bookbashuk Chapter 47 Power
Chapter 47 Power
Verification room.
The body bag, stained with blood, was carried on his shoulder. Xu Yang looked at the white coat sitting on the bed with surprise in his eyes.
He clearly remembered that he had only said a few words in the conversation just now, and how the other party had guessed it.
The man in the white coat chuckled and said, "You looked at the corpse several times while you were talking, and given the unusual nature of your bounty, it's not hard to guess who it is, Liu something-or-other?"
"Liu Guan".
"Yes, it's him. He'll definitely call."
Xu Yang became interested and handed him a cigarette: "Brother, tell me in detail what makes this bounty somewhat special."
The doctor in the white coat waved his hand, indicating that he wouldn't smoke, and continued:
"This bounty is for the money that Liu Guan demanded from the Rubik's Cube Potion. The potion that his father created by harming others was targeted by the Rubik's Cube Potion, but before the contract was even signed, his father was killed by Newt."
"That kid's pretty shrewd. I heard that when he signed the contract, he asked the Magic Cube Potion company to add a condition to the release of missions."
"What does this have to do with him wanting the corpse?" Xu Yang scratched his head, somewhat puzzled.
"If your father were beaten to a pulp and pissed on, what would you do?"
"..."
"Crushed to ashes?"
The man in the white coat chuckled, "That's right, but the Rubik's Cube potion issued bounty missions, not manhunts. That kid was calling everyone who accepted the missions a while back, just to discuss how to dispose of the bodies. It was hilarious."
Xu Yang frowned slightly.
"There's no reason for this. Why didn't they issue a manhunt order from the start?"
The man in the white coat scoffed, "The mission conditions were added to the contract at the last minute. Does the Rubik's Cube potion have to do everything his way?"
Xu Yang blinked, then suddenly realized.
I understand, it was intentional and accidental.
The people on the Rubik's Cube team clearly didn't like this kind of last-minute addition of conditions, so they deliberately tripped him up and pointed out some minor details.
"The rules and regulations in this business are really complicated," Xu Yang muttered, waved to the man in the white coat, and carried the corpse out of the room.
He walked out of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
It wasn't too late yet, so we had to hurry and give Newt a proper burial.
With this thought in mind, he stepped out of the main entrance of the hall.
Suddenly, a well-dressed man with a dreadlock was running straight toward him from the street ahead—or rather, toward the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
He was panting heavily, as if he hadn't stopped the whole way.
The two had never met before, but they both looked at each other at first glance.
"stop!"
Liu Guan stared at the corpse on Xu Yang's shoulder, panting heavily, and said, "Phew, that was you just now, wasn't it? On the phone."
Xu Yang stopped in his tracks.
Hearing the familiar voice, several black lines appeared on his forehead: "They've chased us all the way here, don't you understand? I said, I'm keeping this corpse."
Liu Guan caught his breath, but upon hearing the other party's words, he looked unconvinced: "One thousand, no, ten thousand. Give me the corpse, and you can buy as many corpses as you want with this money."
He had barely finished speaking when he added in an unfriendly tone, "Don't be too greedy."
"..."
Xu Yang frowned and tugged at the corner of his mouth.
It turns out that when people are speechless to a certain extent, they can actually start to laugh.
The people in this gathering place don't seem to understand human speech very well, or maybe there was something wrong with how I hung up the phone earlier, and my refusal wasn't clear enough?
Meanwhile, the surrounding area gradually became lively.
The passing crowd, having heard the numbers Liu Guan uttered, all looked at the two with varying degrees of interest.
"That man must be Liu Guan. Newt's bounty seems to have just ended."
"Oh, so that's Newt on that kid's shoulder. What a pity."
"So this is a case of 'raising prices on the spot'?"
"I bet 20,000 that it's a deal."
……
A cacophony of voices arose from the crowd.
In the center of the crowd, Xu Yang's face showed a hint of impatience. He lifted his foot, completely ignoring Liu Guan, and walked straight ahead.
Upon seeing this, the latter was first taken aback, then shouted rather angrily, "Fourteen thousand! Don't push your luck! I've seen too many..."
A crowing voice kept cawing behind them, which was quite annoying.
Liu Guan chased after him immediately.
The footsteps, accompanied by a jarring, gong-like noise, grew ever closer...
Xu Yang sighed, finally stopped, and slowly turned around.
One step, two steps, three steps...
The silent figure walked up to Liu Guan.
The inexplicable aura emanating from him made the latter's heart beat a little faster.
At this moment, Xu Yang's lips curled slightly upwards, a smile that lacked sincerity, and he said in a low voice, "I can give you the corpse, but—"
"Let's go to the safe zone and discuss this in detail, shall we?"
Those eyes were fixed on Liu Guan.
This is almost tantamount to a threat.
