Returning Home

At nine the next morning, at a self-service gas station on the outskirts of Nanxia City. The NB711 was parked in front of a fuel pump. After a few quick operations, Chu Yu picked up the nozzle and began pumping gasoline into the tank. While Ding Shi headed to the restroom, the others stepped out of the car to stretch their legs. As the captain, Chu Yu said, "From here on, Ritian will take the wheel, and Mumu will handle navigation. Brother Kai and Ding Shi can rest in the back seat." Everyone agreed. Just then, an SUV pulled up before another pump, and a thin man dressed in a black suit and black sunglasses stepped out of the driver's seat. Everyone glanced at him; since he was clearly a player rather than a robot, no one paid him much mind. They had chosen this particular station precisely because it had no cameras—Team Yuyu was currently on edge, like birds startled by the mere twang of a bow. Then Team Yuyu watched as the man in the black suit drew a pistol, racked the slide with practiced ease, and pointed the muzzle at the four of them. "Anyone moves, you die. Everyone, on the ground." His tone was nonchalant, sounding exhausted and reluctant to waste time on them. Chu Yu asked, "Are you robbing us?" "I want to search you," the man in the black suit said. Brother Kai stepped forward with an appeasing smile. "Brother, harassing players will get you reported. Name your price. We don't have much money, but..." The man in the suit sighed, seemingly too tired to bother talking to them. "Everyone on the ground. Three, two..." "All right, all right." Brother Kai crouched down as if to lie flat. Beside the car, Mumu let out a yelp and tumbled over. Instinctively, everyone looked toward her—and Brother Kai exploded forward, lunging at the man in the black suit. The man snapped a high kick upward, driving his heel into Brother Kai's right cheek and sending him flying a meter away. Brother Kai slammed to the ground, his mouth full of blood, and coughed up two molars. Everyone was stunned by the man's ruthless viciousness. But the man in the suit merely shrugged and pointed the muzzle at Brother Kai. "Killing you first and searching you after works just as well." "Shabi?" Ding Shi's voice rang out. The man in the suit turned, and their eyes locked. In the next second, sparks flew like Mars colliding with Earth. Ding Shi stepped forward twice as Shabi swung his muzzle around. Ding Shi seized Shabi's right wrist. Both men drove their foreheads forward, their heads cracking together, and both staggered back a step. With the advantage in height and weight, Ding Shi recovered faster, chopping his right hand down onto Shabi's right wrist to grip the gun's frame. Shabi pulled the trigger, but Ding Shi had already clamped down on the firing pin, preventing the round from firing. Shabi lashed out with a kick to Ding Shi's chest, throwing them meters apart. The pistol clattered to the ground. Both charged back into a violent brawl. Shabi wrapped his right arm around the back of Ding Shi's neck and sank his teeth into Ding Shi's shoulder. Ding Shi hammered Shabi's head with a flurry of left hooks. Shabi refused to let go, tearing with all his might, until Ding Shi slammed his head against a pillar, finally dislodging his jaws from Ding Shi's shoulder. The two broke apart, panting heavily, glaring viciously at one another. Shabi spat out a mouthful of blood and flesh, drew a dagger, and gripped it in reverse. Ding Shi pulled out the dagger he had found in the female dwarf's drawer, holding it forward in his palm. Shabi grinned hideously to psych himself up, flashing teeth coated in blood, and charged forward with a madman's howl. With a flick of his wrist, Ding Shi hurled the dagger. It struck true, plunging into Shabi's throat and piercing the trachea while sparing the carotid artery. Shabi froze in his tracks, utter disbelief on his face. Ding Shi walked over and knocked the dazed, slowed Shabi to the ground with a punch. "Even a pig learns. You've only got these same two damn tricks. You're worse than a pig, and so is your whole damn family." Shabi tried to stand, but Ding Shi kicked him square in the face, sending him tumbling in a roll before he collapsed again. The dagger was buried deep, and Shabi dared not move recklessly. He struggled to get up again and again, only to be beaten down by Ding Shi each time. Ding Shi seized Shabi by the hair, hauled him up, and knocked him flat with another punch. Lying on the ground, Shabi laughed—a sound like a punctured bellows, grating and hideous. Casting aside all restraint, he struggled to taunt, "Ding Shi, you're finished. You definitely never guessed I have a clone, did you? I'm going to chop you into mincemeat. Starting from your hands and feet, I'll hack you to pieces