Alliance Occupied Territory 0108

With a dull thud, Hou Rui’s fist slammed solidly into the short man’s chest. Before the man could even let out a cry, his eyes rolled back and he collapsed into unconsciousness. The force of the blow, combined with the counter-opposing impact of the man's own momentum, had snapped three of his ribs. Where his fist met the man's chest, Hou Rui could feel the ribcage cave in, his knuckles sinking deep into the man’s flesh.

"Damn it, what are you doing?" On the other side of the roof, the tall man caught the paper bundle Hou Rui had tossed over. But when he eagerly tore it open, he found no US dollars inside—only newspapers Hou Rui had swiped from Sanka’s hut. As the furious man looked up, he caught the exact moment Hou Rui knocked his companion unconscious.

"I need to save on travel expenses," Hou Rui said. He snatched up the machete from the small man’s side and charged toward the tall man, who was backing away and fumbling for his gun.

The tall man panicked, scrambling backward while trying to draw the .29 revolver from his waist. But Hou Rui, moving with lightning speed, reached him in an instant. Just as the tall man raised the muzzle to fire, Hou Rui struck first. One hand clamped onto the revolver’s cylinder like an iron vise, while the other plunged the machete into the man’s stomach.

"Pfft!" The blade sank deep.

The tall man let out a half-strangled gasp, but Hou Rui released the machete handle and clamped his hand over the man’s mouth. Even though the man wasn't dead yet, Hou Rui threw his entire body weight onto the hilt of the knife, driving it deeper into his abdomen.

In a final burst of death-defying adrenaline, the tall man managed to raise the pistol Hou Rui was pinning down. He pressed the barrel of the .29 against Hou Rui’s chest, but before his last breath left him, he couldn't pull the trigger. Until the very end, he never understood why his well-maintained .29 had jammed at such a critical moment.

Once the tall man’s body went limp, Hou Rui took the .29 from his grasp. He didn't even stop to inspect it before turning his gaze toward Sanka, who was frozen in terror.

In truth, Sanka had been stunned from the moment Hou Rui made his move. Innocent and naive, she hadn't noticed the subtle signs of the two men's scheme to kill Hou Rui. When the violence erupted, she was completely paralyzed, standing like a wooden statue. She didn't move, didn't scream—she simply stared, stunned, as Hou Rui effortlessly dispatched both men.

Only when Hou Rui turned to look at her did she snap out of it. As she prepared to scream for help, Hou Rui rushed over.

"Please, don't kill—" Before she could finish, Hou Rui swung the machete down with a swift strike. However, he used the blunt back of the blade, the massive force knocking her instantly unconscious.

With the rooftop cleared, Hou Rui finally exhaled. He checked the chamber of the .29, tucked it into his waistband, and then retrieved the AK-47 the small man had been carrying. With a quick thought, he slung it over his shoulder. Finally, he turned his attention to the large bundles the men had piled on the roof.

Opening them one by one, he found cigarettes, strong liquor, a small amount of medical supplies and bandages, a large stash of pills, and a thick stack of Playboy magazines. If that were all, it would be one thing, but in another bag, he discovered two six-packs—twelve cans—of soda.

It seemed the Alliance-controlled zone had been picked clean; even everyday drinks like soda had to be obtained through smuggling.

With no time to waste, Hou Rui quickly organized the loot. He stuffed as many cigarettes as possible into his clothes, thought for a moment, and added two cans of soda and a few magazines. Then, he walked toward the cable bridge.

He tested the sturdiness of the pulleys and other components, then found half a bucket of fish oil nearby. He wisely lubricated the pulleys, carefully strapped the rope around his waist, and stepped to the edge of the roof.

Before him lay total darkness. By the dim moonlight, he could only see a few dozen meters ahead to the faint lights of the government soldiers' outpost. Further along the line of the cable bridge lay vast stretches of forest, extending all the way to the dense woods before the next town under Alliance control.

He took a deep breath and extended one foot, testing the bridge’s capacity. He didn't dare let go prematurely; if the rope failed, the fall would be disastrous. He gripped the bridge tightly, slowly testing the tension, inching his hands forward.

Finally, after a few oscillations, the bridge held his full weight without snapping. With his heart pounding in his chest, Hou Rui began to move his hands, alternating them to slide along the cable.

Ten meters, twenty, thirty.

As he hung in mid-air directly over the government blockade, the tension and fear were enough to make his heart feel as if it might burst from his chest. He kept telling himself not to look down, not to let his thoughts wander, just to keep moving quietly. Speed didn't matter, as long as he cleared the soldiers' heads, he would be safe.

Time seemed to freeze, accompanied only by the sultry breeze. Inch by inch, he moved his hands in a rhythmic cycle, advancing a dozen centimeters with each shift. Just as he was about to clear the outpost, a single drop of sweat rolled down his face and fell toward the ground.

*Don't hit, please don't hit anyone!*

His heart screamed in silence. He was terrified that the droplet would strike someone and alert the soldiers below. They were only a dozen meters away; if one of them looked up and raised their rifle, his mission would be over in the worst possible way.

Fortunately, his prayers were answered. The drop of sweat landed directly into the campfire around which the soldiers were sitting, evaporating instantly without attracting any attention.

*Whew.*

Exhaling a long breath, Hou Rui continued his crawl. Five or six minutes later, he successfully crossed the blockade and truly entered the territory of the Liberator Alliance.

The remaining distance was easier. He picked up his pace, but when he reached a point about forty to fifty meters from the end of the bridge, he stopped over a patch of bushes. He used his machete to cut the rope on the pulley and let himself fall into a free-fall.

"Thud, tumble-tumble, crash!"

The moment he hit the bushes, Hou Rui curled his body, rolling down the slope to dissipate the force of the fall and obscure his path. In this dense forest, he couldn't be sure what dangers lurked.

Thanks to the devilish training he’d received from Di Si on the cargo ship, Hou Rui felt no particular pain even as he rolled over stones and thick branches.

But after rolling a dozen times, his back slammed into something round and volleyball-sized, throwing him off balance. He collapsed onto the grass and instinctively braced himself with his hands, only to feel something sickeningly slick beneath his palms.

Curious, he brought his hand to his face and saw it covered in maggots. No wonder it felt slimy—he had crushed countless larvae in his fall, coating his hand in their fluids.

"Damn it! What bad luck!" He shook his hand violently and turned to see what he had landed on.

The sight behind him was absolutely horrific.

Across an area of twenty to thirty meters, the grass was littered with corpses. Some had rotted down to white bone, while others were still bleeding. There was no doubt this was a body dump created by the Liberator Alliance. The round object he had hit was a human skull.

Fighting back his nausea, Hou Rui silently retreated until the pile was out of sight. He turned, brushed the small creatures off his clothes and hair, and plunged deep into the woods.

By dawn, he had put the nameless town far behind him. He estimated he had traveled over ten kilometers and arrived at the bank of a small river. About five or six hundred meters ahead, a small village was sending up wisps of cooking smoke.

Should he investigate? As he hesitated, several children, looking about six or seven years old, came running along the riverbank, chasing and playing with each other.

Seeing this, Hou Rui determined that this was definitely not an Alliance stronghold. He hung the AK-47 on a large tree and walked out to meet the children.