“It’s not that the painkillers are ineffective—it’s that your body has reached its limit. You’re too badly injured.” The smoke-covered Brian Carter staggered over and helped Jack Spencer up from the ground. “Damn, Jack.”

　　“You okay? You’re smoking all over.”

　　“I won’t die, just short-circuited, that’s all.”

　　“What the hell is all this? I just want to survive, why is it so hard?” The blood dripping from the corner of Jack Spencer’s mouth fell into a puddle, turning the black water gradually red.

　　“If you’re asking me, who am I supposed to ask? Let’s get out of here first.” Brian Carter supported him, step by step, out of the ruins.

　　“Wait for me!” Paul Harris, smoke rising from his head, wobbled after them once again.

　　“You really are hard to kill.” Tilting his head, Jack Spencer shot him a sideways glance. Useless, just a burden—if it weren’t for needing some startup cash, he really wouldn’t have bothered saving him.

　　“Don’t blame me for dragging you down, look how badly I’m hurt. How am I supposed to help? Besides, isn’t my combat prosthetic installed on you? If you kill someone, it’s basically me doing it.”

　　“Wait, let me start a livestream. Hey everyone, I’m back—”

　　“Turn off the livestream!” As Jack Spencer and Brian Carter shouted in unison, Paul finally listened.

　　If he dared to stream again, Jack Spencer would shove a cannon barrel in his mouth and fire it off right there.

　　Jack Spencer tilted his head back, letting the rain wash over his face. At least it helped him stay awake—he was starting to feel a bit drowsy.

　　Feeling the acid rain drip onto the wound where part of his ear was missing, his ear began to ache as well.

　　As he felt the rain, Jack Spencer, head tilted back, suddenly saw something seem to emerge from the dark clouds. The rain gradually stopped; something in the clouds was blocking it.

　　At first, it was just a black right angle, but soon that black edge slowly extended, the pitch-black metal behind it growing larger and larger, until it was bigger than a mountain, nearly filling all of Jack Spencer’s field of vision.

　　Watching this thing emerge from the clouds, still growing, Jack Spencer was instantly seized by a suffocating terror of the unknown. “What the hell is that?”

　　The next moment, the sky suddenly turned white. When he finally managed to adjust to the blinding light and squinted his eyes open, he could just make out a massive, dazzling pillar of light, as big as a house.

　　The steel behemoth, nearly filling the entire sky, shone down with ten glaring floodlights, gazing down like a god at the tiny things below.

　　At this moment, Jack Spencer finally understood—the thing in the sky was man-made. It was a giant space carrier!

　　The next instant, a deafening mechanical voice boomed from above: “Warning, warning, this area is company property. Gaofeng Technology Company holds final ownership of all space debris. All personnel present must cease theft and leave the area within one minute, or the company will take all legal measures to protect its property. 59.58.57.” The voice cycled through various languages, mechanical yet cold, and the information it conveyed made Jack Spencer deeply uneasy—especially after seeing the reactions of the others in the ruins.

　　Elsewhere, the sounds of gunfire had already stopped. Faced with the giant object overhead, no one was interested in killing each other anymore; they all hurried off with their loot.

　　He didn’t know what “all legal measures” meant, but he was sure it wasn’t anything good. The three of them rushed forward with all their might.

　　“35, 34, 33”—the countdown echoed like a death knell over everyone’s heads. The previously white welding lights turned bright red and began to flash, making the atmosphere unbearably oppressive.

　　“Look over there!” Following Brian Carter’s pointing finger, Jack Spencer saw a mountain peak looming in the misty rain in the distance.

　　As Jack Spencer got closer, he finally saw clearly—it was a mountain of garbage, piled high with all kinds of plastic bags.

　　He ran desperately forward, but after the earlier fight with the bald guy, it felt like he’d used up his last ounce of strength. Every step was unbearably heavy.

　　Suddenly, the flashing in the sky stopped. “.3, 2, 1. According to Castle Law Article 315, you are trespassing on private property. The company will now initiate unlimited liability self-defense.”

　　Dazed, Jack Spencer looked up to see the sky filled with red and green lights from drones’ night targeting systems, as if a deadly snowfall of red and green was falling with the rain.

　　“Move it!!” Paul ran over, using his one remaining arm to support Jack Spencer on the other side, heading for the garbage mountain.

　　When those red and green snowflakes landed on people’s heads, they began to spew deadly flames, sweeping through the ruins and incinerating anything alive. Bullets fell with the rain, making it impossible to tell which was which.

　　Watching the drones flying toward him, Jack Spencer gritted his teeth, raised his metal prosthetic, and fired shell after shell into the rain, blasting drone after drone out of the sky.

　　But the drones seemed endless—no matter how many he destroyed, more kept coming at them.

　　“Is this really the end?” Staring at the red and green snow in the sky, Jack Spencer kept searching for a way out, but no matter how hard he racked his brain, he couldn’t think of one.