48 Hours a Day

Chapter 731: Choice

“Everything makes perfect sense now.” Zhang Heng nodded. “You still haven’t answered my previous question. Why are you emphasizing this day to me?”

Fabericotte did not answer. Instead, he blinked a few times. “Someone wants to see you.”

“Who?”

“Your most faithful servant and follower.”

“I don’t remember having servants and followers,” Zhang Heng said.

“There are many things you don’t remember, but it doesn’t matter. Take your time, and one day, you will remember them all,” Fabericotte said. “We can help you.”

“What’s the price?”

“What do you mean by that?”

“In the story, you told me that all those who dealt with you had to pay the price. This applied to the indigenous people on that small South Pacific island and this small town’s inhabitants…”

“No, no, you are different from them…” Fabericotte shook his head, “We don’t want anything from you. It’s our duty to assist you.”

“You are very caring, just like Haidilao’s waiter,” Zhang Heng said.

After he was done talking, he ignored the puzzled expression on Fabericotte’s face and stood up from the ground. Although the fishy smell in the sea breeze was stronger than before, it still could not overpower the foul breaths of those half-human, half-fish, and frog monsters.

Zhang Heng could sense many people approaching him. They came from four directions, which happened to block all escape routes.

Drawing his Winchester, he pointed at Fabericotte and warned, “Since you like staying this hell hole, you better make sure to stay put this time.”

The latter stretched out his hand to signal that he would not move.

Zhang Heng then looked at the wave breaker in the distance. He knew that the person Fabericotte wanted him to meet was probably behind the wave breaker, or more precisely, on the black reef.

He could not deny that he was tempted to meet the person as well.

Although Fabericotte had lied about the time before, he was still quite forthcoming about other issues. To know more about his life, Zhang Heng knew he needed to meet the person on the black reef.

At the same time, a lot of vigilance was also needed. They were desperately hoping that he would remember who he was. Zhang Heng was certain that they weren’t helping him out of kindness. Aside from memories before the age of six, he could remember his childhood quite well.

From elementary school to university, he had never experienced amnesia. Before getting involved in this game, his everyday life was similar to that of an ordinary person. Before he reached the age of six, however, he was simply too young to do anything. Therefore, what sort of memory did Fabericotte want him to remember?

This was also Zhang Heng’s first time realizing that perhaps it wasn’t the best idea to try so hard to look for answers to his questions.

It wasn’t the time to think about such things. Zhang Heng hesitated, but in the end, he chose not to head towards the wave breaker. Instead, he continued to walk along the abandoned railway. If he wanted to leave this town, that would be the smartest move. Since the enemies were everywhere, it made no difference in which direction he chose. In other words, the problem of being tracked by his enemies did not exist.

But the bad news was his rifle was running out of ammunition. It wasn’t because he hadn’t taken enough, but he found only one box of bullets when he ransacked the grocery store before this. There were about forty rounds in the box, clearly not enough to deal with the inhabitants and monsters in this town.

Fortunately, his chef’s knife was still with him.

In just less than twenty steps, Zhang Heng encountered the first team of enemies. There were seven of them, with two still in human form. It was the same man and woman that he saw in the restaurant earlier.

Without any hesitation, Zhang Heng fired first.

The bullet hit the head of a monster dead on target. Immediately, he drew his revolver from his waist with the other hand and killed another monster, with two bullets landing in the same position. Undoubtedly, it was hard to miss a target from such a close distance.

Zhang Heng’s battle with them officially started the moment the two enemies fell to the ground. His’s quick kills had foiled their abilities, albeit only temporarily. At least it allowed him to reload.

Within the weeds, Zhang Heng’s Winchester let out continuous booms. Each muzzle flash briefly illuminated his face in the dark.

Since he had three guns with him, he could maintain a steady stream of suppressive fire. Under his rapid-firing, no monster could get close to him.

As the battle ensued, his ammunition had nearly depleted. The first weapon that ran out of bullets was his rifle that wasn’t really loaded, to begin with. After that, his revolver began drying up as well. Although there were still some bullets left, he began to ration his usage. To control ammunition consumption, he drew his chef’s knife and engaged in hand-to-hand combat. Unless it was his last resort, he would try his best to conserve ammunition.

After some time, he barely broke through the densest and most hazardous monster encampment. Despite the rain of lead from Zhang Heng’s guns, the threat still existed.

There were just too many monsters. After the tragedy, this town was left with half its population. In the past few decades, however, they continued to multiply and grow. On a regular day, they would be hiding in the house and the dark. Now that each and every one of them had emerged, it seemed tonight would be more exciting than the tragedy forty-six years ago. And they only had one goal tonight.

Zhang Heng dumped the backpack that was slowing him down, the empty Winchester included. He had to make sure that he was light enough for better maneuverability. At the same time, his heart rate started rising as his movements intensified. As he faced such a dangerous environment, Zhang Heng noticed the four Shadow-set items on him we behaving abnormally.

There seemed to be a voice whispering in his ear, and though he couldn’t understand the language, he could guess what it asked him to do. It wanted Zhang Heng to make a choice between the four Shadow-set items.

Zhang Heng hesitated and finally chose the item Arc of Light’s winged-man gave him. As he grabbed the game item, it suddenly split into two. Simultaneously, a black shadow seeped out of the crack and merged into the Shadow behind Zhang Heng.

He felt nothing abnormal in his body, but the moment he pictured the crow in his mind, a pair of black wings grew out from his back.

More than five meters in length when fully stretched, they weren’t tangible, seeming as if they were made out of pure shadows. It wasn’t unlike the pair of wings he saw on the winged-man when he fought him that night. Zhang Heng’s wings looked darker and more prominent, however, making him look like a fallen angel from a horror movie.

He, however, knew that he wasn’t nearly as cool as those, where he could fly wherever and whenever he wanted. The moment he spread the wings out, he quickly learned how long they lasted—only twelve seconds, and he could only use them once a day. It was similar to Shen Dongxing’s figurine-mechanizing ability.