Seduction
Li Qinwu felt a rare flicker of satisfaction.
One shot. One kill.
A chemically-enhanced pig—neutralized with a single armor-piercing round. Even in the brutal logic of the Underhive, that bordered on exceptional.
But satisfaction didn't translate into opportunity.
The corpse lay deep within the chaotic battlefield, surrounded by both gangs. Retrieving the Angry Spine Device now would be suicide.
That loss bothered him more than the kill pleased him.
High-grade materials like Rage Potions were not easily replaced.
After a brief moment of calculation, Li Qinwu shifted his gaze toward Xiao Dao.
Xiao Dao was staring at him with something close to reverence.
Over sixty Chemical Dogs killed.
One Muscle Dog.
Now even a Chemical Pig.
To Xiao Dao, this wasn't just a scavenger anymore—this was something else entirely.
A battlefield predator.
Li Qinwu spoke calmly.
"Are you fast?"
Xiao Dao blinked, caught off guard.
"…I can run."
"That's enough."
Li Qinwu pointed toward the battlefield, his tone turning precise, almost clinical.
"Distance from here to engagement zone: roughly 280 meters. There's an open stretch—150 meters—with no obstruction."
Xiao Dao frowned, confused.
Li Qinwu smiled faintly.
"Go lure a Chemical Pig over here."
Silence.
Then—
"I'll kill it with an armor-piercing round."
Xiao Dao's face drained of color.
He had survived this long in the Fertilizer Gang for one reason—he knew when something meant death.
Chemical pigs weren't enemies. They were disasters.
He had seen what they did.
Pin a man down. Tear open the abdomen. Feed while the victim was still alive.
The memory alone made his legs tremble.
"…Can't we just stay here and shoot?" he asked weakly.
Li Qinwu shook his head.
"That last one only worked because it stopped moving. Look at the battlefield."
Xiao Dao glanced out.
Chaos.
Chemical pigs rampaging in erratic paths, tearing through both sides indiscriminately. No pattern. No pause.
No shot.
Li Qinwu continued:
"If you run straight toward me, it will chase you in a straight line."
He tapped the rifle lightly.
"From my position, its head becomes a predictable trajectory. That's the only way to guarantee a kill."
Now Xiao Dao understood.
And that understanding made it worse.
Li Qinwu studied him for a moment, then shrugged.
"If you won't do it, forget it."
A pause.
Xiao Dao's body trembled.
Then—
"…I'll do it."
His voice cracked, but his eyes hardened.
Fear hadn't disappeared.
It had just been forced into obedience.
Li Qinwu gave a short nod.
"Only one at a time. Run straight. Don't deviate."
Xiao Dao dropped from the container.
Li Qinwu swapped magazines, loading armor-piercing rounds with methodical precision. Then he dragged the corpse of the Muscle Dog closer and rested his rifle against it for stability.
Then he waited.
---
Xiao Dao moved like a shadow along the battlefield's edge.
Slow. Careful. Controlled.
Ahead, a Chemical Pig was tearing through a group of fighters. Blades struck its armor uselessly. Iron pipes bent. Sparks flew.
One man managed to stab into a joint gap.
The pig barely reacted.
Its fist came down.
The man's skull collapsed into his torso.
The rest followed within seconds.
Brutal. Efficient. Inevitable.
Then the pig knelt.
Feeding.
Xiao Dao inhaled sharply.
This was the moment.
He picked up a chunk of debris and hurled it.
Clang.
The pig's head snapped upward.
Another throw.
"Come on, you bastard! Come chase me!"
The pig roared.
It tore a corpse limb free and hurled it.
Xiao Dao turned and ran.
---
The chase began.
Footsteps like thunder behind him.
Breath ragged. Vision shaking.
He ran.
Not weaving. Not dodging.
Straight.
Exactly as instructed.
Ahead—Li Qinwu.
150 meters.
100 meters.
Closer—
---
On the container, Li Qinwu was perfectly still.
Breathing steady.
Rifle aligned.
Target locked.
As expected, the Chemical Pig charged in a straight line—primitive instincts overriding all else.
Distance closed.
100 meters.
He fired.
Bang!
Bang!
Bang!
Bang!
The fourth round struck true.
The pig's skull ruptured violently.
Momentum carried it forward before its massive body collapsed, crashing into the ground with a thunderous impact.
Dead.
---
Xiao Dao reached the container and slammed against it, shaking.
"I almost died… I almost died…!"
Li Qinwu calmly replaced the magazine.
"You did well."
Xiao Dao dropped to his knees, gasping.
Relief flooded through him—
Then froze.
"Go again," Li Qinwu said.
"Lure the next one."
---
Changes in the Battle Situation
The battle lasted three hours.
By the end, the battlefield had become a graveyard.
Thousands of corpses layered the center—Fertilizer Gang, Chemical Gang, indistinguishable in death.
The introduction of Chemical Pigs had shattered any semblance of structure.
To counter them, the Fertilizer Gang had burned through explosives, manpower, and morale.
Now only remnants remained.
Several hundred armed elites on each side.
Leaders hiding behind them.
Waiting.
Calculating.
Neither side dared commit.
Advance—and risk annihilation.
Retreat—and lose control of their own factions.
A stalemate.
Broken only by the groans of the dying.
---
Li Qinwu moved.
While others hesitated, he harvested.
Three Chemical Pigs—confirmed kills.
He pried open their armored spinal devices with a steel rod, extracting the Angry Spines and Rage Potions within.
Three devices.
Fourteen potions.
Efficient.
But not enough.
The battlefield still had resources.
And Li Qinwu had time.
---
He entered the corpse field.
Systematic.
Cold.
A Chemical Dog.
Search. Extract. Move.
Poison needles. Currency.
Another body—
Movement.
"I… I'm still alive…"
The man coughed weakly.
Li Qinwu didn't hesitate.
A blade through the jaw, into the brain.
Clean.
"That's just your illusion."
He continued.
---
Fifty poison needles.
Then more.
Forty more from deeper within the field.
Rage potions recovered from fallen pigs.
Each step calculated.
Each action efficient.
---
Then—
A sound.
Low. Weak.
Behind debris.
Li Qinwu raised his weapon and approached with controlled caution.
Peek.
Assess.
A Fertilizer Gang elite.
Abdomen destroyed. Organs gone.
Dying.
Beside him—
A weapon.
Li Qinwu stepped forward and picked it up.
Improvised. Crude.
But powerful.
A fully automatic shotgun.
35mm caliber.
Drum-fed. Thirty rounds.
Heavy.
Brutal.
Perfect for close-range annihilation.
---
The battlefield wasn't over.
It had just changed shape.
And Li Qinwu was already adapting.