Gods, Ashes Descend

Chapter 18 Night City

Poaching was a serious crime in the Middle Ages. Commoners were only allowed to hunt wolves and rabbits; if they were caught hunting anything else, they risked being hanged by the lord.

Of course, for someone like Li Wei, who has dozens of armed thugs, it doesn't matter if he hunts them down or if he gets wanted. After all, no guard would dare to cause trouble. Why risk your life for twenty or thirty silver coins a month?

Meanwhile, Li Wei and his gang began to roam the various forests, leaving behind a series of legends, and their fame grew ever greater.

The devil's army leaves no survivors in its wake. The reason the village wasn't attacked is because there are crosses on the doors of the houses, a sign of God's protection.

Two weeks later, Li Wei squatted in front of the campfire, using a branch to stir the fire. There wasn't a single person around, but Li Wei could also assure him that there wasn't a single thing breathing around him.

Out of sheer boredom, I pulled out my wanted poster, looked at the 500 bounty on it, and sighed. I've never even been to a public bathhouse.

This confirmed once again that calling for reinforcements was a mistake. Although these guys were very considerate and didn't kill anyone they saw, that didn't stop them from going out and picking fights. Surely, they could retaliate.

I don't know which brilliant mind had a sudden inspiration, went to a tavern to drink, then caused trouble in the tavern, accidentally killed a few drunkards, got arrested, and ran back to call for reinforcements.

Then ten men squatted in front of Li Wei to prevent him from knowing what was going on, while thirty-odd men with knives went to "break him out of prison," cutting down all the guards along the way and swaggering out to "rescue" him.

By the time Li Wei discovered this, it was already a fait accompli, and it had even happened three times already.

As for how they discovered it, the lord summoned over a hundred guards to block Li Wei and his group's path as they were moving, then uttered a few harsh words before starting the fight.

Although they outnumbered each other by a factor of two, Li Wei's men all had bloodshot eyes and were determined to kill the other side at all costs. After a few exchanges, they had the other side crushed.

After several battles, the number of people remained at 47. This was because the Undead were already immortal; once they were killed, they could simply be summoned back. As long as Li Wei was alive, these guys could be infinitely refreshed.

However, the Undead are not truly immortal; they are living corpses or wandering spirits. The Undead possess the obsessions they held in life, and once those obsessions are fulfilled, they themselves will become true corpses.

Undead people who are completely dead cannot be resurrected.

The matter escalated, probably angering Emperor Ge, and a few days later...

Before Henry could even call for reinforcements, a large wave of cavalry arrived. Without uttering a single threat, they set up their lances and wiped out Livy and his men in one fell swoop.

At the sacrificial site, Li Wei clutched his head, looking at the inhuman group of people in front of him with a headache.

"You guys... never mind."

Everyone lined up with their heads down, looking like they knew they were wrong and would do it again next time.

Li Wei also realized one thing: unless it was to overturn the table, it was best not to summon these lunatics who couldn't move at the sight of anything alive.

After confirming that Brother Disheartened hadn't returned, they confiscated one-third of the souls from these lunatics, leaving their humanity for themselves.

After being buffed in front of the Fire Keeper, he crouched in front of the campfire again, but this time Li Wei swore he would never summon them unless absolutely necessary.

No, it should be said that if it were a normal world without demons and monsters, then don't even think about him coming back.

(Now that the setup is out, let's begin the long story.)

Setting off again, when Li Wei opened his eyes, he found himself seemingly being pressed down. With great effort, he lifted the barrier in front of him and stood up.

I saw an old man wearing faded denim clothes sitting on a parking space that was now just a metal frame, holding a bowl of noodles, staring at me in disbelief.

Li Wei glanced around at the garbage dump, the piles of which looked like mountains. After hesitating for a moment, he decided to say hello.

"Hi!"

This guy seemed to have been provoked by something; he threw down the noodles in his hand, got off the bus, and ran away.

"Hey, wait a minute!"

Hearing Li Wei's call, the guy ran even faster.

Although he didn't know what was wrong with the other side, Li Wei slowly rummaged through the garbage and saw a television next to the abandoned car.

Before I could even turn on the TV, that guy came back with a handgun, pointed it at Li Wei, and yelled.

"Hey, Tin Can, get your hands off my TV."

Li Wei didn't hold back either, and pulled out his large revolver, pointing it at the other party.

The other person glanced at his small pistol, which might not even be able to penetrate armor, then looked at the real weapon in Li Wei's hand, and simply threw away the 3D-printed toy in his hand and raised both hands.

He said it in a very straightforward manner.

"Take whatever you like, just don't kill me."

Li Wei tilted his head and asked the question.

"Where am I?"

"Are you blind? This is obviously a garbage dump."

"I meant place names!"

"Night City, Del Coronado Bay, Free State of Northern California."

"What year is it now? Tell me!"

"2074."

...one month later.

"Hey Li, wanna go to town?"

Li Wei squatted in front of a pile of scrap metal, searching for copper wires inside, and responded when he heard the call.

"Fine, I'll keep looking around and see what I can sell. You can go ahead if you want."

"Alright, I'll see if there's any work you can do on my way."

"Thanks, Carl."

"Don't mention it, I make a profit too."

Yes, Li Wei gloriously became a garbage collector. In this place without any monsters or demons, living quietly didn't seem to be a difficult thing, especially since Li Wei didn't need to eat.

The guy who greeted Li Wei earlier was the first person Li Wei met. After confirming that Li Wei wasn't a cyber-psychotic, and since the gun barrel wasn't even as big as his, he simply took Li Wei along.

After Li Wei joined, his income became stable, amounting to about 50 euros a day, and the two gradually became familiar with each other.

He didn't ask about the rest. In his words, what was there to say about a canned food thrown into a junkyard? Night City wasn't a good place. He was just another dreamer thrown out. Corpses were everywhere in the junkyard; it was just that Li Wei had come back to life.

After everyone left, Li Wei worked for another two hours and put the copper wire he had found into his snakeskin bag.

He carried the snakeskin bag back to his little hut, which was really just a few sheets of sheet metal welded together. It dripped when it rained and let in drafts at night.

But at least they've said goodbye to living a life of hardship and sleeping outdoors.

He took out his phone, glanced at his savings: 746 euros. It was still a long way from buying himself a motorhome.

I turned on the TV I bought online and listened to NCPD playing on it, while lying in bed and fiddling with my phone.

Li Wei really wanted to find a proper job, but his identity made him give up on that plan.

It's not like an ID card or anything like that; nobody in Night City cares about that.

It was Li Wei's Ash identity, after all, the factories here all had long-term contracts. If a worker stayed there for a few years, his appearance and physical stats would remain unchanged. It would be strange if he wasn't captured and dissected.

He could only do short-term jobs that didn't ask about his background, paid daily, but being unfamiliar with the area, he could only rely on Carl, a local, for introductions.