-level management and had stricter rules than the civilian Ability User Teams that had formed spontaneously.

As the captain of one of its squads, killing teammates and abandoning his post were serious violations of the Survivor Base's regulations. Someone was bound to hold him accountable.

But in the apocalypse, human nature was complicated, and people were easily riled up. Even at the Survivor Base, conflicts between survivors that led them to turn weapons on one another and become bitter enemies were commonplace.

As long as they ran fast enough and waited out this period of strict investigation, the base would not have the resources to keep pursuing them forever.

Unfortunately, Qi Xing's luck was truly terrible. He had run right into Xiao Yi, who had come here to complete a mission.

Dozens of neatly formed ice spikes slammed into the vines and shattered instantly, exploding into a vast cloud of white mist that concealed their van.

The temperature around them plummeted. Even the tangled green vines wrapped tightly around their vehicle became coated in a thin layer of frost.

Jiang Zhaosu shuddered in fright. She was both terrified by her own rashness in getting out of the vehicle earlier and relieved that she had escaped quickly enough to avoid being struck by those terrifying ice spikes.

A moment later, the cold white mist dispersed.

A tall woman dressed in a fitted black combat outfit appeared before their vehicle and declared in an icy, flat voice:

"Team B member number 4108, Qi Xing. You tortured and killed team members, abandoned your post without authorization, and destroyed a Surveillance Eye, violating Articles 21, 63, and 65 of Chasing Moon Base's regulations. Come with me to Chasing Moon Base to accept punishment."

Jiang Zhaosu peered fearfully and curiously through a gap in the vines at the woman, whose speech was rigid and whose demeanor was cold and stern.

The woman appeared to be nearly thirty. Though she looked slender, the forceful, razor-sharp aura around her could not be ignored. Combined with the three-meter-tall ice spikes behind her, gleaming with a chilling light and radiating immense pressure, she was enough to make anyone shrink back in fear.

A large black crow stood above the woman's shoulder.

The pitch-black bird seemed almost human. Its ruby-red, bloodshot eyes pierced through every obstacle as it stared darkly and coldly at those inside the vehicle.

Qi Xing's gaze lingered on the Big Black Crow for several seconds before he said, "So I was still caught."

What?

Jiang Zhaosu, who had been utterly confused about the situation, froze for two seconds before she understood.

So someone had really been chasing them, which was why Qi Xing had been in such a rush to leave the city they had come from?

But this woman clearly meant trouble. Could Qi Xing really defeat her?

Jiang Zhaosu could not help worrying a little about both herself and Qi Xing. She instinctively edged closer to his side, letting out a gurgling whimper of fear from her throat.

Hearing her little-animal-like whimper, Qi Xing looked over at her.

"Oh dear, Fortune is hurt."

By the time he turned around, the stern expression on Qi Xing's face had vanished. He reached out and pulled the shards of glass embedded in her head out one by one, returning to his usual gentle, nonchalant tone as he smiled and said,

"It's fine. No need to worry. Your brother can still handle an Ability User of the same rank."

Although she could not feel pain, every time Qi Xing pulled out a shard, Jiang Zhaosu could still feel blood and brain matter leaking from the holes. Heartbroken, she covered the holes in her head with her hands.

Perhaps it was an illusion, but Jiang Zhaosu felt her thoughts becoming sluggish as her brain matter seeped away.

Tilting her head as she thought, she somehow found the name "Xiao Yi" a little familiar.

She felt as though she had seen it somewhere before.

After Qi Xing removed all the glass shards from her head, he pulled up the hood of her hoodie and instructed her, "Stay in the car like a good girl. Don't make a sound."

Then Qi Xing withdrew the vines protecting the vehicle and got out.

Even Qi Xing had said that the woman named Xiao Yi was extremely powerful. She looked capable of wiping Jiang Zhaosu out with a mere wave of her hand.

Jiang Zhaosu quickly hugged her knees and curled up obediently in the seat, scarcely daring to breathe.

"Captain Xiao, long time no see."

After getting out of the car, Qi Xing greeted the woman with a smile.

Although the two had never worked together before, they had met during Ability User meetings at the Survivor Base.

Qi Xing's reputation at the Survivor Base was not bad. He was highly capable, and among captains who were either hot-tempered or cold-hearted, he was gentle and tolerant toward his subordinates, making him popular with the young men and women in the team.

Xiao Yi had heard of Qi Xing's reputation as well, so she did not harbor much ill will toward him.

