Chapter 3

"Your chance is over..." Just as he stepped out of the gate, Big Claw took two steps forward and whispered sinisterly in Gao Feng's ear. After saying that, he ignored Gao Feng and strode forward.

Huo Ya looked at Gao Feng, then at Big Claw's back, not understanding what Big Claw meant. But Gao Feng understood. Because of his trembling, Big Claw had discovered him and concluded that he would not pass the test, and would certainly be demoted to a bondslave.

Thinking of the fate of bondslaves, Gao Feng felt a burning pain in his palms. The structure of the Black Claw tribe was simple: the chief, the tribal warriors, and the attendants who had not yet become warriors. The remaining class was divided into personal slaves and bondslaves.

Personal slaves were above bondslaves and were the followers of the warriors. They were attendants who had failed the test, often relatives or friends of the tribal warriors, equivalent to the roles of stewards and attendants. If a personal slave made a significant contribution one day, they might also be promoted to a tribal warrior.

Bondslaves, on the other hand, were the most miserable group. They were mostly slaves after defeat, criminals who had committed offenses, and wanderers captured from the wilderness. They had no clothes to cover their bodies, were never full, drank the dirtiest water, and had no houses to live in. On the coldest nights in the wilderness, they could only bury themselves in piles of animal dung to keep warm, like a group of dirty, smelly rats.

"Three Claw, if I fail, will you take me as a personal slave? My brother will give you a dog's horn, and he won't let you down..." Huo Ya, lacking confidence in killing three wild warriors at once, said hesitantly. Gao Feng frowned and asked, puzzled, "Why do you think I will succeed?"

"Because you are Three Claw..." Huo Ya answered with a serious face.

"Because I am Three Claw? Am I Three Claw or Gao Feng? Who am I?" Gao Feng slammed the door hard and, in the dark, stifling room, let out a wild roar in his heart. But no one could answer him. He paced frantically in the small, cramped room, desperately seeking an answer. Who was he?

The intense headache that had been plaguing him returned, and Gao Feng clutched his head, letting out a heart-wrenching howl. The pain made him feel as if he were about to split apart. Everything in the small room was spinning, even the bed began to whirl. In the fragments of the mirror that seemed to split into countless pieces, he saw strange, grotesque faces howling like wounded beasts. Countless versions of himself, countless versions of others, kept rotating in front of his eyes, rotating...

In this intense pain, sweat beads the size of soybeans appeared all over his body. He had more than once wanted to give up, but the cold look in Black Claw's eyes and the fate of bondslaves made him grit his teeth and continue to persist.

The images in his mind flashed faster and faster, and new information gushed into his brain like a fountain. Many things he had overlooked were also remembered. Suddenly, he recalled something important.

Gao Feng, writhing on the ground in agony, moved like a worm. He wanted to find his true self and solve the impending trouble, but the fragments of his memory did not provide a solution. Even so, he did not feel despair. At least, he was no longer as lost as before, and his confidence in himself had increased. After enduring this pain that almost made his head explode, his mind had become much stronger. At least, he was brave enough to face his current self.

He slowly crawled to the bed, grabbed the bed frame with both hands, and flipped onto the bed. Staring at the flat metal box lying across the head of the bed, he panted heavily. This simple action drained all his strength, and the dizziness made everything in front of him blurry. He had to focus hard to keep from looking elsewhere.

He knew what it was—a first-aid kit that had been forgotten for many years. A real and overlapping object in his memory, it might not be crucial to his current difficulties, but it gave him more confidence in finding himself. He was himself, not Three Claw, not anyone else, but Gao Feng.

The box was rusty and worn, with a hidden lock at the edge that had merged with the box under a layer of rust. It was hard to notice without careful observation. He found a thin, sharp wire and slowly scraped away the rust on the lock, revealing the bright metal underneath. Sweat trickled down his forehead to the tip of his nose, hovering slightly before dripping onto the box, leaving a wet mark.

Sweat continued to drip onto the box, and Gao Feng let out a long breath, finally opening the box.

Gao Feng wanted to find something that overlapped with his memory, but unexpectedly found a black, yellow-skinned paper. His heart was filled with curiosity, and he forgot the previous pain, focusing on peeling back the yellow paper to find his true self.

A gun wrapped in solidified yellow grease appeared before him. The moment the gun appeared, his pupils constricted. He felt an unexpected familiarity with the black, heavy gun, even though there were no specific images in his mind. It felt as if he were seeing his most cherished treasure.

Without thinking about how the first-aid kit had turned into a weapon box, the gun, after the grease was removed, was cold and heavy in his hand. In this unfamiliar world, it gave him a long-lost sense of security. It seemed that with the weapon in hand, he could face any challenge, even Black Claw. Of course, this sense of security was false, but it was more useful than any encouragement, making him forget the fear of becoming a bondslave and the confusion and fear of being in an unfamiliar world.

