Chapter 9.4 - The Next Time For Sure
O’Brien was not familiar with this region’s underground tunnels, and he even gave up on following Su based on his tracks. The speed at which Su moved through the ventilation duct was extraordinarily fast, to the point where the attack that O’Brien was sure to land failed to be effective. However, after coming into contact with Su several times, he had already locked onto Su. Within his mind, Su was like a little dark green light that continuously shifted about. Even though O’Brien wasn’t clear about this area’s terrain, he was continuously getting closer to Su. With his speed that was almost double that of Su’s , even if it was through a roundabout path, he could still quickly get back on track and continuously close the hundred meters or so distance between them.
All types of dangerous creatures lived within the underground tunnels, yet right now, not a single one emerged. They all quickly departed from this region. Regardless of whether it was O’Brien or Su who was no longer hiding his aura, it caused the creatures to intuitively feel great danger.
This region was unfamiliar for both Su and O’Brien. The places Su passed would all be recorded on his map, so he never had to worry about getting lost. O’Brien also seemed to have an exceptional memory for the terrain he passed, so even if he was following Su around in circles within these maze-like tunnels, the distance between them was gradually shortening.
Su quickly noticed this point as well, but he continued to maintain the same speed as if he was prepared to compete against O’Brien in the amount of strength that was consumed. O’Brien’s speed was constantly 1.5 times that of Su’s. It wasn’t fast, nor was it slow; there were no significant signs of energy being consumed.
When the distance between the two had been decreased to thirty meters, Su suddenly stopped. O’Brien’s gray hair suddenly flew, and he abruptly exerted force. A large stream of sparks flew out between his military boots and the steel rail, and he immediately picked up speed! He had passed by this passageway previously as well, and he knew that at this moment, Su was two corners away. With this kind of distance, O’Brien only needed two seconds to arrive in front of Su’s face. He had confidence that he had to ability to avoid Su’s bullet, or at the very least not allow Su to hit a fatal area. Once he himself took action, Su wouldn’t have any opportunities again.
The wind around O’Brien’s body whistled as he directly flew over and rushed towards the other wall! He took two heavy steps on the wall, and his entire body fiercely and forcefully passed the first corner as if he was running on the walls. Meanwhile, large cracks appeared in the concrete where his feet landed.
When he turned the corner, O’Brien’s pupils suddenly shrank. A metal bucket filled with grease had appeared around the corner unknowingly, and a tracer bullet had just shot into the oil bucket from the other side!
Fiery light immediately lit up every dark corner in the tunnels. The vicious flames roiled, following the enclosed space of the tunnels as they surged forth!
O’Brien’s heart throbbed vigorously. The danger that abruptly arrived made almost every single hair on his body stand up. He had rushed into the surging flames at a speed of over seventy kilometers per hour, and his body was in midair. It was too hard to change directions again!
O’Brien instantly bent his body and protected his head with his arms. His front leg was bent, and his back leg was straight as he adopted an all-around defensive stance in midair. The instant the flames attacked his body, an ice barrier that was several dozen centimeters in diameter suddenly appeared in front of O’Brien’s boddy.
The ferocious oil and gas flames completely devoured O’Brien. Not only did they completely neutralize his momentum and shatter the barrier of ice, they even pushed him flying backwards. He slammed ferociously into the tunnel wall, the pressure slamming ruthlessly against O’Brien’s weak body.
Meanwhile, the great flame on the walls had no place to go and could only turn around to the left, rushing towards the other side’s passage. The power of the explosion quickly faded, leaving behind blazing flames everywhere. These flames that originated from gasoline were difficult to extinguish. The temperature of the underground tunnels abruptly shot up to a level ordinary creatures could not survive in.
O’Brien fell from the wall, and even though he descended with the proper posture, he still almost fell to the ground. Large areas of flames were burning on the Black Dragonriders uniform, and his pretty gray hair was burned into a mess. He began to cough forcefully, causing blood to continuously flow from his mouth and nose.
He slowly got up while supporting himself against the wall. An ice cold energy continuously diffused from his uniform, quickly weakening the burning flames around his body. After flickering about a few more times, the flames were all extinguished one after another.
O’Brien’s handsome face seemed to be covered in a layer of frost. The indistinct anger was like thawing lava within the layer of ice that could erupt at any time.
He suddenly released a roar!
Suddenly, layers of cold fog diffused in a ten meter radius around the typically quiet and shy young man. All of the raging flames were instantly extinguished!
On the other end of the passageway, Su’s body bent down, and then he fell back at flying speed. If O’Brien didn’t see it for himself, he wouldn’t have believed that a person could reach this type of speed when falling back. Su’s left hand stabilized the modified rifle, aiming the muzzle forward. In front of him were fiercely surging flames. Ultimately, the flames were still a few meters too short and didn’t reach Su’s body.
