Chapter Thirty-Nine: Get in the Car

"Help me..." Liu Mengchao stood up, looking at Li Xin lying on the ground, and shook his head.

"What exactly is going on here?"

"I... I don't know..." Li Xin's forehead was covered in a dense sheen of sweat. Her left shoulder had been completely shattered. A bullet had passed through it, leaving a gaping hole.

Blood was flowing endlessly from the wound on Li Xin's shoulder, quickly soaking her clothes in crimson.

"You don't know?" Liu Mengchao laughed. With a flick of his wrist, the blade hidden in his sleeve shot out with a crisp sound.

He approached slowly, his presence like a vast sky descending from tens of thousands of feet above, pressing down bit by bit on the woman lying on the ground.

With a sharp sound, Liu Mengchao's sleeve blade stabbed into the earth right in front of Li Xin's eyes.

"Don't lie to me. I have no interest in analyzing your expressions any further," Liu Mengchao said, his gaze fixed on the rapidly increasing pool of points before him. He continued, "You have two choices now. First, tell me everything that happened, in detail. Second, keep your secrets until the zombies come for you. The choice is yours."

"I..." Li Xin trembled, not only from the pain in her arm but also from the immense pressure Liu Mengchao exerted on her. It was like the number on Liu Mengchao's prize pool.

Prize pool: Three hundred thousand!

"Speak. Leave nothing out," Liu Mengchao commanded, standing up and kicking the gun on the ground far away.

Makoto Ito watched the gun skitter toward him, bent down without hesitation, and picked it up.

With a click, Makoto Ito loaded the gun and, almost instinctively, pointed it at a woman.

Rei Miyamoto.

For some reason, ever since the gunshots had startled him awake that night, Makoto Ito couldn't shake the feeling that a devil was whispering in his mind, tempting him to kill everyone—especially all the women.

"You're quick," another voice chimed in. Qi Xiaoxiao had also stepped forward.

Liu Mengchao noticed that Qi Xiaoxiao's hair was damp, and her face was tinged with a rosy flush. She wore a fitted white shirt, brown calfskin heels, and her black ponytail fluttered lightly in the morning breeze, giving her an air of spirited elegance.

Saeko Busujima was much the same, clad in a tight leather jacket and holding a wooden practice sword made of white oak. Standing beside Qi Xiaoxiao, the two appeared like warrior goddesses bathed in the dawn, exuding a sense of safety to all who saw them.

"Last night..." Liu Mengchao thought again of what had happened under the starlit sky, and shook his head with a faint smile.

But his gesture made Li Xin's face pale instantly. Already sweating from the pain of her wound, she grew even more anxious. That night, like a nightmare, still haunted her.

Was it because she had hesitated in answering, that Liu Mengchao was now angry?

Li Xin cast a fearful glance at Xu Zhengdong's corpse lying on the ground. Shaking uncontrollably, she stood up, not even bothering to cover her bleeding wound. Gritting her teeth, she spoke.

"Last night, Saya Takagi called Xu Zhengdong and me out."

"And then?" Liu Mengchao raised an eyebrow, pressing her for more. Relentless questioning, giving the other no time to think—this was a tactic to force out the answers he wanted, directly from the subconscious.

Liu Mengchao was in no mood to read micro-expressions now. All that mattered was extracting every last bit of value from this so-called 'Reincarnator' named Li Xin.

"And then..." Li Xin glanced pityingly at Saya Takagi's corpse, and spoke slowly, "She wanted us to escape the house with her, by car."

"Just the two of you?"

"No... there was also Takashi Komuro and..." Li Xin looked at each person standing before her, naming them one by one, "Shizuka Marikawa."

"Oh?" Liu Mengchao smiled, noticing the sudden change on the faces of Saeko Busujima and Rei Miyamoto.

Both women involuntarily tightened their lips, their brows lowering. They were barely restraining their anger.

"So what about us? Were we just to be abandoned?" Liu Mengchao's words were like knives, stabbing into the hearts of all the remaining Reincarnators. No one likes betrayal, especially in a situation like this.

In an instant, the entire courtyard fell silent. No one spoke—not those Saya Takagi had intended to take, nor those she had chosen to leave behind. They were all lost in their own thoughts.

Takashi Komuro's situation was particularly unique.

His gaze wandered uncertainly around him. He sensed that at some point, Makoto Ito's gun had begun to drift in his direction.

Did he intend to kill him?

Takashi subtly edged closer to Rei Miyamoto, standing by her side. Right now, nothing felt safe; the only comfort he could find was with his childhood friend and former sweetheart.

"No, I never thought of that..." Li Xin had just raised her head to meet Liu Mengchao's eyes. Though trembling violently, she forced herself to speak. "Xu Zhengdong... it was his idea. He wanted to abandon all of us and claim the points for himself."

"Foolish dreams," Ye Yutian interjected with a sneer before Liu Mengchao could speak.

"Yes..." Li Xin could no longer support herself; she slumped against the Humvee, panting heavily. "He seemed mentally unstable then, kept muttering to himself. Then, when Saya Takagi got into the car, Xu Zhengdong suddenly began to shout."

"He shouted?" Liu Mengchao glanced at Xu Zhengdong's corpse and asked, "He must have been asking why you hadn't formed a team?"

"Yes." Li Xin nodded. By now, blood from her wound had soaked her clothes. Though the school nurse, Shizuka Marikawa, longed to step forward and help, even her naïve instincts warned her this was not the time.

Liu Mengchao said nothing, merely smiled. Xu Zhengdong had finally snapped when his last hope was gone. It was only natural that, in his breakdown, he had fired at Saya Takagi's body.

But...

Liu Mengchao looked at Li Xin. Now, with one arm broken and losing blood rapidly, she was a burden to any small Reincarnator squad.

Yet... Liu Mengchao glanced again at his prize pool. As his gaze shifted from Li Xin to the Humvee, the pool surged dramatically.

"I like that will to survive," Liu Mengchao said with a smile, watching Li Xin stagger, nearly collapsing again. "Get in the car."

At the very least, you must contribute a few more points before your exit, Reincarnator.

Prize pool: Three hundred and ten thousand.

At that moment, the sun on the horizon shone even more blindingly.

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Ahem... rumor has it—well, never mind, let's whisper this instead—that all the female soccer fans who attend games in person are stunningly beautiful...

And, about the group file sharing, haha, it was definitely not me who uploaded those, oo.

The next chapter will be posted before midnight...

Special thanks to BXeroXB, Moldy Otaku, Xuan Yuan the Killer, Si Yi, Rainbow's Transition, Frozen Charm, Deep Blue Serenity, and Starry Tale for their generous rewards.