Chapter 89: Hidden Intentions on All Sides

It seemed the community had arranged things on its side as well. Most of the people were already waiting for the newcomers, and the leaders had long since prepared the share of bean crop from that day’s planting, handing it over to the head of the black-clad group.

“Today’s allotment is fifteen kilograms of beans. You can weigh it yourselves.” The leader here was the sturdy woman who had been beating the gong earlier. She handed the iron canister to a man on the other side holding a semi-automatic rifle.

“Why would they have guns?” Seeing this from afar, Liu Chang turned and asked Liu Rui beside him.

“You can see they have guns from here?” Packed into the middle of the crowd, Liu Rui looked at Liu Chang in some confusion.

“Yeah, just barely,” Liu Chang said vaguely, then went on, “Why do they have military weapons?”

“They’ve definitely got ties to people in the army!” Liu Rui did not press him further about his eyesight. “Without some kind of connection, that gun would be confiscated the moment someone saw it!”

“Fair enough.” Liu Chang nodded.

After the black-clad group finished receiving the beans, they did not leave. Instead, they brought out the three girls who had come with them earlier.

“These are the girls from your community, right?” The leader was a burly man with tattoos on his body, and he was the one carrying a military semi-automatic rifle. “Our people have had their turn. We’re returning them to you. We don’t have any surplus grain to feed them.”

After speaking, he shoved the three girls back into the community, then ordered the people there to stand in two rows while his men examined their faces one by one.

“I’m giving them back to you unharmed, aren’t I? That should count as me keeping my word. Don’t hold a grudge against me either; this is the kind of world we live in. It’s already decent of me not to have hurt them!” Once the hundreds of men and women from the community had been arranged into two long lines, three or four people from the black-clad group stepped out in turn and studied their faces. “Look again for anything that interests us.”

After the burly man gave the order, he led them past one by one. When he faced young women, he looked twice at whether their figures and faces suited his taste. When he faced men, he mostly glanced over them—unless something on their person caught someone’s eye.

And Liu Chang was exactly the one who caught such interest.

“What’s that hanging at your waist? Not quite a gun, not quite a cannon!” The one inspecting Liu Chang happened to be the burly leader. He pointed at the massive holster at Liu Chang’s side and asked, “Take it off and let me see.”

“It’s just a fake gun. It’s useless,” Liu Rui hurriedly interjected before Liu Chang could speak.

“I wasn’t talking to you,” the burly man snapped, glaring at Liu Rui before turning back to Liu Chang. “I said take it off and let me see!”

“...” Frowning, Liu Chang still made no move. He was certainly not about to hand over the weapon; it was his means of survival.

But if he refused, chaos would erupt on the spot. And if chaos broke out, it would inevitably become a fight to the death between him and the black-clad group. During these days spent at the highest level of the military, he had long since ceased to fear these crude civilian organizations. But if disorder were triggered, it would surely draw in military forces.

And once the military arrived, he would inevitably draw Zhao Zhuo’s attention again. At this critical moment on the edge of the storm, he did not want to create even the slightest disturbance for Li Qingshui’s side.

So after weighing the pros and cons, Liu Chang decided to hand the gun over to the burly man first.

But just as he made that decision, the burly man opposite him lost all patience. Seeing that even after he barked at him twice the other man still had not reacted, he lifted his leg and kicked toward Liu Chang’s abdomen.

The moment he moved, Liu Chang saw it clearly—so clearly, and with such precision that every centimeter of the arc of his raised foot was captured by Liu Chang’s eyes and entered the most exacting part of his brain. He could analyze with perfect clarity where the foot would be at every millimeter.

At the same instant the leg came up, Liu Chang instinctively calculated the posture that would let him kill this burly man with the least expenditure of force, and even if he drew a knife and stabbed it into exactly which inch of the man’s neck, he would spill the least blood onto himself. All of it was computed in a flash, by instinct.

This was a power drawn from Li Qingshui’s microscopic world, a gift born of extraordinary perception and calculation: to meet an enemy in the most correct posture, and strike by the most precise means.

It was not some martial technique or combat art, yet it was more practical than any fighting skill. Fighting, after all, and technique alike, are only about striving to confront an enemy in the correct way. But people are not computers; in a split second they cannot calculate which method is most appropriate or which movement wastes the least strength. Thus, what one trains as skill is really only a kind of instinctive reaction.

Li Qingshui’s ability, however, was different. His power was precision and calculation. He was not a computer—but in the face of sudden crisis, he was stronger than one.

Watching the sole slowly approach his abdomen, Liu Chang knew that with the slightest movement of a finger he could kill the burly man without effort.

Yet he did not do so—for fear of causing a commotion.

So with a thud, he was kicked to the ground. The kick did not hurt, and the man’s slight force would not even have toppled him if he had not deliberately gone along with it. But since he had chosen to play the part, he still clutched his stomach and made a pained expression.

“Don’t hit me. I’ll give it to you.” Holding his belly with one hand, Liu Chang used the other to remove the gun and holster together from his waist and hand them to the burly man.

The moment the burly man took the gun from Liu Chang’s hand, his arm visibly dipped with its weight, and then he looked at the massive firearm in surprise.

“The real thing?” He opened the holster and checked the gun inside. After confirming it was indeed genuine, his mood brightened. Pointing the muzzle at Liu Chang in a casual gesture, he asked, “This thing’s modified, right? Looks pretty advanced. Where’d you get it?”

