Ashen Crucible

Chapter Five: Welcome to the Jungle

Chapter Five: Welcome to the Jungle (Part 1)

At Asmo's gates, over a hundred spectators gathered - mercenaries, hunters, and several Payne Corporation soldiers and officers. Most were heavily armed. The hunters and mercenaries exuded vicious arrogance, particularly in their contempt for women. To these men, women existed solely as objects for carnal release, regardless of beauty or ferocity. Yet they weren't fools. Noting how the Payne officers deliberately avoided confrontation, they too held their tongues.

A hundred restless men, a hundred pairs of eyes filled with hostility and lust - Li treated them all as air.

Outside Asmo, engines roared as two armored jeeps charged forward another ten meters, their front bumpers nearly kissing the compound's sandbag barriers. During this advance, twin anti-aircraft machine guns swiveled with mechanical precision. When the vehicles halted, their gaping muzzles locked onto the crowd with lethal accuracy. The gunners' eyes glinted with bloodthirsty anticipation, fingers twitching near triggers.

At the sight of these weapons, Payne officers grew even more subdued. They wouldn't risk corporate war with Roxeran Company over some frontier hunter, even as Roxeran's actions bordered on provocation. Ordinary mercenaries might not grasp the stakes, but these officers understood clearly: war with Roxeran meant suicide.

Su slowly raised his hand, undoing the clasp at his throat.

Li arched an eyebrow, watching Su's movements with intensifying interest.

BOOM! BOOM!

Twin gunshots thunderclapped across Asmo, the shockwave buffeting Li's face. "Am I dead?" flashed through her mind before darkness engulfed her vision. She lost balance, crashing to the ground.

The moment her shoulders touched dirt, Li's core muscles snapped taut. She sprang upright, furiously tearing away the cloak that had blinded her - just in time to see Su's camouflage-clad form blur toward Asmo's barbed wire perimeter. Without breaking stride, he defied physics, floating weightlessly over the 1.5-meter razor-wire coils before vanishing into the wilderness.

Her custom combat bike lay capsized nearby, both tires sporting gaping holes from Su's parting shots.

TAT-TAT-TAT! A jeep's AA gun roared to life, stitching explosive geysers of earth behind Su's fleeing form. The ground erupted in his wake, raining debris that threatened to bury him alive - these gunners clearly possessed at least Tier 1 Heavy Weapons specialization.

Su abruptly veered, slipping the killzone with unnatural grace, accelerating toward distant ruins choked with mutant foliage.

"CEASE FIRE!" Li's roar could've curdled blood.

She exploded into motion, matching Su's preternatural speed as she charged the nearest jeep. Seizing the gunner mid-barrage, she hurled him like a ragdoll across five meters of hardpack. The man hit earth with a sickening crunch, temporarily immobilized. Li wrenched open the driver's door, ejecting the operator with equal prejudice before commandeering the vehicle.

The jeep's engine howled in protest as Li reversed violently, then executed a tire-shredding 180. Burning rubber filled the air as she rocketed after Su's retreating figure.

During the jeep's backward surge, a hulking officer from the second vehicle made his move. He vaulted into Li's passenger seat as she accelerated, casually ejecting the original occupant to join his groaning comrades.

Li's jeep left the other vehicle behind - none could match her driving madness anyway.

Across the barren plain, Su moved with impossible fluidity. Each stride flowed into the next, his movements economical yet covering inhuman distances. Two kilometers of open ground separated him from the tree-choked ruins. At his current pace, he'd cover it in two minutes - but Li's jeep was rapidly closing the gap.

Li gnawed her lower lip bloody, hammering through gears while flooring the accelerator. The jeep lunged forward like a rabid beast, its reinforced bumper aimed at Su's spine. At the final instant, Su tucked into a lateral roll, letting the vehicle scream past.

The jeep's tires shrieked as Li executed a perfect J-turn, kicking up a dust curtain that momentarily obscured Su. When the vehicle completed its 180, Su materialized like a phantom beside the driver's window - their faces barely a meter apart through the glass.

Steel flashed. A side mirror clattered to earth as Su ghosted past, accelerating toward the ruins like a startled gazelle.

