Chapter 79: Compensation

Chapter 79: Chapter 79: Compensation

"Ahem..."

The middle-aged man cleared his throat with an awkward cough. "He’s got quite a bit of potential, actually."

A freshly awakened Spiritual Ability User with a uniquely distinctive Spiritual Power, who had already managed to harness a portion of Black Stone Power and use it to control an exceptionally powerful Corpse Ghost — calling him promising was no exaggeration at all.

"Seems like he’s headed down the wrong path, though. Lucky he ran into me. I’ll see if I can steer him back and keep him covered for a while."

The middle-aged man was already turning over in his head how to help Xiang Yi as much as possible without losing face in the process.

Offering protection while a bounty was sitting on Xiang Yi’s head — that ought to count as making it up to him, at least...

The voice on the other end of the line — the "official" — replied, "Same as you always were back in the force."

"Not a bad thing, though. I’ll dig up everything I can find on Xiang Yi’s full background and send it over. I’m hanging up."

"Hold on. One more thing — how hard are they pushing the manhunt from the prison side? And what’s Xiang Yi actually like as a person?"

The official thought it over for a moment. "Put it this way: if that ship hadn’t come down on that hotel in the city district, Xiang Yi would’ve been caught or killed by the next day. The government wasn’t going to lift a finger to stop the prison’s people — they’d have actively helped them."

"But the guy’s got genuinely good luck, and that ended up dragging us into it too... forget it, let’s not go there. God only knows if this whole thing is a blessing or a curse."

"As for what he’s like as a person... seems alright, I’d say."

"The black box data was mostly intact — just missing the final stretch before the crash."

"Other than threatening the pilots to ignore the fake patrol ships hailing them, Xiang Yi didn’t do anything to anyone. He even tried to help when one of the pilots got injured."

"That pilot took a cannon round and was already beyond saving. The other one got a laser straight through the heart — no coming back from that either. The body was also infected, probably by an Abnormality source Xiang Yi was carrying on him. Keep that in mind."

"All things considered, he seems alright."

"An Abnormality source?"

"A bloodthirsty, maggot-type Abnormality that produces a crimson crystal. Not really your concern — that’s mainly between the prison next door and the Liuyun Government. It’s also leverage we’re holding onto."

"Xiang Yi likely picked up this Abnormality while he was in prison, which is probably how the two pilots’ bodies ended up infected. As long as it doesn’t suddenly appear in a densely populated area, the spread is minimal — tops out at Level 1. Easy to deal with."

The middle-aged man still wasn’t quite at ease. "So is there any chance Xiang Yi deliberately steered the ship into that hotel?"

"Why are you overthinking this?"

A flash of memory cut through the middle-aged man’s mind — the fight between him and Xiang Yi earlier. Or rather, the one-sided beating Xiang Yi had taken.

In the instant he had landed that final kick, Xiang Yi’s face had worn an expression that genuinely unnerved him — pupils trembling, cornered and frenzied, the corners of his mouth curling up without him even seeming to realize it.

"Because I’ve actually met the guy now. If he’s decent, I’ll give him a hand. But if he’s rotten, I’d rather hand him straight over to you."

"No need for that."

"The people the prison infiltrated into our side were flying that ship and shooting at his freighter with everything they had. From the black box data, the flight control systems were completely destroyed. Where it crashed was pure luck — it wouldn’t have mattered who was at the controls, the crash was always going to be an accident."

"But the bounty says his Spiritual Ability is tied to machinery?"

"You know what, funny you should mention that — we actually did find traces of residual Spiritual Fluctuation near the ship’s engine. We couldn’t figure it out at first, but once the prison posted the bounty, it all clicked. He repaired the engine’s cooling system after it was shot offline."

"No residual Spiritual Fluctuation was found anywhere else on the ship. There’s no way he deliberately steered it into a building."

"Bottom line: Xiang Yi’s got a few minor issues, nothing serious. If you want to protect him, go ahead — can’t you handle one young kid? Deal with any real problems if and when they come up."

The middle-aged man hesitated briefly, then said, "Alright then. I’ll go have a talk with him."

"Yeah." The official paused, then added one last thing: "Xiang Yi’s got a lot of threads tangled around him, it seems. If you’re serious about protecting him, make sure he doesn’t go running around out there drawing attention — the prison’s people have gone a bit off the deep end."

"And don’t go head-to-head with them directly. At least wait until we’ve sorted out our own business here first."

The call ended.

The middle-aged man hesitated for a moment, then walked back over to Xiang Yi.

"Ahem..."

He let out another dry cough and said, "You showed up here sneaking around like a little rat for no good reason — but I’m willing to give you a chance."

"?"

"What kind of chance?"

