At night, in the dining room where the community workers had dinner.
Dr. Huang walked away from the counter with two bowls of the steamed Crystal Pea in hand. She sat down beside Chang, handing him one of the bowls. “This is your serving.”
“Thank you, Dr. Huang.” Chang held up his hand to stop the bowl in the air. “You can have mine.”
“Wow, I didn’t know you were one of those rebels who are against the Crystal Pea.” Dr. Huang poured the Crystal Pea to one bowl, shrugging at his refused kindness. “What about Jing?”
“We have our own food,” Chang replied.
“Well then, I’ll have yours. I am a simple person, and treat each day as a gift, feeling lucky for simply having the pleasure of waking up in the morning. I am pretty carefree in this mentality.” Dr. Huang knocked the bowl with her spoon. “Are you sure? A serving is only about 100 grams, I absolutely don’t mind having more.”
“Go ahead.” Chang nodded assently with his lips pressed firmly together.
He didn’t speak anything until Dr. Huang finished her meal.
“When are you going?” Dr. Huang asked, breaking the ice. She placed her unwashed bowl and utensils on the shelf.
“When everyone is asleep.” Chang stood up and leaned against a corner. “Do you think I’ll be suspected if I do it?”
“Nope,” Dr. Huang asserted categorically. “You thought your conflict between you and the gangster was severe? You must have not seen how often this occurs. They are a notorious gang, they kill people. They have foes everywhere to chase after them, who would think of you?”
“I am happy to hear that.” Chang waved to Jing to ask her to come over. “We need to get some rest first.”
“Alright, I’ll be waiting for your good news.” Dr. Huang left the room as she saw Chang close his eyelids.
At the same time but different location - the research institute wasn’t peaceful, either.
“Qing Shui! I haven’t seen your family for quite a while, where are they hanging out?” Zhuo pretended to ask inadvertently while shaking the testing tube in his hand.
“Well, I didn’t want them to get involved with the ugly political turmoil, so I already sent them to somewhere peaceful.” Speaking emotionlessly, Qing Shui poked a needle into an experimental subject’s arm. “I can’t even guarantee my own safety here, so if I have a misfortune, they will suffer with me. Thus, I’ve sent them very far away from here.”
“Oh come on! Who would dare to harm them? You’re working with me now! We’re on the same boat, you have my word.” Zhuo laughed. “You don’t trust me, do you?”
“It’s not about trust, I just want them to live happier.” Qing Shui beamed. “I’m loyal to Group Alpha.”
“Oh Qing Shui, I just love to hear what you’ve just said.” Zhuo nodded, grinning. His words were cut off by a series of knocks on the door.
“Let me check who that is, I think it’s someone from the military.” Zhuo put down his test tube on the lab racks and turned to the door.
It was a senior captain. The young man kindly invited Zhuo to an empty room. The lights flickered as they struggled to turn on.
“Did you find that person?” Abnormally, Zhuo wasn’t smiling.
“Yes, we did. An olfactory EM. Her nose is much more sensitive than a dog’s.” The senior captain smiled with confidence. “You only need an object that was used by your target, and she can trace it down as long as he is still in Zhengzhou!”
“Good, I’ll send a troop with the woman.” Zhuo revealed his bloodthirstiness. “This is a class-A mission, and there are two targets - a boy and a little girl. I need them back here as soon as possible.”
“Yes, Sir!” The senior captain gave a salute.
“One more thing, the first approach is to kindly ask them to come with the troop. But if they refuse, you know what to do next.” Zhuo once again put on the smile that he only showed to Qing Shui. “And keep it low key. I don’t want anyone outside of the mission to know about this. They are my last weapons. Most importantly, they must be alive when they come here. I don’t care if they have some body parts missing or not, but if they die, it’s meaningless to bring them back, understood?“
“Understood!” The senior captain nodded.
“Alright, your path in the military will be quick and easy when you get this done. Time waits for no one, you should go now.” Patting the senior captain’s shoulder, Zhuo left the room with his gentle smile and returned to his lab.
Chapter 90: Quadruple Kill
2:00 A.M
His eyes sprang open. Supporting his body with his arms, Chang sat up and leaned his back against the wall. He rubbed his temple to relieve the growing headache.
Jing was woken up by Chang’s movement as he sat up.
“Chang, are you leaving for the handgun?”
“I am. It’s critical for us since it’s the only effective tool in defending against the gene-altered soldiers.” He dusted off the mud from his pants, then saw a slip of a note pinned under a table leg.
The note was so close to him that he could retrieve it by reaching out his arm. It was obvious that someone had purposefuly left it for him. He lifted the table and drew that piece of paper inked with a graceful script.
The content was a simple line “The gang resides in the townhouses near our community”. There was a simplified line map drawing below the sentence. Its every stroke disclosed the details he needed.
Chang ripped the note twice and threw it in the garbage can. He said, “I’ll be back in a moment.”
“Are you sure you don’t want me to come with you?” Jing queried.
“Don’t worry, I’m not going to the jungle but a townhouse nearby. There aren’t many dangers there that I can’t handle. I‘m just taking my handgun back, I’ve no plan on killing them.”
