The law of survival X and X so-called "self-preservation"

Qi Zhou walked slowly back.

He took his time, thinking about the man who had just died at his hands and what he should do next.

Only when he saw the garbage mountain where he had been living did he realize he had arrived.

But looking at the devastation before him, Qi Zhou sighed heavily.

His garbage nest had been wrecked beyond repair. He could just knock it down and rebuild it from scratch.

But he was exhausted and couldn't be bothered to think about building a home. He flopped down on a garbage heap and gazed up at the night sky, which held neither stars nor moon.

Right now, all he wanted was to be a piece of garbage that didn't have to think.

Come to think of it, he still didn't know the name of the man who had just died at his hands. It had even been their first meeting, yet one of them was already dead.

Come to think of it, just a few days ago, he had sworn he would never kill anyone. Now he had begun taking other people's lives to protect his own.

People who possessed "Nen" were far beyond the category of ordinary humans. Once they awakened to "Nen," they could gain several or even dozens of times the strength of an ordinary person. And in a place called Meteor City, how could people with such abilities be content to submit to others?

If you didn't want to die, you had to make yourself strong, or attach yourself to someone strong, trading freedom and dignity for the right to live.

It wasn't just Meteor City. Things were the same outside, too. The owner of Whale Manor, for instance, likewise regarded other people's lives as worthless, killing or sparing them at will.

Qi Zhou wondered whether Chrollo had made their bet on the basis that he had already lost his Nen Ability.

Thinking about it that way, if he hadn't had Nen or Noah's help, he might never have woken up after passing out that first night.

Qi Zhou smiled bitterly. "So what exactly was I expecting... They're thieves. Did I really expect them to show me mercy?"

He sat down and withdrew his Nen, maintaining that state as he rested briefly.

If I stay like this, even if someone else who can use Nen comes looking for me, they won't find me so quickly, right? Qi Zhou thought.

This ability is pretty good for staying hidden. If nothing unexpected happens, I'll spend the next while trying to keep it up for more than an hour at a time.

Fortunately, nothing else happened that night.

The night passed, and the sun slowly, listlessly climbed into view again.

Qi Zhou climbed to the top of the garbage mountain along with the sun and looked toward the center of Meteor City.

He no longer wanted to keep playing this game of "survive in Meteor City for half a year." After his next trade with A-Wu, he would try to find a way into one of the lower-numbered districts and look for a way out of Meteor City.

"Oh, you didn't die. What a surprise," A-Wu said, watching Qi Zhou walk slowly toward him. "Looks like some unlucky guy died instead."

Qi Zhou smiled. "Judging by your expression, you don't look surprised."

He tossed A-Wu a bottle of water, then described the man from that night and asked, "Do you know him?"

After hearing the description, A-Wu's eyes widened and his pupils contracted. He stared at him in astonishment. "He was the one who went after you? I'm really curious how you survived him."

"A little luck and a little knowledge. Mostly, he was willing to play along with my act, ha~"

Qi Zhou made the harmless joke, then asked seriously, "What is it? Is there something about him?"

A-Wu looked at Qi Zhou with schadenfreude. "There's a lot about him."

"The dead man was called Kelirui. He was Kerien's immediate superior, a hall master of the White Eagle Society, and the second strongest in the gang. But his real identity was one of the 'enforcers' the elders sent to keep an eye on the smaller gangs under them. Now that he's dead, the president of the White Eagle Society will find out soon. Once the president knows, the elders will know soon after."

Qi Zhou: "..."

Qi Zhou: "So my only choice is to keep running?"

A-Wu nodded, eager to see the chaos. "Not a bad choice, as long as you can get out of Meteor City before you're caught. After all, catching a kid is such a trivial matter that the elders of the other districts will just watch for a laugh. They won't stop you. They might even start a betting pool on how many days you can stay on the run."

Qi Zhou: "..."

"Or you could go kill the president of the White Eagle Society." A-Wu shrugged, emotion so thick it wouldn't dissolve gathering in his ink-dark eyes. "Only the president, Suoerzite, knows Kelirui's whereabouts, and Kelirui only took orders from him. If you kill the president, no one will know how Kelirui died. His death can be classified as an assassination in a gang feud."

"But you just said Kelirui was only the second strongest." Qi Zhou's brows knitted. "Don't tell me the strongest is that president you mentioned?"

A-Wu said casually, "Oh, congratulations, you got it right. But there's no prize."

"You really think highly of me!" Qi Zhou laughed in exasperation. He stared at A-Wu, and when he saw that he wasn't joking, lowered his voice and asked, "You want me to kill that president, don't you? Can I ask why you think I can kill him?"

"Because you have an ability ordinary people don't." A-Wu met Qi Zhou's gaze. "If that's what you plan to do, I can offer you some help, or rather, intelligence."

A-Wu sounded calm, but he placed heavy emphasis on the last few words. "But in return, you have to help me learn to use that ability of yours."

"Hey, hey, that's a bit much!" Qi Zhou said irritably. "You already want me to kill someone. I don't know what you'd get out of his death, but not only do I have to do the killing, I also have to teach you the ability. Wouldn't I be getting the short end of the deal?"

"Oh, suit yourself." A-Wu sounded indifferent. "I'm not the one being hunted down, anyway. Take it or leave it."

Qi Zhou fell silent.

How interesting. Just the other day, I swore I'd rather die than kill anyone. And now, after only a few days, I can think "kill the man who keeps sending people to kill me and solve the problem at its source" is a good idea.

If I want to live, the person who wants to kill me has to die.

It was one or the other. There was no room for anything else.

Do I want to die? After everything I've already done to stay alive, can I still say without hesitation, "I'd rather die than kill anyone"?

He couldn't anymore.

After all... his own life was the one that mattered...

"...Fine. I'll do it."

Qi Zhou spoke softly, but those words seemed to weigh a thousand pounds as they left his mouth.

"But I have to deal with this first before I can teach you. And I can't guarantee I'll succeed, either. I'm only half-trained myself, after all. If you won't agree to that, there's nothing to discuss."

"Fine." A-Wu nodded indifferently. "It's settled, then. Good luck."