The drunkard stared blankly at the empty trash can, his eyes blurred by alcohol. He leaned closer, squinting to check repeatedly, but the three trash cans that should have been filled with god remains were indeed empty—only the wine bottle he had just thrown in rolled around, making a clinking sound.
"Strange... Did the cleaners come early today?" He muttered, scratching his messy hair. The alcohol had numbed his senses, and he didn't notice the faint bloodstains on the edge of the trash can, nor the faint scent of god remains lingering in the air.
After staring for a while, he shook his head, thinking he must have misremembered. "Probably... hic... I drank too much. Those god remains are useless anyway, who would steal them?"
He stumbled away, completely unaware that he had just missed a shocking scene. If he had been sober, he would have immediately noticed the abnormality and reported it to the united government. By then, Liam might have already been caught!
"It's truly divine protection!" Liam ran wildly through the back alleys, his heart pounding with lingering fear. "If that drunkard hadn't been wasted, I'd be in big trouble now!"
The schoolbag in his arms was slightly stained with blood—those dozen or so god remains he had hastily stuffed in were oozing dark red fluid. "With this bag full of god remains, if I get caught, I'll be unable to defend myself even if I have a hundred mouths!"
Even if he hadn't taken the remains, he would still be targeted, and escaping would be extremely difficult. Not to mention he was carrying more than a dozen god remains in his bag.
He had taken them all because he could predict that the "welfare" of finding god remains in the trash cans would be gone after tonight.
The theft of god remains wasn't a serious matter—after all, these remains were useless. Liam had seen on the internet café last time: "Humans can't digest god remains; they can only spit them out intact or excrete them." No one would steal something completely worthless.
But while the remains were useless, their disappearance was extremely bizarre. If they were worthless, why would someone steal them? Could there be some conspiracy behind it?
Two days in a row, the god remains in the trash cans at two different exits had vanished—this would definitely attract a lot of attention. The police had probably already noticed.
Liam had stolen from the trash cans two days in a row because he wanted to grow stronger as quickly as possible. Others might have taken their time, waiting a while before going back, or not taking everything at once. But Liam had learned his lesson from "taking things slowly" in his previous life.
He had thought that work was about gradual accumulation, growing step by step, then getting promoted and raising his salary. But he had never gotten that promotion until he died. This made him realize that slow plans were suitable for capitalists with a certain foundation—not for a pauper like him. "Acting greedily" was the only way for a bottom-level worker to turn their fate around.
Because his ability to resist changes was too weak—even a slight disturbance could crush him. What if the united government arranged guards at every trash can in the future? How would he deal with it? Would he have to hide for the rest of his life? The next opportunity might never come.
Reborn once, he refused to wait silently. What could be done today should never be put off until tomorrow. Seize the day, for delay brings danger.
It was foreseeable that if Liam wanted to take god remains from the trash cans again, the probability of exposing himself was extremely high. Since this was the last time, and the only person who had seen him was a slow-reacting drunkard, he naturally wanted to take as much as possible.
Moreover, whether he took the remains or not, if he was caught by the united government, he would still struggle to escape. "Fortune favors the bold, while the timid starve!"
Feeling the schoolbag in his arms oozing more blood, Liam switched to holding it tightly to his chest, then darted into a narrow alley and continued rushing back.
Unlike the main roads, which had dim streetlights every short distance, the alley was completely dark. The only light came from the stars in the sky, filtering through the air defense glass above the safe zone.
Thanks to his enhanced physical fitness, Liam could clearly see the path in the dark alley. The darkness became his advantage, concealing his face. Even if there were people around, he could run past without any scruples, not worrying about exposure at all.
"I just need to escape back home!"
However, just as he turned into a dark alley, something unexpected happened. A small knife suddenly flew from the corner, straight for his right eye!
What's going on?!
His agility had already far surpassed that of ordinary people. The moment he saw the knife, he immediately dodged sideways. The knife clattered to the ground, hitting the stone slabs of the alley with a crisp sound.
Liam's gaze locked onto three figures by the roadside. They had messy long hair and sneered maliciously.
"Didn't expect we'd catch a fat sheep passing by while sleeping here."
"Lucky us, brothers!"
The three stood up, surrounding Liam.
Liam asked coldly: "What do you want?"
"What do we want? Isn't it obvious—we're robbing you!"
Robbing him? Couldn't these people see that his coat was tattered and worn? What was the point of robbing a poor kid like him?
"I have no money." Liam frowned, growing anxious as time passed. He didn't have time to argue with these three.
The disappearance of the god remains from the trash cans could be exposed at any moment. He had to get as far away from Exit 89757 as possible. Right now, he was only two stops away—far from a safe distance. Moreover, he was still holding a schoolbag full of god remains!
At that moment, one of the men brushed aside his greasy bangs, revealing a malicious grin: "No money? Then leave the schoolbag!"
These three were after his schoolbag?!
Liam glanced at the bag in his arms, quickly covering the bloodstained spot, and secretly thought something was wrong. "There's nothing valuable in this bag, but I can't give it to you."
"Nothing valuable? Then open it and let us see!"
