Chapter 17: Escape from YD County Town

Li Gang swiftly left the training gym and made his way to his personal rest area. Here, he had prepared in advance a series of items for his escape. He quickly changed into travel clothes he had set aside earlier, slung on his readied backpack, and picked up the two pistols from the table. After checking their magazines, he secured them on his person, then fastened a sharp dagger to his thigh—a position chosen for easy access whenever needed.

All of this took Li Gang less than three minutes. He had practiced this routine several times each day over the past few days, and his movements were deft and practiced. Glancing again at the tracking map, he saw the blue dot had refreshed its position and was now moving directly toward him.

Li Gang’s pupils contracted. The pursuer was undoubtedly coming for him. Judging by their speed, if he stayed put, they would reach his location in just over an hour.

Despite this, Li Gang felt little panic or fear; after all, he had prepared for this very moment three days ago and had rehearsed his plan several times. Though the identity, intentions, and purpose of the pursuer were unknown, Li Gang had no desire to make contact.

He had not yet used any of his enhancement boosts; if the pursuer had already undergone enhancement, he would be at a disadvantage in terms of personal strength. Moreover, for the other party to come so brazenly, they must either be extremely confident in their abilities or incredibly bold.

Even though Li Gang was armed, the weapons brought him little sense of security. The wisest choice was to leave immediately, hoping the pursuer would back off upon realizing he had fled.

At this stage, Li Gang’s only plan was to quietly grow stronger on his own.

He quickly left the gym, mounted the motorcycle he had prepared, and expanded the tracking range to two hundred kilometers—then to five hundred kilometers—for a thorough check of the latest situation. He chose to head toward ES City, as it had the lowest population density.

With a twist of the throttle, Li Gang set off.

Why choose a motorcycle over a car? Motorcycles were more maneuverable. The disappearances hadn’t occurred at night, and after people vanished, many cars were left idling on the roads, creating countless traffic jams. Yet, one thing puzzled Li Gang: there had been no traffic accidents in the city; all vehicles were neatly parked and turned off on the roads.

Li Gang rode at a steady pace, neither too fast nor too slow, and checked his personal stats panel.

After two days of training, his basic stats had improved again. His stamina had increased by four points, reaching ninety-nine—just one away from the average for an adult male on Earth. His strength rose by two points to eighty-seven, mental resilience by one to seventy-three, and speed by two to seventy-two. His overall combat power increased by two, now seventy-eight.

Though his improvement had slowed, Li Gang was satisfied; only two days had passed since his last check.

Every seven or eight minutes, he would activate the tracking function to check his pursuer’s movements. What unsettled him was that the pursuer, upon realizing he was fleeing in the opposite direction, did not give up—instead, they sped up.

“Damn it, with so many survivors out there—especially in WH City, where there are at least seven or eight—why are they fixated on me?” Li Gang cursed inwardly.

Still, frustration aside, he pondered his options. Would he simply keep running if the person kept chasing? After much deliberation, he steeled himself.

If it was a test of patience, then he would endure.

The only thing Li Gang regretted was wasting precious time on this.

An hour later, Li Gang had left YC City–YD County far behind and entered the WF County area. Checking his pursuer’s location, he saw they had just reached YC City–YD County.

Li Gang then scanned the eighty-kilometer radius around him and confirmed that, aside from his pursuer, there was no one else nearby.

No matter the pursuer’s intentions, Li Gang had no desire to interact with anyone in this environment. He increased his speed toward the urban area of WF County.

WF County, in the southwest of HB Province, was distinctly different from YD County—a typical mountainous region dominated by karst terrain, with an average elevation of 1,100 meters.

Thus, much of Li Gang’s ride was along winding mountain roads, with cliffs dropping away on one side.

After more than half an hour, Li Gang finally glimpsed the county seat.

During this time, he noted that his pursuer, after reaching YD County, did not continue to follow him but remained in the area.

Relieved, Li Gang relaxed. If the chase had continued indefinitely, it would have been unbearable.

The distance between WF and YD Counties fit squarely within Li Gang’s comfort zone, so he decided to find a gym in WF County and stay there for a while, as long as his pursuer stayed put.

Upon entering the county, Li Gang first scavenged for firearms and ammunition, as well as various supplies. He checked the pursuer’s status multiple times and, seeing no sign of pursuit, set a simple lock on their location and ignored them.

After all, if the pursuer did anything suspicious, “Little White” would alert him immediately.

In the afternoon, Li Gang found a decent fitness center and returned to his original plan—training diligently to push all four basic attributes past the average for adult men on Earth. Once achieved, he would undergo his first enhancement.

This would substantially increase his strength—enough to surpass the ordinary human limit in the enhanced attribute.

At present, he was likely to choose stamina for his first enhancement.

He began with two hours of basic endurance training: running, jumping rope, push-ups, pull-ups—working each exercise to the limit before resting briefly and moving to the next.

After two hours, he spent an hour practicing his marksmanship with a pistol. When that was done, he moved on to two more hours of boxing and basketball, both excellent for improving overall coordination and reflexes.

His afternoon training lasted five hours in total. Though he was exhausted by the end, he no longer felt the aching soreness of the early days—just fatigue, which could be cured by food and rest.

Dinner was a simple meal Li Gang cooked himself. Since everyone had vanished, he had prepared his own food each day. In the ten days before the game began, he had holed up playing games and watching videos, but at least his cooking skills had improved by several levels.

He ate well every day. With the entire county’s food supply at his disposal, he could afford to be selective.

Good food, proper rest, and rigorous training—coupled with the subtle effects of Rule Two—brought noticeable changes to his physique almost daily.