A choice

"Branch leader, that kid Lu Zhan didn't sign the contract?"

"He really doesn't know what's good for him!"

"The gang treats us so well. How could he let them down like that?"

"If I had the talent, I'd gladly slave away for the gang for the rest of my life."

After Lu Zhan left Ma Yancheng's residence, Lin Kexian eagerly asked about what had happened.

At this point, he was truly consumed by envy and resentment toward Lu Zhan.

But that hadn't stopped him from lending Lu Zhan 100 yuan-a full third of everything he had.

"Kexian, you need to keep a level head."

"On the whole, Zhan is still loyal to the gang."

"But he's gotten himself mixed up in a little trouble. For the gang's sake, we'll have to put off signing the contract for a few days."

A man of considerable worldly experience, Ma Yancheng saw right through Lin Kexian's little schemes.

Compared to Lu Zhan, Lin Kexian was indeed better suited to gang life. Otherwise, Ma Yancheng wouldn't have made an exception and promoted him earlier.

Unfortunately, he simply wasn't destined to become an Armored Warrior.

"Branch leader, Lu Zhan was just an unlucky passerby. There's no way he could have any connection to a Mutant Beast."

"As for catching the Inspection Office's attention, that's even more ridiculous."

"I think he's just using it as an excuse to stall."

"What if he finds another way to become an Armored Warrior?"

Lin Kexian still couldn't accept it. He certainly wasn't trying to turn Ma Yancheng against Lu Zhan.

He really only wanted what was best for the gang.

"Kexian, I've seen how loyal you are to the gang."

"But you're being a little too suspicious of Zhan's motives."

"The massacre on the night of the twenty-third wasn't nearly as simple as the public thinks."

"All you know is that a Mutant Beast went on a rampage and killed dozens of passersby."

"But thirty-six trainees from the Third Armored Soldier Training Class were attacked as well."

"They were precious investments for their respective backers, yet nineteen died in one go, and the seventeen survivors were seriously injured."

"So this Mutant Beast incident certainly won't be brushed aside. The Inspection Office will get to the bottom of it."

Although Lin Kexian wasn't destined to become an Armored Warrior, Ma Yancheng still intended to cultivate him properly.

In fact, Lin Kexian deserved more of his attention than Lu Zhan did.

After all, "Armored Warrior Lu" would belong to the gang, whereas Lin Kexian could be groomed into his own trusted aide.

"What?"

"Nineteen Armored Warriors were slaughtered? Just where did that Mutant Beast come from? How could it be so vicious?"

"Lu Zhan not only survived, but actually benefited from the disaster? That's ridiculously lucky!"

Learning the full extent of the massacre left Lin Kexian stunned.

Nineteen people from the Armor Warrior Training Class had died. Those were people he could normally only look up to.

"That Mutant Beast was certainly powerful, but not beyond reasonable limits."

"After all, those thirty-six trainees weren't wearing armor that night!"

"For an Armored Warrior, wearing armor makes an enormous difference in combat strength."

"If the Mutant Beast had killed armored trainees, several districts around us would already have been sealed off for a full-scale search."

Seeing that Lin Kexian had actually become frightened, Ma Yancheng elaborated further.

That was why the Inspection Office had suppressed the news that Armored Warriors had been attacked.

Otherwise, it would only have spread panic throughout society.

"Precisely because this incident is unusual, we need to verify Lu Zhan's situation."

"Our Wutu Gang may conduct itself properly, but attracting the Inspection Office's attention over a nobody like Lu Zhan would hardly be worth it."

"As for Lu Zhan finding another backer, heh, that's nothing but wishful thinking."

Ma Yancheng was completely confident. Everything was under his control.

In truth, he could have settled Lu Zhan's case on the spot.

But Ma Yancheng had no desire to take any risks.

He only needed to report the situation and let his superiors investigate and verify it. That would spare him all the risk.

That was the sensible way to handle things.

As for whether those few days would cost them everything and allow Lu Zhan to escape the gang's control...

Heh. That was absolutely impossible.

In Yero City, becoming an Armored Warrior was never an individual affair.

Without a faction backing you, the training class wouldn't open its doors to you even if you scraped together enough money.

Raised by the Wutu Gang, Lu Zhan already bore its indelible stamp.

The other factions in Yero City would never invest in a "spy" like him.

If Lu Zhan wanted to become an Armored Warrior, the Wutu Gang was his only way forward.

That was what gave Ma Yancheng the confidence to keep him under his thumb.

This is trouble!

They're trying to leave me nowhere to turn!

But I really don't want to jump into that cesspit!

The steam-powered car carrying Lu Zhan sat at an intersection, waiting for the light to turn green.

His life was at a crossroads too, waiting for him to make a choice.

Back at the Ninth Medical Security Center, Lu Zhan had already asked around and learned what becoming an Armored Warrior entailed.

It was precisely because he knew he couldn't get around the Wutu Gang that he had gotten into Lin Kexian's car without resistance.

Unfortunately, the Wutu Gang had proved so hopeless that he couldn't bring himself to settle for it.

Three days. Using the Inspection Office as an excuse should buy me about three days, a week at the absolute most.

With the Wutu Gang's connections, they'll definitely discover that I'm only borrowing someone else's authority to bluff them.

Finding another faction willing to invest in me within those three days is practically impossible.

...Unless.

Lu Zhan understood his situation all too clearly.

Even if he gave up on becoming an Armored Warrior, he couldn't go back to his old life.

The Wutu Gang certainly wouldn't let him go, and Ma Yancheng was even more

eager to devour him.

In other words, he was now facing a dead end.

They're forcing my hand!

I've never had any great ambitions. I just wanted to take it easy and enjoy life.

But this world hasn't given me that option.

Then I'll fight my way to a future.

If I'm going to die anyway, I might as well sell this life for a good price and gamble on a better future.

The green light flashed, and the steam-powered car slowly pulled forward.

Lu Zhan, too, had chosen the course his life would take.

In Yero City, there was actually another faction besides the Wutu Gang that would invest in Lu Zhan.

More precisely, it accepted anyone with the talent to become an Armored Warrior.

Anyone with that talent could receive Armored Warrior training simply by registering, without any recommendation or fees.

That faction was Yero City's army.

Joining the army is dangerous. I could be assigned to an expansion legion and have to face the monsters in the Wilderness.

But it's my only way out now, even if it means seeking survival in the jaws of death.

In the end, I still have to rely on myself!

Having made his decision, Lu Zhan immediately told the driver to turn around.

He didn't want to waste another moment. He was going to enlist right now.

If possible, he would move into the barracks that very day.

He wouldn't give the Wutu Gang any chance to "change its mind."