A Slap

The carriage was very quiet.

Li Wei leaned back in her seat with her eyes closed, resting. There were several wounds on her arm as well, but none of them were deep.

Wang Jun sat beside her, blood still hanging from the corner of his mouth, yet his expression remained blank, as though he had not been the one who had just rammed the wild boar flying.

Sun Qiang and Liu Tingting were squeezed together, both their hands trembling as they had yet to recover from their fear.

Song Chen sat furthest inside with his eyes closed.

He was looking at the system, which was divided into four sections: [Martial Skills] [Potions] [Weapons] [Abilities].

He was considering what to exchange for.

The items in the shop were not expensive, but the price was that their grades were not high either—only C-rank and D-rank.

Song Chen guessed that higher-grade products would only appear after the system was upgraded.

Still, he was only looking and did not buy anything. With so many people around, what if he exposed himself?

Inside the carriage, Li Wei suddenly spoke. "Captain."

Zhang Zhenyun, who was driving, glanced at her. "If you have something to say, say it."

"How are the Life Cores from those mutated beasts... going to be divided?"

The atmosphere in the carriage instantly became subtle.

Life Cores were the Crystal Cores dug out of mutated beasts.

Once mutated beasts reached a rank, they would condense them. Of course, humans were the same.

These were truly good things. One could sell for tens of thousands, and three would cover an ordinary family's expenses for a year.

At those words, everyone looked at Zhang Zhenyun.

Zhang Zhenyun blew out a mouthful of smoke, pulled three red Crystal Cores from his pocket, and weighed them in his hand.

"By the rules, whoever kills it gets it."

His gaze fell on Song Chen.

"Three First Rank beasts, all killed by Song Chen. So these three Crystal Cores belong to Song Chen."

The carriage fell silent.

Li Wei nodded, her expression unchanged.

Wang Jun showed no reaction either, as though Crystal Cores were nothing worth caring about.

Sun Qiang and Liu Tingting exchanged a glance but did not dare say anything.

Only Zhao Wei's expression shifted. He opened his mouth, wanting to say something, but in the end, nothing came out.

What did he dare say?

During the fight just now, he had not even been able to injure a First Rank wild boar.

If not for Song Chen, all of them would have been in danger.

Song Chen accepted the three Crystal Cores and put them into the pocket close to his body. "Thank you, Captain."

"Don't thank me. You earned them yourself."

"But let me remind you: you'd better trade these for cultivation resources. Don't keep them. Money is a bastard; strength is what truly belongs to you."

Song Chen nodded slightly.

Zhang Zhenyun glanced at him and said nothing more.

The armored vehicle drove beneath the setting sun. From time to time, the long, low roars of mutated beasts drifted over from afar.

The vehicle was quiet, filled only with the engine's rumble.

Zhao Wei sat in a corner with his head lowered, not knowing what he was thinking.

His leg still hurt, but it could not compare to the fear in his heart.

When he recalled the battle just now, recalled the sight of Song Chen shoving his arm into the wild boar's mouth, his stomach churned again.

He was afraid.

He was not afraid of Song Chen himself. He was afraid of Song Chen's ruthless, life-or-death ferocity.

A person like that was not someone he could afford to provoke.

He raised his head and looked at Song Chen.

Song Chen leaned against his seat with his eyes closed. Zhao Wei could not tell whether he was asleep or thinking about something.

Zhao Wei gritted his teeth, stood up, and limped over.

"Song Chen."

Song Chen opened his eyes and looked at him.

Zhao Wei stood before him. His lips moved, and after holding it in for a long time, he finally forced out a sentence. "Um... about before, I'm sorry."

Song Chen looked at him without speaking.

Zhao Wei grew somewhat uncomfortable under his gaze, but he still forced himself to continue. "The things I said about you in class before—I was running my mouth. If it hadn't been for you today, we might all have..."

He paused and swallowed.

"I just wanted to apologize. Let's write off the grudge between us in one stroke, okay?"

Song Chen still did not react, simply staring at Zhao Wei.

It was not that he could not accept letting bygones be bygones. He simply could not accept letting it go with two airy sentences.

An apology and compensation—neither could be missing.

Song Chen was waiting for compensation, but Zhao Wei's brain clearly could not understand that layer.

His expression was stiff, his eyes evasive, and he did not dare meet Song Chen's gaze.

He had lowered his posture, but there was still an awkwardness in that humility, as though Zhao Wei taking the initiative to apologize was some enormous favor, and Song Chen ought to receive it with gratitude.

