Chapter 134: If I Could Live

"So what?"

"So what? What 'so what' could there possibly be?" Xi Renjie frowned, speaking in a low voice. "Mongol is gone. If even one calamity from District 2 or District 4 comes, we're all dead. Not to mention the gray world convergence points that are still fully opening... District 3 is finished, these forty thousand people are finished... We're finished too.

Maintain order? Patrol the streets? Comfort the citizens? What's the point of doing any of that??"

*Slam*—

Xi Renjie slammed his wine glass heavily onto the table, breathing heavily. His bloodshot eyes met Chen Ling's, like a lion about to succumb to drunkenness.

"Chen Ling, are you afraid of death?"

"..." Chen Ling paused. "Actually, not so much."

"Good."

Xi Renjie took a second wine glass from the drawer, poured white spirits, filling both it and his own glass to the brim, then pushed the new glass towards Chen Ling.

"Finish this drink, and we'll go south together to stop that calamity from District 4... Even if we die, we'll die on the battlefield."

Chen Ling looked down at the white spirits in front of him, his eyes narrowing slightly.

"You called me here just to drink with you... and then to go die together?"

"Exactly." Xi Renjie slowly lifted the glass in front of him, holding it suspended in mid-air, waiting for Chen Ling's response. "Will you... will you come with me on this journey?"

Chen Ling glanced at him, then picked up the glass with one hand, gently clinking it against Xi Renjie's.

"Alright, I'll go with you."

With that, he drained the glass in one gulp.

Seeing this, a complex emotion flashed in Xi Renjie's eyes, and he, too, drank his wine.

The scorching liquor burned its way down, almost searing through Xi Renjie's chest. He grimly set his glass down, only to find that Chen Ling's body in front of the desk had begun to sway involuntarily, his eyes appearing hazy.

"Brother Chen Ling, your drinking capacity doesn't seem to be up to par?" Xi Renjie slowly said.

*Thud*—

Chen Ling's eyes completely closed, and he slumped limply back into the chair, unconscious.

Seeing this, there was no surprise on Xi Renjie's face. He placed his glass back on the table, his expression incredibly complex...

"Chen Ling... do you know, I'm actually very jealous of you and Mongol," Xi Renjie began, speaking to himself. "You possess innate talent. In front of you, Aurora City doesn't seem so high and mighty... You can trample it underfoot casually for the sake of what you call 'spirit'."

"But I am a mediocre person who, no matter how hard I try, can never touch that city wall... I can accept my own mediocrity, be a good law enforcement officer, manage relations with the public well, not be greedy, not be arrogant... But no matter how much I act like Mongol, I can't become him."

"As a law enforcement officer, I cannot and should not refuse the orders of Aurora City. I stand at a crossroads: to my left is death and mediocrity, to my right is the future and Aurora City, which I've always dreamed of... There's no reason for me to die here meaninglessly."

Xi Renjie took a deep breath, pulled a pistol from his holster, and aimed the dark muzzle at Chen Ling, who was unconscious in the chair... He pulled the trigger!

*Click*—

The gun chamber emitted a soft sound, but there was no bullet in the gun.

Xi Renjie slowly lowered the gun, a complex expression appearing in his gaze as he looked at the unconscious Chen Ling.

"I don't know why Aurora City calls you a heretic, nor why they are so determined to kill you. But you fought alongside me, you risked your life for District 3... After this shot, you are dead, killed in battle against the calamity."

"I'm leaving now. Good luck... if you can survive the calamity."

With those words, he walked past Chen Ling, pushed open the back door of the headquarters, and vanished into the thick fog.

In the silent hall, Chen Ling's cold eyes slowly opened.

He glanced at the spilled wine on the floor, then turned his gaze towards the direction Xi Renjie had left, falling into thought...

Ever since entering the headquarters, Chen Ling had been observing Xi Renjie's micro-expressions and every move with his Secret Eye. He noticed Xi Renjie's hand trembling slightly. Combined with the sudden increase in audience expectation, Chen Ling naturally sensed something was amiss. After using a trick to fake spilling his drink, he pretended to pass out and slumped into the chair.

He didn't know what Xi Renjie had put in his glass, but collapsing was definitely the right move. Even if he had misunderstood, he could always claim he simply had a low tolerance for alcohol and passed out after one sip.

Only this way could he ascertain Xi Renjie's true intentions.

To his surprise, Xi Renjie hadn't killed him. What Xi Renjie had done was less about targeting him and more about giving himself a "conclusion."

Of course, to Xi Renjie, whether he personally killed Chen Ling or not wasn't truly important. Even if he didn't act, Chen Ling wouldn't have been able to survive this calamity attack anyway; the final outcome would have been the same.

"Aurora City thinks I'm a heretic... and wants to kill me?" Deep confusion filled Chen Ling's eyes. "How can this be? Where did things go wrong?"

Chen Ling racked his brain but couldn't figure out how he had been exposed. He could only sigh and get up to leave.

From what Xi Renjie had implied earlier, Aurora City had already contacted him and promised him entry into the city...

"Things are getting more interesting, it seems," Chen Ling murmured to himself.

"Brother Jie!"

Not long after Xi Renjie walked out the back door, Tan Ming quickly caught up to him.

Tan Ming caught a whiff of alcohol from Xi Renjie, pausing slightly. When he looked up and saw the drunken expression on Xi Renjie's face, he immediately asked, "Brother Jie... did you really kill Chen Ling?"

"Yes." Xi Renjie nodded, not dwelling on the question. "What about the people on the list?"

"I've already notified them. They're going back to pack their belongings and will meet at the station."

Xi Renjie stopped, anger flashing in his drunken eyes.

"Pack luggage?? What time is it? They still want luggage? Do they have any idea what the situation is right now?!"

"I told them, but they've accumulated some savings with great difficulty, and they think it would be a shame to just leave it all buried with District 3 in the gray world. After all, once they enter Aurora City, they'll need to live... However, I gave them a strict order: everyone must be at the station within fifteen minutes. There should only be five or six minutes left now, so by the time we get there, they should have arrived. It actually won't affect the timing much..." Tan Ming quickly explained.

"Is this about time?!" Xi Renjie glared at Tan Ming, holding back for a long moment before finally spitting out four words:

"A bunch of fools!!"