Book 1 Chapter 11.1 - From the End to the Beginning
When Su entered Pendulum City again, it was already dusk.
As a result of there being no roaming individuals like in Asmo at night, this place was still relatively peaceful. The plaza was not illuminated, so right now, it was submerged in complete darkness. Apart from the rotating sentries and the three-man patrol teams occasionally walking around, there were no other signs of human life. Pendulum City implemented a militarization management, and as such there was a fixed night curfew. Once night came, all activity was limited to inside the buildings. This was a simple and effective way of defending against the many dangers hiding within the darkness of the wilderness.
Muddled yellow lighting shone from opened windows, and the sounds of laughter vaguely ran through the air. If the machine guns surrounding this place and the tanks whose cold, tough outlines not even the darkness could hide were ignored, then Pendulum City at night was more like a warm and peaceful small town.
Su only stopped at the edge of the city for a few short minutes before he noticed a defensive gap. He entered the city once again. He felt a slightly different sensation; a bit less cold, and a bit more doubt and confusion. However, this bit of doubt was enough to stop him from moving forward. As a hunter who worked alone, Su did not wish to become enemies with a great company, one like Roxland Company. However, nothing in this world was absolute.
When completing missions, Su was often times cheated, and the rewards for missions seemed to be reduced nearly every time. This was the grievance of a solo hunter in the wilderness, as well as the usual practice of habitats and companies. The first few years, what Su chose to do was restrain himself. After restraint came retaliation. If the deduction exceeded the limit of what he could endure, or if some people schemed to get rid of him, no matter what kind of habitat or even small company it was, Su would always choose retaliation without the slightest hesitation. The scope and severity of his retaliation depended on a scale that rested within Su’s mind.
What Li Gaolei said wasn’t wrong. The retaliation of a lone wolf in the wilderness might be fatal at times. Meanwhile, Su’s retaliation, as long as he wanted to, would definitely be fatal.
Su understood that plundering was a person’s innate tendency. Being charitable would never allow one to preserve one’s own interests; only fear could make one hold back the greed of human hearts.
There were countless times when Su faced invitations of large scale organizations, with no lack of groups that were even larger than Roxland Company. However, each time, he chose to refuse. He wasn’t some noble or virtuous type, nor was he the persistent type. However, he knew his own body’s peculiarity. As someone who has worked as a hunter previously, Su knew the price a new mutation species could sell for in a large company. Even though he didn’t know the prices these companies were willing to pay to find out why a particular mutation didn’t cause one to collapse and instead made that person stronger, he could at least imagine. The value of Su’s body far surpassed the rewards for all the services he has provided up to this day.
As a result, year after year, Su wandered about the wilderness alone day after day, rigorously increasing his strength.
All of Su’s evolutionary points were obtained by walking between the border of life and death. All of his abilities were refined during the course of survival. As for someone who came from a large company like Li Gaolei or someone like Laiknar from the Black Dragonriders, they most likely obtained their evolution points from ripened medication formulations. These abilities would be paired with a specialized system of training if it was needed to become proficient with the ability. Their every step was smooth, while Su might need struggle alone for several months to obtain one.
This was why lone wolves in the wilderness would always be more dangerous than hunting dogs.
As he moved about Pendulum City, Su didn’t bring the anti-aircraft machine gun with him. He almost didn’t have even a single piece of metal on him. With the protection of the darkness as well as the city’s complex surroundings, Su did not need a weapon, because the weapons in the hands of his enemies could all be treated as his own. Instead, what he needed to avoid were advanced detection instruments like metal detectors.
Su moved stealthily through the darkness and slowly made his way towards Roxland Company’s general headquarters. There wasn’t any excess resources or energy that could be used to set up a diversion, and as such, from the number of sentinels and the way the electrical lines ran, one could easily discern where the center of Pendulum City lied. Under his infrared sight, nothing hiding in the darkness could avoid his perception.
Su observed the route of the moving sentry and chose a gap in their coverage. He then began to climb up the side of the general headquarters building. He didn’t move up along the drainpipe and instead directly followed the window up. As long as he borrowed the force of a window ledge or a frame, Su’s body would shoot up several meters, allowing him to rise to the next floor’s window. There was one window that was opened on the ninth floor, so Su quietly entered the room. He stood in front of the fire escape diagram stuck to the back of the room’s door for a moment before leaving the room.
There were surveillance cameras everywhere inside the general headquarters building, making every step Su took extremely difficult. Sometimes, he had no choice but to crawl on the walls and ceiling like a gecko in order to avoid the system’s monitoring. The seemingly empty corridor was actually full of probing infrared rays, but for Su who had infrared sight, it did not pose a problem at all.
The night was extremely peaceful.
It was already the third day after being ambushed by the patrol car. During those peaceful three days, nothing happened. Roxland Company’s members gradually returned to their normal lifestyles. They accepted the recently circulating rumor that an extremely powerful hunter attacked their company’s patrol car to obtain the anti-aircraft machine gun that was extremely difficult to obtain elsewhere. The soldiers that personally experienced that night solemnly swore that they had never seen a shooter who could use an anti-aircraft machine gun like a sniper rifle, but the attacker that night was precisely someone that could accomplish this.
Even though the sky was already dark, the people inside the general headquarters building were respectively busy with their own work. The laboratory was as brightly lit as usual, with many researchers busily working. The bar in the underground floor became busier, and the people who had worked busily for an entire day were ready to release their long accumulated tension and fatigue.
In a corner of the bar, Li occupied a chair alone. In front of her were numerous empty bottles. She stared at the empty bottle in front of her. Only after drinking several gulps in succession did she realize that there was nothing left in the cup. She casually picked up a wine bottle and poured the bottle for a long time before finding out that this was an empty wine bottle.
Li couldn’t hold out for another cup and fell unconscious on top of the table. If it was somewhere else, the outcome of a young girl knocked out from alcohol would be obvious. However, this was the general headquarters, and the bar was full of men who had the desires but not the guts. No one dared to take advantage of her.
Li Gaolei entered the bar at the same time he did the last two days, and he similarly saw Li completely drunk. Li Gaolei walked forward and carried Li out of the bar. The elevator was still at the highest floor, so he didn’t wait for it. Li’s room was on the seventh floor, so taking the fire escape path was quicker.
Li’s room was quite large, with the inside and outside divided into four parts. All types of facilities were installed inside. However, for a female’s room, the style was a bit terrifying. Apart from a few pieces of combat equipment, there were only various types of firearms and blades inside.
Li Gaolei threw the unconscious Li on top of the bed and then threw himself onto the couch before smoking silently. The cigarette was finished extremely quickly. He left Li’s room and even closed the door carefully.
On the fifth floor, Fazir was standing within the steaming bathroom while humming a tune. His face was covered in foam, and he was carefully shaving his beard in front of the mirror. This was something every male did in the olden era, but now, it had already become a sign of privilege and luxury. After spending close to ten minutes, Fazir finally finished taking care of his beard. He put on his bathrobe and walked towards the bedroom.
As soon as he entered the bedroom, Fazir’s entire body went rigid. He laughed bitterly and loosened his shoulder. “Do you want a drink?”