One by one, the yellow-orange bullets were ejected from the gun, and he greedily examined each one as if they were priceless jewels. His right hand, holding the gun, was strong and powerful, and the feeling was different from holding a cold weapon. The gun felt like an extension of his arm, and he immediately grasped this cold weapon.

In addition to the gun and two magazines, the box contained a fifty-centimeter-long, sharp, serrated military knife. This weapon also felt familiar, but it did not evoke the same emotions as the gun. Picking up the knife, he instinctively flipped it between his fingers, instantly grasping its center of gravity and usage method. A new insight flashed through his mind, and he seemed to remember a moment when a similar military knife danced in his hand, slicing through the necks of fully armored enemies...

"Huh... So, the real me isn't simple either..." The fragments of killing flashed by, bringing a burst of intense pain to his head. In this pain, Gao Feng's expression did not change; instead, he closed his eyes in enjoyment, emitting a cold, icy killing intent, just like Black Claw.

He suddenly opened his eyes, and the original confusion and fear were gone, replaced by a sharp, resolute look. Although he still did not understand his origins, his heart was no longer lost, and he finally had the determination to step out of the room.

Thinking about the upcoming challenge in the afternoon, Gao Feng slowly adjusted himself, dispelling the accumulated depression of these days. No one had taught him this, but he had spontaneously understood it, as if it had always been hidden deep within him, like a battle-hardened veteran enjoying the last bit of peace.

While adjusting his state, his eyes were fixed on the flowers in the corner of the room. This was a plant recognized by the wild people as a useless plant, the wood stump flower, which was also the most beautiful flower he had ever seen. The light blue petals naturally bent like a girl's delicate fingers, with a pure and serene beauty. The wild people did not appreciate it, but he had moved this flower, which could resist extreme heat and cold, into the room, just because, in his confusion, he still had a heart to discover beauty.

In an unknown place, the wood stump flower was not enough to make him forget his worries and appreciate its beauty. The main reason was that he felt an inexplicable closeness to this flower, as if there was some unimaginable connection between them. This was also his main way of passing the time these days.

Squatting in front of the wood stump flower, he gently touched the silk-like, smooth petals. His left palm began to feel hot, as if being roasted on a charcoal block. However, under his palm was the delicate and fragile wood stump flower. Clearly, this effect was not from external force but from within himself.

As usual, he focused his mind and suspended his left hand above the flower, feeling the increasing heat, hoping for something to happen. The heat had a threshold, and whenever it reached a critical point, it would stop and slowly disappear.

He wondered if the heat was being blocked by a wound on his palm. He recalled a dream where, at the age of seven, Three Claw was stabbed in the palm by a sharp bone spike by Big Claw over a piece of ordinary sand rat meat. In the intense pain, Three Claw, like a small lion, pulled out the bone spike and slashed across Big Claw's face, leaving a scar that would never fade.

When he recalled this, all his memories stopped. He did not know what happened next or what kind of hatred made the young Three Claw suffer such an injury. A surge of anger rushed to his brain, and he wanted to rush out and kill Big Claw. After a while, Gao Feng suppressed this anger in his heart. This was Three Claw's hatred, not his. Even though this body was Three Claw's, the one in control was him, and he would not allow Three Claw's residual thoughts to take control.

In a moment of daze, he forgot his hand on the petals. Suddenly, his palm trembled and turned cold, making him think the experiment had failed again. But unexpectedly, the once vibrant wood stump flower withered, like dried grass from the previous year. In his palm, a light blue droplet of water was suspended.

The droplet, the size of a peanut, was the essence of the wood stump flower. Under Gao Feng's will, it danced like a lively light ball around his fingertips. In the next moment, he flicked it onto the wall, where it turned into a water stain, emitting a pungent, unpleasant smell, making him laugh and cry at the same time, realizing he had done something foolish.

Gao Feng looked strangely at the withered wood stump flower, and the information about the wood stump flower flashed through his mind. In the wilderness, the wood stump flower was not rare. It bloomed during the day and closed its petals at night to resist the cold. It was toxic, and neither insects nor animals would eat it. Even as firewood, it would produce a thick smoke like a biochemical weapon, turning the kitchen into a hell on earth.

The experiment was considered a success, but for Gao Feng, it had no significance. He did not feel the surprise that such an incredible ability should bring. The wood stump flower was still a wood stump flower. Even if he extracted the essence that caught people's attention, he did not dare to consume it and could not benefit from it, which was somewhat disappointing.

Just as he was lost in thought over this small setback, Huo Ya's shout came from outside: "Three Claw, let's go get our weapons and armor. If we go too late, the good stuff will be gone..."

{Piaotian Literature}