Chapter 31: Doesn't Everyone Have to Pay for Their Actions?

Grasped in Optimus Prime's hand, the tremendous force shattered Xiao Gu's bones, causing him to scream in agony.

His screams echoed through the corpse-ridden town, provoking the howls of nearby zombies. Zheng Mu approached, looking at Xiao Gu, whose head was the only thing visible in Optimus Prime's grip.

Blood started flowing from his facial orifices as he struggled to breathe. Despite this, a faint smile remained on his face.

"President Xiao, it seems you're falling behind the times," Zheng Mu taunted. "Who said that new professionals fresh out of school are all naïve fools unaware of society's dangers?"

"Who's truly the naïve one here?" With difficulty, Xiao Gu opened one eye, his facial muscles twitching uncontrollably.

His resentful gaze fixated on the scroll in Zheng Mu's hand, which flew up and down. Xiao Gu attempted to say something, but before he could speak, Optimus Prime tightened his grip at Zheng Mu's signal, crushing him with a sickening crunch.

Blood oozed from the gaps between Optimus Prime's metallic fingers as Xiao Gu's lifeless body dropped to the ground like a discarded sack. Unable to bear the sight, Cai Shengkun vomited on the spot.

Seeing him, Leng Bingyue, who had been holding back, also rushed behind a wall and retched. It took them a while to recover, both staring at Zheng Mu with obvious meaning.

Zheng Mu shrugged, gesturing to Optimus Prime.

"This is my trump card now: Optimus Prime of the Transformers!" After spraying an unknown liquid on his wrist to wash away the blood, Optimus Prime waved at the two of them.

"Hello, I am a mechanical creation made by Master, Optimus Prime..."

"He... he can talk?!" Cai Shengkun exclaimed in horror, stepping back, while Leng Bingyue looked equally shocked.

Zheng Mu nodded and pointed to the other mechanical creations cleaning up the battlefield. "Not only can Optimus Prime talk, but these T-800s can as well.

I've installed AI systems in them, giving them a fair degree of autonomy." As they spoke, the screams of a dying pig echoed from behind them.

They turned to see a T-800 dragging a familiar figure towards them. "Heh, this guy's luck isn't half bad. He managed to survive in that environment?" Cai Shengkun sneered at the figure, who turned out to be their "good classmate" Zhang Chenglong.

"Zheng Mu, no, Young Master Zheng, Grandpa Zheng, Grandpa Cai, please have mercy! I was wrong, I really know I was wrong.

I never thought they'd want to kill you. They..." Seeing Zhang Chenglong, snot and tears streaming down his face as he begged on his knees, Zheng Mu waved his hand dismissively, uninterested in wasting words on him.

He prepared to order the T-800 to execute Zhang Chenglong when Cai Shengkun stepped forward.

"Poker, leave this guy to me!" Zheng Mu understood Cai Shengkun's intentions and nodded, allowing him to take Zhang Chenglong to a corner under the T-800's guidance.

"Why do I feel like you weren't all that surprised by Optimus Prime's appearance?" Zheng Mu asked Leng Bingyue, as Cai Shengkun walked away.

Leng Bingyue rolled her eyes. "Who would drive a truck into the wilderness for fun? And if you wanted comfort, wouldn't an off-road vehicle be more convenient?

Do you think driving a big truck is normal?"

"Moreover..."

Leng Bingyue looked at him as if he were an idiot, then asked a soul-searching question.

"Have you ever seen a summoner who doesn't keep a summon by their side for protection, but instead sends out all their summons to fight while they sit back and drink beer and eat skewers?"

"Uh."

Zheng Mu was stunned by this question, as he hadn't given it much thought.

In fact, Leng Bingyue wasn't entirely right; he could relax and eat skewers because as long as his mechanical creations didn't die out, he was always safe.

Using Optimus Prime as a last line of defense was just a guess on her part.

However, this demonstrated Leng Bingyue's keen observation skills.

As they chatted, a few gunshots rang out from Cai Shengkun's direction, and he returned with a dark expression on his face.

"Some people must pay the price for their actions. Becoming professionals may seem glamorous to ordinary people, but we should know better."

"We've entered a terrifying battlefield."

Zheng Mu patted Cai Shengkun's shoulder, comforting him.

Cai Shengkun nodded in agreement, his expression somewhat somber.

The ordeal with the Black Wind Guild left them both mentally exhausted. After Optimus Prime transformed back into a truck, they climbed into the cab, ready to rest.

Unbeknownst to them, outside, the bodies of the Black Wind Guild members that should have been buried were secretly collected by the T-800s.

Under Zheng Mu's control, a door opened in the back of the truck, which was designed to look like a cargo hold, and the bodies were sent into the "Mechanical Nest."

After the two of them had fallen into a deep sleep, Zheng Mu carefully entered the Mechanical Nest.

Eagerly, he approached the disgusting corpse of Xiao Gu.

Under the watchful gaze of the Red Queen, he took out the "Blood Phoenix Seal" and activated it.

Blood gushed out of Xiao Gu's body and coalesced.

In the blink of an eye, his body had transformed into a skeletal husk.

Before Zheng Mu, a blood-red skill book appeared.

[Dark Crypt: Night Assassin Lv.25 skill. Summons a dark crypt, allowing the user to silently approach a target from underground in the night and launch a surprise attack. Learning Conditions: Assassin-type professions can learn this skill]

Seeing this skill, Zheng Mu couldn't help but feel sympathy for Xiao Gu.

If it weren't for the tight encirclement of his forces, coupled with the "Nano Magnetic Field Scan" skill being too much of a counter for assassins,

Sneaking around, whether attacking or using the skill to retreat directly,

Would have been quite easy.

"Alas, well, it works out for me now. Even though only assassins can use it, do you think that'll affect me?"

Zheng Mu's mouth curved into a smile.