"The wasteland?"

In the alley, Lu Chao frowned slightly upon hearing Chen Junhao’s words.

It wasn’t surprise, but a sense of doubt and unease about the unknown.

The wasteland was vast. Strictly speaking, the territory occupied by the Alliance Country probably didn’t even cover half of the Earth Star Continent.

The reason for this was the sheer chaos of the wasteland.

Nuclear radiation from the Old Era had contaminated huge swathes of the environment. Several continental plates were affected and couldn’t be easily decontaminated, making the ecosystems in many places too harsh for long-term survival.

The water, the plants, the air...

Many wild beasts had mutated as a result, turning into Mutant Beasts that were difficult to kill with conventional firearms.

Beyond that, and most importantly...

The wasteland settlements and sanctuary cities that hadn’t joined the Alliance Country, along with various warlord factions and base organizations that had inherited the legacies of Old Era nations, were still locked in constant conflict, with firefights frequently breaking out.

Even the Alliance Country couldn’t mediate these disputes and, at times, faced threats itself.

"Back then, I did a job for the gang. I went outside the city for a trade, escorting supplies to a warlord chief." 𝚏𝗿𝗲𝐞𝐰𝚎𝕓𝐧𝚘𝘃𝗲𝐥.𝐜𝚘𝕞

A nostalgic look on his face, Chen Junhao lit another cigarette. "That trip should have been smooth, but halfway through, we picked up three tails."

"One Professional Level, and two veteran Fighting Levels. They were stealthy and followed us the whole way."

"What happened then?" Lu Chao asked.

"Killed them all."

Exhaling a puff of smoke, Chen Junhao said it casually, as if brushing off a speck of dust.

Lu Chao was stunned for a moment, holding his breath.

’Is Brother Hao really that powerful?’

’Or did he just have the advantage of his gang and their firearms?’

No one could answer this question for him. He saw Chen Junhao shake his head slightly. "I only found out afterward that they were targeting me. They wanted to take me away for some kind of forbidden ritual."

"And the moves they used back then were more or less the same as what you described... They seemed like Martial Arts techniques, but they were also bizarre. And those strange syllables were impossible to defend against; they just drill right into your head."

His tone was laced with emotion. He exhaled, the smoke seeming to carry away the unpleasant memory.

Although he didn’t say it outright, Lu Chao could guess how dangerous the situation had been.

"Brother Hao, do you have any idea who those people were?"

After a moment’s hesitation, Lu Chao asked anyway.

He suspected the man in the mask had accomplices.

"That..."

Chen Junhao lowered his cigarette, the smoke drifting away.

He said in a low voice, "They might be connected to those God-Worshiping Cults."

...

WOOOO!!

「One hour later.」

Sirens blared from all directions as red and blue lights flashed one after another.

Patrol officers arrived at the scene, their faces grim.

During the initial survey and questioning, two or three people from a cleanup crew appeared. With practiced movements, they washed away the bloodstains and began examining and removing the body.

Lu Chao sat in a black [Sharp Light] sedan parked in a corner across the street. The windows were tinted with a dark privacy film. He remained hidden the entire time, not showing his face, quietly watching everything unfold.

The workers from the cleanup crew were strangers, and they finished their work on the body without much delay.

Zhou Qiang had found a Hongyi Society member who lived nearby to handle all the questions from the Patrol Department. The member pretended to have stumbled upon the scene by chance. Before calling the police, they had also dealt with a few details on the corpse to cover their own tracks.

Although the neighbors had been stirred up, no one knew he was there.

"The Patrol Department has its own labs. They can determine if the body is connected to the God-Worshiping Cult."

Inside the car, Chen Junhao sat beside him, also watching the whole thing.

"With them involved, they should be able to find some clues about the missing person case. The people targeting you will definitely be more cautious."

"By staying out of sight, you can also confuse them and buy some time."

Lu Chao nodded. This was the plan the three of them had come up with.

Although he didn’t know why they were after him, it was obvious he was being targeted.

Only by getting the Patrol Department involved could they muddy the waters, create a diversion, and make the unknown faction—likely the God-Worshiping Cult—unsure of the situation, forcing them to be more discreet.