Li stomped the accelerator again.

The jeep pirouetted another 180 degrees, charging Su's new trajectory.

Su shimmered left, evading the steel behemoth, then reappeared on the vehicle's starboard flank as it slowed, continuing his relentless sprint.

The jeep's battered sound system blasted Guns N' Roses' "Welcome to the Jungle" at deafening volume, Axl Rose's rasp perfectly matching the vehicular mayhem.

Li's knuckles whitened on the steering wheel, the reinforced composite groaning under her grip. Each hairpin turn threatened to shear the steering column. Her combat boots danced across pedals in a lethal ballet - clutch, brake, accelerator - while her short-cropped hair whipped about like angry serpents despite the closed windows.

Beside this maelstrom, the passenger lounged with impossible calm, legs casually crossed on the dashboard. The man appeared welded to his seat despite lacking seatbelts. Late twenties, perhaps, with salt-and-pepper stubble shadowing a face carved from granite. His half-unbuttoned leather combat jacket revealed a pelt of chest hair over corded muscle. A hawk's beak nose and gunmetal-gray eyes completed the image of predatory charm.

"Kid's got wheels," the man drawled, tracking Su's movements. "Hitting 60 klicks sustained. You sure he's baseline combat specs?"

Li spat through clenched teeth: "Shut your crow's beak, Regault! I vet my own recruits! Cigar. Now."

Regault sighed dramatically, producing a genuine pre-Collapse Cuban. His index finger blurred, guillotining the cap. A blue flame kissed the tip before he jammed it between Li's teeth.

She inhaled deeply, twin smoke serpents erupting from flared nostrils. "Little rabbit... let's see how long those legs last."

The cabin vibrated with engine snarls and tortured rubber, yet their conversation cut through effortlessly. Li's voice retained its glass-edged clarity, Regault's bass rumble harmonizing with mechanical fury.

Ahead, Su wove across the wasteland like quicksilver, each evasive maneuver bringing him closer to the ruins. Though Li's driving bordered on supernatural, Su remained frustratingly elusive.

After several kilometers of high-speed pursuit, Regault's grin turned feral. "Face it, kitten. This one's slipping your claws."

Li savagely downshifted. "f**k your auguries! I'm just warming him up!" She jerked the wheel, avoiding a collision course with Su's latest feint.

Regault chuckled darkly, producing a Desert Eagle. Glass exploded outward as he leaned from the window. "Let's test those reflexes."

The .50 cal roared. Su's path instantly jagged left, the round kicking up dirt where his head had been.

Regault's arm tracked like a mechanized turret. Three more thunderclaps split the air. Su's movements became erratic - sudden accelerations, impossible mid-stride direction shifts. Each bullet found only empty space.

"See?" Regault needled, firing three more shots with theatrical nonchalance. Su stopped evading, the rounds harmlessly bracketing his path. "Pup's reading your moves."

Li hammered the brakes. The jeep screamed to a halt, front bumper kissing a mutant bramble at the ruin's edge. Su had vanished into the concrete jungle.

"Welcome to the Jungle" continued its tinny assault as Li and Regault dismounted. At 190cm, Regault dwarfed Li's compact frame, though her coiled lethality balanced the scales. Li finished her cigar, spitting the nub with contemptuous precision.

Regauld scanned the overgrown ruins. "Need backup? This pup might bite."

Li peeled her leather jacket open, revealing sun-bronzed skin beneath. Twin palm-sized pistols clattered to earth. A stiletto flashed from her boot. "My prey. My rules."

As she melted into the shadows, Regault called after: "Remember - there's f*****g, then there's getting f****d!"

Li's enraged snarl echoed through the ruins: "EAT s**t!"

Regault chuckled, lighting a crumpled cigarette. Retrieving Li's discarded pistols, he slumped in the driver's seat. Guns N' Roses still screamed through blown speakers. Within minutes, his snores rivaled the engine's ghost.

Chapter 5: Welcome to the Jungle! Part 2

The abandoned town was bisected by a small river flowing with phosphorescent green light. If one ignored the suspicious glowing substances dissolving in the water and the bizarre objects embedded in the riverbed, the shimmering currents might almost be considered picturesque.

