"So… You mean to tell me… That… You just let him go like that?" Chen Ze asked while his mouth was still full of food, enjoying the instant noodle that he pulled out of nowhere.
The corner of Levin's lips twitched as he was holding back the groan on the tip of his mouth, not only because it seemed that Chen Ze didn't understand the state of the fight before, but also because of his messy eating behavior that Mira imitated right now. He had to hold back the urge to beat the man black and blue right now.
"Okay, I know you don't understand the situation during that fight, so I will try to put it as simple as I can so that your thick skull can comprehend it." He took a deep breath, trying not to sound too harsh. "Even though my shot met its target, I can see that he is not fatally wounded and could still fight dangerously for his life. Not only that, my gun had run out of its battery already and couldn't shoot anything anymore. I don't have anything under my sleeves, and I don't know if what he had shown is what he is all capable of or if there is still something he has that he is not willing to show except for in a dangerous situation. With him withdrawing himself from the fight, I think I get off the edge of the cliff so easily. So, why would I go back to the edge and jump by chasing him down when my current condition is also not that good in the first place? Also, don't forget that I did all of that while carrying you on the back, okay?"
Well, at least this time, Chen Ze had the decency to feel embarrassed as his face flushed a little when Levin mentioned his state during the fight before. "Anyway!" He coughed a little, clearing his throat and washing away his embarrassment at the same time. "Is it really true that he said he is willing to come and help my research?"
"Yes, indeed, he is. But before that, should you think firstly of how you should advance to the next round and how to survive the entire game?" Levin asked. "I mean, you saw it yourself. You cannot even stay awake from the light pressure coming from him. What do you think will happen if the other players who are more cruel see a weak player like you?"
Of course, Levin said it harsher than he was intending to be. After all, what made the man pass out before was far from a light pressure. Any normal human being would pass out instantly when they felt the weight of the entire world suddenly being put on their shoulder like that. However, Levin needed to exaggerate it so that the scientist would take his words seriously.
"Hmm… You are right. Indeed, I need a better way to fight." Chen Ze pondered for a moment. Levin just rolled his eyes, thinking, 'No, you don't need a better way. You need a WAY to fight.' However, he kept his mouth shut, letting the scientist figure it out on his own. "Okay, I get it!" He clapped his hand excitedly before turning around to Levin and Mira as if he figured out something. Levin himself had a bad feeling about that gaze. "I decide that I will build something powerful for me to fight, and you both will help me do this!" He exclaimed.
'I know it! I fucking know that he is that type of scientist!' Levin cursed inwardly when he heard that. "No, that is not a part of our agreement." He shook his head quickly, rejecting the idea coldly without any hesitation.
Even Mira was surprised at his decisiveness, shooting down the idea instantly without even thinking or discussing it with her first. However, after three consecutive life-or-death fights in the last two days, even he himself started to feel tired emotionally, and he still didn't know what kind of danger waiting and lurking in the dark. He needed to be ready for anything, and while he didn't mind Mira following him, Levin didn't want to carry a dead weight like Chen Ze in his small group.
"Wait! You cannot do that! How about our agreement?!" Chen Ze said, starting to panic.
"After how I saved your ass earlier, we should've considered the agreement is fulfilled already." Levin snorted. "But fine, I will help you kill a player to help you advance to the next round. However, after that, we will have nothing to do with each other, okay?"
Even though Chen Ze tried so hard to maintain this cooperation, he knew that Levin didn't have to follow that at all. The soldier had already saved his ass before, so what right or leverage did he have to convince the man to still help him? Also, if Levin wasn't as honorable as he thought the soldier would be, the man could just kill him straight on the spot and leave his corpse here in this abandoned town. The fact that Levin didn't do – or hadn't done that yet told him about the man's character. Of course, he could guilt-trip Levin or manipulate the man emotionally. However, Chen Ze knew that the kind of cooperation wouldn't last long and had a big possibility ended up with betrayal, something he didn't want to deal with in the future.
So, after pondering for a moment, he let out a deep sigh before finally saying, "Fine. Let me help you charge your gun, and you will help me kill one player later. After that, our agreement is over."
For that, Levin raised one of his eyebrows, asking skeptically, "Just like that? You are even kind enough to help me charge my gun? Don't try to tamper with it, okay?" He narrowed his eyes suspiciously.
"Hey, don't insult my morale code like that! Even I have a bottom line, you know? And tampering with any technology that is not mine to hurt its owner is a big no for me!" Chen Ze replied, affronted.
After having a staring contest for a few seconds, Levin finally sighed, giving his gun away to Chen Ze for the scientist to help maintain it. Even though he was still suspicious, there was nothing he could do about it. With the gun being run out of battery, he wouldn't be able to use it properly except to intimidate the enemy, and something like that wouldn't work against the monsters he knew the players of this game were.
"Okay, I will leave my gun for you tonight. Tomorrow, I will have it back so that I can start searching for any weak player so that you can advance to the next round too. For now, I have to sleep first. So, goodbye. Come on, Mira! We have to leave!"