The almost spherical building was constructed on top of a commercial building over sixty stories high, the tallest structure in the city. From its edge, a large portion of the city's landscape could be seen.
Of course, not much of the scenery was visible now. Except for a few exceptionally tall buildings that remained undamaged, most of the structures were in ruins, resembling a city after a zombie apocalypse. Gazing south towards the ocean, one could see it teeming with large, ferocious aliens. The thought of the images they had seen on satellite feeds made Shen Chongyan feel nauseous.
Shen Qian retrieved two packs of compressed biscuits from his spatial storage. After finishing their meal and drinking some spiritual spring water, they rested for about half an hour, preparing to continue their journey... by flying.
However, as soon as they emerged, Shen Chongyan keenly sensed something. He pushed Shen Qian aside, raised his long sword to block, and deflected the bullet.
"Someone's here!"
Shen Chongyan scanned their surroundings vigilantly. They were at the highest point in the entire city. He followed the trajectory of the bullet, which came from a building about four to five hundred meters away.
"A sniper," Shen Qian said, exasperated. "Why would they shoot at us? Do we look like easy targets?"
"I don't know, let's go take a look."
【There are foreigners in the opposing team, someone is infected with the R virus. Please be cautious.】
"Damn it," Shen Qian quickly pulled Shen Chongyan back. "Forget it, let's not go. We should just leave quickly. Don't mind them, they won't be able to catch up to us anyway."
Upon hearing the system's message, Shen Chongyan also decided against taking the risk.
Currently, the R virus had a high fatality rate. Infection meant certain death, and it was highly contagious. The precautionary measure everyone took was to avoid contact. Since the other party was unsafe, there was no need to go.
The brothers continued their flight on their swords. The people on the opposite building's rooftop were frustrated by their failed sniping attempt. When they saw them literally fly away on their swords, their mouths gaped in astonishment.
A man with a distinctly Southeast Asian appearance pointed in the direction they had departed. "China, Kung Fu!"
"Is that Mr. Shen from Lin City? In the entire world, his ability is unique."
"It's so obvious, it must be him. We shouldn't have shot earlier. If he held a grudge and flew over, we would have been dead."
"Where are they going?"
The others shook their heads. They had come from Southeast Asia, a region known for its diverse and complex population. With the apocalypse, order had collapsed. They had formed a small team, raiding and plundering everywhere, living relatively comfortably.
In Southeast Asia, people were buying the bodies of ability users at high prices, alive or dead. As long as the death was recent, they could fetch a significant sum. They had ambushed several teams in this city, completely annihilating some and killing a few in others. This was the first time they had encountered tough resistance.
"No matter where he's going, if he survives, he'll have to pass through here again. Let's leave quickly. What if he holds a grudge and comes back to deal with us? We'll be in trouble."
Someone scoffed, "He's just a pretty boy, what are you all so scared of? If he's really that powerful, how much would his corpse be worth? I'm not leaving. I'm going to confront him."
Some agreed with the sentiment. Human greed for wealth and survival. Under that person's persuasion, they actually began to prepare a trap, intending to repeat their tactic when the brothers returned.
Unaware that they were being targeted, Shen Chongyan and Shen Qian flew for another two hours. They finally reached City H before dark. Large areas of vegetation here had died off. Originally a verdant city by the sea, it now resembled a desert.
They landed at the location mentioned in the previous message. Naturally, the person they were looking for wasn't there; they would have to find them themselves.
Jin Li was very excited to be out and about. Transforming into human form, he followed the two, looking around curiously. His appearance had initially startled Shen Qian, but he soon realized it was the young man he had seen that day.
He had a plethora of questions for Shen Chongyan but was quickly shut down with a simple, "Business is important."
The three of them searched the city for a long time, yet found no living soul. As dusk settled, they found an abandoned hotel and picked a clean room to rest.
The brothers shared a bed, while Jin Li sprawled on the carpet without any pretense of decorum, unfazed by the dirt. He could simply shake himself clean.
He rarely rested in this form, finding it amusing. His sleeping posture could hardly be described as elegant; it bore no resemblance to sleep at all.
Therefore, when someone silently entered the room and spotted him with night-vision goggles, they almost lost their soul.
He sat there rigidly, his round eyes wide open, dressed in peculiar clothing. He was fair-skinned and delicate, resembling an exquisitely crafted porcelain doll.
He might have been adored in daylight, but at night, he was a spectacle to terrify one to death.
"Is it him?"
"Damn it, why aren't you closing your eyes when you sleep? You scared me to death!"
"Stop the crap and take him!"
Jin Li felt himself being lifted. He remained still and unresponsive, like a mannequin. He was carried downstairs in that strange posture, placed into a car, and driven away.
Upstairs, as soon as the intruders left, Shen Qian woke up. "They took Xiao Li. What should we do?"
Shen Chongyan replied, "We've been circling the city for a long time. Someone must have noticed us by now. Since they're not showing themselves, let them come find us. We'll follow them now."
"Alright."
They followed the car ahead. After a short distance, the car stopped in front of an ordinary residential building. The occupants carried Jin Li out of the car and into the house.
The two of them followed silently.
There were additional security measures in the small courtyard, requiring identity verification. They couldn't get in for the time being and decided to wait by the entrance. Sudan Novel Network.
Meanwhile, inside the villa, three people placed Jin Li before their boss, bowing respectfully. "Sir, we've brought him back."
The mixed-race man sitting on the sofa opened his eyes. He looked at the beautiful young boy before him, feeling that something was amiss. "What happened?"
"We, we don't know. We used sleeping gas in the room. When we went in, he was just sitting there, eyes wide open."
The man slowly reached out and sniffed. Jin Li was originally a sword. How could he breathe? He was like a corpse, sitting motionless, devoid of life.
The man suddenly stood up, his voice filled with anger. "A bunch of useless trash! You can't even handle bringing one person back. He's dead!"
"Ah?" The man cautiously stepped forward and probed for a while, but there was no reaction.
He knelt down with a thud. "Sir, we really don't know. We didn't do anything to him, we only used sleeping gas. When we went in, he was already like this."
The man was extremely dejected.
He had seen this delectable little morsel in the information his subordinates had brought back today. He had immediately decided he wanted to taste it and had eagerly sent people to retrieve him.
He hadn't expected him to be dead.
What a pity.
"Sir?" another man tentatively suggested, "His body is still soft, very tender. If you don't want him, could you bestow him upon us?"