Editor: Junyans
The morning was peaceful.
This villa had been deserted for a long time, but it was fully equipped with kitchen utensils and daily necessities. They found a small bag of premium rice, some unnamed side dishes in fresh-keeping packages, and even heat-and-eat snacks, all probably given by sponsors.
They managed to make a meal out of it, and it tasted quite good.
Xia Tian started to have a fever again at noon. It seemed that the nanobots were not easy to metabolize and were still organizing their final counterattack.
Apart from that, when they inspected the car, they discovered that someone had infiltrated the garage in the middle of the night, modified the vehicle, and installed a series of hijacking programs.
Upon examination, Bai Jingan found that the device not only controlled the car’s onboard programs remotely, but also included an anesthetic gas, cleverly disguised as part of the manufacturer’s logo. It must have taken quite an effort making it look seamlessly integrated.
However, it didn’t matter. They used developer rights to deactivate the villa’s cameras, allowing them to proceed leisurely.
“They were probably imagining the scene where we got in the car,” Bai Jingan said, “and started the engine, but soon fell into unconsciousness and woke up lying on the feast table.”
Xia Tian sat in the passenger seat, holding a juice cup while Bai Jingan dismantled the dashboard and completely reassembled the car.
“The car is fine now,” he said to Xia Tian.
“How did you find out?” Xia Tian asked.
“I was just thinking about what they would do to make us go to the feast,” Bai Jingan said, “and a bit more investigation revealed it.”
“Have you been thinking about this all along?”
The tactical planner shifted his gaze at Xia Tian, who was leaning against the car window, a smile playing on his lips.
Bai Jingan also smiled back at him. The smile felt bright as if sunlight had poured in, illuminating the dim garage.
“Yes,” he said. “Anyways, the car is fine now.”
In the afternoon, the two discussed their upcoming plans in the living room.
Xia Tian thought they should go out to get some food and gather weapons, and even listed specific types of weapons. Bai Jingan suggested he should take a nap.
At that moment, both of them suddenly stopped, their hands resting on their guns.
A faint sound emerged, somewhat like crumpling paper or the crunch of breaking biscuits.
We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.
Bai Jingan immediately stood up, then walked to the window to take a look outside.
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“Cleaning agent?” Xia Tian repeated.
It took him a moment to realize.
“Construction cleaning agent?” Xia Tian exclaimed, “Are they going to demolish the house?!”
Before his words could settle, the walls had already begun to corrode, corners distorting, and a long strip of debris slammed onto the floor with a resounding “thud,” allowing a stream of sunlight to penetrate the room.
In the Upper City, buildings mostly utilized cleaning materials. In this era of highly advanced 3D printing, construction materials varied, but all incorporated cleaning materials according to regulations. After all, buildings in the Upper City underwent rapid changes, necessitating constant demolition and reconstruction. With cleaning agents, houses would typically transform into harmless materials and flow away through the drainage system in a short time.
Given their function, cleaning agents were a highly restricted substance, never present in any gatherings, showcases, or civilian vendettas.
However, the elites of the Upper City evidently didn’t face this issue. They could spill the liquid wherever they pleased and as much as they wanted.
Bai Jingan went to fetch another emergency bag, while Xia Tian hurried to the window to observe.
Outside, a massive anti-gravity shuttle moved slowly, resembling a shark, casting shadows that enveloped trees, flowers, shrubs, and houses completely.
Just a minute ago, the CCTV had shown no signs of activity, only the shadows gradually shifting over the vegetation. The next second, several individuals in uniforms, acting in an orderly manner, leaped down from the anti-gravity shuttle and landed around them.
The hunting team of the top brass.
In just over ten seconds, like a pack of predatory wolves, they surrounded the house, closing in step by step.
Their actions were ruthless and without hesitation. As soon as Xia Tian spotted the hunting team, a volley of bullets swept in, shattering the wall panels.
With quick reflexes, Xia Tian grabbed a chair. Two bullets collided with it, exploding on impact.
He tossed the chair, realizing that all the shots coming at him were tranquilizer pellets—a brutal, crude version of a Beast Capturing Net. Their design was malicious—upon exploding, they could leave someone halfway to losing their life, instantaneously incapacitating them.
Bai Jingan pulled him, and the two grabbed the emergency backpack before rushing behind the relatively intact bar counter. A few more pellets exploded behind them.
The two prey in the grand hunting game of the dignitaries hid at the corner of the relatively thick wall and exchanged glances.
The situation was chaotic, but there was no trace of fear in their eyes. The steps to take ahead took shape in that instant.
Xia Tian hurriedly opened the emergency bag and took out a magazine and an energy bar. He pulled out a Swift Eagle series pistol, transformed Marshmallow into a small knife, and deftly cut off the pistol’s safety catch. Bai Jingan picked up a roll of heat-resistant tape and tore it open.
