Dual wielding volcanoes, killing through the west

"Hahaha, interesting. I hadn't thought of it that way... Hey, maybe it really is true. Who knows?" The Mad Taoist muttered to himself. "If that's the case, wouldn't I have been just a little short of accepting Zhang Zhenren's descendant as my disciple? Brilliant, truly brilliant, hahaha!"

Zhu Kuilong sighed, sat down, placed his hands over the campfire to warm them, and stopped talking.

"What?" The eccentric Taoist seemed to see right through him and said with a grin, "If you don't know, you'll worry; if you do know, you'll be jealous. The human heart is truly unpredictable; it's the most unfathomable thing in the world."

“…Ha, maybe.” Zhu Kuilong’s tense eyebrows finally relaxed, and the corners of his eyes also became more relaxed. “I will never catch up with him in my entire life. This trip will allow me to realize this, and that is enough.”

The eccentric Taoist tossed a stone into his mouth. "You're practically my disciple, so to put your mind at ease, I'll tell you some things about him. Do you want to hear them?"

"..." Zhu Kuilong was stunned for a moment. He wanted to appear carefree, but the glint in his eyes betrayed him.

Regardless of the reason, he couldn't let go of his concern for his junior brother who lived across the ocean.

"miss you!"

"Alright." The Taoist wiped his mouth, squinted his eyes, as if reading some information from the clouds in the sky, "This person 'rejoices at the sight of red, grieves at the sight of white, and dies when encountering green.' In this life, there are still three great tribulations waiting for him. One in the year of Yi Chou, one in the year of the millennium, and another in the year of Ding You. No one can take his place; he must overcome them himself to achieve fulfillment."

“Three great tribulations…” Zhu Kuilong was shocked by this magnificent life.

In the month and a half he spent in America, this junior apprentice had already accomplished many remarkable things. Judging from his personality, any one of them would be thrilling enough to be remembered for a lifetime.

Little did he know that it would be just an ordinary period in his long life.

"Just telling you might not be enough for you to understand, because that's all stuff that happens a very, very long time from now..."

The Taoist priest took out a small, round spinning top from his wide sleeves. Its surface was covered with red, white, and green colors, each accounting for one-third of the total area.

He placed it in his right palm and murmured, "Why not see his choice for myself?"

……

With a flick of his finger, the top began to spin gracefully in his palm.

----

"boom----!!!"

In an instant, with the mountain peak where they stood as the center, the entire world began to spin rapidly, circle after circle, following the spinning top.

The sun and moon rose and set, and stars streaked across the sky, leaving behind circular streaks of light. Zhu Kuilong had never witnessed such illusionary magic, one that could change the very fabric of the world.

He tried to stand up, but almost fell.

In a daze, he saw a scene he could hardly comprehend—towering buildings, so tall they defied description, rising from the ground. People came and went on the streets, along with strangely shaped, heavily armored metal bikes that roared through the air. People weren't riding them, but sitting inside, operating them with ease.

Iron poles stand along the street, and at night, the light they emit is far brighter than any other lamplight.

He racked his brains but couldn't imagine what kind of world could produce such things.

But the next moment, he saw something he could understand.

fire.

A sea of ​​fire.

Explosions and flames engulfed the city, which burned as if its lungs were being placed on the bottom of a frying pan of hot oil and were beginning to scream.

A man in a trench coat stood high above, looking down at the fire and smoke, his eyes filled with excitement and the satisfaction of a great victory. His arms were outstretched, as if to embrace the light and heat, and his wild, long, crimson hair fluttered in the wind.

From behind, he and Zhang Renfeng look quite similar.

"Burn it, burn it, burn it all!"

……

The light and shadow flashed by, and the red-haired man disappeared, replaced by a black-haired boy kneeling in the rain.

His upper body was completely naked, and his body was covered in scars. The boy was so thin that he was skin and bones, but beneath his skin, there were bulging veins. The only layer of muscle on his body looked like melted sugar threads, more like dragon scales than flesh.

Without using his hands for support, the boy relied solely on the strength of his waist, abdomen, and toes to slowly rise on his own in the heavy rain.

A sudden clap of thunder.

Amidst the lightning, only those eyes allowed Zhu Kuilong to see a resemblance to Zhang Renfeng. Although their figures and appearances were completely different, the eyes still retained Zhang Renfeng's spirit.

"May you die..."

He slowly raised his right arm, pointed a finger at the opposite side, and said coldly, "It can make me the greatest."

……

Light and shadow separated once more, arriving at a place he could never comprehend. The people walking on the street no longer seemed to be human; they were more like children born of humans and iron, parts of their bodies, more or less, gleaming with a metallic sheen. At a glance, there were all sorts of bizarre and grotesque creatures.

