Chapter 4: A Desperate Turn of Fortune

A silent corridor, blood flowing across the floor, and an eerie atmosphere hanging thick in the air. Suddenly, the body of the mutant wolf twitched.

A blood-soaked figure struggled to crawl out from beneath it—Wang Ji, rising like a god of slaughter. He cast a glance at the remaining mutant dogs.

As the mutant dogs hesitated, Wang Ji raised his military knife.

"Get lost!" His voice boomed down the corridor, echoing off the walls.

The mutant dogs were so frightened they nearly soiled themselves. After witnessing the mutant wolf’s demise, a sense of danger overcame them, and they bolted, tails tucked between their legs.

Seeing this, Wang Ji finally allowed his killing intent to dissipate, slumping wearily against the wall.

Blood was pouring from a wound on his shoulder, so deep the bone was visible, the pain making his scalp prickle.

Meanwhile, the X System’s voice kept ringing in his mind:

"Killed a primary elite mutant animal. Awarded 20 energy points."

"Melee kill of primary elite mutant. Bonus 5 energy points. Novice Butcher title unlocked."

"Novice Butcher Title: Increases the commander’s intimidation against mutant creatures. Intimidation level..."

"Second Lieutenant Commander privileges unlocked..."

"Production project permissions unlocked as follows..."

"Research project permissions unlocked as follows..."

The series of X System notifications made Wang Ji breathe out in satisfaction—his efforts had not been in vain.

He quickly took out bandages and a hemostatic agent, tending to his wound. Once bandaged, he popped a chocolate stamina bean into his mouth.

A few minutes later, feeling his strength slowly return and an itchy sensation signaling his healing wound, Wang Ji allowed himself to relax.

"Hey! Hey! Are you still alive?" a man’s nervous voice called from behind a door.

Wang Ji stood up, quickly checked his status, and saw that his shoulder would take ten hours to heal, causing him to frown.

He raised his pistol and knocked it heavily against the door.

"Open up! Or I’ll shoot the lock off. I’m sure plenty of monsters are drawn to the smell of blood around here."

"No! Don’t shoot, we’ll open up!" another man’s voice replied, and the sound of the door unlocking soon followed.

Seconds later, Wang Ji saw two men standing before him.

The first was a burly middle-aged man in a security guard’s uniform—square-jawed, thick-browed, and steady-eyed, exuding an air of calm authority. He held a shotgun, eyeing Wang Ji warily.

The other was a much younger security guard, barely in his twenties, shorter and thinner, his face pale with fright. At the sight of Wang Ji, covered in blood and exuding a murderous aura, he shrank behind the older guard.

Wang Ji wiped his face and pointed to the corpse on the floor.

"The monster’s dead. I need to rest."

He lifted his N1 pistol slightly, wary of the shotguns in the guards’ hands.

The older guard stared at the corpse in amazement and clicked his tongue. "Brother, you’re incredible. It’s safe here for now, you can rest, but we should clean up all this blood first."

With that, the older guard led the younger to drag the corpse outside, covering the bloodstains with soil from a potted plant and a torn curtain.

Seeing this, Wang Ji’s anger subsided a little, and he helped out as well.

A few minutes later, Wang Ji and the two guards returned to the room behind the steel door.

The suite was likely used by the bank to host important clients and safeguard valuables—a hall of over thirty square meters, with a safe, sofas, a coffee table, and a refrigerator, plus a small office inside.

Three people were inside, including the heavily made-up woman.

When they saw Wang Ji enter, covered in blood, they all stepped aside.

Wang Ji scanned the room, then strode straight toward the woman, his earlier anger at her betrayal flaring up once more.

"Was it you who threw that thing just now?!"

The woman, terrified by Wang Ji’s presence, turned pale and trembled, but stubbornly replied, "It was me..."

Slap!

Wang Ji struck her across the face, sending her sprawling to the floor, a bright red handprint blossoming on her cheek. He didn’t hold back just because she was a woman.

The man in the suit hurried to block Wang Ji.

"Brother, how can you hit someone? Even if she was in the wrong—"

"Shut up!" Wang Ji snapped, frowning at the man. He shook his head with a sigh and headed toward the small office.

"Hey, that’s Miss Zhang’s resting place! What are you doing?" the man called after him.

Wang Ji’s eyes glinted coldly. He turned, raising his military knife.

"If you keep talking, it won’t just be a slap next time."

Without another word, he entered the office.

The man, cowed by Wang Ji’s killing intent, mumbled a few words under his breath and hurried to help Miss Zhang to her feet.

Miss Zhang, finally coming to her senses, stood up clutching her face, her expression furious. She slapped the man in the suit.

"You useless thing! Didn’t you see me get hit? What am I paying you for?"

