Chapter 216: Chapter 16 Avenger (Waiting 500 years for a good book reward, add more!)_1
Wen Yu remained silent for a long time, then slowly nodded.
"Let’s have dinner at my place tonight. It’s my treat. I found quite a bit of food this morning."
Hearing Ye Nan’s enthusiastic invitation, Wen Yu nodded again.
In the post-apocalyptic world, these ordinary people lived in a strange loop. Facing exploitation and oppression, they lacked the ability to resist, nor could they. Even in the face of oppression, they could find things to compare to, allowing themselves to continue holding onto hope. Wen Yu understood this, having experienced it in his past life—whether as the exploited or the exploiter. Because he had experienced it, he understood.
"There’s always hope, right?"
Hearing Wen Yu’s question, Ye Nan nodded.
"There’s always hope."
...
Inside a large factory complex, two professionists who had just collected protection money from Ye Nan’s home were led by another professionist into an office within the factory.
"Boss."
The two looked at the burly man sitting at the office desk and greeted him respectfully.
The burly man slowly lifted his head upon hearing their voices.
"What is it?"
A low voice emitted from the burly man’s mouth, making the two professionists shudder involuntarily. They shuddered out of sheer terror. As his subordinates, they naturally understood their boss’s methods all too well.
"Boss, we have some promising leads on that hidden professionist you asked us to keep an eye on a while ago."
"Oh?"
Upon hearing this, the burly man immediately lifted his head, a sharp gleam in his eyes.
"Where did you see him?"
"At Jindu Residential Area in the old city district."
"Are you sure?"
The two of them nodded.
"The black sphere on his shoulder is too conspicuous. Combined with his age, it must be him."
The burly man remained silent for a moment, then slowly nodded.
"I have a task for you: closely monitor this person’s every move and report any developments to me immediately."
After the burly man finished speaking, he quickly walked towards the door and clapped the two men’s shoulders. The immense force made them stagger.
"If you do well, you’ll become officers here."
Upon hearing the burly man’s words, their faces instantly lit up with ecstasy.
"Understood, Boss!"
"Alright, go now."
The burly man nodded, walked straight out of the room, and headed towards a restricted area in the factory’s basement.
...
The burly man stopped in front of an iron gate in the basement.
After hesitating for a moment, the burly man knocked on the iron gate.
KNOCK! KNOCK!
The sound of knocking reverberated, echoing back and forth in the confined space, yet it didn’t reach the factory above.
However, there was no sound from within.
After waiting for about a minute, the burly man knocked on the door again.
This time, the door finally opened!
A CREAKING sound slowly emanated from the iron door, like that of an old, neglected machine.
Ignoring the eerie sound, the burly man walked straight into the room.
The room was spacious and empty, save for a man in a black robe sitting alone on a chair.
After observing his old comrade before him for a long, long time, the burly man finally spoke.
"He’s back."
Then, a silence akin to death ensued.
The man in the black robe took a long time to respond before finally asking, "Who?"
The single, simple word was uttered in several different voices, sounding strange and terrifying!
Hearing the black-robed man’s words, the corner of the burly man’s eyes twitched forcibly, and he spoke once more, "Wen Yu."
"Hmm."
The black-robed man took a while before asking again, "Wen Yu, who is he?"
"The cur that killed Wan’an was rescued by him."
Silence and suppression filled the air; even the burly man’s face broke out in beads of sweat.
"So, who is Wan’an?"
This time, even the burly man was silent.
After a long silence, perhaps a minute, perhaps ten, the man in the black robe slowly let out a creepy laugh.
"HEH HEH HEH... HA HA HA HA..."
"Wan’an, he’s my brother."
"That’s right, he’s my brother."
"No, Wan’an is my name."
"My name is Lin Li."
"I am Wan’an!..."
All kinds of voices came from the man in the black robe. The sheer number of voices and the frequent shifts in tone caused the burly man standing beside him to roar out loud, "Enough! Enough!"
His robust arm fiercely pounded the adjacent wall, the immense power causing the entire underground space to rumble!
"You are Wanping! You are Wanping..."
His voice was low at first, then gradually grew louder.
The burly man grabbed Wanping’s collar with both hands, lifting him entirely into mid-air!
"Wake up, Wanping, wake up! Wen Yu is back. That cur must be with him. Let’s go kill him! Let’s go kill him! If we kill him, you won’t have to suffer like this anymore!"
Wanping, hanging in mid-air, silently looked at the burly man before him. After a moment, he gently nodded.
"Alright."
Hearing Wanping’s voice, the burly man breathed a sigh of relief, placing Wanping back on the chair.
The burly man took out a cigarette, lit it, and placed it in Wanping’s mouth. He then lit another for himself.
After a long silence, the burly man finally spoke.
"Is it worth it? For revenge, is it really worth it?"
After a moment, once the burly man had finished his cigarette, Wanping finally spoke.
"It’s worth it. After all this time, I’ve suffered so much, all for this day. How could it not be worth it?"
Hearing Wanping’s words, the burly man put out his cigarette butt and slowly began to speak.
"Focus on regaining control of your body. I’ll inform you when the time is right."
Seeing Wanping’s lack of response, the burly man sighed heavily, turned around, and walked to the door.
Only after the burly man had left the room did Wanping let out a quiet mumble.
"Brother Tao, thank you..."
...
When Wen Yu walked into Ye Nan’s house, he saw a table full of food.
The food wasn’t lavish; the best item was probably a dried sausage.
Seeing Ye Nan’s child staring unblinkingly at the dried sausage on the table, swallowing saliva, Wen Yu smiled faintly and took out a piece of cured meat from his space ring.
"Here, I found this when I was out today. Slice some for the child."
Ye Nan’s wife said hesitantly, "Oh, we couldn’t possibly accept this."
"Come on, take it. The child is at a growing age."
Ye Nan clapped Wen Yu on the shoulder, the gratitude in his eyes impossible to hide.
"Thank you, brother."
Hearing her husband’s words, Ye Nan’s wife finally accepted the cured meat and went to the kitchen.
After a short while, the cured meat, now sliced, was brought in. The child was about to grab a piece when Ye Nan slapped his hand away.
"Pray first!"
"Oh."
The child’s face looked a little crestfallen, but he still clasped his hands together and slowly closed his eyes.
Wen Yu paused for a moment, then imitated Ye Nan’s posture and silently recited a few words in his mind.
After a while, Ye Nan’s family finished their prayers. Seeing Wen Yu’s curious look, Ye Nan nodded with a smile.
"This is a family custom of ours. It was actually my wife’s idea. We mainly pray that I’ll have a good harvest tomorrow."
Wen Yu nodded in understanding.
"Uncle, what did you pray for?" the child looked at Wen Yu and asked seriously.
"Me? Well, perhaps I was praying for the heavens to favor me."
Wen Yu laughed and patted the child’s head, silently adding in his heart,
May I not end up on someone else’s dinner table in the future!