Special District 9

“Somewhere there, I guess,” Qin Yu replied. He would also rub his palms together from time to time to generate some heat. “Don’t just keep sitting there. If you have nothing to do, you should move around a bit to warm your body.”

“Did you ride a vehicle when you were entering Special District 9 too?” Old Cat asked.

“For the first part of the journey, yeah. The rest was on foot.”

“… You are a freaking warrior.” Old Cat was speechless.

The vehicle treaded through the snowy path for around five hours before finally entering a small military replenishment stop. The two of them got down and paid the money before driving a petrol jeep, which looked as if it was going to break down soon, and continued on their way. The climate here was simply too cold for electronic or hybrid vehicles to operate properly for long distances.

The petrol jeep was something that Superintendent Li had specially arranged for them through his connections. Even though the petrol jeep looked rickety, it was obvious that he didn’t scrimp on it at all. The heater and other amenities were all in working condition, and the off road capability of the jeep to navigate through difficult terrains remained unhindered.

En route, Old Cat kept looking all around the silver-cloaked land like a curious baby. He pointed at the huge metal structures several kilometers away and asked, “ What’s that?”

“They are signaling towers,” Qin Yu replied. “There are metal fences beneath the towers in case they aren’t too visible in the night.”

“What are they signaling for?”

“Regions with high radioactivity,” Qin Yu answered calmly. “That area used to have a lot of nuclear facilities. When the apocalypse struck, those facilities exploded, leaving behind large swathes of land with high concentrations of radiation. The government tried to construct facilities to curb the level of radiation, but they ended in failure. In the end, those towers are left behind in order to remind those in the Development District not to venture in there.”

“It looks like the government isn’t completely good-for-nothing,” Old Cat replied.

While driving the jeep, Qin Yu asked in the tone of a leisure chatter, “So, what’s your relationship with Old Li?”

Old Cat froze a little upon hearing that question.

“Why? Is it something that can’t be said?” Qin Yu asked with a chuckle. “I won’t probe if that’s the case.”

“There’s no reason why it can’t be said either,” Old Cat replied as he took out an e-cigarette. “Old Li is my blood-related uncle. He entered the Police Bureau after my dad, so he can be considered as my dad’s junior. My dad died in place of Old Li over an issue, so my sentiments toward him are… a little conflicted I guess. It would be a lie if I were to say that I don’t resent him for my dad’s death, but he has been treating me really well over the years too… Sigh, I would always try to tell myself not to think about the past, but as a son, I can’t just forget about what happened then.”

Qin Yu was quiet for a while before replying, “You’re still in a better position than me. At least you have a relative you can hate. I don’t have anything at all.”

Old Cat took a puff of smoke, not responding at all.

“Are you familiar with the incident between your father and Old Li?” Qin Yu asked.

“I mostly heard about it from others. They said that Old Li made a mistake, and my dad got shot in his place.”

“… Has Old Li ever explained this matter to you personally?”“He never talks about it. When I was younger, I would intentionally blow up and pull the topic in this direction, but he would never budge,” Old Cat said as he looked out of the window. “Maybe… he doesn’t feel comfortable thinking about that matter too.”

“Old Cat, everyone in the Police Bureau sees just how well Old Li treats you. Let the past be the past. Grasping onto it does nothing but to bring conflict between the two of you. It’s meaningless,” Qin Yu advised. “How many younger brothers in the world would intentionally harm their older brothers? Besides, what you heard of mostly came from the mouths of others. Perhaps, the situation back then might be different from what you have in mind, don’t you say so?”

Old Cat hesitated for a moment before nodding his head, “Un, you’re right.”

“Let’s talk about something more uplifting.” Qin Yu changed the topic with a grin. “When are you going to get married?”

“With who? Our Leilei?” As soon as the topic of romantic relationships was raised, Old Cat was suddenly filled with vigor.

“Can you have some face? I already told you that…” Qin Yu was going to reprimand Old Cat when he noticed ten or so people dressed in thick clothing charging out from a cluster dilapidated ahead. He immediately instructed Old Cat anxiously, “Grab your gun. Quick!”

“What’s wrong?” Old Cat straightened up his body.

Ahead of them, the ten or so people stood in a straight line, sealing off the road ahead.

Qin Yu halted the jeep around twenty meters away from them.

“What do you want?” Qin Yu lowered his window before shouting through the snow.

Two men walked out from the crowd, and one of them said, “Bro, give us some food. We’re about to starve to death.”

Hearing those words, Qin Yu bellowed, “Can’t you tell that this is a military vehicle? We don’t have any food. You better get lost right now.”

“If you don’t have food, you can give us petrol, clothes, or money too.” Those two men continued approaching them.

Old Cat looked at the bunch of people ahead of him from the car and noted that they had frostbites all over their body. On top of that, they had the young and the elderly amongst them as well. Out of a moment of compassion, he said, “Qin Yu, let’s give them something.”

However, Qin Yu’s current attitude was completely different from how he usually acted in Special District 9. With a livid expression on his face, he howled coldly, “I’ll only say it once more. Get lost!”

“Fuck, this fellow is so domineering. We won’t leave until you give us something!”

The two men halted their footsteps around five meters away upon hearing Qin Yu’s words.

Qin Yu’s eyes narrowed. He grabbed the car clutch and stepped on the accelerator. Without any hesitation, he charged right toward the crowd.

“Holy shit!” Old Cat exclaimed in bewilderment. He grabbed Qin Yu’s arm as he exclaimed, “if you don’t want to give them anything, so be it. There’s no need to knock them down because of that!”

Seeing the jeep charging in their direction, the crowd that stood in their way immediately dispersed.

There was no time for Qin Yu to explain things to Old Cat either. He quickly picked up a gun and pulled the trigger toward the crowd.

Bang bang bang!

Gunshots echoed in rapid intervals, forcing the crowd to disperse. After that, Qin Yu turned the steering wheel with his left hand and drove the car into the snowfield. He specifically chose to drive through areas where the ground had frozen solid.

Several seconds later, thirty people charged out from the cluster of buildings and unhesitatingly shot toward their jeep. However, it was fortunate that Qin Yu had reacted quickly enough to take a detour.

Old Cat stared at the sight with his mouth agape as cold sweat trickled down his forehead. In a state of utter shock, he cursed, “What the fuck? That bunch of people wasn’t there to beg for food but to plunder us?!”

“If I had stopped the car any nearer, they would have surely taken off our clothes and left us to freeze to our deaths there,” Qin Yu replied nonchalantly. “The people who live in this area… aren’t humans at all.”

“They even dare to rob military vehicles?”

“Do you know what this place is called?” Qin Yu asked.

“There’s a special name for this place?” Old Cat was astonished.“It’s called Three Snags. Three years ago, ten military convoys carrying rations from Fengbei drove through this area and ended up being robbed clean. The commander of the military was furious, so he commanded three battalions consisting of over a thousand soldiers to march in here and eliminate the refugees. However, of the thousand soldiers who marched into Three Snags, in less than a day, they were nearly completely wiped out. I heard that less than three hundred people managed to make their way out of here in the end.”

Qin Yu pointed to the two sides of the road they had just attempted to pass by and said, “If you grab a shovel and dig into the snow right now, you might just stumble onto a corpse.”