Scarlet Descent

"Huff..."

Walking out of the abandoned old building, Wei Wei took a deep breath under the starry sky.

The cool, fresh air of late autumn rushed into his lungs, dispelling the dizziness caused by the irritating music and stuffy atmosphere from earlier. Using the streetlights, he walked down the cracked path to his car.

It was a black modified Jeep with a solid frame and large tires, some parts already worn.

There were even a few bullet holes visible on the left door.

Wei Wei took off his blood-soaked clothes, which could be wrung out, and burned them in one go.

Then he wiped all the blood from his hands and face with wet wipes before taking out an identical set of clothes from the trunk and putting them on piece by piece.

Using the starlight, he checked his reflection in the car window, quickly fixed his hair, and looked at his clean and sunny self in the glass. However, his expression showed an indescribable sadness.

"Rustle rustle rustle..."

Suddenly, the sound of scales scraping against gravel came from behind, making one's hair stand on end.

But no shadow appeared around, as if it was just an auditory hallucination.

Hearing this sound, Wei Wei smiled and adjusted the car's rearview mirror to face behind him.

Through the mirror, he saw a pitch-black python, as thick as a barrel, crawling over the sandy ground behind him. Its upper body was raised, covered in block-like patterns resembling human faces. On its back were two dark red, veiny membranous wings tightly wrapped around the snake's body, their full span unknown when unfurled.

The snake's head was fierce, with one eye blind.

On top of its head sat a crooked black beret, its expression as serious as a human's.

"Resolved?"

The strange snake with human-face patterns suddenly opened its mouth, staring at Wei Wei through the mirror, its throat vibrating as it emitted a hoarse voice.

The voice had the weight of an elder.

Wei Wei's face broke into a bright smile, and he nodded lightly, looking as satisfied as if he had just helped an old lady cross the street.

The black python's eyes showed even more concern as it probed, "The bullets?"

"All used up."

"…"

The black python fell silent, and after a while, it sighed helplessly, "Do you always have to use up all the bullets every time?"

"Of course not, Instructor," Wei Wei said with a smile as he straightened his tie. "Even using up all the bullets isn't enough, you know."

"…"

The strange snake suddenly didn't know what to say, its single eye's vertical pupil showing an expression of helplessness.

The car started quietly, slowly driving along the abandoned highway without streetlights under the starlight. The abandoned old building behind was left further and further behind, with no one knowing what had happened inside. From the outside, it even looked as if nothing had occurred.

"You still need to be careful," the strange python appeared in the rearview mirror. It had somehow gotten into the car, though its body was now a bit smaller.

Its dark red eye still stared at Wei Wei, full of worry and admonition: "You haven't officially taken up your post yet, you're not under official protection."

"Hmm..."

Wei Wei glanced at the map spread out in front of the passenger seat and smiled, "By daybreak, we should be about there."

Where Wei Wei's eyes had swept, there was a small town circled in red pen.

That was Scrap Iron City, a small city on the edge of the Third City Circle, bordering the wilderness. According to the data, the town's population wasn't large, less than a million. In the Kuafu Corporation Barrier Network, this was already the edge of the edge, almost to the point of being abandoned.

Wei Wei was on his way to report to this place.

"Is this about whether we get there or not?"

The Instructor was quite annoyed by Wei Wei's way of chatting, his voice involuntarily rising a bit.

But Wei Wei looked at it in the rearview mirror with a smile, obedient and docile, making its anger feel like it was hitting cotton.

"You can't kill them all..."

The Instructor's voice sounded somewhat helpless as it forced itself to advise: "It's been over seventy years since the First Secret War."

"It is inevitable that demonic forces will seep into reality."

"They control supernatural powers like life, strength, fate, and so on, descending in the guise of deities."

"You can never imagine how great the temptation is for ordinary people, nor can you imagine how many people would willingly fall..."

"…"

Listening to the strange python's words, Wei Wei still wore a smile: "Demons are demons, deities wouldn't look like this."

"And these people who worship demons are just contaminated monsters."

"…"

The Instructor got angry: "You think killing these monsters won't bring other troubles?"

"Like the one just now, so young yet mastering the method of folding space, you think he was an ordinary person? Even if I can help you erase some traces, if someone wants to investigate, it's not guaranteed they won't trace it back to you..."

"…"

"So what?" Wei Wei smiled. "If someone comes investigating, we'll just kill them too."

