The open space behind the District Seven Research Institute.
“I’m sorry, mr. black, I cannot comply with your request.”
Led by Wei Lan, a group of soldiers stood guard in front of the aircraft. Facing this person of high authority, she showed no fear and stretched out her hand to block Lance from advancing.
Lance’s face darkened: “What are you doing? Ignoring the Supreme Council’s orders??”
Wei Lan said coldly: “I am a soldier, and following orders is my duty—provided they come from the military district.”
Lance said angrily: “I see it’s not the military district, but only listening to Huo Yanji’s orders! Are you deviants planning to become his private army? Are you planning to rebel with Huo Yanji!?”
Wei Lan looked at him impassively: “You’re being too harsh. It’s just that until the origin of the aircraft is determined, it’s not suitable to be moved anywhere, especially to the underground city.”
The underground city was the foundation of humanity now, and there could not be the slightest security risk.
Lance’s face was grim: “Today I must take it away, I won’t tolerate a mere soldier interfering here!”
A colonel and a soldier were naturally worlds apart—this was a blatant insult.
Lance’s eyes were filled with deep contempt, clearly not taking Wei Lan seriously. Behind him stood a full hundred people, ready to draw their guns at the slightest disagreement.
Wei Lan said coldly: “Is mr. black planning to rob it openly?”
Lance laughed: “What kind of talk is that—I’m just preparing to eliminate some rebellious elements.”
No matter how strong a deviant was, it was just a matter of one bullet. If one wasn’t enough, then two, three—as long as they were still human, they couldn’t withstand a hail of bullets.
Wei Lan’s eyes darkened slightly.
Three days ago, Sang Jue was kidnapped, and that same night a secret tunnel that had been dug for who knows how long was discovered underground in District Seven, along with pieces of Colin’s clothing.
She had originally wanted to lead a team to find Colin, but was kept behind by the General to guard the aircraft.
She hadn’t understood why at first—but seeing Lance at this moment, she understood.
The Supreme Council’s visit to District Seven was not what it seemed… their initial purpose was not to make things difficult for Huo Yanji, but to come for the aircraft.
If District Seven hadn’t suddenly been attacked by birds, they probably would have come earlier.
No… it was still too coincidental.
Sang Jue was kidnapped, and at the same time they learned that the people in the ruins had over a hundred hostages, forcing Huo Yanji to leave District Seven to negotiate.
The ruins’ purpose was to obtain contaminated genes, but why did they have to provoke the most difficult-to-deal-with Huo Yanji?
Moreover, the night before last, Colonel Murphy received news on her way back to District Five that the Fifth Safety Zone was under large-scale attack by ‘wanderers,’ and Commander Lin Shuyi led a team overnight to provide support.
—Both generals had left District Seven due to unexpected situations, a coincidence that was overly subtle.
The tense atmosphere gradually escalated.
The area three kilometers north behind the research institute was all open space, collapsed into ruins years ago due to an ant swarm attack, and the land still had contamination, so it had never been rebuilt.
At this moment, several heavy gravity helicopters for cargo transport were parked on this open space, their rotors buzzing continuously. Hundreds of people led by Wei Lan and Lance faced off in a standoff, conflict ready to erupt at any moment.
Wind stirred up sand and dust, black hair floating past Wei Lan’s delicate but cold eyes.
An alien spacecraft of unknown origin… did it really require the Supreme Council to mobilize such a large force?
Lance shouted sternly: “I’ll say it one more time, stand aside!”
“Beep.”
Wei Lan looked down—it was a communication from the General.
“Sir.” Wei Lan paused, “…Yes.”
She turned her body sideways, straightened her back, and made a gesture of invitation to Lance: “As you wish.”
Lance was somewhat suspicious and didn’t move at first, until he realized Wei Lan had actually led her team away, then he frowned and walked toward the aircraft, looking back every few steps.
It was too smooth, which made him somewhat uneasy.
·
“Of course I’m complimenting you.” Colin, using the alias ‘Alan,’ didn’t blush or skip a beat—though with his entire face wrapped in bandages, no one could see if he blushed anyway.
“Generally, when praising someone’s good sense of smell, we call it a dog nose. Haven’t you been complimented like this before?”
