Chapter 428: Chapter 353: Rune [6]
These three were none other than Iron Bear’s three women.
Perhaps it was because Hu Qi hadn’t targeted them when he opened fire, or maybe Iron Bear had secretly tried to shield them.
In any case, though the wounds on their bodies looked horrifying, none were fatal.
At this moment, strands of their disheveled hair clung to their tear-streaked, terrified faces. Their thin clothes were torn to tatters, exposing large patches of fair, delicate skin.
Three distinctly different types of beauties, all kneeling on the ground, their tear-streaked faces evoking a tragic, pitiful beauty.
It was a scene that would stir pity in the heart of anyone who witnessed it.
"Sir, what should we do with these three?"
Tong Chang approached Hu Qi and asked respectfully.
"In this settlement, the looks and bearing of these three are absolutely top-tier. They’re nothing like the ordinary survivors. Sir, perhaps you’d like to..."
Tong Chang trailed off, chuckling suggestively.
But his meaning was perfectly clear.
However, setting aside whether Hu Qi himself had any such needs, even if he did, he would never touch another man’s leftovers.
"You deal with them. I don’t want to see them here."
Hu Qi’s tone was flat, his expression laced with cold indifference.
"Sir, let us stay! We can serve you together!"
"That’s right. You can do anything you want with us."
Having overheard the conversation, the three women at the side now understood their situation.
Hearing Hu Qi’s words, the color drained from their faces in terror.
With a collective thud, they all dropped to their knees.
As Iron Bear’s kept canaries, they had to serve the ugly man, but at least they lived a life of pampered ease, never wanting for food or clothing.
They were naturally unwilling to go back to living like ordinary survivors in a filthy, chaotic environment, scrambling every day for a bite to eat.
"You... you bitches! How dare you... betray me!"
Seeing this, Iron Bear, who was lying on the ground like a half-dead dog, somehow found a burst of strength and began cursing the three women.
The three women flinched instinctively at his roar.
However, when they saw Iron Bear’s utterly pathetic state, their courage surged, and the panic on their faces slowly subsided.
"You call us bitches? Then what are you?"
"Pah! What a joke. Why don’t you take a look in the mirror at that disgusting face of yours?"
"If it wasn’t for the sake of survival, why would we have ever lowered ourselves for an ugly monster like you? Compared to this handsome, mighty lord, you’re nothing!"
The three women, seeing that the half-dead Iron Bear still had the gall to curse them, were instantly enraged.
’They just wanted a better life. What was so wrong with that?’
’It was his own fault for being so useless, getting beaten half to death. Did he really expect them to go down with him?’
’As for honor and shame... what was the use of that? Could it fill your stomach in a world like this?’
"You... you..."
Iron Bear’s eyes were bloodshot. He spat out another mouthful of fresh blood before collapsing heavily onto the ground, motionless.
Clearly, his severe injuries, combined with his Qi and Blood surging to his heart from rage, had caused him to pass out.
The three women paid no mind to the unconscious Iron Bear.
They turned their pleading gazes back to Hu Qi.
Their gazes were liquid and alluring, like autumn pools, and they deliberately shifted to reveal even more of their snow-white skin.
They were experts at knowing what men wanted.
This was evident from the furtive glances the nearby guards kept stealing, and the way their Adam’s apples bobbed incessantly.
However, Hu Qi remained perfectly calm, utterly unmoved.
’Never mind the countless, meticulously photoshopped pictures of beauties from Blue Star, where he used to live.’
’And that was to say nothing of the incredible cosmetic surgery techniques on Earth Star, which had undergone a century-long technological Burst.’
’Compared to those, these three women would be lucky to score a five or six out of ten, barely a passing grade.’
’The only reason people here found them beautiful was because they were in this wasteland-like environment, surrounded by sallow-faced, haggard survivors. By comparison, these three simply stood out.’
But to Hu Qi, no matter how beautiful they were, in his eyes, they were no different from rosy skeletons.
As an expert at the Apostle Level Peak, these so-called beauties, and ordinary people for that matter, were nothing more than organisms composed of various bacteria and parasites in his eyes.
’He simply couldn’t bring himself to touch them.’
This was the vast perceptual difference that came with a different level of power.
Therefore, if he were to ever seek a woman, he would only choose a being on his own level.
He recalled a trope he’d often seen in the novels and TV shows back on Blue Star: an Immortal Emperor who had lived for eons would be betrayed, framed, and reborn in a modern city.
There, he would meet women who were all as beautiful as celestial beings—even more beautiful than the celestial maidens he knew before.
It would make the so-called Immortal Emperor drool.
He had always found it utterly ridiculous.
The entire premise was absurd. How could a mere mortal be more beautiful than a powerful being like an Immortal God? It was pure nonsense.
’Of course,’ he mused, ’it’s not impossible that the so-called Immortal Emperor just had a thing for that.’
"Take them away."
Hu Qi waved his hand, his voice tinged with impatience.
"Yes!"
Tong Chang nodded, beckoned to a few of his men, and had the three women forcibly dragged away despite their struggles.
Soon, everything was tidied up, and everyone withdrew.
Gazing at the now empty and tidy courtyard, Hu Qi’s eyes fell upon the unconscious form of Iron Bear.
