Who Would Have Thought He Was Still Alive Before He Died

After Li You had collected all the guns, Ying said in a low voice, "I've done as you asked. Now we can talk..."

Before Ying could finish, Bai Ye cut him off with a vicious grin. "I told you to do it, so you did it? What the fuck are you, a dog?"

Bang!

[Breath of Bones] erupted with a thunderous roar. Firelight and blood-red light howled out together as a crimson bullet struck Ying squarely in the right knee.

He groaned and dropped to his knees, his face drained of color from the pain, cold sweat beading across his forehead. Even so, he clenched his teeth and refused to cry out.

This revealed the difference between Ying, a genetically modified human, and an ordinary person. If a normal person had taken that shot, his entire leg would have been gone. Yet Ying only had a thumb-sized bloody hole in his leg. Though he could not use his right leg for the moment, it could at least still be treated.

The soldiers' expressions changed drastically. Just as they were about to rush forward and seize the guns, Ying raised a hand through the pain. "Don't act rashly!"

After stopping the soldiers, he turned his head with difficulty and looked at Bai Ye.

"You didn't kill me outright, which means there's still room for negotiation between us. I was presumptuous earlier. I didn't know there was such a powerful Transcendent hidden among your group. I admit defeat this time. Name your conditions, as long as you can spare my life."

"Now you know how to admit defeat? Wasn't it you who said you'd give me a chance?" Bai Ye's gaze was arrogant and violent, the metal muzzle fixed firmly on Ying's head.

"I'll give you a chance now. This Wastelander has never seen those high-and-mighty city lords kneel down and beg for forgiveness. If you make me happy with your kowtow, maybe I'll spare you."

Ying's expression turned ugly beyond measure. Making him kowtow to a Wastelander was even harder to bear than killing him.

"A man of honor may be killed, but never humiliated—"

Bang!

Ying's head exploded. He fell stiffly to the ground, his yellow-brown hawk eyes filled with shock and disbelief.

Even in death, he had not expected Bai Ye to strike the moment he said he would.

"You actually killed Ying!?" The maggot-like officer cried out, his voice twisting out of shape.

Bai Ye shrugged helplessly. "You can't blame me for that. He said it himself—a man of honor may be killed, but never humiliated. So I granted his wish."

The officer's eyes nearly split with rage. "How dare you! How dare you!? Ying was one of the Zodiac! The company won't let you get away with this!"

"Fuck!" Bai Ye walked over and kicked the officer in the face, sending blood gushing from his nose.

A savage glint flashed in his eyes as he bent down. "Why the fuck are you as stupid as a pig? Are you so used to acting tough that you can't stop? You're about to die, and you still dare spout that crap?

I'm not just going to kill him. I'm going to kill you too!"

The officer seemed to wake from a dream, cold sweat pouring down his body. "No... no, you can't kill me. If I die, the company..."

"Fuck your company!" Bai Ye flew into a rage and kicked the officer several more times, knocking out his front teeth.

"Anything else to say? If not, you can die now."

"Don't... don't kill me! Please, don't kill me! As long as you spare me, I'll do anything! I'm willing to kneel and kowtow to you!" The officer shrieked indistinctly. Despite having lost all four limbs, he used only his abdomen and neck to slam his head against the ground again and again.

"Hahaha..." Bai Ye laughed freely, then laughed at the stunned Wastelanders. "Do you see that? Even the high-and-mighty lords of Dawn City will kowtow to Wastelanders!"

Among the hundreds present, not a single person responded. Only the young man's wild, unrestrained laughter echoed through the wind.

Li You glanced at the officer who kept kowtowing, then at Ying with his blown-open head. He swallowed unconsciously, his eyes full of disbelief.

Everything had happened too fast—so fast that it felt like a dream.

His mind was still stuck on the moment Bai Ye had said he was about to make a move. Only now, seeing a big shot like Ying dead, did he finally snap back to reality.

"Brother Ye... a big shot just died like that?"

Even with the facts right before his eyes, he still found it unbelievable. The class divide between city dwellers and Wastelanders was unimaginable—so vast that he had never dared imagine someone so important could die so casually before his eyes.

"Ah." Bai Ye sighed. "Yeah. Who would've thought he was still alive before he died?"

Li You: "???"

"Don't worry. He didn't die for nothing." Bai Ye grinned.

Ying's death had value. It provided Bai Ye with quite a bit of Blood Qi. The Blood Qi provided by one Ying was roughly equivalent to that of ten gray sparrows, further improving Bai Ye's physical constitution.

"Spare me! Spare me..." The officer was still kowtowing, not stopping even though his face was covered in blood.

Bai Ye swept a glance over the nearby soldiers, who were itching to move, and formed a plan.

His original intention had been to use the army's strength to reach Black Mountain. Now it seemed that pointing a gun at the officer and threatening him into taking him to Black Mountain would work too.

The process might be different, but the result was the same.

"Enough. Stop kowtowing. I'll give you a chance to live. Escort me to Black Mountain."

The officer was overjoyed at first, then froze. "Y-you want to go to Black Mountain?"

Bai Ye glanced at him coldly. "What? You don't want to?"

The officer's heart trembled. "No, no, of course I do! What are you all standing around for? Hurry up and get the vehicles ready! Escort this lord to Black Mountain!"

The soldiers exchanged looks, but none dared act rashly. The unfathomable Ying had been shot in the head, while their own commanding officer had been dismembered in an instant. Even if they still had guns, they did not think they could handle a Transcendent like Bai Ye—let alone now, when they had no guns.

Just as they were preparing to move, suddenly, a shrill scream erupted from the Wastelanders.

"Ah! A snake!" A ragged Wastelander jumped up as if electrocuted. A tiny jet-black snake was coiled around his left arm.

The man flung his arm around like mad, but he could not shake off the Black Snake biting into his flesh.

In barely two seconds, a bluish-black discoloration crawled up from his arm to his cheek. The Wastelander's screams abruptly stopped. He toppled stiffly to the ground, foam spilling from his mouth, his eyes bulging as he died.

The sudden change sent everyone scattering in panic. But after running only a few meters, they discovered in horror that the ground was writhing!

Small mounds rose one after another across the earth. Accompanied by faint sounds of dirt breaking apart, Black Snakes emerged from underground.

Snakes!

Snakes everywhere!

Their triangular heads were held high, crimson tongues flickering nonstop as they surged toward the crowd like a black stream.

The rasping friction of scales merged into a scalp-crawling tremor. There were enough of them to scare someone with trypophobia to death.

"Mutated Beast Black Snakes!!" The officer lying on the ground screamed.