Liu Guanmian's face twitched a few times, and he took a few steps back, saying with a fierce but weak tone, "You have no use for Newt's body!"
"What use would you be to him?"
"I'm going to chop him up and feed him to the dogs!" Liu Guan shouted angrily as if on cue.
Xu Yang narrowed his eyes and glanced at him coldly: "If your dog is really hungry, you can dig your dad out and feed him."
"you!"
Liu Guan's face instantly flushed red.
The person in front of me is extremely unreasonable. After I learned that the mission was completed, he called me and came over in person to discuss the price of the corpse.
But the other party not only didn't appreciate it, but also insulted his deceased father. In the end, Newt was killed by the other party, but now he was guarding a corpse, acting all righteous!
She's absolutely impervious to reason!
Liu Guan's face flushed red, and he was about to explode—
pat.
It has a cold, hard feel, carrying the chilling presence of metal.
Liu Guan felt a chill run down his spine.
The muzzle was pressed against his head; that was the sound of the safety being switched off, and the bullet was poised to fire from behind the rifling.
His eyes twitched slightly, he swallowed the words in his throat, and his pupils reflected Xu Yang's expressionless face.
The corners of the other person's mouth were slowly turning upwards, reaching a subtle angle at that very moment—
"Bang!"
The muzzle moved maliciously.
The dull pain in his forehead felt like a branding iron. Liu Guan was startled, his legs went weak, and he instantly collapsed to the ground.
His pupils contracted sharply, and he instinctively touched his forehead.
A mocking glance came from the crowd. A fingertip lightly touched his forehead; there was no bullet hole, only the muzzle of the gun jabbing against his forehead, leaving a red mark.
That seemed like a horrifying joke.
The next moment, anger at being tricked surged up in Liu Guan's heart. He looked up, only to meet the eyes again, a pair of unwavering gazes.
He felt as if he had been doused with cold water.
That was just a warning.
Liu Guan scrambled to his feet, looking utterly disheveled, and squeezed through the crowd with his head down. A snicker rippled through the crowd.
"Coward, you're scared like this by just one word."
That figure looked like a dog, tucked its tail between its legs and ran away.
On the other side, Xu Yang holstered his gun and curled his lip downwards.
Indeed, actions speak louder than words. No matter how many times you express your thoughts, people will only think that you don't have enough money, or they won't care at all and will simply misinterpret the meaning.
For such stubborn people, holding a knife to their neck or pointing a gun at their forehead is more effective than saying anything.
Xu Yang shook his head slightly. He decided to call this kind of person "the one who cannot be subdued by weapons," or in short, "cheapskate."
It's foreseeable that there will be more scoundrels in this cataclysmic world than he imagined, but that's okay, he already has a fairly mature set of countermeasures for it.
It can also serve as a way to establish authority.
He glanced ahead and paused, and the previously jovial crowd automatically parted to make way for him.
His fingers traced the gun at his waist, cold yet reliable...
Under the lights, the man and the corpse returned to the reconstruction area.
Xu Yang looked up at the sky, gazing into the distance. It seemed as if there was no way forward, yet a smile played on his lips.
"A dark and windy night is the perfect time to bury someone."
He carried the corpse on his shoulder to the cemetery without stopping, and in the darkness of night, he seemed to be surrounded by ghosts.
A lone lamp in the darkness sends shivers down one's spine.
Outside the cemetery, next to the detention center, the gravedigger was an old man wearing a red tracksuit. He sat on a bench against the wall, turned on his wristband, and was looking at something.
Judging from Xu Yang's eyesight, it should be a cooking tutorial.
At this moment, the other person noticed him approaching, glanced at the body bag on his shoulder, and said, "Keep an eye on things, don't dig a hole where someone's already there, and—"
The old man said solemnly, "Don't take other people's offerings to eat."
Xu Yang smiled nonchalantly: "Don't worry, I'm not hungry."
goo~
……
Yes, it seems I haven't eaten anything since I had some dried meat at noon.
He pursed his lips and said earnestly, "Sir, you have to believe me."
Under the streetlights, the projection screen on the wristband was turned off.
The old man gave him a deep look, then sighed, "I'll go with you."
……
On the stone-paved path inside the cemetery.
Xu Yang offered him a cigarette with a smile.
"What should I call you, sir?"
"My surname is Chen." Old Man Chen took the cigarette and rummaged in his pocket.
Looking back at the bench, he couldn't find the new lighter anywhere, and feeling a little embarrassed, he asked, "Young man, do you have a light?"
"some."
Xu Yang casually lit a fireball.
"You've been to the Forge of Miracles?" Old Chen asked, taking a couple of puffs before lighting his cigarette.
"Good luck."
Grandpa Chen laughed and said, "This isn't good luck, it's fate. Young man, you can't force yourself to find a dinar. Some people waste their whole lives without getting one, while others might just be taking a casual stroll and step on a few."
