Wage Warriors

The two gnolls facing Lu Yuan tensed the instant they heard his words.

Lu Yuan stamped his foot, dragging his longsword, and charged.

He closed the gap in a flash. Gripping the hilt in both hands and throwing his full body into it, he activated Military Body Killing Sword and slashed at the sword-wielding gnoll.

The black blade blurred, sword wind ruffling the gnoll's fur as it swept in.

*Clang!*

The deafening clash rang out. The sword-wielder had just barely managed to raise his blade in time — but it made no difference. Lu Yuan's strength crushed straight through his guard. Blood burst from his mouth as the force sent him hurtling four or five meters through the air before he crashed hard to the stone floor.

*Two left.*

A deep gash had opened across his side. The color drained from his face instantly.

At that same moment, white light flooded the battle-axe in the burly gnoll's hands. He'd encoded a gene — Common Grade, nothing exceptional, but enough to push his strength meaningfully beyond an unencoded warrior. Heavy Strike activated.

Lu Yuan wasn't about to eat that hit directly. Even Black Iron Body had its limits — taking a Combat Technique straight on would draw blood, and he had no recovery medicine. He had no interest in getting hurt out here.

His footwork shifted. The axe swept past him and bit into the stone floor, sending chips and grit spraying.

In the same instant the axe hit the ground, he pivoted — and his sword swept toward the fallen sword-wielder.

He stepped forward, footwork fluid, pursuing the injured gnoll.

The sword-wielder snarled and slashed up at him. Lu Yuan's expression didn't change. He kicked the gnoll's wrist.

The wrist snapped. The sword spun out of his grip.

Without pausing, Lu Yuan caught the incoming arrow from the distant female gnoll mid-stride — snatching it from the air and snapping it between his fingers — while his body simultaneously arrived at the sword-wielder's side.

The next instant, dark sword light swept through.

Blood fountained from the sword-wielder's throat. The light left his eyes. He swayed once and crashed to the ground, resentment still written across his face.

He was dead before his expression could settle into anything peaceful.

Lu Yuan turned toward the direction of the shot.

The female gnoll had encoded a gene — speed-type, from the look of her. She was already tearing toward the entrance tunnel, and she was moving faster than him.

He couldn't catch her even if he tried.

*...*

He clicked his tongue, mildly exasperated.

*Hopefully she's the forgiving type. He hadn't even cut her, right?*

He turned back to the burly gnoll and flashed a brilliant smile.

Pick the softest target first. Obviously.

He raised an eyebrow and drove his foot squarely into the gnoll's chest.

The impact hit like a battering ram, leaving the gnoll dazed for just a moment. Barry's voice echoed over from the beetle corridor right on cue:

"Hey — what's going on over there?! It's just *one* human — you haven't dealt with him yet?!"

The burly gnoll shook his head clear and heaved his axe with a furious roar. White light blazed on the blade — Heavy Strike, a second time.

Lu Yuan stepped around the blow. The axe carved a furrow in the stone floor.

"Y-you — just you wait! Someone will come and avenge us!"

"Whether they come or not, you're dead right now."

"Damn you!"

He raised his axe a third time. Lu Yuan's open palm came up on instinct, deflecting the gnoll's swinging leg, and his sword found the gnoll's thigh.

The gash opened deep. The gnoll went chalk-white.

Pain staggered him. Lu Yuan's left fist clenched, and a punch carrying a howling gust of wind slammed square into the gnoll's face.

*Boom.*

The face caved. Blood sprayed.

The gnoll crumpled, hands clutching at his wounds, crimson leaking between his fingers.

"Don't worry. Three of your companions are already dead. The last one ran. Now it's your turn."

Dark sword light swept through once more.

——

Back in the beetle corridor, things had gone badly for Barry.

He'd been holding the Black-stripe Gray Rock Beetle at bay this entire time, burning through his Spirit Power with every exchange. His pool was more than half depleted, the distant sounds of battle were setting his nerves on edge, and he could feel his rhythm cracking. When no reply came to his shout, a chill ran down his spine. Between a desperate shield block against the beetle's next swipe, he risked a glance toward the main battle:

"Captain?! Captain, save me!"

The Beetle gave him no time to dwell on the silence. The instant he froze, a claw raked across his side. His Petrified Skin shattered on impact. The blow hit solid — Barry went pale and staggered back several steps.

The repeated distractions kept breaking his rhythm. The hits were adding up.

He frantically searched for his archer companion.

His archer companion was gone.

Barry: *...*

His teammate had simply abandoned him. Just like that.

Then he turned — and saw the three gnoll bodies lying across the ground.

And Lu Yuan, watching him with an expression of complete and utter sympathy.

Barry: *???*

He stood there frozen, the scene not quite reaching his brain.

"That damn human — you dared kill our captain?! We're a Gene Warrior escort squad from the Wimi Consortium! We were assigned to accompany the Third Miss on her training! You attacked us! The Consortium will not let this go!"

Lu Yuan frowned slightly.

"Consortium Gene Warriors? The Third Miss? The one who just ran off?"

Barry was still pinned down dealing with the Black-stripe Gray Rock Beetle. Lu Yuan, possessing approximately zero sense of fair play, came in from behind. Barry could only stare wide-eyed as a sword stroke swept across the back of his neck.

He hit the ground with the life already leaving him.

——

Lu Yuan glanced at the scattered bodies and muttered to himself.

*Didn't expect to run into consortium people.*

And not just consortium people, apparently — a consortium's *Third Miss*.

He gave a quiet, exasperated click of his tongue.

This was a bit of a headache.

The Land of Origin was riddled with treasures, and every major family and consortium across every race in the universe was well aware of it. Each had built a standing presence here. Beyond the big players, any number of official and unofficial organizations had also established operations in the Land of Origin to cultivate their own Gene Warriors.

Where there are people, there are interests — and rivalries to go with them. That held true for the Human Race on Great Qi Star as much as for anyone else.

The consortiums and families contracted Gene Warriors to go in and explore, hunt for resources, recover valuables. The recruitment packages were attractive: even a freshly Awakened Gene Warrior could pull hundreds of thousands — sometimes over a million — in startup funds, and if your talent was exceptional, they might even throw in a free Elite Grade Transcendent Gene.

But every gift came with a price.

In fact, someone had called him the moment he Awakened. He'd even seen a Jiuhu Consortium recruitment post on Battle Net — a Xili City outfit. The terms were passable. Startup capital of one hundred thousand. Minimum commitment: thirty years of service to the Consortium.

He'd turned it down without a second thought.

Not that his options had been especially flattering to begin with. He'd Awakened in his third year, so everyone assumed his ceiling was low — only small companies and minor families had bothered reaching out.

Obviously every faction had scouts at the Awakening Ceremonies. In the Land of Origin, loner Gene Warriors were the outliers, not the rule.

*And now he'd clearly stirred up trouble.*

He glanced toward where the female gnoll had fled.

Poke one, and you might poke a whole nest.

*Just treat it as a small adventure. Laugh it off and move on.*

*He hadn't even cut her, after all. Hopefully she had a generous heart.*

An old thought surfaced, and he didn't bother suppressing a smirk.

He'd already spent his last life as a corporate drone — *enjoying the blessing* of working himself into the ground. *This* life? He would sooner die than punch a time card for someone else ever again.

With his talent, and the Evolution Cube on top of it — why in the world would he ever need to sign on with a consortium and sell his years to them?

*As if.*

He shook the thought off and looked around at what was left.

Bodies to loot. A forest still ahead. Work to do.