"He's actually crazy," Qiqi muttered beneath her breath.
The group watched as Zarek howled and dove right into the sea of Turned without a care in the world. It was like he had lost his mind, but the sharpness of his movements was something that left them on edge.
This wasn't a man they wanted to face at all.
Qiqi knew a lot more about Malik's abilities by now. Dodging a homing bullet, especially a supersonic one, wasn't as easy as leaning to one side. You had to dodge at the moment the curve of the bullet couldn't catch up to you anymore.
Too early and it would adjust.
Too late and, well… you'd already be dead.
To time such a thing for a supersonic bullet was more than superhuman.
Even though they were all growing beyond human limits, there was definitely no human that should be at this level already.
Malik slowly lowered a smoking rifle, standing up from his lying position.
"You're giving up?" Qiqi asked.
"He's more useful to test the bottom line of whatever is in there," Malik said calmly.
Qiqi smiled. "Look at you, thinking of plans without me."
"I've noticed that you've been less and less useful in that regard recently."
"Mm, maybe if I was happier, my brain would work better," Qiqi said with a familiar red-glossed smile.
"Now isn't the time for a childish tantrum."
Qiqi smiled. "I told you that night to make a decision. You haven't made one yet."
"I already told you—!"
The spat between the two was abruptly cut off as Malik spun his head toward the side. There was a fluttering wisp of something.
"Shit. She's coming."
"It," Qiqi corrected. "It would never allow us to sit idly by while it faced off against a threat all on its own. It wouldn't be like it at all."
Malik turned to Qiqi. "What do you suggest we do?"
Realizing that Qiqi was always willing to be helpful when dealing a blow to "it," he took advantage.
"There are only two paths. Engage or retreat."
"But we're already so far from the battlefield."
"Clearly it knows that it's still within your range. It sent lesser zombies after that guy. It will definitely send stronger ones after you to send a message."
"Is it really that smart already?"
"Have we been fighting the same battles until now or not? What do you think this is, exactly?"
"Enlighten me."
"Malik. We chose our area perfectly. We're a gang that usually operates out of the slums of a city. We targeted the poor, the disenfranchised. Our 'high class' establishment was marred by heavy smoke and old velvet carpets. What did I tell you when the first of those bastards came down?"
"To move to the academy suburb."
"And why did I say that?"
"Do we need to rehash this?"
"Humor me, since you seem to refuse to in every other aspect of our lives."
"Qiqi, we do not have time for this."
There was a sternness in his voice, but Qiqi seemed to also be at her tipping point. She crossed her arms, the same smile on her face.
He knew that he had been pushing her too far recently, but he didn't expect things to come to a boiling point so soon.
It was obvious that she was doing this on purpose. It was just as she had said before. She would prefer that he kill her now than use her for ten years and then kill her.
She practically read him like an open book, and she was making no effort to hide her growing strength either. She knew how uneasy that made him, but she pressed and pressed.
Malik took a breath.
"Fine. We moved because you said all those rich fucks would be the first to be evacuated. That would leave the entire neighborhood as our own personal backyard. There wouldn't be anyone there to interfere with our rise."
It was the sort of astute decision that had Malik keep her by his side. A suburb like the one Zarek and Priya lived in for school would never have a gang like Malik's, so how were they the first there?
It was none other than Qiqi.
Her mind was sharp, and she always picked up on details others wouldn't. Most would think that sticking it out in the slums was the best place, that the government would be too involved in those affluent areas.
But she saw a layer deeper than most, and she picked the perfect region.
The place all those rich politicians sent their children.
It should have been the perfect ground, so what happened?
The moment he had the thought, Qiqi spoke it aloud.
"We should have had everything made. So what went wrong? Why does it feel like we're spinning our wheels? We've made a ton of progress, but we're still about 70% behind my projections."
"You said 40% just last week."
"We've not only fallen more behind, but my understanding of this world has become sharper. The value of that Scouting Skill is far higher than I realized initially, and so is the value of having a ton of working monkeys too stupid to understand that in this chaos, they had no reason to listen to you to begin with."
Malik frowned.
"Don't worry. By now, the power structure is set enough that even if they want to leave, it's too late. They ended up in a life of crime to begin with. They're not the sharpest tools in the shed."
"What are you trying to say?"
"I'm trying to say that it's all because of that thing. It has been running counter to us all this time, and it is far more intelligent than you know—otherwise, we would have managed to kill it weeks ago. If it wasn't so cautious, rarely showing itself, it would have already pushed us out of this region a long time ago."
What neither Qiqi nor Malik knew was that the reason they were spinning their wheels wasn't just because of the Enchantress.
It was because Zarek had let the Violet Enchantress live.