In the gloomy residential compound, six shadows crept slowly toward Duan Heng’s villa.

Their faces were sly and sinister, twisted into vicious, malicious grins—every inch the bandits.

“Boss Long, are we really killing him tonight?”

One thug asked eagerly, eyes gleaming with excitement.

Boss Long curled his lip, voice dripping with cruelty:

“Of course! Keep him for Chinese New Year?”

“But… but murder is—”

Another thug trailed off weakly from the back, hesitation thick in his voice.

Boss Long cut him off with a snarl:

“Kid, this is the Apocalypse! No laws. No morals. No one’s watching!”

He halted, gripping the hesitant thug’s shoulder, eyes burning:

“Kill Duan Heng, we get his villa. Endless food. That woman? I’ll share her after I’m done. We wipe out everyone here—control all resources, all women. Become kings! Follow me, and you’ll never lose.”

“R-really, Boss Long?!”

“Boss Long’s the best!”

Their eyes turned feverish, edged with fresh cruelty.

Boss Long clapped the hesitant one’s shoulder, grinning:

“Absolutely. Help me gut Duan Heng tonight, and we party! Enough talk—”

THUD—

His words died as the rearmost thug collapsed.

All heads snapped toward the motionless figure sprawled facedown like a sleeping man.

“What’s he doing?” Boss Long barked into the dimness.

One thug rushed over to check…

The moment he flipped the body—

His eyes bulged. Face drained white. He scrambled backward, shrieking:

“He’s dead! Gunshot!”

BANG—

A bullet punched through his forehead mid-scream.

A dark crater bloomed on his skull. Brains and blood sprayed the air. He dropped.

“Shit! Take cover!” Boss Long roared.

Thugs scattered—behind a tree, crouched behind flowerbeds. Eyes wide with terror, two wailed:

“Guns?! Where?!”

“I don’t wanna die!”

The gore left all four trembling, Boss Long’s brow slick with sweat.

On the rooftop, Duan Heng remained ice-cold.

Not a ripple in his eyes. He calmly chambered a new round, sights locking on them.

*Smart. Using cover instead of fleeing.*

*Useless. You came here—you all die.*

He grabbed a brick from the balcony, lips curling.

*Why kill the thugs first? Their malice is faint. Hard to sense from afar.*

*But Boss Long’s hatred? I felt it the moment he entered the compound. He can wait.*

*Die.*

He hurled the brick. It arced under moonlight—landing off-target near the tree.

CRASH!

The thug behind the tree yelped, leaping out in panic—

BANG—

Half airborne, his head exploded. He hit the ground with a wet thud, brains spilled across the dirt.

“Fuck! FUCK!” Boss Long cursed, body shaking.

The last two thugs sobbed, hands clamped over their heads:

“He never misses! We’re dead!”

“I shouldn’t have come! Killing thoughts bring death!”

“Shut up!” Boss Long snarled, silencing them.

Inside, terror clawed his throat. His mind raced:

*That brick came from the villa. Duan Heng’s sniping us.*

*His confidence today… he had a gun! Damn it!*

Bloodshot eyes narrowed. Hatred contorted his face.

*In a fistfight, I’d crush him.*

*But under that scope? No chance… unless—*

He turned to the trembling thugs, a sly glint flashing in his eyes.

“No choice. He’s got a gun. We run separately.”

“S-separately?!”

Boss Long gripped their shoulders, earnest:

“You left. Him right. Me straight ahead. He can’t shoot all three. My path’s longest, most exposed—he’ll target me first. My mistake. My risk.”

“BOSS LONG!” They cried, tears streaming.

Unseen by them, cunning flickered in his gaze.

“Enough. On three—we run.”

“Okay!” They nodded, trusting.

“Three—”

“Two—”

“One—”

“GO!”

WHOOSH—

They bolted left and right, wind whipping past them.

Grateful. Determined to honor his sacrifice.

BANG—

The left thug dropped at two meters, skull bursting before he registered the shot.

Duan Heng reloaded with special-forces speed.

Eyes cold as a viper’s. Gaze sharp as an eagle’s.

The rifle swung smoothly. The right thug was half a meter from the alley—

BANG—

The bullet tore through his neck. He crumpled, blood gushing.

Eyes wide with despair, he watched Boss Long sprint past his body into the alley—

*Traitor…*

Hatred burned in his unblinking eyes as he died.

Boss Long vanished behind buildings, out of the sniper’s sight.

Duan Heng lowered his rifle, expression flat.

*Escaped. Waste time chasing him. Bai Ling’s waiting.*

He holstered the silenced pistol, leapt from the roof—

Landing lightly in the courtyard. Gaze fixed on the darkness.

In the Apocalypse, enemies get no mercy.

Last life, his kindness got him betrayed.

He’d held Bai Ling as she died—

That agony, that helplessness, seared into his soul.

Even a pathetic thug like this…

*Gets no second chances.*

Until death claims us both.