“Uncle Chai, I think we should settle on this.” Honghu said.

“I also think this is the most suitable.” Juan Menghuan nodded in agreement.

“Anyway, I have no objections.” Zhao Yingwang also chimed in.

“But…” Uncle Faichai seemed a little unconfident when he replied, “I don't think I'm suited to be the captain at all…” He subconsciously touched the back of his neck. “I’m… the least skilled at bossing people around.” As he spoke, he glanced at Honghu, “Why don't you do it, Honghu?”

“Heh…” Honghu chuckled, “Uncle Chai, the so-called captain… doesn't necessarily have to be someone who issues orders.”

“Moreover…” Zhao Yingwang continued, “Even if intelligence and martial prowess aren’t the strongest in the team, one can still be the captain, as long as…”

Juan Menghuan picked up his words: “As long as there’s enough cohesion and a sense of responsibility.” He also looked at Uncle Faichai, “In these two aspects, we’re far inferior to you.”

“That’s right.” Honghu added, “Basically, the leader has to have the kind of charisma that makes people willing to follow them to the death.” He smiled and shook his head. “That’s a quality born from the combination of innate talent and cultivated character, and sadly… I don’t possess it.”

“Uh…” Uncle Faichai's lips twitched a couple of times. “Since you’re all praising me so much, I can't refuse…”

…

Blood and light made the air sweet and humid with a metallic tang.

Fragments of memories came unbidden.

“Cohesion… and responsibility?” Watching his teammates being killed before his eyes in an instant, Uncle Faichai couldn’t help but feel lost. “Have I disappointed the people around me again?”

“Sunglasses guy, you actually have time to space out?” Infinite's words pulled Uncle Faichai back to reality.

Following those words was a beam of cyan energy emitted from his eyes.

“Ugh—” By the time Uncle Faichai reacted and looked down, his chest had already been pierced by the beam. He grunted and quickly took off his sunglasses and tossed them away.

Two seconds later, Uncle Faichai's fatally wounded body rapidly turned into an illusion and dissipated, while his true body transferred to the location of the sunglasses, his injuries healed.

“Heh… you have quite a few life-saving tricks.” Infinite sneered when he saw this, and another beam shot from his eyes.

This time, Uncle Faichai was prepared and dodged in advance, but he only barely avoided a vital hit; the skin and flesh of his left shoulder were still grazed off.

“Still not dead?” Infinite revealed a hint of impatience upon seeing that the other party had taken two of his “not holding back” attacks and was still standing. “Being too tenacious… is annoying!”

With a loud shout, Infinite suddenly flashed in front of Uncle Faichai and unleashed a straightforward punch with overwhelming force.

This was the simplest, most direct, and fastest method of attack… but considering the massive difference in speed and strength between offense and defense, it naturally became the most effective method of attack as well.

Whoosh—

Because the penetrating power of this punch far exceeded Uncle Faichai's defensive ability, and the speed was unbelievably fast, Uncle Faichai didn't even feel much pain when Infinite's right arm pierced through his abdomen… even the sound of the fist passing through his body was as light as the wind.

“Puh…” Immediately afterwards, Uncle Faichai spat out a mouthful of blood, splashing it all over Infinite’s face.

“Tch…” Infinite spat. “My power increased too quickly, I couldn’t quite control it.”

According to Infinite's original plan, this punch should have shattered his opponent—like smashing an ice cube with a hammer; however, the actual result was more like poking a window pane with an iron rod…

“Whatever.” He then wiped the blood off his face with his left hand, looked at Uncle Faichai, and grinned hideously. “Heh… I’ll let you live a few more seconds, let you feel a little more pain.”

“Waste… huh…” At this moment, Uncle Faichai's eyes were already unfocused, and the belated, intense pain finally arrived, but he didn't even have the strength to scream.

…

“Damn it! He flunked a year in second grade, did you see the look on that principal’s face? I’ve never been so humiliated in my life!”

“I told you not to bring him home! You insisted he looked good and must be smart, but what happened? He’s just a useless idiot! A moron!”

“Bullshit, who could have seen that coming? Don’t give me that hindsight crap! In the end, isn’t it all your fault for not being able to give birth?”

“Can’t you be quieter! Are you afraid the neighbors won’t know about our family’s dirty laundry?”

…

“Hmph… Hey, Chai, the guys are teaching you a lesson today to help you remember. You better remember—stay away from the girls in our class, got it?”

“You think you can show off just because you’re a pretty boy, huh? You think I won’t mess with you?”

“Hey! Hey! I’m talking to you, lift your head… I’m warning you one last time, some people—you, this, waste, can’t reach!”

…

“Chai, can you be serious? You’re always slowing everyone down during rehearsals!”

“Yeah, can you have some team spirit? Do you think we have to accommodate you just because you’re a foreigner?”

“I heard… don’t you have a saying in China, ‘If you want to be prominent in front of others, you must suffer behind the scenes?’ Has no one ever taught you that?”

“Alright… everyone, say less, he’s already working hard, don’t be like this…”

“Why can’t we say a few words to him? He’s dragging us down like a waste every day, can’t people even say that?”

…

“Heh… Mr. Chai, is it?”

“We’ve looked at your resume. To be honest, the group you used to be in had very limited influence even in Korea. Calling it a flash in the pan would be kind. With your qualifications and… age, I’m afraid you don’t quite meet our company’s signing requirements.”

