Ascension Token (4)

“Stop, I think I've found something!”

Shan Lu curiously leaned in, took off her glove, and fished out the glowing object. It turned out to be a square plaque made of white jade.

Being of Asian descent, she barely recognized the Huaxia characters inscribed on it:

【Ascension】.

Shan Lu instantly recognized what it was.

It was the Ascension Token—the very treasure everyone was going crazy over, willing to snatch at all costs!

Just the day before yesterday, the British Royal Consortium had spent a colossal sum to buy an Ascension Token from a lucky finder!

A full one billion pounds.

It was the key to heaven, a treasure map leading to fortune.

Shan Lu’s heart pounded wildly, and her throat went dry.

Without a second thought, like a thief, she slipped it into her pocket.

“Hey, Huaxia girl, you don't want to get hurt, do you?!”

Evidently, others had seen it as well. Her coworkers in the factory suddenly grew agitated. A white man pulled a handgun from behind his waist, waving it threateningly at her:

“Now, give me that thing, hurry up! I don't have much patience!”

“No, I won't hand it over to you!”

Plucking up her courage, Shan Lu shouted back:

“This is my opportunity!”

The white man raised the handgun and impatiently pulled the trigger, but only a dull boom resounded.

Amidst the rumbling factory noise, half of the tall white man’s body blew apart, his head shattering across the floor.

Red and white splatter showered Shan Lu’s snow-white overalls, painting a grotesque abstract artwork.

Clutching the jade plaque, Shan Lu’s mouth fell slightly open.

“Catch her! That thing is in her hands!”

The temptation of the Ascension Token was clearly beyond anyone's imagination. Someone roared, and scattered gunshots echoed through the factory!

Shan Lu closed her eyes, waiting in despair for death, yet the anticipated pain never came.

She cautiously opened her eyes and saw the faces of everyone around her contorted in madness, looking like a series of abstract grimaces.

Right before her stood a shimmering wall of air. The fired bullets were trapped by an invisible force, spinning at high speed—

Being so close, Shan Lu could even smell the distinct scent of gunpowder.

She merely blinked slowly, and in the next instant, like a line of dominoes, the heads of all the surrounding foreigners exploded simultaneously!

Like water balloons squeezed to bursting under extreme pressure, blood and gore sprayed everywhere!

It was like a rhythmic cascade of small fireworks, popping from near to far!

It was a massacre.

Only Shan Lu, standing dead center, was left trembling all over, a splatter of fresh crimson blood on her cheek.

Once everything settled, the bullets blocked by the air wall clattered to the ground, dropping into the sticky blood with a clink-clank.

“Wh-what happened?”

Trembling, Shan Lu wiped the blood from near her eye.

Everyone else in the vicinity had their hands raised high in terror and reverence, staring at her as if looking at a monster.

“That thing is in her hands.”

“She's the next lucky one...”

“She's a monster! Those people are all monsters...”

“Oh God, save your people!”

The immense racket drew the factory's management. In a country controlled by gangs and illegal armed groups, almost everyone working outside carried weapons.

“Damn it, what a lucky unlucky bastard!”

Staring at the seemingly shell-shocked Shan Lu with a mix of awe and envy, the dark-skinned manager didn't dare approach rashly:

“Hey, do you want to make a deal with me?”

No one knew what had happened.

But certainly no one wanted to become the next cannon fodder turned into human fireworks.

“Okay.”

Surrounded by mangled flesh and blood, Shan Lu feigned calm, trying her best not to look terrified:

“First, let me change out of these damn clothes.”

...

Zhou Hai was an ordinary man through and through.

In his early fifties, he had been married twice. His ex-wife had remarried and taken their son with her; two years later, he got together with his current wife, Wang Xiumei.

Wang Xiumei was also an ordinary person working as a supermarket cashier. She had a daughter of her own, and after marrying Zhou Hai, they bought an apartment in the suburbs.

The two of them didn't hold a lavish wedding or banquet. After obtaining their marriage certificate, they simply picked an auspicious day to move in together.

Unlike the passionate whirlwind romances in TV dramas or the poetic enduring love in novels, they hadn't come together for romance, but simply because they suited each other.

What people feared most was loneliness.

Zhou Hai was no exception.

Coming home from work, enjoying a lively dinner with his wife and daughter, soaking his feet, and then lounging on the sofa watching the news and scrolling through short videos—another day would pass just like that.

Simple and fulfilling.

Wang Xiumei was a great cook and adept at managing the household. Every few days, she would buy some pork belly to stew, and occasionally a fish to nourish the brain of her daughter, who was still in school.

Neither earned much, but they were considerate of each other. When it was cold, Zhou Hai remembered to bring Wang Xiumei an extra coat.

When it was hot, Wang Xiumei would always brew a pot of mung bean soup and chill it in the fridge.

Her daughter was about to go to college, and the household expenses were beginning to stretch thin.

So lately, after clocking out of his day job, Zhou Hai would drive his second-hand Santana around the area to do rideshare gigs, earning a little extra to supplement the household income.

This was supposed to be just another ordinary day.

Yet when he drove by Landscape River, he saw a crowd gathered in the distance. The passenger in his car was curious, so they rolled down the window to ask:

A high school girl had jumped into the river to commit suicide.

Seeing the familiar blue-and-white high school uniform, Zhou Hai’s head buzzed. Without thinking, he killed the engine, parked the car, and plunged into the water to save her without even taking off his clothes.

He had never formally learned to swim, having only swum once with a few comrades from the south back when he was in the military in his youth.

The river was deep, and weighed down by his wet clothes, the water against his skin was freezing cold. Zhou Hai had to dive several times before finally dragging the girl out of the water—

Seeing that it wasn't his daughter, he let out a huge sigh of relief.

Once the girl regained consciousness and burst into tears in the arms of a nearby woman, a soaking wet Zhou Hai suddenly remembered that he still had a passenger waiting in his car!

“Oh no!”

In a panic, he slapped his thigh in distress.