Top edge chapter 22

No chance

When Shen Siwei woke up, it was already bright outside.

He sat up, rubbing the back of his head as he recalled the scene from last night, realizing that he had fallen asleep next to Klet without any defenses.

Unlike the previous forced sleep, last night’s drowsiness came extremely naturally. Shen Siwei genuinely felt tired.

But this shouldn’t be the case.

After all, he was a negotiator, and Klet was the leader of the refugees. The two were in opposing positions. If Moran found out that he had slept so comfortably in the “enemy camp,” he would likely be labeled a “traitor.”

Was it really because of the cartoon? It was easy to relax one’s guard while watching it.

Shen Siwei couldn’t think of any other reason, so he could only blame SpongeBob SquarePants.

At the barbershop basement.

Malken rubbed his sore neck as he climbed up from the sofa, looking at Klet, who was lying on the bed and watching the surveillance footage. He complained unhappily, “Boss, everything is resolved. Why haven’t you gone back?”

Barn’s subordinates had gathered at the music square, causing quite a commotion at first. However, when Klet appeared the people who had been causing the most trouble dared not make another sound.

The world of the refugees didn’t need rules; everything was determined by who held the most power.

Perhaps those people only realized now that Klet hadn’t dealt with Barn earlier not because he feared the many people who followed Barn, but because he needed manpower to attack the Tree of Life. He tolerated Barn’s antics in his presence.

The protests ended , but after everything was settled, Klet didn’t return to his own apartment. Instead, he stayed Malken’s place

“If i’m next to him, the  person helping him probably won’t show up,” Klet said calmly as he watched the person in the footage stretching.

“So, you’re sneaking a peek at someone sleeping ?” Malken raised an eyebrow.

“It’s called surveillance.”

“Fine, whatever you say,” Malken yawned lazily. “But do you really think that person will show up?”

“Not sure,” Klet said, “He looked a bit like the person I saw at the bar. If it’s really him, he wouldn’t appear here without reason. He must be here to carry out a military mission.”

“But the negotiator is not in danger at your place,” Malken said, “That person might not show up.”

Klet fell silent, exhaled, and said, “Let’s wait and see.”

Feeling a little hungry, when Shen Siwei got out of bed, he unexpectedly saw two pairs of slippers on the floor.

If he remembered correctly, these slippers had disappeared when Klet threw him onto the sofa last night.

It seemed that Klet not only carried him to bed but also found the slippers for him.

The slippers were not neatly placed by the bed. One was facing inward, and the other was upside down, indicating that Klet had simply thrown them over after finding them.

—Patient, but not too much. It really suited his style.

Shen Siwei put on the slippers, took a deep breath, and then took three steps and paused, five steps and rested, making his way to the kitchen.

Not having the oxygen mask didn’t mean he couldn’t move at all, but he would get tired quickly, just like now, after walking only a few steps.

Buying canned oxygen bottles online could solve the immediate problem, but if Klet discovered it, it would mean admitting that the “calming agent” was a lie.

But then again, now that the oxygen mask was in Malken’s hands, he could also find out that it didn’t contain a calming agent…

How annoying.

After sitting down at the dining table, his disheveled breathing gradually calmed down. Shen Siwei opened an online shopping page, intending to see if there were suitable oxygen inhalation devices. However, at that moment, there was suddenly the sound of entering the password outside the front door. The next second, there was a “click” sound, and someone pushed the door and walked in.

The tall figure he had expected didn’t appear. Shen Siwei looked at the handsome face of the young man in surprise, raising his eyebrows.

It was Avis.

Previously, he had a dispute with Klet in this room over “relationship issues.” It was also him who made the incident of Shen Siwei sleeping on Klet’s bed widely known.

“Where’s Klet?” Shen Siwei asked.

His question was normal because in the West District of City Z, he only knew Klet. Now that a stranger suddenly appeared in Klet’s house, it was only natural for him to ask where Klet had gone.

But whether it was due to jealousy or not, Avis responded sarcastically, “what can’t you live without him?”

Shen Siwei knew that Avis held hostility towards him, but he didn’t need to take it to heart. After all, they weren’t really rivals in love. Why would they fight over Klet?

“What do you want?” Shen Siwei asked in a calm tone.

“Klet couldn’t come because he has something to do,” Avis sat down across from Shen Siwei. “He asked me to come and protect you.”

Upon hearing this, Shen Siwei felt a trace of strangeness in his heart.

According to klet,, Shen Siwei’s accomplice should be well trained and dangerous, considering they were able to kill Barn, a person who had undergone mechanical modifications.

That meant “protecting” Shen Siwei was a very dangerous task. And yet, Klet had sent Avis to do it, wasn’t he essentially sending Avis to his death?

Either Avis was also strong enough to contend with that mysterious accomplice, or Klet intentionally arranged for Avis to come and die.

Although Shen Siwei hadn’t known Klet for long, he didn’t think Klet would do such a thing.

“Well, aren’t you going to welcome me?” Avis crossed his arms and looked at Shen Siwei provocatively.

Shen Siwei collected his thoughts 

He realized he had been thinking too much.

