Chapter 139: Unsettling Encounters
by xennovel“Little brother, what should I call you?”
Outside the warehouse, one of Master Snake’s men offered a box of cigars.
The voluptuous and languid Master Snake drew one out, lit it from the flame offered by her subordinate, and slowly exhaled a large cloud of smoke. She seemed quite entranced, and the cat in her lap, enveloped in the smoke, looked equally content.
Then Master Snake casually pulled out another cigar, offering it to Gecko while asking with a smile.
“My name is Zhang San, he’s Li Si.”
Gecko took the cigar, puffed on it, and immediately choked, coughing. “Big Sis, is this cigar moldy?”
Master Snake took another satisfying drag herself. “Pre-cataclysm stuff, re-roasted.”
“I’ve heard some rumors about your Department before.”
She didn’t try to call out Gecko’s lie, just smiled. “I used to think they were exaggerations, but seeing you today, I know it’s true. Never mind anything else, you don’t even blink with so many guns pointed at you…”
“That shows you’re very confident!”
Still smiling, she looked over at Gecko. “Little brother, are there many people like you in Qinggang City?”
Gecko took a small puff, blowing smoke rings playfully. “That depends on what aspect you mean…”
He glanced at Master Snake’s full figure. “There aren’t many as handsome as me in Qinggang.”
The subordinates nearby couldn’t help but glance sideways at Gecko.
But Master Snake didn’t seem bothered by Gecko’s teasing. Instead, she gave him a soft, pointed look and smiled. “Indeed, I haven’t met many as handsome as you… But I was asking about something else. You two don’t look very old, nor do you seem formally trained. Yet, I get the feeling that even if all my men here opened fire at once, you wouldn’t be afraid…”
“Are you confident you could take care of a weak woman like me even with so many people firing simultaneously?”
…
Her expression was all smiles, looking very curious.
“My chances aren’t great.”
Gecko, also smiling, answered honestly, “Fifty percent at best, and only if I’m close to you.”
Then he glanced at the warehouse. “But if it were our squad leader…”
He seemed to consider it seriously. “He probably wouldn’t just take care of you, he might take care of everyone.”
…
…
“Hm?”
Master Snake blinked, her eyes flickering slightly.
“Master Snake, you should have realized…”
Gecko lowered his voice slightly, smiling. “He’s a very reasonable person, but you can’t be unreasonable with him…”
Master Snake nodded thoughtfully.
The cat in her lap narrowed its eyes, looking like it had fallen asleep.
Just then, someone from the side came forward. “We got it. Black Three took a gold brick from that guy in the red suit. Then he went crazy, helped him buy several people at the cheapest price, helped him gut them, and kept watch for him… Even now, he insists he found true love and doesn’t think anything’s wrong.”
Master Snake waved her hand dismissively. “Took benefits under the table, huh? Serves him right for falling for the trick.”
“Lock him up!”
She then looked back at Gecko, smiling gently. “These people’s methods are quite frightening, but you two are clearly much stronger, capturing him so easily. People like you must be highly valued in Qinggang City, right?”
Gecko slowly exhaled a large cloud of smoke, clearly taking a drag from the cigar.
Then he looked at Master Snake with a half-smile. “Isn’t that right? We have privileges in Qinggang too.”
Master Snake’s eyes turned playful. She asked casually, “Oh? What kind? I’d love to hear…”
Gecko looked Master Snake up and down, his smile taking on a different edge. “For example, patronizing young ladies’ businesses isn’t illegal?”
It took Master Snake a moment to understand what he meant.
She looked completely baffled, staring at Gecko incomprehensibly. “That’s it?”
“That’s just one reason.”
Gecko actually knew what Master Snake was probing for. His expression grew more serious as he spoke softly:
“A more important reason is that we like staying in the city.”
“There, you can go to school, work, and buy groceries after getting off.”
“When I feel like working, I take on an exciting job. When I don’t, I laze around at home all day…”
“I don’t have to be wound up like a fighting cock every day…”
“Most importantly, the young ladies on the street aren’t too scared to wear short skirts…”
…
“Master Snake…”
At this point, he turned his head with a smile. “It’s lively here, but there’s just one thing wrong…”
His gaze swept over the surrounding men, chests bared in the cool wind, holding guns, snot running down to their mouths, utterly unconcerned.
Slowly, he added, “…It’s a bit too crazy…”
Hearing Gecko’s words, Master Snake frowned slightly, seeming like she wanted to say something.
