The night was dark, the volcanic ash forming clouds that blocked the moonlight.
Fires from Mount Fuji illuminated the night sky, painting it a deep, blood-red.
Leaving Wang Xuance to watch the helicopter, Fang Er, along with Xue Rengui and Wang Qianli, walked towards the villagers' makeshift shelters.
He didn't understand much of the local dialect, but his presence would serve as a translator.
"Tear~"
Not long after they started walking, the sound of ripping fabric reached their ears.
Fang Er instinctively stopped, his gaze shifting to a nearby shelter.
There, several women were being pushed and pulled, their clothes torn by a group of local men who watched with lecherous and cruel smiles.
They not only laid hands on them, but also spewed vulgarities, and one man was already engaged in something even more unspeakable.
Seeing this, Fang Er immediately drew his pistol and pulled the trigger.
The gunshot shattered the quiet night, and everyone in the shelters turned their heads.
Under everyone's gaze, a bloody hole appeared on the man's forehead, and his body collapsed.
The victimized woman, seeing this, let out a cry and, in panic, scrambled to a corner, curling herself up and trembling, her head lowered, afraid to look at anyone.
"Baka!"
One of the locals, glancing at his fallen companion, pointed at Fang Er and shouted in anger.
Having been ignored earlier in the day, their current interruption of their "activities" only fueled their fury.
"My Lord, such things happen everywhere; you cannot possibly manage them all."
Wang Qianli, mimicking Xue Rengui's address to Fang Er, tried to persuade him.
Fang Er stared intently at the locals, gritting out, "I know. Those I don't see, I let be. But what happens before my eyes, I cannot ignore."
"Facing a natural disaster, and instead of working together to survive, they resort to such inhuman acts. They do not deserve to live!"
Wang Qianli shook his head and said, "There are at least a thousand locals gathered here, and the scavenged animal carcasses are not enough for everyone."
"My Lord, do you know how they have been surviving?"
Fang Er, without turning his head, replied with killing intent, "I do!"
Under the natural disaster, these locals' beastly nature had been fully unleashed; there was nothing they wouldn't do!
Upon entering this area of shelters, he had seen a leg bone, a snow-white leg bone!
It was not an animal's leg bone!
He coldly ordered Xue Rengui, "Kill them!"
"Yes!"
Xue Rengui reached behind him, drew his AK-47, and began firing at the locals.
The rapid bursts of gunfire echoed through the night like popping beans.
As their companions fell one after another, the locals panicked and scattered, their hands covering their heads.
However, two among them remained somewhat calm. They exchanged a look and then quietly slipped away.
The sky, tinged with a dark red, made both people and objects appear as if seen through infrared cameras. Amidst the chaotic scene, Fang Er and Xue Rengui failed to notice the two who had escaped.
After clearing the men from this area, Fang Er spat heavily onto the ground.
"Damn it, beasts!"
"My Lord, we should return. There's truly nothing more to see here."
The sight of Xue Rengui killing with the AK had terrified Wang Qianli, but realizing he was now Fang Er's subordinate, he gathered his courage.
"I am merely looking for an excuse for myself!"
Fang Er uttered a cryptic remark and turned to walk back towards the helicopter.
Xue Rengui and Wang Qianli followed closely, pondering the meaning of his words.
The helicopter was parked about two to three hundred meters from their current location.
As they exited the shelter area, they heard the sound of hurried footsteps.
Fang Er stopped, listening to the surrounding movements, while Xue Rengui also scanned the area vigilantly, ready to fire at any moment.
Soon, they saw a mass of dark figures rushing towards the helicopter.
"Kill, give, give~~"
As they charged, the figures shouted a chaotic medley of words.
"My Lord, they're going to steal your ride!"
Wang Qianli translated nervously after listening for a moment.
"Dodge!"
To his surprise, Fang Er not only stopped advancing but also pulled him towards the direction away from the helicopter.
The next moment, intense gunfire erupted from the direction of the helicopter.
"Rattatattata~~~"
This was the sound of the K27's mounted Gatling gun, clearly indicating that Wang Xuance had anticipated the intentions of the approaching individuals.
The charging locals numbered around two to three hundred, but in a blink of an eye, only three to five were still standing!
"Oh, my heavens!"
Wang Qianli covered his mouth in shock, his eyes wide as saucers.
He had thought the AK was incredible, but now he saw something even more astonishing.
"Let's go. Tomorrow morning, we head to Heian-kyō!"
Fang Er, unfazed by the carnage, pulled a flare gun from his waist and fired a signal flare into the air, illuminating the surroundings as if it were daytime.
After doing so, he continued his walk towards the helicopter.
From then on, no local dared to lay claim to the helicopter, and the surroundings remained quiet until dawn.
Fang Er rubbed the sleep from his eyes and washed his face with a bottle of mineral water. He observed that the pillar of fire to the east was significantly weaker than the day before.
Presumably, the accumulated kinetic energy had been largely released.
The helicopter lifted off, carrying the four towards Heian-kyō.
Wang Qianli sat in the cabin, watching the shrinking shelters below, a mix of nervousness and excitement in his heart, yet he dared not ask any questions.
"My Lord, what did you mean by looking for an excuse for yourself?"
Xue Rengui asked from beside him. The question had troubled him all night, and no matter how much he thought about it, he couldn't figure out what excuse Fang Er was seeking.
Fang Er merely shook his head and chuckled, offering no reply.
"Hey, Old Wang, can you help me figure this out?" Xue Rengui recounted the entire sequence of events to Wang Xuance.
Wang Xuance paused for a moment, then shook his head and said, "Alright, this is something that can be understood but not explained in words. You'll know if you ponder it yourself."
The helicopter landed a few kilometers away from Mount Fuji. The four stared at the awe-inspiring scene, dumbfounded.
Endless lava erupted from the summit, cascading down from high in the sky under immense pressure, and then plummeting to the ground around Mount Fuji.
Here, there was no longer any trace of human habitation.
Everything was covered by flowing molten rock, and the air was thick with the pungent smell of sulfur.