You Can Hit Me Now

City No. 10.

Beneath the Caramel Bar lies the Secret Intelligence Department's archives, stored using the most primitive methods.

There's always a man named Qing Shen sitting there. He used to be called Xiao Shen, but now that he's old, everyone calls him Old Shen.

He was always prepared to detonate everything here if anyone invaded, and perish in the flames along with the invaders.

Inside, a Shadow Gate opened.

Shadow came out, took off his baseball cap and mask, and sat comfortably on the sofa opposite Old Shen, closing his eyes.

The next moment, his heart stopped beating, his breathing stopped, and time seemed to bypass him, only surging past him.

Old Shen complained to himself, "I didn't say anything when you used the Shadow Gate to come in before, but could you please open the portal to the opposite side of me next time? I'm getting old and my heart isn't good. If you keep showing up like this out of the blue, I'll be scared to death sooner or later."

"By the way, the little devils in the Secret Intelligence Department have been asking me every day if there's a mission to rescue Qing Chen. Give me an answer on your stance so I can respond. You haven't said a word, what am I supposed to do, leaving me to shoulder this burden?!"

"Also, my memory has been getting worse lately, and I might be developing Alzheimer's. Hey, nobody's ever said that the Qing clan's bloodline degenerates with age, and there's no record of it. Could it be because of the injury I sustained when I was young? How come everyone else is fine, but I'm the only one who's affected..."

In the small room, only Old Shen remained, rambling on and on, seemingly unconcerned whether the shadow could hear him or not.

After the figure opposite him took off his baseball cap, his face was revealed to Old Shen.

The underground of this Caramel Bar seemed to be one of the few places where he could take off his disguise.

With a thud.

The clear heartbeat returned.

The shadow said calmly, "You chose to sit here yourself. Think about retirement when you actually start losing your memory."

Old Shen sighed, "Even capitalists would want to cry if they heard this."

The shadow said, "I am one of the biggest capitalists in the Federation. Isn't it normal for me to exploit you?"

"Whatever," Old Shen tossed a phone to Shadow. "Someone from the Divine Era is looking for you. It's an old guy who hasn't shown up in a long time. Do you want to call him back?"

The shadow thought for a moment, "This is getting interesting."

He called back, and Old Shen glanced at him and said, "It's impolite to call someone so late."

Shadow glanced at Old Shen: "I'd love for that old guy to suddenly die while answering the phone in the middle of the night."

Old Shen opened his mouth. "The call has gone through."

A hoarse voice calmly said from the other end of the phone, "Even if you wish for my sudden death, you shouldn't say it over the phone."

"Hahahaha," the shadow laughed, "It's been so long since I've heard your voice, old man. It feels like I've traveled through time to call an antique, and I've even gotten a bit of a decaying aura myself... So, what is it?"

The voice on the other end of the phone said, "I want to cooperate with you."

"What kind of collaboration?"

"It's not possible to say right now, but rather to invite you to come north for a face-to-face meeting."

The shadow sneered, "Enough with the pretense. I won't cooperate with the Gods."

"You and I share common interests."

"I have no common interests with the Gods."

After saying that, Shadow hung up the phone.

Old Shen had a bit of a toothache. "You could at least try to get some information out of me."

Shadow shook his head. "He won't tell you on the phone, and I have a pretty good idea what's going on."

Old Shen stood up, took out a wine glass from a small hidden compartment behind him, and poured half a glass of baijiu (Chinese liquor): "You're about to embark on a long journey."

"Hmm," Shadow picked up his glass and downed it in one gulp, "It's not just me who's going on a long journey; many people will be with me."

On a desolate mountain road in the north, several crows dressed in black cloaks were trudging through the cold wind.

At first, many people thought they would stop in the town outside Forbidden Zone 065, but unexpectedly they crossed the town and continued northward.

However, after they passed through the model town of civilization, everyone lost track of them and had no idea where their destination was.

Moreover, a few strange people had infiltrated the flock of crows. Although they were not members of the Tribunal of Taboos, they were wearing cloaks exactly like the crows.

At this moment, April walked through the mountains, looking helplessly at Li Ke, Li Yunjing, and the others behind her. "Could you... please stop following us?"

Li Ke thought for a moment and said, "You guys hitched a ride with us before."

April felt a little guilty. "Well... you can't wear the same cloaks as us, people will mistake you for crows too. Uncle Yun Jing, you're one of the top experts in the Federation, how can you use us as cover?"

Li Ke said, "This cloak isn't anything special; anyone can wear it. Besides, I've even seen students cosplaying as you at cosplay conventions! Why don't you mention those people!"

April's performance fizzled out; how can that be the same?

They're just cosplaying, and you guys are trying to disguise yourselves as crows so you won't get noticed or attacked!

She thought Li Ke was a precocious little devil. It was one thing to trick him into coming all the way from the southwest, but now he had come up with a terrible idea: to disguise himself as a crow to avoid being seen.

He's been hitchhiking all day, but now someone else is using his identity. Where can he go to seek justice?

April said, "Our boss will be joining us soon!"

"Don't worry, we'll leave once your boss arrives," Li Ke reassured him.