The most violent phase of the flames had passed, and afterwards, Su was able to widen the distance between them. O’Brien didn’t charge through the flames like Su had anticipated. It seemed like the injuries he suffered from the explosion weren’t light. If he had truly rushed out from the flames, Su wouldn’t have been startled either. The abilities this quiet and delicate young man possessed were truly immeasurably deep, and there were no unintended miracles in his actions. This was the impression Su had of O’Brien.
Su stood within the tunnels that flickered between light and darkness. He calmly watched the tunnel in front of him that was burning all over. The gray-haired young man was indeed formidable, displaying mysterious abilities that far outclassed Su. As soon as he thought of the completely distorted ventilation duct, Su would feel a chill run through his body. However, this didn’t make Su’s resolution or confidence waver. The ruins and wilderness were Su’s world.
If O’Brien really had rushed out from the flames just now, Su’s waiting gun would have most likely blasted off a leg.
The modified rifle was slowly lowered until the muzzle pointed at the ground in a slanted manner. Following a staircase, Su steadily walked towards the surface.
At the entrance of another subway station, O’Brien pushed open the half covered wire-netted door and walked up the stairs step by step. He could have completely sent the wire-netted door flying outwards just now when he pushed the door, but O’Brien slowly calmed himself down and still chose to walk towards the surface in the conventional manner.
He moved up while supporting himself with the wall at both sides. When the upper portion of his body protruded out of the subway exit, his body suddenly leaned forward and fell down perfectly straight. Only when he was about to collide with the floor, did his right hand lightly lean out, stopping his body. He maintained this posture and stared into the darkness.
Several hundred meters away, Su stood calmly at the center of an intersection, his eye currently looking straight at O’Brien. The modified rifle did not take aim and was instead carried on Su’s back. Just now, he only released an aiming intent, yet O’Brien already sensed it and immediately avoided the area that the intent targeted.
O’Brien revealed a rarely seen serious expression. His right hand exerted force, and his body sprung up as if there was a spring installed on him. He walked out from the subways station exit and stood at the center of the road, facing Su.
After desperately struggling and chasing, O’Brien finally understood that he couldn’t catch Su. Even though he had locked onto Su’s position, it was useless. When Su’s injuries recovered, he would have even less of a chance. Meanwhile, Su also knew that his sniper rifle was useless before O’Brien, regardless of whether it was up close or from far away. If Su had his pistol, then it might be a different story. However right now, he didn’t have his pistol. In the world of ruins and wilderness, there were no what ifs.
Su and O’Brien looked at each other face-to-face, and then both sides left, gradually getting further apart.
“Next time, I will kill you.” The sharp pain between O’Brien’s brows gave him this message.
“Likewise.” The night wind that blew against Su’s face seemed to become a bit chillier.
Early in the morning, Su sat within the top floor of a skyscraper and watched the troop depart from the city. His green eye’s gaze crossed the distance of a thousand meters, landing on Li Gaolei’s body.
Laiknar and O’Brien, these two formidable and extraordinary figures’ sudden appearance was definitely tied to Li Gaolei. At the very least, Li Gaolei served as their guide. Trouble, no, the proper word was disaster, had just started. This was something that Su understood the moment he shot down Laiknar. From the uniforms of Laiknar and O'Brien which were practically the same, as well as the well trained subordinates, it was quite clear that they belonged to an exceptionally large organization. From Laiknar and O’Brien’s age, it was likely that they were only low level members of the organization!
However, why would Li Gaolei suddenly bring people from an organization like this to chase after Su? Could it be related to Li?
Li’s appearance appeared before Su’s eyes. Her fluttering maroon-colored hair, her supple skin, soft yet strong waist and legs, as well as arrogant and unyielding eyes fluttered past his eyes one after another. He didn’t believe that Li was the instigator of this pursuit. A monster like the Black Dragonriders was definitely not a power Roxland Company could urge on. The attitude Laiknar possessed when he chased after Su was the same as the attitude one had when catching a rare and precious creature. Su was a hunter himself, and he had caught many of the mutated new species. When he looked at those types of prey, the gaze in his eyes was no different from Laiknar’s.
A game had been played between Li and himself, and the rules of the game had even been established beforehand. Could Li have broken the rules?
Su didn’t know, and he didn’t want to think about this matter. He only knew that Roxland Company took part in his pursuit, and it almost resulted in his death. Su did not plan on remaining silent towards these actions. Life within the wastelands taught him that simple, direct, and cruel retaliation was more effective than any threat.
Su might not be able to do anything major to the Black Dragonriders, and after killing Laiknar, his days would be full of endless troubles, so he had to leave this region. However, before leaving, Su was definitely going to let Roxland Company understand what kind of price had to be paid after provoking a sniper raised in the wilderness.
Regardless of whether it was the olden era or the era of turmoil, there were no free lunches. Similarly, there were no profits without costs, and Roxland Company was no exception.
If the pursuit truly originated from Li, then Su wouldn’t mind adding a pretty name to his to-kill list.