Half a day later, Li Xingkong sat in a cold-drink shop he had picked at random by the street, slowly sampling a local specialty drink.
It wasn't that he didn't want to leave. The whole of Freedom City was under lockdown.
"You're in big trouble now."
The system's voice sounded by his ear.
"All I did was slap him twice. What a petty guy."
Li Xingkong took a long gulp, and the ice in the drink made him feel refreshed all over.
"Back when I first came to Prisoner Continent, there was a punk I shot. He even lent me his motorcycle to ride."
"Did he volunteer?" The system laughed.
"So what are you going to do about the situation now?"
As the system spoke, two police cars screamed past on the street, and a lot more police officers and gang members had appeared on the sidewalks along the way.
Whenever they saw an Asian, they would go over and question them.
"Looks like our councilman really has some clout. He's got both the black and the white eating out of his hand."
Li Xingkong remained unhurried. He had already changed back to his original appearance, so those guys shouldn't have been able to recognize him.
"What else can I do? We'll just stick to our original plan. If you ask me, if I'd known he had this much clout, I'd have beaten him up a little more evenly."
Li Xingkong set his empty drink on the table and left a few dollars.
He took his time gathering his things, then climbed into his car.
He started the car without hurrying. In the time it had taken him to get in, several groups had swept their gazes over him.
Maybe it was because his build was so different from when he had fought earlier, or maybe he didn't look easy to mess with. Either way, not one of them came over for a chat.
That suited him just fine. If they didn't bother him, he wouldn't bother them. It would be best if he could leave the city quietly, just like that.
Li Xingkong couldn't drive fast along the way. There were people everywhere.
"You don't usually see this many people on the streets. They've dragged out every mule and horse they can find this time."
"Of course. That's the power of authority."
The system picked up the conversation.
"If there were no path of cultivation, then power ought to be the strongest thing in this world."
"Then I'm pretty lucky."
Li Xingkong had only gone a few blocks when he had to stop the car.
He had no choice. To leave the city, he had to pass through its outskirts. There were fewer security officers in places like this, but more gang members.
A short distance ahead, a roadblock from who knew where had been set up across the road.
A few gang members stood beside it.
When they saw Li Xingkong's car approaching, they surrounded it.
Bang, bang, bang.
They hammered their fists against Li Xingkong's window, motioning for him to roll it down.
Li Xingkong stopped the car and lowered the window.
"Kid, have you heard? Some idiot made one hell of a mess. He pissed off someone he shouldn't have, and now the whole of Freedom City is very unhappy."
The punk leaned against his car window, a cigarette dangling from his mouth.
"I heard. What about it?"
Li Xingkong's expression didn't change, but his foot on the accelerator didn't relax one bit.
"Heh heh, nothing much. Just asking around to see if you've seen that guy."
As he spoke, the punks spread out around the car. It didn't look like they intended to let him leave.
"If I'd seen someone that ferocious, would I still be alive and sitting here?"
Li Xingkong was a little speechless. Who looked for someone like this?
"To tell you the truth, I haven't seen him either."
The punk tossed away his cigarette butt, but kept one hand by the window, making a gesture for cash.
"Our boss hasn't seen him either. But I think you look a lot like him."
Well, there it was: using official business for private gain.
Before, Li Xingkong would never have indulged these guys, but now the entire city was on much higher alert. It was better to get out of the city first.
The king of hell was easy to deal with; it was the little devils who were hard to shake.
If these guys latched onto him over a little money, his subsequent actions would become troublesome.
He took out a few small bills and stuffed them straight into the man's hand.
"What are you talking about? I'm a real good guy."
The man counted the money. It wasn't much, but it was enough to make him back down.
He waved, and the gang members still guarding the roadblock moved it aside by hand, opening a path.
"Here's some advice: it's even more chaotic outside the city right now. Be careful out there."
The man waved the money in his hand and blew a few smoke rings, signaling for Li Xingkong to keep going.
Past that checkpoint, there were noticeably fewer vehicles on the streets. It seemed that because of these guys' controls, everyone in the city had chosen to stay in for the time being.
That was fine too. It made driving much easier for Li Xingkong.
After driving for more than half an hour, he finally reached the city limits. But as he got closer, he moved more and more slowly; a long line of traffic stretched into the distance.
"Damn, what's going on? Was there an accident?"
The traffic was badly backed up, so Li Xingkong asked the drivers waiting nearby.
"Those fucking idiots from security have blocked the roads out of the city. You never see them around normally, but Morgan loses face and the whole damn city's security force turns out. There are checkpoints on every road out now. It's a pain in the ass to leave."
The drivers waiting nearby cursed loudly.
"Keep your voice down. You don't want to get kidnapped today, do you?" A companion beside him hurriedly tugged at him.
No wonder there wasn't a security officer in sight in the city. They had all run off to block cars at the exits.
"Looks like we won't be able to leave the city for the next couple of days."
Li Xingkong also heard the drivers muttering under their breath.
Li Xingkong felt a little helpless. He hadn't expected the normally lax-looking city to be capable of acting so efficiently.
"What are you planning to do now?" the system asked.
"What else can I do? Serve it cold! I'll fucking leave the city on foot."
Li Xingkong thought for a moment. "Cities don't have walls these days anyway. Even under lockdown, they can only block the main roads. It should be pretty easy to slip out."
"Why not stay in the city? You were disguised at the time anyway."
The system was a little curious about what had made him choose to leave the city now, even if he had to go on foot.
"Although I was disguised, now that I think about it, the disguise was a little crude. I was too sloppy with the details. There were surveillance cameras all along the way, especially. If they investigate later, they'll still be able to identify me pretty quickly."
Though it was Li Xingkong's first time doing something like this, and some oversights were unavoidable, fortunately he was in the habit of reviewing what he had done. When he went back over the mistakes he had made along the way, he could always spot a few problems.
Although his disguise had changed his build somewhat, if they checked details such as his movements and fingerprints, he still wouldn't escape detection.
Take the shop where he had put on his disguise, for example. As long as they carefully compared the people going in and out, they could pick him out.
It was better to slip away early. Once he was out of the city, no matter how capable the man was, it would be hard for him to find Li Xingkong.
Having decided to leave on foot, Li Xingkong sorted through the things he needed to take again. There really wasn't much to bring; in today's society, a phone alone was enough.
But just in case, Li Xingkong still took a little food and a sleeping bag for resting outdoors.
As for the car?
At worst, he could just leave it behind. He wouldn't be sorry to lose the thing anyway.