Round 13: Black or White

Foreword:

Cinema is an illusion; the emotions that audiences derive from films do not truly come from the films themselves, but from their own experiences.

--Francis Ford Coppola

[Part 1: Vital Injury]

The fireworks from Cruise Ship No. 3 illuminated the night sky. The salute from Ship 9527 had just ended, and the firelight reflected on her face. From her Steel Heart, she could no longer sense the War King's spiritual pressure.

At that moment, Xiao Qi panicked and mistakenly believed that her husband was really dead.

She hesitated for only a few seconds before rallying her spirits, seemingly because the previous faked death procedure had prepared her mentally—if Glory couldn't defeat George Joshua either, she would continue fighting.

Just like other nameless people, gunsmiths' students, and the masses who were gradually awakening.

The fighting spirit that has been ignited will not be extinguished. This has nothing to do with any religious idol. The husband has never liked the feeling of being worshipped. He has always wanted to stay behind the scenes and has never wanted to stand in the spotlight.

A heart-wrenching roar came from the hull of Cruise Ship No. 3—the roar of the War King.

9527 finally felt relieved and immediately headed towards Cruise Ship No. 2. Jiang Xueming's task for Xiao Qi was to search Cruise Ship No. 2 and explore this grand brothel with the other helpers.

Xue Ming told his wife to avoid the No. 1 cruise ship, as it was a heavily fortified location for military equipment and should be left to the Guangling Zhixi assault team to handle.

Cruise ships number four and five can be explored later; they're the headquarters of sightseeing boats and pharmaceutical companies, essentially involved in human trafficking. But cruise ship number two shouldn't be overlooked.

--It's almost 5 a. m. now. The corrupt officials who collude with the White Shark Association Society, the local militia, and the parasites in the Guangling Zhixi team are most likely fast asleep in their Tender Paradise. Go and catch them red-handed, and once discovered, kill them without mercy.

Xue Ming didn't know was that George Joshua's first seal was also on Cruise Ship No. 2.

"Let's begin!" Wen Bucai to pack up when the explosion from cruise ship number three became the signal.

Many armed members of the War Gang rushed off the No. 1 cruise ship, having finally received news of their leader's assassination attempt, and were on their way to his rescue. Four jeeps and two armored vehicles rumbled toward the explosion site.

Jack Martin asked, "Aren't we waiting for Victor?"

"He probably won't be able to come," Wen Bucai said with a raised eyebrow and a smile. "Time waits for no one. If we miss this opportunity, we'll have to face the fully armed machine guns on this ship—"

"--Look carefully."

The ultimate creature pointed to the deck of the No. 1 cruise ship, where many waterproof plastic sheets covered the towering machine gun turrets.

"It looks like a sightseeing boat, but it's actually a modified Truxton-class nuclear-powered cruiser. They removed the turrets, the MK-10 launchers, the missiles, and the single-barreled guns, leaving only the radar and a few machine gun turrets typical of civilian ships."

"All the modifications are for the purpose of storing more weapons inside, so that if the truth comes out one day, we can rely on the robust armor and nuclear reactor to escape far away."

"This is George Joshua's escape route. He doesn't need many crew members to operate the weapons on this warship. As long as he can escape with this arms exhibition ship, he can make a comeback anywhere. The weapons and equipment on board can allow him to set up a new Zero Platform, which can easily be used to build a cult of thousands of people—or rather, these ships are George Joshua's Zero Platform, which can be stopped and moved at will."

A water column several meters high shot up from the harbor's waterfront, and several large whirlpools were created by the blasting of naval mines. The panicked crowds startled a flock of water birds. The stray dogs that had been scrambling for barbecue scraps at the alley entrance tucked their tails between their legs and fled.

One of them was a mangy dog; it was ugly and timid, and it was the fastest and furthest runner.

It wandered all the way to the Northland Granary area, lost in the quiet, dark rainy night, until it saw only one supermarket with its lights still on. Just then, it witnessed Krichieva raising her gun and shooting the fat manager.

The mangy dog was startled by the gunshot and ran away, but the rain was too heavy, and it was cold and hungry. Peeking into the supermarket, it heard arguing coming from inside.