Vibrant shrubs thrived everywhere in the moisture-rich environment. After decades of neglect, some trees had grown over thirty meters tall. Though it was mid-morning with intense sunlight, the ruins maintained an oppressive chill that refused to dissipate.

On the third floor of a four-story building, behind completely shattered windows, faint green reflections flickered. Su lowered his water canteen with glacial slowness, silently observing Li moving cat-like through the bushes below. Her body twisted with instinctive precision, every obstacle avoided through perfect angles and foot placements. Though the ornate dagger in her hand appeared to be her only weapon, the explosive power coiled within her curvaceous frame could turn any object deadly.

Su's gaze swept over her black leather catsuit that left nothing to imagination. After their night together, he knew every contour intimately. The skintight outfit revealed no hidden weapons - she'd apparently brought only the dagger into this game.

"So she wants close combat," Su concluded.

When Li disappeared into the foliage, Su closed his eyes, slowing his breathing until each inhalation came minutes apart. His body temperature dropped to match the ambient air. He drained his canteen of grade-4 purified water and began methodically chewing freshly picked leaves, extracting every drop of nutrients.

With his rifle cradled in arms, Su entered a meditative state. Beside him lay his pistol and neatly arranged ammunition rows.

This ruined room among thousands offered perfect concealment. Though Li was an urban warfare expert, Su trusted his wilderness-honed skills more. Finding him here would take her weeks, if ever.

Su decided to rest first, conserving energy while draining Li's patience. He needed to end this in the jungle - otherwise the Rossartrum Corporation's reach would make escape impossible. That hulking man accompanying Li radiated lethal danger Su preferred avoiding.

Deep sleep claimed him.

Li crouched beneath bushes, sweat stinging her eyes as she scanned identical decaying buildings. Three hours of fruitless searching left her frustrated. Only primal intuition told her prey remained nearby.

As dusk fell, Li abruptly stood and shouted, "Are you even a man?! Come out if you’ve got balls!"

A muzzle flash answered from a fourth-story window. The thunderous gunshot startled roosting birds as a .50 caliber round snapped the branch above her head. Foul-smelling liquid rained down - Li caught a drop and froze. The neurotoxin could've killed her in seconds.

Grim-faced, Li charged toward the shot's origin like a panther. "When I catch him..." she growled, flames dancing in her eyes.

She found only abandoned weapons in the empty room - rifle, pistol, and meticulous ammunition rows. Scanning the environment, she suddenly kicked open the stairwell door and charged downward.

At the second-floor corridor, a shadow flickered. Li's dagger met Su's tungsten blade in metallic song. Their free hands grappled, testing each other's strength. When Li feinted a punch then unleashed a devastating kick, Su went flying through a doorway.

Li stalked into the room, finding Su in the corner removing his shirt and bandages. Moonlight revealed sculpted musculature and luminous jade-like skin.

"Getting undressed for me?" Li sneered, though her pulse quickened. "But keep struggling - it's better that way!"

As darkness fell completely, Su attacked. What followed was primal - two predators abandoning technique for raw power. Furniture shattered under their impacts. Li's enhanced strength met Su's relentless endurance. When exhaustion finally claimed her, Su pinned her facedown, breathing ragged.

"r**e wasn't part of your rules?" Su's velvet voice contrasted with their violent coupling.

Li's threats dissolved into helpless moans beneath the storm. One hour later, Su stood dressed while Li lay spent. He lit one of her cigars. "Not bad."

"You... bastard..." Li managed, though her body refused to cooperate.

Su placed a coin on the table. "My payment."

"f**k your coin!" Li spat. "I'll take your pistol!"

After silent negotiation, Su surrendered his customized handgun. Li holstered it, declaring debts settled. Before leaving, Su delivered his final verdict: "Under these rules, the outcome will always be the same."

Alone, Li pocketed the coin with mixed emotions. Returning to her vehicle, she tossed the pistol to her companion Regaire. "Mine now."

As they drove off into the night, Li's furious scream echoed through the ruins, answered only by Regaire's off-key humming of "Welcome to the Jungle."