“…” Something felt off, but he couldn’t put his finger on it.
Sang Jue knew that human language could sometimes represent many different meanings.
“When did you arrive here?”
“Half a day before you.” Colin wanted to force a smile, but realizing his face was completely wrapped in bandages, it was pointless. “I was lucky. Before I suffocated, the General set a fire, and the mutant multi-headed velvet bubble green fungal clusters had to abandon their food to seek an exit… I was left behind, but I was also infected.”
Colin’s throat must have been burned by the fire, so speaking was somewhat difficult for him.
Sang Jue said considerately: “Take your time.”
“…I originally thought that since I was infected, whether I died early or late, I was going to die anyway, so I gave up struggling.” Colin sat down on the sofa. “I didn’t expect that this group of people from the ruins had somehow dug a secret tunnel underground in District Seven leading outside the city. They originally wanted to get more hostages, so they just grabbed me along the way.”
At that time, Colin was burned all over his body and had almost no clothes left. These people had no idea he was a soldier and just dragged him away.
But they didn’t expect that after bringing him back, Colin suddenly mutated, releasing sticky fungi that spread like threads, silently climbing onto everyone’s bodies…
Many people in the city didn’t recognize the mutant multi-headed velvet bubble green fungal clusters, and the people from the ruins knew even less about them.
They thought it was some kind of dirty thing and wanted to tear it off. Just as the green fungi were about to penetrate through their mouths and noses to infect them, Colin woke up and hurriedly retracted the fungal network, thus avoiding this instinctive feeding.
“After I woke up, I tried to escape, but found that this place was heavily guarded, with spore infection zones all around the perimeter.” Colin instinctively frowned, but it hurt so much that he touched his face. “No wonder we haven’t been able to find where this group from the ruins has been hiding all these years… turns out they’re hiding in this kind of place.”
“Then two days ago I heard someone say they had caught the General’s weak spot.”
“Weak spot?” The little dragon’s eyes widened. “Is Huo Yanji injured?”
“…?” Colin had been feeling quite heavy-hearted, but Sang Jue’s response directly amused him. “Are you stupid? The weak spot is you! Cough cough—”
“I’m Huo Yanji’s… weak spot?” Sang Jue realized.
Humans were not only good at joking, but also very good at metaphors.
For example, brothers are like hands and feet, women are like clothes, and… friends are like weak spots.
What a strange metaphor.
But if he wanted to be more like humans, he also had to learn to make metaphors.
Colin took a deep breath: “We killed Jim, we need to find a place to hide first.”
However, he wasn’t too worried. The reason they hadn’t been able to deal with this group from the ruins before was simply because they couldn’t find their location.
As long as they could find the location, extermination would be a matter of moments.
Sang Jue said: “Although we know where this is, we have no way to transmit this location to the outside.”
Colin casually replied: “There’s a tracker.”
“…?”
The little dragon’s brain turned. If Colin had a tracker on him, Huo Yanji would have located him in the city earlier and wouldn’t have needed to go to the sewers to look for him.
The other hundred-plus hostages would be even more impossible…
Sang Jue said warily: “There’s a tracker in my communicator?”
Colin: “…”
He was on the verge of tears—sorry, General, when we meet I’ll kneel down and kowtow to you!
Colin had learned about the tracker by chance. On the first night of support, he had called the General, and before he could even start his report, Huo Yanji already knew they were in the city cafeteria.
Sang Jue pressed his lips together, his cheeks slightly puffed up, clearly genuinely angry.
So when he was in the main city, Huo Yanji giving him the communicator wasn’t because they were friends, but because he suspected him and wanted to monitor him.
Looking at Sang Jue’s face, Colin strangely felt a surge of guilt and comforted him: “The General must have been afraid you’d encounter danger, so he put a tracker in your communicator to make it easier to find you—like now.”
Sang Jue was very unhappy: “That’s not it.”
“Really. Think about it, the General is so young but holds such a high position. Who knows how many people are watching him with displeasure. As his weak spot, there must be many people who want to kidnap you to threaten him. Having a tracker makes it much safer, right?”
