Declared Dead

After approaching and probing the city for more than two months, Han Qingyu and Wu Xu had finally found a very fast way to make money: out of a debt of sixty metal blocks, they collected forty on the very first installment. Based on past experience, this was an insane number. In terms of mindset, they had probably thought about demanding an exorbitant price first and waiting for the other side to haggle... yet, to their surprise, it actually came through. Then the next day, Zhe Qiuhong came to own a hospital of her own right in the City of Iniquity. So she had been right: scientists were not just the primary combat power, but also money-making machines. In addition, the wealth accumulation displayed by the Three-Band Alliance this time raised Han Qingyu and Wen Jifei's appraisal of the City of Iniquity considerably, and their enthusiasm grew correspondingly. One had to realize that these people still couldn't be counted as a major faction; in Boss Dao's words, they had merely done rather well for themselves in the upper-middle tier over the past seven or eight years. Even so, their savings were already this vast. Endless infighting, plunder, and exploitation, with wealth concentrated to an absolute degree—this was another core ecology of the City of Iniquity. An ecology that Azure, under its principles of justice and fairness, could never possibly possess for the time being. It was also, in a practical sense, the ecology best suited for breeding top experts. They had to grow and emerge from the most difficult, brutal, and bloody competition, naturally claiming an overwhelming share of resources. In terms of the ratio of top experts to population, this place was even higher than Azure, Snow Lotus, and various other factions. "Looking at it this way, it seems we have to turn Boss Dao into a major faction," Wen Jifei said with a smile, looking at Han Qingyu amid the noisy crowd. "We need to for the sake of finding the Bone of Eternal Life too," Zhu Jiaming poked his head in, whispering eagerly under his breath. Han Qingyu nodded and looked away. Today counted as the small hospital's reopening under new ownership. Many people had shown up, including some well-known figures from neighboring blocks, and representatives from many factions they didn't recognize at all. The City of Iniquity had no explicit rules protecting doctors and hospitals, but logically, both enjoyed natural protection. No one wanted to find themselves without a doctor when gravely wounded. At the same time, doctors often had ties and relationships unknown to outsiders. You could rarely be sure whether the doctor you bullied today had once saved the life of some big shot. As for this little hospital before them, its new director had just single-handedly pulled the big shots of the Three-Band Alliance back from the brink of death over the past two days. No one could guarantee they would never need her help one day—even though none of them had even caught a glimpse of the new director today. Zhe Qiuhong was staying at home. The hospital had changed hands, but routine operations would continue as usual; Director Zhe was only responsible for the part involving miracles. "We're going to be rich," Wen Jifei said as they left, lingeringly drinking in the gazes of the crowd, as though all those people were already lying on the operating table. "Yeah, as long as we chop more people in the future, we're definitely gonna strike it rich," He Tangtang said with a mischievous grin. The day was April 30, 1991. With that, the group turned and headed home, preparing to change clothes and go to work at the bar. Behind them, the crowd was still discussing. "Word outside is that Dao Zaili took down the entire Three-Band Alliance all by himself. Honestly, do you guys buy that?" "I'd love not to believe it, but I heard a lot of people saw it in person that day. Besides, all the subordinates under the Three-Band Alliance have been absorbed into his band now, and from the look of it, they actually seem pretty damn happy about it... How do you explain that?" "Also, in the past thirty years, Dao Zaili has had monstrous dumb luck—he just couldn't die no matter what. You've all heard about that, right? Thinking about it now, it really is a bit strange." "Yeah, never mind anything else, take his former boss, who was just about to kill him to make an example for the rest—that very night, enemies ambushed and slaughtered him... Isn't that just a bit too fucking coincidental?" "Shh, keep your voices down! I heard Dao Zaili just had tumor surgery at this hospital a couple of days ago. He might still be here." "Tumor surgery? Bullshit! How could people like us ever get that kind of illness?!" "But I heard it's true." "That's why it's just a rumor! Who knows what's real and what's fake? If someone wants to look into it, let the major factions do it later. We shouldn't stick our noses into it. Who knows, maybe he's using it to lay low? Or hiding away to prepare for his next job." ... The City of Iniquity finally seemed to have a plausible