"Work for me. Your Spiritual Ability is tied to mechanical equipment, isn’t it? As it happens, I’ve been short an assistant lately."

"I’m guessing I don’t really have a choice here?"

"You do. If you’re not interested, you’re free to walk."

The words were barely out of his mouth before the middle-aged man regretted them. If Xiang Yi chose to stay, fine — but if he didn’t, then he’d have to figure out some other way to make amends.

Still, pride pushed him to keep going: "I have no interest in your bounty. As long as you don’t come around causing trouble again, I won’t go out of my way to bother you either. I’ll even see to it that your injuries get treated. Your call."

"Oh, and tell your pet to drop the act. We all know he’s already recovered."

Shi Tie’s little performance had been seen through. Xiang Yi wasted no time freeing him from the bayonet’s restraint, and Shi Tie moved to his side.

The severed arm that had been torn off earlier had been reattached, though the decay had progressed considerably since it had been separated from the body. In another week or so, reattachment might not even be possible anymore.

If it got torn off again, Shi Tie would likely be down to just one usable arm for the foreseeable future.

Xiang Yi looked at the middle-aged man, still not quite understanding. "So why are you doing any of this?"

"Because I like the look of you."

"...Huh?"

Xiang Yi had absolutely no idea how this man’s mind worked.

Though, looking back, he could tell the middle-aged man hadn’t actually intended to kill him from the start.

Even when Xiang Yi had been the first to raise his gun, the man had stuck purely to hand-to-hand techniques to keep him in check.

If he’d pulled out his bayonet the moment they were in close range, Xiang Yi would have been done for on the spot. He had only gone all-out with the bladed weapon when dealing with something like Shi Tie.

That final kick had clearly been pulled too — it hurt like hell for a bit, but his ribs hadn’t even cracked.

But wasn’t the whiplash a little extreme?

Beat the guy half to death, then turn around and ask him to stay on as an assistant — and the reason being that he liked the look of him?

Xiang Yi genuinely could not figure out what was going on in this man’s head.

And it didn’t seem like he was planning to sell him out either — if that were the case, wouldn’t it be easier to just beat him into a cripple or kill him outright?

Could he really just... like the look of him?

Xiang Yi was torn.

He ran through the pros and cons of saying yes versus saying no.

Saying no.

The downside was losing an opportunity. The upside... if the middle-aged man genuinely had no ulterior motives, then at least Xiang Yi would be safe, and there might still be room for future dealings in materials.

Saying yes.

The benefits were obvious — a scrapyard full of electronic and mechanical junk meant access to all kinds of salvage, which was the whole reason he’d come here in the first place.

The downside was the risk the middle-aged man himself represented.

Sure, the man had come in hot and aggressive, but Xiang Yi could understand that.

Having a bunch of thugs show up and cause a scene at your doorstep wasn’t exactly going to put anyone in a good mood. And afterward, he’d been decent enough, all things considered...

At the very least, compared to the people at the prison and the hospital who had wanted him dead on sight, this middle-aged man was practically friendly.

Under normal circumstances, Xiang Yi would keep his guard firmly up around any stranger.

But these weren’t normal circumstances. When the person in front of you could snuff you out without breaking a sweat, staying on guard seemed pretty much pointless.

Unless the guy was some kind of sadist who wanted to torture him? Seemed unlikely.

If he wanted that, those thugs who showed up earlier would’ve served the purpose just fine.

But the scrapyard’s robots had still fired warning shots into the air instead of shooting directly at people.

The middle-aged man’s shift in attitude was genuinely baffling, but the fact remained — he had the raw power and the standing to leave Xiang Yi with zero means of resistance. There was no reason to go to all this elaborate trouble.

Prison, at least, had its rules. But out here, as an escaped convict, Xiang Yi had no rights whatsoever.

Given all that, as long as he didn’t expose too much of himself... it should be fine to spend some time around this strange middle-aged man for now.

Then Xiang Yi recalled something the robot had said to him: "If you were a normal person, it wouldn’t matter either way. But the circles you’re running in now — it’s better if you don’t go comparing."

That had been the robot speaking to Xiang Yi, based on who Xiang Yi was.

What was the robot?

An arms dealer. A crew of thugs underneath him. Not exactly a good person.

What was Xiang Yi?

An escaped convict. A serious criminal. Crimes against humanity. Five million on his head. Hundreds of lives. Definitely not a good person.

So this scrapyard owner probably wasn’t a genuinely good person in any real sense of the word...

The small details from their fight earlier — the way the man had held back — and the shift in his attitude after getting Xiang Yi’s ID and making that call both seemed to confirm it.

Xiang Yi thought it through carefully, then gave his answer.

"I’ll stay. I’ll be your assistant."

The risks that came with being around the middle-aged man were ones he could live with.