Wushuang

The girl looked like a porcelain doll, her expression still calm.

Chen Chong's full-force punch never reached her pretty face. Though his fist was only ten centimeters from the tip of her pert nose, it couldn't move forward another inch.

At some point, the girl had raised her hand and grabbed Chen Chong by the forearm.

He had gone all out and even activated the Second Form immediately, yet he couldn't budge her seemingly slender arm in the slightest.

Her sudden appearance had already made things clear, but Chen Chong finally confirmed it now: they weren't in the same league.

His expression darkened.

"Who are you?"

"If you want to hit on a girl, that's a rather crude way to do it."

The girl spoke softly.

She looked into Chen Chong's eyes, and a strange glint flashed deep within hers.

When the girl let go, Chen Chong warily pulled his hand back and made no further attempt to test her. He gave a cold snort.

"Hit on you? You're the one who suddenly climbed into my car. You're hardly being polite either."

"Sorry. But this doesn't seem to be your car, either."

The girl glanced around, then lightly patted the seat.

"It obviously doesn't suit your style."

"What style? Do you know me?"

Chen Chong couldn't help frowning.

"I don't, but you have a pretty unique vibe, country boy."

The girl nodded.

"You're not exactly handsome, but you still give off that impression."

Chen Chong's face darkened, though he felt more absurdity than anything else.

He had no idea where this mysterious girl had come from or why she was chatting with him like they were old friends. He was still in the middle of a tense escape and really didn't have time to waste.

"Could you get out of my car? I'm in a hurry."

"Oh, sorry. I forgot to get to the point. I'm requisitioning your car."

The girl flipped her hand, producing a palm-sized tablet from who knew where.

"Turn left, one hundred and seventy-five degrees. We're going there."

Chen Chong fell silent at her self-directed chatter, then opened the door to get out.

"If you've got your eye on this car, then I'll leave."

"But I don't know how to drive."

The girl stared at him with her big, dark eyes.

Under normal circumstances, few men could resist a girl looking at them like that.

But this wasn't a normal situation, and it was hard to call either of them normal.

Chen Chong said, "Then get out. You can run faster than the car."

"I'm tired. You have no idea how far I ran to get here."

The girl leaned forward slightly and reached down to rub her slender ankle.

Her combat suit left no skin exposed below her neck, but even that pose showed off her impressive figure. Combined with her inexplicably flirtatious, lover-like tone, even Chen Chong felt his heart stir.

But he quickly composed himself and said in a low voice, "Miss from the city, are you really not going to leave me alone?"

"You mean you only just noticed?"

The girl feigned surprise.

"You were just trying to touch my face. We've only just met—that's much too forward."

Chen Chong's expression shifted several times. He took a deep breath, then said with unusual sincerity, "I want to go home."

The girl froze for a moment, then let her expression fall. She spoke quietly.

"Sorry, but I really can't drive. I need to go in that direction and find something very important. Sorry for the trouble. I'll pay you."

Chen Chong stared at the girl, and she calmly returned his gaze.

After their eyes met for a long while, Chen Chong finally lowered his eyelids.

He started the off-road vehicle and cranked the steering wheel all the way to the left.

The vehicle reluctantly began to move, making a semicircle as it turned south.

The girl leaned back against the seat. One arm rested on the windowsill, her posture relaxed, like a wealthy young lady taking a rickshaw out for a country outing.

Looking at Chen Chong's back, she spoke softly.

"I haven't asked your name yet."

"Ye Wen."

"I mean your real name."

"Jiang Jinfu."

"Your real name."

"Li Xiaoguang."

"Your real name."

"Chen Chong."

The girl nodded.

"Hello, Chen Chong. My name is Xie Wushuang."

Chen Chong let out a huff.

"That's your real name?"

"It is. I come from a traditional martial arts family."

Xie Wushuang answered seriously.

"I'm interning in the Security Department of a company. This is my final assessment before becoming a full-time employee, and it's very important. So, sorry for the trouble."

What does your assessment have to do with me?

Chen Chong kept the thought to himself. After a moment's consideration, he asked, "Central City? Which company?"

"Sorry, I can't tell you because of confidentiality rules."

"Then what's the assessment about?"

"Sorry, because of confidentiality—"

"You've already dragged me into this. Are you still keeping it confidential?"