But everyone's face showed exhaustion, as if they were just rushing from one goal to the next.

Those square-shaped things are flying in the sky, shuttling back and forth.

The tower resembled a legendary pagoda, reaching straight to the sky.

In this most unfamiliar era, he met the person he knew best. However... Zhang Renfeng at this time was not the two-hundred-year-old man he had imagined; on the contrary, his body was also a combination of flesh and iron.

"how so……"

"..." Zhang Renfeng seemed to sense something, and suddenly turned his head, staring intently in his direction.

With a giant leap, like a cannonball fired from a gun, she pounced towards him with incredible jumping power and speed!

Zhu Kuilong instinctively grabbed the corner of the cloud blanket on his shoulder, preparing to retaliate!

----

"Ding!"

The eccentric Taoist clasped his palms together, and the top stopped spinning.

The illusion vanished like the wind.

"Huff... Huff..." Zhu Kuilong was somewhat taken aback. He blinked and suddenly felt a heat in his nasal cavity, and blood started flowing from his nose.

"Haha, it's too early for you to see something like this," the Mad Taoist said with a grin. "Go back and practice some more. Come find me again when you've mastered it."

"What exactly did you show me?" Zhu Kuilong wasn't about to let him go. Ignoring his bleeding nose, he grabbed the sleeve of his Taoist robe. "Is it an illusion, or the future?!"

……

"Is there a difference?"

The eccentric Taoist suppressed his smile and stared at him expressionlessly. His unfathomable, deep eyes seemed to hold the secrets of the entire world, sending chills down one's spine.

"The future, the future, is yet to come."

"You have plenty of time to sculpt and refine something that is yet to come, until every detail of it is close to perfection."

"Two hundred years, isn't that enough for you to work hard? Hahahaha..."

The eccentric Taoist flicked his sleeve, which transformed into golden leaves that scattered across the ground and disappeared.

Only that small spinning top remained, its red, white, and green colors shimmering beautifully in the sunlight.

Volume 1: Undying Nightmare

Chapter 404: Let's Drink to Celebrate Our Victory Today

"That old man, upon closer inspection, really did have a face full of wrinkles, and his voice was incredibly hoarse. There were also many patriarchs from the Zolael family present, and they just stared straight at my handsome face for a while, and then he said—"

"Kid, do you think I'm a pushover? Decades ago, I built this business from scratch. I'm not someone you can easily fool!"

“‘You have only one chance to tell me everything you know without omitting a single word, or I’ll rip your tongue out by the roots.’ He really said that; those are his exact words.”

"And then?" someone asked, their curiosity piqued by his captivating narrative. "What did you say to him?"

"I just do it like this... like this... first I put my hands on the table at a 45-degree angle to support my body."

“HEI~~~” He emphasized his words, mimicking the stereotypical image of a tough Western man.

Everyone laughed.

Jimmy took a big gulp of tequila, the spicy kick shooting straight to his head, making him shudder and his large forehead drenched in sweat. Jimmy smacked his lips, reveling in the exhilarating feeling of this first-person bragging, unable to pull himself away.

Anyway, everyone in his room at the time, except for Amy, was dead. The blonde girl didn't seem to have any intention of refuting him; she just sat to the side and gave this lawyer, who had only drunk half a bottle of tequila, a big eye roll as he started to act all high and mighty with the audience.

……

Rongma Town, a high-end restaurant that was originally only open to the Zola El family, has now become a place for people to hold victory celebrations.

Those who rose up with the Red Center Gang were mostly natives of Numa Town. During the attack on Tianma Town, many of them died due to the enemy's heavy weapons.

Considering the casualty ratio, Zhang Renfeng did not send them to attack Rongma Town.

The frontal defenses were all broken through by the Red China Gang.

Their task was to form an encirclement around the area and capture the demoralized and fleeing members of the Angry Thunder Gang. Zhang Renfeng suggested that when they saw deserters, they should send two loud-voiced men to sing some well-known local songs.

Logan took his suggestion, and that very night, several people were assigned to sing. They sang "The Girl and the Bear," a well-known hit song in southern New Orleans.

The effect was unexpectedly good. Upon hearing the singing, the deserters were so terrified that they surrendered without hesitation. Last night's final battle, though seemingly fierce, was actually a complete annihilation of the Thunder Fury Gang with zero casualties!

After the great victory came the victory banquet. The heavy burden that had been weighing on their shoulders, such as Zola El and the Thunder Gang, was finally gone, and it was worth celebrating.

Interestingly, at least for the first half of the banquet, none of the true heroes—the members of the Red Center Gang who accomplished this feat—showed up. They had been working non-stop for 48 hours, their minds were on edge, and now that they relaxed, they all went to catch up on sleep.