“Stop talking, your voice sounds like, like…” Sang Jue thought for a moment and said, “like you’ve smoked fifty cigarettes.”
“…” Fine, he’d leave it to the General to coax him himself.
It wasn’t like he had installed the tracker, so why should he feel guilty? The urgent matter was to find a place to hide first.
The negotiations between the Governor and Huo Yanji couldn’t possibly end in just a short while. With both sides going back and forth, who knew how long it would drag on. If someone entered the Governor’s house during this time and discovered the dead Jim, it would be trouble.
Of course, only Colin thought it was trouble.
The angry little dragon now just wanted to find someone to vent his anger on, preferably taking a bite out of despicable humans one by one.
Colin pulled Sang Jue to climb out through the window. Outside, the alleys and small roads constantly echoed with the sounds of chatting and laughter.
“The people here live pretty well.”
Colin crouched down, pulling Sang Jue to hide behind shipping containers. Through the gaps, they could see a woman in an apron across the way telling her child not to run too far, as dinner would be ready in an hour.
“Fortunately, they chose the General to negotiate.” Colin’s tone was complex. “If it were General Huo, this place would have already been bombed to rubble.”
“Huo Jiangmian?”
“Mm—” Colin cleared his throat and said in a low voice, “Everyone thinks the General is cold-blooded, but actually the seemingly gentle and polite General Huo is the most ruthless.”
A general with a story.
Previously, when Huo Yanji said to Wei Lan, “Do you also want to end up like General Huo did back then?” it didn’t sound like it would be a pleasant story.
Colin found the right moment and whispered: “Go—”
They took advantage of the empty road and rushed into the alley between two buildings across the way.
The houses here were very old, with the wall paint mostly peeled off, exposing the brown-colored bricks underneath. Afraid of infection, the contaminated plants here had been cleaned very thoroughly.
But to add some little pleasures to life, residents had still created some interesting decorations, such as wrapping plastic fake flowers around iron railings, and building a fake fountain with stones in the middle of the small community.
“The Governor wants to keep me here, so he hasn’t really restricted my freedom much, just had people follow me.” Colin said, “I discovered an alley while wandering around these past two days.”
Colin led Sang Jue all the way to their destination. The end of the alley had no exit—it was a dead end. Three or four abandoned rusty barrels were scattered on the ground, and broken sofas, old refrigerators, and other debris were piled in the corner.
Yesterday, as soon as he walked over here, he was pulled away by the people tailing him, who said there was nothing interesting to see inside.
“Beyond the wall should be the community perimeter, we can hide there temporarily.”
Colin gave him a boost, and Sang Jue stepped on the debris to successfully climb over the stone wall.
On this side of the wall was an abandoned truck, its body covered with unidentified plants, the rusted cargo door half-collapsed and precariously hanging. Around the ground were some slightly raised burial mounds, with the scent of human bones underneath.
Colin’s voice came from overhead: “Make way—”
As soon as he finished speaking, guards discovered their tracks and shouted: “Outsiders are trying to escape!”
Colin, who was halfway over the wall, slipped and fell directly in front of Sang Jue, the pain causing the gauze on his face to twist.
Dozens of footsteps approached from within the wall. Sang Jue supported Colin as they rushed toward the side road. They couldn’t hide here anymore; they had to find somewhere else.
Colin looked back and saw a guard had already climbed to the top of the wall, pointing his gun directly at their legs. Enduring the pain, he pulled Sang Jue into the alley on the right. The bullet hit the wall bricks with a “bang!”
After winding through three or four alleys, a person suddenly appeared at the entrance ahead. Sang Jue almost instinctively struck with his tail, but fortunately he sensed no malice from the other party beforehand.
This was a woman wrapped up tightly: “Follow me—”
Sang Jue pressed his lips together. Hiding and sneaking around wasn’t the little dragon’s style; he would rather go back and deal with everyone. Unfortunately, Colin was now like… like a little baby needing delicate care, not suitable for fighting.
Colin coughed: “Ah Qin?”
Unexpectedly recognized, the woman seemed a bit uncomfortable: “It’s me… let’s go first, they’re about to catch up.”
People who had lived here for years naturally knew the terrain better than they did. Ah Qin quickly helped them shake off their pursuers and led them to hide in the basement behind a building.