She had stopped them today entirely because of the notice issued by the higher-ups.

She was someone so rule-abiding that she could seem rigid, and she obeyed orders from above without question. "Captain Qi, please come back with me."

"Captain Xiao, I believe the base has misunderstood me."

Qi Xing explained gently, "I did not torture and kill Ma Fei and Shen Qiang. They fired at me first, and I had no choice but to strike back in self-defense. As for abandoning my post, I had already submitted my resignation to the base."

"I originally joined the base's Ability User Team only to make it easier to search for my younger sister. Now that I have found her, and as you just saw, she is seriously ill and not suited to life at the Survivor Base. That is why I left."

Qi Xing appealed to the woman's emotions and reason.

"Captain Xiao, you have a younger sister too. I think you can understand what I did. The Survivor Base we belong to has not yet perfected its management, and all sorts of people are mixed together there."

"My younger sister is only in her teens and still a minor. She has no ability to protect herself at all. If we return to the base and I cannot keep her by my side at all times, she could very well be bullied. Please, let my sister and me leave!"

Inside the vehicle, Jiang Zhaosu furtively watched the two outside through the windshield.

When she saw Qi Xing innocently blinking those beautiful fox eyes as he spoke, his gaze flickering with apparent sincerity, Jiang Zhaosu nearly lost it.

She truly admired his ability to lie through his teeth. She still needed much more practice in that regard.

And Xiao Yi actually seemed to have been moved by Qi Xing's words.

At the mention of the word "sister," a trace of emotion flashed through Xiao Yi's stern, icy features.

But she quickly composed herself again and said properly, "Captain Qi, if the truth is really as you say, come back to the base with me. I believe the base will show you leniency."

"Fine, fine."

Seeing that appealing to Xiao Yi's feelings was useless, Qi Xing could only agree helplessly while discreetly reaching one hand behind his waist. "Captain Xiao, before I go back with you, there is one thing I would like to ask."

"What is it?"

"Did you come on this mission alone?"

Before the words had even faded, Qi Xing pulled out the handgun behind his waist, which had only two bullets left, like lightning and pulled the trigger at Xiao Yi's head and chest.

Xiao Yi's expression changed instantly. Her eyes turned sharp as arrows as she flung out a thick ice spike with a wave of her hand, blocking the bullets coming at her from both directions.

As an A-rank Ability User, Qi Xing naturally knew that an ordinary handgun could not inflict fatal injuries on an Ability User of their level.

As he fired, the fingers of Qi Xing's other hand moved subtly toward the ground.

The earth began to shake as though an earthquake had struck. Several vines as thick as a child's arm raised strange bulges beneath the soil, then suddenly burst from the ground as they neared Xiao Yi, charging at her with murderous force.

Xiao Yi reacted swiftly. She raised one palm while gripping the wrist of her other hand. Both arms turned into transparent ice, and an enormous block of ice rapidly formed around her, shielding her from Qi Xing's vicious assault.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Qi Xing controlled vines as hard as steel, repeatedly slamming them heavily against Xiao Yi's ice barrier from all directions.

Where the vine tips struck the ice shield, bowl-sized frozen craters formed and ice shards scattered everywhere. The terrifying, heavy impacts made one's heart tremble.

Another vine dragged its roots slowly across the ground nearby like a venomous snake waiting to hunt. It waited only for a crack to appear in Xiao Yi's barrier before pouncing to coil around its prey's throat and deliver a fatal blow.

When Xiao Yi spoke again, her voice carried obvious anger as she sternly warned, "Qi Xing, every move you make is being recorded by the Surveillance Eye. Do not break the law again when you know full well what you are doing!"

"Surveillance Eye?"

Qi Xing raised his eyes and glanced at the crow that had flown into the air and was flapping its wings to escape. He sneered, his tone casual and unconcerned.

"Just kill it and be done with it."

As soon as he finished speaking, the vine that had been circling Xiao Yi for so long, poised to strike, shot into the sky and pierced the crow's chest with brutal precision.

Xiao Yi, pinned down by several vines and unable to move, looked at him as though he were insane. "You'll regret this."

"Awooo! Awooo! Awooo!"

Jiang Zhaosu's anxious, terrified howls came from behind him.

Xiao Yi's gaze passed over Qi Xing and landed on Jiang Zhaosu behind him, whose throat was being gripped. She spoke slowly and heavily, word by word: "Unfortunately, I did not come alone."