Gunpoint

Xie Wushuang drove the off-road vehicle at full speed across the Wasteland, her expression calm and composed. But if you looked closely, her red lips seemed to keep moving:

"Isn't this a little too much? It's cruel. What does it matter? He was the one who started it. But then again, I did steal his car first... But he touched my leg, and I've never even had a boyfriend..."

It was as if a devil and an angel were battling in her mind. Xie Wushuang's expression kept shifting.

But in the end, the two sides reached an agreement. Her expression settled, and she nodded.

"Besides, he can't get away."

Xie Wushuang produced a test tube. Inside, a small clump of black flesh squirmed incessantly. The flesh, immersed in a special solution, had already begun to seep orange-yellow liquid.

Her eyes flickered.

"So it really is here?"

She put the test tube away, adjusted her course on the tablet computer, and continued deeper into the Wasteland.

She set the tablet aside and noticed a crumpled map there.

She pulled out the map and glanced at it before tossing it out the window.

What age was this? Who still used such primitive things?

The map drifted out the window, tumbling down behind the off-road vehicle before landing quietly on the black earth.

Screech—

Brakes sounded in the distance, followed by an engine growing louder as it approached.

Two pairs of off-road tires rolled backward, rapidly growing larger before stopping nearby.

A pair of silver boots stepped out of the vehicle and walked over to the map. Then a hand, white as jade, picked it up.

Xie Wushuang straightened and unfolded the map.

"Hmm... Lichuan."

She rolled the map back up, got into the vehicle, and drove off.

Chen Chong slowly turned his head and saw a familiar figure climbing up from the slope.

Liu Xun.

He leaned on his blade and looked extremely weak. Several Skull Gang members lay sprawled nearby, including their bald leader.

Liu Xun frowned, his voice hoarse.

"Where have you been hiding all this time? Why are you only coming out now? I heard an off-road vehicle just now. Did you see who it was? The reinforcements should be here soon... Could it have been the Skull Gang? Go check, now!"

He fired off question after question, looking anxious. Clearly, he was in terrible shape after the battle.

This guy had actually killed everyone on the other side by himself... Wait, Thunder Dragon's reinforcements were almost here?

Chen Chong's heart tightened. He looked at the Skull Gang's off-road vehicle in the distance and instinctively started toward it.

But after taking a single step, he stopped.

He remembered that he had personally slashed all the tires on that vehicle. Chen Chong's face darkened.

"What are you doing?"

Liu Xun said coldly,

"Hand over the supplies you've got on you! I'm going to report you to the General Manager for staying away from the fight for so long—Hey, they're here! They're here!"

Liu Xun suddenly turned toward the horizon, his face alight with excitement.

Chen Chong furrowed his brow and strode up the gentle slope to peer over it. Several off-road vehicles were speeding toward them. Judging by their color... they were from Thunder Dragon.

Liu Xun laughed heartily and began to straighten up to wave. Suddenly, he pitched sideways and was yanked to the ground.

He was startled, but reacted quickly and turned, about to draw his blade. Then his body stiffened.

A pistol was pressed to his forehead.

"Chen Chong, what are you doing? Where did you get that gun? How dare you point it at me?"

Liu Xun said coldly,

"Put the gun down. I can still plead your case to the General Manager—"

"Do you like having a gun pointed at you?"

Chen Chong cut him off.

Liu Xun's face darkened.

"What are you talking about? If I hadn't killed all the Skull Gang members by myself and used up all my strength, even if you had a gun—"

"Do you like having a gun pointed at you? Answer me."

Chen Chong shoved the gun down hard, forcing Liu Xun's head halfway into the dirt.

Feeling the pistol digging painfully into his forehead and the tremendous force behind it, Liu Xun's expression changed at once.

"You..."

"Answer me. I'm asking one last time. Do you like having a gun pointed at you?"

"No! No! Please, go easy on me."

Liu Xun trembled under Chen Chong's icy gaze.

"Good. I don't like it either."

Pfft.

A short, muffled sound. A bullet hole appeared in Liu Xun's forehead.