“I pried it off a dead body,” Liu Chang answered carelessly, keeping a close eye on the burly man’s muzzle and fingers as he spun a lie.

“Oh, is that so.” The man grunted, then asked offhandedly, “Boy, I’m taking this gun with me. You don’t mind, do you?”

“No.” Liu Chang shook his head. “I understand that a wise man knows when to yield to circumstances.”

“Good. You’ve got promise.” Smiling, the burly man pulled Liu Chang up from the ground, then tucked the massive gun into his own waist. After patting at the footprint on Liu Chang’s abdomen that he had just kicked into him, he began his apparently friendly inspection of the others.

Around Liu Chang, everyone except Liu Rui wore a look of regret at the sight.

In the crowd, only two people’s expressions differed from the rest: both knew Liu Chang well. One was Doctor Huang, and the other was Xiao Jing.

There was no regret in their eyes, only something more complicated as they watched the burly man’s retreating back.

This brief disturbance involving Liu Chang came to an end just like that. There were no further complications, and perhaps within a few hours it would be forgotten by everyone.

At night, in the room where the community ate.

Doctor Huang came over and sat beside Liu Chang with two small bowls of boiled beans.

“Here, this is your share!” She handed Liu Chang the bowl of beans.

“No need. You eat it. I’m not having any.” Liu Chang pushed the bowl back through the air toward Doctor Huang.

“Well, look at you. I didn’t realize you were one of those people who resist beans!” Seeing that Liu Chang would not eat, Doctor Huang simply poured the beans from both bowls together. “What, Xiao Jing doesn’t eat them either?”

“Mm, we have our own food.” Liu Chang nodded.

“Then I won’t stand on ceremony. I don’t have that many concerns left—one more day alive is one more day alive. I’ve got nothing tying me down.” She tapped the bowl with her spoon. “If you don’t eat it, I really will finish it. It’s only a little over a hundred grams per person anyway. Just a few bites.”

“Mm, go ahead.” After saying that, Liu Chang fell silent for a while.

Until Doctor Huang finished eating, he said nothing more.

“When are you planning to make your move tonight?” After she set down her bowl and chopsticks, Doctor Huang broke the silence.

“Soon. Once everyone’s asleep.” Liu Chang leaned against the corner wall. “Do you think people will suspect me afterward?”

“No.” Doctor Huang answered without hesitation. “The kind of minor clash you had today—when do they not run into ten or eight of those? Not to mention the daily quarrels over supplies and territory. They kill plenty of people every day. There are so many who’ve got deep grudges against them; who would think of you?”

“That’s good. Then I’m relieved.” As he spoke, Liu Chang pulled the little girl aside. “Let’s rest for a while first.”

“Sure. Then I won’t disturb you.” After saying this, Doctor Huang left the area.

At the same time, things were not exactly quiet over at the research institute either.

“Brother Qingshui, why haven’t I seen those two family members of yours lately?” Zhao Zhuo asked casually while shaking a vial in his hand, turning to the side toward Li Qingshui.

“The political storm is intense right now, so I sent them away to take shelter for a bit,” Li Qingshui replied as he injected a needle into the test subject. “After all, I can’t guarantee my own safety. If I were to die, they’d surely be dragged into it as well, so I simply sent them out.”

“Heh, with me backing you, who would dare touch them? We’re all on the same rope here. Your safety absolutely will not be a problem.” Zhao Zhuo smiled. “Could it be that Brother Qingshui still doesn’t trust me?”

“It’s not that I don’t trust you. I just wanted some peace of mind.” Li Qingshui also smiled. “I do intend to work hard over here in the First Division.”

“That’s good, very good! Ever since Brother Qingshui came here, the pace of my research has doubled!” Zhao Zhuo nodded with a smile. Just as he was about to continue, a faint knocking sounded at the laboratory door.

“Brother Qingshui, I’ll step out and take a look. It should be the army looking for me about something.” Hearing the knock, Zhao Zhuo exchanged a few words with Li Qingshui and went out.

Outside was a regimental commander. After seeing Zhao Zhuo emerge, he pulled him away from the area and into an empty room.

“The person I asked you to find—did you find him?”

Once inside the room, Zhao Zhuo’s smile vanished completely.

“We found him. A mutant with a highly developed sense of smell—his nose is even sharper than a dog’s.” The commander smiled. “As long as you get him something that belonged to the target, and let him sniff it, if the person who used that item hasn’t left the city of Zhengzhou, he’ll definitely find them for you!”

“Good. Then have that man lead the troops to find him,” Zhao Zhuo said, his expression turning serious. “This assignment is very important. There are two people in total, one boy and one little girl. Not one can be missing. Bring them both to me.”

“Don’t worry.” The commander nodded.

“Mm. Ideally, do it by asking politely. Only use force if you absolutely must!” As he spoke, Zhao Zhuo once again wore that smile he only ever showed beside Li Qingshui. “Also, keep it discreet. Don’t let anyone else know. I need this person held back for last. And remember this above all: I want them alive. Whether they’re injured or not doesn’t matter, but if they die, it’ll all be meaningless. Understand?”

“Relax,” the commander said, nodding again.

“Then that’s settled. If you handle this well, your path ahead will be much smoother. I won’t waste any more words—go on.” Patting the commander on the shoulder, Zhao Zhuo turned and left, taking that gentle smile with him as he walked back toward the laboratory.