Side Story: Hell on Earth
Chapter 126
Too Clever for His Own Good
Rain...
Torrential rain drenched the muddy, foam-churning forest path. Dense tree crowns crowded together, growing crookedly in the dark. They stretched their branches and spread their roots, resembling pitch-black, ferocious devil hands reaching out... grabbing shoulders, clutching arms, dragging legs... of the dark shadow fleeing frantically and searching for a way to survive.
He was hunted closely by countless enemies. Human shouts, thunder tearing through the night, and labored, intermittent gasps violently collided together.
Nature joined forces with the enemies who were shouting and calling their accomplices to surround and capture him. Trees blocked the path, and the wind and rain mercilessly whipped against his body and his panicked, chaotic psyche... just as... back then, when he had used crude, brutal, and inhumane means against his own victims.
He always only believed in himself. He didn't believe in fate.
However...
Today...
From the enemies to former teammates and accomplices, all of them turned against him at once... just as... the way he went to great lengths to collude and connect with dark conspiratorial gangs.
The laws of heaven brought retribution, and the bitter fruit he had planted with his own hands now bore its consequences, falling upon this cunning, unfathomable villain… yet… to his humiliation, even at the moment of his complete defeat, he still could not understand why he had suffered such a devastating defeat.
Obviously...
He had already devised a flawless plan...
Yet in the end, it still failed...
Those bewildering questions that had not yet found answers... disturbed his mind... and were... bringing back images of the past...
***
He vaguely felt that the enemies were plotting in the dark to harm him, so he closely monitored the development of the situation.
A few days ago, this distrustful man discovered suspicious moves from his opponents. They followed the clue to find his accomplice who had always been hidden and never showed his face.
He felt uneasy because of their secretive actions. Cold sweat broke out, seeping into his anxious state of mind as he feared that the secret would be exposed and everyone would die a gruesome death. This man, who would stop at nothing, had once ordered his trusted subordinates to cause a series of traffic accidents.
At that time, the street was in utter chaos, car horns blared, and the public screamed in panic, witnessing the scene of numerous cars and motorcycles crashing violently and shattering. Severely injured victims lay scattered, burned to death inside the roaring, blazing red-hot cars.
The black car suffered a terrifying impact, and the shockwave threw the accomplice out, after which he was swept under the chassis of a truck and died on the spot.
After receiving the good news passed down by his subordinates, this mastermind complacently slept soundly and at ease. After the last trace leading to the destination was completely wiped out, he no longer had to worry about a counterattack and could finally sleep soundly.
That accomplice who was at risk of turning against him and betraying him was already dead, and the enemies had lost their most important weapon; even if the direction of their investigation was completely correct and they dug up everything disadvantageous to the mastermind, they could not reverse this chess match whose victory and defeat had long been destined, and right from the beginning, who the winner was had already been determined.
Damn it... what on earth is going on...
The tables were completely turned on the mastermind in the final stoppage time, and he suffered a fatal counterattack... forcing him to flee in a panic, humiliated like a mad dog, frantically biting anyone who blocked his way.
Gunshots were deafening, shattering the surrounding trees, and the mastermind snapped awake, suddenly remembering that he was being surrounded and captured. He poked his muzzle out and fired back towards the rear.
Interlaced bullet barrages whistled past, piercing through layer upon layer of obstacles, and those people greedy for fame and fortune, eager to render meritorious service, were caught off guard, hit by the bullets, and fell. The shouts of the crowd and the sound of that leader shouting for surrender rang out together.
"The entire area is surrounded. You won't escape. Drop your weapon and submit to arrest."
The mastermind sneered at the tactic of offering lenient treatment in exchange for surrender. He absolutely refused to yield, stubbornly resisting to the end, raising his submachine gun to fire continuously, the muzzle flashing with fire and emitting white smoke, the fired bullet barrage piercing through the forest trees and tearing apart the bodies of several enemies.
The mastermind threw the grenade far away, taking advantage of the enemies' casualties and the gap while the rest lay on the ground to dodge the explosion's shockwave, sprinting wildly toward the place where darkness had not yet been dispersed by the morning light.
He wove left and right, using trees to block bullets for himself, then leaped forward, raising his gun with both hands to fight back against the enemies who were continuously tightening the encirclement.