’Still, I need to move out of here as soon as possible.’

His expression turned grim, and the brief sense of relief Lu Chao had felt tightened once more.

An invisible pressure washed over him, like the Sword of Damocles hanging constantly over his head. This feeling of being watched was unsettling.

As he mulled it over, Chen Junhao spoke.

"This was on the guy."

Chen Junhao handed over a stack of bills. It was the Alliance Coins they had taken from the masked man, about three or four thousand in total.

"The communicator on him might be trouble. I’ll have someone take it to the black market to get it handled for you, so it doesn’t leave a trail."

"The Patrol Department is cracking down hard right now. Things are tense, so it’ll probably be a while before I can get it back to you."

Brother Hao said calmly. Lu Chao scratched his head.

He felt that since the other man had helped him out so much, he ought to show his appreciation somehow.

"Heh, I have no use for a little bit of cash like this."

Seeing what he was thinking, Chen Junhao waved his hand with a smile, dismissing it.

Lu Chao felt helpless, knowing it was the truth. He could only commit this act of kindness to memory.

As the two of them spoke, the patrol car outside finished its work, slowly started up, and drove away from the factory street.

The masked man’s body was also taken away by the cleanup crew.

Once the dust had settled, Lu Chao was about to get out of the car.

But then,

"There’s one more thing."

Chen Junhao suddenly spoke, catching Lu Chao off guard.

"I was going to tell you over the communicator, but I didn’t expect to be delayed by this incident."

"Oh?"

Lu Chao was puzzled. Then he saw the profound look in the other man’s eyes as he said, word by word, "Rock is dead."

’What?’

His face froze, full of disbelief.

’Rock, the leader of the Rock Gang... he was a veteran Fighting Level at least. And he’s just... gone?’

As if sensing his thoughts, Chen Junhao added in a low voice, "This morning, Ah Qiang only seriously injured him. He didn’t deal a fatal blow."

"But now, everyone in the Rock Gang is gone, except for that guy named Ah Bao."

As soon as he said this, Lu Chao immediately understood the implications.

Rock had only been severely injured in the morning, but now he was suddenly dead, and his entire gang had been nearly wiped out.

Someone had to be pulling strings behind the scenes. They might have even struck while Rock was in a weakened state.

"Brother Hao, are you thinking..."

"I don’t know who it was."

Chen Junhao shook his head. "The Rock Gang made plenty of enemies. Lots of people would want to kick them while they’re down. It could even be one of my enemies trying to frame me."

He looked at Lu Chao and warned, "I’m just giving you a heads-up."

"I heard that Ah Bao fellow received funding from Rock a while back and broke through to the Fighting Level. He might come back to investigate this."

"After all, you’ve had some run-ins with the Rock Gang recently. Be careful for a while."

"Okay, I understand, Brother Hao."

Nodding, Lu Chao made a mental note of it.

Then, seeing that the street corners were mostly empty and no one was paying attention anymore, he said goodbye, opened the car door, and took a roundabout path back toward Building Three.

Along the way, the dim yellow streetlights stretched his shadow long and thin.

Lu Chao’s brow was furrowed as various theories began to form in his mind.

’Brother Hao wouldn’t lie to me about something like this.’

’But who could the killer be?’

He racked his brain but couldn’t find an answer as gusts of night wind blew past.

Looking up, he saw that the blood in the alley had been washed away, leaving no trace of gore. Only the fine cracks on the concrete wall remained as proof that a deadly fight had taken place here.

The gawking neighbors were still gossiping, but as the night grew deeper and colder, they gradually returned to their homes.

People died in Ring City every day. In the grand scheme of the Iron Ring District, this was a trivial matter that no one would pay much mind to.

However...

STEP! STEP!

His footsteps halted. Lu Chao gradually suppressed his distracting thoughts.

His gaze fell upon the gray walls and concrete roof of Building Three.

Today’s fight had once again made him feel the cruelty of Ring City, and it reminded him of what he was truly worried about.

It wasn’t the unknown faction, likely the God-Worshiping Cult, that might strike again. Nor was it the gang feud over the Rock Gang’s destruction that he might get dragged into.

It was...

"Strength!"

"I need more strength!"