His eyes still held fear and disbelief.

Chen Chong peered over the crest of the slope at the convoy.

They had clearly spotted the battlefield and were almost there.

After assessing his chances of hiding or escaping one last time, Chen Chong shook his head.

Without a vehicle, he couldn't evade a convoy's pursuit across the Wasteland. He wasn't that woman.

Honestly, killing Liu Xun now was risky.

But not killing him was even riskier.

Besides, Chen Chong had been itching to do it, and the dead man had been chattering at his side the whole time.

But Chen Chong had already made a plan before firing. He ducked back down, checked the bodies scattered across the ground to make sure none of the witnesses were playing dead, and fired a few more shots at some of them before making a few adjustments to the scene.

Then he carefully hid the pistol in an inner pocket of his clothes and rubbed his face.

Chen Chong rose to his feet atop the slope.

He actually ran down toward the off-road vehicles, heading straight for them, and intercepted them halfway.

He needed to buy some time, let Liu Xun cool off a little.

The convoy stopped, and several people approached Chen Chong.

Leading them was Long Zhibin.

He'd come in person?

Chen Chong's heart tightened, but he put on a look of relief.

"General Manager!"

"You're Chen Chong, right? You joined last month."

Long Zhibin thought for a moment.

He even remembered that?

Chen Chong was secretly surprised, then rattled off a stream of words.

"Yes, General Manager! You actually remember me! I'm honored. We've only met once, and I can't believe you remembered me. You're so busy, handling so many things every day—"

Long Zhibin had been willing to hear him out, but in the end he interrupted Chen Chong.

"Enough. Why are you alone out here? Where are the others?"

"The others..."

Chen Chong wore a frightened expression.

"General Manager, let me explain—"

Chen Chong dragged out a long, rambling story.

First they'd encountered an Earth Dragon, then the Skull Gang. In the middle of the battle, a mysterious woman had appeared and overwhelmed everyone.

It was a story he could have told in one sentence, but Chen Chong took ages to get through it.

"...I hid in a pit. I heard the woman ask where Black Earth Dragon was. Anyone who couldn't answer got shot on the spot."

"Black Earth Dragon?"

Long Zhibin's voice rose sharply. Then he quickly composed himself.

"What happened to her in the end? She didn't notice you? She must've been from a major company."

"I felt like she'd spotted me. But it seemed she found something else, too, and drove off right away. I almost—"

"Which way did she go?"

Long Zhibin cut him off.

"I think that way."

Chen Chong pointed.

"Go!"

Long Zhibin got into his vehicle and sped off in the direction Chen Chong had pointed, taking the whole convoy with him.

Chen Chong watched Long Zhibin lead the convoy around the gentle slope and froze for a moment.

This General Manager seemed particularly concerned about unexpected visitors and the words "Black Earth Dragon."

Good thing he hadn't gone up the slope to check. No one else would have his sharp eyes.

Besides, the winter wind on the Wasteland was so cold that Liu Xun must have gone cold by now.

They left one vehicle behind to clean up the battlefield. As a survivor, Chen Chong leaned against it and glanced at the fuel gauge, sighing silently.

They carried the bodies, stiff from the cold wind, over one by one. Chen Chong and the vehicle waited until more members of Thunder Dragon Company arrived, then rode back with them.

Back to the Park. Back to the cage.

"Xie Wushuang..."

Sitting in the vehicle with his head against the window, Chen Chong watched the unchanging wilderness outside and silently repeated her name in his mind.

He didn't feel much hatred toward her.

There was no point hating someone far stronger than himself.

Only the weak complained that others were too strong. The strong only hated their own weakness.

Chen Chong didn't hate her at all. He just wanted to wait until he left the Wasteland, keep growing stronger, find Xie Wushuang, force her to reveal the place she least wanted to go, then lock her inside an off-road vehicle and weld the accelerator down as he drove full speed toward it.

But he remembered the scene at the edge of the world, where she had danced around the black dragon like a fluttering butterfly.

As his fist clenched and unclenched, Chen Chong silently asked himself:

What would it take

to gain that kind of power?