"And you two! You promised to protect me! Now go grab him and throw him out!"

The man in the suit tried to calm her down in a low voice.

The older guard smiled wryly, signaled to the younger, and followed Wang Ji into the office.

"Don’t take offense, young man," the older guard said. "That’s Miss Zhang, the eldest daughter of the Zhang family from City E. She must have come here on business and got caught up in all this."

Wang Ji now understood the situation and felt no ill will toward the older guard, a smile appearing on his lips.

"It’s fine. I should thank you for opening the door earlier. Just don’t listen to her and throw me out."

"Don’t say that, young man," the older guard replied. "In times like these, the more people we have, the better. We need to stick together."

"I didn’t get a chance to introduce myself earlier... My name’s Yu—Yu Bo. I’m security here. What should I call you? Are you military? How did you end up here?"

Yu Bo handed Wang Ji a bottle of mineral water from the cabinet.

Wang Ji nodded, twisted it open, and took a drink.

"I’m Wang Ji. I’m not in the military, and I don’t belong to any unit. The gear is just part of my collection, and I found the pistol."

Dressed in bloodstained tactical gear, Wang Ji did indeed look every bit the soldier, so Yu Bo’s mistake was understandable.

Yu Bo’s eyes showed disappointment, but his enthusiasm remained.

"I didn’t expect you to be such a military enthusiast."

"It’s just a hobby," Wang Ji replied, neither confirming nor denying, his mind already turning over plans as he cleaned the blood from his body.

Yu Bo, seeing this, gritted his teeth and came closer.

"Wang, let’s be honest. You know the situation—we’re all trapped here. Do you have any plans?"

Wang Ji frowned slightly. The truth was, he had no clear plan for the future, still reeling from the shock of the X System.

"To be honest, I’m just taking it one step at a time."

Having grown up alone, and with the X System’s mystery, Wang Ji was naturally cautious. If anyone found out he could conjure ammunition from thin air, they’d probably dissect him for research.

"There are five of us here," Yu Bo continued. "There’s me and Xiao Chen—the other guard, Chen Fenchong. Then there’s Miss Zhang and her driver. The last one is Miss Wang."

Yu Bo briefly explained the situation.

"So that’s how things stand—we think our best bet is to escort Miss Zhang to the F City military district. That’s the safest plan."

Wang Ji bowed his head in thought. F City’s military district was over a hundred kilometers from the town—a long journey, and the dangers outside were far greater than they knew.

Seeing Wang Ji’s hesitation, Yu Bo sighed, his expression turning gloomy.

"You have your own reasons, I understand. I was hoping to get back to F City to find my family, but the phones are dead and I have no idea how they’re doing."

Wang Ji’s heart ached at that, but everyone was in the same predicament—they could only look out for themselves.

"Don’t worry, Yu. Heaven helps the good—you’ll find your family safe and waiting for you. I’m used to being on my own, so I’ll stay here."

Yu Bo forced a smile, nodded, and picked up his shotgun to leave.

"Wait."

Wang Ji called him back, took a small bottle of chocolate stamina beans—just three left—from his tactical pocket, and handed it over.

"Yu, I can’t do much, but take these with you. They might come in handy."

Yu Bo glanced at the packaging, accepted it, and, moved by Wang Ji’s kindness, fished around in his own pocket.

"Thank you, Wang. Here—take this key. It’s for the underground vault. It’s safer than here. If things get bad, go hide there."

Wang Ji took the key with a smile and waved.

"Thank you, Yu. If fate allows, we’ll meet again."

"Yes, if fate allows. We’ll rest up and leave at dawn."

Yu Bo left the office, closing the door behind him.

No longer concerned with the others, Wang Ji finally relaxed. He locked the office door, sat on the sofa, and soon sleepiness overcame him—he drifted off without knowing how much time had passed.

Suddenly, Wang Ji jolted awake from the sofa. The world outside the window was bright and silent as a pond.

"Damn, I actually slept for so long."

According to the X System, he’d been in a deep sleep for six hours—completely off guard, which unsettled him.

"X System, display my status information."

Host: Wang Ji

Strength: 11

Spirit: 11

Agility: 7

Stamina: 8/100

Status: Good. Right shoulder lightly wounded. Estimated recovery time: 2 hours.

Energy points: 39

Seeing his low stamina and the state of his injuries, Wang Ji was puzzled.

"Why has my stamina dropped so much? I remember eating a stamina-restoring chocolate before resting."

"Prior to entering deep sleep recovery, the X System automatically shifted the host’s cells into intensive recovery mode, consuming additional stamina to heal injuries."

"Time spent: 1 hour. Left arm bite wound fully healed. Time spent: 5 hours. Right shoulder severe laceration reduced to minor injury."