1979 No Other Choice

“Therefore, it was a trap during the Bliss Ceremony in Broken Stone City the other day…”

Gu Zhengyang’s pupils constricted violently, and he could not have looked more depressed. He stared at Zhao Lie’s face so hard as if he were going to bite it off and swallow it into his stomach.

“If we’d listened to your command to attack the camps of the other villages deep inside the ruins, we would have been ambushed by the Black Water Gang, and you’d have saved yourselves a lot of trouble today, right?”

Zhao Lie smiled miserably and shook his head. “Leader, after all these years we’ve been fighting side by side, it seems that you do not understand me at all. However despicable and shameless I am, would I ever intentionally lead my brothers to death? I really do not know anything about the Black Water Gang!

“My ‘good friends’ here are not from the Black Water Gang. As for exactly who they are, you will know it after you see them.”

By Zhao Lie’s side, two Exos, one fat and the other slim, opened their facial covers slowly while chuckling.

They were two people with distinctive features.

The guy on the left was tall and thin, like an untrimmed bamboo with all its branches. His face was also dented and deformed, as if he had suffered excessive radiation. He was disgustingly hideous.

The guy on the right, however, had facial organs that were entirely buried in his fat. His head was like a glistening balloon that was emitting red and white colors. He could not have looked creepier.

It seemed that both of them had been corroded by radiation or biochemical poisons. Their gene strands had been disrupted and reorganized, resulting in the mutations inside their bodies.

The experienced sinners all knew that the last people they should mess with in the Land of Sins were the serious mutants such as these two.

That was because most of the mutants had already been killed when they suffered pollution and corruption. If they somehow managed to survive, they definitely had something special about them, and it was very likely that they possessed dreadful techniques.

Also, those people generally had seriously twisted minds because of their physical abnormalities. Those who were captured by them would not get a quick death even if they cooperated.

Neither Han Te nor Liu Li had seen anyone as ugly before. Although Han Te had some radiation burns on his face himself, he could not help but exclaim, “Ah!”

When the two serious mutants heard the sound, their faces wriggled weirdly like rubber that had been thrown into acid, and they showed hideous smiles to Han Te and Liu Li.

Gu Zhengyang hurried to hide the two little fellows behind him, but his heart had sunk into the deepest part of a cold, dark swamp.

Zhao Lie was perhaps not lying—those around him were indeed not from the Black Water Gang, but they were ten times scarier than the Black Water Gang!

The two serious mutants could be called notorious even in the b.l.o.o.d.y Worlds, where wolves and hyenas were the dominators.

The tall and slim guy was named ‘Ma Ku’, while the fatty whose facial organs were buried by the fat was named ‘Fei Zhong’.

Ma Ku was a ‘persistent’ man.

He had once made a plan to kill one person every day. It would not matter if he killed more, but he had to kill at least one of them.

It was said that he had persisted for ten years and killed at least five thousand people. Even if he killed twenty one day, it did not mean that he could take a rest tomorrow.

“The thing about killing is that we must persist in it no matter what stands in our way. We must never quit what we are doing,” Ma Ku had once said. “In fact, I am not particularly fond of killing, but I don’t like being a quitter, either. You can only taste the fun in something when you see it through to the end.”

He was not picky about whom he killed. He would not mind playing with the prey who were above average, but if he could not find one, the common sinners who were strong enough or even the strengthless ones among them would also suffice.

It was said that one time he was carrying out a mission in the wilderness, he could not find an enemy to kill at all. So, he simply chopped off the head of his companion before midnight came.

The companion was a super gunner who had been cooperating with him for years. The two of them had neat, flawless teamwork.

At that time, they were about to hunt terribly ferocious mutated beasts together. Without the support of the gunner, it was very possible that he would have been killed alone!

“I have continued this for seven years, four months, and nine days after a lot of trouble. What a shame it would have been if it had stopped there,” Ma Ku, whose blood almost ran dry because of the wounds all over his body, had explained to other people.

Ma Ku had to kill someone every day, but Fei Zhong was the opposite. Few people had ever seen him attacking in public.

He seemed to be a man who was not very fond of killing. Killing one or two people at most every fortnight was enough for him.

In the b.l.o.o.d.y Worlds, killing once every half month could almost be called merciful or kindhearted.

However, everybody knew that what Fei Zhong cared about was not the quant.i.ty of the people he killed but the quality of the killing.

He might not kill anyone for ten days or even half a month, but when he decided on someone, he would take three to five days to kill them.

There would not be a moment of rest in those three to five days. Like embroidering or engraving, he would kill them slowly and carefully to the accompaniment of music, light, and incense, savoring the greatest joy in the process.

Until they were ultimately ‘killed’, the victims would always retain the freshest pain.

