Chapter Thirty-One: The Road Race Is About to Begin

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At the dead of night, the town of Fresh Meat was as bright as day. Crowds surged through the streets, filling the air with restless noise and excitement. The organizing committee of the End of the Road Carnival had taken over with overwhelming force; security personnel in matching uniforms drove armored vehicles, sealing off the town so tightly not even air could escape. From this night on, Fresh Meat would be under a strict lockdown—no one would be allowed out until the official start of the race tomorrow night.

Zheng Nanfang and his group had returned to Fresh Meat, and as he gazed at the throngs around him, he was struck by a sense of having crossed from one world into another. In reality, they had only stayed at the Domed Fishery for a day and a night, and with the time discrepancies caused by the chaos of temporal shifts, they had barely paused before racing there and then hurtling back again.

So when the owner of the Bus Hostel saw Zheng Nanfang, he stared in amazement for a long time.

...

“It feels so good to be back among the living.” Freed from Hong Xiangcai’s control and the warped space and time of the Domed Fishery, Hubi had returned to full strength, resuming his wild, gunslinger style. After a hearty meal at the Deep Well Restaurant, his eyes began to wander over the women passing by.

“I remember you told me to keep a low profile here in Fresh Meat on our way in,” Zheng Nanfang said, knowing that now Hubi was full and thinking about ‘crab hunting.’ He couldn’t help but tease, “The race officially starts tomorrow. Save some energy.”

Hubi laughed heartily, pounding his sturdy chest like Tarzan. “Old Hu’s body is indestructible! I’ve been holding back for days—I need to let off some steam or it’ll affect my performance.” He glanced sideways at Zheng Nanfang with some dissatisfaction. “Besides, it’s your fault. You’ve got Tang Suan and Shu Yangcong to warm your bed, but you won’t let little Shaman keep me company. That’s just wrong.”

“Not at all.” Zheng Nanfang chuckled helplessly. “I just said you shouldn’t force her. If Shaman’s willing, I don’t care.”

“Yeah, right.” Hubi rolled his eyes. “You’d let the magistrate go whoring but not the common folk. Now that you’ve said that, little Manman’s bound to treat it as a get-out-of-jail-free card.”

“Maybe you could try changing your approach. Treat them like people,” Zheng Nanfang said, lighting a cigarette and slowly cleaning his steel sawblade, “the same way you’d treat anyone.”

Hubi snorted. “It’s not like I’m mistreating them. Ever since I started running with you, I’ve been nothing but gentle.”

Zheng Nanfang paused his work and looked at him. “Treat them the way you treat Hong Xiangcai.”

Hubi was silent.

“I know you’ve been in the lower districts for a long time. You’re used to the law of the jungle,” Zheng Nanfang said, carefully sliding the blades back into his weapon belt, “but you don’t really have to become a beast. Shaman and the others actually like you now.”

Hubi exhaled smoke, gazing up at the night sky in silence. After a while, he muttered, “Fine, fine, enough with the nagging. I’m after someone else tonight anyway. You just keep pampering those three girls—sooner or later, you’ll spoil them. It’s not like you’re marrying them.”

“They’re friends,” Zheng Nanfang said with a slight smile. “On the road ahead, we’re partners.”

“Partners, my ass.” Hubi grinned, pulling a crumpled poster from his pocket and tossing it over. “Haven’t you read the official race rules?”

“Oh? There are rules? Tang Suan never mentioned it,” Zheng Nanfang said, curious.

“It’s all clear here: the race is by vehicle, one team per car, and in the end, there’s only one winner.” Hubi spread out the poster and pointed meaningfully. “And the stakes have gone up. At every stage, people will die.”

Zheng Nanfang frowned and started reading the poster.

The rules were simple and brutal—one could feel the impending carnage just from the words.

Each vehicle entered as a team, with no limit on the number of members.

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Fresh Meat was the starting point, Upper District One the finish line. No fixed route, only a series of waystations for refueling and rest.

So far, it sounded like any other race, until Zheng Nanfang read the next line and understood the true nature of the End of the Road Carnival.

All racers must report to the organizing committee’s post for a mandatory virus injection before the start. Only those injected may compete; refusal is considered forfeiture. The virus binds racers to the course—once entered, you cannot quit except by dying.

The virus incubates for twenty-four hours. Racers must reach a waystation within that time to receive an antidote, which suppresses the virus. This cycle repeats until the finish.

Each day, the last three teams are eliminated, along with anyone who misses the time limit.

Eliminated racers and those who quit do not receive the antidote.

That was the gist of it; at the bottom of the poster was a sardonic footnote:

“As long as you stay ahead of three others, you’ll survive.”

Finally, the grand prize: permanent residency in the Upper District and everything you could ever need, up until the day you die a natural death.

Zheng Nanfang read the prize aloud and turned the poster over, but there was nothing else.

“What does that mean?” he asked, puzzled.

Hubi replied, “Permanent residency.”