“But… don’t you think your goal is too obvious to expose you?” Jing was baffled.
“I will make a robbery scene. Although I’ve never done this before, I can mimic what I saw on TV. Nothing you need to worry about.” Chang patted Jing on her back before he left the room.
Chang didn’t leave for the townhouse right away, instead, he returned to the apartment where Jing and he first hid in. His crossbow was untouched and was still placed behind the sofa. Picking it up, he then removed his shirt and put on the silk vest. He found a long-sleeved black t-shirt in a forsaken wardrobe and wrapped his head with a navy scarf that left only his eyes exposed. The daggers were secured to his belt, and the crossbow was loaded. After double-checking everything, he was now fully prepared for his stealthy trespass.
Returning outside, Chang realized that one thing that never changed was the stridulation of insects. Their song used to accompany his innocent childhood, but the good old days were already gone. The same old song that the insects were performing would now become a paean for his imminent triumph.
Without having Jing around him, he was able to run at full speed. Upon nightfall, the darkness flooded the city, and Chang weaved through the overwhelming fog. He was very quick, his every step being the most energy efficient possible. The balls of his feet always avoided debris and deadwood that might reduce his speed.
As if he was a born runner, sprinting had become as effortless and instinctive as breathing. Even though he didn’t gain much strength, his feet pounded the street in such a natural way that was akin to a cheetah racing through verdant meadows. The improvement on analytic skills and perception had turned him into an astute runner. Both his endurance and speed were enhanced by efficiency.
Chang relished at the silent calculations in his mind. In less than two minutes, the area that had neatly organized townhouses was in front of him. He stopped as he had a feeling that his destination was close-by.
Tracing the map in his mind, he found the particular townhouse with ease. It stood out from the rest, which seemed lifeless in comparison.
Except for the institute, none of the residential areas had electricity supply. Re
gardless of what kind of housing it was, a mansion or a hut, electricity was not provided to citizens.
Chang approached the townhouse with agility. Dirty shoes messily laid outside the door, and the stink of excretion that infected the air, affirmed him that this townhouse was his target.
All of these unmistakable hints gave Chang a direction, and he lurked under a window like a civet cat.
The window on the second floor was blocked by a locked cage-like security fence, and the burglar proof door below was tightly shut.
It was common for people to lock entrances to their houses before going to sleep. As a gang, these people even had thugs sleep in the living room as night guards—they were ready for reprisal from other gangs at any time.
Climbing up the fence to the second floor, Chang hung himself upside down as he reached out to pull apart the thinnest two bars in one breath. He squeezed into the iron cage and slammed against the window with his greatest force. He rolled on the ground to protect his head as he entered the townhouse.
Bang!
The glass shattered, and Chang stood up among the broken shards.
Of course, the break-in awoke everyone inside.
The townhouse was quite big, divided into three floors. The first contained the living room where most of the thugs slept in. This was also a reason why Chang decided to infiltrate through the second floor. He crashed into a bedroom with only four men and one woman snoring on a king-sized bed. All of them were shirtless.
The woman screamed immediately upon seeing a black shadow. The rest were shocked as well, but they were more experienced in combat. Out of instinct, they reached for their weapons.
Leaping with light feet, Chang landed in the center of the bed. He swiftly pulled out a dagger and swung it with the suddenness of a thunder bolt. The tip of the dagger made an elegant curve which slid through these men’s air tubes and arteries. The action itself was dexterous yet aesthetic.
As the blade left the last man’s neck, blood gushed out from the arteries as if four fountains were installed on the bed. However, not even a single drop of blood sprinkled on Chang, the culprit of this bloody scene.
The woman was showered in blood, the red liquid soaking into her hair and coating her naked body. She shrieked louder with tears in her eyes, the sudden death of others stiffening her body. She even lost control of her bladder, the excretion staining the bed sheet immediately.
“I’ll give you three seconds to stop crying, otherwise you’ll be the same as them.” Brows knitted, Chang clogged her tears by screaming out that one sentence. He spoke again after two seconds. “Three questions, how many people do they have in the gang? How many guns do they own? And where is the gangleader?”
“The leader is on… on the third floor. I don’t know how many guns they have, but they have sixty to seventy members, I guess...” she uttered, her hands laced around her head. “Please, please don’t kill me, I was forced to be here, I didn’t do anything bad...”
The woman didn’t even dare to look at Chang, keeping her head low and pleading for her life in a loud voice. But when she raised her head again, the man in black was already gone.
Unlocking the bedroom door, Chang ran up the stairs like the wind. In his mind, his true enemies were those who had guns. Therefore, after confirming the gang leader’s location from the woman, he didn’t waste time on purging the hooligans since his goal was his handgun that was taken away by the leader.
The uproar lit up the townhouse when the window was shattered and the woman shrieked. He heard rustling sounds of doors opening and footsteps on their way to the third floor. The sounds of metal reminded Chang that some of the hooligans were equipped with knifes.
However, the chaos didn’t hold him back. Because in this darkness filled with red fog, those “Blinds”, who could only see two meters ahead of themselves, were not a threat to him.
