The blue dump truck sped down the empty highway.
Chen Mo held the steering wheel with one hand, a cigarette pinched between the fingers of his maimed hand.
The cigarette's glowing tip seemed to sense the turmoil in his heart.
It flickered in the cold wind howling past his ears.
In Chen Mo's mind, the final scene from two hours earlier played over and over.
Hu Yaya got into the car and turned it around.
Just when Chen Mo and the donkey both thought she was about to flee.
The black E300, like a moth searching for light in the dead of night.
Charged toward the massive bear, four or five stories tall.
"Chen Mo! I'll lure it away! I'm giving this life back to you. I don't owe you anymore!"
Hu Yaya's voice came through the window, torn into fragments by the howling cold wind.
But Chen Mo heard her clearly.
He had to admit that the woman had a lovely voice and a beautiful face.
He had always seen her as trouble, a burden he could abandon at any moment.
Even a tool he could kill without hesitation to keep his secrets.
Until Chen Mo caught a blurry glimpse in the rearview mirror.
With half the Apricot Blossom Lady's body in its jaws, the Spectral Bear lashed out with a tentacle at the tiny E300.
The E300 swerved and dodged, evading several attacks.
Finally, the thoroughly enraged Spectral Bear let out an earth-shaking roar.
Chen Mo did not look again.
The outcome was obvious.
"Tsk, tsk."
The donkey in the passenger seat seemed to see right through Chen Mo's thoughts.
It followed his example, taking out a Chunghwa cigarette, holding it between its hooves, and lighting up.
"That girl really made me see you humans in a new light."
The donkey bared its big front teeth, a strange note of emotion in its voice.
"Beautifully played. She made sure you'd remember her for the rest of your life. That hurts a lot more than if I'd just killed her."
"Being killed by you and dying for you are two different things."
"Assuming you wanted to kill her in the first place, of course."
Chen Mo took a hard drag on his cigarette and said nothing more.
At dawn, the sky began to turn a pale gray.
Chen Mo found a gas station along the way, filled up once, and set off again without delay.
At the far end of the highway, the outline of a massive convoy finally appeared.
The Starfire Convoy.
Only its size had visibly shrunk.
Chen Mo gradually slowed at the rear and merged into the convoy.
Red Hare was tethered by a rope twisted from a ragged piece of clothing, its other end tied to the side mirror.
Chen Mo kicked the cursing donkey out of the passenger seat.
"Fuck you! Are you fucking walking me like a dog?"
"Did you forget your daddy here helped you awaken?"
Chen Mo could not be bothered with its yelling and kept his voice low.
"Quit braying. We're at camp. Keep up the act!"
The arrival of the dump truck and donkey quickly caused a stir in the convoy.
"Holy shit, that dump truck actually made it."
"What insane luck. It's been more than half a day, and he still caught up."
"Keep it down. That guy's hardcore. Look, he's missing two fingers on his right hand. He probably ran into a specter!"
The commotion quickly died down.
In the apocalypse, returning alive was itself proof of immeasurable strength.
In the distance, Brother Dao sat in the driver's seat of a Hummer SUV, a cigarette between his lips, studying the blue dump truck.
A sultry, mature woman's voice came from the back seat.
"Honey, steer clear of that man from now on."
"We can't afford to mess with him."
"Have Yellow-Hair return what we took last time."
Brother Dao nodded. The cigarette butt crushed out of shape between his fingers betrayed his thoughts.
Not long after Chen Mo parked.
Old Yang came over.
He greeted Chen Mo with a solid punch to the chest.
"You're one tough bastard to kill!"
Chen Mo raised his right hand with a self-mocking smile, showing the three fingers he had left.
Old Yang froze.
"Did you bring the severed fingers? I'll talk to Captain Su later. She should be able to reattach them."
Chen Mo shook his head with a bitter smile.
When the two of them had gone back into the clinic, his severed fingers.
Had already vanished.
"What matters is you're alive. You're alive."
As if to comfort him, Old Yang put an arm around Chen Mo and gave him a few shakes.
"You... awakened?"
Old Yang finally noticed something was different.
As a fellow supernatural, he had been so excited that he had failed to sense it immediately.
Looks like I can't hide it after all.
Chen Mo sighed inwardly.
