Chapter 14: Chaos on the Outer Ring

In the Pudong New Area District of Shanghai City, the scorching sun shone relentlessly upon the Outer Ring Highway, which led to the Zhongyuan Apartment.

The typically bustling highway was clogged with an unusual number of cars, resulting in a severe traffic jam.

The Outering Ring was the primary route that connected the city's outskirts to its central areas, and was known for being the busiest road in the city.

Elevated on concrete pillars, the highway towered above the surrounding roads, making it a convenient shortcut in comparison to the smaller, local roads.

To ensure smooth and unimpeded travel, the government had implemented measures to regulate the flow of traffic, with the local police force tasked with enforcing them.

However, on this particular day, the police were nowhere to be seen and the media remained ominously silent.

Amidst the sea of immobilized cars, a small, elongated shadow darted past them. It was Jin and Miss Wei on the motorcycle, zipping through the traffic and eliciting angry shouts from frustrated drivers.

The motorcycle smoothly weaved through the cars despite the chaos and objects being hurled towards them.

The atmosphere was tense, with neither of them having enough energy to speak. Amidst the chaos of people shouting, Jin, who had been lost in thought the whole time, turned to look at the rearview mirror.

"Miss Wei, if you're tired, we can switch places," Jin offered as the motorcycle abruptly came to a halt, changing gears and spinning to dodge an incoming hammer.

"Get off, bitch! Let me have that motorcycle!" The hammer thrower shouted as he sped towards them.

The rage in his tone and the bloodthirsty look in his eyes made it clear that he was determined to take the motorcycle, even if it meant hurting Jin and Miss Wei.

"Good Lord, Little Jin, you should have spoken up sooner. This woman is already exhausted!" Miss Wei exclaimed in desperation.

She suddenly opened her full-face helmet, revealing a pair of deep brown, phoenix-like eyes that were sharp and weary. She kept glancing at the incoming person who had thrown the hammer before.

Jin gave her a faint smile in response and proceeded to hold the motorcycle handle with his left hand, while his other hand grasped the shotgun with the barrel pointed towards the sky.

With a small movement from his middle finger, he pulled the trigger and a gunshot was fired. The loud and thunderous sound of the blast instantly drowned out the sounds of the cars honking and people yelling.

"Clear the path or you'll be shot dead," Jin's amber eyes emitted a chilling aura as he glared at the people surrounding them from all sides.

Each of them held makeshift weapons like pliers and wrenches. But with the shot fired earlier, the rage and bloodthirsty expressions turned to fear as they slowly backed off.

"Why didn't you suggest this earlier? You have me working hard, Little Jin!" Miss Wei patted his back and proceeded to take the gun from his hands.

They switched places as Jin couldn't drive properly with only one hand. Meanwhile, Jin stayed silent and pulled the handlebar, making the motorcycle do a wheelie.

"Whoa-whoa!" Miss Wei exclaimed in surprise and gripped Jin's waist tightly with her soft hands while struggling to hold the 7kg heavy Mossberg 930 in her right hand.

…

After a few minutes, they had exited the highway and were now on a small road that led to the Zhongyuan Apartments. If they encountered no trouble, they would arrive in 5 minutes.

Jin, who was frowning and focused on the road, was processing the sudden information he had witnessed in his mind.

His speculation about the chaotic world needed to be altered.

"Most of them are still alive and are even already packing their things and preparing to seek protection from the government," he assumed, looking at the cars that filled the highway.

While driving straight on the Outer Ring Highway would lead them to the central city of Shanghai, where there were no military bases but enough police stations for people to feel safe, Jin chose to turn left in the direction of the apartments.

As Jin was lost in thought, he glanced at the rearview mirror, where Miss Wei also seemed to be lost in her own thoughts, her full-face helmet open and the wind blowing into it.

Miss Wei was one of the tenants in the Zhongyuan Apartment where Jin lived and worked as a security guard.

As a security guard, he interacted with the tenants when they entered or left the apartment.

His duty was not only to secure the premises against possible stalkers or thieves but also to ensure that each tenant was safe and not involved in any illegal activities.

Basically, Jin had almost memorized the full information about each tenant. Miss Wei, whose full name was Wei Jingyi, was one of the tenants.

She was a college student two years older than him, with an unknown background, and was recommended by the owner of the apartment.

She loved to carry her sword, which she somehow managed to get permission for from the owner.

Although his relationship with her and other tenants could not be called friends, because of his responsibility, he had to be acquainted with everyone and had to interact and do a security check every time they went out.

Thus, it may be the reason why Wei Jingyi had blind trust in him, even in this changing world.

"Well, she's not wrong. It's still the first day this entity arrived and everyone was busy figuring out what these creatures are and didn't even realize there's an alien entity like a game inside their body.

"Now that the world has changed, I don't need to live in a safe environment anymore. With the existence of strange creatures, an alien game entity, and those gangs, I only need to take something useful before leaving."

He was so naive before. He thought that because they were gangs, they had no relation with the government. That's why he wanted to seek protection from the government.

But now, with those guns, abandoned cars, and ambushes, how could those gangs that were just backed by big companies deploy such a big ambush?

Trust the government? Hell yeah, even those gangs have guns in their pockets. Can the gang suffer their losses and ignore their dignity being trampled?

The sniper has already seen and remembered his face, those machine guns have already committed to kill him.

So who is he? An influencer? An artist? An important researcher? A state official? Not any one of them, he's just a normal civilian.

Meaning trusting them would be the same as giving him a visible GPS on his head and delivering his life to the wolf dens.

Though he didn't hate the government or was completely anti-government and didn't want to become a terrorist, he was just being cautious and it was one reason he was still alive until this point.

Jin had no big dreams. He grew up in an orphanage and was used to being independent. His only hope was being able to enjoy a delicious meal the next day.

Thus, the reason why he strove to study hard was to increase his value in society and earn a high salary.

At one time, he dreamed of becoming a pro gamer, but those hopes were shattered due to the existence of Game Top Up, a pay-to-win game.

However, now the world was suddenly changing. This game entity suddenly arrived and somehow transformed his strength, even giving him power.

To any hardcore gamer, isn't this thing thrilling enough? He was curious about what happened to the world and what those creatures were.

What if he reached the max level? How strong could he be? What ability was possible for him to get? Those thoughts were the reasons that made him keep alive.

He had nothing to protect and nothing to lose. If he died, he just died without missing anyone. At least he still held a grudge against his old parents.

"I need to settle the grudge with those gangs," he regained his senses as fresh memories flashed before his mind.

Before, he didn't dare to think like this. Those gangs were the overlord, and he was just a mere security guard.

Those gangs had weapons, so how was it possible for him to kill even one of them? If he did, he believed they would not put him in jail.

Instead, they would torture him and make him a disgusting experiment before taking his life. But now, not only was the possibility increased, he could even raid their base.

Instead of accepting a lifeless and emotionless existence, why not try his luck in this crisis?

Unknown to him, his body moved on its own as he rode the motorcycle and they finally arrived at the familiar view of the apartment.