Book 2 Chapter 11.1 - Disappointment
When Su returned to Dragon City, his mood had already returned to normal. These types of struggles happened often in the wilderness, and there would always be lives lost in the process. If the situation was too harsh, having injuries that were slightly more serious would mean death. Su had experienced countless battles in the past, and each time, the purpose of the battles was for victory and survival. Those battles could not be considered righteous, nor could they be considered important.
However, this battle was a bit different. Regardless of whether it was the Scorpions of Disaster or the Black Dragonriders, they all broke free from the predicament of survival and began to fight for the sake of expansion and domination. Su, inside of this type of war, was just a small corner. The Scorpions of Disaster were ants that simultaneously pushed and retreated, while Black Dragonriders’ fighters could continuously grow within the blood and flames. From the perspective of one’s destiny, it was obviously better to be on the Black Dragonriders’ side. However, victory or defeat here, were two completely different matters.
After accepting Helen’s suggestion of handing Malim’s corpse to Black Dragonrider headquarters, Su returned to his own residence. It felt rather strange to him. He felt that someone like Malim who possessed special abilities would definitely have great research value, so why was Helen completely uninterested?
Su’s residence was still the smallest inner room prepared for officers. The Black Dragonriders didn’t have many officers, so in the two back-to-back apartments that had more than ten rooms on this block, Su was the only one that lived here. However, the block was still sorted out cleanly and neatly, and the roads had experienced new renovation as well. The sidewalk with lush trees besides it and the gardens of villas made one feel as if they returned to the olden era. However, if one looked carefully, they would find that regardless of whether it were the trees or flowers, they were all new era plants that had resistance towards radiation and not the ridiculously tender and fragile flowers and plants of the olden era.
Even though he didn’t return here for an extremely long time, Su still cleaned the room until it was absolutely spotless, to the extent where he even wiped down the windows until they were perfectly clean. With the skies still covered in heavy clouds of radiation, this was undoubtedly an extremely extravagant task. There were many things that were extravagant, for example, just turning on the water pipe would send drinkable water flowing out in seemingly endless quantities.
Water, electricity, cleaning; these were all things that needed to be paid for. This was something that Su understood. Compared to the rewards he collected after he returned from fighting several times, these bills could be considered insignificant. As long as Su had a need, the Black Dragonriders could provide women that were all of high quality. In addition, their prices wouldn’t be expensive, but of course, this was relative to Su’s income.
After closing the door of the room, he walked into the bathroom. He turned on the water, and then he looked at the running stream in a stupefied manner.
The lifestyles of the Black Dragonriders could only be described as extravagant. The Scorpions of Disasters’ people were more like ants without their own consciousness. As long as they were provided with the basic guarantee of life, they would work and fight without any complaints. They would even offer all types of service, just like the type Diaster enjoyed.
However, fighting in the Black Dragonriders was for what purpose exactly?
Dragon City didn’t lack anything required to continue living. For Su who had worked an entire day for the sake of a bottle of drinkable water, he had never thought that there would be a day when he could soak himself in a tub of clean water purely for the sake of making his body a bit cleaner.
Su forcefully closed his eyes, but what he saw was only Martham’s face that was full of anger and despair, and what he heard was only his sorrowful roar. If it was a frontal confrontation, even if he used the Glock, Su still might not necessarily be Martham’s opponent. Victory did not always belong to the party with greater strength, and victory did not always bring about happiness. There were many times in the past when, after finally killing his opponent in a bloody struggle, a faint thought emerged in Su’s mind, and that was that he was still alive.
However, this battle seemed a bit different. Su faced an opponent who had great abilities but was not powerful himself. He used his opponent’s concern and principles to heavily wound and defeat Martham. It was truly hard for opponents with principles and concern, no matter how great their abilities were, to be considered strong. Martham’s dedication made Su see parts of himself. This was why even though he won, he didn’t feel joy.
Moreover, the war between the Scorpions of Disaster and the Black Dragonriders was something that Su found hard to understand. From his perspective, since there was more water than they could drink, so much food that it was a bit unimaginable, as well as clean environments and organized rooms, why did they still have to fight? He understood why more than ten people would fight a bloody battle for a piece of edible rotting flesh, and he himself even risked his life for a bottle of water. However, what was the point of fighting this type of war?
