Chapter 60: Deterrence

Chapter 60: Chapter 60: Deterrence

Xiang Yi was completely unafraid, turning to look back at the robot that now, somehow, held a pistol.

"Shi Tie."

Obeying the command Xiang Yi had issued via Spiritual Power, Shi Tie reached out and slammed its fist into the roll-up door that had just closed.

The grayish-black arm punched through the metal sheet, its fingers digging into the torn edge. The metal shrieked with a horrifying, twisting sound as brute force ripped open a passageway in the roll-up door large enough for Shi Tie to fit through.

Du Bingtian’s heart pounded with fear as he watched. Although the other robot’s expression was unreadable, the way it froze in place indicated that its operator was far from calm.

"I could have just walked away, but now, I think I’ll collect some interest."

Under Shi Tie’s protection, Xiang Yi walked straight up to the robot and effortlessly took the pistol from its hand.

The robot was under no physical restraint, yet it didn’t dare pull the trigger. It didn’t even dare to aim the gun at Xiang Yi.

In the face of Shi Tie’s absolute power, resistance was meaningless and would only lead to greater losses.

It could only remain silent, allowing Xiang Yi and Shi Tie to walk past it, open the only other closed door in the room, and enter its warehouse.

The warehouse wasn’t as cluttered as the pile of equipment outside suggested. Aside from a tool rack on one wall, there were only a few shelves standing against the others.

The shelves were mostly stocked with metal materials and tools that couldn’t be hung on the wall rack.

There were also some products that the robot here had apparently made itself. It was a miscellaneous assortment, ranging from power strips to small fans.

The materials were mostly common metals of little value.

However, among those products, Xiang Yi’s sharp eyes spotted a rifle.

A classic 7.62x39mm rifle—a gunpowder weapon.

Next to it were about two hundred rounds of ammunition, though not all were 7.62x39mm.

It seemed this so-called hardware store’s main business wasn’t selling everyday items, but this kind of merchandise.

Xiang Yi slung the rifle over his shoulder. He then found a sack in the warehouse, packed up all the tools he deemed valuable, and had Shi Tie haul the bulging sack out of the warehouse.

Although this behavior was completely at odds with the imposing air he had when ordering Shi Tie to forge a path, at a time like this, substance was naturally more important than style.

Xiang Yi also snatched up and packed some of the tools from the workbench outside. Since things had already gone this far, it would be a waste not to take them.

His objective achieved, Xiang Yi had no intention of lingering. He beckoned to Du Bingtian and left the hardware store.

Du Bingtian’s legs were trembling. He only managed two steps before losing his footing and collapsing to his knees. He had to use the wall to pull himself up and struggle to follow.

As he left the hardware store, he glanced back at the robot one last time, but it gave no sign of response. In despair, he could only hurry to catch up with Xiang Yi.

Knowing the way, Xiang Yi quickly returned to the Southwest Suburbs, to the same sheet-metal hut where he had temporarily held Du Bingtian and Pingyu.

By this point, Du Bingtian could barely walk.

Not from exhaustion, but from fear.

He was certain he would meet the same fate as Pingyu and relentlessly begged Xiang Yi to spare his life.

But Shi Tie dragged Du Bingtian into the hut anyway.

Pingyu wasn’t dead.

Instead, he was bound tightly to a dilapidated iron chair in the room, his eyes covered with a blindfold made from a scrap of cloth Xiang Yi had found somewhere.

At that moment, Du Bingtian thought he saw a glimmer of hope.

But then Xiang Yi suddenly raised the pistol, aimed at Pingyu’s forehead, and pulled the trigger.

A shot rang out, followed by a flash of light.

Blood mixed with whitish-gray brain matter sprayed from the back of his head.

Watching this unfold, Du Bingtian began to tremble uncontrollably and collapsed bonelessly to the ground. He was sure he was next.

But Xiang Yi did no such thing. Instead, he took out the terminal he had confiscated from Pingyu and transferred some key information from it to his own device.

He then tossed Pingyu’s terminal to Du Bingtian, along with a thumb-sized Blood Crystal.

"Take these two things back with you. Wipe all of Pingyu’s information from the terminal, format it as a new card, and keep it on standby."

"If we have the chance in the future, we could try working together."

"Huh?"

Du Bingtian froze, his trembling body instantly going still. "You’re... not going to kill me?" he asked in disbelief.

"Do you want me to?"

"No, no, no, no, no, no..."

Du Bingtian waved his hands frantically, terrified Xiang Yi would change his mind. He scrambled to pick up the terminal and the small Blood Crystal.

"So... I can go?"

"Go. And remember to relay the message."

"Oh, right. You should dispose of this body as soon as you can. And it would be best if no one found out I killed him, or that you were the one who got rid of it."

"Why?"

It seemed the day’s events had been too much for Du Bingtian. He’d asked the brainless question out of pure instinct, not even realizing how foolish it was until the words were already out.

Xiang Yi had no choice but to explain. "Because he’s the only one I actually killed tonight. The others were all victims of your own friendly fire. So, care to guess why I killed him?"

Du Bingtian thought back. Right after Xiang Yi had taken out that strange device, Pingyu had inexplicably bolted. Xiang Yi immediately sent his bodyguard after him. There must have been a reason for that.

He instinctively glanced at Xiang Yi’s backpack. The device inside it was the real killer.

"Figured it out?"

Du Bingtian nodded frantically at Xiang Yi’s question and swore, "I will never, ever speak of what happened tonight."

Of course, Xiang Yi didn’t believe his oath. That wasn’t why he was letting the man go.

The main reason he was letting him go was the bounty Pingyu had mentioned.

He had checked before; the police had no bounty out for him. Therefore, this bounty had to be from the Dark Zone.

For now, it seemed only Pingyu had learned the details of the bounty through a friend. But in a day or two, the robot’s operator would surely find out about it; he certainly had the means.

There was no hiding the existence of the bounty.

Even dismantling the robot and wrecking the shop would be useless. As long as he couldn’t find the operator, the information would get out eventually.

Since exposure was inevitable, it was better to follow up his threat by extending an olive branch to the robot’s operator rather than do nothing at all.

First, warn him that if he decided to take the bounty, he’d have to consider the risks of making an enemy of Xiang Yi. Then, use the small Blood Crystal to show him the benefits of cooperation.

Xiang Yi wasn’t sure how the operator would react.

That was why giving him the Blood Crystal served another purpose.

To attract attention.

Pingyu had likely been recruited as a subordinate by that man from the prison, Lu Qi.

Now he was dead, not long after he’d found information on Xiang Yi.

This fact couldn’t be hidden for long, either. Someone from the prison was bound to come and investigate.

When that happened, the trail of clues would lead first to Du Bingtian, the robot’s operator, and the Blood Crystal they possessed, not directly to Xiang Yi himself.

Whether Du Bingtian immediately caved and spilled everything, or actually helped conceal the truth, Xiang Yi wouldn’t be exposed right away. It would buy him a buffer.

Furthermore, the investigation from the prison would likely only trace back as far as the Southwest City District, making it highly probable they would assume he was hiding somewhere in the area.

After all, there were signs of his activity here, traces of a Mind Pulse Generator being used, and even Blood Crystals up for sale.

Who wouldn’t be thrown off by a trail like that?