The opponents wanted to capture him alive, and the entire team only restrainedly fired, avoiding hitting vital points.
Taking advantage of the opportunity when they aimed at other positions, he cleverly dodged the bullets, threw smoke grenades to confuse the enemies, and then leaped into the deep river at the bottom of the deep valley.
His body crashed into the branches protruding from the cliff, and before he could feel the pressure of the water, the impact force had already been reduced.
The sharp pain in his chest could not stop his determination to escape with his life, and he pulled himself together to swim ashore, running into the mist-shrouded dark night.
"Haha, darkness is forever my comrade-in-arms."
He was confident that as long as he hid in the night fog, he could conceal himself well and escape the pursuit. This confidence was shattered by the dense rain of bullets. Sensing danger, he hastily dodged while frantically firing consecutive shots behind him.
Bullets spun and broke the wind, tearing through tree trunks and striking against the giant boulder to splatter sparks; the dry gunshots rang out accompanied by the sound of snapping rotting wood.
After a long exchange of fire, he was always narrowly getting hit, bullets flying by grazing his flesh, making him suspect... the enemy... could see exactly where he was standing. He completely could not see the enemy.
The guy was in the "light," while the opponent was hidden in the "dark," forcing him to use every ounce of his skill... having once crawled and rolled alone across the battlefield, surviving nine deaths and one life amidst a hail of bullets, he had gained the ability to dodge bullets and escape death.
Falling into a completely disadvantageous situation, he was no longer afraid that making a sound would alert the enemies and draw their encirclement. This fleeing man was forced to provoke his formidable enemy:
"You coward, you don't dare face me and fight fair and square? You death-fearing, cowering turtle."
That guy was not moved by the provocation at all; the gun in his hands still spewed flames, pouring firepower directly onto the target.
The escaper rolled around in a panic, pulling the trigger to shoot wildly at the opponent. He hid behind a large boulder, swapped in his last magazine, and the moment he peeked out, before he even had time to aim, he hurriedly ducked his head to dodge the bullets. Both sides dodged and fought.
The escaper faked the "click-clack" sound of his gun running out of bullets, luring the opponent to slowly approach him. He focused his hearing to listen to the footsteps, predicted when that guy reached the appropriate distance, and immediately poured out bullets like a violent storm.
Hearing a muffled groan, along with the rustling sound of both knees kneeling on the ground covered in fallen leaves, that blurry silhouette fell, spitting fresh blood, indicating the opponent had been struck down; the escaper smiled smugly.
He rushed over gloatingly, raising his gun to shoot directly. The pursuer suddenly dodged aside, spinning and sweeping a kick toward the opponent's supporting leg.
Due to carelessness, he could not react in time, taking a powerful kick straight to the chest, his whole body flying backward to crash into a tree trunk.
"You cunning bastard... you..."
Before he finished his words, he rolled to the side in terror, dodging the bullet spinning toward his body. Losing its target, the bullet shattered the tree trunk. Right at this moment, the gun let out two "click-click" sounds.
Seeing the opponent's bullets run out, he was triumphant, but this joy instantly turned into anger as he looked up at the young man wearing a black special forces uniform.
That face was cold and expressionless... but... those eyes... faintly revealed contempt and bone-deep hatred, as if hating fate for letting this irreconcilable enemy fall into the net too late.
"You damn dog, so it was you who played me."
The pursuer sneered contemptuously at the cunning man who had been clever all his life yet foolish for a moment… still… believing himself to be the smartest man in the world.
"The one who played you is yourself, you played it too stupidly yourself, confessing without being prompted, only then can I see through the entire conspiracy of you pack of dogs."
This pursuer had always been a man of few words, staying completely silent all day if there was nothing good to say; at this moment, however, he spoke twice as much as usual... but... not a single sentence was superfluous.
The escaper was mocked for "confessing without being prompted"; he had not yet understood the opponent's meaning, but upon hearing the phrase "the entire conspiracy", he suddenly realized in shock that he seemed to have committed some kind of fatal mistake.
Even he himself did not know exactly which part he had "played stupidly" in that perfect conspiracy.
The opponent revealed a mocking smile of pity, sneering at this enemy whose brain turned too slowly; no wonder he fell into the trap he had dug with his own hands from the very beginning... when scheming the layout... when deceiving superiors and hiding from subordinates.