Just then, another girl, also wearing a cloak, quickly stepped forward and said with a smile, "Stop arguing, stop arguing! Let's eat apples! It's more lively with more people in this desolate place!"

The old man at the very back watched this scene and muttered, "Bad luck!"

Countdown 112:00:00.

A02 Base.

As the prisoners walked out of the cell block, they saw the stone wall that had been rebuilt... For some reason, they felt a sense of relief.

In the past few days, Qing Chen has been building the stone wall at a slower and slower pace.

It's not that he became lax, compromised, or got discouraged.

Rather, it was the hunger and cold that made his body weaker and weaker, causing him to slow down more and more.

The soldiers from the Divine Era told Qing Chen that if he dared to kill a pig for food without permission, they would kill ten of Qing's intelligence agents for every pig killed.

The prisoners witnessed all of this, and suddenly began to worry: what if they woke up to find the boy collapsed?

Fortunately, the enemy has not yet fallen, and a new stone wall has been built, although it will soon be pushed down by the Gods' soldiers.

One prisoner muttered under his breath, "Why not conserve their energy when they know it's pointless?"

"Why don't we talk to him when we pass by the pigsty later and tell him not to do anything foolish?"

At this moment, an older member of the Qing clan's intelligence team suddenly said, "What he built wasn't a wall, but a belief. Perhaps he was also afraid that if he stopped at any moment, his will would be torn down like that wall. Stop being sarcastic. It's human nature to be afraid to resist when you're in darkness, but you can't praise darkness because of that."

One prisoner muttered, "What nonsense is this? Can't you say something that everyone can understand?"

A young prisoner watched for a while and said, "I was sent here by her father just because I fell in love with a girl from a high caste. I don't understand your reasoning, and I don't have any of your bullshit beliefs. I've just been drifting along with you for three years, living a monotonous, predictable life. Now, finally, an interesting person has arrived. I'm afraid he'll stop building walls, I'm afraid he'll one day drift along like us..."

This fear.

It was an indescribable emotion in the hearts of all the prisoners.

They thought Qing Chen was stupid, but at the same time, they hoped that Qing Chen would stay stupid.

They didn't have the courage to challenge the Age of Gods, but they hoped someone would.

It was as if they were also involved, fighting against the oppression within A02 Base.

If one day this young man also falls down, gives up, or becomes discouraged, then they will feel loss and despair together.

The tiny spark that had just ignited in everyone's hearts was extinguished once again.

At this moment, one of Li's prisoners suddenly said, "Actually, he was just building it up for us to see."

The prisoners were puzzled. "What do you mean?"

Before they could get an explanation, the soldiers from the God Era came over with whips and began lashing the prisoners one by one, leaving them battered and covered in blood.

The prisoners were being driven toward the quarry, in a noisy procession.

However, just as they were passing the pigsty, suddenly, a member of the Qing clan's intelligence agency threw a protein bar at Qing Chen from the crowd.

That was their reward for spitting and throwing stones. Almost everyone ate it that day. Unexpectedly, some people hid it and then threw the rare supply to Qing Chen.

Dozens of soldiers from the God Era rushed over upon seeing this scene. Some of them wanted to take back the protein bar that Qing Chen had picked up, but after glancing at Qing Chen, they didn't dare to enter the pigpen to snatch it.

He was afraid that once he went in, he wouldn't be able to get out.

The soldiers of the Age of Gods then angrily brandished their whips, lashing all the prisoners. "Who threw that! Who threw the protein bar at him?! From now on, the first person to report it gets a week off from work!"

A prisoner suddenly raised his hand. "I'm reporting this!"

The soldiers of the God Era laughed. They had used this tactic for decades; their predecessors had used it, and they were using it now, and it had never failed them.

These cowardly prisoners will never be able to unite; they are overthinking it.

"Tell me who lost it, and if you report it, you'll be exempt from a week's labor," the soldier from the Shindai era said.

The Qing clan intelligence agent laughed, "Reporting, sir, I'm reporting myself! I'm the one who got caught!"

After saying that, the prisoner squatted down and covered his head, saying, "You can hit me now."

Qing Chen was stunned, the prisoners were stunned, and the soldiers of the God Era were stunned.

No one expected the whistleblower to respond in this way.

The method that had been used for decades failed to work the first time.

The soldiers of the God Era rushed forward, their whips falling like a storm. The whips, made of thin leather strips, left deep, bloody welts on the prisoners with each strike.

They continued to tear his synthetic winter clothes to shreds.

Qing Chen watched silently, without roaring or blaming himself.

He knew why all this had happened, and he knew that nothing he could do now would make a difference.

Qing Chen bent down, chewing on a protein bar while picking up stones to continue rebuilding the stone wall that had just been knocked down.

He had tried a protein bar once before when he was in City No. 18, and it tasted bland.

This time, the protein bars were of even lower quality than the last time, but the aroma was exceptionally rich.

The soldiers from the Age of Gods pointed at Qing Chen and sneered at the prisoners, "See? You're being beaten, but he's eating! Look up at him, does he have any sympathy for you? Does he feel any remorse?!"

But no sooner had the words left his mouth than someone in the crowd threw another protein bar, which flew into the pigsty.

"Sir, you may hit me now."