Choosing to start by teaming up with others was a decision Han Qingyu and Wen Jifei had made together the previous night. Aside from Zhe Qiuhong, who couldn't care less, everyone else agreed as well.
They still didn't understand the City of Iniquity well enough, and given their poor physical condition, they dared not underestimate any hidden threats lurking within this brutal city.
After all, they still had to go back to hack Alphonse to pieces. If a single misstep got them killed here, it would be far too frustrating.
So, all they could do was test the waters step by step, remaining as conservative and cautious as possible for now.
Yet Qian Daofeng, sitting across the table—who had always seemed fairly steady and composed—reacted dramatically on the spot, leaping straight to his feet.
"Wait, do you guys have a death wish?!" Qian Daofeng yelled, then paused. "What I mean is, even though coming here means you definitely have to fight to survive and you can't fear death, this kind of work... aren't you in too much of a rush? Walk along the river long enough and your shoes are bound to get wet, understand?!"
"What Brother Daofeng means is... wait a second, let me think how to explain it to you properly." Ao Yong knitted his brows and muttered to himself, "This is a math problem."
"For instance, in a single battle, usually three to five people die. Let's say there's a ten percent casualty rate. For source energy blocks, that really is worth taking a gamble on. And that's precisely why we asked earlier if you wanted to join in on ours.
"But you can't treat this like a day job! Because then there'll be a second time, a third time, a fourth time, a... I don't know how to calculate it, do you? Anyway, as the number of battles goes up, the overall mortality rate will eventually climb infinitely high. You get what I mean, right?"
Ao Yong gestured frantically and clumsily with his fingers as he spoke, though that clearly wasn't enough to convey this complicated arithmetic problem clearly.
Qian Daofeng took over the conversation again.
"Because of this, apart from the major factions whose squad combat power crushes Great Spikes with ease, the vast majority of teams doing this kind of work only keep a few core members. The rest are recruited on a temporary basis whenever a gig comes up. They call the people who go 'playing Russian roulette.'
"Do you understand Russian roulette?... Bang!"
Qian Daofeng raised a hand to his temple and mimed pulling a trigger.
Then, he froze for a few seconds, pulled his gaze back, and turned to look at Ao Yong.
Because he finally noticed that during the several minutes the two brothers spent frantically explaining and elaborating, the people around the table—apart from occasionally glancing over out of politeness—had been calmly picking up food with their chopsticks and eating, and even those glances had been completely calm.
"So, it looks like we underestimated them." The two brothers quickly read the exact same message in each other's eyes.
With that thought, Qian Daofeng sat back down, leaned forward slightly, and asked in a low voice, "You came from the Azure military, didn't you? From the Sole Witness Legion?"
Han Qingyu looked up at him and nodded. "Yeah."
There was no need to hide this.
"A frontline combat squad?"
"Yeah."
Qian Daofeng said, "I knew it! It really was... Then why did you..."
Ao Yong reached out too late to stop him, and hurriedly offered an apologetic smile. "Sorry. In this place, people usually shouldn't ask questions like that. The two of us just got overly worked up. You don't have to say."
"It's fine," Wen Jifei said with a bright smile toward the two brothers. "We just accidentally made a few mistakes in the army, and had no choice but to get out."
"Right." Ao Yong and Qian Daofeng exchanged another look.
First, they were being honest. Second, the mistakes they made probably had something to do with the iron armor on that fully armored girl—with so much dead iron used, they must have skimmed and stashed it away over time. And finally, no wonder they dared suggest taking gigs with freelance groups; they really did have actual combat experience and capability.
At the end of their exchange of glances, their eyes lingered in hesitation before Qian Daofeng turned back, his tone flat and emotionless. "We came out of Pure Purgatory."
Since they had asked first and the other side had answered frankly, they ought to be frank in turn. That was the consistent logic of the two brothers, and the hesitation came because their background technically placed them on opposing sides.
"But we never did anything bad! We were tricked—swindled into it by doomsday cultists, trained for a few months, and before we could even do anything, Azure wiped the whole nest out in one fell swoop," Ao Yong hurriedly added. "Then, after the interrogation, the judge asked if we wanted to stay in an Azure logistics living base for the rest of our lives, or leave..."
"When we heard there was such a good option, we chose to leave." Qian Daofeng smiled bitterly, propping an elbow on the table and wiping at his eyes, wiping away a handful of bitter tears.
"That judge was a total bastard, not explaining things clearly." Ao Yong wiped his eyes as well.
Chuckles broke out around the table.
If they had stayed at the Azure living base, they would have settled down to clock in and out, work, fall in love, get married, and have children, just like living in a company town built around a mega-factory. Leaving wouldn't be easy, and home leave would only be granted after several years of steady, reliable conduct.
Yet once outside, the only place that could hold them was the City of Iniquity. Otherwise, whether it was Azure, Snow Lotus, or any other organization, none would let them live freely. Hunter and manhunt squads would pursue them across the globe.
"If we hadn't been lucky enough to get this job right after arriving here three years ago, the two of us would probably be dead by now." Ao Yong smiled through red-rimmed eyes, sniffled, and said, "By the way, do you know how we got this job?"
Shen Yixiu piped up: "Did you pass an exam for it?"
"No! We're sanitation workers—what exam, sweeping floors?" Qian Daofeng chuckled and said, "A guy named Marshal Hua arranged it for us. I bet you've heard of him."
Han Qingyu and the others nodded.
Qian Daofeng continued, "When we were first sent here, we hid in a burrow outside the city, too scared to enter and too scared to leave, not knowing what to do. Whenever we got hungry, we could only catch lizards to roast and eat..."
Wen Jifei, He Tangtang, Zhu Jiaming, Zhe Qiuhong, and Rusty Sister all turned to look at Wu Xu.
Wu Xu: "..."
"One time, a guy walked over and asked if they tasted good and whether we could spare him one." Ao Yong didn't go into detail, pausing before continuing, "That guy was Marshal Hua."
He Tangtang asked, "So did you share? Did he really eat it?"
"The thing was, we couldn't bear to give any up! At the time, the two of us clutched the lizards and sprinted away as fast as our legs could carry us. Marshal Hua chased after us with a grin, and then he snatched them all away. After that, he brought us into the city." Ao Yong laughed as he told the story.
Qian Daofeng laughed too.
Apart from thinking that judge was an absolute bastard, the two of them held a very favorable impression of Azure and felt genuine affection for it. Thinking back, if they hadn't been duped into Pure Purgatory first and had instead encountered Azure, they would likely be part of the Sole Witness Legion right now.
Once they had talked things out openly, the distance between them seemed to shrink considerably, and each side understood the other's situation much better.
Qian Daofeng and Ao Yong no longer tried to talk Han Qingyu and the others out of joining freelance groups.
"Since you have the ability and experience, testing the waters first is fine too, but you must be careful," Qian Daofeng said. "Actually, freelance groups here usually really like people who come from the Sole Witness Legion. You're well-versed in formations, you don't fear death much, and you have solid combat strength. How about this afternoon? This afternoon, I'll go ask Boss Dao for you and see if he needs any extra hands lately."
Things were settled just like that. Han Qingyu looked up and said, "Thank you."
"Are you still going to look for an honest job?" Ao Yong asked from the side.
"Of course," Wen Jifei said with a smile. "After all, we're honest people."
Chapter 429