The escaper's face went pale as paper; the fear of dying tragically from the crime of betrayal made him momentarily negligent, losing his vigilance for half a second, and he subsequently took a solid punch to the cheek, the massive impact sending him flying fiercely.
The severe pain violently slammed into his nature of clinging to life and fearing death; he jolted awake, both his feet kicking off the tree trunk behind him to borrow momentum as he charged toward the opponent, swinging his fist in a straight strike. The pursuer circled his hands to grab his arm, half-turned, and threw him heavily onto the ground.
The escaper propped his left foot on the gravel ground, hooking his right foot upward in a reverse kick toward the opponent. The pursuer retreated three steps, letting him kick the air.
He delivered a mid-air straight kick to the opponent's head. The escaper hurriedly raised both arms to defend, blocking the dangerous strike, and was immediately kicked flying.
The escaper suddenly reached out to grab the tree trunk; when he finished spinning one round, the pursuer happened to charge over, and he immediately unleashed a vicious and tricky kick, sweeping across the opponent's face.
The pursuer concentrated power in his arm to block this counterattack. The force of the kick blasted him away, crashing into the eucalyptus bushes; trees snapped, and after falling, he rolled several consecutive rounds to dodge the chain pursuit that could smash dents into the ground.
"Today I am dragging you down to die with me, you son of a bitch..."
The escaper's eyes were red with killing intent; his moves were vicious, filled with hatred and malice, and his extreme frenzy made him attack without defending. His excessive agitation made him attack without defending, and he took a solid blow from a hard wooden stick to the leg, the wood snapping in two with a crack.
The pain in his leg was bone-deep, yet he still frantically rushed forward, unleashing consecutive punches combined with simple kicking techniques, but every kick felt as heavy as a thousand jun.
The pursuer fell into a disadvantageous position, retreating step by step, enduring the severe pain brought by the bruises all over his body, and concentrating his energy to defend against this storm-like attack.
The pursuer waited for the split second when the opponent's attack paused and revealed a flaw, instantly gathering all his strength into his arm, channeling it to his fist to launch a counterattack.
This strike shattered the enemy's offensive, heavily smashing right into the center of his chest like a thunderbolt. The escaper was sent flying by a punch, his body flying backward into the air as fresh blood sprayed wildly.
Taking advantage of his figure still being in mid-air, the pursuer leaped into the air and heavily slammed down a massive blow onto his spine. The escaper suddenly spun to the left, extending his claws to scratch open his opponent's face.
The pursuer suddenly felt his cheek burning with pain, aching and itching, as if countless maggots were devouring his flesh and gouging his bones.
He rolled in agony, emitting a tragic wail. The escaper laughed out loud smugly, rushing forward as fast as lightning to finish off the enemy:
"You are still very green, a wet-behind-the-ears kid."
That fellow struck out with a final claw; the prey was about to become a sacrifice, when that beast struggling on the verge of death suddenly violently rose, "biting down hard on" the escaper's wrist.
The pursuer contemptuously mocked this extremely arrogant fellow, right up until the critical moment of life and death... still... fanatically believing in his own abilities... yet... never considering the possible variables that could appear, simply not giving a damn about judging from an overall perspective, let alone confirming whether the enemy had truly fallen into the trap?
The escaper widened his eyes in horror, finding this unimaginable, terrifying scene hard to believe—the pursuer's face, severely damaged... was... undergoing cell regeneration, restoring to flawless skin as if he had never been poisoned at all.
"You... you... you bastard... why can you neutralize..."
The pursuer sneered, mocking the escaper for not daring to finish his words at all. In the end, he also finally woke up to the realization that he must cautiously treat every single action and mind every single sentence... however... it was already too late.
"External thieves are easy to block, internal thieves are hard to guard against... this idiot..."
The escaper stood frozen in place, never dreaming that one day he would actually be betrayed by the person closest to him—by someone he doted on to the extreme, giving her whatever she wanted, satisfying whatever she asked for, and even meticulously scheming to snatch away things to use as her birthday gift.
The irony was that he was precisely the "dedicated" teacher who day after day taught his precious student: "Every man for himself, and heaven and earth will destroy him," and that anyone not in his faction was entirely an enemy.
