Fire at me! (A sudden midnight update—please vote)

A week after that earth-shattering explosion, in a small city in Egypt.

A man wandered the streets with two young girls, the three of them blending in as ordinary tourists, drifting through a city steeped in foreign charm.

They were Jos and his companions.

After that enormous blast, both Jos and Laura had managed to slip out of the American military’s sights, buying him ample time to tinker with Apocalypse at his leisure.

As for Kuro, since Laura had already seen her that day, Jos saw no further need for secrecy and simply allowed her to leave his body and act independently.

“What exactly are you looking for? This is already the fourth city we've visited, isn't it?” Laura asked, folding her arms with a trace of impatience.

After the explosion, Laura admitted that leaving didn't make much difference to her situation, so she decided to stick with Jos a while longer before making future plans.

As a man about to wake Apocalypse for some fun, Jos naturally didn’t mind having a bit more muscle at his side.

Though Apocalypse in the movies wasn’t nearly as overpowered as his comic book counterpart, Jos saw no reason to refuse the addition of a strong, half-tank fighter to his ranks.

The trio found a hotel that looked decent—well, at least the wooden structure didn’t seem too drafty—and went inside, striking up a conversation with the proprietor, who also doubled as the only staff, though he offered little in the way of service.

“I’m looking for a pyramid ruin like this near here,” Jos said, pulling out a hand-drawn sketch in one hand and a wad of Egyptian pounds in the other.

After all, the cash was scavenged from terrorists and left behind in military bases—none of it his own, so he spent it freely, without a second thought.

“Another adventurer, eh? Every year people come hoping to find treasures left by the pharaohs. But don’t worry, I know the local pyramids better than anyone,” the owner replied, brightening immediately at Jos’s straightforward manner, and buried his head in the sketch to study it closely.

“I know this place! Come with me,” he exclaimed, nodding repeatedly as if matching the drawing to a memory in his mind. He motioned for them to follow and bustled out the door.

Jos and Laura exchanged a glance, then followed him outside.

“So, what exactly are you looking for?” Laura asked, her curiosity piqued.

They had visited several places in recent days. While she knew he was searching for a pyramid, she had no idea what, specifically, he was after.

“According to the information I gathered, the oldest mutant in history lies dormant nearby. My goal is to find him,” Jos explained.

“What? Are you planning to swear loyalty to some random weirdo?” Laura scowled at his words.

“What’s wrong with that? Don’t humans have a saying about finding a powerful backer? Parasitic coexistence is the best form of survival,” Kuro chimed in, unfazed, for such a mode of existence was perfectly natural for a symbiote.

On one side, a renowned lone wolf; on the other, a notorious parasite—the two glared at each other, bared fangs and all.

“Alright, alright. The guy next door survived two thousand years and developed power on a galactic scale, but this six-thousand-year-old who only does hairdressing? I have no interest in attaching myself to that loser,” Jos scoffed.

If it were only about raw strength, Jos might have been tempted to take a dose of Apocalypse’s power.

But the man’s appalling taste—those ridiculous hairstyles—made Jos abandon the idea at once.

“Still, the whole Four Horsemen concept isn’t bad... Maybe I’ll found my own edgy group someday,” he mused, casting a glance at Kuro, who shuddered with discomfort as his gaze lingered.

“So, what exactly are you planning?” Laura pressed.

“Just for fun, of course!” Jos retorted, unable to mention the system, and since this world didn’t have a game-like loot mechanic, it was the best excuse he could muster.

In truth, if he didn’t have to spend all his points on debt repayment, he really was doing this just for the amusement of it.

Laura frowned. “I’ve never heard of a monster like that, but if it really exists, wouldn’t releasing it cause a huge mess?”

“Of course it’d be trouble. But did I ever say I’d be the one to deal with it?” Jos replied with self-assured defiance.

If I want to court disaster, why should I be the one to clean it up?

Fortunately, both his companions could be classified as lawful evil or neutral evil anti-heroes—if a superhero were here, Jos would already be in a fight.

Still, Laura, while finding Jos’s actions questionable, had no plans to intervene.

“We’re here,” the proprietor announced suddenly, interrupting Jos and Laura’s idle conversation. He turned to them with an ingratiating smile.

“We’re here? What is this place?” Jos and the others glanced around, only to find themselves not at a pyramid ruin, but a deserted dead-end alley.

At Laura’s question, the owner’s smile twisted into a sneer, his plump face betraying a flash of malice.

“Where are you? At the end of your journey, you little fools.” He clapped his hands, and a gang of sand bandits, faces twisted with menace, surrounded the trio, weapons both new and old leveled at them.

“Tsk... This scene is getting old. Don’t you guys have any tricks besides surrounding people and pointing guns?” Jos mused, recalling that this was the sixth time since arriving in this world he’d been caught in a “surrounded at gunpoint” situation.

“Every single time it ends badly, yet a few days later, someone tries it again. So dull,” Jos sighed, making a gun gesture with his right hand and striking the classic pose from the Borderlands cover, grinning. “Not to brag, but with that scrap metal in your hands, you could shoot at me all day and not graze a hair.”

The fat proprietor narrowed his eyes. Superpowered beings weren’t exactly a secret in this world, and Jos’s confidence gave him pause—had he picked the wrong target?

But if he let a few words scare him off, there would be no point in running a shady business.

“Seems you still don’t believe me,” Jos sneered, stepping forward and locking eyes with the man. “Go on, fire a shot. If you kill me, I’ll admit defeat.”

With that, he casually shoved Laura forward.

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A new week, and just a few days left on the new books chart. If you have recommendation tickets, would you give me one?