Seraphs of the Emperor’s Judgment

Chapter 104: The Candidates (2)

"So what if I am?"

Bahram asked in return, his hand never leaving the gun at his lower back.

"Hah!"

The older boy said, throwing his hands up.

"You really are a tough guy, you know that?"

The boy lifted his shirt, pointed to a long scar on his belly, and then turned around to show several more scars to the other party.

"Do you know how to fight? Can you kill? Have you ever killed anyone? If you don't know how to do those things, the Angels won't want you! I've heard they want strong warriors, and I'm the most daring and best fighter in our gang."

He dropped his shirt and looked at Bahram with a mocking gaze.

"I can see your hands. You've never even touched a knife."

Bahram's face instantly flushed red."Nonsense! I killed someone when I was ten years old! A group of raiders attacked our mine—there was a lot of salt there, it could sell for a lot of money."

He realized he was starting to digress from the topic, so he checked his tongue.

Why did he suddenly want to impress these two so much?

"Those cape-wearing raiders are really hard to hit, but I fired one shot, and he died! Right in the chest, red blood spilled all over the ground."

He did not mention the sense of shame he felt from blindly firing his gun and killing a man, although that raider was indeed killed by him.

"Is that so?"

The older boy said, tilting his head with a crooked mouth. Squat-walking past the rock, he leaned close to Bahram.

At such a close distance, Bahram was choked by his foul breath.

Although living in the lower hive, his grandfather had strict requirements for personal hygiene, and Bahram was the same.

"Then you're really a tough guy, huh? But logically speaking, how do you plan to climb up to Greycliff Town? How are you going to scale those steep cliffs?"

"What about you two?"

Bahram asked, forgetting to disguise his impatience.

He had already left the area he lived in; these foothills were far too unfamiliar to him.

Even though he heard the trap in the boy's words and knew the other party was definitely intending to mock him, he still couldn't help but ask.

"I bet he's definitely planning to walk up there."

The first boy laughed to the second.

"Mhm, walk up there."

The second boy laughed in a crude and unpleasant manner, shaking his head at the pool of brown water.

"You won't be able to just walk over there, hive-punk. The wind on the cliffs can strip the flesh from your bones. You need a precious tool to get up there."

He patted the thing strapped to his back.

"A set of climbing equipment. If you want to get from here to Greycliff Town, you have to rely on this!"

"That's right, the people of Greycliff Town all use this thing."

The other boy smiled as he screwed the cap back onto his water bottle and put it back into his backpack.

"You know nothing, and you haven't even prepared any climbing equipment, so you can hardly be considered an excellent candidate. I really don't know why you're still going to participate in the screening; you're just playing with your life."

"I've already come this far."

Bahram spread his hands and said:

"I will definitely make it."

"Maybe we should just kill him right now."

The boy who was drinking water suddenly said with a sinister look on his face:

"Save ourselves the trouble of competing with him later."

The two boys' postures changed. They sized Bahram up with their gazes—a very intimidating gaze.

Bahram's heart almost stopped.

This was exactly what he was afraid of, so he gripped his pistol even tighter.

They looked at each other, assessing each other's strength, but no one made a rash move.

Suddenly, the first boy burst out laughing, and his stout companion followed suit.

"We really scared you, huh? He actually thought we were going to kill him, right?"

Bahram watched the two of them laughing, not daring to let his guard down in the slightest.

Well-versed in the rules of the Hive City, he knew that if he hadn't appeared so tough just now, they definitely would have killed him.

More crucially, they probably guessed that he had a weapon hidden behind his back.

He was very certain that they might still want to kill him even now, but just didn't want to pay too high a price for it.

"My name is Haomo."

The older boy, with a mouthful of black teeth and a mouth full of foul odor, patted his chest and said:

"This bald little fatty is Vayu."

Vayu gave him a sleazy glance, then nodded slightly, presumably trying to show friendliness.

"You don't talk much, do you."

"So?"

"At least tell us what your name is."

Haomo said somewhat helplessly.

"Bahram, Bahram Tate."

As soon as these words left his mouth, the two boys started laughing wildly again.

"What's so funny?"

Feeling insulted, Bahram yelled out.

"Bahram? Only little kids use that name! With a name like that, no one in the gang would ever respect you."

"My name originates from my family and its honor. It has absolutely nothing to do with those things in the gutters."

"You really are an interesting fellow, huh?"

Haomo mocked.

"So you think that even though we're all hive-punks, your birth is nobler than ours?"

"No."

Bahram shook his head.

"This has nothing to do with being noble or lowly either. I am merely stating a fact."

Haomo's smile grew rigid.

At this point, Vayu nudged his companion beside him.

"What do you think? Should we let him tag along with us for a while?"

"Why? He doesn't even have climbing gear."

"Three pairs of eyes are better than two pairs, that's why."

Haomo shrugged, not wanting to say anything more at all.

"You can walk with us to the climbing point below Greycliff Town."

Vayu said seriously:

"After that, you'll have to make your own way, how about it? We can look out for each other. The others out there might not be as friendly as us. You know, a lot of people want to become Angels."

Bahram fell silent, mulling over the proposal in his mind.

In a 2-on-1 situation, Bahram couldn't guarantee he would definitely win.

If he accepted, they might kill him while he was sleeping.

If he refused, they would be perfectly capable of tracking him.

But they were obviously more familiar with the terrain here. If they genuinely wanted to cooperate, they could get him to Greycliff Town much faster, regardless of whether he had climbing equipment or not.

This was indeed very tempting.

Of course, he had another option.

Draw his gun right now and shoot Haomo dead. And Vayu didn't look like a particularly courageous fellow; he would likely choose to flee in panic. Then he would not only be safe, but also gain a set of climbing equipment.

But he could not bring himself to do such a thing.

In the end, the main reason he agreed was because he had been walking alone for far too long.

"Alright, it's a deal then. We will work together, perhaps our chances of success will be a little higher."

They shook each other's hands, but Vayu smiled.

"Regardless, I tell you honestly, the chances of success for a scrawny skeleton like you are very low."

Haomo frowned and tossed a pebble at his friend's forehead.

"Shut up. He's one of us now. Just like in the gang, we are brothers now."

He turned his head to look at Bahram, gripping the other boy's hand even tighter.

"Brothers."

Bahram nodded cautiously.

"Yes, brothers."