Shock, panic, fear, helplessness… When Zhou Qingfeng faced the black robber, he immediately understood how feeble he was. He realized his majestic ambitions were just a joke. He fantasized about dominating the wastelands and ruling the nation, and yet, at this moment, a single bullet was enough to end his life!
Looking into the man's eyes that were glinting with malice, Zhou Qingfeng knew that he did not possess the ability to deal with situations like this at all. He had been born in the Land of the Red Flag, into the New Society. He was a legitimate member of the proletariat and had not encountered many bad people since his childhood.
The skirmishes Zhou Qingfeng got involved in were limited to minor brawls with delinquents from his school. They did not use knives; the most they did was pick up some bricks as makeshift weapons. Now, less than twenty-four hours after arriving in the U.S., a gun was pressed on his waist.
The people walking past seemed used to the sight. They passed by hastily, giving them a wide berth. No one wanted to stand forward and play the hero. Zhou Qingfeng was stiff as a board. His mind was blank and he could not move if he wanted to.
The black man was not surprised by Zhou Qingfeng's reaction. He sneered evilly and grasped Zhou Qingfeng's shoulder firmly, saying, "Kid, relax. I like this cooperative attitude of yours."
Zhou Qingfeng felt embarrassment well up inside him, turning his cheeks bright red. Anger and defiance filled his brain.
"Zhou Qingfeng, open your eyes and see! This *sshole is taunting you! He's laughing at how useless and cowardly you are!"
"Zhou Qingfeng, do you really think that you can survive in this world? You can't even deal with a street thug, and you want to survive in the dark post-Catastrophe world, one that will only become more chaotic and lawless by the day?"
"Zhou Qingfeng, face the truth! Hoarding supplies is useless, no matter how much you buy! You're totally not suited for this world! The work you put in can only determine how many days you can prolong your death! This world is not for you at all!"
The heavy pressure of his negative emotions made him want to shout aloud, but it was as if he had stumbled into a nightmare. It was like his entire person had entered a trance-like state. He could not move a single inch.
'No… Wait!'
'It's not me that can't move, it's the whole world!'
Zhou Qingfeng realized that the world in front of him looked like a paused movie. The originally colorful scene turned black and white. In front of his eyes, a string of words appeared: "Your life is in danger. Extreme feelings of defiance have led to the activation of a hidden Transmigration Package!"
"Assignment of random skills in progress… Based on your current predicament, you've received the 'Wittier than All' skill. End of package distribution. This is the last free benefit."
A simple cartoon little man representing himself appeared in front of Zhou Qingfeng's eyes. Drawn on the little man's body was one of the skills he had acquired earlier on—Exceptional Talent. The so-called "God" had given him this body with excellent potential, one that possessed supreme potential for growth and an inhuman ability to learn.
The explanation provided for "Wittier than All" was—the user would always attack first when engaged in close-range combat. Even when the user was snuck upon, he would be given a second to retaliate. The enemy would lose focus for one second.
One second. If Zhou Qingfeng fought back, he would be able to earn one free second to act, no more than a blink of an eye.
As Zhou Qingfeng reached the realization, the static monochromatic world became normal again. His surroundings regained movement. Only the armed man in front of him remained static.
One second. There was only one second!
Zhou Qingfeng had turned to face the man originally. Looking at the other man's face, taunting, and sinister, a great burst of courage rose as he felt the hefty weight of his emotions.
One second was very short. Zhou Qingfeng only managed to carry out two actions. He first twisted his body and steered away from the man's pistol. He then fumbled around his belt and took out a switchblade.
It was a tiny object. When Zhou Qingfeng had transmigrated to this world, there had already been this ordinary weapon in his pocket. In Zhou Qingfeng's opinion, this weapon was as basic as they came. In this world where guns were the popular choice of weapon, destiny did not give a small thing like this any purpose except to maybe peel fruit.
Zhou Qingfeng was wrong, though. The switchblade had served a purpose. When he decided against bringing the bulky M1911A1, he had taken this small knife with him.
Now… He pressed lightly on the spring trigger, and the sharp blade sprung out with a swish. Zhou Qingfeng turned back and stabbed quickly. The sharp blade penetrated the armed man's chest effortlessly. At that moment, the man finally managed to react, but it was already too late.
From the point of view of the passers-by, Zhou Qingfeng was an unlucky wretch that caught the attention of a robber. The kid had been careless, prowling the streets alone and flaunting how much cash he had. It was not surprising that he had become the victim of a robbery.
As the armed man stepped forward to search his pockets, Zhou Qingfeng reacted so swiftly he was a flash in everyone's eyes. The passers-by witnessing this robbery saw Zhou Qingfeng take a quick step back, nimbly dodge the man's gun, and at the same time whip out a knife to retaliate.
After the knife was jammed in and withdrew, blood spurted out of the wound! This was a spontaneous fightback!
From the robber's point of view, the prey he had bagged suddenly became the predator. He had been confident that he would earn a sizeable sum of money, but his overconfidence seemed to have led to his death.
In that moment of confusion, the man suddenly realized that Zhou Qingfeng had disappeared. Before he could see his quarry's actions clearly, he felt a burst of pain in his chest as the ice-cold blade sunk into his chest. As the blade was pulled out of his chest, the energy in his body dissipated like air from a punctured balloon.
The man knew that he was stabbed. He shifted his gun, attempting to aim at Zhou Qingfeng again, but Zhou Qingfeng acted completely different from before. The young Asian man effortlessly grabbed hold of his hand holding the gun and then stabbed him again.
This time, the knife punctured a lung. When the knife was withdrawn, the man felt sticky, hot liquid oozing out from his trachea. He opened his mouth to cough, but a huge mouthful of blood came out.
'F*ck…! I want to murder this yellow-skinned monkey!'
The burly man still wanted to f*ck Zhou Qingfeng over, but he could do nothing but think about it. When Zhou Qingfeng stabbed him a third time, he completely lost the ability to fight back.
Within a few moments, Zhou Qingfeng, a soon-to-be victim of robbery seconds ago, became a murderer. He gazed upon the armed man as he collapsed onto the floor. He felt like he had just experienced a full-blown war. He was soaked in so much sweat that it looked like he had just been swimming. He also felt completely depleted of energy.
'I killed someone. I killed someone!'