Fissure

Several minutes later, Zhou Qingfeng had retreated to the third floor of the underground basement. It was the lowest floor. He had nowhere else to go.

The robbers chasing after Zhou Qingfeng had not caught up to him, though. He had no idea that the guy called John had his neck ripped apart by a bullet. In less than a minute, the dying man's heart had pumped over a liter of blood out through fissures on the blood vessels. Blood flowed everywhere.

John had been killed, and the other thug was unable to move after his foot was wounded. He could only wait for reinforcements.

The third floor of the underground basement was quite empty. There were only twenty to thirty cars there, a small number. After making sure that the kidnappers were not following him, Zhou Qingfeng wrapped his arms with his shirt for a layer of protection. He then smashed the glass windows of a couple of cars with force.

After the glass was broken in a stream of shattering noises, Zhou Qingfeng turned into a frenzied and avaricious scavenger. He rummaged the cars, one by one, for objects that he could use.

Zhou Qingfeng was hungry. The Wittier than All ability was presented as an explosion of instantaneous strength and speed within an extremely short time. He was required to be physically strong to pull it off, and the ability also took a toll on his body. His blood sugar had plummeted to a dangerous low. He must eat some food to replenish his energy.

Fortunately, this New York was the one before the Catastrophe. Resources were abundant. Zhou Qingfeng found quite a lot of water and food after raiding several cars. He also found sports drinks that worked well to replenish one's energy.

After the arduous process of filling his stomach, Zhou Qingfeng found a mobile phone in another car. The mobile phones of the year 2030 were advanced to the point of ultra-thinness and transparency. Those of a higher caliber even came with virtual projecting abilities.

Zhou Qingfeng contacted Angie instantly. He desperately needed to know the situation outside the hospital. Under normal circumstances, the hospital should be surrounded by the police after the drastic actions taken by the kidnappers.

Zhou Qingfeng did not have Angie's phone number, though, so he could only go about it the difficult way. He found 200th Avenue, Murdock Street on the electronic map, looked for the Lawrences' public family phone number, and dialed.

The phone rang for a while, but then the person who picked up the phone turned out to be David Lawrence, the world's soon-to-be savior.

"Hello, David, hello!" When Zhou Qingfeng saw David Lawrence's cold, expressionless face pop up on the virtual projection, his heart sank and he knew that something was wrong.

As he expected, David Lawrence, who had always accepted him warmly, scrutinized Zhou Qingfeng for some time. Then he asked coldly, "Victor, the media says that you killed someone. Is that true?"

"Well, yes, but I killed a robber. It's legitimate self-defense. That guy had his gun on my waist. I was scared sh*tless…" Zhou Qingfeng tried to explain himself, but he was interrupted when he reached this point.

David Lawrence shook his head, saying, "I always thought that you were an ordinary boy. Although you often acted silly, you were not bad at heart. I guess I was wrong! The person you've become now disgusts me.

"I watched the video of the CCTV footage. The process of you turning around and retaliating was too smooth. It was fast and deadly. That was definitely not a spontaneous reaction. The police have failed to capture you by now, too. Your actions have become the subject of all talk in New York City. 

"You definitely had professional training. Your close-range fighting skills were unbelievable. Even I couldn't do that so smoothly and decisively. I find it hard to imagine what motives you had in mind when you came close to my daughter, and I don't like it one bit.

"The police have arrived at your home to investigate. They found some photos under your bed. I found out that you have been stalking my wife. You've violated our privacy rights!

"Let me tell you this, even if you manage to escape from the police, I will find you and blow up your head with a bullet. Pray to God now, pray that you won't fall into my hands, as you will suffer a more terrible fate than if you're found by the police."

Sh*t! How did everything turn out like that?

Looking at David Lawrence's face, contorted into an inhuman grimace out of anger, Zhou Qingfeng realized that he was in serious trouble. He had antagonized the savior of this world! Could he now do nothing but wash himself clean and wait for his death? How the f*ck was he supposed to survive?

The phone call ended. Zhou Qingfeng collapsed like he had lost his spine, slumping on a car listlessly. There was an incessant buzzing in his brain, and he could not calm himself no matter what.

He was done for. Done for!

In the entire Wasteland movie, David Lawrence practically single-handedly killed everyone that opposed him. Before the nuclear bombs decimated the land, he had sent all his enemies to jail effortlessly. His wife and daughter were his breaking point. Anyone who touched them would die!

After the society had become a disordered mess, numerous thugs had merely teased Angie and Rachel verbally but ended up being killed by the Savior. Zhou Qingfeng was considered as one who had already pushed David's buttons. Very seriously at that. Thinking of David's impending vengeance against him, Zhou Qingfeng felt helpless.

'There are forty-eight hours until the collapse of the world. I'm supposed to follow this extremely lucky and handsome uncle as he saves the world. How did I become his enemy? Why did this happen?

'Should I not have killed that black robber? Should I not have hidden at Catarina's? Should I not have saved that prostitute that was destined to die? Should I not have robbed the Potaski brothers and brought myself a whole load of trouble?

'F*ck! What did I do wrong?

'What should I do? What? What? Should I just sit down and wait for my death?'

Zhou Qingfeng searched for Angie's number. He was reasonably close to Angie, so he should be able to have a good talk with the girl and ask her to plead with David Lawrence on his behalf. Zhou Qingfeng would rather antagonize the police than make David Lawrence his enemy. The former would dissolve two days later, but the latter would become the President of the United States in the perfect ending. 

Angie's number was quite hard to find, though. Zhou Qingfeng found Catarina's number, though. He called it quickly. After a while, it was a thuggish voice that answered the phone.

"Oi! Who are you looking for?" The voice was quite familiar.

Zhou Qingfeng froze for a while. He asked tentatively, "Tony Parker?"

"Haha!" The voice laughed. The other had obviously identified Zhou Qingfeng through his voice as well. The man who answered the call was David Lawrence's lackey, both the troublemaker and lucky star in the film, and also a street hippie that everyone hated.

Tony Parker said loudly, "Victor Hugo, you've become famous now. Everyone in New York knows you. Can you tell me where you are now? Let me claim the 50k USD bounty that the police have put on you. Better benefit this friend of yours than a random stranger."

Listening to Tony Parker's arrogant voice, Zhou Qingfeng's heart sank. The little bit of hope that had risen up in his heart dissipated immediately. His brow was wrinkled as he asked, "Why are you at Catarina's?"

"I came here for Angie. She wanted to look for you, but Mr. Lawrence ordered Catarina to take her back. I was also asking her to write a decryption software for me so that I can rescue the robot dog two days later," Tony Parker said, laughing. "Victor, if I recall correctly, you wanted to make a bet with me and see who will get Dog Meat first. Looks like you've lost your chance!"

Hahaha… Tony Parker's insufferable laugh made people want to strangle him!