Chapter Nine: A Moment Between Life and Death

"Alright. Watermark advertisement test. Watermark advertisement test." Xia Yan nodded immediately, not even leaving half a second of hesitation.

Seeing his decisiveness, Antoine was instead perplexed. This man seemed truly unconnected to the two 'criminals.' Was he truly a lone wolf? Perhaps he had simply overthought it!

"My earlier suggestion was only to avoid unnecessary delays. After all, the more time we give Brooke, the greater our danger," Xia Yan said indifferently. "But I don't care about the fate of those two 'criminals.' I have never met them; whether they live or die is none of my concern."

In this survival tournament, every move was monitored, every action exposed to the outside world. Yet, within, participants knew nothing of each other's detailed information.

Many gamblers watched Xia Yan's every move.

"Despicable! This guy lies without even blinking."

"When it comes to deception, Number 61 is unmatched. He tricks three people as if it's child's play."

"Just for that statement, I'll add another thousand credits. Number 61 has a real shot at winning."

"Number 61, I've bet so much on you. I just hope you take down Number 1."

"Take down Number 1—even if you don't win, that's fine by me."

"Exactly. Number 1 wants to win, but it's unlikely. Number 61 will sabotage him."

"Take down Number 75, then Number 1, and the championship is yours."

Though Xia Yan's actions were devious, many gamblers instead doubled their bets on him. In such a ruthless world, innocence was merely the fuse for self-destruction. On the contrary, those who could lie with a straight face had the capital to survive.

Xia Yan glanced at his GPS wristwatch. For now, Ding Li and the woman had not moved, but Brooke was on the move…

It was already deep into the night, past midnight. What was Brooke planning?

Suddenly, Xia Yan seemed to realize something, his expression darkening.

"Little brother, should we start hunting those two now?" Antoine asked.

"We can." Xia Yan's expression remained unchanged as he nodded.

Night was dangerous, but their team was strong enough not to fear those level 1 mutants.

…

"What’s going on?" Su Zhu glanced at her GPS wristwatch, her face changing dramatically.

Ding Li, roused from sleep, immediately checked his GPS, sensing something was amiss.

The survivors were divided into two groups: Antoine and Xia Yan’s team of four, and Brooke alone. Both groups were converging on their location.

Brooke was northwest, Antoine southwest. The distance was shrinking.

"What do we do?" Su Zhu cried out anxiously. "Why are Xia Yan and Antoine coming after us together? Is it just a coincidence?"

Ding Li was silent for a moment, then shook his head. "Unlikely. Their positions are northwest and southwest. If they were heading for each other, they wouldn’t be moving toward us."

"What do you mean?" Su Zhu was nervous and unsettled.

"Both sides want to kill us. That’s the only explanation."

"But isn’t Xia Yan your brother!" Su Zhu shouted. "Why would he betray us, why?"

Ding Li actually disliked this woman, but as Xia Yan’s teammate, he had never intended to abandon her, so they still acted together.

"Calm down, Miss Su Zhu," Ding Li said coldly. "Xia Yan must have his reasons. We stick to the plan. We escape immediately."

"Escape? How could we possibly get away? Brooke hunting us was bad enough, now Antoine and Xia Yan too." Su Zhu complained hysterically. "Both directions blocked, only one way out. This isn’t what we planned."

"Move, foolish woman." Ding Li snorted, quickly packing some supplies into his backpack and leaving the building.

Su Zhu had no choice but to hastily organize her pack, taking only what she could carry, and fled.

The two escaped, with Brooke and Antoine’s group in pursuit.

Two hours passed in the blink of an eye.

The distance between hunter and prey kept closing, with Brooke and Antoine acting in perfect coordination, maintaining a certain distance from each other.

They were hunters; Ding Li and Su Zhu were prey. Only after hunting down the prey would the hunters clash.

"I can’t go on," Su Zhu panted. "Why does Xia Yan keep chasing us? Does he want to kill us? He’s your best friend—why doesn’t he turn on Brooke instead!"

Su Zhu grew more frantic; this was not part of the plan. Why was Xia Yan doing this?

"There’s no time. At this pace, they’ll catch us in ten minutes," Ding Li was anxious. It was a race against time; once caught, survival was unlikely.

"Listen, woman," Ding Li gritted his teeth. "From now on, we split up, fleeing in completely different directions."

"What? You’re abandoning me?" Su Zhu was stunned.

"I’m not abandoning you. If we want to survive, it comes down to luck," Ding Li snorted. "If they split up and pursue us separately, we cut off our left hands so our locations won’t appear on the map. They won’t be able to track us."

"Cut off my left hand?" Su Zhu’s features twisted in terror. To slice off her left wrist—such blood loss, such pain, the thought alone was horrifying. She was a woman, beautiful, unwilling to lose her left hand.

"If they only chase one, the other can flee far away. Once the hunters meet, they’ll fight, and the one who escaped won’t need to cut their wrist," Ding Li said sternly. "Remember, it’s a gamble. If you’re unlucky and pursued, you must cut off your left wrist. We have medical kits in our packs for emergency treatment; you won’t die."

"Now, we split up and run."

With that, Ding Li ran down a path to the right.

Su Zhu’s expression shifted several times, but she gritted her teeth and ran forward.

Now, it was all about the gamble. If they won, there was hope. If they lost, the consequences would be dire.

…

"Wait, everyone stop," Antoine called to the three in his group, glancing at his wristwatch. "They’ve split up, heading in completely different directions."

"What about Brooke?" The freckled girl looked at her watch, observing Brooke’s movements.

"Wait, in a moment we’ll see which way he goes, to avoid contact," Antoine said. After half a minute, he nodded. "Brooke is heading straight forward, not changing direction. So we go after the other criminal."

It seemed Brooke was chasing Su Zhu. Antoine naturally chose to hunt Ding Li.

First, kill these opportunistic criminals; then, the final battle would begin.

The two groups split up, continuing the chase.

"Damn, damn, damn," Ding Li ran desperately along the trail, watching the relentless 'red dot' on his wristwatch, his expression dark.

"No choice," Ding Li stopped, drew his knife, and without hesitation cut into his left wrist.

He let out a cold grunt as the pain contorted his face, blood spraying onto his cheeks, staining them red.

Grunting, Ding Li’s breath was chaotic. He quickly took out his prepared 'healing spray,' spraying the gas onto the stump, then poured disinfectant over the wound.

The pain was nearly maddening, but he gritted his teeth and endured. The treatment was swift; the pursuers were close, and any delay would be fatal.

"Run, keep running," Ding Li thought, with no time to bandage. He changed direction and kept running.

Two or three hundred meters behind, Antoine’s group pressed on.

"What happened, the target disappeared?" Antoine’s face changed.

"Must be dead," Xia Yan replied. "In this darkness, being killed by lurking mutants is normal."

"Maybe. The GPS wristwatch can’t be removed, except by severing the whole wrist," Antoine mused. "Let’s keep going, see if we find any trace."

In Antoine’s mind, even if the criminal survived, having lost a wrist, he was as good as useless—a cripple, unable to seize any opportunity.

They chased a few hundred meters further and finally found the severed left hand. The trail of blood had vanished; there was no way to trace the exact location.

"Ruthless," Antoine said, choosing to give up. Wandering aimlessly in the dark like blind flies was meaningless; two hours of hunting had drained their strength.

Xia Yan’s face was grim. His brother Ding Li, to escape pursuit, had no choice but to sever his own left hand.

Elsewhere, the deathly Brooke appeared silently before Su Zhu, advancing step by step with lethal intent.

"No… no…" Su Zhu, unable to muster the courage to cut off her left hand, her face twisted in terror.