2: Chapter 2 Night of Slaughter, I Am the Law

The rain fell heavier and heavier, pitter-pattering against the window glass and drowning out all other sounds.

Inside the general manager's office, the smell of cigarette smoke had yet to dissipate before the scent of blood mingled in.

"Damn, that kid's bones were really tough. He actually didn't beg for mercy."

A-Biao shook his hand; he had hit Zhang Cheng so hard just now that the back of his hand was a bit swollen. He grabbed a beer from the table, took a gulp, and let out a boozy burp. "Brother Wang, is it okay to just throw him in that trash pit? In this freezing weather, let's hope he doesn't actually freeze to death."

Wang Pangzi was busy counting money and didn't even look up: "Dead? It's better if he's dead! An orphan from out of town like him—if he dies, we just bury him in the mountains, and who would know? Even if the police come, we'll just say he got drunk, fell into the pit, and froze to death. That's a workplace accident we're not responsible for."

He stuffed a stack of cash into a leather bag, his face full of greed and smugness: "Besides, even if they really look into it, a little money will settle everything. These days, even a human life has a price."

"Haha, Brother Wang is right! Following Brother Wang is the way to stay steady!" The other two thugs joined in the clamor, their faces full of flattery.

The group was laughing happily when suddenly—

Bang!

The heavy security door of the office emitted a tooth-aching boom, and the entire door frame shook.

"Who is it?!"

Wang Pangzi's hand shook, and the money almost fell to the floor.

Bang!!

Before they could react, a second loud bang rang out. That sturdy security door was actually kicked open from the outside! The door lock snapped, and metal parts went flying.

A gust of wind mixed with rain and cold air howled in, blowing the mahjong tiles and banknotes on the table everywhere.

Two people stood at the doorway.

The one in front wore a black raincoat, the brim of his hat pulled extremely low, looking like a ghost.

The one behind him, though his clothes were tattered and he was covered in mud, had a face they knew all too well.

"Zhang... Zhang Cheng?!"

A-Biao looked like he had seen a ghost, his eyes nearly bulging out of his head. He had clearly beaten this kid half to death just now until he was barely breathing. How could it be that in less than half an hour, this kid was standing up? And... he looked like nothing was wrong at all?

Wang Pangzi was also stunned, but he was someone who had "seen the world" after all. He quickly regained his composure, slammed the table, and roared: "Good! You little brat, your life is quite tough! Not dead, huh? Not dead and yet you dare come back to seek death? A-Biao! Grab the tools! This time, really break his legs for me!"

"Fuck! Playing ghost!"

Relying on their numbers, A-Biao didn't think much of it. He grabbed the folding chair from earlier and charged forward. "Since you don't want to live, I'll fulfill your wish!"

He swung the chair and smashed it down toward the head of the man in the black raincoat.

"Watch out!" The two thugs behind also pulled out steel pipes and daggers, preparing to follow up.

However, at the moment the chair was about to fall, the silent and motionless man in the black raincoat—Wang Wu—moved.

Still as a mountain, moving like a thunderbolt!

Wang Wu did not dodge. Instead, he took a half-step forward to meet the chair. His left hand shot out like lightning and actually caught the descending metal chair leg!

Creeeeak—

A hair-raising sound of twisting metal rang out.

Under A-Biao's terrified gaze, Wang Wu's palm suddenly exerted force, and that stainless steel chair leg was actually pinched flat by him as if it were clay!

"This... how is this possible..." A-Biao was scared witless.

Before he could recover his senses, Wang Wu's right hand had already turned into an afterimage. His five fingers formed a claw and clamped onto A-Biao's throat like a lightning strike.

Crack!

A crisp sound.

Simple, direct, without any wasted movement.

A-Biao's eyeballs bulged out, his neck tilted to the side at a bizarre angle, and his entire body instantly slumped like a pile of mud, without even having time to let out a scream.

Insta-kill!

The entire office instantly fell into a deathly silence.

The teacup in Wang Pangzi's hand fell to the floor with a 'clang' and shattered into pieces. The two thugs who were about to charge forward stopped dead in their tracks, their legs beginning to shake uncontrollably.

"K-Killed him?!"

Wang Wu casually tossed A-Biao's corpse aside like a piece of trash. He slowly raised his head, and those emotionless eyes under the brim of his hat coldly swept over the other three people in the room.

Being stared at by that gaze, Wang Pangzi felt as if he were locked onto by a venomous snake, and the blood in his entire body froze.