It was said that Fei Zhong had been capable of killing someone for three days five years ago, and for five days three years ago. Right now, he could spend seven days killing someone, and the victim would still be as conscious as ever at the twenty-third hour of the sixth day and could even talk in their normal tone.

Therefore, many tough bandits from Double Dragons Valley agreed that they would rather be killed by Ma Ku a hundred times than be killed by Fei Zhong once.

Ma Ku and Fei Zhong, two G.o.ds of brutality from the Red Fire Gang, were perhaps not the strongest bandits in the group, but they were certainly the creepiest perverts!

Unlike the Black Water Gang, which had only risen in recent years, the Red Fire Gang was a traditional gang that had dominated the Double Dragons Valley for almost twenty years. It was also the largest and the most immeasurable band of bandits in Double Dragons Valley.

Every year, the Village of Peace was obliged to offer abundant a.s.sets to the Red Fire Gang in order to keep the village safe for the next year.

If the Black Water Gang were the only group coveting the Village of Peace, Gu Zhengyang might have been able to summon his courage to fight the bandits.

But right now, they were under attack from both sides, and even the Red Fire Gang had laid its fingers on the Village of Peace. Gu Zhengyang was really at a loss.

Gu Zhengyang seemed to be in immense pain as he said bitterly, “What do you want exactly?”

“Don’t worry, leader. The Village of Peace has been subservient to the Red Fire Gang all these years. The Red Fire Gang certainly does not intend to annihilate everybody in the village,” Zhao Lie said. “Now, as long as you resign as the leader, clean up the mess with me, and distribute a thousand young warriors for the Red Fire Gang to command, the Red Fire Gang will forever be the toughest s.h.i.+eld for the Village of Peace.”

“I don’t care about the position of leader at all!” Gu Zhengyang shook his head slowly. “However, a thousand warriors? The Village of Peace only has several thousand people in total, and we suffered heavy casualties in the recent Bliss Ceremony. Even if all the adults are summoned, there may not be a thousand.

“Besides, why does the Red Fire Gang want so many warriors?

“I got it. The Red Fire Gang is declaring war on some forces again, right? They are in great need of ‘cannon fodder’. Zhao Lie, you claimed just now that you wouldn’t be shameless enough to send your brothers to death, yet you are proposing such a thing right now. Don’t tell me that you cannot see the Red Fire Gang’s real purpose!”

Zhao Lie, however, was indeed that brazen. Without even raising his eyebrows, he said casually, “If we had fallen into the ambush of the Black Water Gang in Broken Stone City, we would have ended up as slaves and died for nothing, just like the unlucky guys who are attacking the Village of Peace right now. But if we agree to the terms of the Red Fire Gang today, according to the pact that I have reached with the Red Fire Gang, it will be an endeavor to save us from doom!

“Yes. Both the Red Fire Gang and the Black Water Gang are recruiting and expanding on a large scale, collecting cannon fodder and slave soldiers everywhere. Naturally, a great war will break out soon. How can I not know the danger involved?

“However, the Red Fire Gang and the Black Water Gang have already set their eyes on us. So, we do not have any choice. Our struggle is useless!

“Even if they did not need cannon fodder, since a b.l.o.o.d.y war among the gangs is coming, do you think that they would feel safe keeping a powerful, disobedient, and independent establishment like the Village of Peace behind them? They will certainly eradicate the hidden problem before the war!

“I really couldn’t think of a solution. So, I choose to join the side with better terms. At the very least, the Red Fire Gang agrees to list the brothers from the Village of Peace in one team that will be commanded by me. If we win, there will be abundant trophies! Wouldn’t it be much better than to be enslaved by the Black Water Gang?”

Gu Zhengyang snorted. “It’s cannon fodder after all. The b.l.o.o.d.y Worlds are not for us to enter. How many of the thousand warriors of the Village of Peace do you think can survive a gory battle? And what will their families do after they are lost?”

With brutality beaming out of his eyes, Zhao Lie said, “I don’t know how many people will survive if we work for the Red Fire Gang. I only know that we will all die if we don’t agree!”

Looking at Zhao Lie and the creepy Ma Ku and Fei Zhong next to him, Gu Zhengyang opened his mouth but could not say anything.

“You can’t talk sense to him!” Zhao Chong ran forward again and declared, “Old leader, your ways do not work in the Land of Sins today. Just listen to my father!”

“Bullsh*t!”

Han Te could not help but charge forward. The dazzling electric arcs danced around his right arm as his fists and Zhao Chong’s crashed. He had been trained by Li Yao under high pressure in the last half month. Despite the enhancement of the crystal suit, Zhao Chong was blown three steps back.

“*sshole!”

Zhao Chong did not expect Han Te to be as strong. He vomited a mouthful of blood, and his face looked like ice.

“We will not bend!”

Han Te straightened his right arm. The metal rings on it revolved quickly and shot out dozens of bullets that were mixed with electric arcs!