Apocalypse: Launching a Counterattack Against the Villainess

Page 129

Shinomiya Yuuma scrambled to his feet, his previous arrogance completely gone. He didn't even dare to look back, and limped ahead.

Nie Qingyun then patted Yuwen Chaolu awake, who was somewhat dazed.

"gone."

The two girls glanced at Shinomiya Yuma, who was leading the way, and both showed a hesitant expression.

Seeing this, Nie Qingyun sighed. He couldn't blame these girls for being too naive and kind, because he liked kind people.

But some things still needed to be said, so he tried to soften his expression and began:

"Has Miss Junko done anything wrong?"

The question seemed a bit off-topic, and the two girls subconsciously shook their heads.

"Is she a bad person?"

"How is this possible!" Before Yuwen Chaolu could speak, Bai Ye Linyin spoke first:

"Junko, she's clearly a very kind person..."

“Yes…” Nie Qingyun nodded noncommittally, reaching out to touch Bai Yelin’s hair:

"Why should someone like her, who is simple-minded and has never done anything wrong, suffer like this?"

As he spoke, Nie Qingyun turned around, clenching his fist as he walked.

"Justice never prevails."

"There's a saying that's a bit corny, but I really agree with the point."

"Kindness to your enemies is cruelty to yourself."

“Those who persecute others without any scruples for their own selfish desires do not deserve your kindness.”

"If you want to protect your comrades, you have to get your hands stained with blood. It's time for you to be prepared for that."

The footsteps faded into the distance, but the voices seemed to still linger in my ears.

Yuwen Chaolu suddenly snapped out of her daze, her face flushed red, and her heart began to pound. After a moment, she forced herself to remain calm and said:

"Wait, why are you suddenly trying to look cool? Seriously..."

As she spoke, her gaze involuntarily swept over Shiroya Rinne's profile.

The girl was cupping her face in her hands, tilting her head slightly, her face filled with adoration, as if the world around her was filtered through flowers, and she murmured softly:

"So handsome..."

Seeing Bai Ye Lin Yin's infatuated expression, Yu Wen Zhao Lu couldn't help but think to herself: It's over.

I sent you to keep Nie Qingyun in check, not to give him away for nothing!

He's completely under their control, how can he possibly snatch him away from his girlfriend?

It seems that after this matter is over, I will have to take charge myself!

While pondering, Yuwen Chaolu subconsciously touched the small medicine bottle in her pocket.

Chapter 166: The Enemy of the Girls' Group

Sparse footsteps echoed in the empty fire escape stairwell. Next to it was an alloy safety net, through which rotting, broken arms peeked out. Their owners all had ferocious faces and were emitting sinister growls.

Those mutilated faces looked even more terrifying under the dim motion-sensor lights.

The girls followed behind Nie Qingyun in a guard formation, but the atmosphere in the room did not seem particularly tense.

Although the Huabang United States was constantly at war with neighboring countries, it was very stable internally, especially in concentrated comprehensive education industrial islands like Linjiangtai.

The daily security management is extremely strict, so kidnapping is rare, and even everyday fights are seldom seen.

Naturally, the girls living here have no idea what crime is in the true sense.

After hearing that Hanagami Junko had been taken away by humans, no one realized the seriousness of the situation.

Because in their eyes, humans are at least not monsters; they are their fellow human beings, beings just like themselves, so they are not scary at all.

This is why, even just now, Yuwen Chaolu was still able to spare the time to think about the trivial matters between her and Nie Qingyun.

Perhaps in the eyes of the young girls, Nie Qingyun is omnipotent.

After all, he was able to lead everyone to safety even in a desperate situation like Wenzheng Street.

The process of rescuing Rinne Byakuya on the road was nothing short of a miracle.

So in everyone's subconscious, it seems that as long as he is there, all problems can be solved.

But Nie Qingyun was not as relaxed as they were, because he had only fought against true "transcendent beings".

It's difficult to convey the true extent of human evil in words; many things require young girls to experience firsthand to truly understand.

Soon, the group reached the second floor via the fire escape. Yuwen Chaolu, looking in the direction they had gone, seemed to remember something. She suddenly leaned close to Nie Qingyun, tugged at his arm, and whispered a reminder:

"This direction seems to be where the gashapon machine is located..."

"A gashapon machine?" Nie Qingyun didn't stop. After thinking for a moment, he turned back and asked:

"After you came back, did you check or use the gashapon machine?"

“No…” Yuwen Chaolu gently shook her head:

“You were still asleep then, and we were afraid that something else might happen, so we all stayed together.”

Nie Qingyun nodded upon hearing this, not blaming the other party for their carelessness, but earnestly admonishing them:

"No matter where I go in the future, the first thing I will do is to investigate the surrounding environment, and the second thing is to investigate the people."

"If there is no reliable intelligence to guarantee the safety of the other party, the other party should be immediately classified as an enemy."

Yuwen Chaolu nodded seriously, indicating that she had remembered it, but it was clear that her understanding of these words was not deep enough.

Seeing this, Nie Qingyun emphasized his words again:

“Note my wording: not ‘suspicious object’ or ‘target for defense’, but ‘enemy’.”

As they spoke, the group arrived in front of a glass wall. Structurally, it appeared to be a large shop, but all the signs and other such items had been discarded. The interior was also obscured by messy posters and scraps of cloth, making it impossible to see the details.