Liam looked at the three homeless men robbing him and wasn't flustered. They were just ordinary people—if he wanted to escape, they definitely couldn't stop him. He was thinking about which direction to break through when one of them teased:
"You're running so fast in this alley, like you're fleeing for your life. Did you steal something valuable in that bag? Tell you what, we're not greedy. You keep a quarter for yourself, and give the other three-quarters to us brothers. We'll help you keep the secret—how about that?"
Another man echoed: "That's right! Leave the stuff, and the three of us can pretend we never saw you. Otherwise, you're in for a beating! Even if you run away, the three of us can report you to the police! When you just turned in, the streetlight illuminated your face—we've already memorized it!"
Upon hearing this, Liam's feet, which were about to escape, froze. These three had seen his face—there was a risk of exposure! If they really reported him to the police, wouldn't all his efforts be in vain?
Suddenly, a murderous intent surged in his heart.
The fierce light in his eyes was immediately caught by the gangsters, who had years of experience struggling in the gray areas. "Boss, this kid has a tough look in his eyes!"
"Want to fight? Heh, just a poor kid? If he dares to fight, that means the bag has valuable treasures! Let's take care of him and take the fortune for ourselves!"
With that, the three each pulled out a knife and stabbed at Liam one after another.
Liam had never killed anyone before—he had only had the thought just now. For someone who had lived an ordinary life in a civilized society for a lifetime, killing wasn't easy. He had originally hesitated to take a life, but now the three gangsters had pushed him into a corner.
"Fate has decreed your death—don't blame me."
"Arrogant brat! Kill him!"
The three watched as Liam had nowhere to dodge, sure that their blades would pierce him, and they already felt triumphant. However, their attacking movements looked as weak as those of three-year-old children in his eyes.
Liam threw a straight punch, quickly hitting the face of the man closest to him. When his fist collided with the man's nose, his knuckles clearly felt the vibration of a crisp fracture. Liam realized he could now perceive faint information in an extremely short time—he had noticed his own changes through actual combat.
Blood spurted from the man's nose and mouth. "Boom!" He was sent flying seven or eight meters by Liam's punch, landing heavily before rolling a few times on the stone slabs and coming to a stop.
Liam's sharp five senses allowed him to clearly witness the entire process of his fatal punch, and his blood couldn't help but boil. He had killed someone!
The man's face, now unrecognizable, stared at Liam and the other two gangsters with a strange expression. When the two saw this scene, they trembled all over, immediately realizing they had provoked a Sequence ability user!
But fear aside, they didn't back down. They were all fugitives with blood on their hands—they knew that now it was a fight to the death, and begging for mercy would be useless! The only way to survive was to kill Liam!
The two rushed at Liam even more frantically, swinging their knives to stab him. Liam stepped back with his left leg, then swept his right leg in a kick, directly hitting one man's waist. More crisp sounds of bone fractures echoed along his leg. The man folded into a grotesque angle, swinging in the air with Liam's leg. When Liam retracted his leg, the flying man collided head-on with the last gangster who was rushing to surround him, and the two rolled around several times.
Liam didn't hesitate. He leaped forward, arriving beside the dazed man and raising his fist again. "Spare me! I'll give you all the money I have..." Survival instinct made the gangster beg for mercy. But Liam didn't give him a chance to finish. The punch landed on his cheek, crushing his skull. "Kill you, and your money will be mine anyway."
After killing the three in succession, the murderous intent in Liam's heart gradually faded, replaced by an inexplicable emptiness. He sighed softly. He never thought he would kill someone. But it was self-defense—there was nothing to say. Moreover, Liam couldn't help but feel that killing these three was probably not the end, but a beginning. A beginning to adapt to taking lives.
Liam silently cheered himself on, calming his body, which was trembling with nervousness from killing for the first time. Once calm, he didn't leave immediately. Because he remembered that there were Sequences in [Godslayer Camp] that could read the last memories of the dead. To avoid exposure, he wrapped his fist in one of the men's clothes and beat their faces beyond recognition, only then feeling assured.
After checking the scene, carefully cleaning up the bloodstains, taking all the money from their clothes, he dragged the three bodies into a dark, abandoned warehouse. He lit a fire to burn the bodies, and also burned his bloodstained coat. He did this to prevent Sequence ability users from tracking him through the scent on the corpses. Although he wasn't sure if there were Sequence ability users who could track by scent, he thought it was very possible.
He had chosen this warehouse precisely to avoid being tracked by scent. He noticed that the road in front of the warehouse was muddy, with many different footprints—indicating that many people had been here, which could confuse the scent. To avoid leaving his own footprints in the mud, he carefully jumped on the gravel with his strength and agility, leaving no trace behind.
"Hopefully, there won't be any problems." Worried that the fire would attract attention, Liam quickly fled the scene after confirming the flames had engulfed the three bodies. This time, he ran with all his strength, as if possessed by a madman. If anyone had seen him in that alley, they would have thought a speeding car had passed by, not a person.
Liam ran continuously for more than half an hour before returning to the main road. His heart was still a little excited from killing for the first time, but he no longer felt any panic—his eyes had become even more determined. "I regret their deaths, but that's all."