Duel

Liu Honggou dragged his exhausted body onto the vehicle and lay on his side.

Just as he was drifting off to a private rendezvous with the daughter of the god of dreams, a sudden, sharp stop jolted him awake.

His face darkened. Struggling to contain his anger, he glared ahead from the vehicle, which had now stopped.

"Do you even know how to drive, kid? You nearly threw me off, you know that?"

Liu Honggou's roar scared the young driver stiff. He held his breath, not daring to make a sound.

Just then, a call broke the awkward silence. The speaker was Little Shorty, whose face looked unusually mature despite his small stature.

"Brother Liu, something's wrong!"

At those words, Liu Honggou's thick eyebrows twitched upward. He looked at Little Shorty and asked quietly, "What is it?"

Little Shorty paused, then turned his gaze toward the walls of the A58 Gathering Place.

"Brother Liu, those look like Long Wu's men up there. Judging by their stance, maybe..."

Before Little Shorty could finish, Liu Honggou cut him off with a wave.

"It's only Long Wu. What's there to be scared of? Tell the drivers to floor it! If that bastard Long Wu won't open the gates, ram them open for me!"

With that, Liu Honggou turned his head and closed his eyes, as though all of this were nothing but a dream.

Though Little Shorty disagreed with Liu Honggou, there was nothing he could do but follow his orders.

Meanwhile, up on the walls, Long Wu's men had spotted Liu Honggou's group nearby.

"Quick, tell Brother Long! Liu Honggou's back!"

A few minutes later, Long Wu appeared on the wall. Looking languid, Liu Honggou stretched and climbed out of the vehicle.

"Long Wu, what the hell is this supposed to mean? Open the gates!"

Hearing this, Long Wu snorted disdainfully from atop the wall. Picking his nose, he said coldly, "With that attitude, Liu Honggou, I'm not opening the gates today. What are you going to do about it?"

Liu Honggou's eyes flared with anger, his gaze stabbing at Long Wu like the point of a knife.

"You're doing this on purpose, aren't you? I haven't beaten you for a few days, and now you think you're tough!"

"Hmph. Why don't you try me and find out?"

"Long Wu, I don't know how hard you are, but I know exactly how soft your woman's body is!"

"Liu Honggou, you're fucking asking to die!"

The words had barely left his mouth before Long Wu, enraged by the humiliation, grabbed a rifle from beside him. Without hesitation, he aimed at Liu Honggou below the wall and squeezed the trigger hard.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

As gunfire thundered through the air, Liu Honggou threw himself down beside the vehicle in fright. Listening to bullets whistle past his ears, he drew a deep, shaky breath.

"Goddamn it, you're actually serious!" Liu Honggou's face darkened as he struggled to restrain his fury. "Brothers, no more holding back! Give them hell!"

Rat-a-tat-tat!

Boom...

As the firefight outside the walls grew increasingly fierce, Liu Feng and Little Knife sat in a large tree, munching on sunflower seeds and chatting.

"Little Knife, who do you think has the upper hand?"

Little Knife propped her chin on one hand and thoughtfully watched the nearby battle before answering, "Judging by the situation, the men on the wall should win."

Liu Feng smiled and placed the seeds he had shelled into Little Knife's hand.

"You're right." Liu Feng paused, then looked at Little Knife. "But I don't want him to win."

Little Knife looked puzzled.

"Then you mean we should help the people below the wall?"

Liu Feng nodded.

"Why? They're all wounded or disabled. Even if we help them, their chances of winning are still slim."

Seeing the confusion on Little Knife's face, Liu Feng's red lips, neither too full nor too thin, curved into a dazzling smile.

"You're right. The people below the wall have very little hope of winning. That's exactly why I've chosen to help him."

Little Knife was even more confused.

"First, the man on the wall has both timing and terrain on his side. If he wins, that's only to be expected. Then whether we can enter the A58 Gathering Place will depend on his mood. We might well end up just like this group. Second, the people below the wall are all wounded or disabled. So if our help lets them win in the end, they'll owe us a favor. More importantly, his team won't pose any threat to us at all. That makes helping the people below the wall our best option!"

After hearing Liu Feng's explanation, Little Knife understood at once.

She gazed at Liu Feng with admiration, as though she were looking at a sage.

By then, the battle at the walls was nearing its end.

Boom!

With a violent explosion, a vehicle was instantly engulfed in flames. Thick black smoke drifted through the air on the breeze.

Dodging this way and that, Little Shorty finally reached the battered-looking Liu Honggou.

"Brother Liu, if this keeps up, all our brothers are going to die!"

Liu Honggou's eyes were wide as a bull's and shot through with red. Fury burned inside him.

"At this point, what do you suggest we do?"

Little Shorty paused, then leaned close to Liu Honggou's ear and whispered, "Brother Liu, we can back down to Long Wu for now. Once our brothers recover from their injuries, it won't be too late to settle this score!"

Liu Honggou erupted the moment he heard that. He stamped his foot hard, kicking up a cloud of dust.

"That's fucking bullshit! Even if I die, I'll never back down to that bastard!"

"Brother Liu, it's our only option. In this apocalypse, staying alive really matters more than saving face!"

"No! I will never back down to him!"

"Brother Liu, just..."

"Say one more fucking word, and I'll shoot you right now!"

Little Shorty fell silent at once. In that moment, he finally understood. From beginning to end, he had been nothing more than a dog Liu Honggou kept. Liu Honggou had never even considered him a brother.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

Rat-a-tat-tat!

With the explosions roaring in his ears, Little Shorty felt utterly helpless for the first time. He watched his brothers fall one after another, yet there was nothing he could do.

Just as they were about to run out of options, a mass of silver clouds suddenly drifted across the sky. They reflected a silvery light too brilliant to look at directly.

The astonishing sight stunned not only Little Shorty, but everyone on the wall as well. They forgot to attack. They forgot the battle.

(End of chapter)