This time, she had truly become an off-grid fugitive.
Not only could she not return to Jianghai City, but she couldn't enter any other human city either.
However, it wasn't a big deal.
Casting one last glance back at Jianghai City, she knew she wouldn't hold back the next time she returned.
Xie Litang stepped onto her turbofan hoverboard and flew toward Kangda Town.
At top speed, in less than ten minutes, a dilapidated small town came into view.
Xie Litang switched on the revving feature, and a sudden roar reverberated across the town.
A moment later, a maglev wheelchair slowly floated out.
“Sis.”
Chen Linling's eyes were slightly red. If not for her legs, she would have already run forward and thrown herself into Xie Litang's arms.
Habitually, Xie Litang patted her head and said softly, “It's fine now. Everything's okay.”
“Sis, I'm sorry.”
“Why are you apologizing?”
“I'm a burden, aren't I?”
“You're my sister.”
“I...”
“You're my sister, and that's enough.”
As for being a burden, she found the thought almost laughable.
With the system in hand, there was no such thing as a burden.
The two walked toward a concealed small house, inside of which stood several exquisite cases.
Chen Linling lowered her head and murmured, “I didn't know what to buy with that money, so I bought some gear for you, Sis.”
Xie Litang opened them to look.
Inside was a modular Crane Whisper Battle Armor worth four hundred thousand, a hundred-times forged titanium alloy white-steel longsword worth one hundred thousand, and the remaining cases were filled with various potions.
Two hundred bottles of nutrient fluid, one hundred bottles of stamina recovery potion, and one hundred bottles of mental recovery potion.
A laptop worth over twenty thousand.
A few medical kits.
And finally, ten ant farms.
“Ant farms?”
Xie Litang's eyes instantly lit up.
She loved Chen Linling to bits right now.
Everything else combined wasn't as important as those ten ant farms.
For Chen Linling to manage to pull all this together on such short notice was truly impressive.
Xie Litang pulled out a map to take a look.
“Within a hundred-kilometer radius outside the city, the villages and towns from the Old Era have long been occupied by various gangs and factions, developed into black markets or hunter outposts.”
“We can find a place to settle down first.”
The good news was that it was pretty lively outside the city.
The bad news was that it was just as dangerous as ever.
Pausing for a moment, Xie Litang looked at Chen Linling, took a deep breath, and asked, “Linling, is there anywhere you want to go?”
Chen Linling pondered briefly before saying, “I looked up some information. Maybe we could head to Blackstone Camp first.”
“What's the reason?”
“‘Blackstone’ sounds like ‘black market’—and in fact, it really is a black market outside the city. It's a mixed bag filled with all kinds of shady characters.”
“But it's dirty, messy, and rough. It'll be hard on you, Linling.”
“As long as I'm with you, Sis, it won't be hard at all. Even if I die, I want to die together with you.”
Without further hesitation, they grabbed their belongings and set off toward Blackstone Camp.
Roughly fifty kilometers from Jianghai City, a rundown town came into view.
The moment the two entered Blackstone Camp, probing gazes swept over them.
The two were far too eye-catching—one riding a wheelchair worth over a hundred thousand, and the other carrying a turbofan hoverboard worth over two hundred thousand. It was more than enough to make plenty of people envious.
“You two.”
“Do you need any help?”
A man stepped forward and asked enthusiastically.
Xie Litang replied, “A place to stay.”
The man beamed instantly and said, “We do, of course we do! Please follow me.”
Chen Linling looked nervous, tugging quietly at Xie Litang's sleeve.
Xie Litang signaled her not to worry, indicating she knew what she was doing.
Anxious, Chen Linling lowered her voice and said, “Sis, I just hacked his phone and saw the message he sent.”
Xie Litang gave her a deep look. It seemed her younger sister had quite a few secrets.
“What message?”
“The guy ahead said two easy targets just showed up.”
“Easy targets? Is he talking about you?”
“Umm, he also said...”
“Said what?”
“‘If they're ugly, break their legs and throw them out. If they're pretty, take turns with them, and once we're bored, make them work as prostitutes.’”
Xie Litang raised an eyebrow and asked curiously, “Am I ugly?”
Chen Linling glanced at her sister's disguised face—small eyes, flat nose—and said, “You're not ugly... I'll always love you, Sis.”
“You're lying.”
“I'm not.”
“You...”
“Sis, go stall him while I dig deeper into his phone to see if I can find more info.”
Hearing this, Xie Litang stepped straight forward and peppered the man with all sorts of questions.
A stream of data flashed across Chen Linling's eyes. Having awakened the Cyber Machinist ability, network hacking was effortless for her.
A short while later...
“Sis.”
“I found everything.”
“Three One-Star Demon Beast Hunters and two Two-Star ones. They're local thugs in this black market who occupy a two-story building.”
Xie Litang nodded and said, “Then there's nothing to worry about.”
One-Star Demon Beast Hunters scraping by in a place like this wouldn't have many cultivation resources.
So their Vitality was probably just barely over three hundred. One trigger of Heartsteel would instantly kill one.
As for Two-Star Demon Beast Hunters?
That would just take one more Heartsteel trigger.
Soon enough, the two were led into the two-story building. The instant they entered, the door slammed shut.
“Hehehe.”
“What a fat pair of sheep!”
“The one sitting down might be a cripple, but damn she's pretty—prettier than any woman I've ever laid! Line up in a bit, boys!”
A bald brute stepped out from inside, a hideous grin plastered across his face.
Xie Litang cooperatively put on a terrified expression and rushed forward to plead for mercy.
“What? You're bad guys?”
“No, please spare us!”
The more she acted like that, the louder these men laughed.
The bald brute raised his palm—as big as a palm-leaf fan—and swung it toward Xie Litang's face.
“What an ugly bitch, unlucky—”
The next moment...
CLANG!
Xie Litang dodged the incoming slap and slammed a backhand punch right into the bald man's belly.
The bald man's eyes instantly bulged out, and his mouth flew open as he vomited a surge of stomach acid.
Right after, a handgun picked up from the Peacekeeper Bureau was shoved into his mouth.
BANG!
“One down.”
Xie Litang drew the longsword from her back and drove it straight into the neck of the bald man's second-in-command—the second Two-Star Demon Beast Hunter.
“Ah!”
Gasp!
The remaining three One-Star Demon Beast Hunters were completely stunned.
In less than two seconds, both their boss and second-in-command had been slaughtered.
Only then did they think to fight back. “Attack her together!” But it was already too late. At best, these henchmen were One-Star Hunters with under two hundred Vitality. Xie Litang finished them off in a single strike each, and the room quickly fell silent.
Xie Litang patted the sword against the guy who had led them here and said, “Tell me about the black market.”
The man spilled everything like beans from a sack.
The black market had only one absolute iron rule: fighting was strictly forbidden on market days; otherwise, offenders would be treated as a common enemy.
As for other times, anything goes.
“Does Baldy have anyone backing him?”
“I swear, really no one! The black market has high turnover, and nobody wants to see a power grow too big and take control of it.”
Swoosh!
The man clutched his neck and collapsed.
Xie Litang arranged the bodies outside the door, signaling that this place had a new master.
“Damn it, she's a ruthless character.”
“Retreat.”
The people observing from the shadows chose to leave.
Unless they were confident they could eliminate someone capable of wiping out Baldy's entire crew.
Rate on N.U.
