WEF - Chapter 15
Chapter 15: Ning Dali... Saving Lives Again...
Near dusk, the sky was gloomy, its heavy clouds hanging so low they seemed oppressive.
A winding trail of dark red blood crossed the brown ground and pooled around the woman lying there. Her body convulsed, and a rasping "Hhh, hhh" came from her lips.
Motorcycle tires scraped against the ground, and a pungent smell filled the air.
Ning Dali leaped from the motorcycle, landed lightly, and rolled once on the ground to absorb the excess force.
The motorcycle toppled sideways, spat out a string of sparks, and then sent flames roaring into the sky.
A few stray sparks scorched her back, raising a faint itch, but she did not look back.
She had wanted to do that for a long time.
Federation films and television often showed scenes like this. Whether the heroine or the villain, they would never obediently climb off their vehicle, set the kickstand, and park it properly.
To project an image of reckless, dazzling coolness, they blew up motorcycles, sports cars, and helicopters. They blew up anything they could.
Ning Dali had never done it before.
Because she had no money.
But now... Ning Dali tightened her face, suppressed the secretly delighted curve of her mouth, and told herself this was part of asserting her dominance.
Absolutely not because she also wanted to try the feel of blowing up a motorcycle.
The Ability User standing there stared at Ning Dali in terror as she approached with an expressionless face.
She looked expressionless, but if anyone looked closely, the corners of her mouth were twitching faintly, as if she were suppressing anger and a murderous urge.
The Ability User tried to clench her fist, but her fingers would not stop spasming.
She was only a Five-Character Ability User. If the Three-Character Ability User had not forcibly invited her, she would never have stepped forward as the one to take the lead, much less have gone head-to-head with Ning Dali.
It was too late to say anything now.
After a single exchange, the one who had actually challenged her was already on the ground, vomiting blood and unable to speak.
They were both Three-Character Ability Users... How could the difference in strength be so great!
She had been dragged into a disaster.
Cold sweat beaded on the Ability User's forehead as she stood frozen in terror.
Tap. Tap.
Ning Dali's footsteps were soft. She walked forward without haste, but each step sounded like a sledgehammer to the Ability User, crashing against her heart and throwing her heartbeat out of rhythm.
Watching her draw closer, the Ability User's calves began to shake. She could barely stand.
Ning Dali stopped before her and gave her shoulder a light pat.
Her palm brushed against the fabric with a faint rustle.
It was a simple, courteous pat, with neither added force nor an ability behind it.
"Ah!"
The Ability User screamed and gagged in fear. Her mouth began flooding with saliva, and with her mind in turmoil, she instinctively believed she was vomiting blood.
"D-don't kill me." Her lips were glazed with drool, despair filled her eyes, and the phantom sound of her organs bursting tore through her ears.
Why was there more drama here than in my own life?
Ning Dali frowned inwardly, but there were no other spectators here. She only needed to frighten the one woman before her.
At the thought, she laughed softly and continued the performance.
"You can't wait for me to do that to you, can you?"
You can't wait for me to do that to you, can you?
Hearing the words, the Ability User's mind came back to her. She suddenly realized she had not suffered the terrible injuries she had imagined... Her teeth chattered as she stammered, "No, no, no, no, no..."
"Wipe the drool from the corner of your mouth." Ning Dali's tone was as gentle as that of a venerable teacher. She took the techniques she had learned in prison to the extreme, cycling through every pose of false grandeur.
She kicked the shoulder of the vomiting woman and casually ordered, "Go get a doctor."
An order!
This she understood!
"Y-yes... yes!"
The light of survival blazed in the Ability User's eyes. She edged backward two steps, saw that Ning Dali made no other move, then turned and ran.
After a few steps, she suddenly looked back, terrified that a palm might strike her from behind.
Ning Dali put both hands in her pockets and rested one foot on the other woman's shoulder, raising an eyebrow in reply.
The Ability User stumbled toward the market.
Once the woman had vanished from view, Ning hooked a toe against the ground and flipped her face-down, leaving her unable to watch her surroundings.
With that settled, Ning walked to the overturned Rolls-Royce and, from an angle no one could see, let her pained expression show.
