Chapter 317: Just Beginning

North Suburbs Abandoned Factory.

The rusted iron gate was half ajar.

Cold wind poured in through the doorway.

It emitted a whimpering sound.

Su Ming dragged his steps forward.

He reached out and pushed the gate.

Accompanied by a harsh metallic screech, the gate slowly opened.

The interior space of the factory was enormous.

The air was filled with the sour, rancid smell of fermented engine oil.

Hanging from the steel beams overhead were several massive spiders mutated by the red moon's radiation.

These monsters stared at the intruder with greedy eyes.

Yet they were intimidated by the terrifying aura emanating from Su Ming and dared not move recklessly.

Su Ming halted.

His gaze passed over several abandoned stamping machines.

It landed on a pile of scrap copper and rust not far away.

Someone was sitting there.

Liang Wen.

The Investigation Bureau's Core Captain was crossing his legs.

He toyed with the katana stained with dark red blood in his hand.

The blade reflected the scarlet moonlight streaming through the window.

The scene was strikingly impactful.

Su Ming's muscles tensed instantly.

Spatial Force quietly gathered in his palm.

He stared at Liang Wen.

"Yo."

"Here you are."

Liang Wen lifted his head.

The face that usually wore a cheesy expression was unusually calm.

There was no flamboyant aria.

No shameful technique names were spoken.

Su Ming gave no reply.

He maintained a defensive stance.

A shattered bearing lay beneath his foot.

As long as Liang Wen made any move, he could guarantee to warp the space around the opponent within half a second.

"How did you end up here?"

Su Ming's voice carried an unmistakable defensiveness.

Liang Wen jumped down from the scrap heap.

His combat boots stepped on the shattered glass covering the ground.

They produced a crisp clatter.

He casually sheathed the katana.

He retrieved a custom tactical terminal from the pocket of his black Windcoat.

The screen lit up.

A blinding red dot flickered on it.

"Divine Gift......"

Liang Wen lifted the terminal in his hand.

"Since it's a game item dropped by a deity,"

"how could it lack a full‑map broadcast function?"

Su Ming stared at the screen.

The red dot's position corresponded exactly to his current coordinates.

He suddenly understood.

"You merged with it."

"On my Radar, you are now a walking Super Lightbulb."

Liang Wen tossed the terminal back into his pocket.

"I followed the signal all the way here."

"What about the survivors?" Su Ming blurted out.

He regretted it as soon as he finished asking.

It fundamentally contradicted his usual self‑serving style.

Why would he care about the life or death of a bunch of dead weight?

Liang Wen walked to within two meters of Su Ming and stopped.

"All set."

Those people that Lao Lei traded his life for.

I still have to find a safe place for them.

Mention Lei Yu's name.

Su Ming's breathing halted for half a beat.

The spot in his chest where the Divine Gift had merged began to faintly heat up again.

That blinding white flame.

That face soaked in fresh blood.

It lingered in Su Ming's mind.

Liang Wen stared directly into Su Ming's eyes.

The cynical vigor he once had was completely gone.

The sharp temperament forged by countless life-and-death experiences was fully unleashed.

"Stop pretending."

Liang Wen spoke.

His tone was no longer the flippant teasing of before.

"You're dragging a leg that's been pierced."

"Rolling and crawling, you thrust into the Underground Passage."

"You weren't doing it to escape death."

Su Ming furrowed his brows.

"What do you mean?"

Liang Wen let out a cold laugh.

"You're afraid the Divine Gift on you will attract hyenas."

"Folk Uncanny Practitioner."

"Overseas mercenaries."

"Those monsters that come sniffing the scent, even a few can raze that temporary shelter to the ground."

"You're afraid you'll endanger the survivors."

"And even more afraid that Lei Yu's life will be wasted."

Every word from Liang Wen hammered against Su Ming's nerves.

Su Ming found it absurd.

He was a person who had been reborn just to scrape by.

And yet he was labeled as selflessly sacrificing himself.

"Stop putting a hat on me."

Su Ming retorted quickly.

His speech was extremely rapid.

Laced with an unmaskable irritability.

"I'm just a selfish, self‑serving petty person."

"I left because I was mixed with you bunch of official idiots."

"Sooner or later I'd be trapped to death."

"I just want to survive."

"Other people's lives and deaths are none of my damn business."

Su Ming stared at Liang Wen intently.

He tried to mask his inner panic with this hard‑headed stance.

Liang Wen did not get angry.

He quietly listened to Su Ming's sophistry to the end.

"Is that so."

Liang Wen took a step forward.

Closing in on Su Ming.

"A selfish, self‑serving petty person."

"Who would risk being sliced apart by Raincoat Man at a crossroads."

"Shout loudly to remind everyone of the Murder Rule?"

Su Ming was at a loss for words.

Liang Wen continued to press.

"A bastard who only cares about his own life and death."

"Who would lead in the pedestrian street by smearing Paint over the Mirror Walker's eyes?"

"You could have fled yourself amid the chaos back then."

"With your skill, those monsters couldn't hold you at all."

Each rhetorical question from Liang Wen

hit the core directly.

"Your mouth is full of selfishness."

"But all you do is that damn rescue business."

Su Ming opened his mouth.

A wad of cotton was stuck in his throat.

He couldn't get any rebuttal words out.

His proud, cold‑blooded façade.

It was stripped clean by a few sentences from Liang Wen.

In the dilapidated factory, only the whistling of a draft remained.

Su Ming lowered his head.

The broken strands on his forehead covered half his face.

He stared at the crimson moon reflected in the puddles on the ground.

The defense line collapsed.

The painful lessons of betrayal from his past life.

He used them as a hard shell to arm himself.

Before Lei Yu's leaky final words, it shattered, leaving not even a fragment.

"Live on, carrying our share."

This debt.

It really can't be repaid.

Liang Wen sighed.

He took off the Fingerless Gloves etched with strange patterns.

He solemnly extended his right hand to Su Ming.

"This broken world is rotten to the core."

"The Blood Moon hangs high."

"Monsters roam everywhere."

"You can't run away."

Liang Wen's hand hovered in midair.

His palm bore thick, old calluses.

There were also several old scars deep enough to see the bone.

"As long as you're still in this Weird Domain."

"As long as you still possess the Divine Gift."

"Troubles will keep coming to your doorstep endlessly."

"Alone, you can't bear the world's malice."

Liang Wen suppressed all his over‑the‑top aura.

"Join the Investigation Bureau."

"We need a madman like you who can overturn the board in a desperate situation."

Su Ming stared at that hand.

It was a hand gripping a blade.

It was also a hand that had pulled countless people out of the Abyss.

Su Ming closed his eyes.

He inhaled deeply, the air tinged with the smell of iron rust.

He is a reborn one.

He knows the cruelty of this Blood Moon game better than anyone.

Inescapable.

Since he was drawn in.

Since he obtained the top‑tier gear.

Then he might as well smash this whole card game to pieces.

Su Ming opened his eyes.

He raised his hand.

He gripped Liang Wen's hand firmly.

Their palms pressed tightly together.

"I join."

Su Ming's voice was low.

It carried a fierce resolve.

"But I'll lay the ugly truth first."

"I'm not doing this to save the world."

"I only do it to repay Captain Lei a life."

Liang Wen smiled.

His peach‑blossom eyes regained that over‑the‑top fervor.

"Deal."

"Welcome to the Abyss, newcomer."

Liang Wen released his hand.

He turned and walked toward the depths of the factory.

"Let's go."

"Let's go give those bastards a little fun."

Su Ming followed behind.

They looked up at the Blood Moon outside the window.

The game… perhaps it has only just begun.