“No, I mean the part about ‘everything you could ever need before natural death’—what does that mean?”

“Probably anything you can think of, as long as the committee can provide it,” Hubi said with a grin. “I don’t remember that line from last year. Looks like they’re pulling out all the stops to attract contestants.”

“What about the virus?” Zheng Nanfang asked, pointing at the rules. “What if the winner refuses the antidote?”

“Worrywart,” Hubi dismissed him. “If they pulled something like that, who’d ever race again? If they pissed off the lower districts and the wasteland folks, they’d get slaughtered.”

“You think they could pull that off?” Zheng Nanfang laughed.

Hubi shrugged. “With this kind of operation, they wouldn’t risk it. For the racers, it’s a bloodbath, but for the audience, it’s the wildest show on earth.”

Zheng Nanfang shrugged as well. “I still don’t get the point of putting on such a race… What’s the use of ratings in times like these?”

“There’s always a reason, even if we don’t know it,” Hubi said, throwing an arm around Zheng Nanfang’s shoulder. “Maybe it’s something to do with that island you’re heading to. There’s always a purpose behind the scenes, but we—let’s be honest—are just pawns.”

“And still, people are desperate to get in, knowing it’s almost certain death.”

“Fortune favors the bold. In the lower districts and the wasteland, you live day to day, always on the edge. Might as well take a shot.”

Zheng Nanfang nodded and smiled. “I get it. Suddenly, I’m looking forward to it.”

Hubi flicked away his cigarette and stood up. “Once you understand that, it’s not so hard to accept, right? Hahaha, come on, let’s have a drink. After tonight, life and death are in fate’s hands.”

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“Hm?” Zheng Nanfang frowned. “What do you mean?”

“Haha! Your car’s too small—three girls fill it up, no room for Old Hu.”

Zheng Nanfang’s brow twitched. “You want to race alone?”

“The Red Bird’s ready to go anyway.”

“If we split up, that’s two teams. Even if it’s just us left at the end, one of us has to die. Why would you do that?”

Hubi stared at Zheng Nanfang for a long time, then sat down again, shaking his head with a sigh. After a pause, he spoke. “We’ve only known each other a few days. If we’re talking about friendship, there’s not much there. But I do owe you my life. Don’t try to argue—you don’t know Hong Xiangcai. If I hadn’t betrayed you, or you hadn’t known about the Hive, or if you’d kept it from her… she’d have gone mad and killed me.”

“So it might’ve looked easy back at the Domed Fishery, but I actually survived by the skin of my teeth. And honestly, I only made it back because of you; otherwise, I’d have ended up like Laili’s team, lost in the Hive forever.”

“I’ve said before, you’re not from the lower districts. You still have too much humanity. That’s good for your friends, not always for yourself.”

“Anyway, since I’m racing, my goal is to win. Five people in a car slows you down and burns more fuel. The rules don’t limit team size—that’s a trap. If it’s one person against a packed car, who do you think has the better chance?”

Zheng Nanfang grew more confused as he listened and interrupted, “Don’t act like I’m guaranteed to win. I could die on the first day. With so many deaths required, there’ll be ambushes and foul play. Wouldn’t teaming up be safer?”

“Sure, even if we split up, we can still work together against the others,” Hubi laughed. “Hell, don’t act like you’re sure to beat me. Maybe you and your three beauties will go up in flames first.”

Zheng Nanfang laughed, nodding. “That’s true.”

“So that’s settled.” Hubi picked his nose and flicked the result, sending it arcing onto the back of a passing bald racer.

“So you’re racing solo just to lighten my load and save fuel? Or maybe to give me a better chance if you die?”

“Pretty much,” Hubi admitted. “Old Hu never owes anyone. If it ends up just the two of us, I can settle the score. If we both die halfway, well, so much for the sentimentality.”

“Hahaha, fair enough.” Zheng Nanfang nodded, shook hands with him, and let the matter rest. Since Hubi had made up his mind, it was his choice to make, and Zheng Nanfang, mindful of their bond, would advise but not interfere.

“But honestly,” Hubi joked, “it’s your fault. If you dumped those three girls, we could team up. You and your soft heart are the death of me.”

Zheng Nanfang knew he was only teasing and didn’t respond. He also had to admit that Hubi was right.

It wasn’t really about romance. Zheng Nanfang’s childhood and the people he’d met had planted in him a deep-rooted sense of camaraderie. Though he hadn’t known Tang Suan, Shu Yangcong, and Shaman for long, in a few short days they’d gone from enemies to companions, surviving a city’s bloodbath, a sandstorm, and the time-warped Domed Fishery together. No matter what came before, in the journey that followed, the three girls had always been by his side and never abandoned him in danger. Especially when the mummy Hong Xiangcai appeared and the odds were hopeless—they hadn’t betrayed him but instead stood protectively at his side.

That was enough for Zheng Nanfang.

He’d never had companions before, so to him, this was what it meant to have them.