Chapter 563: Misfire
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
Sheila’s appearance shocked Zhang Lisheng. At the same time, the girl was also astounded to see the young man suddenly appearing on Capitol Hill. “Trish left Noah World in such an upset feeling, so of course, somebody must accompany her to help her through the storm. Uncle Dolby recently transferred the entire family business to Noah, so Tina is so busy every day that she cannot find any time at all, so that person could only be me. As for you, Lisheng, why did you suddenly appear here?”
“Oh, I just returned from the Shrimp World No. 2, and I couldn’t reach Tina, so I called Trish…”
“Oh, so you’ve talked to Trish,” Sheila was stunned. She looked at her friend beside her and mocked, “Oh dear, why didn’t you tell me that Lisheng called you?”
“Sheila, I hung up and offed my phone after talking a little with him. I didn’t expect him to come looking for me here. I didn’t expect that he would come here…” Trish’s face turned red as she replied with a mumble.
“Oh, dear sister, you don’t want to see anyone else other than Tina and me, but Lisheng should always be the exception. Don’t overthink, everything will be fine after tomorrow,” Sheila noticed her best friend’s abnormal reaction but misunderstood that it was all just because Trish’s emotions had been shallow these days. Immediately, Sheila consoled her gently and looked at Zhang Lisheng, trying to prompt the young man to continue her flow of conversation.
To her surprise, Zhang Lisheng shook his head and looked at Trish before saying coldly, “The situation will not become better tomorrow, Trish Steg. There are gains and losses in life. No one can have everything. Since you’ve chosen to ‘activate’ the Atlantis lineage and master the power to manipulate light and fire in the first place, of course, you must bear all the consequences. Get a mirror and look at yourself. Bright s.h.i.+ning flaming red hair, white and delicate porcelain-like skin, slender and graceful arms. These characteristics are precisely the same as the alien race, which is not what an Earthling should have. These characteristics are destined to make you fail to gain the trust of the general public, and you can’t change it no matter what you do.”
When Zhang Lisheng’s words left his mouth, the young man who stopped shouting ever since Zhang Lisheng spoke, immediately said resolutely, “Hey, sir! No matter who you are, you’re wrong in thinking so! When hundreds of thousands of people gather in front of the Was.h.i.+ngton Monument tomorrow, Trish will accuse the Atlantis of sin in public, and she’ll become the hero of the Earthling. Everyone will trust her…”
“Hero? Ha! Joan of Arc is a hero, but she ended up beheaded; William Wallace was a hero, but he died on a gibbet. If Trish becomes such a hero, she alone will bore most of the pressure generated by this ‘Capitol Hill rally.’ Perhaps there would not be any different in a short period, but when the craze pa.s.ses, she would most likely be ‘crushed,’” Zhang Lisheng waved his hand like he was swatting a fly as he interrupted the man. “I think you must be Howard Mason. Mr. Mason, I may make mistakes, but I’m absolutely more brilliant than all of you motleys who only know how to stretch the truth. I truly believe in this.”
The young man’s last sentence caused everyone in the tent, except Trish and Sheila, to burst out into rage. A strong young man who had a ponytail who looked like the rashest of them even clenched his fist and walked up to the young man, as though wanting to teach him a lesson.
At this time, Mason calmly suppressed the dissatisfaction in his partners and fell into silence. Then, he solemnly told Zhang Lisheng, “Sir, perhaps Trish may be in danger for partic.i.p.ating in the rally tomorrow, but I promise that all of us will be there to protect her, to bear everything with her. She’s critical to my rally, so we’ll never let you take her away, even if we have to take a very sorry approach.”
“A very sorry approach? What a tacitly put term,” Zhang Lisheng smiled mockingly, but a glimpse of ferociousness flashed in his eyes. “I understand the important role Trish plays in your plan, Mr. Mason. The repentance and accusation of a beautiful, angel-like, Aryan Special girl who has activated her Atlantis lineage are like the drugs in a s.e.x party that can sizzle the atmosphere to the climax. In fact, I hate those aliens more than you do, and I don’t have any objection to tomorrow’s anti-Atlantis rally, but I don’t wish to let Trish come across any trouble in the future. Because of this, I’ve thought of an even better idea. If all the organizers suddenly disappeared in the eve of the rally… No, then there won’t be any sensory stimulation. Well, it should be a majority of the organizers who disappear leaving behind two to three miserably wrecked bodies waiting to be discovered. Well then, that would definitely create an even greater commotion and hatred. What do you think?”
At the same time, when the young man asked, his hands that were hanging around his waist slowly turned.
In just a twinkling of an eye, a layer of moist soil rushed up through the thick canvas of the tent at the foot of Capitol Hill’s rally organizers, forming the shapes of widened mouths that were about to swallow the prey immediately.