Chen Chong cut her off.

Xie Wushuang paused.

"Fair point. But honestly, I don't know all that much myself. I only know that I have to follow the directions on this and retrieve something."

She waved the tablet.

Chen Chong glanced at it in the rearview mirror. It looked like a navigation map.

Xie Wushuang kept correcting his direction, and Chen Chong steered the vehicle farther and farther into the Wasteland.

After about an hour, Xie Wushuang looked around.

"This is the Red Earth Dragons' habitat."

"It's Thunder Dragon Company's Hunting Grounds. We're already in the depths."

Chen Chong spoke indifferently.

Xie Wushuang glanced at him, tapped the tablet a few times, then gave an "Oh."

"A scam company. Looks like you escaped from there. Impressive."

She scanned the surroundings, and for the first time, her expression changed.

"I think we're almost there."

"What makes you say that?"

"There isn't a single Red Earth Dragon anywhere in this huge area. From the way you look, you must have fought several of them fiercely on the outskirts. But it's winter, so they should be hibernating."

The girl pushed up her glasses.

"That means something drove all the Red Earth Dragons in this area to the outskirts of their habitat. That thing is probably my target."

Chen Chong unconsciously glanced at Xie Wushuang in the rearview mirror.

So this was the source of the trouble he'd run into earlier?

Just by looking at the marks on him, she could tell what kind of fight he'd been in. And she knew about the Red Earth Dragons' habits, too. Her reasoning and knowledge were both above average.

Was that the standard for employees at Central City companies—even a rookie?

"It's just up ahead. The response is so strong."

The girl's tone turned grave.

"Just park the car here. I may need your help later. Follow my instructions."

"You're at least a whole level above me, aren't you? How could I help?"

"Just follow my instructions when the time comes."

"Fine."

Xie Wushuang opened the door and lightly jumped out of the off-road vehicle. Her braids swayed behind her.

Her silvery-white combat suit hugged her figure, and from behind, her curves were just as graceful. Chen Chong admired her without a care, when suddenly her figure began to fade until it turned completely transparent.

Xie Wushuang had vanished right before his eyes.

Chen Chong's eyes narrowed.

Incredible optical camouflage technology.

He didn't know if they'd had technology this advanced in his previous life, but you definitely wouldn't see it in a Satellite City or the Wasteland.

Chen Chong stayed in the car and waited patiently.

About half an hour later, the ground suddenly shook.

Chen Chong immediately looked into the distance and squinted. Then his eyes flew wide open!

Far away, a black pillar shot up into the sky, carrying dozens of tons of soil tens of meters into the air.

Chen Chong knew that attack pattern all too well.

An Earth Dragon! And a black one, at that!

Its size didn't look particularly shocking at first, about the same as a Red Earth Dragon would appear up close.

But the problem was that it was at least several hundred meters away, and the black shape still looked enormous. The ground kept trembling beneath him.

It was easy to imagine what a colossal beast it had to be.

By a rough estimate, the black Earth Dragon's body aboveground was dozens of meters tall. Including the part beneath the ground, its total length had to be over a hundred meters, maybe even several hundred!

How could that still be called an Earth Dragon? This damn thing was a real dragon!

Chen Chong's expression shook with alarm.

He frowned and looked closely. Faintly, he could make out a silver figure darting around the Earth Dragon.

Compared to its enormous body, the silvery figure looked like a helpless butterfly. Every casual movement from the Earth Dragon whipped up a gale that sent her flying far away, but she fought her way back against the wind.

Xie Wushuang was strong, but things didn't look good for her.

She was completely mired in the battle.

I need your help.

Thinking of the beautiful girl's earnest plea, Chen Chong took a deep breath.

Then he decisively turned the key, started the car, and slammed the accelerator to the floor—

Then he cranked the steering wheel all the way around, turned the vehicle in one smooth motion, and sped off in the direction he'd come from.

No way was he helping her.

Never mind whether he was capable of it—he'd been dragged into this against his will in the first place.

The big company's confidentiality rules?

Would they give him a huge enough hush payment to settle down in Central City for the rest of his life, or bury him in the black soil as food for an Earth Dragon?

Hard to say.

But Chen Chong wasn't going to find out. The off-road vehicle roared wildly as it sped freely northwest.