The secret base, past 1 AM.
Zhou Tianming vaguely heard some movement nearby and immediately woke up, his eyes scanning the pitch-black surroundings where nothing was visible.
Only his own breathing and the mechanical hum from beyond the secret base's walls reached his ears.
Reaching out toward where Wei Jun should have been sleeping nearby, his hand grasped empty air.
His fingers touched cardboard instead, the surface cold to the touch—clearly unslept on.
Had something happened?
Heart pounding with suspicion, he slowly sat up.
Just then, faint sobbing emerged from the darkness.
After a pause, Zhou Tianming recognized Wei Jun's voice.
With a quiet sigh, he lay back down.
Memories surfaced of the crew they'd encountered aboard the Black Tortoise.
How unpredictable life could be.
Pushing the thoughts aside, he closed his eyes and returned to sleep.
By 7 AM the next morning, metallic clanging startled Zhou Tianming awake.
Wei Jun's cardboard bedding remained vacant.
Following the noise, he found Wei Jun rummaging through junk piled in the secret base.
Numerous intact but slightly rusted tools already lay discarded in a heap beside him.
Noticing Zhou Tianming's approach, Wei Jun grinned over his shoulder: "Did I wake you? Couldn't sleep, figured I'd scavenge for useful stuff."
"Nah," Zhou Tianming shook his head. "Cardboard's uncomfortable. I prefer proper bedding."
Wei Jun laughed heartily. "Back in our army days, we slept wherever we dropped! You're spoiled, Tian Ming."
Zhou Tianming smirked and joined him. "Find anything useless?"
"Nah, just parts and tools. Useless to a brute like me."
Kneeling beside the scavenged items, Zhou Tianming's eyes lit up. "Perfect—I can assemble a camera from these. Keep searching—with more components, I might build a drone to scout outside."
Wei Jun redoubled his efforts.
Zhou Tianming arranged components, mentally drafting schematics while identifying missing parts for Wei Jun to locate.
Soon most pieces were gathered, leaving only minor components to craft manually.
They sat cross-legged on the floor.
Zhou Tianming soldered connections while Wei Jun roughly shaped an iron rod with a 10cm file.
Between tasks, Wei Jun asked: "How long do you think we'll hide here?"
Raising his head to glance at Wei Jun, whose entire face was wrapped in bandages making his expression unreadable, Zhou Tianming lowered his head and continued working: "Won't be long now."
"First, we're both seriously injured. Lacking weapons is deadly enough—going into battle wounded would be suicide."
"Second, yesterday we lured the enemy into attacking the Wasted Star Gang's stronghold. We need to let that situation simmer for a while."
Wei Jun was puzzled: "What will happen?"
"Regardless of the outcome, the buyers attacking the gang will raise suspicions and make people wonder about the reasons. As long as we don't show up, some will suspect the buyers have already completed their mission. Then their attack..."
"Will be seen as a double-cross to avoid paying." Wei Jun suddenly understood, looking at Zhou Tianming with astonishment. "Who taught you these tricks? Hanxiang doesn't seem the type to be so... so..."
Zhou Tianming's face darkened: "I figured it out myself."
Wei Jun looked unconvinced: "Uh-huh."
"Are you listening or not?"
"I am."
"As long as there's distrust between them, at least most people on Junk Guild will stay neutral. That gives us a chance to turn things around."
Suddenly, Wei Jun asked: "I have 2 billion. Do you think we could put a bounty on them instead?"
Zhou Tianming shook his head: "Won't work. If they can spend 2 billion just to lower your guard, money means nothing to them."
"Besides, we're at a disadvantage. Who'd trust us to pay if we survive? What if they demand payment upfront? Would you trust a pack of money-grubbing hyenas?"
Wei Jun fell silent.
By noon, Zhou Tianming had finished constructing the drone.
It was a crude-looking twin-propeller drone, with ugly weld marks between the metal frames and exposed wires connecting the battery, motor, and propellers.
Holding a remote control wrapped in cardboard, Zhou Tianming made the drone take off. The two watched the footage transmitted to their phones.
The camera's resolution was too high, and the drone's outdated signal transmission components couldn't keep up, causing the feed to stutter.
After some adjustments, the image became blurrier but smoother.
"Let's take it out for a test."
Wei Jun eyed the shoddy drone skeptically: "Will this thing even work? The city's at least ten kilometers away. Can it make it?"
"Just call an unmanned convertible car. Send it into the city and then activate it."
"...I don't think that's how unmanned cars are meant to be used."
Zhou Tianming didn't respond.
"Do you have some kind of grudge against unmanned cars?"
A faint smile.
The two left through a small metal door on the other side of the secret base, ascending diagonally for about a hundred meters until they reached a large pipe.
Following the pipe for another fifty meters, Zhou Tianming searched the wall for a hidden switch.
He found it quickly, but the button was rusted and wouldn't budge. It took Wei Jun's fist—the size of a sand pot—to finally make it work.
The ceiling above opened with a screech of metal, lowering a folding iron ladder.
They climbed up and soon reached the exit.
Zhou Tianming tried the handle, but it was completely rusted shut. Once again, Wei Jun had to step in to force it open. However, something seemed to be weighing down the cover from outside.
So Wei Jun took a deep breath, planted his feet on the ladder, and slammed into the cover with all his might.
In an instant, the iron lid flew off—accompanied by a pained howl.
A foul stench suddenly filled the air as a massive black boar's head emerged from above, its eyes bloodshot.
Zhou Tianming and Wei Jun simultaneously gulped—with a head that big, the beast must have weighed over 200 kilograms.
Half an hour later, the wild boar, now completely skinned, had been carved into pieces and was roasting over a crackling fire.
The rich aroma of meat permeated the surrounding air.
Zhou Tianming sat nearby, controlling a drone that had arrived in the city via an unmanned car, beginning its reconnaissance.
The city was eerily quiet, with not a soul in sight on the streets.
The drone flew onward until it reached a square.
At its center, a person was bound to a cross-shaped iron frame.
The figure hung motionless, head drooping, their body covered in gruesome wounds. Only their right arm remained, dangling limply at their side. Blood trickled down the frame, pooling into a dark puddle on the ground.
A voice crackled through the drone's audio feed: "Wei Jun! If you don't show yourself soon, your old friend here is going to die!"
"Who would've thought? Always acting so righteous, but when it comes down to it, you turn into a coward. Did you run off with that 2 billion?"
Wei Jun, who had been tending to the roasting boar, suddenly sprang to his feet and rushed to Zhou Tianming's side, snatching the phone from his hands.
His eyes widened as he stared at the figure on the screen, his lips trembling. The phone case creaked under the force of his grip.
The next second, Wei Jun took off in a dead sprint toward the city.
Zhou Tianming froze for a moment—Wei Jun was already ten meters away before he snapped out of it and chased after him. "Are you insane?! That's a trap!"
"I know!" Wei Jun's voice was thick with anguish. "I know it's a trap, but am I just supposed to watch my brother die there?!"
"You're walking to your death! And we don't even know if he's still alive!"
Wei Jun stopped in his tracks, his silhouette as unshakable as a mountain.
"Even if it's just his body, I'm bringing him home!"
With that, he was gone.
Zhou Tianming stood rooted to the spot.
In his past life, watching scenes like this on TV, he had understood the sentiment—even longed for such moments, knowing they made the story more thrilling. After all, the protagonist always achieved their goal and returned safely.
But now, seeing it unfold before his eyes in reality, he couldn't comprehend it. What in the world could be more important than one's own life?
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