Air Force

After parting ways with the group of rich young men and women, Zhou Kai didn't rush back to the boxing gym.

According to Du Feng, Chen Ping wouldn't be back before midnight at the earliest. If he had a lot to take care of, it wasn't impossible he'd be even later.

"Rare chance to take it easy. No need to rush."

The key to seeing Chen Ping was the Secret Medicine. If Chen Ping wasn't there, where would he get the medicine?

There was no need to hurry. He might as well take advantage of this rare free time to give his frayed nerves a chance to unwind.

Zhou Kai had indeed been under pressure for far too long...

The lightless Nightmare, the waves of despair, and the faint but ever-present danger in the real world.

Not to mention the bastard who'd smashed in his door today.

In the Nightmare, Zhou Kai could at least swing an axe and release some of his pent-up stress amid flying blood and flesh.

But what about reality?

Zhou Kai felt the muscles in his hands begin to tense up again, without him meaning to.

"Phew... Calm down."

The ongoing double Clear-Headed effect left Zhou Kai feeling more comfortable than ever.

Zhou Kai strolled through Camping Park alone.

There weren't many man-made structures here, and even the nearest streetlamp stood eighty or ninety meters away. Most of its dim yellow glow was swallowed by the darkness.

For most people, large parts of the park were so dark they couldn't see their own hands.

But for Zhou Kai... things were a little different.

"I once heard that the human eye is remarkably adaptable."

"Even mild to moderate nearsightedness and astigmatism can miraculously return to normal if you spend enough time in a wide-open natural environment."

Zhou Kai's bright eyes swept over his surroundings in the night. Even in the deepest darkness, he could just make out the outlines of trees and the contours of the grass.

They were practically the eyes of a predator.

"Have I spent so long struggling to survive in the dark of the Nightmare that my body's started adapting, giving me basic night vision?"

At this small discovery, the corner of Zhou Kai's mouth twitched almost imperceptibly.

The physical structure of the human eye put a limit on the effect, and this was probably as far as his night vision could go.

But who could say what the future held?

Perhaps one day, he'd learn a skill in the Nightmare that could make his eyes leap to a whole new level, letting him see clearly in the dark.

As he walked, Zhou Kai reached the small lake in the park.

The moon, nearly full, had climbed to just the right spot in the sky. Its clear, gentle light poured over the lake like silvery mercury, cool to the touch. The wind swept past, ruffling the water into a thousand shattered mirrors.

The rippling reflections glittered like liquid silver.

The rare sight left Zhou Kai momentarily stunned. He stopped and quietly gazed at the scene.

To Zhou Kai's left was a small promontory extending from the shore into the lake. A fishing light hung from a pole, casting a faint glow over the water.

Beneath it, a man and a woman were squatting.

The man looked like an avid fisherman, and the woman was probably his wife.

Zhou Kai wasn't trying to eavesdrop, but their conversation drifted to him in snatches on the evening breeze.

"...I signed up to be a delivery driver. I should be able to help take some of the pressure off you..."

"Don't be sad. From now on, I'll come fishing with you every week. So what if you lost your job? We'll work hard together. We'll get through it."

The woman squatted by the shore, gazing at the water with a thoughtful look in her eyes. She surely didn't feel as calm as she sounded.

The fisherman said in a muffled voice, "I'm sorry, Xiao Yue... But I had no choice. The company was cutting costs and improving efficiency, and I'm getting old. I was exactly the kind of person they wanted to lay off..."

"...Why are we always the ones who get unlucky? We bought our apartment for 1.9 million, and now it's only worth 1.1 million, but the mortgage payments haven't gone down by a cent."

"So many times, I've thought about just defaulting on the loan."

The man gripped his fishing rod tightly. The bobber had moved several times, but he seemed not to notice.

"But... we need a home, don't we?"

"Ah Hua..."

"Looks like you've got a bite," the woman said, abruptly changing the subject.

