Drawing Cards

Xiao Miao walked down the street, answering in fairly fluent English as he went. "Listen, don't get worked up yet. I suggest we wait and see. The scene might be dangerous."

"Shit, fuck, a chance to get rich is right in front of us, and you're telling me it's dangerous? Are you going or not?"

"Actually, I'm planning to switch jobs and join the New York Daily."

"Go to hell, coward!"

The call was rudely cut off. Xiao Miao shrugged indifferently, opened the door of a taxi parked by the roadside, and sat in the front passenger seat.

"Out of town. Take the shortest route."

The driver was a white guy enjoying a donut covered in chocolate sprinkles. When he saw Xiao Miao get in, especially after noticing his Asian face, his expression immediately turned impatient. "Can't you see I'm eating lunch? Get the hell out of my car."

The man had a terrible attitude, but Xiao Miao was a model citizen. When necessary, he liked to reason with people.

Click!

The icy muzzle of a gun pressed against the driver's temple. Xiao Miao smiled kindly and repeated himself. "Out of town, as fast as possible. Do you understand?"

"Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, sir. Could you put the gun down first? What if it goes off..."

"If it goes off, that just means you're unlucky. If you don't start driving, it might go off in the next second."

Vroom!

The engine roared. The taxi burst forward at its fastest speed since entering service, racing through the heavy traffic and leaving a wave of curses behind.

It turned out that reasoning did work. Once he pulled out a pistol, communication became much simpler.

Half an hour later, the taxi was stopped at the edge of Raccoon City. A firepower blockade formed by heavy trucks and armored vehicles stretched across the road, blocking every vehicle.

Special forces soldiers armed to the teeth patrolled outside the blockade. Xiao Miao also spotted two machine-gun positions being set up.

The entire city had been sealed off by the military. Only the quarantine station on the eastern side of the city allowed people to leave.

"Buddy, are we still going?" the driver asked shakily.

"...Back to the city!"

Xiao Miao's expression darkened.

There was bad news and good news. The bad news was that Umbrella Corporation had completely sealed off Raccoon City, and he could no longer leave through ordinary means.

The good news was that the T-virus had probably already spread throughout the city, yet his status panel showed no abnormal condition like [Virus Infection]. Even if the T-virus could truly spread through the air, he was already immune.

From now on, he just had to avoid getting scratched by zombies.

The taxi hurried back toward the city, but the moment it entered, it was caught in traffic. A multi-car collision had occurred ahead, and even if the driver were a Frenchman who knew how to modify cars, he couldn't get through.

The zombie virus was probably breaking out one after another.

Staying in the car left him constrained at every turn, so Xiao Miao decisively got out. The driver stopped him.

"You haven't paid!"

Where was Xiao Miao supposed to get dollars? He glared viciously at the driver. "You still dare ask for money? You'd better leave Raccoon City as soon as possible, or I'll beat you up every time I see you. Bakayarou!"

With that, Xiao Miao waved the gun in his hand and strode away from the road without looking back.

When out and about, he couldn't disgrace his homeland. He could only let himself suffer a little.

The driver stared wide-eyed, feeling that his impression of Japanese people had been completely overturned.

Why was his obedient son acting so arrogantly in his father's house? Had he reached his rebellious phase?

And why had he been in such a hurry to leave the city? Was he planning to sneak-attack Pearl Harbor?

Come to think of it, where was Pearl Harbor?

Remembering Xiao Miao's threat before leaving, the driver shrank his neck and decided to take his family to New York to stay with his father-in-law, far away from that lunatic.

His wife had cancer and did not have long to live. He had heard that a professor named Alice Krippin in New York claimed she could cure cancer and was recruiting volunteers.

They could go sign up and give it a try!

"Sorry, I'm a little busy right now. Please leave your name, phone number, and a brief message. Thank you!"

A prerecorded voice came from the phone receiver. Xiao Miao snapped his flip phone shut and observed a second of silence for his reporter partner, whom he had never met.

He had made three calls without anyone answering. The guy was probably already playing a little game of bodily-fluid exchange with zombies.

Come to think of it, that was pretty lewd.

Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!

A burst of gunfire came from the building beside him. Xiao Miao turned and found that it was the Raccoon City Police Department.

It was a police department full of stories. Unfortunately, this seemed to be the movie world, or perhaps he might have run into War God Li San Guang.

[Ding! Fate Points +15. Current mission progress: 21/200!]

[Ding! Travelers of All Heavens are coming into contact with this world's course of fate. Please maintain observation. Remaining settlement time: 23:59:59...]

Two notification chimes rang in his mind. Xiao Miao saw a huge crowd flooding out of the police station. Many were wounded, their faces filled with panic.

As the saying went, a single touch of red amid ten thousand shades of green. Xiao Miao spotted the short-haired girl in the middle of the crowd at once—not because of her generous strapless curves, short skirt, and long legs, but because a die floated above her head.

The die had six faces: white, green, blue, purple, gold, and orange.

His talent ability had been triggered!

The instant he saw the girl, a string of information surfaced in Xiao Miao's mind:

[Story Character: Jill Valentine]

[Current Bond: Level 1 (Stranger)]

[Draw Cost: 50 Fate Points]

Fifty per draw. Jill's price was not too high.

Although the deeper the bond, the greater the chance of drawing something good, Xiao Miao still planned to make a few draws as a test.

Right now, he was just an ordinary person with some training. His talent ability could not directly improve his combat strength. To be honest, Xiao Miao was a little panicked.

He urgently needed a way to stay alive!

Draw!

With a thought, the Fate Points in his account instantly dropped by fifty. The die above Jill's head began spinning, and finally landed on blue. The entire die shone with blue light, condensing into a card that flew out and entered Xiao Miao's body.

[Skill Card: S.T.A.R.S. Gunfighting Technique (The S.T.A.R.S. unit's supreme killing art. Upon use, grants beginner-level S.T.A.R.S. Gunfighting Technique)]

"Not bad. Again!"

Xiao Miao's eyes lit up. His Fate Points dropped by another fifty, and white light flashed.

[Item Card: Original Tactical Holster (The holster Jill wore strapped to her thigh. Its design has stood the test of time, easy to draw from, and soaked in sweat)]

"???"

He seemed to have drawn something rather improper, yet very useful... Again!

White light appeared once more.

[Item Card: Crown of the Spartan Queen (The gemstone crown of the most beautiful woman in the world. Invaluable and deeply meaningful. Selling it would be the most foolish choice)]

Xiao Miao froze.

What the hell did this have to do with Jill?

Another fifty Fate Points vanished. He began the final draw. The die shook continuously, then a flash of golden light appeared. Xiao Miao's breathing suddenly quickened.

It was gold!

[Character Card: Elf Princess Aya (Elf princess, dragon egg guardian, rebel leader. Her only natural enemy is goblins.) (After use, Character Cards have a limited duration. During that time, the user possesses all abilities of the target character. Afterward, the user may randomly inherit some of the target character's abilities.)]

The card-drawing process seemed long, but only a few seconds had passed. Jill and her group had just agreed on their objective and were moving toward the parking lot.

Xiao Miao hurried after them. At the same time, his thoughts touched the [Skill Card: S.T.A.R.S. Gunfighting Technique]. In an instant, a current surged from the skill card and spread through every limb and bone in his body.

Xiao Miao's steps halted. Every muscle in his body convulsed violently beyond his control, as though he had undergone extensive training in a very short time. Strange yet familiar memories emerged in his mind, and the firearm in his hand suddenly felt exceptionally familiar.

P.S. I'll post a picture of Jill.