No one remembers when the Trials Facility first appeared. Some say it was created by the gods, suddenly manifesting after light pillars that decimated most of the land fell from the sky. Others say it was built by the Empire, though no one who has actually gone to the Trials believes this.
Participants wait inside the Trials Facility until the trials begin, when everyone is transported into the trial space. Li Changan had taken part seven times, and was convinced it was a real space.
Sometimes it was desolate wilderness, other times a city. The terrain was never exactly the same, though the one constant was that each trial ground was sizable enough to allow full range of abilities.
Even so, that did not change the fact that the trial space was a hellscape, filled with the most cruel aspects of human nature. Being able to die cleanly already counted as lucky. If you encountered an opponent with peculiar tastes, who knew what kind of torment you would suffer.
"The weak suffer everywhere, the only difference here is that at least you get wine," said the young man wiping a cup, pushing up his glasses as he glanced coldly at Li Changan drinking artificial milk at his bar.
Li Changan smiled wryly. Of his few friends, Jiang Shuibu had the least agreeable tongue! But in the black market, an agreeable tongue was not so important for survival.
Putting down the now gleaming cup, Jiang Shuibu picked up another glass. The severely mysophobic man's hands never rested.
"The victor must go to the Military Department for service, eating the emperor's grain but under state control. Are you sure that's what you want?"
Li Changan nodded. "Of course, what's wrong with eating the emperor's grain? I'll put up with the control."
Jiang Shuibu scoffed as always. "It's not the same as before. The whole society has changed since the apocalypse. You know what those superhumans are up to now."
It wasn't just humans that evolved after the apocalypse, but also beasts, far greater in number than humans. After evolving, they were called monsters, numerous and terrifying.
Monster referred to something different from and frightening to humans.
The monsters raged ceaselessly. Led by those of higher intellect, they wrought disasters no less dangerous than the original apocalypse.
Thirty years ago, light pillars falling from the sky killed a third of the world's population. Disease and famine brought chaos, ravaging the land alongside the monsters. In just one year, the death toll matched that initial apocalypse.
After the Empire was established, the Hunters Guild emerged from the populace, later taken over by the Empire. By hunting monsters for points, hunters could exchange for weapons and most importantly, gene serums.
Gene serums could slightly but permanently enhance superhuman abilities, as well as greatly increase physical fitness. After all, most superhumans had frail bodies, apart from the enhancement-types.
With gene serums, they could become stronger over time too, though the body built up tolerance, limiting how much could be taken.
This made low-level enhancement superhumans even more looked down upon, unable to match those who had taken gene serums.
Powerful hunters might also be recruited by the Empire. Refusal meant their lives would be monitored thereafter.
As Jiang Shuibu slammed a cup heavily onto the table, Li Changan was jolted back to reality. He smiled awkwardly, glancing left and right.
He didn't know how to respond to Jiang Shuibu's concern. His friend's worry was understandable. Sugarcoated, it meant loyal hound; bluntly, just a dog.
"What's going on over there? So many people." Feigning naive curiosity, Li Changan was relieved the noisy commotion down the street gave him a chance to change topics.
Jiang Shuibu couldn't be bothered to probe Li Changan's clumsy distraction. Glancing over, he coolly replied, "Debt collection, using his daughter and wife as collateral, looks like.
That woman's vicious, killing herself and leaving her teen daughter behind. Over ten and still no ability awakening, that's her life over. No physique either, better to die early and suffer less."
"Don't be so callous. The weak can still live decent lives if they abandon dignity and face." Li Changan grinned. Jiang Shuibu shot him an undisguised glare.
Li Changan was curious despite himself. The later the awakening, the poorer the talent. Nearing adulthood with still nothing meant a high chance of being an ordinary.
Like people born before the apocalypse, ninety-nine percent were ordinary, and now lived the hardest lives.
"What's the difference between abandoning dignity and death?" Jiang Shuibu threw the dirty rag into the bin and took out a fresh towel, starting to wipe his cups again from the top. "Go take a look if you want, stop dragging your feet."
Li Changan smiled awkwardly again before striding straight into the crowd and to the center.
In the middle were several brawny men, one holding a metal chain leashed to the neck of a girl kneeling on the ground.
The girl was frail and unkempt, tattered clothes barely preserving modesty. Her lowered hair obscured her face.
"Scrawny, you go too far. Asking 10k for this? Even for a virgin that's too much. I'll give you 3k max, even blindfolded she'll still be fun," a man in the crowd haggled with the chain holder.
The man called Scrawny was actually a hulking brute. He ignored the lowballer, attention on the newly arrived Li Changan.
Finding him familiar, Scrawny felt they had met somewhere before.
"Look at me," said Li Changan, tilting the girl's chin up. A horrific red-brown birthmark covered over half her face.
Perhaps once fair, now only frightening, especially the dull, colorless eyes devoid of light or liveliness.
