A swift and decisive victory in the early stages, a post-apocalyptic survival story in America!

As soon as the gunshot rang out, the man who had been unconscious on the sofa groggily woke up, opened his eyes, and saw Roger standing there with wide eyes, dumbfounded.

He cried out in surprise and turned around to see what had happened, but suddenly felt a sharp pain in his neck and then fainted again.

Roger reacted incredibly quickly; despite being startled by the gunshot, he immediately knocked his lover unconscious.

After all, he's a doctor; his actions are swift, accurate, and ruthless.

Li Qi fired another shot at the guy who had fainted again. The bullet hit the sofa next to him with a muffled thud.

He then fired another shot at the doorway of the hound Bart's room; the bullet hit the door frame, sending up a cloud of sawdust and dust.

Lee pointed his pistol at Roger: "We have no grudge against each other. Thank you for lending me the car. I'll settle the score for splashing water on Miles later. If you betray me again, next time, these bullets won't miss!"

Roger, pale-faced, nodded frantically: "Don't worry! You can rest assured! This time I won't tell anyone! Thank you, thank you for letting us go!"

Li Qi took a few steps back and left the veterinarian's house through the back door.

Once inside the dark alley, Li Qi opened the passenger door of the car and glanced at the 8-inch Colt python in his hand, feeling quite reluctant to part with it.

This gun was his only means of survival as he struggled to stay alive from the brink of death, and it was also a testament to the blood and fire that had sustained him along the way.

If I had a choice, I really wouldn't want to throw it away.

But the experience of living two lives and facing life and death reminded me that, apart from life itself, there is nothing truly worth cherishing.

There are plenty of good things out there, but the best is always ahead.

Out with the old, in with the new!

Consoling himself, Li Qi took a deep breath, placed the python revolver in Harry's hand, and mimicked Harry sitting in the car, simulating the shooting posture in front of the driver's side window before slowly lowering his arm.

The time difference was less than twenty minutes, and at this temperature, it shouldn't be a problem.

Having retrieved the bullets from the Beretta M92F, Richie packed everything up and quickly left.

After walking a block, police sirens blared behind me; clearly, the police had arrived.

After walking two more blocks, Li Qi got into the Toyota Corolla and took out his cousin Harry's phone.

The six missed calls above all came from the same number.

Although there was no name, Li Qi was almost certain that the number belonged to Harry Brandt.

Following the address he had obtained earlier, Li Qi drove his Toyota Corolla to where Harry lived.

After parking the car two blocks away, leaving the keys in the car, and leaving the door ajar, with a fifty-dollar bill in the passenger seat, Richie got out and walked towards Harry's house.

The conditions in this neighborhood were even worse than where Roger Stern lived; the roads were rough and the streets were cluttered.

Considering Harry's income level, living here is somewhat inappropriate.

The door was locked, and it wasn't midnight yet, so Harry obviously hadn't come home.

After scaling the wall to the backyard, prying open the back door and entering the house, Li Qi looked around the first floor and finally understood why Harry wasn't moving out.

The door to the guest bedroom on the first floor was locked. Pushing the door open, a faint smell of decay and decay hit you.

In the guest hospital bed, an elderly woman lay there, with a ventilator and vital signs monitor operating quietly beside her.

The elderly woman was frail and elderly; it was unclear whether she was fast asleep or unconscious. She was clearly being well cared for, and for someone who was bedridden and required a ventilator, her frail appearance was not unbearable.

Li Qi was somewhat moved.

To his own eyes, Harry harbored ulterior motives and plotted evil; but to his family, the boy was a dutiful son.

Given Harry's income level, he could easily choose to live with his elderly mother regardless of her own happiness, and he's even willing to use these expensive life-sustaining devices for her. It has to be said that this somewhat overturns Li Qi's stereotypes.

The old woman was fast asleep, or rather, unconscious, and was completely unaware that there was another person in the room.

Li Qi sat down on the chair at the foot of the bed and slowly closed his eyes.