"Dead? What does that have to do with me! I'm just enforcing the law! I have reason to suspect your shop of possessing illegal weapons and engaging in drug trafficking!"

"Why aren't they closing up and shutting down in the middle of the night? Do they think the curfew is just for show?!"

"And you! You guys! What are you laughing at, you brats?"

"And you! You little black devil! What are you laughing at?!"

Krichieva, driven by rage, beat the fat supervisor to a pulp, her mind consumed by fury.

This woman despises traitors the most. She has been betrayed many times. It won't be easy for her to operate in the legitimate world of Lieyang Fort and eat the flesh of people in the gray area. She has had three husbands, and she personally sent each of them to their coffins.

Her first husband was her boss, who sexually harassed her by taking advantage of his position. She then seized the opportunity to create a workplace scandal to force him to reciprocate. After they got married, her boss continued to have affairs, becoming like fertilizer in her garden.

Her second husband was Zhan Bang's cousin, a business partner of the two. Krichieva wanted to tie this businessman down through marriage, but she discovered that he was gay and was having affairs with other men behind her back. He even got sick and had to drink a lot of Universal Elixir to recover. In the end, he was sent to a meat processing plant to be made into sausages.

Krichieva's third husband was an honest and hardworking man. She loved this family-oriented husband. However, one day, this honest man was kidnapped on the street. Perhaps it was the work of a competitor, which caused Krichieva to suffer a great loss. Half a year's revenue was all spent on ransom. Enraged, she killed this useless man.

Disloyalty is betrayal, lack of self-awareness is betrayal, and incompetence is also betrayal.

Krichieva was very confident, and she naturally assumed that the manager of Huimin Supermarket had just betrayed her—after all, she couldn't be wrong and would never admit her mistake.

If she admits her mistake, with so many witnesses present, should she be forced to pay more money to settle the matter? This kind of scandal, in the eyes of her opponents, will become ammunition for the next militia group election and a stain on her record in the public eye.

They insist that this corpse is the criminal! He must be!

Since corpses can't speak or protest their innocence, who knows what happened?

This vicious and ruthless woman was thinking this way, her mind racing, but when she looked at the supermarket employees, she didn't recognize a single one, and the men seemed to be secretly gloating.

What are you laughing at?

Fuyanni pursed her lips and pinched Billy's waist hard, trying her best to make herself less happy.

Billy winced in pain, his face contorted in agony. "Why did you pinch me?!"

Fuyanni: "I'm afraid of pain."

On the other side--

--The Long-Armed Ape, now completely cleared of murder suspicion, was overjoyed.

Krichieva looked over, Long-Armed Ape immediately stopped laughing.

As soon as Krichieva turned her head, the Long-Armed Ape and Horse-Faced Monkey immediately began kicking their legs and slapping their knees, emitting a silent, maniacal laugh.

Krichieva turned around again, and the Long-Armed Ape and Horse-Faced Monkey, like actors from Sichuan opera, immediately became solemn and unsmiling, standing straight behind the supermarket checkout counter.

Monkey Bro was even in business mode. "Guest? Is there anything else you need?"

Krichieva was soaking wet, and her face, which had just undergone a facelift, was starting to turn red and itchy. A strange anger welled up inside her, and she pointed at the shop assistant's nose, yelling, "What the hell do you need! Seeing you black devils is bad luck!"

She had just killed her subordinates because of the gossip among those few idiot employees, which made her lose her mind. A momentary misjudgment, coupled with the preemptive strike mentality, led her to mercilessly shoot Supervisor Blake, fighting against multiple opponents and emptying her magazine without hesitation.

The sight of mangled corpses scattered everywhere was driving Krichieva crazy.

She had to think of a way. Dawn was approaching, and although Lilan Avenue was under her jurisdiction, it would be bad if reporters took these photos and sold them to other busybodies in the militia.

Without exception, all the ballistic records pointed to her carrying equipment, and the firing angles were all from the main entrance towards the inside. If asked what crime Blake had committed to deserve being hit by over a hundred rifle bullets, she couldn't explain it; the mere charge of excessive force was enough to give her a run for her money.