explanation for Dao Zaili's repeated strokes of dog-shit luck over the past thirty years, where he should have died but never did. At the same time, his illness remained a mystery. However, people noticed that the two little brothers he had supposedly rescued single-handedly returned to work at Bar No. 15 after resting for two days. Han Qingyu and the others had talked it over and decided they could keep doing this job for a while longer. They put on the white shirts and bow ties again, draped fresh towels over their shoulders. Wiping cars had become second nature. Seeing a white car pull up not far away, Han Qingyu walked over. Because it was a convertible, he didn't look closely, casually opening the door as he passed by before heading to the rear to start wiping down the car. "Hey!" Lynne first urged Jenna, who had come with her, to head inside the bar so she wouldn't do anything terrible, and only then called out. Han Qingyu turned his head. "Last time I thought you changed jobs, but turns out you didn't. Are you running with Boss Dao's band now?" "Yeah," Han Qingyu nodded. "That's good. If I'd known you wanted to join a band, I could've introduced you to ours. But Boss Dao's place is great too. He's very strong now." Lynne smiled, but seemed to be in a poor mood today. After speaking, she fell silent for a moment and got out of the car. As she walked toward the bar, the girl looked back at his figure. *That's right. Since you look like him, how could you wipe cars for the rest of your life?* This was the third time. Han Qingyu couldn't quite understand this foreign chick's inexplicable friendliness. After wiping the car, he returned to his spot to stand and wait for the next car, and wait for her to come out later so he could get his tip. Though he was wealthy now, mosquito meat was still meat. And so, around one in the morning, when Lynne stepped out of the bar, her steps were a little unsteady. She held a bottle of liquor in one hand and carried two glass tumblers. Han Qingyu walked over. The girl got into the car, but didn't reach for a tip. She looked up and said, "I know you don't like going inside. Can you have a drink with me here?" "Get in," she said, sliding over into the driver's seat. Han Qingyu stood beside the car door, looking at her blankly. "Ten minutes, three source energy blocks," Lynne said, her eyes sullen, as if she were throwing caution to the wind. Three blocks! This was probably similar to the state of mind where Li Taibai was so drunk that precious fur robes and five-dappled steeds didn't matter at all. "Alright," Han Qingyu got in and accepted a glass of liquor. Without clinking glasses, Lynne took a sip on her own, leaned back against the headrest, and asked, "Did you notice I'm in a bad mood today?" "Oh," Han Qingyu replied casually, wholly focused on waiting for her payment. "You're supposed to ask me why!" "Why?" Han Qingyu obediently asked as instructed. "Mm-hmm... he's dead. Today, they officially declared him dead. Inside, they were just showing a video of him edited by Azure, did you know? The place was booked out tonight—in Slog's bar, playing his video, because Slog once went to assassinate The King. We chose his place on purpose." If Han Qingyu's English hadn't improved considerably over the past two months, she would likely already be dead. *Slog, my big boss, once went to Huaxia to assassinate me? What a coincidence! Why didn't I know anything about this?* As Han Qingyu thought this, he suddenly realized another issue: he had been declared dead... He asked: "What do you mean, declared him dead?" Lynne turned to look at him, answering beside the point with warmth in her gaze and tone: "You look a lot like The King, you know? You should know who he is, coming from Huaxia." Han Qingyu's fingers twitched, and the combat blade behind his back stirred. This sounded very much like a probe. For him, silently killing someone in this somewhat dark corner wouldn't be difficult at all; he'd just have to drive off in a different car. "Of course, it's only a profile from one angle... Here, look at this." Lynne survived for the moment—though naturally, she didn't know it herself. She reached out and handed Han Qingyu a long, somewhat stiff red sheet of paper. It seemed to be a leaderboard—no, two. At the very top of the page, Han Qingyu saw something that could roughly be translated as "The Sky's Limit" or "Dome Leaderboard." Seeing Chen Buer's name on the first line, his interest spiked, and he was about to keep reading down. Lynne's hand, nails painted red, reached over and skimmed right past half the paper, pointing straight to the lower half. Han Qingyu's eyes followed. The title of the lower half could roughly be translated as "Those Who Pierce the Clouds" or "Cloud Piercer Leaderboard." "He's not there anymore. He's gone. This basically means all the information and intelligence agencies in the City of Iniquity collectively declared him dead." Lynne leaned back against the headrest, looking up at the stars in the distant night sky, and said with a pout.