At this time, when Sheila saw the familiar smile that Zhang Lisheng would always have before he started killing, she seemed to have sensed something, as she shouted loudly in bafflement, “Stop, Lisheng! Stop! Mason they all are not malicious! They are all good people.”
At the same time, the curtain of the tent was pushed open. The bearded guard who had just woken up rushed in with a twisted face, screaming incoherently, “Boss Mason, Tommy, Harry, yes, somebody—N-No, it’s not a human, but a d-devil—has invaded…”
Before he could finish his words, he suddenly found himself staring into Zhang Lisheng’s eyes. Immediately, the remaining words were caught in his throat as his body began to tremble uncontrollably, unable to make any sound.
No matter how slow the guys in the tent were, they could still sense that something was not right. That strong, young man with a ponytail who had a rash const.i.tution just now ran to a sleeping bag by the wall and took out a black steel shotgun, before pointing at the young man swearing violently, “You yellow monkey! You better watch out and not play any trick, or I’ll blast your head open with one shot!”
Zhang Lisheng, who could even render the main artillery attack of the Atlantis wars.h.i.+p helpless, would not fear such an ordinary gun. Like looking at a circus clown, he looked at the young man who was threatening him and could not help but chuckle. Then, he turned and shrugged at Sheila, “Sheila, you usually won’t stop me even if you have sympathy for other people. Don’t tell me that this Mr. Howard Mason is your 100th-something boyfriend?”
“No, Lisheng, Mason is not my new boyfriend, but I really admire him. If you’re a person who has the power of Superman, then he has the spirit of Superman. He is a great person. Really! You don’t understand him. He is very ambitious, filled with ideals, and he also can realize these ideals… “Sheila looked at Mason before diverting her gaze towards Zhang Lisheng, hesitating a little and answering in a low voice.
The young man listened quietly to the girl and smiled. “Hey, congratulations on your new relations.h.i.+p. I hope it will not end so soon. Sheila, congratulations to you too for saving twelve lives.”
Then, he proceeded to walk up to Trish and pulled her hand to step out of the tent. However, he was blocked by the man holding the shotgun. “Hey, yellow monkey, I told you not to play any tricks. You can scram but leave Trish behind…”
The young man could no longer tolerate his provocation continuously. Without warning, his left hand blocked the muzzle of the gun, while his right hand grabbed the man’s palm placed on the trigger, before slowly pus.h.i.+ng the shotgun on his neck.
Looking at the strong young man whose face had become wholly flushed but couldn’t resist at all, no matter how he struggled, a cruel smile appeared on Zhang Lisheng’s face. “Hey, boy, watch out for misfire.”
Then, he forced the man’s finger to pull the trigger.
Within a few tenths of a second, the bottom fire in the shotgun blasted. A high temperature of thousands of degrees was emitted after the gunpowder’s detonation, creating a heat flow that pushed the bullet to the muzzle. When the young man’s arm blocked it, it rapidly expanded, and the entire barrel burst with a loud bang.
In an instant, hot flame wrapped with broken iron pieces and the bullets scattered everywhere. Half of the fire rushed through the strong young man, who was holding the long gun, and shredded his jaw, broke his neck, and cracked open the bone on his cheek and forehead, revealing b.l.o.o.d.y red muscles, red blood vessels, and soft juicy brains.
The other half of the barrel fragments and scattered bullets that were charging towards Zhang Lisheng, on the other hand, were blocked by a layer of condensed water. When the inertia was gone, they silently fell onto the ground.
In the atmosphere of the camp that had become almost frozen, Zhang Lisheng released his hand and allowed the strong man who still had one last breath to convulse painfully but could not make any sound as his mouth had become a b.l.o.o.d.y pile of meat to fall and slump at his feet.
After that, Zhang Lisheng looked around at the pale organizers of the rally, who could not make any sound either since their mouths had been blocked by water b.a.l.l.s, and shrugged before telling Sheila with a curl of his lips, “Sheila, looks like you can only save 11 lives now.”
Then, he took Trish and walked out of the tent with light footsteps.
The moon was high in the sky outside. Although it was still bustling and noisy on the gra.s.s, the refres.h.i.+ng cool breeze still made one feel inexplicably relaxed.
“Look, Trish, at just how beautiful the moon and the stars in the sky are. Looking at such a vast starry sky, what kind of trouble…” Zhang Lisheng took a deep breath and released Trish’s hand outside of the tent, before consoling her as he looked at the night sky.
“Alright, Lisheng, it’s not the time to feel that way now. You just killed someone in front of eleven witnesses. Do you want to give up everything you have on Earth?” The girl who was still in shock asked in a whisper.
“Oh Trish, it looks like anxiety has made you lose your wit. The man was killed by the explosion that the firearm caused. How could you say that I was the one who killed him? To say the least, even if Mr. Mason and his companions managed to prove that I caused the gun failure, I was merely delivering a counterblow to a mob who threatened me with a gun. No federal judge would sentence a billionaire because of this, wouldn’t they?”