“Have you had breakfast?” Shen Siwei asked, “There’s food in the fridge.”

His tone showed no hostility, but rather consideration for Avis.

Avis’s expression seemed to deflate like a punch to cotton. He hesitated for a moment and said, “You don’t need to worry about whether I’ve eaten or not.”

Naturally, Shen Siwei couldn’t be bothered to care anymore and continued browsing the online shopping website.

The room fell silent, and after a while, Avis suddenly asked, “How’s your negotiation going?”

“Not well.” Shen Siwei bought several sets of daily wear. He was still wearing the bathrobe from the bathhouse, and he couldn’t keep wearing it all the time.

“What conditions are you offering?” Avis asked again.

Shen Siwei finally looked up and said nonchalantly, “You can ask Klet”

“I’m asking you,” Avis rested his elbows on the dining table, leaning forward towards Shen Siwei, “Are you planning to hand over this city to the refugees?”

The hand that was browsing the website suddenly stopped.

Apart from Klet, Shen Siwei hadn’t heard anyone else  refer to their people as “refugees” before.

 Avis using it in this way was similar to Shen Siwei mentioning the Marg people, which drew a clear boundary between himself and a certain group.

Shen Siwei reminded him, “I represent justice.”

Avis said as he stood up from the chair, pacing back and forth with his hands behind his back, “Do you know about ‘apical dominance’ in botany?”

Shen Siwei still playing along said, “Does the apical bud grow faster?”

Avis corrected him, “The apical bud inhibits the growth of lateral buds.”

“So,” Shen Siwei paused, “you have issues with the Marg people.”

“Just look at what you’ve done,” Avis said, “Isn’t the ‘Declaration of Non-Procreation’ for your benefit? The more civilians there are, the greater the energy consumption. You use this ridiculous method to ensure your own rule.”

“The Marg people also don’t procreate,” Shen Siwei said, “It’s a fair ‘declaration.'”

Shen Siwei had no thoughts on this matter, and Avis probably thought it was futile to argue, so he approached from a different angle and said, “Then look at how well you’ve ruled. The refugees have already attacked the Life Tree, so why haven’t you taken action?”

“The military is working on it,” Shen Siwei said.

At this point, Shen Siwei had already realized that Avis’s position was outside that of civilians and refugees. He neither obeyed the Marg people’s rule nor wanted the refugees to enter the Life Tree. He intended to incite an all-out war between the military and the refugees.

His thoughts were quickly confirmed when Avis suddenly pulled out a gun and without hesitation, aimed it at him and pulled the trigger.

At the same time, Shen Siwei had already lifted his feet and forcefully kicked the dining table away.

Shen Siwei was mentally prepared for this. Although his body was immune to bullets, he didn’t have an oxygen mask now. If he couldn’t subdue Avis with one move, things would become very troublesome.

After the heavy dining table flew out, Shen Siwei fell off the chair and rolled backward, crashing heavily into the cupboard.

Avis, on the other hand, was knocked back by the dining table and finally collapsed beside the coffee table, his legs pinned down by the table, unable to move.

“Huff… huff…”

Shen Siwei lay gasping for air near the cupboard, taking in large breaths. But even so, he continued to observe Avis’s situation. He saw that the gun had fallen from Avis’s hand, and Avis was struggling but unable to crawl out from under the table.

A grown man shouldn’t have trouble lifting a dining table. The only explanation for why Avis was in this situation was that he had broken bones somewhere in his body.

And this was with Shen Siwei only using ten percent of his strength.

If Shen Siwei had worn a face mask at this moment, that one kick would have been enough kill Avis.

The room was filled with gasps and struggling sounds as both men lay on the ground unable to move.

Just then, the door suddenly opened, and a thin figure ran in and rushed to Avis’s side, saying, “Brother!”

Unlike his previously immature voice, the boy seemed to have started to go through puberty, and his sharp voice had a hint of hoarseness.

It was knock.

Shen Siwei wasn’t surprised at all; it was as he had expected.

“Don’t worry about me,” Avis pushed knock aside, “Quickly, go get the gun.”

“Klet is already downstairs,” knock hurriedly said, “Maybe we should forget about it.”

“Then hurry up!” Avis shouted.

knock hesitantly picked up the gun, aiming it at Shen Siwei. He looked at Avis and said, “Brother, the negotiator even helped me pick up trash. It doesn’t seem like he’s that bad. I…”

“What do you know?” Avis exclaimed in frustration. “Only by killing him will the military drive out the refugees!”

knock swallowed hard and approached Shen Siwei with the gun.

“Negotiator, I’m not targeting you… It’s just that you happened to come to the lower levels…”

“Stop the fucking nonsense!” Avis roared.

At that moment, urgent footsteps could be heard outside the door, and in the next second, the figures of Klet and Malken appeared at the door.

Seeing the situation in the room, Malken immediately pulled out his gun and aimed it at knock. He  was about to pull the trigger, while a look of despair flashed across Avis’ face.

“No chance,” he muttered.

Perhaps knowing that their end was near, Avis pulled out a small bomb, his index finger hooked around the pin. “Then let’s all die.”