"Some are dying of drought, while others are dying of flooding."
Grandpa Chen looked nostalgic and sighed, "Back then, I was just like you, someone who could enter the furnace of miracles."
"Oh, so now..."
"Until I was shot in the knee."
As he spoke, he lifted up the pants on his left leg.
From the knees down, it turned into pale yellow mechanical legs. He said with regret, "I traded that dinar for it. It's fine for normal activities, but when I go to the isolation zone, sigh."
"Grandpa, you've lost half a leg, haven't you?" Xu Yang's eyelids twitched.
"Yeah, I was shot and my meniscus was flying through the air. In the end, I was only able to get back thanks to my girlfriend."
As he sighed, Grandpa Chen walked to a tombstone, reached out and took a few pieces of fruit: "Here, young man, have some."
Xu Yang took the fruit with surprise: "Grandpa, what is this...?"
"You can't eat dead people, they'll spoil if you leave them for too long, and I'll have to clean them up later."
"Didn't you just say we weren't allowed to steal any?" Xu Yang took a bite of the fruit.
It's quite sweet.
"It's not that you can't eat it, but you have to eat it correctly. Some guys put something on the tribute fruit to prevent people from stealing it," Grandpa Chen said quietly.
"Those with kind hearts will get some laxatives, while those with bad hearts will be sent straight down the drain."
Xu Yang's expression suddenly froze as he looked at the fruit in his hand that had been mostly eaten.
"What are you looking at? Your grandpa wouldn't cheat you." Grandpa Chen pointed to a few tombstones. "These are fine, eat with confidence. They've already spoken to me about them. You should be more careful with the others."
"Alright, remember where you were? After you finish eating, remember to take your trash. I'm heading back now."
After the old man finished speaking, he turned and left. He had only come to remind the young man not to eat the wrong things.
Xu Yang looked at the fruit in his hand and couldn't help but smile.
This old man is a kind-hearted person.
He hoisted Newt onto his shoulder and walked along the cobblestone path toward the western corner.
His figure was the only one in the vast cemetery. Occasionally, a few insects chirped, but they did not disturb anyone; instead, they made the space seem even more tranquil.
Under the deep darkness of night, it is not frightening, but rather makes people feel exceptionally peaceful.
In the western corner of the cemetery, a solitary tombstone stands embedded in the earth, with neatly engraved words on it—
Asiman Dalo.
Newt's brother.
A half-empty wine bottle leans against the tombstone. About two weeks ago, a man was squatting here drinking.
He will be buried here in two weeks.
He had already thought about it two weeks ago.
There was a vacant piece of land right next to it, which was probably the spot Newt had reserved for himself.
"It just so happens that you ran into me." Xu Yang picked up a shovel from the side and stabbed it hard into the soft ground. "Otherwise, you might not have been able to get what you wanted."
Shovel after shovel, the mound of earth gradually rose higher.
Burying people was quite easy for him, firstly because he had prior experience, and secondly because his body was greatly strengthened once again after his strength attribute points reached six.
To put it more bluntly, he felt that his muscle resilience was sufficient to withstand the [self-sacrifice].
In short, no matter how you look at it, burying people is clearly a more leisurely activity than enduring artillery fire.
Before long, seeing that the grave was deep enough, he buried Newt's body in it.
Thus, the last teammate on the first mission also met his end.
On the scales of death, the weight of his soul might be three bullets, or perhaps a vial of medicine.
To take it a step further, it's an unresolved hatred.
From the bottom of his heart, Xu Yang felt that Newt's death was very unjust. If the other party had been able to kill him all, perhaps he wouldn't have ended up with a bounty on his head.
But is it that they don't want to do it, or that they can't...?
The will is willing, but the ability is insufficient.
Newt's death ultimately gave Xu Yang something else.
It was as if a bell had been tolling heavily in my ears.
In this chaotic and dangerous world, if he were to become a victim, would he be able to kill the perpetrator?
Could he be the next Newt, or even worse than Newt, who at least killed his enemies?
Can I do it myself?
On a peaceful afternoon, he breathed his last from an unresolved hatred, becoming a speck of cannon fodder in the era.
Cannon fodder—that's the fate of most survivors.
power.
Never before have the colors been so vibrant...
Xu Yang tamped the soil with a shovel and wiped the dust off his body, but he couldn't get it all clean no matter how many times he did it. His eyes grew increasingly desolate in the lonely night.
In the stillness of the night, it's a time for reflection.
Memories of that blue planet vanished in an instant, like smoke from a gun barrel, dissipating with a single breath.
The bullet, named Earth Source, struck him squarely between the eyebrows.
Tomorrow, he's going to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to check his quota; maybe he can try to buy some lures or add-ons.
Then, let's go check out Zhenjiang.