"You... who are you? What do you want?!" Wang Pangzi retreated tremblingly and plopped down into his executive chair. "I am Wang Defa! My cousin is Wang Hu! You dare touch me?"

Zhang Cheng stepped out from behind Wang Wu.

His current state made Wang Pangzi even more terrified.

Zhang Cheng seemed to have grown a bit taller. His originally somewhat frail frame now had muscles bulging under his tattered clothes. In those eyes that used to be submissive, there was now only suffocating mockery and coldness.

He walked to the coffee table and bent down to pick up the banknote that Wang Pangzi had thrown on the floor earlier.

"Manager Wang, earlier you said you wanted me to lick it clean?" Zhang Cheng flicked the dust off the banknote and asked calmly.

"Mis... Misunderstanding! Brother Zhang Cheng! It's all a misunderstanding!" Looking at the corpse on the floor, Wang Pangzi finally broke down, the fat on his face trembling. "Money! You want money, right? I'll give it! I'll give it all! Everything on this table is yours! And the stuff in the safe! I'll give it all to you!"

"Too late."

Zhang Cheng tore the banknote to shreds and waved his hand.

"Wang Wu, clear the area."

"Yes."

Wang Wu's figure blurred, rushing toward the two terrified thugs like a phantom.

"Fight him!" one of the thugs shouted desperately, waving his dagger wildly.

But in front of a Junior Death Soldier enhanced by the system, this level of street brawling was simply like a baby swinging a club.

Wang Wu sidestepped the blade and whipped out a leg kick.

Bang!

The thug's head slammed heavily against the wall, and he instantly lost consciousness. Immediately after, Wang Wu followed up with a stomp that snapped his cervical spine.

The other one tried to run, but just as he opened the window, he was grabbed by the collar by Wang Wu and thrown directly out of the third-floor window like a sandbag.

"Aaaah—!"

A shrill scream cut through the rainy night, followed by a dull thud upon impact, and then a dead silence.

In less than a minute.

Of the four bullies who were so overbearing just now, three were dead.

Only Wang Pangzi was left, huddled in his executive chair. His crotch was already soaked, and a foul stench began to spread.

"Don't... don't kill me... I beg you..." Wang Pangzi was a mess of tears and snot, kowtowing desperately. "I have money... I have five million... it's all in the card... the password is..."

Zhang Cheng walked to the desk and looked at this fat pig across the table.

The keen perception brought by ten times the constitution allowed him to clearly hear the violent thumping of Wang Pangzi's heart and smell the nauseating scent of fear on him.

This feeling of holding the power of life and death... it's really good.

"Wang Pangzi, when you were bullying people, did you ever think this day would come?" Zhang Cheng's voice was very soft, yet it struck Wang Pangzi's heart like a hammer.

"I was wrong... Grandpa... Ancestor... I was really wrong..."

"In your next life, be a good person. Oh wait, for scum like you, there probably won't be a next life."

Zhang Cheng turned around and stopped looking at him.

"Do it."

A dull thud came from behind him—the sound of a heavy blow hitting an Adam's apple, accompanied by the gurgling sound of a crushed windpipe.

Everything returned to tranquility.

Zhang Cheng stood by the window, looking out at the pitch-black rainy night.

Is it over just like that?

After killing four people, his heart was surprisingly calm. No fear, no nausea, only the satisfaction of a great revenge being settled, and... a longing for this power.

"This is just the beginning."

Zhang Cheng looked at the strange, powerful version of himself in the glass reflection and whispered to himself.

This was the Dragon Kingdom. With such a major homicide case, the police would surely arrive soon.

Stay behind? That would be seeking death.

Although he had the system and Wang Wu, he was still too weak when facing the state machine.

"System, how should the traces left by Wang Wu be handled?"

[Host need not worry. Death Soldiers possess professional counter-reconnaissance skills. The current scene has been cleared of fingerprints and biological traces. It is recommended that the Host leave the scene immediately. Wang Wu can act as a decoy or be destroyed.]

"Destroying him is too wasteful." Zhang Cheng thought for a moment. "Have him handle the scene, fake it to look like a gang vendetta or internal strife, then go into hiding outside and wait for my orders."

[Command confirmed.]

Zhang Cheng took one last look at this office full of sin, turned around, and strode into the rainy night.

He naturally couldn't live a normal life with the identity of 'Zhang Cheng' anymore. From this moment on, the original Zhang Cheng was dead.