Shadow-Seam Wraith's Embroidery Needle

Wen Kele pulled the lollipop from her mouth and casually tossed it into the gray mist... She raised her can and gulped down all the chilled Wangzai, then flung the empty can away.

The can hit the ground with a crisp clack.

"As captain, I have a few words to say now that we have a new member."

Captain Hao Ren looked utterly laid-back.

Wen Kele clasped her hands together and propped her chin on them in a show of authority, sweeping her big, round eyes over the three men.

A mighty lion surveying her territory... Her gaze landed on Su Nian, whose eyes plainly expressed an objection.

"If you can beat me in a fight, you can be captain too."

Su Nian gave her an odd look and pointed at Hao Ren and Gong Qing.

"Neither of them can beat you?"

Hao Ren had 14 physique and 19 spirit, while Gong Qing had 14 physique and 17 spirit. Wen Kele only had 11 physique and 14 spirit. How could she possibly beat either of them?

Clearly, the two were just humoring her... For Wen Keyi's sake, they would never fight her for real.

"That's right. I've beaten both of them up. Had them howling, too. Want to try?"

Su Nian: "..."

"Ahem!" Hao Ren cleared his throat twice. He genuinely feared Su Nian might give Wen Kele a couple of solid punches.

That would mean a whole lot of crying... Though he didn't know whether Kele would cry, Wen Keyi certainly would.

"Good, no objections. The Evil Convoy's mission is to practice evil. Absolutely no being kind. Understood?"

Wen Kele looked at Su Nian. "Especially you. If you dare do a good deed in our convoy, you'll have to drink a hundred cans of the white stuff as punishment."

Wen Kele pointed at the helpless can by the roadside, her expression practically asking whether he was scared yet. If he was, he had better behave.

Su Nian: "..."

Was he scared...? What was so scary about drinking Wangzai? But to say he wasn't scared... He really couldn't drink a hundred cans.

"You're the only handsome guy in the convoy, which makes me very happy. Otherwise, I'd get so annoyed being surrounded by ugly people."

Gong Qing: "..."

"I'm not ugly!" Hao Ren looked indignant.

That was downright insulting.

"I don't care what you think. What I think counts. My eyes are the yardstick." Wen Kele glared at him. "Deputy Captain Hao! Are you telling me how to do my job?"

"No, of course not! Please, carry on." Hao Ren spread his hands.

"That's all. The most important thing for a good captain is to sum things up, which means..."

Wen Kele's eyes suddenly grew clear. The cocky look vanished from her face, and she returned to that gentle, innocent air of an unattainable first love.

Wen Keyi sprang to her feet, her chair scraping against the ground with a piercing screech.

"I'm sorry... I'm so sorry..."

Wen Keyi bowed repeatedly to the three men in apology. "I'm sorry for all the trouble Kele caused everyone."

Her voice was choked with tears... With that, she turned and ran toward her car, little teardrops falling as she went.

The Two-Faced Monkey Specter had split Wen Keyi's soul in two. She had inherited all the empathy, tenderness, and consideration, leaving her extremely sensitive-a little bundle of hurt feelings who cried easily.

Hao Ren looked away and turned to Su Nian.

"Kele's just a bit mischievous. She's not really capable of much evil. Mostly, she talks people into fetching drinks and chips for her and dreams up ways to show off her authority as captain. That's about it. Most of the time she's awake, she's glued to her handheld console."

"Please bear with her. Just treat her like a kid. She's one of us, too."

Su Nian had only just joined, after all. He didn't share their friendship with Wen Keyi.

There were bound to be times when he found her offensive.

"It's fine." Su Nian took a sip of tea.

He actually rather liked it. He had grown up with his grandfather, and many of the children in the village hadn't liked playing with him.

That had left him somewhat withdrawn, but he still hoped to have a few genuine friends. As long as they weren't trying to hurt him, a little joking around was perfectly normal.

In an apocalypse like this, other people served another purpose: keeping loneliness at bay... Only those who had truly experienced loneliness could understand that feeling.

"Still, Kele's pretty nice to you. She's nowhere near as aggressive as she is with Gong Qing." Hao Ren teased him. "She even gave you a little treat on your first meeting."

Hao Ren smoothly steered the conversation into dirty jokes. He actually wanted to ask whether she had smelled nice.

"You really don't need to make comparisons." Gong Qing's face darkened.

Su Nian coughed twice to hide his embarrassment.

"If you didn't flirt with her, she wouldn't hit you," Hao Ren said.

"It's a habit. You know what that's like?" Gong Qing sounded helpless. "I spent so long being a player that even when I look at a dog, my eyes are full of love."

"I'm not actually trying to flirt with her. It's just instinct, and I can't change it... Like the way you push your glasses up... You get it? Even when your glasses haven't slipped."

A few more hairs drifted down onto the table with the breeze. Gong Qing felt as though his world were collapsing.

"Why does heaven have to do this to me?"

"Want one?" Hao Ren took out his cigarettes and handed one to Gong Qing.

Gong Qing lit it and began puffing away at the fart cigarette... To Su Nian, he really did look a bit like the most miserable man in Shanghai.

More accurately, the most miserable man in the apocalypse.

"What exactly can that black needle do?" Hao Ren blew a smoke ring.

"Take a look yourself." Su Nian handed him the black needle.

Hao Ren took it. The needle was black all over, several shades darker than the night, and had no eye for threading. A faintly black strand of shadow thread wound around its tip. It felt icy to the touch, as though it had just come out of a freezer... After inspecting it, he passed it to Gong Qing.

[Shadow-Seam Wraith's Embroidery Needle]

[Type: Curio]

[Details: Contains a trace of the Lamp-Skin Wraith's rule power. Can stitch together shattered glass, torn tents, and severed metal. Damaged objects can be mended with a single stitch. The repaired sections will bear jet-black lines, but will be stronger than the original material.]

"This thing's a godsend!" Gong Qing's eyes lit up. "A lot of the vehicles in the convoy have some damage to their bodywork. Patching them up would keep them going longer and help preserve their combat capability when we're on the run."

Even setting everything else aside, tires were very easily damaged on the road. When they were traveling, they wouldn't have time to change a flat for a spare. With the embroidery needle, they could quickly stitch it up, pump in some air, and get moving again.

"Exactly. This Curio is worth no less than a Wraith Artifact to us," Hao Ren said quietly.

Su Nian nodded. He was planning to try repairing his own vehicle with it later.

"Su Nian, would you be interested in taking over as captain?" Hao Ren looked at him with a slight smile.

Gong Qing stared at Hao Ren in shock. Being captain wasn't some simple job where you just shouted "Move out" and "Stop" every day. Every decision the captain made determined the convoy's future.

Most importantly, the captain had to be a big-brother figure everyone trusted, someone whose words carried weight and whom all the awakened in the convoy respected.

As for Su Nian, frankly, he had only just awakened. Gong Qing didn't understand why Hao Ren would say that... But he didn't seem to be joking.

"Are you serious?" Su Nian asked to confirm.

Honestly, who wouldn't want to be in charge? The captain held the highest decision-making authority in the convoy. That was beyond question.

But whoever wore the crown had to bear its weight. Without the strength to back it up, the others wouldn't accept him.

And strength here didn't just mean fighting ability. A group held together by force alone wouldn't last.