Nie Qingyun noticed that Shinomiya Yuma's previously timid expression had changed slightly. It seemed that he had gained confidence now that he was in his own territory. Nie Qingyun didn't pay much attention to this, but simply raised his chin to signal the other party to open the door and continue leading the way.

Yuma Shinomiya, having received a signal, limped over and laboriously moved the welcome door, from which the sensor had been removed.

As soon as the door opened, everyone heard a slightly deep male voice grumbling, with a hint of disdain in his tone.

"Tch, you ill-mannered bunch..."

"Taking other people's things without even saying hello."

"I remember there's an old saying around here..."

"To take something without speaking up is to be a thief; to take something without asking is to steal..."

"Surely you, a young lady who received higher education at Linjiang Terrace, understand this principle, don't you?"

Nie Qingyun frowned slightly upon hearing the sound, but did not stop, following Shinomiya Yuma around the reception area in front.

The next second, the scene that came into view made his pupils shrink.

The girls who followed them in also stared wide-eyed.

Behind the reception area was a very spacious sales hall, filled with smoke and people, and the air was thick with secondhand smoke and the smell of blood.

A large round table was placed in the middle, and Hanako Junko was sitting at one corner of the table, with a gun pointed at her head by a man standing behind her.

The girl seemed to be frightened; her eyes were filled with tears, and her beautiful face was deathly pale.

There were several playing cards on the table in front of her, as were the other people sitting around the table.

Most strikingly, a man is hanging in the middle of the round table.

The man's hands were tied behind his back with ropes, a rope around his neck connected to the ceiling, and he was barefoot on a half-meter square block of ice.

However, more than half of the ice had melted, and the man had to stand on his tiptoes with all his might to barely relieve the suffocating feeling in his neck.

But the ice was extremely cold, and he seemed unable to bear the stinging pain of being frozen. He subconsciously lifted his foot, and as a result, he slipped and was left hanging in the air.

The man struggled frantically.

Like a dehydrated fish, it kept twisting and writhing.

The weight of his body tightened the rope around his neck, and his mouth, sealed with tape, could not even utter a howl; only chilling whimpers could be heard.

A moment later, he finally found the ice surface again and returned to his original posture.

Those empty eyes were filled with pain and despair.

Clearly, this process has been going on for an unknown period of time.

As her gaze shifted, Nie Qingyun also noticed a person lying in the corner, covered in blood and seemingly lifeless, like a piece of trash discarded somewhere.

The collapsed bones in his body indicate that he was beaten to death with a blunt instrument.

The girls had never witnessed such an inhumane scene before, and they were immediately terrified and turned pale.

Just then, Shinomiya Yuuma stumbled forward and lunged at a man directly opposite the large round table, howling as he did so:

"Brother Jesseni! These guys are her companions!"

"They actually dared to hit me! Brother, you must do this for me..."

Before he could finish speaking, he was kicked to the ground.

"Useless disgrace..."

The man called Jesse appeared to be around thirty years old, with a high forehead, short, curly hair plastered to his scalp, and dark skin; he was clearly not of Asian descent.

The United Nations of China has almost unified all of Asia, and its system is vastly different from what it used to be, so it is not surprising to see people of all skin colors here.

Jesse, with a cigarette dangling from his lips, sat on a sofa, his arms around a glamorous woman whose face was covered in artificial technology. In full view of everyone, he brazenly groped the woman inside her clothes with one hand.

He pulled his leg back, spat in disgust, and then looked up at the front.

The next second, a look of astonishment appeared on his face, which then turned into greed and excitement.

He released the woman from his arms and said with a laugh:

"I never expected... Miss Junko, you really have a group of wonderful companions..."

As he spoke, he took the cigarette butt out of his mouth and pressed it against the calf of the man who was being hung up.

The man screamed in agony, lost his balance again, and his body twisted in mid-air.

However, Jesseni paid no attention to this, not even glancing at them, his gaze fixed intently on the girls, and he spoke in a disgusting tone:

“Miss Junko just lost a lot of money to me, so it seems... you'll have to settle this score yourself.”

Chapter 167: Are you dreaming?

"You lost a lot of money?" Yuwen Chaolu was taken aback when she heard this. Then she looked at Hanako Junko's desk and, upon closer inspection, she found several playing cards on the table in front of the girl.

The other men around the table were in the same situation, and in addition to the playing cards, there were also a few scattered [Primordial Crystals] piled up in front of them.

Upon seeing this, Yuwen Chaolu immediately became anxious and retorted:

"How can it be!"

"How could Junko gamble with you guys?!"

In her memory, Hanagami Junko was the kind of well-behaved girl who would blush when talking to strangers, and would only occasionally make small jokes with people she was very familiar with. She would never be at the gambling table.

On the other side, Junko Hanagami, who was sitting in a chair, wanted to speak, but was glared at by a fierce look.

Jesse gave a disdainful sneer, not bothering to argue further, but instead turning his gaze to the playing cards in front of Hanakami Junko:

"Miss Junko, this last round isn't over yet..."

"I hate being interrupted while I'm doing something. If I get really angry, it might affect other people, you know?"

As he spoke, he glanced at the girls standing at the door.

A naked threat.

"Junko, don't listen to him!" Shirayuki Rinne cried out to stop him.

But Junko Hanagami was clearly threatened. It was the first time someone had pointed a gun at her head. It was a real gun, not a toy from a movie.

She would die a meaningless death the moment the other party pulled the trigger.

She was trembling with fear, but she was more worried about Nie Qingyun and the others who had come after hearing the news than about herself.