The car was not hers, nor was it Wang You's. In theory, it had nothing to do with her. If it had flipped, it had flipped.
Yet Ning felt an inexplicable pang of pain all the same.
Somehow, she felt as if she had ridden in this car before, as if some inexplicable bond tied the car to her.
Ning Dali bared her teeth in a grimace at the mangled vehicle, every airbag burst.
Inside, Zhuang Yuezhen, hanging upside down, stared hard at the tips of Ning Dali's shoes.
After a long moment without any movement, Zhuang Yuezhen asked quietly, "Sis Dali?"
"Mm."
Ning Dali swiftly pulled herself out of her pang and replied coolly.
She did not tear the door off with her bare hands. Instead, she picked up the throwing knife the Ability User had been playing with and slashed open the Rolls-Royce's airbags.
Zhuang Yuezhen and Wang You finally had room to move. Each unfastened her seat belt, kicked the already shattered window glass out of the way, and climbed out.
They looked a little rough, but neither was hurt. They were still alive and kicking.
Ning Dali withdrew her assessing gaze.
As Zhuang Yuezhen climbed out, she immediately spotted the Ability User lying on the ground.
The Ability User who had flipped the Rolls-Royce with a single palm now lay motionless in a pool of blood.
"Wow..."
Zhuang Yuezhen blew an excited whistle, clearly on the verge of applauding Ning Dali.
Wang You anxiously tugged at Zhuang Yuezhen, then stepped anxiously closer to Ning Dali and asked, "Sis Dali, what do we do now..."
Were they going to stay here and beat to death every one who did not know when to back off, or did they have another plan?
Ning Dali was not hurried. She slowly swept her gaze over Wang You from head to toe, until Wang You was panic-stricken and desperately trying to remember what she had done wrong.
A full minute passed.
"Your ability..."
"Ah!" Wang You gasped and spoke at lightning speed. "I'm sorry, sorry, Sis Dali. I lie out of habit. It wasn't about you. My ability isn't summoning one vehicle every twenty-four hours, but..."
"Stop."
Ning Dali raised a hand and cut off Wang You's litany.
"No more nonsense and no more lies. Can you summon another vehicle right now?" Ning Dali asked.
"I can," Wang You said obediently. "Are there any requirements?"
"Anything," Ning Dali said. "It has to drive, and it has to be fast."
Then it should be a Rolls-Royce. Wang You remembered the details of that model more clearly, so it would be faster to summon.
Wang You closed her eyes.
Soon, the battered Rolls-Royce disappeared from the ground.
A brand-new white Rolls-Royce appeared before Ning Dali.
Ning raised her chin in a silent gesture for Wang You to drive.
"Find an empty place," she said. "A little farther away, and out of sight."
"Sure thing." Wang You swiftly opened the door. Without asking what Ning Dali intended to do, she voluntarily took the wheel.
The white Rolls-Royce turned into a flash of white and sped away.
Seated in the car, Ning Dali browsed online, searching indirectly for the information she wanted.
She had to learn how [The Law] here distinguished between the Restraint Faction and the Extremist Eaters.
She also had to learn... if she ate a large amount of beef all at once, whether [The Law] would notice, and if it did, what punishment she would receive.
Because she needed to find somewhere to eat the beef.
Ying had already surpassed anything Ning Dali had imagined the human body could endure, but in all, she had struck Ning Dali only three times.
Two pats to the shoulders and one kick to the stomach.
Only by experiencing it firsthand could Ning Dali understand the power Ying possessed.
Without being struck herself, anything she imagined from watching would be too hollow.
An hour earlier, Ning had already searched online for a compilation of Ying's combat footage, trying to copy all of Ying's power with her eyes alone.
Needless to say, she failed.
She rubbed her aching temple.
She could still land one more strike with her hand and one more kick. The kick she had used was less than a tenth as forceful as her hand strike, so it was not particularly lethal.
If only Ying had struck her two more times... The next time they met, she would seize the chance and take as many hits as possible... Ning thought as she surfed the web.
Soon, she had sorted out the information she wanted.
[The Law] took effect only against the Restraint Faction.