…

“You don’t need to say anymore, I have nothing to say to you.”

“You can’t do anything right. People at twenty-five or twenty-six are already bosses, and what about you? You don’t even have a stable job.”

“I’m begging you, please stop pestering me, I’m still young, I don’t want to hang myself on your tree for the rest of my life.”

…

“Xiao Chai, it’s not that I want to criticize you… you’re almost thirty years old, how can you still be so unreliable?”

“You can make so many mistakes just collecting parking fees, and you’re dozing off all night during the night shift. How am I supposed to protect you?”

“Alright, don’t say anything. Go to the accounting department and settle your accounts, you don’t need to come in tomorrow.”

“Don’t you like playing games? You’re so out of it at work because you’re playing them, well now, you can go home and play all you want, see if you can earn a salary from it.”

…

In a trance, fragments of memories flooded his mind like a tide.

“That’s right…” Uncle Faichai whispered, “I seem to have always… been called a waste…”

In the same second, Infinite was about to pull back his right arm and casually toss Uncle Faichai away.

“Hmm?” But when he tried to pull his arm back, he found that… he couldn’t.

“What do you mean by this…” Infinite glanced up and found that his arm was being firmly gripped by Uncle Faichai’s hands, stuck in the bloody hole in his abdomen and unable to move. “Don’t tell me you still want to resist?”

“Maybe… they’re right…” As Uncle Faichai muttered these words, his Secret Skill—[Cardboard Box Assassination]—was activated.

Instantly, a giant cardboard box descended from the sky, covering him and Infinite together.

“My life’s path is made up of countless accusations and countless disappointed gazes.”

The cardboard box pressed down on Uncle Faichai and Infinite as it plummeted rapidly, falling straight down from the sky.

“The ridiculous thing about growing up is… when you haven’t grown up yet, your heart firmly believes that you are different, but at that time you choose to conform; because you are afraid of being different from others, afraid of being seen as a freak by your peers and being isolated. And when you grow up, you admit your ordinariness in your heart, but at that time… you choose to be unconventional in front of people; because you are afraid of being mediocre, afraid of being seen as useless and being ignored.”

Boom—

After a loud bang, the cardboard box crashed to the ground. Instantly, the two inside were enveloped in an unknown darkness.

“When I was ignorant, I felt like I didn’t have any problems, the world was the problem; but the more mature I become, the more I realize that many problems are my own…”

Not long after landing, the cardboard box began to vibrate violently, and fierce dog barks could be heard from inside.

“I… am someone who has neither talent nor is particularly hardworking.”

“When I truly realized this, I was almost thirty years old.”

Infinite’s tactical control program had already reacted. While fending off bites from all directions in the box, he was executing control options.

“This age is about when you should be called ‘Uncle.’”

Chi chi chi…

Approximately five seconds later, dozens of beams of cyan light broke through the outer shell of the cardboard box, erupting from within.

“It wasn’t until I became an uncle that I discovered what I was good at, what I liked, and what I could use to support myself.”

With the cyan light cleared, [Cardboard Box Assassination] was also terminated, and the tattered cardboard box instantly turned into data fragments and scattered on the ground.

“Perhaps, in reality, I am destined to be a loser in life, just a useless Uncle Chai.”

Infinite, who had reappeared on the battlefield, still had not broken free from Uncle Faichai’s grip; his right arm was still stuck in the other's torso.

“But here, in this Horror Paradise… there are partners who trust me and rely on me, and friends who sincerely respect and love me…” Uncle Faichai’s voice remained low, his injuries preventing him from making too much noise. “At this moment, for them… I absolutely cannot fall easily.”

“Huh?” Infinite completely couldn’t understand Uncle Faichai, and from his point of view, it was impossible to understand. Therefore, he just replied with his usual attitude, “Can’t fall easily? Ha! Hahahaha…” he mocked. “Are you an idiot? What do you think you can do, you waste with only one breath left? You think you can just put on a ‘ready to die’ act and…”

Di di di—

Suddenly, an urgent alarm flashed in Infinite’s mind, making him swallow back the words he was about to say.

Warning:

—High-energy reaction detected.

Data identification:

—[Uncle Faichai’s Last Stand]

Tactical control option:

—???

Survival probability:

—18%

“What the fuck (wtf)?” Infinite exclaimed in his mind. “An eighty-two percent chance of death? And no countermeasures! What does that mean? Tank it? And gamble on the probability?”

Just as he was shocked…

Uncle Faichai’s eyes under his sunglasses revealed a determined look: “Even if you call me a waste, it doesn’t matter…” As he spoke, he spread his arms, released Infinite’s right hand, and instead grabbed the other’s shoulders.

A person who had already been beaten to the brink of death, somehow, found the strength, and his fingers dug deeply into Infinite’s shoulders, gripping them tightly.

“I’ll let you see right now…” Uncle Faichai stepped forward, taking advantage of the momentum to lift Infinite’s tall figure up, “…the power of a waste!”

“Impossible…” As he was lifted up, Infinite was still desperately refreshing the tactical control program, wanting to find a way to cope, but—there was no way.

“Heh… hahahaha…” In the very end, Uncle Faichai also laughed out loud. He grabbed the other, raised him high, and launched a suicidal ultimate throwing technique towards the ground. “You scum! Fall into the abyss of despair with me!”