My MCV and The Apocalypse

Liushi heard a new voice in his mind, distinctly different from when he communicated with the Starseed.

[Foreign brainwaves detected. Paterns indicative of long distance communication.]

Liushi looked at the cage. The beautiful young woman still looked the same, silently sitting with her arms wrapped around her knees, her grey eyes calm like a lake.

'Ran Xiyu? Did you talk to me just now?'

Liushi took a deep breath. He was happy about the information, but he also knew he wouldn't get the details for free. And there was only one thing she could ask in exchange: to be taken away from there. And that meant clashing with White Boss and the 7 Gods. The discarded slave on the floor was a mirror of what awaited her.

'You want me to take you away. That also mean you will have to become my subordinate. Aren't you afraid I'll be like the others?'

As a person raised in an elite circle, she had an indifferent and arrogant disposition. With the loss of her parents during the outbreak, she had fallen into despair. She was about to accept her coming death, only to be captured. And what she feared more than death was having her dignity utterly trampled and torn appart, being humiliated and violated. And when she though she had finally arrived at the gates of hell, she found hope.

Alongside her last words, he could feel her fear, sorrow, and helplessness. Looking at her face, he could tell it was taking everything she had to not break down in tears.

"White Boss, I'd like to buy this girl from you" Liushi said, surprising everyone.

"What?" he replied while staring at him. "What did you say?"

Even Zhuying and the 3 others were surprised by Liushi's actions.

"I said I'd like to buy that girl from you. The same price you bough her, with an added bonus."

"Haa-Hahahaaaa" White Boss laughed. "I, Bai Zhanshan, have already set my eyes on the girl. You dare having vile ideas on my property? No way. Tell me why?"

"No special reason. Just business. You are an ambitious man. I don't think you created that black market just to give up valuable goods for a woman. This place isn't the end goal for you."

"Let me think. You did not bid before, but now you want to take this girl away from my hands? Why? Ran Xiyu must have communicated with you, right? She must have said something that peaked your interest." Then suddenly, he stretched out 4 fingers. "4 mutant beast cores. I'll give you this girl for 4 crystal nucleus."

Liushi barely stopped himself from cursing in anger. White Boss, or as he revealed himself to be, Bai Zhanshan, demanded an exhorbitant price. His greed was too strong. He also revealed that he was ready to do anything to recover the 4 mutant beasts cores Liushi aquired. A confrontation seemed more and more inevitable.

"It seems you aren't willing to cooperate with me at all" Liushi said slowly.

He was the boss. He was more interested in his reputation than benefits. For him, the road of gaining power was paved with both blood and bones. More importantly, he he didn't like people who weren't under his control, especially in his territory.

"You are right. My ambitions aren't limited to this black market. First of all, I'm the king of this land!" he said as he stood up, giving an oppressive aura.

Liushi was still sitting there, but the atmosphere was tense. Many people looked at Liushi with schadenfreude smiles. Some though that he was doomed to die if he didn't trade back the 4 beast cores.

"I see" said Liushi with narrowed eyes. "I told you that I was going to add a nice bonus to the price you paid for her. But you decided to let greed take over your reason. You brough this on yourself."

Bang!!

"Uh?" Bai Zhanshan was taken completly by surprise.

While he was prepared for surprise attacks by his enemy, he was focused on their armed, and mostly Zhuying, who was the strongest paranormal in the team. The last thing he would have expected was for the attack to come from the regular human. More precisely, from the strange backpack he carried.

In the blink of an eye, a robotic arm was deployed, with gun attached to it. Said gun had fired in his direction. It was thanks to his improved reflexes that he was able to dodge a center mass hit, and the bullet was lodged in his shoulder. However, it immediatly exploded. Small bits of flesh and blood flew around as a big hole was opened on his shoulder. The articulation was broken as well.

"YEEAARRRRGHHHH!!!" White Boss screamed in pain as large amount of blood flowed out of the horrific injury.

The scream was loud and turned inhuman near the end, stinging the eardrums of the people near him. His body shifted, the clothes on his upper body were torn, revealing his strong muscles. His body grew hairs, and his whole appearance ressembled a bear. Like a bear, he may have been lacking in speed, but most likely had explosive power, great strenght and great defense. While the transformation had reduced the shoulder injury, it hadn't healed it. His left arm remained useless.

