Piglet

The Black Market Clinic.

Old Ninth was still deep in a coma, but the brothers had learned from experience and no longer panicked.

Now that they had money, they naturally had to spend some. These boys had suffered since childhood, and the first thing they did after coming into money was go on a spending spree.

After getting dressed up, they stood preening in front of the mirror, fixing their hair.

"Piglet, you really aren't coming out for some fun?"

The brothers looked at the boy curled up on the couch, who was holding his phone and messaging his girlfriend.

Piglet's real name was Zhu Dayong, and he was another of the brothers who had grown up with Little White Tiger.

"Nope. My girlfriend won't let me run wild with you lot."

Piglet looked at his girlfriend's photo on his phone, and the corners of his mouth curled up of their own accord.

He was the only one among the brothers with a girlfriend, largely thanks to his delicate features.

He wasn't particularly handsome, but he had a clean-cut look.

"Having a girlfriend is all the more reason to come. Call it further education-learn a few more positions. Heh-heh." They all rubbed their chins lecherously.

For all their dirty talk, most of these boys were still virgins.

They were at an age when they had only just learned to jerk off, and had never so much as touched a woman.

"Brother Nine needs someone watching him. You guys go." Piglet lazily rolled over.

They didn't insist. They took two grenades out of a bag and set them on the table.

"Stay sharp. We'll be back soon."

"How soon? If you won't last more than a minute, I'll jerk you off myself. Just give me the money instead. Keep it in the family, heh-heh."

Piglet picked up the grenades from the table and tucked them into his pants.

After another round of joking, the others left, and a lonely Piglet settled into a long phone call with his girlfriend.

"Babe, miss me?"

"Yeah, I do. But my mom won't let me go out at night."

"Aw, just sneak over. Let's fool around a little. I think I'm sick-I can't even get it up. Come take a look for me." Piglet scratched his crotch lewdly as he headed excitedly into the bathroom to take a piss.

"Babe, come on over. You know, last night I even dreamed about you and me..."

Tap, tap, tap.

Light footsteps sounded outside.

Piglet came out of the bathroom and instinctively leaned toward the peephole for a glance outside.

That single glance made every hair on Piglet's body stand on end.

"Don't come over yet. I've got something to handle."

Piglet hurriedly hung up and rushed into Old Ninth's room. Ignoring the fact that Old Ninth was still unconscious, he stuffed him under the bed and hastily concealed him with some luggage.

Once that was done, Piglet sent the other brothers a message, urging them to hurry back.

Something shifted slightly inside the keyhole. Piglet could tell at a glance that someone was picking the lock.

He had seen them clearly through the peephole just now: four men outside, all carrying weapons fitted with suppressors.

If they were Mr. Li's men, they wouldn't need to pick the lock.

While they were still working on the lock, Piglet pulled the Shotgun from beneath the coffee table and fired straight through the wooden door.

Bang!

A huge hole blasted open in the door.

The man picking the lock fell backward onto the floor.

The three men remaining outside exchanged startled looks.

"We're blown."

"Fuck it. Force our way in."

Rat-tat-tat...

With their presence exposed, the men outside abandoned all attempts at concealment and sprayed bullets through the wooden door into the room.

"Fuck! We got caught with our pants down!"

The man at the doorway roared in fury.

Four professional killers, outfoxed by a half-grown kid.

Pinned down by the gunfire from the doorway, Piglet ducked around the corner into the kitchen, preparing another ambush.

The assassins' leader signaled one of his men with a look, and the man climbed over the corridor wall to enter the apartment.

"Hello, Brother Tiger?"

Piglet lay flat on the floor. At that critical moment, Little White Tiger called.

Unfortunately, it was already too late. The assassins were here.

Countless bullets skimmed past Piglet's scalp.

"Someone's trying to kill Old Ninth. Hurry..."

Little White Tiger broke off abruptly. He could already hear the gunfire.

"Are you all right?"

Little White Tiger asked anxiously.

"I'm fine. Fuck, I've already told Xiao Feng and the others to come back. I can hold out," Piglet said through gritted teeth.

He knew that if he couldn't hold them off, Old Ninth would die.

All he could do now was pray that his brothers got back soon.

"I'll call Mr. Li and have him send people to save you." Little White Tiger hung up in a frantic rush.

Piglet looked at the bullet-riddled wooden door and knew his chances of surviving today were slim.

The assassins had waited until everyone else went out before striking. They had clearly been watching for a long time, and they were here to kill.

"Babe, whatever you do, don't come over. Be good. I'll come see you when I'm done."

Piglet sent his girlfriend one last message, then prepared to get up and fight them to the death.

He hadn't noticed that a man in a black hoodie had already climbed in through the kitchen window.

"Don't move."