The basement was dark but tidy, with shelves on both sides stocked with many medicines and some simple surgical instruments. At the very back was a makeshift hospital bed.
Ah Qin pressed Colin down, wanting to strip off his clothes and the gauze on his face, saying anxiously: “Lie down!”
Colin was a bit confused, clutching his clothes awkwardly: “Thank you for your help, but I don’t sell my body.”
“…What nonsense are you talking about!” Ah Qin glanced at Sang Jue beside them. “If I wanted someone, I’d go for him!”
“…Oh.”
Colin looked like a mummy. Ah Qin unwrapped the bandages layer by layer, saying as she peeled them off: “The medicine the Governor had me apply to you before wasn’t yellow elm, but giant frog mucus.”
Colin’s face changed.
Sang Jue didn’t understand: “What’s the difference?”
Ah Qin said: “Yellow elm has strong healing properties. For burns that aren’t too severe, it can basically heal completely. Giant frog mucus is indeed very good wound medicine, but because it’s corrosive, it leaves mottled scars on the skin.”
Colin closed his eyes: “My face now…”
Ah Qin hesitated: “I’m sorry, you probably can’t return to your previous appearance.”
No wonder from the moment he woke up, the Governor kept preparing him, saying his burns were very severe and would likely disfigure him.
After removing the gauze, Colin’s face and body had a thin membrane, which should have formed after the giant frog mucus dried completely and could be gently peeled off.
After peeling it off, Colin’s true facial condition was revealed. It really wasn’t attractive—not only were the burn craters unhealed, but half his face was ruined by centipede-like scars.
Sang Jue pressed his lips together. Males usually had to maintain strength and beauty, otherwise it would be difficult to pursue their females.
He asked: “Why would the Governor do this?”
“I think there’s an element of jealousy, after all, the Governor’s own face is ruined.” Ah Qin cleaned the remaining mucus from Colin. “But most importantly, only when a person loses the ability to live in a large group will they willingly stay in small places like ours to work for him—so all newcomers have to ruin their faces to some extent.”
How could a person with complete disfigurement and a terrifying appearance survive in an environment like the main city?
He would endure enough cold stares, be discriminated against, unable to find friends and companions, unable to fit into any team, because once something happened, people would first suspect those with frightening appearances.
“He doesn’t look like a good person”—this was what people most commonly said.
Sang Jue thought of Jason with the scar running through his eye. So he had voluntarily ruined his own face.
Colin clenched his fists and took a deep breath: “Then why are you helping me?”
Ah Qin looked up, meeting Colin’s gaze firmly: “I want to leave this place, and take my family with me.”
Sang Jue questioned: “Isn’t this place good?”
At least to him as an outsider, this place seemed quite nice—harmonious and happy, a world unto itself.
Ah Qin took a deep breath, suppressing anger and hatred as she said: “Did you see those children playing outside?”
Sang Jue nodded.
“The Governor likes youthful boys. Any good-looking little boys, when they grow up and reach the right age, will be taken away by the Governor as playthings…”
Ah Qin closed her eyes: “My younger brother was once one of those playthings. It wasn’t voluntary. The Governor lied to us, saying he had come of age and should be taken out for training. We had no idea he was actually locked in the Governor’s villa basement. In the end, he ruined his own face to escape. Because my family are all doctors and crucial to the community, the Governor spared him. But now he doesn’t dare leave the house at all, acting crazy, only willing to let me near him. If dad speaks a little loudly, he’ll tremble with fear.”
Colin frowned slightly. He still remembered the way the Governor had looked at Sang Jue earlier.
Ah Qin continued: “We’re not all willingly staying here either. The Governor constantly brainwashes us—about how unfree the safety zones are, how you can only live like puppets under control, how absurd the soldiers and administrators are, how supervisors kill people for no reason… Over time, no one wants to go to the city anymore.”
Colin was silent for a moment: “I can’t guarantee you’ll definitely be able to enter the city.”
“I know. The main city has always been recruiting wanderers from outside. I just need you to take me and my family away from this place. We’ll pass the screening ourselves.”
Sang Jue was puzzled: “You don’t know how to get out?”