On the other side of the table, Liushi's group hadn't been iddle.

Qingping had jumped away to land near the door leading outside, Sun Kun running after her. It had been decided from the start that, should things turn for the worst, she would secure the escape route first using her mobility, with the help of Sun Kun taking a support position on higher ground. Zhuying was to counter anyone getting into close range, and Zhang Hai would provide heavy fire. His minigun was currently aimed to the rest of the 7 Gods members at the table. Liushi had also readied his shotgun.

"WOOOOO-!"

White Boss roared while took the metal chair he was sitting in with his usable arm, and tried to hurl it at Liushi.

Bang! Bang!

However, he received 2 more explosive bullets as the second turret revealed itself. The first to head, stunning him, the second to the arm holding the chair. It threw his aim off, and said chair passed harmlessly by Zhuying. White Boss staggered back, as blood flowed freely from the new wound on his head. His thick fur and hide, and strong bones, had saved his life. He rolled to the floor, masked by the heavy metal table.

Meanwhile, Qingping and Sun Kun had secured the door. She had used her new butterfly knives to cut the 2 guards, as they were still surprised by the event. She stowed one blade to take out her pistol. Sun Kun had shot down 3 guards, and she shot down the fourth. All guards on their side of the room were neutralized, and the few that were on guard outside met the same fate when they rushed in.

As for the other people who had come to trade, they had taken cover under their tables, or crouched low. The remaining guards opened fire on Liushi, Zhang Hai and Zhuying. The 2 men stood still as the bullets impacted on them, while Zhuying ducked bellow the table. People watched in awe and perplexity as the bullets bounced of their helmets, or fell down after hitting their bodies.

Bang! Bang! Bang! Brrrrrrrrrrrt!

The retaliation was swift. Liushi and his turrets took 3 guards at the same time, while the others were mowed down buy Zhang Hai's minigun. Some people screamed in fear when the minigun was used. Its sound was something noone wanted to hear unless it came from their side. Zhuying had her own job. Keep an eye on the remaining 3 members of the 7 Gods, and strike if they made a move.

BOOOM!!

A part of the trading hall brick wall was demolished, as Bai Zhanshan escaped. It didn't resist the monstrous shoulder tackle of the werebear. While the guards were being killed, White Boss had ran away. He had been unable to fight back. That was beyond all expectations. A heavy silence descended on the room, as everyone looked at the newcomers in fear.

Liushin Zhuying and Zhang Hai attention was now firmly on the 3 7 Gods members. They hadn't moved at the start because they thought White Boss could deal with them, but after seeing the mini-turrets with their exploding rounds, they froze. The things were deadly. And that was without the woman and the big guy getting into the action. Then they saw them shrug off bullets. They all thought that attacking them at that time wasn't a good idea.

Liushi moved to the cage holding Ran Xiyu, but the turrets remained accuratly pointed toward the them. That gave everyone aside from his group shivers. Liushi extended his hand toward Hong sister, palm up, and waited. She hesitantly stood up, and went to him while trembling slightly.

"He-here" she said nervously while handing him the key.

He opened the cage and held his hand toward Ran Xiyu. She was looking at him with wide eyes, and hesitated for a second before putting her hand in his. Like White Boss, she though that Zhuying was the most dangerous person in their group. She didn't expect him to have such an ace. He gently led her out of the cage, and she obediently followed him. Liushi stopped for a moment and looked at the other survivor groups.

"I strongly caution you against playing bounty hunter for the greedy coward. You will not like the result." Then he turned to the remaining members of the 7 Gods. "A king?" he snorted. "Your boss got drunk on the little power he gained since the Outbreak and became delusional" he said patronisingly. "He's barely better than Blood Wolf, and he's going to end up like him."

That name made several people react. It seemed that the guy had come to the black market at least once or twice.

"Blood Wolf?" the former college student asked. "The leader of the Bloody Wolves gang? What happened to him?"

"They attacked me 3 days ago, they failed miserably, and I put the mad dog down" Liushi said, then turned away from him, leaving him even more perturbed than before. "Sun Kun, we're taking back the machine guns."

Sun Kun left Qingping side and recovered the pallet mover. He put the guns and amnutions back into the bag, and moved out. Liushi gestured Qingping and Zhuying to escort him, and left the room last with Zhang Hai and Ran Xiyu.