The body must be moved! The body must be moved!

I can kill Blake, but not in this supermarket!

The large number of guests in this community has created a very negative social impact.

He can die in the rain, he can die in a gang shootout, but he absolutely cannot die in his own shop. We have to get rid of him!

"You guys, and the two nameless heroes, come and help me. I need to deal with this criminal."

Fuyanni and Billy were taken aback for a moment. They didn't know Krichieva's background, only that this militia member had a fiery and decisive personality— Krichieva's shoulder insignia indicated that she belonged to a unit and was a non-commissioned officer in the militia.

Billy was unfamiliar with the capture procedures at Lieyang Fort, so he asked, "Krich?"

He read aloud from the brief identification card next to his epaulets, "Sergeant Krichieva, what do you intend to do with these bodies?"

"I'm going to send it to the forensic department for an autopsy, and then collect evidence against him after the procedures are completed." Krichieva answered without hesitation, "What's wrong? Anonymous? You have a problem with that?"

Billy dared not object—this woman was clearly a local tyrant. What did she mean by "kill first, then gather evidence"? Were these the soldiers of Lieyang Fort? They were too ruthless! Too lawless!

Fuyanni also sensed something was wrong, but he dared not say anything. Neither of the brothers knew how many men and guns Krichieva could summon. If they clashed with the militia at this critical juncture, they would be unable to escape. Their teacher's wife was still trapped in Wulong Fortress, in dire straits. They had to find a way to run away immediately.

Krichieva had a plan in mind. If the two anonymous individuals could work with her to complete the forensic autopsy, she could write the case file and investigation report however she wanted. After all, with the anonymous individuals endorsing it, people might not trust the militia, but they would have to trust the anonymous individuals, right?

As long as these two distinguished guests get into her car and transport the body with her, this farcical case can be easily resolved without spending a penny. Even if the truth comes out later, the anonymous person will take the blame. These two distinguished guests are accomplices in transporting the body, and JoeStar will never sit idly by—she wants to use the anonymous person's aura to exonerate herself.

Krichieva wanted to go outside the supermarket to have a smoke.

"Get the hell out of here!"

A mangy dog blocked her way, so she kicked it hard out of the corridor.

The puppy whimpered in pain, and soon crawled back to the warm, dry platform to take shelter from the rain. It looked pitifully at the supermarket entrance, intending to go to the supermarket's air-conditioned room to dry off.

"Ugly thing! Seeing you brings bad luck!" Krichieva exhaled smoke, her face contorted with malice.

At that moment, Billy and Fuyanni didn't think much. Together with the ape, they cleaned up the corpse, putting on rubber gloves. They pieced together the severed limbs and scraps of flesh from the ground and put them into a large bag.

Susie really didn't want to get involved in this bizarre murder case, so she immediately raised her hand—

"--Commander Krichieva! There are two more unidentified people! I'm just an ordinary person! I'm resigning today! Could you please..."

"Go to hell, you little black devil! Sweep the floor clean! Behave yourself! Don't even think about slacking off!" Krichieva yelled. "Do I have to whip you before you'll work? Don't you have any shame? Trying to skip your last shift?"

Susie was secretly delighted. Not having to squeeze into the same car with these ruthless big shots was the best thing. She immediately picked up the mop and started working hard.

On the other hand, Radish Bro also had an idea. He offered to help Susie clean up the bloodstains on the floor and even knew how to completely remove them so that they couldn't be detected by the developing machine.

The aphrodisiac drug that Radish Bro was so eager to obtain was still in the car. He needed to get out of there as soon as possible, stay in the supermarket, and then find the package of drugs in the militia patrol car. If he could get it to Manager Todd, he would surely rise to the top.

Soon after, Blake's body was wrapped tightly in several layers of packaging bags and then carried to Krichieva's patrol car.

After finishing his tasks, Fuyanni prepared to leave. He took Billy with him and said goodbye to Krichieva.

"Sergeant! Everything's done. We anonymous folks still have official business to attend to."

Krichieva was in a hurry. She couldn't persuade these two unknown people to stay. Given her military rank, how could she possibly command these two important figures? At this point, she could only use personal connections to pressure them.