Just then, a small figure wrapped in black plastic sheeting hurried over. He seemed to have urgent news but hesitated to approach. Only after Master Snake nodded slightly did he quickly come forward and whisper a few words. Then, Master Snake suddenly jolted, her face filled with disbelief, even a hint of terror, as she looked towards Gecko.
“What you shouted through the megaphone just now…”
Her expression was extremely unnatural, her voice trembling slightly. “Was it true?”
“Megaphone?”
Gecko paused, then realized and laughed. “What are you thinking? That was just to trick you…”
Master Snake glanced at him. “You just said we were too crazy. Don’t tell me your High-wall City’s…”
As she spoke, she subconsciously glanced up at the dark night sky and snorted coldly, “…aren’t crazy?”
Gecko didn’t understand why Master Snake had suddenly turned cold. He wondered in surprise, “Does she dislike boasters?”
Just as he was about to explain, a bloodcurdling scream suddenly rang out.
The scream came from inside the warehouse.
Listening, it was clearly from the Puppet-type ability user in the red suit.
The sheer volume of the scream made everyone outside the warehouse jump, their hearts pounding.
The agony, fear, shock, and terror contained within that scream sent an indescribable shiver down everyone’s spines.
The armed men holding guns nearby, and even Master Snake who had been smoking and chatting with Gecko, instantly broke out in goosebumps, looking towards the warehouse in alarm.
People in the Wasteland were experts at torture; Master Snake’s own collection was considered unparalleled out here.
But no matter how they tried to imagine it, they couldn’t fathom what kind of torture device could make a person scream like that.
The screaming continued, growing steadily higher in pitch.
Even the cat in Master Snake’s lap was startled awake. It turned its head towards the warehouse, its feline face wearing a strangely eerie expression.
Master Snake’s first reaction was to look towards the outskirts of the town.
Only then did she turn back to Gecko, her expression serious, unable to completely hide her tension.
Gecko’s voice also tightened slightly, and he swallowed hard.
He paused for a second, then turned to Master Snake. “Of course, we have a few abnormal ones too…”
Master Snake turned to look at him, her eyes filled with a peculiar expression.
…
…
The screaming lasted for several tens of seconds, then abruptly fell silent.
A long silence descended upon the warehouse, and the people outside were also strangely quiet. No one spoke.
After quite a while, the warehouse door flap was suddenly pushed aside, and Lu Xin walked out.
He seemed lost in thought, his expression showing a hint of lingering fear.
“What’s he afraid of?”
Gecko couldn’t help but wonder, considering what just happened, was he scared by the screams of the man in the red suit?
But weren’t you the one who made him scream?
Are you afraid of yourself?
…
…
“I’ve finished asking what needed to be asked.”
Lu Xin walked towards Gecko. It was noticeable that Master Snake took an almost imperceptible step back as he approached. Lu Xin saw the subordinate next to Master Snake still holding the cigars, took one, handed it to Gecko, and said, “Looks like we need to leave quickly. There’s no time to escort this person back to Qinggang City. Can we leave him locked up here for now?”
He looked at Master Snake. “Someone from Qinggang will come to take him back.”
Master Snake paused, then asked in surprise, “Little brother Li Si trusts me?”
Lu Xin took a second to recall who Li Si was, then nodded. “I trust you.”
Before capturing the man, they worried that the people of Blackwater Town might shelter these individuals, or that letting them interact could cause unnecessary complications. But now, the person was caught, and even interrogated.
So Lu Xin felt quite relieved.
These people couldn’t cause any more trouble, much less secretly let the man in the red suit escape…
Even if they let him go, he might not even run!
…
…
“It’s good that little brother trusts me…”
The woman called Master Snake licked her lips and chuckled softly. “But this person isn’t quite normal, is he? Can I really keep him contained?”
Lu Xin turned his head. By the light outside the warehouse, he could see the man in the red suit squatting properly on the ground. There wasn’t a single visible wound on him, but his whole body was trembling violently, the muscles in his face twitching uncontrollably.
A profound sense of fear radiated from his eyes. Tears and snot smeared his face into a mess.
When someone’s gaze fell upon him, he started screaming hysterically:
“Monster, monster… All of them…”
“They’re all monsters!”
…
…
The atmosphere instantly grew heavy. Countless eyes turned towards Lu Xin.
Lu Xin simply shook his head calmly. “Don’t worry. He’s perfectly normal now.”