Dozens of villagers, young and old, male and female, all armed with farm tools or clubs, stood angrily in front of Logan's safe house. The same young villagers he had encountered outside the village earlier that morning were leading the way.
Hank and another villager were furiously pounding on the door with their hoes.
But despite their efforts, the door only bore a few marks, with no signs of breaking open.
"My poor son! You died so horribly! Why is my life so hard? Burying my own child!" Ethan's mother, Mrs Brooks, wailed as her body was supported by Sophie Brooks.
"Today we'll tear down this door and avenge Ethan!"
"That brat must pay with his life!"
"Avenge Ethan!!"
The angry shouts of the villagers echoed through the mountains.
Though Ethan Brooks hadn't been killed by Logan, the villagers were scared to go after the security officers. Instead, they placed all the blame on Logan.
For over ten years, the villagers had extorted outsiders without exception, always getting their way. They had never suffered such a loss before.
The security officers had barely left when the village elder gathered a third of the village to take action.
As for the officers' warnings, the village elder paid no heed.
He had heard rumors that the world outside was descending into chaos.
Didn't that mean their village could act more unscrupulously, without anyone to stop them?
The village elder was calculating his next moves in his mind.
In fact, if Logan hadn't come along, Dragonrest Village would have become a small survivor base in the apocalypse, with the village elder leading the charge.
The villagers had been brainwashed by him over the years, standing united and obedient to his call. As long as they didn't provoke the authorities, they were free to do as they pleased in their little corner of the world.
Seeing that the door wouldn't break, a villager turned his hoe on the outer wall instead.
With a loud crash, the hoe left only a shallow mark on the wall, and the force of the impact caused the hoe to bend backward. The villager lost his grip, nearly hitting the people behind him.
"Elder, this wall is too solid! We can't break through!" Hank gasped for breath.
The village elder eyed Logan's reinforced door thoughtfully.
"Keep trying! I don't believe he'll never come out!" he ordered.
Reluctantly, Hank and the other villager resumed their efforts.
Just when the villagers thought Logan was going to hide inside like a coward, the lock clicked open.
Logan stepped out, casting a glance at the scratches on his door. A cold glint flashed in his eyes.
"What do you think you're doing?"
After waiting in the cold for so long, the villagers' patience had worn thin.
Before the village elder could speak, a middle-aged villager in his forties stepped forward and jabbed a finger at Logan's face.
"What are we doing?! You owe a debt, and for murder, you pay with your life! You piece of—"
Before the villager could finish his sentence, Logan frowned at the finger pointing so close to his face. Without hesitation, he grabbed it and twisted hard.
"AHHH!!!"
The sound of bones snapping and the villager's scream rang out at the same time. The middle-aged man's face went pale with pain.
Logan released the broken finger and kicked the man hard in the stomach, sending him sprawling on the ground. The other villagers quickly stepped aside.
The man clutched his stomach in agony, unable to stand.
Logan scanned the group of villagers and said coldly:
"If you want to talk, then talk properly. I don't like being pointed at."
The villagers were momentarily stunned by Logan's ruthlessness.
But they weren't easily intimidated. Their expressions quickly turned hostile again.
The village elder stepped forward and said:
"Young man, you've struck first. Assaulting someone can land you in jail."
Logan felt like he had just heard the most ridiculous joke.
It reminded him of a saying he'd seen online: When you try to reason with someone, they act like a thug. But when you act like a thug, they try to reason with you.
Seeing that Logan remained silent, the elder assumed he was afraid.
His eyes gleamed with calculation as he continued:
"You're still young. If you get a criminal record, it'll affect your entire future."
Acting as if he were concerned for Logan, the village elder went on:
"We don't have to report this. As long as you compensate us for the damage to our village, we'll forget about this and what you've done to Ethan. How does that sound?"
"Forget about it? No way! He needs to pay with his life for my son! Ethan was my only child!" Mrs Brooks screamed, her grief fueling her cries.
The village elder signaled for someone to quiet her down, and a villager quickly covered her mouth.
"Well? What do you think? Why not consider it?" The village elder rubbed his hands together, casting a glance at Logan's safe house.
Unlike the rest of the villagers, he knew the outside world was falling apart—power outages, cars that wouldn't run, and snow in June (northern hemisphere).
Things were getting worse. It could even be the end of the world.
He had to think ahead.
The fact that the village elder had led Dragonrest Village to prosperity was a testament to his cunning.
Logan looked at him with a mocking smile and asked:
"You want me to pay?"
A sly glint flashed in the village elder's eyes as he smiled and said:
"Just a token gesture will be enough. We won't ask for much. Just hand over that house behind you, and we'll call it even."
With ATMs out of service and banks overflowing with people, the elder knew money had become devaluated.
What he really wanted was a place to settle down as the world descended into chaos.
Logan's eyes grew colder as he realized they were after his safe house.
Daydreaming!
His expression hardened as he said:
"Get lost!"
The village elder's smile froze, and his eyes filled with anger.
"Young man, you better think carefully. If it weren't for those meddlesome security officers this morning, Ethan would have chopped you to pieces by now!"
The implication was clear: Logan had been lucky to escape this morning.
The other villagers believed the same thing.
They had the numbers, and even though Logan was strong, they were used to heavy labor in farmland. There's a saying, Even the most skilled martial artist fears the kitchen knife.
After all, they had seen Logan nearly get cut down by Ethan Brooks earlier.
"You probably don't know yet, but the world's already falling apart. Even if you were to die, no one would investigate the body. You better think hard about what's more important: your life or your possessions!"
The village elder's eyes narrowed as he delivered this thinly veiled threat.
The other villagers immediately raised their weapons, glaring at Logan with violent intent.
Logan chuckled coldly. These people thought that just because they had numbers, they could treat him like a pushover.
Little did they know that if it weren't for the military presence in South City, Logan would have already killed them without hesitation.
If they insisted on seeking death, he wouldn't hold back.
"You old fool. If you want my property, you'll have to take them off my corpse. Now stop wasting my time."
The village elder's face twisted with fury:
"You have absolutely no idea what's good for you!"