The man pressed his handgun against Piglet's head. "You're a sneaky little fuck, aren't you?"

"Fuck!"

Piglet's delicate looks didn't mean he was soft. Not one of the boys who had fought their way out of the garbage dump alongside Little White Tiger was someone to trifle with.

Even with a gun pressed to his head, Piglet showed no fear of death. He spun around, aiming the Shotgun at the man behind him.

Bang!

Blood streamed down.

Piglet clutched his right arm, his face deathly pale.

The hooded man watched Piglet with a mocking, wicked grin.

He had been a split second faster, shooting through Piglet's arm and making him drop the Shotgun.

"Still fucking fighting? We waited until all your brothers went out before making our move. You're ours today."

The man shouted toward the doorway, "Secured!"

Bang!

The already tottering wooden door flew off its hinges under a kick, and two more men in hoodies stormed into the apartment.

In the apocalypse, men who went on missions together were brothers who trusted each other with their lives. Piglet had killed one of them with a single shot, enraging the other three.

Their leader strode into the room and, before Piglet could speak, shot him in both legs.

Thud!

Piglet dropped helplessly to his knees, cold sweat pouring off him from the agony.

"CNM! Neither the Transformed nor the Awakened could kill my brother, and a little shit like you fucking ambushed him! You're going to suffer today!"

The assassins' leader grabbed Piglet by the hair and dragged him into the living room, leaving a streak of blood across the floor.

The two assassins who had just entered first gave Piglet a savage kicking. Only after venting their rage did they lift him by the hair and ask menacingly, "Where's Old Ninth?"

Piglet's face was covered in shoe prints, his eyes and nose battered beyond recognition. He was a pitiful sight.

"Ask your mom. Brother Nine's in bed with her. Ptooey!"

Piglet spat a mouthful of blood into the man's face.

The assassin who had come through the window gave each room a cursory search, then shook his head at the leader.

Smack!

The assassins' leader slapped Piglet hard enough to knock out two teeth.

"Tell me, and I'll give you an easier death."

The assassins' leader roared in frustration.

They hadn't found Old Ninth and had lost a brother. This job was a complete fucking mess.

With his eyes half-open, Piglet pointed defiantly at his own head. "Kill me, CNM. If I so much as blink, I'm your bitch."

Piglet's small, scrawny body was pinned to the floor, but his unyielding expression was full of defiance.

Who could have imagined these kids were this tough?

"So you won't talk?"

The assassins' leader drew a dagger and placed it against Piglet's ear. "Are you going to talk?"

"Talk to your fucking mom."

"Fuck!"

The leader brought the blade down, slicing off half of Piglet's ear.

Blood spilled across the floor, but Piglet didn't make a sound.

Under the assassins' stunned gazes, Piglet picked up the severed piece of his ear, stuffed it into his mouth, and swallowed it whole.

"I've got another one. Keep going, CNM. If I beg you for anything today, I'm your fucking grandson."

Piglet viciously turned his head, exposing his other ear.

The assassins all froze.

They had met plenty of ruthless men on the streets, but there weren't many left like Piglet, who would face death so fearlessly for his brothers alone.

For a moment, none of them knew what to do with Piglet.

Ruthless, unbreakable, and ready to die.

Thump!

Just as the assassins' leader raised his dagger again, ready to finish Piglet off, a noise came from the bedroom.

All of them turned to look at the room.

The three men advanced toward it together, guns in hand.

Piglet's previously fearless gaze filled with terror.

"Get ready to enter."

The three assassins readied themselves for a fight.

Seeing that Old Ninth was about to be discovered, Piglet steeled himself, pulled a grenade from his pocket, and yanked out the pin.

"CNM! Nobody touches my Brother Nine! We're all going together!"

With one arm and both legs wounded, Piglet somehow forced himself up from the floor through sheer willpower and clamped himself around the leader's thigh.

"Brother Nine, run!"

As he shouted, Piglet let go of the grenade.

Clunk, clunk.

The grenade rolled slowly toward the doorway.

All three assassins were well trained. They threw themselves backward at the same time, seeking cover.

In doing so, they dragged Piglet away from the grenade as well.

But in a room this small, where could they possibly escape?

Boom!

After the explosion, Piglet's body was covered in wounds torn open by shrapnel.

The three assassins crawled out of the wreckage with dust-covered faces, but they didn't attack again.

Even these killers, who had seen death countless times, couldn't help respecting what Piglet had done.

For his brother, he had given everything.

"N-Nine... Brother Nine... run..."

Blood welled from Piglet's mouth as he slowly crawled across the floor, using the only hand he could still move.

Only when he reached Old Ninth's doorway did Piglet laboriously roll over, lean against the door, and bare his teeth in a grin. "Today, you're not getting past me."