"Kill someone?"

Huang Jin raised an eyebrow and teased,

"Wow, you really think highly of me. I just turned eighteen tomorrow—still a harmless little boy.

Though, 'Opening Treasure Chests' is pretty powerful, but I don’t see how it involves killing people."

(Opening Treasure Chests: Refers to rummaging through trash cans and scavenging.)

"No, you have killed before. A long time ago. I know."

"Are you sure you want to slander me like that?"

"I... I’m not joking."

Zhang Lei lowered his head, desperately trying to recall:

"If... If you didn’t kill anyone, then how did Principal Wang die?"

As he said this, he subconsciously glanced at Huang Jin's eyes, but as soon as their gazes met, he quickly lowered his head, as though afraid to look directly at him.

"Whoa~ Looks like you really do know something."

Huang Jin’s eyes narrowed slightly, and his usual calm expression gradually turned cold.

"Y-Yes... The day the principal died, I saw that the button on your jacket was missing...

These... These are all things Summer told me..."

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The specifics of the situation go back two years.

Huang Jin attended a very wealthy private school.

Most of the students at this school were either rich or influential.

However, in Huang Jin's class, there were two exceptions.

That would be Huang Jin and Class Leader Zhang Lei.

Zhang Lei was an outstanding student, exempt from tuition fees, and a top student.

Huang Jin, on the other hand, was a special case, bought into the school by the "boss" for a fee.

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Huang Jin's true identity was that of an assassin.

Bought by the boss at the age of three from human traffickers, and trained from a young age to complete various tasks depending on his age.

Not long after entering this school, Huang Jin received a mission: to kill the principal.

The reason was that the principal had gotten involved in some business disputes with the boss, and needed to be silenced.

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Huang Jin’s method was to kill during the day, because it would be hard for ordinary people to think someone would be so bold.

The process was simple:

First, Huang Jin would study the principal’s daily routine at school, then wait for the right moment to strike.

One time, Huang Jin disabled a troublesome security camera, and when no one was around, he followed the principal into the restroom.

Once inside, he wasted no time, sneaking up from behind, and smothered the principal's face with gloved hands soaked in poison, slashing the principal's throat.

However, the principal fought back desperately before dying, and managed to grab Huang Jin’s collar.

Fortunately, the poison took effect quickly.

With the wound on his neck expanding, the principal soon collapsed in a pool of blood.

Having completed the mission, Huang Jin quickly fled the scene, but when he got far enough away, he realized...

A button from his collar was missing.

He planned to return and search for the lost button, pretending to be the first to discover the scene.

But to his surprise, someone had already beaten him to it.

"Ah!!!!"

A sudden scream came from outside the restroom, from the shocked class beauty, Summer.

She happened to be standing in a position where she could see the bloodied corpse in the men's restroom.

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"Summer... Summer was called in by the police to make a statement. During the conversation, she accidentally learned that a button from the killer’s clothing was left behind at the scene...

On the day of the incident, I was waiting by the roadside for Summer to go to the restroom, and I just happened to see you leave in a hurry..."

"And you just happened to notice that I had lost a button?"

"Y-Yes..."

"No wonder after that day you stopped talking to me. So? Since you figured out the truth, why didn’t you report me?"

"I didn’t want to get involved."

Zhang Lei, speaking his most realistic worry:

"I still have parents, and my family has no backing. I can’t afford to offend anyone in this school. I didn’t want my family to get hurt..."

"Turns out, you were right. But even so, I still can't help you."

"Why?"

"Don’t you get it?"

"If it’s about money, I know a place with lots of supplies."

"No, that’s not what I mean.

Forget it, since you’re somewhat clever, I’ll be straightforward with you.

Right now, in this post-apocalyptic world, a stable place to stay is hard to come by.

The bald guy is second-in-command here, and as a tenant, I’m trying to keep on his good side. There’s no way I’d go out of my way to cause trouble for an outsider."

"But I... I..."

Zhang Lei hesitated for a long time but couldn’t come up with a valid reason.

But then, after thinking about it calmly, it made sense. Who would risk angering a group of tough guys just for an outsider?

At that moment, when Zhang Lei’s frustration and helplessness grew, Huang Jin suddenly asked:

"What happened to the body?"

"Buried it..."

"I see..."

He glanced at Zhang Lei’s hands, and as expected, his fingernails were full of dirt.

He added,

"By the way, where are the supplies?"

"Weren’t you not interested?"

"Just tell me. We’ll get to the location later, but how much do you have?"

"A small supermarket. There’s a tricycle at the entrance, piled high with food.

It looks like some scavenger didn’t manage to take it before being attacked by zombies."

"So why didn’t you take it?"

"Because there are zombies all around, I can’t get through."

"How many?"

"About thirteen."

"Ah..."

Huang Jin’s eyes narrowed as he processed this.

Thirteen? That was within acceptable range.

"Would you help me now?"

Zhang Lei could see that Huang Jin was somewhat moved.

"I need to think about it. Also, if we find the supplies, I want ninety percent."

"Fine, if you’re willing to help, you can have all of it."

Zhang Lei’s eyes gleamed with excitement.

But Huang Jin remained calm:

"I need to think about it. It’s getting late, you should sleep. I’ll give you an answer tomorrow morning."

"Okay, okay..."

Huang Jin took Zhang Lei to the basement, where there was a bed.

Exhausted, Zhang Lei collapsed onto it and fell asleep instantly.

He didn’t even notice that after Huang Jin locked the door behind him, he also bolted the basement door.

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"You really are a miracle to have survived this long."

Looking at the locked basement door, the young boy muttered coldly to himself.

The next moment, he left the house and headed straight for the bald guy’s location.

By the usual routine, the bald guy should be playing cards with other thugs by now.

What Huang Jin needed to do was inform the bald guy that he had "caught" Zhang Lei.

In return, he would earn the bastard’s favor.

It couldn’t be helped—just a tricycle full of supplies wouldn’t sway Huang Jin.

Let alone its questionable authenticity.

His so-called "concern" was all an act.

If Zhang Lei wasn’t so naïve, he would never have shown up with his beautiful girlfriend at the entrance of a shelter, so openly.

It showed just how isolated this couple must have been in the last two years.

Maybe it was some large supermarket, or perhaps a department store?

Who cared?