Determination is something that rarely comes into existence unless pushed to the limit.
The gunshot from Report Head last night had already made these children from various places realize the situation was out of control.
No matter what they did before, Report Head would at most hang them up and give them a beating, or starve them for a day or two. After all, they were children sent from orphanages or poor families to "work," and Report Head didn't dare to lay too heavy a hand on them.
But yesterday, Report Head shot at one of the children, the bullet went into a thigh, and instead of taking the child to the hospital, he casually found a piece of wire and dug the bullet out.
The bleeding was stopped, but from the middle of the night, that child began to have a fever, and it burned all day today, not recovering until now, growing worse instead.
The children in the dormitory all believed he must be taken to the hospital, but they had no money, and the money everyone "saved" together was less than five hundred yuan, which was definitely not enough to see a doctor.
The oldest children in the dormitory, facing such a situation, finally grew a hint of murderous intent.
"It seems like he caused some trouble..." A child trailing behind Report Head spoke in a low voice to his companion. These children might not be more naive than those just entering society, in fact, they might be more mature, or more cunning.
Judging from Report Head's panicked expression and his lack of intention to come into the dormitory with a whip to seek the pleasure of control, he definitely caused some trouble, and it seemed like he was planning to flee with his belongings.
Initially, these few children planned to talk to him when he barged into the dormitory. If he was willing to pay for their companion's medical treatment, then everything would stay the same as before.
But if he was unwilling, then tonight would be the time for him to meet the Lord.
They just didn't expect such an accident to occur.
Another child lightly responded, "That works well, let's act when he's farther away."
Then the few of them stopped talking, tightly following Report Head. Report Head didn't notice, nor would he have thought that these children, who he had beaten and humiliated at will, would follow behind him at this time with murderous intent.
The surroundings began to become desolate as the buildings became fewer; they had already left the urban area of Sabin City. Outside lay vast wilderness and intercity, interstate roads.
Every day, long-distance buses headed to other cities pass by these roads; there are always kind people to be encountered. Report Head wasn't worried about being without support out here alone.
At this moment, the murderous intent in the children's eyes no longer restrained, they quickly lowered their stances and charged toward Report Head.
The footsteps coming from behind instantly alerted the already highly sensitive nerves of Report Head. He turned his head, saw nothing but pitch black and vaguely indistinct shadows, and was immediately scared out of his wits.
He loudly threatened whoever owned those footsteps behind him while quickly running. But he was carrying so many things, and being older, having lived a life of indulgence, he couldn't match the stamina of these children who spent every day making a living outside.
Seeing those silent shadows closing in more and more, Report Head anxiously drew out a handgun and pulled the trigger at one of the shadows.
A fleeting flash of light passed through the pitch dark night with a 'peng' sound, starkly contrasting Report Head's face of terror with the children's faces of coldness.
The bullet sparked on the ground in a few places before flying off somewhere, missing completely. The weapon, modified from a signal gun, inherently had many flaws, even at close range, the accuracy was poor.
Report Head pulled the hammer and the trigger again, but this time, the gun misfired. This was the second drawback of a modified signal gun: the hammer and the rotary chamber weren't synchronized, sometimes needing manual adjustment for the hammer to accurately strike the primer.
The bullet didn't come out, which made Report Head's expression hidden in the darkness even more terrifying. He fired another shot, it still didn't fire, so he threw away the gun and ran forward frantically, while those shadows chased faster.
A minute or two later, one of the shadows was already close to Report Head, giving him a hard push on the back. With his weight already shifted, Report Head stumbled forward several steps and tumbled to the ground, rolling twice before stopping.
The shadows silently closed in, brandishing kitchen knives or sharpened steel rods to stab Report Head's body, not knowing how many times they stabbed, they only stopped when Report Head lay motionless.
Perhaps because of a release of tension after the killing, the children's bodies began to tremble, and sweat started to pour from them. After resting for a while, they picked up everything from Report Head's body without leaving anything behind.
About five minutes later, Lynch emerged from a small forest by the roadside. He walked over to Report Head, squatted down, and felt the other's pulse with a gloved hand. After confirming he was completely dead, he left.
He didn't bother following the children; he just found it somewhat interesting—perhaps this was what they called karma?
Looking back at the body of Report Head on the road, Lynch returned to the small forest, pulled out a bicycle, and slowly pedaled back toward the city.
When dawn breaks, someone will surely pass by here and discover the Report Head lying dead by the roadside.
Maybe these people will call the police, but more likely, they'll pass by the body, pretending they didn't see anything.
Reporting it means being questioned by the police, becoming a suspect themselves, possibly being restricted from leaving Sabin City freely, which is not a good thing for those needing to shuttle between cities.
All traces of evidence will be completely wiped away in the cold indifference of passersby, and the police might never even know of this person who died on the road outside the city.
Lynch, upon arriving home, took a shower. He calmly thought about the next steps: development, expansion, and taking the first step.
Actually, the business dealings between Lynch and Mr. Fox alarmed not only Michael, the upwardly mobile head of a Tax Bureau investigation team, but also some other financial companies in Sabin City that had more or less heard the news.
This line of work is so transparent, it's hard to hide too many news; when people saw or heard somewhere that Mr. Fox had deposited a large amount of cash into the bank, they began to pay attention to this matter.
After a few days of observation and learning, some people already figured out how Mr. Fox deposited money into the bank.
To be honest, there's nothing praiseworthy in this; there's nothing technical about the method, Lynch didn't even consider using any not-so-honest means to stop these people.
He thought of himself not as a gambler, not as an executioner, not as a scoundrel. He was simply a merchant, who might bend the law a little at times, but more often be a defender of law and order.
The business is there, others can do it if they like.
After climbing up the fire escape from the back of the small tavern and pushing open the slightly ajar window to return to his room, Lynch tidied up briefly and lay on the bed. It was another fulfilling day!