Chapter 297

On the other side of the city, the Blood Moon hung in the sky.

The dark red light was like a layer of indelible Paint, coating the entire commercial pedestrian street.

The streetlights here had long gone out, only the broken neon signs sizzled and flickered, casting flickering, weird shadows.

"Trash, move faster! Haven't you eaten?"

A shout of abuse, accompanied by a dull thud of kicks, exploded across the dead silent street.

Zhang Wei staggered forward a few steps, his knee heavily striking the broken‑glass‑strewn asphalt.

The piercing pain raced along his nerves up to his Heavenly Spirit Cover, yet he didn't dare even a hum; using hands and feet he scrambled up, shouldering the two hiking packs that were barely lighter than his own weight.

He was thin; chronic malnutrition and overwork made him look like a dried reed. A cracked‑pattern black‑rimmed glasses perched on his nose, and the eyes behind the lenses were filled with numbness and fear.

"Man... Manager Liu, this pack is too heavy, I really..." Zhang Wei's voice was hoarse as if he had swallowed sand.

"Shut up!"

Behind him walked a big Fatty, his immediate superior, Liu Qiang. Liu Qiang was clutching a solid steel pipe taken from the roadside; his face was flushed with sweat and oil, trembling from intense exertion and tension, soaking his branded shirt through.

"What's wrong with making you carry some supplies? The company usually keeps you as a lazy bum, and now at the crucial moment you still won't pull your weight?" Liu Qiang spat, his eyes bulging, "Don't want to work, huh? If you don't, leave the food and get out yourself!"

Zhang Wei tucked his neck in, daring not to retort.

In this damned world, "get out" meant death.

The "Company Survivors Squad," originally about ten members, after the Mutation three days ago and the recent monster chase, was down to four. Besides Liu Qiang and Zhang Wei, there was Wang Dayong, who usually flattered Liu Qiang, and the flamboyant HR woman Zhao Li, who constantly rolled her eyes at Zhang Wei.

"Brother Liu, stop the stupid crap," Wang Dayong said, gripping a Watermelon Knife he'd taken from a fruit shop, eyes wary of the shadows, giving Zhang Wei a disdainful glance. "The red dot on the map is just ahead; if that so‑called Divine Gift really exists, we could survive."

Zhao Li, still wearing a pair of high heels she wouldn't ditch even though a heel was broken, snuggled against Liu Qiang and cooed, "Exactly, this cursed place is terrifying. Zhang Wei, you go ahead and scout the path."

Zhang Wei shivered all over, whirled around, and stared at Zhao Li in disbelief.

Ahead was a pitch‑black alley, its walls overgrown with dark‑red, vein‑like plants, occasionally emitting sticky sounds like a crawling mollusk.

Send him to scout? How is that any different from sending him to feed the monsters?

"I won't go..." Zhang Wei instinctively stepped back, "There... there must be something there."

"If I tell you to go, you go! No more crap!" Liu Qiang came up with a kick to Zhang Wei's rear. The force was huge, sending Zhang Wei straight into the alley mouth.

"Not going?" Liu Qiang waved the steel pipe, a vicious grin spreading across his greasy face, "If you don't, I'll snap your leg now and toss you here to feed those monsters. Choose yourself: fight or die right now?"

Wang Dayong also raised his Watermelon Knife in cooperation, sneering as he stepped closer.

Zhang Wei stared at the blade reflecting red light, then at the bottomless alley.

Despair was like an icy hand, gripping his heart tightly.

Usually, in the office they made him fetch tea, take the blame, dock his bonus, and humiliate him publicly, and he endured it. He thought swallowing his grievances would let him get by. Now, they truly wanted his life.

"I'll go... I'll go..."

Zhang Wei trembled, turned, tears swirling in his eyes, but he could only grit his teeth and step by step move into the darkness.

The alley was filled with a nauseating, putrid stench.

Underfoot was not soil but a thick sludge resembling rotting entrails. Zhang Wei held his breath, his heart pounding as if to burst his chest. He clung to the slick wall, groping forward in the pitch‑black darkness.

After about twenty meters, the view opened up.

It was an abandoned Underground Parcel Sorting Station.

It wasn't the imagined Monster Nest; the place was empty, littered with discarded cardboard boxes and collapsed shelves. In the very center, a lone desk held a floating pale‑red halo.

Within that halo was something wrapped.

Zhang Wei's eyes widened, his breathing quickened.

That was the Divine Gift?

He glanced back at the alley mouth, confirming Liu Qiang and the others hadn't followed, then mustered courage and approached.

It was a square, antiquated box, seemingly made of rosewood. The box had no lock; Zhang Wei, trembling, gently lifted the lid.

A seal.

Precisely, it was a wholly black, obsidian‑like private seal. Its handle was a snarling demon head, its eyes set with rubies that emitted a weird glow in the dim.

When Zhang Wei's fingers touched the seal, his whole body froze as if struck by lightning.

The method of using the seal appeared in his mind like a sudden revelation.

The seal was called the Seal of Domination.

If you aim the seal at any creature and stamp it from a distance, the target falls under your domination.

The weaker the individual, the more pronounced the domination.

For ordinary people, it's total domination.

But each use costs… a little bit of lifespan.

Lifespan?

If you can live like a human, even just one day, it's better than being a dog all your life!

An unprecedented frenzy spread through his body like wildfire. He clutched the icy seal tightly, his knuckles turning ghost‑white from the strain.

"Hey! Dead cripple! Are you dead yet?"

From the alley mouth came Liu Qiang's impatient shout.

Immediately, chaotic footsteps sounded. Liu Qiang, with Wang Dayong and Zhao Li, rushed in flashing their flashlights.

