Death Notice

Even though Qin Lun had a clear goal and a solid plan, finding the branch location of “Celestial Wheel” in this area was not easy.

First, most buildings in Atlantis Sacred City were dilapidated and looked similar from a distance. Unless he got close enough, he could not tell if it was a “Celestial Wheel” outpost.

Second, “Celestial Wheel” enforced strict military control. Their administrative buildings, Apostle residential areas, Arena, and Apostle exchange were all military restricted zones. Even if he found their base, the complex had so many structures that an outsider could not identify which building housed the “Celestial Wheel” Apostle branch.

“Whoosh!” Qin Lun used his Claw Chain to swing from one building to the rooftop of another. He landed with a roll and steadied himself. Although he tried to stay hidden, his wide-range search inevitably drew the attention of some Apostles.

However, after one look at Qin Lun, these Apostles immediately lost any desire to fight him. The reason was simple. At this time, the more aggressive Apostles were heading to the previous battle zone, hoping to profit from others’ conflicts. Those who avoided the fight were mostly cautious, planning to lay low during the early stages of the Domination War.

Besides, seeing Qin Lun swinging through the air like Spider-Man, which fool would want to chase after him? Most just cursed a couple of times and ignored this arrogant flying Monkey.

Thus, Qin Lun moved unimpeded along his way. In half a day, aside from the continuously raging battlefield, he had mostly mapped out this Domination War zone and marked it completely on the city’s projection map.

As Qin Lun suspected, the “Celestial Wheel” headquarters was not in this area. He could even see the magnificent, giant Ferris wheel-like structure through the orange-yellow protective barrier. That area was also covered by an orange-yellow barrier, probably the Domination War zone for High-Rank Apostles.

As for the “Celestial Wheel” branch in this zone, Qin Lun now had a general idea.

It was a severely damaged complex. Except for the central area, the surrounding buildings looked like knocked-over toy blocks, scattered in piles. Broken steel bars, rusted and snapped, were everywhere among the ruins. Only one large building in the center remained mostly intact in terms of its framework. However, this structure resembled a military Fortress more than a building. It looked like an upside-down pot on the ground. Its round surface was pitted and scarred from battle. Many gaps in the Fortress were twisted and deformed, revealing the steel framework inside.

The Fortress, full of holes, was dark inside. It crouched quietly on the ground like a monster with its mouth wide open, waiting for outsiders to enter.

At this moment, Qin Lun lay hidden behind a pile of rubble, the three needles in his clock-like pupils slowly moving. But he was not observing this “Celestial Wheel” branch Fortress; he was scouting the dark corners around it.

Qin Lun believed that among those specifically searching for this branch, he was likely one of the first. However, he could not guarantee that no Apostle randomly teleported by Shattered Starry Sky into the Domination War zone happened to be near this military restricted area.

Thinking of this, Qin Lun slowly pulled back and quietly took out a liquor bottle to take a sip. For the past half day, searching for this place had left him no time to look for food or water; using strong alcohol to quench his thirst was a last resort.

“It will be dark soon!” Qin Lun looked up at the sky and muttered to himself. “I found the place. Before going in, I need to prepare, most importantly, find some food!”

Qin Lun cautiously retreated some distance, then flashed away and disappeared at the edge of the ruins.

On the wide asphalt road, a cute little creature poked its head out from the lush bushes by the roadside. It cautiously glanced around, then leaped quickly to the middle of the road. There lay a dead rat, belly up. Beside it were some bloodstains, emitting a strong smell of blood.

Just as the little creature was about to bite the dead rat, a whooshing sound passed overhead. A large hand swiftly grabbed its neck and lifted it up.

“Squeak! Squeak!” The little creature let out panicked cries. Its cheeks puffed up, and fluctuations of Wind Element gathered around its mouth. However, the hand gripping it mercilessly twisted. Before the Wind Blade at its mouth could form, its neck was snapped.

The little creature had red eyes, soft thick fur, and a three-lipped mouth—it was a wind-attribute magic rabbit. However, judging by the two sharp fangs visible in its split lips, this dog-sized wind rabbit probably was not just a herbivore.

“To encounter such a plump wind rabbit on the main road!” Qin Lun grinned, feeling very fortunate. Such good luck did not come often.

“Wait, something’s wrong!” Qin Lun was about to leave when he suddenly felt suspicious. His eyes scanned the ground. “Where did that dead rat go? Could it be…”

The pupils of Qin Lun’s eyes instantly turned intoclock shapes. He slowly turned his head to look around. He had thought running into this wind rabbit was pure luck, but now it seemed someone had set a trap. The dead rat used as bait was likely a summoned rodent creature.

“Over there, come out!” Qin Lun hurled the wind rabbit’s corpse at a big tree by the roadside. At the same time, he flashed into motion, using Swift Wind Step to leap diagonally into the air. While still mid-air, his left hand flicked, sending the Claw Chain shooting toward the tree trunk. His right palm, at some point, now held the Dagger of Sin.