Su removed his clothing and entered the bathtub. Then, he slowly slid down, allowing the water to rise above his face and submerging himself completely within the clear water. In the wilderness, this amount of clean water was enough to make everyone inside an inhabited area fight to the death, yet in Dragon City, the price was simply a hundred yuan. For any formal Black Dragonrider, this was not a large amount of money.
Submerging himself in the water made Su feel peaceful, tranquil, and fulfilled. He silently thought about the events that took place after entering the Black Dragonriders, and then his vigilance towards danger began to pierce at his heart again, Su knew that the current peace was simply an omen of the surging undercurrents. His enemies were not only outside of the central area of control. His enemies inside Dragon City were perhaps even more numerous and powerful.
It was unknown how much profit Malim’s corpse would bring Su. It wouldn’t be a small amount, but it wouldn’t be too great either. If there really was a large amount, Helen wouldn’t have let it go; this was what Su thought. He suddenly noticed that he frequently contacted Helen, and unknowingly when, he began to develop more and more confidence in her ability. In addition, the confidence was a bit blindly placed, as if she was an omnipotent prophet.
Su laid in the bathtub while quietly closing his eyes. Inside of this clean water that was rich with oxygen, he didn’t need to breathe. If one looked carefully, they would find that there were ripples undulating on the surface of Su’s ivory-colored skin. It was as if tissues were moving on their own, but from a whole, it seemed as if there was a type of regular pattern taking place.
The water in the bathtub slowly dropped a bit, and then it began to steady again, no longer lowering. However, the color of the water gradually darkened, and the water became more muddled. Then, a layer of extremely faint bloody color emerged that gradually spread throughout the bathtub, unknown as to which part of Su’s body it emerged from. If one looked carefully, they would find that Su’s entire body was wrapped within a faint layer of blood. In addition, from time to time, wisps of blood that were almost impossible to make out with the naked eye shot out from the pores of his skin.
Su silently sensed the changes taking place within himself. Right now, his body was greedily absorbing the oxygen in the water and continuously purifying the inside of his body, sending the waste matter, poisonous substance, and extravasated blood out from his body. Through this process, the countless small injuries within Su’s body were healed one after another, and Su felt his body become filled with power again. As for just how powerful this force was, it was to the extent that every organ in his body, every muscle fiber, and even every gene was trembling, resonating in response. Su had no doubt that if he released an attack right now, then it would definitely be precise, fierce, and fatal.
His body that had recovered was not only filled with power, but also a longing, a craving for women, alcohol, and even more so blood and battle. Su himself did not enjoy fighting and massacre, but his body greatly enjoyed it. Each time a powerful opponent was slaughtered, it would always bring his body great joy, and during this delight, his genes would be shaken and recombined. This type of joy even surpassed intercourse with women. Su’s body liked domination and control, and this perhaps might be explained by a creature’s instinctive power as well.
After joining the Black Dragonriders, Su’s power and abilities quickly increased, but his body’s instinctive desires became more and more powerful as well, powerful to the point where it was hard for Su to even control them himself. Su always carefully selected his path of advance and chose his own abilities with great care. He discovered quite clearly that even though his own abilities were quickly improving, his combat wisdom wasn’t correspondingly increasing. Towards the Black Dragonriders’ sea of new equipment, technology, abilities, and tactics, he knew practically nothing, and as such, he couldn’t fully display their power either. In the end, Su was essentially still the hunter that could travel through the wilderness alone while relying on his two guns; he was still far from those Black Dragonriders that were born in influential families.
Su felt a bit of fear towards his own body as well. He didn’t know if a day would come when he couldn’t suppress his body’s instincts and would as a result lose his own reasoning.
While submerged underneath the water, Su gradually lost awareness of his surroundings and instead began to feel rather suffocated and oppressed. He still laid there without moving, and only when the suffocation reached its limit did he jump out with a splash sound to stand in the bathtub. Behind him was a tub full of dark red water. His body was also contaminated with water that was full of blood, but the water quickly flowed down, and not a single drop remained on the surface of his skin.
When Su pulled open the bathroom door, he was suddenly stupefied. A cry of alarm sounded from within the bedroom!