The Law of Survival X and X the So-Called "Turnaround"

Qi Zhou lay motionless on the ground.

Not far away, he heard hushed voices.

"Did you hit him? Damn it, you'd better not have hit anything vital. How are we supposed to get money for him then?"

"How the hell did that damn brat end up somewhere so remote?! Fuck, he made me chase him all this way! I even nearly lost him!"

"Hey, old man, can you actually shoot? Why isn't the little brat making any noise?"

"Cut the fucking crap. I'm telling you, if this kid isn't worth the cost of my bullet, you're the next one I'll shoot!"

After using Gyo, Qi Zhou heard a lot.

"...Four sets of footsteps."

"One of them has... a gun!"

"A gun... ah..."

Qi Zhou took a deep breath and suppressed his fear-both the fear that the shot had nearly killed him, and the fear of... a way to die he could never have imagined.

For Qi Zhou, things like guns existed only in anime and novels.

"It's really hard to understand. I was just an ALS patient who'd been bedridden for ten years. Why have I run into so many terrifying things and nearly been shot dead?"

But there were too many things he couldn't understand, so one more hardly mattered.

"Still, Noah was the one who saved me just now, wasn't he?"

But there was no time to bring Noah out now. Qi Zhou took another quiet breath and concentrated his Nen in his eyes with Gyo.

In an instant, the scene around him became as clear as if a nightlight had been switched on.

For now, Qi Zhou could only use Gyo on one part of his body at a time. Once he used it, the rest could only maintain the most basic Ten.

But that was enough.

The people around him had already come over.

"Fuck, don't tell me you really killed the little brat!"

A hand reached toward Qi Zhou.

The next instant, Qi Zhou grabbed the hand and pressed hard against the ground. Using his prone position for leverage, he pulled with all his might. With a bang, he sent the man sprawling, then used the momentum to get to his feet and kicked him hard in the temple, knocking him unconscious, his fate unknown.

"First one."

"Bang-!"

Qi Zhou's ears twitched, and he looked toward the source of the sound.

But to his surprise, the bullet in his line of sight, just about to hit his forehead, was moving as though it were at half speed. It was so slow that Qi Zhou had the illusion he could dodge it-or rather, it wasn't an illusion.

Qi Zhou casually shifted to the side, and the bullet struck the dirt behind him with a soft puff.

"Fuck, the little bastard's not dead! Hurry! Don't let him get away!"

The gunman roared.

Qi Zhou's ears twitched slightly. He raised a hand, and the filthy water in the river took the shape of a blade. With another wave, a "water arrow" shot out and slammed into the gunman's face.

"Arghhh-my eyes! My eyes-!"

The gunman wailed in agony.

But Qi Zhou knew it wasn't the feeble water arrow he had fired that had caused the damage. It was the water the arrow was made of.

"Second one."

Qi Zhou's gaze fell on the remaining two, and their eyes met his.

The night had no moon, no stars, and no wind.

Qi Zhou's one blue eye was the only light, a light illuminating the gate to hell.

Qi Zhou heard the two men's teeth chattering against each other.

Qi Zhou paused, then said softly, "Take the people on the ground and get lost."

But as soon as the words "get lost" left his mouth, the two turned and fled without looking back, paying no attention to the two men who had been their teammates a moment ago-one lying on the ground, the other wailing not far away.

Qi Zhou: "..."

"I expected too much of you." Qi Zhou looked at the two men on the ground and murmured, "Or... do I really not understand this world at all?"

Qi Zhou had spent several hours learning Water Condensation with the help of "water." Now, even away from a water source, he could expend his own Nen to condense a small amount of water, roughly enough to moisten his lips.

"The cooldown is a little long, but if I make small amounts often and use it as soon as it's ready, well... I probably won't die of thirst. That's a good thing!"

"Those two... I wonder if they'll come back for their teammates after I leave. Heh, I'm probably dreaming. It's more likely they'll go to those two men's homes and take everything valuable."

"Next, I need to find a reliable source of food, and then a way to leave Meteor City."

After entering his consciousness and pulling Noah out, Qi Zhou walked along, letting his thoughts wander.

Too much had happened. If he didn't distract himself by thinking about random things, Qi Zhou felt he might fall into a slump.

That was also how he had cheered himself up the countless times he had lost heart and wanted to die in his previous life.

At the border between District Twelve and District Eight, the two men, thinking they were safe, stopped to catch their breath.

"Fuck him! I'm going to kill that brat someday!"

"And damn Kerien too! When he told us to make a move, he never told us that brat was a monster!"

As the two cursed, their voices suddenly faded. Their eyes widened, as though they had seen something.

The next second, both fell onto their backs, their eyes still open and filled with fear.

In the darkness, a man in a suit stood atop a mountain of garbage, his hands lowered. He gazed at the two corpses from afar, a thoughtful look in his eyes.

"So, has that brat been learning the rules here properly or not?"

After walking all night, Qi Zhou returned to the garbage mountain in District Nine at daybreak.

If circumstances allowed, he wanted to find that boy and see if he could trade some "Noah-brand" purified water for food.

That boy was definitely no ordinary kid.

He could draw a complete, accurate map. Either he had seen a real "map" with his own eyes, or he had personally traveled to every part of Meteor City.

He knew about the church and the arena, and his reaction when he mentioned the "church" was worth noting. Either someone had told him about them, or he had once "walked" out of those two places himself.

Besides, surely not every child in Meteor City had his stamina and hand-to-hand combat skills... right?

If every child in Meteor City did, that would be far too terrifying.

So if he could find the boy and trade with him, he could probably get a reliable way to obtain food.

With food and water, he could focus on figuring out how to pull Noah out of reincarnation.

"I wouldn't advise it."

The boy on the garbage mountain stuffed an object of indeterminate use into his bag, then said coldly, "Let me put it this way. 'Water' is valuable, but it isn't rare. Understand?"

Qi Zhou: "You mean water is controlled by a small number of people? If you need it, you can only trade with certain people. The people in control have as much water as they want, but they absolutely won't allow anyone else to have any."

"More or less." The boy jumped down from the garbage mountain. "But you can trade with me. I'll give you food for water, as long as your price isn't higher than Beierhan's."

Qi Zhou: "I don't know what the price is over there. You name it."

The boy frowned. "A hundred milliliters of water for one person's food for a day. Can you accept that?"

Qi Zhou: "It's fine. I can give you a little more. Two hundred milliliters for one person's food for a day will do."

The boy fell silent and looked at Qi Zhou as though he were a strange creature. "I have no reason to refuse, but... what's your purpose in doing that?"

"Ah... probably because... I'd be idle anyway?"

Qi Zhou thought for a moment before giving his answer.

He could train his Nen while condensing water, and he couldn't drink all the water he produced anyway.

The boy said, "...Forget it. Suit yourself."

"Ah, you can call me A-Wu. What should I call you?"

Qi Zhou: "A-woo? Haha, your name is so cute!"

A-Wu: "..."

"My name is Qi Zhou. Well then, A-Wu, here's to a good partnership?"

A-Wu: "...Here's to a good partnership."

Having taken care of another major matter of survival, Qi Zhou headed happily deeper into the garbage mountain.

If things kept going this smoothly, surviving half a year wouldn't be too difficult. Would that mean he could get out of that bet and live his own life?

With that thought, Qi Zhou was full of motivation.

"Qi Xiaozhou! Charge-!"