Chapter 91: Decisive
It was a short trip for Chang to run up one set of stairs. The top floor of this townhouse was more spacious compared to the lower levels, and Chang assumed this was the gang leader’s hideout.
Awakened by the sudden turmoil, the people who were sleeping on commodious leather sofas sat up. They already had weapons in their hands, and one of them was even struggling with turning on a flashlight.
There were eight gangsters residing in this lounge, two of them equipped with pistols. The flashlight they had was nothing special. It was a household type. Seeing the whole situation, Chang swiftly sneaked into a corner without a second thought. A bolt ejected quietly from the crossbow, aimed at its fated destination. It effortlessly penetrated through the chest of the man who was fumbling with flicking on the flashlight’s switch.
At this moment, Chang was deaf to any screams. The flashlight dropped from an enfeebled hand and rolled in a short curve before stopping. A faint and lonely light illuminated the surrounding red fog.
The rest of the gangsters recoiled out of instinct. They then moved to stand back to back, forming a circle to defend against the unseen threat.
“What gang are you...” one man shouted to the air.
The poor man wasn’t given a chance to finish his sentence. Chang was stingy with time. He just wanted to get his handgun back as soon as possible. Therefore, the second bolt he fired perforated the man’s throat, bringing him and his question to the grave. The man’ s handgun dropped as he kneeled to the ground.
Chang’s first unexpected attack didn’t leave the gangsters too much time to attack, but from the second one, the mechanic sound of the trigger left them an auditory hint. The only man in the room who held a firearm hastily turned to the source of the sound and without hesitation fired four or five times. The muzzle gave out lights from the combustion yet the dark corner only returned the noise of bullets hitting against the wall, mocking him that he was off target.
“I didn’t get him.” The shooting person was agitated by his own failure. He was only able to look around in terror.
A coldness of the blade informed the man about his fate.
The dagger performed just as well as when Chang had killed the four men. The process was as smooth as a hot blade sliding into butter. Chang ran to the other man once the one before him collapsed.
Clearing out the path didn’t take long. He made a ninety degree turn to the door before the bodies even stopped twitching. He knew his final destination, the master bedroom.
Perhaps because Chang wasn’t challenged at all in killing all these hooligans, he was overconfident and carelessly kicked the door open, only for a series of maliciouss bullets to be shot from an assault rifle to welcome his arrival.
------
The wily gang leader had awaited Chang for a long time. He hid behind the door so that his prey would come to him. As soon as the door opened, he pulled the trigger to release the raging bullets.
At the same time, as Chang kicked open the fragile door, he noticed the firing muzzle. His brain performed automatic calculations before he was even aware of it.
Although he didn’t see the trajectory of the bullets, his brain mapped out an imagery simulation based on the sparks he saw from the rifle. He predicted that there will be seventeen bullets fired before he could dodge to the side. He also judged from the frequency of the gang leader’s arm shaking that six out of seventeen bullets would hit him, and their exact location on his body.
Thus, he made a dodge before it was too late.
His thigh muscles contracted, and he lowered his head, bending down. He then took a leap to get away from the door. Five out of six bullets continued on their journey to the far end but he barely had time to evade the last one. It edged by the side of his waist, the abrasion emitting a blazing heat.
Just as the eighteenth bullet left the muzzle, Chang rolled to the side so that he was out of the shooting range. His palm covered the bleeding wound, which was burning painfully.
“I was too careless...” Chang was soaked in cold sweat when he managed to hide beside the door
. He clearly understood that a man who might be ten times weaker than him could still easily kill him.
In this moment, he was reminded of the millipede which was blown up by the bazooka. It was possible for a level one human to slay a formidable organism with fine calculations and enough luck. Without the protection of the spider silk bulletproof vest, the last gunshot could have been a fatal wound.
Upon realising the cruel fact, Chang became more lucid and careful about the situation he was confronted with.
It all happened in a flash, the holligan guards from the first floor arrived in a fluster. Before the gangsters noticed him, Chang sprang up and gripped onto the lighting crown molding and rested his feet against the wall as if he was a gecko.
“Who is it? Who attacked us?” The hooligans had nothing but flashlights and wooden rods in their hands. The light restlessly swung around, illuminating the red fog.
Chang carefully moved along the lighting crown molding, backed by the fine calculations in hismind. None of the light beams spotted him.
Lurking in the corner, Chang hung himself upside down to free his hands so that he could reload the crossbow.
“Stay alert! I don’t know how many intruders there are, but I get the feeling that there aren’t many. They must have gone through an advanced evolu...” The gang leader spoke again, but he failed to give the complete warning to his followers.
Chang loosened one foot and kicked against the wall, landing with a nice backflip. He dashed across the hooligans in the route he’d planned, reaching the bedroom door in two seconds. At the same time as he entered the bedroom, he pulled the trigger to release the arched bowstring. Before the gang leader even knew what had happened, the bolt had already punctured his shoulder blade. As the result of damaging the bone and nerves, the assault rifle dropped.
Chang was fast enough the catch it before it touched the ground. The magazine of the assault rifle was already replaced by the gang leader, so Chang made a 180 degree turn and scoured the hooligans.
Bratata!
Global Evolution Page 40