Weapons

Chapter 0767: Weapons

Inside the unfinished, half-collapsed basement, Li Huowang patiently scrutinized the fingers of the captives, trying to identify the man who had kidnapped him earlier.

But after checking them all, he was surprised to find that the one he was looking for wasn’t there. Everyone here had all their fingers intact.

“That can’t be right…” While Li Huowang was frowning over this question, Zhao Lei’s words from earlier replayed in his mind.

He shook his head, looking at the row of bound prisoners on the ground and the strangely unfrightened expressions on their faces. A flicker of doubt crossed his eyes.

Then something occurred to him. He crouched down again and re-examined their fingers. This time he didn’t just look—he pressed each fingertip.

This time, he found something. When his finger encountered two digits that did not feel like normal skin, he glanced at the man, reached out, and with a gentle tug, pulled off the two prosthetic fingers.

“So it was you after all.” Li Huowang stared at the somewhat unfamiliar face.

Seeing that Li Huowang had removed his fake fingers, the man opened his mouth and said something with an indignant expression. Li Huowang, understandably, didn’t understand a word.

He turned his head and looked at Qing Wanglai in the distance. “What’s this guy saying? Help me translate.”

Qing Wanglai, who had been talking with Zhao Lei, walked over. He listened for a few seconds and said, “He’s cursing you. Do you need me to translate that?”

“Never mind.” Li Huowang kicked the man hard in the stomach, then turned to Qing Wanglai. “Are you sure it’s okay to keep so many people tied up here? And all those people I killed earlier?”

“It’s fine. Like I said, I have pretty good connections. Besides, these people don’t exactly have clean backgrounds themselves.”

“Leave this to me. Don’t worry too much. But if there’s a next time, try not to be so reckless.”

“That was a truck. It’s metal, you’re flesh and blood. And you still charged it. One wrong move and we might not even have a body to collect.”

“I know that. You don’t need to tell me.” A hint of impatience crept onto Li Huowang’s face at the other’s advice.

“Now that we’ve caught them, we can’t just keep them locked up forever. There are only a few of us. If they refuse to cooperate, what’s your plan?”

“Then we use them as bargaining chips to negotiate with whoever’s out there. Our top priority is to find out what they want and how much they know about the projection from the other side.”

Li Huowang frowned, sinking into deep thought. Faced with people of unknown origin, he couldn’t come up with any ideas for the moment.

“You can ask about the thing on your foot now. It’s been a long time—maybe it can be taken off,” Qing Wanglai said, his tone one of concern.

“I already asked. They said at least two years. For those two years, I’m banned from going near any schools.”

“Two years? That’s too long. Doesn’t seem right. I’ll find a lawyer friend to ask for you.”

Li Huowang gave him a surprised look. “You sure have a lot of connections for a grad student. You know just about everyone.”

“Heh. Is that a compliment?”

“Keep interrogating them. I’m going to check on Qian Fu. Wujie, give me the keys to the RV.”

Taking the key ring with a multi-tool knife attached, Li Huowang walked out of the basement and headed toward the RV parked nearby.

He glanced at Qing Wanglai’s luxury car, patted it, then used the key to unlock the door of the RV.

The moment he stepped inside, he saw Qian Fu tied up, craning his neck desperately, trying to use his mouth to pick up a dagger lying on the table beside him.

Li Huowang reached out, grabbed the knife, and tossed it onto a pile of other weapons on the nearby table. These were all collected from the captives’ hideout.

Seeing his escape plan foiled, Qian Fu immediately grew frantic. “What the hell do you people want?! Please! Let me go!”

Li Huowang walked over to the weapon pile and began picking through it. “Qian Fu, calm down. This is for your own good. They’re obviously coming for us. If you run off on your own, they’ll definitely catch you.”

“Even though we took out one nest, we don’t know yet if they’ll send more.”

Qian Fu stared at Li Huowang with that mad, desperate look in his eyes. He took a few deep breaths and blurted out, “Did Qing Wanglai tell you that? He lied to you! He’s a big, fat liar!”

Seeing Li Huowang pick up a crossbow and aim it at him with one eye closed, Qian Fu’s face went pale.

“Don’t be fooled by his nice-guy act! It’s all an act! We were in the same hospital! He talks his way out every time, says he’s better, and then he relapses and gets locked up again!”

“Don’t trust him! Whatever you do, don’t trust him!”

Li Huowang lowered the crossbow and looked at Qian Fu. “I’m not supposed to trust him? What, should I trust you instead? Stay put.”

“We don’t want to have you tied up either. Once this whole mess blows over, go wherever you want. If you want to roam the streets eating garbage, I couldn’t care less.”

With that, Li Huowang stopped bothering with Qian Fu and focused on sorting through his spoils.

Qing Wanglai couldn’t get guns, but these guys had delivered them themselves. Li Huowang picked up the heavy weapon and handled it carefully.

Holding it in his hand gave him a sense of solidity. But having it was one thing; knowing how to use it was another.

He had said Qing Wanglai’s medicine was bad, but Li Huowang knew deep down that it was his “rule-of-law” approach that had made it possible to take these people down in one go.

Without him, relying on just his own group to capture them without getting hurt would have been nearly impossible.

Li Huowang fiddled with the gun for a bit, but couldn’t even figure out how to release the magazine or disengage the safety. He put it down.

He’d wait until Qing Wanglai was free and ask him for lessons.

Li Huowang picked up a military knife and examined it. It was a wide-bladed, narrow-handled kukri. But he quickly set it down again.

This thing was better for hacking than for killing. Unless you hit a major artery, it was too easy for an enemy juiced with adrenaline to escape.

He searched for a while longer before settling on a slim, pointed combat knife.

The entire blade was blacked out, about thirty centimeters long, with an I-shaped handle. The edge was thin and razor-sharp. The grip was thoughtfully wrapped in rope, so it wouldn’t get slippery even if soaked in blood.

He picked it up and drove it into the table in front of him, a straight thrust. The sharp point punched a clean hole straight through.

Pulling the knife out, he eyed the deep gash with satisfaction. He then selected a second one and tucked it behind his back, under his clothes.

This was the right tool. Simple to use, easy to conceal, and didn’t require any training.