Chapter 178: Trust Issues
"Ahhhhhh!"
Hearing the screams from behind, Lin Ye reacted with lightning speed, not wasting a single moment as he turned and vaulted over the stone wall, emptying his entire magazine at the smiling freak chewing on Yellow Hair.
Bang bang bang bang bang bang bang bang!
The bullets accurately struck the freak's head but failed to stop it. The shattered head formed into fleshy strands with bone fragments, and the freak swung its meat-tendril head as it lunged toward Lin Ye who had just jumped down from the wall.
Lin Ye drew two pistols and fired at various parts of the monster's body. He refused to believe this damned thing had no weak points.
Bang bang bang bang bang bang bang bang...
The freak charged through the bullet barrage with arms spread wide, the meat tendrils on its neck constantly quivering like self-aware worms.
After emptying both magazines, Lin Ye drew his short blade and stepped right in front of the freak. The sharp blade sliced through the freak's neck with a single clean cut, completely separating the head with its meat tendrils from the body before they could strike Lin Ye's face.
Lin Ye kicked the freak's body to the ground, where it twitched for a while before finally going still.
Lin Ye approached Yellow Hair, who had been bitten on the chest by the freak. Copious amounts of blood gushed from the wound. Wu Xiaoling jumped down from the stone wall to treat Yellow Hair's injuries. Her backpack contained an emergency medical kit.
"...Am I... going to... turn into a monster?"
Yellow Hair asked weakly.
"The transmission method of this phenomenon is unknown. I don't know if you'll turn into a monster or not."
Wu Xiaoling skillfully cleaned, disinfected, and stopped the bleeding on Yellow Hair's wounds. Before becoming a researcher, she had worked at a hospital for some time.
He Jia and Shao Yang successively vaulted over the stone wall, with numerous smiling freaks following closely behind them.
Lin Ye reloaded and shot the smiling freaks that had climbed over the wall, but more and more kept coming. After running out of bullets, Lin Ye could only use his short blade to deal with the approaching smiling freaks.
"Brother Lin! Let's retreat for now!"
Shao Yang helped Yellow Hair up and rushed toward the garbage dump entrance with him.
Lin Ye fought while retreating, buying time for the others.
They quickly reached the area near the garbage dump entrance. The dump was completely empty of people, with the security booth's glass smeared entirely with red liquid.
"Looks like those damned things have already gotten out."
Shao Yang was very worried about his family living in the urban area.
"Let's hurry. I'm worried about problems at the gang."
The Gray Gang's territory was very close to the slums, and Lin Ye really didn't want to return to find his boss with a smiling face.
"I wonder if the lockdown on the slums has ended yet."
Shao Yang feared they would be surrounded by Management Bureau troops immediately upon entering the urban area.
"I advise you not to return to the Management Bureau."
As a gang member, Lin Ye understood the Management Bureau better than Shao Yang. In situations like this, the Bureau had only one method of handling things—eliminating all sources of infection.
Lin Ye didn't see anything wrong with this approach, but he wouldn't go down without a fight. Which meant he had to eliminate all the Management Bureau's upper echelons.
He had figured all this out last night.
Hotwiring a van by the roadside, Lin Ye drove them straight to the Gray Gang headquarters.
Before even getting close to the Gray Gang headquarters, Lin Ye spotted some smiling freaks wandering the streets, giving him a bad premonition.
"Brother Lin, it hurts so much. Am I going to die?"
Yellow Hair leaned against the car door, looking despairingly at the window where his most familiar face was displaying an exaggerated smile.
"I don't know. But if you give up, I can give you a quick end."
Lin Ye drew his pistol and aimed it at Yellow Hair's head. He had seen Yellow Hair's injuries—they wouldn't be fatal if treated promptly. But if Yellow Hair's answer didn't satisfy him, he would truly pull the trigger.
Looking at the gun barrel, Yellow Hair trembled. He knew Lin Ye was serious.
"Don't! I think I can still be saved!"
Yellow Hair sat up straight, the smile disappearing from his face.
"Good."
Lin Ye holstered his pistol at his waist. He didn't really want to kill Yellow Hair either.
Before long, Lin Ye drove them to the Gray Gang headquarters.
There wasn't a single person on the streets, and the junior members who should have been guarding outside were nowhere to be seen.
Lin Ye quickly rushed into the gang headquarters. Inside, tables and chairs were overturned, complete chaos everywhere. Dark red bloodstains covered the floors and walls, yet not a single complete corpse remained.
"Boss!"
Lin Ye charged into the office, but found no one inside.
Although he didn't see Xu Feng's body, he could roughly guess what had happened.
"......"
Silently, Lin Ye opened the gang's weapons storage room and packed all the weapons inside into bags.
He planned to make a trip to the Research Institute. He knew this action was meaningless, but he had to do something.
This had nothing to do with right or wrong—it was simply revenge.
As Lin Ye passed by the lounge carrying the bags, he heard faint knocking sounds coming from inside.
Lin Ye pushed open the lounge door. The knocking was coming from a cabinet on one side of the lounge.
"...Is someone in there?"
Holding onto a sliver of hope, Lin Ye called out.
"Brother Lin?"
The cabinet door pushed open from inside, and Xia Yi crawled out.
She appeared unharmed, though her spirits seemed somewhat low.
"Are you okay?"
Seeing Xia Yi, Lin Ye's mood stabilized slightly.
"Brother Lin, I like you."
Xia Yi suddenly said, the corners of her mouth slightly upturned, her eyes filled with despair.
"You know? I've always been watching you, even while drinking with customers, I've always been thinking of you. I know I'm not worthy of you, so I never said anything. But I can't hold it in anymore—please reject me."
Xia Yi's beautiful face stretched into an exaggerated smile as she stepped closer to Lin Ye, reaching toward his waist.
Where his pistol was holstered.
"I like you too."
Lin Ye said flatly.
"Huh?"
Xia Yi froze in place, the smile gradually disappearing from her face.
"If I didn't like you, I wouldn't always stay in the lounge chatting with you."
Lin Ye carried the stiff Xia Yi back into the cabinet, then continued:
"I have some business to take care of. Wait here for me to return. Afterwards, you can come live at my place."
"Yes."
Xia Yi said softly with a flushed face, looking down.
After getting Xia Yi some food and water, as Lin Ye was closing the cabinet door, Xia Yi grabbed his wrist.
"It's dangerous outside. There's still space here—should we hide here together?"
Xia Yi looked at Lin Ye nervously.
"Don't worry, I'll come back after handling my business. Did you forget? I'm the Gray Gang's Trump Card enforcer."
Lin Ye patted Xia Yi's head and smiled as he closed the cabinet door.
After closing the cabinet door, the smile disappeared from Lin Ye's face. He disliked lying to people, especially disliked deceiving friends.
He didn't actually like Xia Yi. To be precise, he found it difficult to love anyone else.
This was related to trust—he wouldn't entrust his heart to someone else's care. That was far too dangerous.