Their sequence of actions was extremely skillful— their hands, while cutting, fitting, and wrapping, were stable and precise. They knew exactly what they wanted and how much damage it would inflict.
Within three minutes, the thing had turned into a monster wrapped in layers of tape and flammable material.
The two Killing Show stars exchanged gestures and rushed for the stairs above at the same time.
On the rooftop, the sound was dense, like rain pouring down.
This house that they had just moved into would dissolve under this rain sound, turning into environmentally friendly residue within three hours, then get washed into the sewer.
The two ascended to the top floor, the villa on the brink of collapse. A large chunk fell from the ceiling, revealing a clear view directly above, from where the two caught sight of the floating shuttle marked with the City Planning Bureau logo that entirely blocked the sky.
It was predominantly black, adorned with the slogan “Clean, Eco-friendly, Pollution-free.” It resembled the gliding chariot of a bigwig, sweeping everything that lay in its field of vision.
But there were no bigwigs. After the Ge Pei incident, they would only dispatch enough “hunting dogs,” sparing no cost to bring the two down and then escort them to the feast.
Xia Tian raised his hand and stared at the ceiling, the muzzle of the gun in his hand firmly pointed towards the brittle ceiling.
Bai Jingan rushed to the window, peeked out to observe the shuttle’s movements, then gestured to Xia Tian.
Three, two, one—
Xia Tian fired toward the ceiling.
In an instant, it seemed like a fragment of the sun leaped from his hand, ascending upwards. The ceiling shattered under the impact, and the bright light struck the shuttle’s engine violently and precisely.
Amidst the tremors, a large section of the left-side ceiling collapsed, allowing more light to pour in. It revealed the colossal object above the sky emitting a long, mournful groan, tilting and falling towards the west.
Someone was shouting and cursing outside, firing in their direction. The two prey quickly exchanged several movements and rushed towards the deformed window, listening intently.
Ten seconds later, the floating shuttle crashed to the ground.
The roar of the explosion swept across, shaking the entire lakeside, and flames shot into the sky.
At that very moment, Xia Tian and Bai Jingan burst through the window into the sunlight.
The villa complex was standalone and without courtyard walls, surrounded by a charmingly rustic landscape. In the afternoon, the sunlight lazily slanted westward, yet the atmosphere was as tense as a drawn bowstring, resembling an ancient hunt, except both sides were human.
In the moment before the descent, they had already roughly assessed the situation and decided what to do next. Xia Tian landed next to one of the hunters. Before the hunter could react, he put his knee on the man’s chest and shot him in the head.
He raised his head to see Bai Jingan firing two shots. He held the neck of a sturdy man beside him with one hand, raising his other hand to shoot another guy who’d just stuck his head out from behind a tree, and then swung back to kill the person in his arm.
He tossed the corpse aside, then dodged incoming bullets. Xia Tian fired a shot, finishing off the third guy.
The garage was destroyed, and a group of around twenty-five people was closing in on the villa. Their positioning and division of labor was exceptional, blocking the pathways and sealing off the house tightly.
In less than ten minutes from the attack’s onset, Xia Tian and Bai Jingan could discern that their opponents were highly professional, bloodthirsty men. At least they had lost their aerial advantage, so there wouldn’t be any easy openings for them.
Further away, more vehicles were likely rushing in.
There was no escape.
The next course of action was evident: fight.
There was about half a minute before the start of a new round of battle, during which the two of them hid under a huge horse chestnut tree.
This location barely counted as an elevated vantage point. They quickly exchanged their intentions.
Bai Jingan glanced at the tree, and immediately, Xia Tian knew what he intended to do. They locked eyes for ten seconds, a fierce debate playing out in their gazes.
Bai Jingan: You go up.
Xia Tian: That’s the job of a tactical planner, I’ll be the vanguard!
You’re injured.
I’m fine now!
You plan, I kill.
Xia Tian glared at him, and Bai Jingan met his gaze without flinching.
He knew Bai Jingan’s expressions. Normally, his eyes were penetrating like ice, yet at certain moments, Xia Tian felt it was fire, capable of destroying everything without any room for compromise.
Two seconds later, Xia Tian conceded; now was not the time for arguments.
Bai Jingan clasped his hands together, and Xia Tian agilely stepped onto them before jumping onto the horse chestnut tree.
Bai Jingan turned to look around, raised his hand, and took down a hunter with a shot before walking toward the approaching group.
Not so far away, their house was slowly collapsing, without a sound, in the same casual and careless manner in which it had been bestowed upon them.
The house they had sought refuge in just yesterday had seemed so concrete, a safe haven from the wind and rain, and yet at this moment, it seemed as insubstantial as a fantasy. Debris and liquid mingled together before seeping into the soil and flowing into the sewer. Mist wafted upwards, and its billowing appearance made the house appear as if it had been burning with a feeble flame, pale as if in a dream.
A typical Upper City fire, beautifully annihilating everything.
He walked forward with blazing eyes which reflected the bloody battlefield.
