Chapter 99: Weakness is the Original Sin

In an instant, the man hidden in the shadows raised a man-portable rocket launcher and aimed it at Qin Hao.

Wu Qiong stepped backward at once. Even though he was a second-tier Evolver, he feared the weapon’s force.

But Wu Qiong had underestimated Qin Hao. Qin Hao was now a third-tier Mental Evolver, his mental force extending up to one hundred meters. The attacker had no choice but to move to a distant spot with line of sight, so he waited on the roof of a five-story building.

In fact, the three of them were lined up as: launcher-bearer, Wu Qiong, then Qin Hao.

As the heavy rocket came hurtling forward, Qin Hao’s mental force instantly wrapped around it. The projectile was metal-cased. In a blink, he twisted the casing, and the impact sent the explosive core inside itself detonation-ready.

BOOM.

The shell exploded above Wu Qiong’s head, making his ears ring and his vision blur.

The launcher-wielder had more than one round, though—three more rockets followed one after another. Qin Hao crushed them in his mind without hesitation.

“Attack! Kill him! Take him out, too!”

Everyone from the other factions shouted at once. One Ling Bo was one thing; if another newcomer appeared with this level of power, there would be no room for them in Kyoto.

Yet this time their hope was doomed.

Qin Hao had survived twenty years of the Wasteland without dying. How could he be killed now?

Bullets poured down in a stream, but the moment they came within ten meters of him, every piece of metal warped, then, under his mental control, bounced back.

Those returning rounds, twisted by Qin Hao’s power, became long, sharp blades and drove into the snipers’ heads.

The snipers with guns, hidden in the shadows, stared wide-eyed, dying without ever understanding. Their posts had seemed safe. They thought nobody could strike them from so far, and certainly not with such force.

Hundreds of rebounding bullets came back. No one could withstand Qin Hao’s counterattack. In an instant the ambush collapsed, and every shooter died.

On a high building, five snipers had been crouching. Four were dead. The only one still holding a rifle was so terrified he dared not shoot, and clung to the edge of the building as if turned to stone.

Silence settled. Wu Qiong and the other three stared at Qin Hao.

“How is this possible?!”

They were all elite among the Evolvers, but none of them had Qin Hao’s capability. Wu Qiong had only one thought and said shakily:

“You… you are a third-tier Evolver.”

But how could that be?

Once a person awakened the innate gift as a Hero, reaching the first Gene Lock could seem simple enough: buy the Strength, Agility, Mind, and Physique elixirs.

To advance from first to second, however, required over forty thousand Star-Energy Crystals just to buy enhancement elixirs.

Even more than that, one had to train, find a fitting cultivation method, absorb Star-Energy Crystals, and strengthen oneself until a chance came to break the second Gene Lock.

Wu Qiong and his group had scraped together resources to reach second-tier. To reach the third Gene Lock, they would need far more resources and far more time. At least several hundred thousand Star-Energy Crystals. How had Qin Hao done it?

“Hah. So you still haven’t figured it out? But of course—you’re nothing but a bunch of fools. You don’t even understand high-level secrets. Yet you should at least have heard of Zi Hui.”

Even if you didn’t know her before the Wasteland, you should have after it.

“So—you are the Hero who was with Zi Hui.”

“Third-tier? Then Zi Hui is third-tier too?”

“How did you get to Kyoto, and what do you want here?”

Tension spread among them. Qin Hao’s strength was frightening, and being a first-wave Hero, his reputation spoke for itself. Wu Qiong was from the third wave, and the gap between him and Qin Hao was vast.

Qin Hao looked at the four of them and remembered: Wu Qiong had been the one behind Tan Xiaowei’s death. He did not know her well, but if Ling Bo was to live on, Wu Qiong could not be allowed to remain.

Sometimes, the reason to kill someone is simple.

With only a flicker of thought, the metal around him turned into long needles and flew at Wu Qiong. Dozens of needles pierced his heart and brain.

Wu Qiong was not without defense—he even drew a Star-Energy Gun—but his arm rose only a little, too weak to bring it down.

Thud.

Wu Qiong fell to the ground, breath gone.

The other three were stunned into near-mad terror.

For Qin Hao, killing on a whim was nothing. What made him terrifying was that he could do it without sound.

“Sir Qin, we bear no malice. Wu Qiong confused us; he clouded our minds. Dr. Ling Bo is truly important to mankind. We should never have moved against him.”

“Right—right. We were wrong. We’ll pay double, compensate for Dr. Ling Bo’s loss.”

“Sir Qin, let us live!”

The three no longer had the fury they had shown when attacking Ling Bo.

As they knelt in begging, a green figure entered their view.

“Ribbit!”

It was the cry of a Frog Demon. Instantly, hundreds, then thousands of hunting creatures surged from the street.

They had caused all this noise. How could the hunting creatures not hear it?

A mixed horde of predatory beasts could engulf humans in moments.

The three men no longer had time to plead. They had to resist immediately.

Qin Hao gave them one last glance and decided not to kill them. He escaped with Ling Bo from the opposite direction.

Ling Bo led the way. The two quickly slipped past the wave of beasts and entered a nearby apartment building.

The instant they burst through a broken window, Qin Hao saw an old man on a bed, his face dark blue-black, still as if struck by grave illness. He was infected.

Ling Bo looked at him once, then drew a vial glowing warm yellow light and forced the liquid into him.

Soon the old man’s brows loosened and his features softened. He remained weak and still not fully conscious.

Qin Hao looked at the medicine in Ling Bo’s hand.

Though he had already heard from Wu Qiong that Ling Bo could make such remedies, he was still surprised.

“I never expected you to make it so quickly.”

“It isn’t as complicated as you think. To fully block the virus, it needs far more Star-Energy Crystals. I wanted to gain crystals by selling medicine, but that method clearly doesn’t work—at least not with the major bases. You’ve taught me another lesson.”

Ling Bo spoke evenly, “This world belongs to the strong; weakness is the original sin. I am not strong enough yet, so those people did not want trade with me. They only wanted to take it.”