Seeing that Zhao Wei had no intention of offering compensation, Song Chen withdrew his gaze and could not be bothered with him anymore.

"Song Chen?"

Zhao Wei waited for a while but received no response, leaving him somewhat embarrassed.

"I'm talking to you..."

"Get lost."

Song Chen did not even raise his eyes.

Zhao Wei's face stiffened. He stood there, his expression shifting from green to white.

Everyone else in the vehicle was watching them.

There was amusement in Li Wei's eyes. Wang Jun finally showed a little expression—he was smiling.

Sun Qiang and Liu Tingting lowered their heads, pretending not to see, but their ears were pricked up.

Zhao Wei felt as though someone had slapped him across the face.

He took a deep breath, suppressing the fire in his heart, and tried to make his voice sound calm. "Song Chen, I sincerely came to apologize. We're classmates, and we'll still see each other in the future. There's no need to make things this ugly..."

Song Chen raised his head and looked at him. "I said get lost. Can't you understand human speech?"

Zhao Wei's expression completely changed.

His voice abruptly rose. "Song Chen, we're in the same class. Don't refuse a toast only to drink a forfeit!"

"I, Zhao Wei, took the initiative to apologize to you—that's giving you face. Who do you think you are? So what if you killed a few wild boars? What's so impressive about that? If I went all out, I could kill them too!"

Song Chen looked at him and suddenly smiled.

The smile was faint, like he was looking at a clown.

"You can kill them?"

"When that wild boar charged at you just now, you couldn't even hold your knife steady, and your legs were shaking. If Wang Jun hadn't knocked it away, you'd already be dead. What would you use to kill it?"

Zhao Wei's face flushed bright red.

"I... I just wasn't prepared. Next time, I definitely..."

Song Chen waved a hand, cutting him off. "There won't be a next time."

"I've seen plenty of people like you. You swagger around in class, thinking you're something special. But when it comes time to risk your life, you're the first one whose legs turn to jelly."

He stood up. Though he was not as tall as Zhao Wei or as heavily built, when he rose, Zhao Wei instinctively took a step back.

"You said you came to apologize. Then let me ask you: are you apologizing because you truly think you were wrong, or because you're afraid of me?"

Zhao Wei opened his mouth. "I..."

"You're afraid of me."

"You're afraid that one day outside the city, I'll treat you like a mutated beast and kill you too. So you came over to apologize, hoping I'd forget what happened before and hoping I won't cause you trouble in the future."

Zhao Wei's face went pale.

Because everything Song Chen said was right.

Song Chen took a step forward. "But Zhao Wei, if you're apologizing, then apologize. Who are you putting on that face for? 'I'm apologizing to you to give you face,' right? Who the hell do you think you are?"

Forced back, Zhao Wei retreated another step, his back striking the side of the carriage.

"I..."

Song Chen looked at him coldly. "Didn't you want to write it off in one stroke? Fine, I'll grant you that."

He raised his right hand.

Slap!

A vicious slap landed squarely across Zhao Wei's face.

The sound was crisp and loud, echoing through the cramped carriage.

Zhao Wei was completely dazed from the blow.

He covered his face and stared blankly at Song Chen, his eyes full of disbelief.

He had been beaten before.

Song Chen had beaten him in class before, beating him so badly that his teeth were scattered all over the floor.

But that had been a sparring match, a fair and open fight.

This time, it was a slap.

It was humiliation.

It was being slapped across the face in front of everyone.

"You..." His lips trembled as he tried to say something.

Song Chen had already turned around and sat back down, closing his eyes.

"Get far away from me."

"Bother me again, and next time it won't be just one slap."

Zhao Wei stood where he was, clutching his face, his entire body trembling. His gaze swept across everyone in the carriage.

Half his face was already swollen.

Li Wei was looking at him, with no sympathy in her eyes, only indifference.

Wang Jun was looking at him, a smile still hanging from the corner of his mouth.

Sun Qiang and Liu Tingting lowered their heads and did not dare meet his eyes, but it was obvious they were holding back laughter.

Zhang Zhenyun was smoking. Through the curling smoke, his face showed no expression at all, as though none of this had anything to do with him.

No one spoke up for him. No one.

Zhao Wei suddenly understood. In this squad, he was nothing.

He gritted his teeth and limped back to his seat, curling up in the corner and not daring to say another word.