Only then did Ah Hua realize what was happening. He jerked the rod up... but perhaps the timing was off, because the hook was empty.

"Another blank... All night, and I haven't caught a single fish."

Ah Hua's voice was full of disappointment.

The hot war between Red Star and the Lyle Federation was over, but the economic and political winter had only just begun...

The brief joy of peace had swept through everyone's lives like a gust of wind. What it left behind was a full-blown recession of uncertain duration.

Zhou Kai left the lakeshore.

He didn't have to worry about a mortgage, and he'd been lucky enough to resolve his income problems...

But he could understand the couple's despair.

He frowned slightly, reflecting on how his life had gradually changed lately and pondering all the changes happening around him.

For a moment, Zhou Kai couldn't make sense of it either.

What was making the real world grow increasingly abnormal: the terrifying, despair-filled Nightmare, or the fickle human heart?

Zhou Kai entered the woods by the lake, and his figure quickly vanished into the darkness.

Beep.

His phone rang at that moment.

Zhou Kai picked it up. The glow from the screen lit his face.

The message was from Feng Mingtai.

"Master Zhou, a dangerous person has entered Camping Park. Are you still there? Miss Fischl asked me to remind you to be careful."

Zhou Kai's nerves instantly tightened, and he became alert without thinking.

Then, in the very next instant,

a bone-chilling sensation swept through his entire body like an electric current, right as the thought surfaced in his mind!

Whoosh!

A slender, dim red streak shot out of the darkness ahead, tearing through the air!

The warning of imminent death made Zhou Kai's pupils contract sharply. Everything before his eyes seemed to move in slow motion.

His heart roared like an engine, pumping scorching blood into every muscle!

Zhou Kai's powerful physique sprang fully into action in an instant.

His right hand, still holding the phone, shot up. At the very moment the red streak hurtled toward him, he precisely placed it in front of his brow.

Crack!

The screen shattered on impact.

Damn it, he'd just bought the latest model!

The phone's sacrifice had greatly weakened the red streak's attack. Zhou Kai swung his other hand, striking it aside like a blade.

Thud!

A blood-red throwing knife, about the length of a hand, sank deep into the nearby tree trunk. Its tail quivered, humming.

Zhou Kai's eyes were already like drawn blades, fixed on the darkness before him.

Clap, clap.

A hooded man slowly emerged from the woods, applauding.

His head was covered in dark teal tattoos, his face blurred by the dim light until he looked like an evil spirit.

"Not bad, kid."

"Just for that move, your life's worth more than a hundred thousand Red Star Coins now."

Qiu Ping didn't skimp on the praise, because... he was already thinking about how to toy with the prey before him.

Dodging one of his throwing knives didn't mean Zhou Kai would live to see the sun tomorrow.

Zhou Kai's expression was cold as countless thoughts raced through his mind.

Just from the man's few words, Zhou Kai had already more or less guessed who he was and why he'd come.

"Hitman? Bounty?"

Zhou Kai's eyes swept over the man, a strange glint faintly visible deep in his pupils.

Fear?

Not a chance.

All that burned in his chest now was... anger, cold and controlled to the extreme.

Zhou Kai shifted his feet, stepping on dry leaves that rustled softly. Instead of retreating, he slowly advanced toward his opponent.

"I'm just a weak, pitiful, helpless recent graduate from the cultural industry. Was there really any need to hire a hitman to kill me?"

Qiu Ping spread his hands. "Who knows?"

"I never ask who my clients are, and I don't care who I'm supposed to kill. As long as the money's right, I do the job. It's that simple."

Zhou Kai didn't stop moving.

"Killing someone in Red Star? You're pretty bold..."

Qiu Ping watched his prey approach instead of running away, and a hint of surprise appeared on his face.

He flipped his right wrist. Five identical blood-red throwing knives were already clutched between his fingers.

Qiu Ping smiled, baring a mouthful of bone-white teeth. "Why shouldn't I be? Thanks to the great spot you picked, there are no cameras here."