"Sirs, can't you have pity on me? I'm out on duty in this freezing weather in the middle of the night, and I never imagined this would happen to me. I can't lose this job! I have two children to support at home."

Krichieva squeezed out a few tears and became sentimental.

"This city is unfriendly to women; it drinks their blood and eats their flesh."

"If you two don't get in my car, how am I supposed to face my colleagues at the Prosecutor's Office and in the militia?"

"What will they say about me? That I've become a murderer? That a mother has become a murderer?"

[Part ②: Apocalypse Now]

Both of the unnamed individuals were escaped from a criminal community, and their teacher was a notorious telecommunications fraudster within the Madness Butterfly Sect. Faced with Krichieva's simplistic and idiotic rhetoric, Fuyanni felt his intelligence had been insulted.

Child? Mother? Reputation? Manslaughter?

The local bully wanted to tie the nameless woman to this car and have her go with him to deliver the corpse; the two brothers had already noticed this little scheme.

Billy wouldn't tolerate this woman; he had already prepared a clever escape plan.

Hey! Dog!

The mangy dog immediately straightened up; it understood human speech.

Billy pulled out a bloody arm and threw it out the door.

The mangy dog grabbed the arm and ran off quickly; it had clearly eaten a lot of human flesh in the city center. The White Shark Association's specialty was chopping up rivals and disobedient subordinates and feeding them to the dogs.

Krichieva cursed, "You fucking filthy bastards! Mentally challenged monstrosities!"

Despite his grumbling, the sergeant still had to keep chasing. He immediately got out of the vehicle, locked it in front of the supermarket, and rushed into the rain, heading in the direction the mangy dog had disappeared.

The Long-Armed Ape raised its arms and cheered, "Hero!"

Monkey Bro King's legs went weak and he knelt on the cashier's counter. "Godfather!"

Susie and Radish both breathed a sigh of relief, finally able to clear themselves of suspicion and distance themselves from this absurd farce.

Brother Ape and Monkey Bro took the money from the cash register and distributed it to their accomplices—they completely forgot that the anonymous man was the nemesis of crime and was going to hand the stolen money over to Billy.

Billy didn't care at all. He accepted all the extra money without hesitation. He believed that doing good deeds should be rewarded, otherwise who would do good deeds? The gunsmith? Gunsmiths are rare gems, appearing only once every few years. This doesn't conform to the objective laws of development.

The six had to part ways. The Long-Armed Ape and the Horse-Faced Monkey waited until the rain subsided a little, then disappeared into the darkness and ran away, completely forgetting their original mission—to smear and ruin the Nameless One.

Fuyanni and Billy were originally looking for a hotel to stay in, but the curfew ended at six in the morning. As the rain gradually subsided and everything became clear, they decided to continue driving closer to Wulong Fortress.

Susie then came to her senses.

She looked at the spotless supermarket counter; after the floor was washed clean, it seemed as if Manager Blake had simply vanished into thin air.

The little girl hadn't realized what was happening; it all seemed like a dream, like a movie, and the show was about to end.

Radish squatted by the door, deep in thought, engaged in a fierce internal struggle.

Should we kill this little girl?

If I went to the patrol car to get the aphrodisiac, she would definitely see me. If someone investigates this matter afterward, it'll be hard to say what will happen about me putting the militiamen in cement buckets and throwing them into the river.

Wake up, radish!

Let her off the hook, do something good! Maybe doing something good will prevent her from being so unlucky!

--You won't be so unlucky!

The evil spiritual energy of "In Your Name" that had been gathered on Radish has dissipated.

He mistakenly thought that this was a case of fortune turning around, and that Lady Luck had finally smiled upon him.

"Susie? Right? Your name is Susie?"

This ruthless and vicious war gang leader has become refined and courteous.

Susie was stunned for a moment. The change was too sudden and too intense. Radish had been choking her and trying to strangle her.

"Oh, ah."

Radish helped Susie turn off the lights, and Huimin Supermarket had to close down.

"Let's go, this place isn't suitable for you. You're not a local from Lieyang Fort, are you?"

Susie: "I came from the capital."