When the outstanding student applied this principle to safeguard her own interests, the very first one to be driven to total extinction happened to be the teacher who had taught her all those dirty, dark methods.
The one acting as a teacher was not only played by the student.
He was also bitten back by that disciple poisoned by the thoughts of greed, hatred, ignorance, and selfishness.
That strike that broke his arm, accompanied by excruciating pain, ruthlessly dragged him back to the cruel reality. The petty-minded expression that was still smug the second before was mocked by the cruel truth the next second into a dazed look, failing even to sense the danger brought by the oncoming heavy punch.
"This punch is to avenge my family."
The pursuer delivered a frontal punch straight into his abdomen, causing stomach acid to flow backward, and fresh blood along with undigested bits of meat spewed out wildly.
"This punch vents anger for countless victims who lost their lives, and for those who were driven to a fate worse than death by you."
He swung his fist upward in an uppercut, and the facial bones shattered amidst angry roars echoing like the weeping of heaven and earth and a howling storm.
The most powerful punch heavily smashed into the escaper's face, smashing that despicable, petty villain's face that he hated to the bone into pieces.
"This punch washes away the hatred for my mother..."
Victory was within his grasp, yet in the end, because of half a second of carelessness, he ended up in a humiliating and tragic defeat. Although the one who knocked him down was an irreconcilable mortal enemy... yet... the root cause of the disastrous defeat... came from the person closest to him.
No... To be precise, it originated from the mistake of imperceptibly implanting the poisoned ideology into the subconscious... the only person he truly valued.
Ridiculously, this fellow who always thought he was right had determined that that ideology was once the most correct and precise path leading to the peak of fame and fortune in life—"Every man for himself, and heaven and earth will destroy him"... as a result... this person acting as a teacher was driven into a desperate corner by his disciple... precisely by this set of distorted ideologies that dragged both master and disciple together into a dead end.
The one acting as a teacher had no anger, no shouting, no cursing... instead... he laughed wildly like a madman. He laughed frantically, even laughing out wretched tears, using this to mock himself for being clever for a lifetime yet foolish for a moment.
This sole act of foolishness made him pay the price, leaving him with no more chances to correct his mistake.
He still laughed frantically like a madman, allowing the enemy's successive heavy punches to slam into his face, dripping with blood, rain soaking his blurred eyes... the imagery... the pursuer transformed into a fierce deity, continually unleashing punishment-like heavy blows.
Just at the moment when the escaper was about to faint, countless bolts of thunder and lightning flashed consecutively across his absent, dull face.
He smiled bitterly at the thought that even heaven and earth would actually collude with the enemy to mock him, mocking himself that he did not die of stupidity... but rather... died because he was too clever for his own good.
The escaper could no longer perceive anything around him; he was completely unable to move... when... Belief brought a large group of subordinates to arrest him. Belief walked up to that pursuer who was losing his sanity, gently patted his shoulder, and advised him gently:
"Liberte, stop hitting him. If he dies, you will be prosecuted by the military court for intentional homicide. It is not worth it. Everything is over. He must die with everything made clear to atone for his sins, so that our loved ones can transcend."
The two words "loved ones" instantly suppressed the raging fury, and that blood-stained, trembling arm abruptly stopped right at the edge of the mortal enemy's face. He roared and punched through the ground right beside his arch-enemy's head with a single blow.
"Wan, you are arrested for the crimes of betraying superiors and murdering "Hive" soldiers. You have the right to remain silent, and everything you say can become evidence against you in court."
After reading the arrest warrant, Belief waved his hand to signal the soldiers to tie Wan up and escort him to the dungeon to await trial. Belief placed Liberte's arm over his own shoulder, supporting him as he walked forward step by step in the cold wind and rain.
Hearing Liberte express his gratitude, this older brother smiled slightly. Belief knew in his heart that his younger brother was grateful that he had actually brought troops and arrived very early... but... he had stopped his subordinates from making a move against Wan.
He wanted to give Liberte an opportunity to completely vent the hatred and anger in his heart that had entangled him day and night and lingered in endless nightmares... having suffered deeply... the psychological despondency that lasted for years and seemed endless.
However...
Today, he put an end to his irreconcilable arch-enemy.
The root cause of the tragedy... was... about to end.