Rise Of The Wasteland Chapter 45 - Tears And Joy

Chapter 45        Tears and Joy

Columbia University, one of the oldest universities in the United States, had a history long enough to write a few books with. Its achievement in cultivating over hundreds of n.o.bel laureates was eye-catching as well. Poor China, on the other hand, had yet to acquire a n.o.bel Prize in the field of natural science.

However, one day China will obtain the n.o.bel Prize as easily as obtaining the Olympic Gold medal.

Columbia University had an extremely small campus; the size of the university did not match its reputation at all. It was located right next to the Hudson River. Lena Fox found an open s.p.a.ce at the riverside park and landed the helicopter on it. They then swiftly hijacked a car and hid inside the vehicle.

The process of hijacking the car was extremely easy. Lena Fox even felt that she had been corrupted by Zhou Qingfeng, as she can now commit a crime with ease.

After that, they can only wait. Currently, Zhou Qingfeng was only a few hundred meters away from the Engineering and Applied Sciences Department of Columbia University, and it will take him no more than a few minutes to run toward it.

It was now twelve o’clock in the afternoon. In six hours, he would rush into the Smartlab with a gun in his hand. By that time, the government, military, and police would have already collapsed.

Zhou Qingfeng thought to himself, By that time, no matter how lucky Tony Parker is, I’ll kill him with a single shot if he dared compete with me. It’ll be the prime time for me to kill the lucky star that constantly brought me trouble.

It was extremely quiet inside the car. Lena Fox opened her lunchbox. She enjoyed her lunch with a fork and a knife. She even had a bottle of wine and a gla.s.s beside her. She poured wine into her gla.s.s, looking as if she was having dinner in a luxury restaurant.

Zhou Qingfeng stole those under the excuse of an emergency, knowing that food will be more important than weapons in the cataclysm to come. He knew that he must always be prepared.

While eating her lunch, Lena Fox spoke, breaking the quiet, "Victor, I really can't believe that I was able to befriend with you.

“Previously, all the people I knew were prominent politicians and elites from the financial sector. I would have taken it as the biggest joke if someone told me two days ago that I would trust a criminal who was wanted by the police. 

“However, now, not only am I sitting in the same car as you, I’m even facing the same predicament as you. More than that, I’m the one who got myself into all these troubles.”

Miss Fox felt lost and miserable, but Zhou Qingfeng was not touched at all. He had never encountered Lena Fox’s character in “Wasteland”. Perhaps she was originally killed in the street where they first met.

Moreover, all the members from the board of directors will be disappearing within a few hours, including all those marginal figures. Although Lena Fox was no longer the CEO of Fox Foundation, Zhou Qingfeng felt that she will disappear as well.

As Zhou Qingfeng showed no reaction to Lena Fox’s words, she could not help frowning. “Hey! Do you really hate me? Or do you have some prejudice against me?”

“No, I just don’t feel like talking.” Zhou Qingfeng was trying to clean up his wounds. His superb healing ability had begun to play its role. He will be facing quite a big trouble if all the gla.s.s fragments were to remain buried beneath his skin. “Can you please help me pull out the fragments?”

“You’re brave.” Lena Fox stared at Zhou Qingfeng’s mangled body. She thought back to the moment when the police launched the sudden attack. She would have been disfigured if it was not for the big man who stood up and protected her in that crucial moment. “Thanks for saving me once again.”

Lena Fox took the military grade dagger from Zhou Qingfeng and tore apart his s.h.i.+rt. She then removed the gla.s.s fragments by hand, staining her hand in blood.

“Don’t you feel pain?” asked Lena Fox.

“I’ll be fine.” There was no way Zhou Qingfeng will confess the truth. However, he could not do anything as he knew that falsely moaning in pain will only yield a worse result.

“What are you going to do after getting the robotic dog?” asked Lena Fox.

“I’ll decide on what I’ll do once I get it.” Zhou Qingfeng wanted to find some companions desperately. He knew that a reliable companion was much more important than gold during the cataclysm.

“Do you by any chance want to hear about my plan?” Lena Fox still wanted Zhou Qingfeng to follow her.

Zhou Qingfeng rejected her without hesitation, “I don’t want to hear.”

“You…!” Miss Fox frowned and pouted. Yet, she still said softly, “Alright, you win. To be honest, I also don’t know why I followed you.

“My father pa.s.sed away but I wasn’t even able to see him for one last time. My uncle hid the news and faked my father’s will. He even tried to kill me. He not only bribed my bodyguards and recruited a gang of kidnappers, he also convinced the New York City Police Chief to stand on his side.

“I’ve now lost everything, including money, status and connections. I was born with a very heavy sense of crisis and had once fantasized about this tragic scene. I’ve even studied carefully about what I should do if I were to find myself in such a situation. However, I realized that all my preparations were ridiculous once it really happened.

“I thought that I could rely on my lawyer, friends and employees in order to regain everything that I lost. But they instantly left me the moment they realized that I’m no longer the CEO of Fox Foundation.

“I now doubt everything that I’ve done. I no longer trust my own judgment. Sometimes, I even feel helpless. That’s why I followed you. It’s because I feel that you can protect me and keep me safe from all dangers.”

Lena Fox talked about her current feelings while she was cleaning up Zhou Qingfeng’s wounds. At that moment, she felt lonely and helpless. Zhou Qingfeng turned around and saw the debutante burst into tears.

“Am I no longer elegant?” Lena Fox wiped her tears with her hand as she mocked herself, “It’s been so long since I last cried. The last time I cried was when my mother pa.s.sed away. I feel a lot better now after crying. How about you…. When was the last time that you cried?”

Lena Fox now finally looked like a lady in her twenties. Zhou Qingfeng sighed. “My situation is not much better than yours. In fact, it’s probably even worse than yours.  At least you know how you turned out this way, but that’s not the case for me.”

Zhou Qingfeng felt less stressed then, probably due to their conversation. He connected the armband computer on his wrist to the Internet in order to search for all news related to him in the past two days, saying, “Take a look!”

Zhou Qingfeng was the center of dispute in the past two days. He gradually became an infamous criminal wanted by the police after killing a robber and stealing equipment from two cops.

Lena Fox read through the news one by one. She was surprised at first, but she guffawed in the end. “The media said that you’re the most terrible criminal in the United States. You’ve killed over ten men in two days, several of them from the NYPD.

“Oh my G.o.d, I’m supposed to be scared. But I feel like you’re my best friend now. You’ve killed so many people, yet I don’t think that you’ve committed any crime. Am I going to spend the rest of my years in this way as well?”

Miss Fox had a bitter yet moving smile, and Zhou Qinfeng was touched after hearing her words. After thinking about his future, after thinking about the dark times that he was going to encounter, after thinking about the countless blemishes on Earth, he mocked himself, “I think that killing will be the only way for me to survive for the rest of my life.”