Once an Ability User ate food purchased with Points, they automatically became part of the Restraint Faction and came under the control of [The Law].
Those who seriously violated [The Law], such as by deliberately wasting food or purposely gorging themselves, would be declared Extremist Eaters, lose all their Points, and be hunted by the Restraint Faction.
"So that is how it works." Ning Dali savored the information.
She had originally thought becoming an Extremist Eater or joining the Restraint Faction was something one could freely choose, or even switch back and forth between at will.
Now it seemed otherwise.
For someone in the Restraint Faction to become an Extremist Eater, they would need the strength and resolve to violate [The Law], and the resilience to bear the cost of betrayal.
For an Extremist Eater to join the Restraint Faction, all they had to do was lay down the knife and buy a meal.
"A bit absurd," Ning Dali said inwardly, but when she thought it through, she realized the absurdity was not entirely baseless.
When examined closely, the Federation's system was, after all, not so different from this one.
Ning Dali shook her head, stopped thinking about it, and turned her attention back to herself.
At present, she could be regarded as an Extremist Eater, more or less.
For now, there was no risk in eating beef. As for the future... Ning Dali asked aloud, "Do you have anything to eat?"
"Yes." Zhuang Yuezhen reached into her pocket and took out a small, moldy roll.
Ning Dali thought, "..." Moldy.
She fell silent but maintained her expression as she reached for the roll.
She did not get it.
Zhuang Yuezhen held on tightly to her moldy little roll, her eyes filled with intense reluctance and warning. "Sis Dali, I was deeply moved that you saved us just now, but we still have to keep our accounts separate. Is this behavior of yours not inappropriate..."
Taking someone's food violates [The Law]!
You don't want to be put in shackles either.
Zhuang Yuezhen blinked frantically to reinforce the warning.
Ning Dali understood, but her Points were still in Accountant Li's keeping.
"Is buying on credit against the law? I'll buy it on credit." Ning Dali said with practiced ease.
Zhuang Yuezhen's clenched fingers loosened, and the precious moldy roll fell into Ning Dali's hand.
Ning Dali stuffed the roll into her pocket.
"Would the house up ahead work?" Wang You suddenly asked. "Xiao Zhen and I both know the owner. We're on good terms. She isn't around now, and the house is empty."
Following Wang You's gaze, Ning Dali saw an unassuming little house.
It was the only building around, with nothing else in sight.
"That will work. Pull over."
The white Rolls-Royce stopped.
The three of them got out. Zhuang Yuezhen fiddled with her smart device, just about to say that her friend had sent her the door code.
"Bang." Ning Dali punched Wang You unconscious.
Zhuang Yuezhen: "??"
"Don't be afraid." Ning Dali touched Wang You once. After the Countdown appeared and confirmed that she was unconscious, Ning rubbed her wrist and moved closer to Zhuang Yuezhen. "I am doing this for your own good."
Better to knock you out first so you do not see something you should not.
Ning Dali... saving lives again... Ning Dali gave an internal sigh and threw a punch at Zhuang Yuezhen.
Nothing happened.
After taking the punch, Zhuang Yuezhen stared at Ning Dali with wide, round eyes and an innocent look.
Ning Dali fell silent.
Her fist carried no ability, but Xiao Zhuang, you were not simple either.
"Are you going to knock us out?" Zhuang Yuezhen processed this only after several slow seconds, catching on just then. She tapped her head with one finger and said excitedly, "Sis Dali, do it again."
Ning Dali punched her again, and this time Zhuang Yuezhen finally closed her eyes.
Ning Dali crouched and touched Zhuang Yuezhen's arm. The Countdown appeared.
"Phew."
Ning Dali took a hiking backpack from the car, used a length of wire to pry open the door lock, and went inside.
"Click." Ning Dali turned on the room light. Light poured from overhead, casting a distinct shadow on the floor.
Ning Dali stared at her shadow for two seconds.
If... if Ying suddenly appeared while she was roasting beef, she would immediately eat the moldy roll and join the Restraint Faction on the spot.
Then she would let herself be beaten half to death!
At the thought, a twisted smile spread across Ning Dali's face.
Comments
Post a Comment