He did not use Burial of Light and Darkness. Since the opponent had set such a trap and avoided his Detection Aura, there were bound to be follow-up measures. In such situations, closing in to engage the enemy first could disrupt the opponent’s rhythm and create an escape opportunity for himself.

However, Qin Lun did not expect the opponent to forfeit the first attack, allowing him to use the Claw Chain and approach the tree smoothly. After rounding the tree, a dark figure flashed before Qin Lun’s eyes. He immediately swung his right hand, the Dagger of Sin drawing a streak of black light as it stabbed swiftly toward the figure’s neck.

But upon clearly seeing what was before him, Qin Lun stopped abruptly. The Dagger of Sin halted just at the target’s neck.

This dark figure was not the enemy Qin Lun had imagined. Covered in black mud, with messy hair and skinny limbs, the figure wore a dirty, ragged T-shirt. So small-statured, the adult-sized T-shirt reached down to its knees, like a grimy robe.

“A child!” Qin Lun raised an eyebrow slightly, looking somewhat surprised at this “enemy.”

The child appeared to be only seven or eight years old. Perhaps because of extreme thinness, the head seemed disproportionately large. The child looked up, its clear black-and-white eyes staring blankly at Qin Lun. Reflecting the young man’s face, the pupils showed no emotional fluctuation, only a lifeless indifference.

“Squeak, squeak, squeak!” While Qin Lun and the child were staring at each other, anxious animal cries came from the treetop.

Qin Lun gently placed his left hand on the child’s nape and looked up toward the treetop. There, a bushy-tailed rodent creature was baring its teeth at him.

“A squirrel! So it was the one playing dead on the ground earlier!” Qin Lun looked down under the tree. There was a half-meter-deep mud pit at the base, with a small slingshot and some sharp bamboo sticks inside. He suddenly understood.

This trap was likely set by the child who kept this squirrel. The child had been squatting in this mud pit; the mud covering its body hid its aura. Combined with its small size, it had actually evaded Qin Lun’s Detection Aura. If not for Qin Lun’s keen observation, noticing the missing dead squirrel, he might never have discovered this child.

Seeing the squirrel appear, a slight ripple finally broke the calm in the child’s eyes. The gaze fixed on Qin Lun held a trace of pleading.

Qin Lun gave a light laugh. The Dagger of Sin pressed against the child vanished into his sleeve. He bent down, picked up the wind rabbit’s corpse, turned, and strode away. The wind rabbit’s body was somewhat damaged from being thrown hard at the tree, but it could still be eaten after cleaning.

Thinking he had taken food from a little orphan, Qin Lun felt a strange sensation. He turned to look back.

What he saw made his expression change. The child was kneeling under the big tree, carefully holding a clump of mud, sucking on it and licking off the blood threads and meat scraps left by the wind rabbit.

Qin Lun’s heart wrenched violently. His eyes instantly turned blood-red, and an overwhelming, brutal aura erupted from him. The child under the tree shuddered, freezing in place while holding the mud. The small body trembled slightly, like a weak candle flame in a strong wind.

Qin Lun’s violent aura subsided as quickly as it had appeared. The blood-red hue in his eyes slowly faded, returning to clarity. He stood silently, his gaze flickering slightly. After reaching a decision, he flashed to the base of the tree, tucked the child under one arm, and slowly disappeared into the night.

…

“Eat.” Qin Lun tore off a golden-brown hind leg from the roasted wind rabbit and offered it to the Holy City Orphan huddled in the corner.

The child sat indifferently, hugging knees with chin resting on them. The pupils, devoid of focus, stared at the floor beneath, ignoring Qin Lun completely.

Qin Lun curled his lip in disinterest. He spread a cloth strip in front of the child and placed the rabbit leg on it. Then he turned back to the roasting rack, stamped out the campfire, and started on the remaining wind rabbit meat.

“Squeak, squeak, squeak!” The squirrel crawled out from under the child’s oversized T-shirt, sniffed the rabbit leg, and chirped softly at its master. Seeing the master pay no attention, it shrank back and hid under the T-shirt again, actually resisting the roasted meat’s temptation.

The two were now in some ruins about three hundred meters from the “Celestial Wheel” branch. After eating most of the wind rabbit, Qin Lun finally burped, stood up again, and leaned on a broken wall to look outside.

“No matter how this world changes, its essence remains the same. You can only survive by bringing death to others. Sometimes, receiving someone’s pity is very fortunate. The most terrible thing is when no one pities you!”

Qin Lun muttered these words with his back to the child. “I’m leaving. If you’re still here when sunlight brightens this place again… then follow me. Let us live together and enjoy watching others die!”

“Thud!” A small slingshot was thrown at the Holy City Orphan’s feet. The figure at the ruin’s gap vanished.

After a long time, the child quietly lifted its head, reached out a small hand, and steadily grasped the slingshot and roasted rabbit meat before it.