Jimmy, on the other hand, got into a huge fight last night and no one came to rescue him. He was quite optimistic, and wherever he was locked up, he just went to sleep.

When everything settled down and Zhang Renfeng came to rescue him, it was almost dawn. He had slept in the dungeon all night and was full of energy and vitality. Even now, drinking and chatting, he seemed to have extra energy.

……

"This is awesome! This wine, this meat... it tastes better than ours. Damn Zolael, this is what life is all about!"

Black Hand's shoulder injury was almost healed, and he practically collapsed onto the table, chewing and tearing large mouthfuls of beef short rib sprinkled with black pepper, coarse sea salt, and a pinch of chili powder. Interestingly, the Zola El family's specialty restaurant even had the last condiment. They had clearly gone to great lengths to cater to the diners' tastes.

Logan smiled at him, nodded, and stared at the glass of chilled whiskey in front of him. He pressed the ice cubes down with his fingers, submerging them in the alcohol, then letting them float back up. He repeated this process several times, but he wasn't in a hurry to drink it.

"What's wrong? Why the expression?" Black Palm asked suspiciously, thinking he was mourning his fallen comrades, so he advised, "In war, people will inevitably die."

"Looking back now, it feels like a dream... Just a week ago, we had to live at the mercy of others, watching their every whim. When we saw a horse with a blue ribbon tied to its leg, we would instinctively move to the side of the road, otherwise we would deserve to be trampled to death."

"And now, we're sitting openly in their restaurants, enjoying their food and wine. I tell you, Logan, sometimes when I close my eyes, I wonder if I've already been shot, bleeding profusely, and lying on the ground. These are the fantasies I had before I died."

He picked up the glass, letting the icy, stimulating liquor slide down his throat, swallowing it in large gulps. He let out a burp and muttered, "If that's really the case, then don't bother saving me. Just let me stay like this."

"So happy?" Logan's expression was somewhat complicated.

"What, shouldn't you be happy?" Black Palm said disapprovingly. "Why are you being so indecisive today? It's always better to win than lose. Think about your daughter. If you lose this battle, what will happen to her? I think she'll be lucky to even die."

That's not an exaggeration. Given the ruthlessness of Zola El and his gang, they're capable of anything.

Logan sighed, shaking his head with a wry smile. "You're right, Blackpaw. I hope... I'm just overthinking it. But the thought of the future makes me less optimistic."

This is the true value of a leader; they always have to be one step ahead of ordinary people. Over the years, being able to balance the undercurrents in Numa Town under the pressure of the Thunder Fury Gang is a job that not just anyone can handle.

While everyone else was still ecstatic, laughing and celebrating, Logan was already thinking about how to get through the rest of the year.

People are ultimately scattered individuals, and they need someone to organize them so that everyone can live a good life. In the past, the Zola El family has always played the role of leader, and regardless of how well they have done it, they have always managed to get by.

Now, this surname has basically disappeared from this land. All industries related to them have also ceased to exist.

But with so many mouths to feed, the first thing they need to do every day is eat. They can party for a day, three days, or even a week, but they can't party forever. After the feast ends, everyone will start to think: what's next? How will they make a living?

In this desolate area devoid of police, law, and order, it won't be long before it regresses to a barbaric era. In fact, one wrong step could lead to a situation even darker and more savage than under the rule of the Thunder Gang.

Logan had to sigh, raise his glass, and with something on his mind, even the best wine seemed bland and tasteless.

Just then, he heard people exclaiming in astonishment, as if they were worshipping a god, filled with reverence and awe.

……

"See that? That's Red Center! Red Center is here!"

Chapter 405: Building is always harder than destroying

Zhang Renfeng didn't want to make a big fuss. In essence, he wasn't someone who particularly enjoyed socializing.

After all, the sense of accomplishment from socializing is nowhere near as great as the sense of accomplishment from causing trouble... But there's no way around it, in this land, he's the only one with yellow skin, more noticeable than bikini-clad beauties on the beach, and once he appears in public, he simply can't hide it.

Given the series of things he has accomplished in just two short weeks, it wouldn't be surprising if the locals built a shrine to him and enshrined his image. Seeing him alive now is like seeing a god descend to earth.

As the saying goes, one cannot hit a smiling face, so he had no choice but to deal with the group of people with a smile, and finally managed to squeeze out of the crowd and stand in front of Jimmy.

"Red Center, boss!" Jimmy, still caught up in the excitement, raised his glass to Zhang Renfeng, "Let's toast to our great victory!"

"Don't drink too much yet." Zhang Renfeng gently pressed his hand. "I have something to discuss with you."