"Dammit, all this dithering," Liu Qiang muttered as he walked over, instantly spotting the delicate wooden box in Zhang Wei's hand and the black seal exuding a Weird aura.

Greed instantly spread across the three of their faces.

"That's mine!" Liu Qiang's eyes reddened as he lunged forward, his massive hand reaching to snatch, "Give it to me! Quickly!"

Wang Dayong followed closely, threatening, "Zhang Wei, be sensible. This thing isn't for a trash like you. Hand it to Brother Liu; he might spare your life."

Zhao Li covered her mouth and laughed, "Oh, look at his silly face, clutching the box like it's his own dad. Zhang Wei, obey, give it to Manager Liu."

Zhang Wei lowered his head as Liu Qiang's hand seized his collar, a nauseating mix of cologne and sweat assaulting his nose.

"Can't you hear me? Are you deaf?!" Liu Qiang, seeing Zhang Wei unmoving, burned with rage. "Let go of me!"

Zhang Wei lifted his head.

The eyes that had once been full of cowardice and fear were now bloodshot, with a maddening tremor deep in the pupils. He stared fixedly at Liu Qiang, the corner of his mouth curling slightly, revealing an extremely ugly grin.

"Liu Qiang, you used to always say I was a dog you raised."

Zhang Wei's voice was soft, yet it echoed repeatedly in the empty basement.

"You... what do you call me?" Liu Qiang was stunned for a moment, then erupted, "I turned the tables on you! How dare you address me by my great name?"

Zhang Wei lunged forward a step.

His movement was unbelievably swift, bearing no resemblance to a chronically malnourished person. It was the pent‑up resentment of countless years exploding in that instant.

Liu Qiang only felt a dark blur flash before his eyes, and before he could react, a coldness brushed his forehead.

*Snap! *

The cold Demon King Private Seal slammed heavily onto Liu Qiang's broad forehead.

"Ah—!"

Liu Qiang let out a pig‑slaughter‑like scream. He released his grip on Zhang Wei's collar, clutching his forehead while stumbling backward. A searing, excruciating pain radiated from his brow, as if a branding iron had been pressed directly into his brain.

"Brother Liu! What's wrong?!" Wang Dayong startled, raising his knife to strike Zhang Wei. "Dammit, you dare act? I think you're just sick of living!"

"Kneel."

Zhang Wei stood still, twirling the blood‑stained seal in his hand, and softly uttered two words.

The two words were light, as plain as saying "eat."

Yet to Liu Qiang's ears, the voice thundered like a sky‑bolt, bearing an irresistible authority and pressure that traveled through his auditory nerves to directly command his muscles and bones.

*Thump! *

A muffled sound that made one's teeth ache.

Wang Dayong, who had been about to rush in to help, slammed on the brakes, his eyes nearly bulging out.

The Liu Qiang who usually acted arrogantly, stepping on Zhang Wei like an insect, was now kneeling upright on the ground. The kneel was so forceful that his kneecaps hammered the cement, a sound that might have cracked the floor.

"Liu... Brother Liu?" Wang Dayong was stunned.

Zhao Li also covered her mouth and let out a short, sharp scream.

Liu Qiang knelt on the floor, his whole body trembling violently. His face was full of terror and confusion, his features twisted into a mess. He wanted to stand up, he wanted to curse, he wanted to tear Zhang Wei to pieces.

But his legs felt as if they had rooted into the ground. No matter how his brain commanded, his body wouldn't move a hair, and the attempt to resist the mysterious force caused muscle spasms, making him sweat coldly in pain.

"What... what's going on?!" Liu Qiang let out a wind‑box‑like howl from his throat.

Zhang Wei ignored him and turned his head toward Wang Dayong.

That gaze was as cold as if looking at a corpse.

Wang Dayong's scalp prickled from that look, his knife trembling in his hand: "Zhang... Zhang Wei, what do you want? We're all colleagues, we can talk... Since you found this thing, it belongs to you; I won't take it, okay?"

"Just now you were about to cut me to death." Zhang Wei nudged his cracked glasses on his nose and walked step by step toward Wang Dayong. "You think a waste like me doesn't deserve this?"

"A misunderstanding! All a misunderstanding!" Wang Dayong retreated while forcing a dry laugh, cold sweat streaming down his temples.

"Stick the knife in your thigh." Zhang Wei suddenly pointed at Liu Qiang, "No, stick it in his thigh."

Wang Dayong was startled: "Huh?"

"Can't you understand?" Zhang Wei raised the seal in his hand and slammed it toward Wang Dayong through the air.

Wang Dayong let out a scream, and the Watermelon Knife in his hand actually plunged toward Liu Qiang's thigh.

*Pfft. *

The sound of the blade cutting flesh was clearly audible.

"Ah!!!" Liu Qiang let out a harrowing wail, blood instantly staining his trousers red. He convulsed in pain, yet his body remained in the proper kneeling posture, unable to move at all.

"Zhang Wei! I f*** your grandpa! I'm going to kill you! I'm going to kill your whole family!" Liu Qiang, maddened by pain, cursed filthy and unclean words.

Zhang Wei's smile widened even more. He stepped in front of Liu Qiang, looking down from above at the chubby face.

"Keep cursing, keep cursing."

Zhang Wei lifted his foot, the mud‑splattered, tattered sneaker slowly pressing onto Liu Qiang's face.

"Mmm..." Liu Qiang's mouth was crushed, only able to emit a whimper, his eyes finally showing genuine terror.

Zhang Wei pressed down hard, feeling the sole's contact, the most delightful sensation he had ever experienced in his life.

"When you splashed coffee on my face before, you had the same expression, right?"

Zhang Wei bent down, leaned close to Liu Qiang's ear, his voice gentle yet bone‑chilling.

"Boss Liu, our game has only just begun. Now, I have a multiple‑choice question for you."