Then he nodded.
Old Yang suddenly remembered what he had come for and jerked his chin toward the lead vehicle.
"We'll catch up later. Captain Lin heard you'd caught up and wants you over there."
Chen Mo looked in the direction Old Yang indicated.
At the very front of the convoy, Lin Lu's command vehicle, Su Qian's white SUV, and Big Niu's modified off-roader stood in a triangle.
Forming a small circle.
That was the Starfire Convoy's center of power.
Lin Lu still wore the strip of white cloth over his eyes and leaned against the front of his vehicle, lost in unknown thoughts.
Bare-chested, Big Niu was using a huge tire as a dumbbell.
Explosive power rippled through his bronze muscles in the morning light.
Beside the white SUV, Su Qian held Xiao Ya.
Her tight combat suit hugged her full, voluptuous figure even more closely.
Dressed in a gothic Lolita dress with twin ponytails, Xiao Ya nestled beside Su Qian, giggling.
"Let's go. I happen to have something to discuss with you too."
Chen Mo followed Old Yang, step by step, toward the front of the convoy.
Lin Lu turned toward them while they were still some distance away.
The white cloth over his eyes fluttered despite the lack of wind.
"Looks like there's no need to ask."
Lin Lu spoke in a calm voice.
"He's awakened."
The others instantly stopped what they were doing and turned toward the approaching Chen Mo.
Big Niu dropped the tire and walked over to him.
His palm-sized-like-a-fan hand delivered another punch to Chen Mo's chest.
The tremendous force knocked Chen Mo back a step.
"You little punk! I knew you wouldn't die!"
Big Niu grinned like a three-hundred-pound child.
"What sequence? Tell me. Show your Brother Niu something new!"
Everyone stared at Chen Mo, their faces full of curiosity.
Chen Mo twitched the corners of his mouth and looked toward the donkey by his truck, its head lowered as it gnawed on grass roots.
He pursed his lips and gave the donkey a loud whistle.
Red Hare's ears twitched, and it immediately raised its head.
It trotted eagerly over to Chen Mo.
Then affectionately rubbed its large, furry head against his leg.
The corner of Chen Mo's mouth twitched.
He made a show of stroking the donkey's head.
"Beast Tamer."
"I got lost in town earlier, so I had no choice but to contract this... trusty steed."
A deathly silence fell.
"Pfft-"
"Hahahahaha!"
"Holy shit, hahahaha!"
The cigarette Old Yang had just lit fell straight out of his mouth.
Big Niu froze for a full three seconds, then erupted into thunderous laughter, doubling over as tears streamed from his eyes.
Even the usually aloof Su Qian could not help turning her head away, her shoulders trembling.
Xiao Ya stared curiously at the... Red Hare on the ground.
She bit down hard on the corner of her mouth, her lips turning white.
Don't laugh. Don't laugh.
I'm a good girl. Auntie said it's wrong to make fun of people.
It was the ever-composed Lin Lu who spoke.
"Chen Mo, this donkey of yours... no, this trusty steed."
"Can it fight? Does it have any special abilities?"
The laughter stopped abruptly. Everyone stared at Chen Mo, ears pricked.
They seemed to realize they had judged by appearances.
And all listened patiently for the rest of his explanation.
Chen Mo cleared his throat and kicked Red Hare away from where it kept rubbing against his leg.
"Sure does."
"An old horse knows the way!"
Once again, a deathly silence fell.
Then.
"Pffft, hahahahaha!"
"Heh heh heh heh heh heh!"
"Ahahahahaha!"
This time, even Su Qian and Xiao Ya could no longer hold back, letting out silvery laughter.
Chen Mo lowered his head and covered his face, too embarrassed to look at anyone around him.
Lin Lu was still the most composed.
After turning away and crouching on the ground, shaking for a good while.
He turned back around.
His face had returned to its stern, just-lost-his-mother expression.
"Stop laughing, stop laughing. He's one of us now. Beast Tamer is a powerful Second Sequence that allows further contracts!"
Chen Mo was utterly exasperated. That sinister cackling earlier had sounded an awful lot like this guy.
Lin Lu stepped forward and held out his hand to Chen Mo.
"Kid, whatever your sequence is."
"Welcome to the Starfire Council."
Before you continue