Ah Qin gave a muffled “mm”: “Only those guards know the route out. Like me, I’ve never left this place since I was born.”
You can never just look at the surface beauty. Lift the veil of beauty, and who knows how much filth is hidden underneath.
Ah Qin worked efficiently, and soon applied new medicine to Colin: “The scars that have already formed probably can’t be healed… can you apply the medicine to that area yourself?”
“…” Some places were injured in rather embarrassing locations.
Colin hid behind the curtain to apply the medicine himself. His sense of loss wasn’t particularly strong—he had already mentally prepared for his face to be completely ruined.
He tried to find humor in his misery—at least most of his face still looked relatively normal, just slightly uneven.
He couldn’t help but think of Wei Lan. What was she doing now? Had she eaten lunch?
Fortunately, they weren’t in that kind of relationship yet, or it would be too awkward.
*
The Governor held Sang Jue’s communicator, letting out a sinister laugh: “Don’t worry, although the little guy is indeed stunning, I’m a man of my word. He’s fine, nothing has happened to him.”
Huo Yanji’s voice came through the communicator: “How do you plan to release him?”
The Governor leaned against the outer wall of the hostage building, surrounded by a circle of subordinates ready for action. Having long experienced the power of deviants, they could finally get what they wished for.
“As a show of good faith, we’ll make a simultaneous exchange. You give me enough contaminated genes, and I’ll give you the 113 hostages, but Sang Jue stays behind—to prevent you from killing the people I send for the trade. Once they return safely with the goods, I guarantee Sang Jue will return to your side safe and sound.”
“Like this?” Huo Yanji’s voice was cold, revealing little emotion. “Where do you want to make the trade?”
The Governor said: “In three hours, I’ll send you the address.”
To prevent being ambushed in advance, he couldn’t reveal the trading location beforehand.
But Huo Yanji said: “Three hours? Too long.”
The Governor frowned, his ruined half-face twisting along with it. After thinking for a moment, he said: “Then two hours from now!”
“Still too long.” Huo Yanji’s indifferent tone came through the communicator. “How about I set the trading location and time instead.”
“…What the hell?”
Huo Yanji said: “Trading time: now. Trading location: right here.”
The Governor was stunned for a second before reacting, his face changing dramatically. The voice from the communicator and the voice in reality overlapped—
He was clearly right behind him!
A team of elite soldiers had silently appeared in the community. The residents were too frightened to move, and the guards watching the gate had been taken hostage, looking at him tremblingly.
Huo Yanji held a gun with one hand, pointing it at the guard’s head while removing his black protective mask with the other, revealing that handsome, cold face.
He asked casually: “How about it? Do you like this trading time and location?”
“…”
The Governor’s face turned ashen, his scar-covered skin twisting together, making him look even more terrifying.
“You now have two choices—help bring out the hostages and Sang Jue, then spend the rest of your life in prison. Or try to resist, and this place becomes your graveyard.”
“…”
Boss Jie beside him was the first to put down his gun and raise his hands. The other subordinates looked at each other and followed suit. Only the Governor still unwillingly pointed his gun at Huo Yanji: “A bunch of useless trash!”
“Hands on your head, kneel down.”
Huo Yanji pointed his gun at Boss Jie: “Bring my person out.”
“…Yes.”
Boss Jie naturally knew he meant Sang Jue and immediately ran back to the villa, but unexpectedly found it empty. Jim, who had been guarding Sang Jue, was dead with a bloody hole torn in his stomach—clearly the work of a deviant.
The newly recruited Alan was also missing, though no body had been found yet.
He gritted his teeth and ran back with an ugly expression: “The person is gone.”
Huo Yanji suddenly pulled the trigger: “Bang—”
Everyone jumped, watching helplessly as the Governor’s wrist was pierced, blood spurting out. Then another shot hit the Governor’s knee, and he fell to the ground with unstoppable wails: “Ahh!!”
Huo Yanji approached, pressing the gun barrel against the Governor’s head, saying word by word as he looked down: “Where. Is. He?”
##
![Dissatisfied [e-sports]](https://www.freenovels.net/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/4997572.jpg "Dissatisfied [e-sports]")