Not long after, the faint sound of tires rubbing against stones could be heard. Li Qi opened his eyes and looked at the door.

……

……

Harry Brandt held his phone; it rang once, but no one answered.

My cousin Wyatt Morris, who is also an employee of the security company, has military experience. Although he was a regular army soldier, he was very skilled in firearms handling and close combat. He was just tracking someone, so nothing should have happened.

Wyatt is a cautious person; he shouldn't be thinking of taking everything for himself out of greed, right?

Because they both had to go to work, they agreed to contact each other after get off work in the evening to confirm their next steps.

But Wyatt's phone was still unreachable...

Harry felt a pang of regret. If William Thomson really was a professional killer, had he made an irreversible mistake by having his cousin follow him?

Harry, who didn't know much about the professional assassin industry, didn't look down on it, but he didn't take it too seriously either.

Compared to the people I killed while serving in the military in the Middle East, what kind of skill is it for a professional killer to only bully ordinary people?

With these thoughts swirling in his mind, Harry looked around to make sure there was nothing unusual in the neighborhood before opening the door and going inside.

Nothing had changed in the room. Harry breathed a sigh of relief, went to the kitchen refrigerator, grabbed a bottle of chilled beer, took a sip, walked over to the sofa, sat down, and turned on the TV.

The program was boring, but he still kept watching TV.

When he came home every night, the time he spent drinking this bottle of wine was his own happy time.

The time before belongs to work, and the time after belongs to family.

After finishing his beer, Harry stood up, walked to his mother's bedroom door, and slowly pushed it open.

Even after smelling it for many years, he still found the smell somewhat unpleasant.

Harry steeled himself and walked to the bedside. After confirming that everything was alright, he breathed a sigh of relief.

Rosalie Sinclair took excellent care of my mother; although she was a bit pricey, she was truly a competent caregiver.

Harry turned and walked out, immediately spotting the man with the gun in the corner.

The room was dark, with only the faint light from the ventilator and vital signs monitor falling on the man wearing a hood.

Harry guessed the other person's identity almost instantly.

"You...you killed Wyatt?"

Li Qi nodded slightly; the man's wallet was inside the Toyota.

"Why...why did you kill him? He...he didn't do anything wrong—" Harry was flustered, but he tried his best to calm down.

With his mother behind him and no weapon at hand, he could only raise his hands and try to maneuver.

Li Qi interrupted Harry, "You've been testing us time and time again, and today you even climbed over the wall into the Thomson's yard. What are you looking for?"

"I...I was just curious..." Harry lied with his eyes wide open.

Li Qi gave a cold laugh: "Why bother? We're all not fools. Wouldn't it be better to be open and honest?"

Harry hesitated for a moment, then dropped the pretense and said bluntly, "I've been watching you. You're too mysterious, and with Ms. Stern's sudden appearance and that red impala, plus the kill order on the dark web, so..."

Li Qi interrupted him again: "So what do you want to do?"

Harry fell silent: "My intention was to follow you, discover your secrets, and then blackmail you..."

Li Qi laughed: "It's not as simple as blackmail, is it? You don't want those ten bitcoins?"

Harry remained silent.

Li Qi brandished the Beretta in his hand: "Give me a reason not to kill you right now."

Harry's eyes darted around: "I...I hid $100,000 in the basement. I'll give you the money, please let me go!"

There was indeed $100,000 hidden in the basement, but a gun was also hidden where the money was.

If we can get to the basement, we can turn things around by taking advantage of the opportunity to get the money.

Harry looked at the man in front of him with great anticipation. One hundred thousand dollars—he didn't think anyone could resist such a temptation.

As expected, Li Qi nodded: "Let's go, take me to find that money. This is your mother's room after all, and I can't possibly kill you here."

Harry breathed a sigh of relief: "My money is right here—"

With a muffled thud, Harry had only taken one step when he suddenly felt a sharp pain in his head. He didn't die immediately; instead, he stared at Li Qi with a shocked and bewildered expression, his eyes wide open in death.

Li Qi shrugged: "Sorry, I lied."