Chapter 10

Zhang Qifan stepped off the civilian ship and the first sensation upon touching the ground was desolation. The vast air port, with a hundred berths of various sizes, now had only one spacecraft docked, and the number of passengers boarding and disembarking was less than three hundred.

Various kinds of garbage scattered on the ground, occasionally swirling in the air released from the airlock doors. The endless expanse of the air port, with a few hundred people sparsely scattered around, was eerily silent, like a ghost town.

Zhang Qifan felt a bit nostalgic for such a scene. In the world where his predecessor grew up, silence and emptiness were the eternal themes, and there were even fewer moving objects within sight than here.

Carrying his luggage, Zhang Qifan identified the direction and walked straight toward one of the exit ports. As he walked, he vaguely felt that a gaze, filled with intense malice, had fallen on him more than once.

Like any declining area, the crime rate in Forward Fort was persistently high. It was filled with a large number of unemployed vagrants. Although there was a minimum social security to ensure their basic survival, higher-level pursuits required labor. However, the declining Forward Fort could not provide jobs for most people.

Those capable of leaving had long since moved away, leaving behind mostly those with low abilities, low education, and a lazy nature. They were like a breeding ground for the ugliest aspects of human nature.

Theft, fraud, drug use, rape, murder, and arson were rampant.

Compared to the majority of local residents who relied on social security, the criminals here preferred outsiders.

After all, with its rich historical background and having witnessed all the history of human expansion in the star system, Forward Fort was a well-known cultural and historical tourist attraction. Hundreds of thousands of tourists visited every year, and these tourists were the main targets for local criminals.

The slender Zhang Qifan was the most popular target.

Bartier leaned against the railing on the second floor of the air port, watching the dock below. Almost the moment Zhang Qifan stepped out of the ship's cabin, Bartier's gaze locked onto him.

Slender build, youthful face, neat and high-end clothing, and a backpack slung over his shoulder, he looked like a recent graduate on a graduation trip. As a historical site with cultural significance, Forward Fort welcomed hundreds of such tourists each year, but most traveled in groups. It was rare to see someone like Zhang Qifan traveling alone.

Being alone meant less risk, making him the best target. Bartier immediately followed, his steps somewhat hurried.

He couldn't afford to be slow, as he wasn't the only one looking for targets in the air port area. If he was too slow, someone else might get there first.

Sure enough, when Bartier followed Zhang Qifan, the various groups of people loitering in the air port, upon seeing him, instinctively turned to other places. Their faces showed varying degrees of regret. With Forward Fort becoming more dilapidated and fewer people coming, good targets were hard to come by.

But rules were rules. Breaking them could easily leave everyone without a living, making one a common enemy. Therefore, everyone, regardless of who they were, would voluntarily uphold these unwritten rules.

Bartier was a lone wolf, not because he couldn't find partners, but because he didn't need them. Standing at two meters and two centimeters tall and weighing 130 kilograms, Bartier had trained in boxing for a while. Ordinary adults were no match for him. Good targets were scarce these days, and Bartier didn't need to share his spoils with anyone.

To avoid complications, Bartier planned to act quickly, not letting the target leave the air port. He knew the layout well and the best spots to strike, where surveillance equipment was broken and there were few people.

After following for a while, Bartier noticed that the target seemed to know his intentions, choosing routes with fewer people, becoming more and more secluded, and with fewer surveillance devices.

So smooth? Bartier found it hard to believe. Usually, when doing this kind of business, there were always complications. The target would either choose crowded places or be very alert, looking ready to scream at the sight of Bartier. Sometimes, just when he found a good opportunity, the electronic police would show up.

Bartier was very cautious; he didn't want to spend the rest of his life in prison. Therefore, he couldn't let the surveillance or electronic police capture any solid evidence. Even if he fled the solar system, he couldn't escape the interstellar network's pursuit.

Thus, he would sometimes abandon a target rather than risk being caught on camera, which was the main reason he had managed to stay out of trouble. Zhang Qifan's decision to walk into a secluded area made Bartier, no matter how cautious, feel that God was on his side.

Finally, the two entered a corridor leading to a certain area on the ground. Due to the low passenger traffic, it had long been closed, and all the surveillance equipment was old and out of service.

At the entrance of the corridor, there was a sign indicating that the path was blocked, but Zhang Qifan seemed not to see it and walked straight in.

Bartier quickly followed, his right hand reaching into his coat. When he pulled it out, he was wearing an iron ring.

Under normal circumstances, Bartier wouldn't use knives or axes, as the nature of an unarmed attack was different from one with a weapon. If caught by the police unarmed, the maximum sentence was two years, but with a weapon, the minimum was two years, and if someone was injured, a sentence of three to fifty years was possible.

The iron ring wasn't classified as a weapon, but with Bartier's build, its power was no less than that of a regular knife or axe. One punch could easily break bones.

However, just as Bartier aggressively entered the corridor, he found that the target had turned around, placed his backpack on the ground, and stood with his hands hanging down, looking at him calmly, as if waiting for him. A sense of unease rose in Bartier's heart, and his steps slowed hesitantly.

In his line of work, he had made many enemies. Not just from territorial disputes, protection fees, and gang fights, but the sheer number of victims was countless.

The last time, a small gang had kidnapped a wealthy girl who had sneaked out to play. They stole her money, gang-raped her, and sold her to an underground brothel. By the time she was rescued, she had gone mad.

The girl's father hired a team to catch all thirty-odd members of the gang, cut off their heads, and placed them in life support boxes, which were then sent to a remote void for exile.

A head required very little nutrition, and a life support device could supply enough for hundreds of years. During this period, the heads were alive, and the people's wills were conscious, but they couldn't speak or move, except for their eyes.

Thus, the heads watched the eternal, unchanging black void, enduring silence and monotony until they went mad, eventually dying of old age after hundreds of years.

This was the most terrifying punishment, where the only hope for those in it was to die quickly, but with their jaws removed, even biting their tongues was impossible.

Therefore, Bartier absolutely avoided those who looked very wealthy and well-off. Additionally, he was extremely cautious, never giving his enemies a chance to ambush him.