Free Web NovelChapter 100: Pathetic Confidence
Staring down at his brother’s corpse, Xinyuan tried to force himself to feel grief, or even regret. But he felt.... absolutely nothing. If anything, he secretly wished Jingxin could miraculously sit up just so he could strangle the life out of him himself.
Frankly, he hadn’t expected Wenzhi to pull the trigger so casually.
But Wenzhi wanted them all dead. It was him and his gun against the world and the gun he carried was one of the few specialized firearms capable of tearing through an Esper’s reinforced defenses.
Since Jingxin was already severely weakened by days of starvation and rapid blood loss, the headshot had terminated him instantly.
It didn’t take Xinyuan long to realize that Wenzhi had never intended to let his brother walk out of that room alive. The interrogation had been a mere formality. He was going to kill Jingxin regardless, a ruthless intent Xinyuan could feel vibrating through their bond.
Jingxin’s final words had clearly crossed a line. Wenzhi refused to be perceived as a harmless Guide riding the cock of a disaster-class Esper. He possessed a terrifying, cold-blooded strength that he had no intention of hiding.
Watching Wenzhi turn away, Xinyuan found himself falling even harder for the man. He squatted over his brother’s body, cocking his head to the side with an amused expression. "Rest in pieces, big brother,"
Behind him, Chenxi leaned his back against the wall, crossing his arms. "I’m going to give you some advice as a friend, Xinyuan. Do yourself a favor and never, ever piss Wenzhi off."
Xinyuan stood up, casting a glance back at Chenxi. "I know my limits."
Chenxi let out a low chuckle. "Sometimes I genuinely forget he’s just a Guide and not an Esper."
Xinyuan’s eyes narrowed, his voice dropping into a territorial warning. "Wipe that look off your face."
Chenxi merely laughed it off as they exited the cell and made their way to the main lounge. At the exact same moment, Jiang Zhaohe was stepping through the entrance, entirely oblivious to the execution that had just occurred down the hall.
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Once everyone settled into their seats around the lounge, Wenzhi immediately took command of the room, his tone sharp and strictly business. "What’s our current status report regarding the Rift Bureau?"
Mo Heyun ran a hand through his golden hair, leaning forward. "Commander Fu Muhan has issued an official invitation to their headquarters. They want to sit down for a formal contract signing. Aside from that, our main base construction is moving along perfectly on schedule. Though, if you ask me, it’s all going to be a massive waste of resources if the red zone keeps expanding at this pace."
"He’s right," Yuzhen chimed in, leaning against the table. "We have the scientific infrastructure to track the corruption levels, and merging our data with the Rift Bureau’s analysts will speed up our predictions significantly. But we need... more, don’t you think?"
Across the room, Wenzhi slowly wet his dry lips. He leaned his back against the chair, his arms locked tightly across his chest, and shifted his grey eyes to lock directly onto Xinyuan.
"We do have the capital, and we can always generate more," Kaiwen said, leaning his head against Duan Ze’s shoulder. "We have a massive opportunity to do more than just hunt rift monsters here. We could actually build a life in a dozen different...."
"An underground city with integrated corruption filters," Wenzhi cut in sharply.
It was a concept he’d mapped out back when he was reading the original book, and honestly, it was the only play that made sense.
Everyone turned to look at him, with Doctor Ruixin’s eyes lighting up with curiosity.
"An underground city?" Chenxi asked, entirely caught off guard.
"Factions have been building localized strongholds ever since the Great Fall," Zhaohe noted, processing the strategy. "The population broke apart, but free factions still hold the most leverage. People naturally gravitate toward free factions because they want to avoid the strict institutional hierarchy like that of the CEA."
"We aren’t running a charity, and we aren’t going to be tyrants," Wenzhi stated flatly.
"Since Sector Two has collapsed, Sector One has a 99.9% chance of being next, don’t it, Doctor?" Duan Ze asked innocently.
Ruixin cleared her throat, nodding quickly. "Well, yes."
"If the civilian population doesn’t want to join because they’re terrified of hypothetical tyranny, they can stay topside and fend for themselves." Zhiyao rolled his eyes.
"The corruption filter." Xinyuan suddenly said. "We can scale up the technology used in the standard-issue Guide masks. Build a massive dome network flooded with purified, filtered oxygen." freēwebnovel.com
Wenzhi looked at him with amusement. While doctor Ruixin nodded with excitement. "Yes, yes that can work."
"Are we absolutely certain we can pull this off? It sounds incredibly over the top," Gu Luhan muttered, his tone hesitant.
Wenzhi rolled his eyes, not masking his disdain. "We are breaking ground on the underground city construction immediately. Can we use the exact same coordinates as the official base layout?"
"Yes boss." Mo Heyun nodded, his fingers flying across his tablet as he stood up, gesturing for his Guide, Zining, to follow as he left the room to draft the blueprints.
With the strategy finalized, the meeting disbanded. Xinyuan approached Jiang Zhaohe, who offered him a relieved smile. "Hey. You look a hell of a lot better than the last time I saw you."
Xinyuan’s smile was faint. "Jingxin is dead."
Zhaohe’s eyes widened in sudden shock. "What? What do you mean he’s dead?"
"Wenzhi killed him. And before you start lecturing me about the trust pact you and Wenzhi made that night, don’t blame him," Xinyuan cut in. "Jingxin was going to get every single one of us killed. The Old Blood families don’t give a damn about us, Zhaohe. You know that better than anyone."
Zhaohe exhaled a heavy breath, her hands clenching into tight fists. "I do know that. Honestly, I can’t even force myself to be angry. Not after everything he put you through when you were kids. I still remember finding him trying to drown you in the estate pool. And when he tried to carve up your face, only for you to take the blade and leave him with that hideous scar instead."
She paused, her expression turning deadly serious. "The old blood are going to retaliate the second they realize he’s dead, Xinyuan. Which brings me to the intel I just uncovered regarding Wu Youran."
Xinyuan narrowed his eyes. "What about her?"
"Wu Youran was one of the prime human test subjects who volunteered for the experiments to engineer Disaster-Class Espers using your blood," Zhaohe revealed, her voice a tense whisper. "She was part of the Phase One trials four years ago. A highly successful project, and now she’s officially operating as a high-tier enforcer for the Old Blood."
Xinyuan hadn’t anticipated that specific connection, but the pieces of the puzzle clicked together instantly. He nodded slowly, a dark look flashing across his face. "That explains where she gets her pathetic confidence."