"…"

The Instructor suddenly fell silent.

It suddenly realized that this guy seemed to have said something serious in a joking tone.

"Instructor, isn't this what you once taught us?"

In the midst of the Instructor's silence, Wei Wei, who was driving seriously, suddenly explained unexpectedly:

"Deities are images imagined by humans when facing unstoppable natural disasters and hardships, and they are also the first firewall to prevent our spirits from collapsing when we can bear suffering and setbacks. But now, these deities, originally entrusted with hope and beauty, have revealed their true nature and face, corroding the world's spirit and order like a virus. What should we do?"

At this point, he smiled, but his expression was very serious: "If gods have become demons, who will protect this world?"

"Of course, we have to do it ourselves!"

"…"

The Instructor fell silent, wanting to say something but feeling powerless to argue.

After a long while, it sighed softly, its gaze falling on Wei Wei's face through the rearview mirror: "Tell me, Wei."

"Why do you insist on returning to this small place?"

"…"

Wei Wei, being stared at by it, looked a bit uncomfortable and said, "This is my home."

"Home?"

The Instructor sneered: "You have no home here, nor any family left."

Wei Wei pursed his lips and didn't answer.

But the Instructor's tone suddenly became softer, like a teacher unwilling to be harsh on their student:

"Wei, it's really not easy for you to come this far. Out of over 300 trainees, only a few of you graduated."

"Your class is the most outstanding group of graduates ever."

"Look at your classmates, some have joined the Xing Tian Squad, some are interning at the Foundation, and at worst, they've chosen the most suitable consortium as their employer. These choices will give them the best prospects and status, whether for a better life in the future or trying to further improve themselves. Only you are willing to return to such a small place..."

"…"

"I'm different from them," Wei Wei interrupted, smiling. "Instructor, they're all top students, I'm the underachiever."

The Instructor was stunned for a moment, and couldn't help saying, "Well, your psychological health test evaluation wasn't very high indeed..."

"?"

The Instructor's daily digression threw off Wei Wei's emotional continuity.

After a pause, he said, "Besides, Instructor, you understand. Although we indeed came from the same training camp, they all chose this place voluntarily. As for me, I was forced. Their paths were arranged from the beginning, knowing what they should do when they got out. I'm not like that, I didn't know why I was receiving training from the start..."

"Now that I've graduated, of course I don't know what to do, I have no direction or goal."

"So, isn't going home the best choice?"

"…"

Faced with Wei Wei's sudden seriousness, the Instructor was at a loss for words.

After a while, it suddenly shook its head helplessly:

"Alright, alright, anyway, we're not in the First City Defense Circle anymore, the management is a bit looser..."

It tried to find a way out for itself, changing its tone, "Also, after I drop you off, I'll have to go back. If you need anything, just tell me, I'll try my best to satisfy you, but I still hope..."

"Bullets."

Before it could finish, Wei Wei smiled and intercepted, "I've used up all the bullets I saved."

"You..."

The Instructor helplessly said, "After you take office, you can directly apply for special bullets from the squad..."

"How many bullets could this small place have?"

Wei Wei immediately questioned, "Forget about Blue-headed Ghosts and Red Angels, even the lowest-level Green Bean Flies probably won't get many, right?"

"…"

The Instructor's voice suddenly rose in anger: "You really think these are ordinary bullets?"

"This is the power given to you by the Foundation, sometimes one bullet is one kill quota. All the bullets I've saved up privately have been taken by you and it's still not enough, why don't I just get you an electromagnetic pulse bomb to wipe this broken place off the map?"

"…"

"Well..."

Wei Wei seemed a bit tempted, probing, "I heard you need to reach the Seventh State to apply for that thing?"

The Instructor deflated completely.

After a while, it said wearily, "Fine, fine, I'll use my personal connections when I get back to add a bit more for you."

"But remember, those contaminated by demons, kill them if you must, but if it's someone not contaminated..."

"…"

"If I kill anyone who isn't contaminated,"

Wei Wei's expression suddenly became serious. He pursed his lips and said, "You come and kill me, I won't resist."

The Instructor looked at his serious expression and fell silent.

After a long while, it sighed softly and said, "Wei, do you know why your final evaluation wasn't high?"

Wei Wei was stunned for a moment: "Because I didn't have money to give you gifts at that time, Instructor?"

"What nonsense are you talking about?"

The Instructor was a bit annoyed. After a while, it said, "It's not just for that reason..."