bit by bit." Ding Shi asked, "How are your memories going to transfer to your clone?" "Huh?" Shabi froze. Why hadn't he thought of that? Idiot! Ding Shi yanked the dagger from Shabi's throat and plunged it straight into his abdomen. The blade punctured the stomach, allowing gastric acid to pour into the abdominal cavity, corroding Shabi's internal organs so that he would die slowly in agonizing pain. Ding Shi chuckled. "So, you still won't admit you're an idiot?" Shabi squirmed. "No way... my clone will definitely know you're here." Ding Shi stepped firmly on Shabi's chest. "You were an idiot from the start. You should have teamed up with me to take down Wang Meng, not teamed up with Wang Meng to take down me. To be frank, killing Wang Meng would have been quite difficult for me. Fortunately for me, he teamed up with a pig-brained teammate like you, serving up his head right on a silver platter." Unable to endure any more, Shabi snarled in rage, "Fuck you!" Ding Shi said, "Calling you brainless—you think it's an insult, but I'm just stating a fact. By the way, how did you end up as a running dog for the AI?" Shabi's abdomen burned like fire. He longed for death, yet couldn't die right away. "Kill me, and I'll tell you." Ding Shi pondered for a moment. "You couldn't have died in Taoyuan Village, could you? No way... really? Calling you Shabi was giving you too much credit." "Fuck!" Shabi tried to struggle desperately, but Ding Shi held his chest pinned firmly beneath his foot. Ding Shi said, "You died in Taoyuan Village, and the system gave you a revival quest. Players who died in Taoyuan Village became agents? The War Police maintain order and the law; they don't protect the AI. But you lot are the AI's running dogs, attacking us to protect the AI. Am I right?" Shabi wanted to die, and he also wanted to gouge Ding Shi's eyes out. Under those eyes, every twitch of his facial expression was laid bare. Ding Shi only needed to talk to himself, and Shabi's reactions would reveal whether he was right. Ding Shi considered further. "There are some details, though. You can't attack us in front of the War Police either, can you? The electronic eyes are the AI's eyes. The AI can delete footage of you ambushing us so it never gets passed to the War Police. But the War Police are an independent, lawful entity. If they catch you attacking me, they'll arrest and issue a bounty on you." Ding Shi added, "Yet we can't attack you in front of the electronic eyes, because the AI would send the footage to the War Police and put us on the wanted list." Clutching his abdomen, Shabi forced out a strained laugh. "Ding Shi, the ruthless killer who doesn't blink an eye, playing the game so seriously... that's hilarious, haha!" The more he laughed, the funnier he found it, pounding the ground in laughter. Suddenly cutting his laughter short, Shabi asked, "If you, me, and Wang Meng teamed up, could we rule a Sixiang City?" Ding Shi froze, taking a long moment before answering, "You're about to die." Shabi said, "If you're willing, tell my clone that you're willing to work with me to rule Sixiang City, and we'll become the best of brothers." Ding Shi replied, "I killed your whole family." Shabi said, "If you hadn't, they would have died at my hands sooner or later anyway." Ding Shi said, "I killed you too." Shabi said, "Yet I'm still alive. Think it over." As he spoke, he thrust his fingers into his neck wound, tore open the artery, and blood sprayed outward. "Think it over... think it over..." Shabi muttered until his eyes, fixed on Ding Shi, finally closed. Ding Shi sighed. This bastard was truly incorrigible, convinced he was Gotham's Joker and destined to become a king in the spotlight. To achieve that, he was willing to discard everything—because the Joker, too, had risen to become a king out of having nothing, being humiliated, and being ridiculed. Ding Shi turned around to see his four teammates. Except for Mumu, the other three wore frightened expressions, looking at him with wary eyes. Mumu showed only vigilance without fear. She held Shabi's service pistol, but she did not point it at Ding Shi. Ding Shi bent down to collect Shabi's stun grenade, baton, dagger, and bloodstained 150 instance coins, then asked Team Yuyu, "Shall we go?" Chu Yu looked at Mumu, who gave a slight nod. Chu Yu said, "Everyone into the car. We need to leave immediately. Give me the money." She held out her hand to Ding Shi. Ding Shi handed the 150 instance coins to Chu Yu. She went over to a vending machine and bought three medical packs at fifty coins each—an absolute luxury. Stashing the medical packs into her backpack, Chu Yu said as she walked, "We'll tend to the wounds once we reach Heishuigou Road. Patrolling War Police and agents will likely be here very soon."