But in them, Li Changan saw himself.
"Do you need my help?" he asked. Just as the girl opened her mouth, Scrawny beside them frowned.
She did not speak, only smiled, the writhing birthmark making it more grotesque.
Li Changan nodded. "It seems you don't want to live. But it'll be quicker and cleaner if you die with me, instead of suffering here. Do you want to reconsider?"
This time she did not smile. A touch more color entered her eyes. After a moment's hesitation she softly asked, "Trouble you?"
Li Changan finally smiled back. "No trouble at all," he said, standing up. Facing Scrawny, "I'm taking her. Name your price."
After deliberating, Scrawny gritted his teeth. "Brother, you look familiar. You know our rules, sell only, no refunds. But I'll do you a favor. 30k and she's yours, do what you want. We wash our hands of this."
"Agreed," said Li Changan, unclipping her neck chain and helping her up. "Go sit there, that boss will get you some food." He pointed at Jiang Shuibu's bar.
30k was a lot. Too much. Forget 30k, Li Changan didn't even have 300, though he could maybe scrape together 30.
Seeing him snap a wrist-thick chain barehanded, the crowd parted for the girl. Scrawny was just glad he didn't ask too high a price.
"I'm broke, can I put it on tab?" Li Changan spread his hands unabashedly.
Scrawny raged but did not act.
"Mocking us, tired of living?" His lieutenant was dutiful, putting full force into his punch.
It held no overbearing weight, no lightning speed, just honest effort that telegraphed his exertion.
"This punch counts as 30k," said Li Changan, shifting slightly to take the blow on his shoulder. Unnoticed, his right hand slipped out and struck.
Palm like a blade, it stabbed up under the man's throat, tearing through flesh to grasp his windpipe and rip it out.
Seeing his companions defeated, the remaining four people huddled together and rushed up, only to kneel down on the ground again at an even faster speed.
Li Changan moved like a fish among the four, always keeping his back against one person while attacking ruthlessly without any emotion.
Although the four people on the ground were not dead, the one injured the least had his arm twisted and dislocated, with bone fragments poking through the bloody skin.
Skinny Dog was just stunned for a moment, and before he could call for his men to stop, it was already too late.
Finally, Li Changan picked up Skinny Dog by the head.
"Th...Third Master!!" He had just uttered a word when Skinny Dog felt the grip on his skull tighten suddenly. He quickly shouted out with his last breath, and then felt his body go light as it fell to the ground.
"I should have killed you first so you wouldn't have recognized me." Li Changan sighed regretfully and let go. There was no point in killing after being recognized.
After all, the other had called out his title sincerely. To mix around earning meals in this street, one had to abide by some rules.
Skinny Dog was drenched in cold sweat. Probably the luckiest thing in his life was blurting it out in time. The man before him was one of the most ruthless top dogs in the dark streets.
Two years ago, it was this seemingly worthless Third Master, together with his two buddies, who wiped out the biggest gang on this street overnight.
That huge gang with a few hundred people did not leave a single breathing person by dawn. People saw Third Master sitting at the door smoking, covered in scars that could stop a crying child.
Li Changan casually waved his hand and walked out of the parted crowd. He did not know what Skinny Dog was thinking. He really had no money, called Third Master but couldn't even take out 30,000 yuan, so shameful.
Just as he sat back down at the bar, Jiang Shuibu gave him a meaningful smile, "Yo, Third Master, when are you going to pay me back for the wine?"
Li Changan shrugged and ignored Jiang Shuibu's ridicule. He could only blame Jiang Shuibu.
If Jiang Shuibu had not killed the other gang's boss, and they had not gathered people to seek revenge, he would not have taken the risk to sneak into their headquarters.
He had killed continuously the entire night until his hands and feet went numb. Until Brother Lin and Jiang Shuibu came to finish off the rest, that battle had made him famous.
"I have something to do, I'll leave the girl with you for a few days." Li Changan stood up and prepared to leave. His eyes met the girl's ashen ones.
Li Changan did not know when he would die, maybe the next trial. He wanted to leave some instructions, just a sudden impulse, they might not even be needed.
He gently ruffled the girl's hair and smiled, "Stay with this uncle first, help me out in the future. If you want to die, it's very simple. Oh right, what's your name?"
"Wu Liuyan." The girl answered expressionlessly.
"Wu is your surname? I'm Li Changan, call me whatever you want." After a pause, Li Changan added, "If you want to abandon that name, do you want to take my surname? I'm surnamed Li."
The girl hesitated for a moment then firmly shook her head. Li Changan could only let it go and swiftly left. The word "uncle" just now had already made Jiang Shuibu's forehead veins bulge, he'd better leave before anything else happened.
Watching Li Changan's departing back, the girl with the strange name suddenly wanted to say something to him.
Actually, being alive was not so bad.