"I knew it." Radish pursed his lips, looking worried. "The capital sold you here? Some shady brokers?"

Susie: "Not all shady employment agencies have the stamp of the Human Resources Bureau."

Radish: "They're all the same, they're all the same, Susie."

Susie: "Everything's the same."

"You believe it's legal and legitimate just because it's stamped?" Radish scoffed. "This city is devouring people, Susie, run! Run to a safer, more civilized place."

"This place is teeming with cannibalistic beasts. The claims of gender antagonism and racial discrimination are all empty rhetoric, mere excuses."

"It's just an excuse to eat human flesh. White people want to eat your flesh, so they call you despicable and stupid."

"When men want to eat men's flesh, they blame us for our bad background, for not working hard enough, for deserving to be poor, and for being short-sighted."

"If women want to eat women's flesh, they'll curse you for being ugly, for being uncultured, for having bad figures, for not having jewelry, for not being able to go to brothels, and for not being able to stand on stage."

"Men and women can devour each other in a million ways, a million reasons and excuses, from trivial matters like firewood, rice, oil, salt, festival gifts, to major issues like employment, workplace, blind dates, housing, childbirth, and raising children—all can become excuses for eating meat."

"Where are all these rules and standards? Where are all these criticisms? They're all just cannibals—they're starving, their eyes are practically glowing green. They stamped your dispatch contract, trying to subtly make you believe them, sending you to this godforsaken place. Go, Susie, you can already feel the pain of being bitten so hard. Run!"

"You are innocent, run!"

The roller shutter closed, and the only light in the darkness disappeared.

After listening to Radish's words, Susie picked up the cardboard box, prepared to pack her bags and go to the station to embark on a brand new path in life.

She then recalled the excitement Blake, the fat supervisor, had shown when he kicked her out—it seemed leaving this place wasn't such a bad thing after all.

The supervisor seems like a big bad guy, but if he fires Susie, he still has to pay her unemployment benefits according to her employment contract.

Supervisor Blake seemed to be warning Susie to leave Lieyang Fort immediately. But the supervisor was already dead, his death shrouded in mystery.

All of this was utterly unbelievable to Susie, an ordinary person.

Luo Bo secretly got a crowbar from the supermarket's tool shed, opened the back door of the patrol car, and finally got the aphrodisiac he had been dreaming of. He absolutely could not drive this patrol car back; it was still under emergency status and would become a high-risk target in the militia system.

He disappeared into the rainy night in no time.

Meanwhile, Krichieva continued to track the mangy dog through the alleyways, following the flow of blood deeper and deeper, praying that the dog had a good enough appetite to devour Supervisor Blake's arm.

The mangy dog, carrying the severed arm, returned to the vicinity of the supermarket. Unable to find shelter from the rain, it saw that the back door of the patrol car had been pried open, and luckily there was a warm and dry trunk inside, so it crawled in.

At 5:47 a. m., an extremely unlucky militiaman climbed ashore.

He promised Radish he would make a deal with her, and helped her get an aphrodisiac. As a result, he was thrown into a cement bucket and drowned in the river.

The river didn't kill him, because Luo Bo was really unlucky; the cement he bought was of questionable quality, and in the damp environment of the rainy night, the bucket of cement simply couldn't dry properly. In his haste, he kicked the militiaman into the river, where the militiaman managed to break free of the iron bucket underwater and hanged from a rocky creek on the riverbank.

A strange, inexplicable warm current rushed in from the direction of the city center, giving the militiaman some strength. It was the cascading shockwave from the explosion caused by Glory's flaming axe striking the natural gas pipeline of the No. 3 cruise ship, which had triggered a chain reaction of mines. All of this made the militiaman inexplicably climb ashore.

The militiaman's name was Fosis, and he was a patrolman near Lilan Avenue. When he found his patrol vehicle, the cargo in the trunk was indeed gone.

He grumbled as he closed the trunk, glancing at the crash beams used for pit maneuvers on the Ford Explorer. The front end hadn't suffered much damage, which was a stroke of luck; the car was still drivable.

Fosis decided to get revenge and Bug Eye Gang.

"Those fighting gangs in the city center! They have absolutely no manners!"