"Kid, what's with that mouth? I'm only in my thirties-how am I old?" Jiang Tianming said, visibly annoyed.
"He's not one of ours," Tang Weiwei explained.
"If he's not one of yours, why the hell are you dragging around some old deadweight?" Yang Bin rolled his eyes.
He'd already sized the guy up. Tier 3, not even an ability user. He genuinely couldn't fathom why Tang Weiwei would keep him around.
"Allow me to introduce myself-I'm Jiang Tianming, assistant to the mayor of Star City." Jiang Tianming extended his hand toward Yang Bin.
Yang Bin frowned and glanced at Tang Weiwei.
"Government?"
"Mm."
"The government's got that much free time? All those people out there needing rescue, and you're tagging along with someone else's squad doing what, exactly?" Yang Bin turned back to Jiang Tianming.
"Uh... rescue operations are handled by military personnel. Mayor Ma was concerned Captain Tang's team might run into danger, so he sent me to accompany them." Jiang Tianming awkwardly withdrew his outstretched hand.
"You?"
"Pretty sure you're the biggest danger here. With your strength, if they actually ran into trouble, you'd be the one dragging them down."
"Pfft-"
Tang Weiwei nearly choked trying to hold back her laugh.
Watching Jiang Tianming get shut down by Yang Bin lifted her mood instantly.
Sure enough, this type of person needed a bandit chief like Yang Bin to put them in their place.
Jiang Tianming drew a deep breath, smile still plastered on. "Might I ask your name, young man?"
"Rather not say. I don't want anything to do with you, either. You're getting up there in years-head back to base early. If zombies eat you out here, we'd have a hell of a time explaining that to your bosses."
Knowing the guy was government, Yang Bin lost all interest in engaging.
Military types were fine. Politicians? Forget it. Smiling tigers, every last one of them.
Besides, a mayor's man embedded with a student team? Didn't take a genius to figure it out-he'd set his sights on Tang Weiwei's ability and was angling to recruit her.
"Young man, you're also students from Zhongxiang Academy, aren't you? Why haven't you gone to the Survival Base?"
Old fox that he was, Jiang Tianming wasn't about to give up over a few barbs. This kid was very likely a Tier 5 powerhouse. He had to find a way to reel him in.
"I can barely scrape by out here, so I figured I wouldn't go waste the Survival Base's food supply. Finding provisions isn't easy for you guys, after all." Yang Bin smiled pleasantly.
"......"
Jiang Tianming stared at the grease smeared around Yang Bin's mouth. You're eating dog meat and telling me you can barely scrape by?
If he could actually take this guy in a fight, Jiang Tianming would've slapped him across the face. Every word out of his mouth was infuriating.
Jiang Tianming inhaled deeply again, smile unchanged. He opened his mouth to speak-
"Go stand over there. I need to talk to Captain Tang."
Jiang Tianming's expression froze. A long moment passed before he managed to squeeze out a thin smile. "Sure. You two chat. I'll come back in a bit."
He retreated awkwardly, but his hand slipped behind his back and pressed something on a communication device he carried.
The move didn't escape Yang Bin's eyes.
His expression went cold.
"Why is he with your team?" Yang Bin looked at Tang Weiwei.
"When the rescue teams came to the school, we followed them to the Survival Base. But once we got there, they wouldn't let us leave."
"We eventually got a meeting with Mayor Ma. He assigned this guy to our team and said that was the condition for us going out."
"It's been like that ever since..." Tang Weiwei said, resigned.
"So Mayor Ma wants to recruit you."
"Yeah."
"If you don't want to join the government, why not just stop going back to the Survival Base?"
"You think it's that simple? As long as he's with us, they know our every move. The moment we don't return by nightfall, they send people to 'escort' us back."
"Damn. VIP treatment." Yang Bin grinned.
"Don't laugh. I'm losing my mind over this."
"Why not just kill him?"
"Are you serious? He's a government official. If we touch him, our squad is finished." Tang Weiwei rolled her eyes.
"Mm, it is a pain." Yang Bin rubbed his chin. "But he seems to have noticed me now. Which means I can't let him walk away."
"Don't do anything crazy. That's picking a fight with the entire government. We don't have the strength to go up against them." Tang Weiwei's voice tightened.
"Believe me, I don't want to clash with them this early either. But if I let him live, the trouble won't stop. I know how this goes."
"But-"
"Sorry. I brought this on you."
"It's got nothing to do with you. Running into each other here was pure coincidence. Just my shit luck bumping into this guy."
"Has he turned anyone in your team?"
"How did you know?"
"Standard government playbook. He's been embedded with you this long-if he hadn't flipped a few people, he'd be terrible at his job."
"......"
"This man dies. What you do next is your call."
"You can run. You can pin the blame on us-plenty of witnesses saw us here. The government won't have reason to come after you."
"Or you can come with us. But only you. I'm not taking the rest. Star Fall Squad only takes the strong."
"You-"
Tang Weiwei stared at him, eyes wide.
So this was the gap between them.
Life and death decided in a single breath. Killing a government man without a flicker of hesitation.
Did she want this man dead? God, she wanted it so badly. But she didn't dare. Kill him, and the government's fury would come crashing down. Her team couldn't survive that.
So she'd endured. Day after day, she'd swallowed it.
But Yang Bin-just because this person might become a problem-decided he dies. No deliberation. No second thoughts.
She couldn't tell if he was decisive or insane.
Did he really think a handful of people could stand against the government?
"Are you sure about this?" Tang Weiwei searched his face.
"The one who needs to decide is you. So? Joining Star Fall Squad or not?"
Tang Weiwei considered it, then shook her head.
"I know joining your squad would probably be comfortable. But everyone on your team is already strong. Adding me is just icing on the cake-no real meaning. You'd have to split crystals another way, and I might even slow your progress."
"Besides, I can't abandon my teammates. I brought them out of that school. I promised I'd keep them alive through this apocalypse. I won't leave them behind. So... thank you, but no."
"Suit yourself." Yang Bin shrugged. "If things ever get too rough, go find Liang Zi. He won't look down on you."
"......"