A dark cloud passed over Talan’s eyes. As leader of the East District， he was nothing but an ant to a behemoth like Dawnhold City. If war came， Ashwood Town would be nothing but cannon fodder.

  Viper went on.“Have you ever thought that the sudden appearance of this hyena pack is tied to Dawnhold City?”

  “Oh? How so?”

  “Vice Leader Jax has arrived!” A loud voice rang out through the Tire Tavern.

  Dozens of heads turned toward the door. There， the pale， weak Jax was slowly helped inside by a young fighter.

  The boy helping him leaned in and whispered， red-faced:“Vice Leader Jax， I shouted like you told me to. Don’t forget to give me a piece of meat later， okay?”

  Feeling the eyes of the room on him， Jax patted the boy’s shoulder with satisfaction.“Relax. I already forgot.”

  “What?!”

  “Vice Leader Jax， you’re finally here! How are you feeling? Are you alright?” Talan hurried over with a broad smile， personally helping Jax to his seat.

  “Do I look alright?” Jax shot him an annoyed glare.

  Talan didn’t take offense. Ever since he’d accepted Jax was a lunatic， his mood had been surprisingly steady.

  Even a few slaps to the face earlier hadn’t made him angry.

  “Sit down， sit down.”

  Jax sat directly between Talan and Viper， carrying himself like he owned the place.

  “What are you waiting for? Bring the food and the drink!”

  Platters of meat and jugs of liquor were quickly set down. The meat was charred black， no seasoning， just raw， unadulterated protein.

  But Jax ate like it was the finest feast he’d ever had. The body he was in had barely had a full meal in its life.

  “Slow down， don’t choke.” Talan poured him a drink with a smile. Watching Jax eat didn’t pain him anymore. He wanted the kid to eat as much as possible， build up his life force.

  The boy fought like he had a death wish when the battle started.

  Jax chewed his meat and mumbled:“What were you two talking about just now? Talking shit about me behind my back?”

  “Of course not. You’re the hero of the day. We were singing your praises.”

  “We were talking about the hyena pack.” Viper picked up the thread.“The hyenas showed up out of nowhere. I suspect it’s tied to Dawnhold City’s recent movements.”

  “Oh?” Jax raised an eyebrow.“Elaborate.”

  Stolen story; please report.

  He’d heard of Dawnhold City， of course. Practically everyone in Ashwood Town had. To the people here， it was a holy land.

  Legends said everyone there had enough to eat， schools to go to， clean water to bathe in every day. The women were beautiful， with soft， smooth skin， nothing like the rough， weather-worn skin of Wasteland survivors.

  “It’s like this.” Viper organized his words and spoke slowly.“Recently， Dawnhold City has been sending out armies and slave raiders nonstop， seizing people from every small town in the area. We think they’re preparing for war.”

  Jax nodded. Dawnhold City wasn’t the only big city on the Wasteland. A hundred years had passed since the Great Cataclysm， and humanity had rebuilt. Great cities had risen from the dust， each with their own power， fighting for control of the Wasteland.

  “What does that have to do with the hyenas?”

  “From what I know， this hyena pack used to live around Black Ridge. Even mutated， they’re still animals. They have territory instincts. They never would’ve left Black Ridge under normal circumstances.

  For them to show up here in Ashwood Town? I’m guessing something happened in Black Ridge. When I went to Dawnhold City to trade supplies a while back， I overheard some of their soldiers talking about how the Dawnhold army has been moving into Black Ridge a lot lately. I think Dawnhold City is seizing Black Ridge to use as a stronghold for the coming war.” Viper explained.

  “Is it definitely war? Maybe Dawnhold City is just clearing out the mutated beasts in Black Ridge?”

  Talan scoffed.“Vice Leader Jax， you give Dawnhold City too much credit. You’ve never been there. You don’t know what those people are like. For all we Wasteland folks live and die by the sword， the people in that city eat you alive without spitting out the bones.

  Those lords never do anything that doesn’t make them a profit. If all the big powers worked together to wipe out the mutated beasts， the damn things would’ve gone extinct a long time ago.

  But they’re too busy fighting each other. None of them want to waste men clearing beasts outside their own territory.

  Some of them even keep the mutated beasts around， as a buffer between them and their rivals.”

  Jax smiled. Perfect. Exactly what he’d expect from humanity.

  “Enough of this.” Viper changed the subject.“This is all big people business. We can’t control it. The most important thing right now is dealing with the hyena pack. Vice Leader Jax， can you keep fighting tomorrow?”

  “Hell yes I can!” Jax could barely wait.

  “No， no， no.” Talan jumped in quickly to stop him.“You burned through too much today. You need to rest for a day. Ashwood Town has enough food to last a few more days. There’s no rush.”

  He was genuinely terrified Jax would drop dead mid-battle. Then who would kill the Hyena King?

  Couldn’t he see the kid could barely walk without help right now?

  “Talan!” Jax slammed his fist on the table， the sound cutting through the tavern’s noise.

  Everyone in the tavern froze， turning to look at the three leaders. The room went dead silent.

  Talan’s head started to throb. He knew this routine.“Vice Leader Jax， I—”

  “I what? There’s an old saying: strike while the iron is hot. Strike again， and your strength fades.”

  “Stop， stop. You have too many old sayings， I can’t keep up. But don’t forget， I’m the leader here! You’re resting tomorrow， and that’s final.” Talan’s voice was hard.

  Jax stared at Talan， every word sharp and deliberate.“You’ll regret this， Talan.”

  He picked up his jug of liquor and plate of meat， turned， and walked out.

  “Hey! Hey! Someone help Vice Leader Jax!”

  ---

  That night， Jax lay comfortably in bed， his mind replaying the conversation with Talan and Viper earlier.

  War is coming.

  A cold sense of danger washed over him. War wasn’t a dinner party. It was bullets and blood.

  He had Time Stop， but would it be fast enough? Bullets traveled faster than thought. In a real war， with tens of thousands of soldiers firing at once， one minute wouldn’t even be enough to run out of the battlefield.

  And that was just bullets. There were cannons， sniper rifles， tanks…

  In the chaos of a battle， he couldn’t keep Time Stop active forever. He didn’t have enough time.

  Ashwood Town was technically under Dawnhold City’s jurisdiction. When the war started， would the other powers spare Ashwood Town?

  What if he was sleeping， and a shell landed on his roof in the night? He’d be dead before he could even activate Time Stop. Who would he complain to?

  Even if he stayed alert， even if he was quick enough to activate Time Stop and dodge every attack， how many times could he keep that up?

  He couldn’t waste all his time on that.

  Fuck. No. The Wasteland was too dangerous. He needed somewhere safe， somewhere he could stockpile his time properly.

  The thought made his mind turn to Dawnhold City. If he could get inside， it would be far safer than the Wasteland. Even if war broke out， even if Dawnhold City fell， the civilians would be the last to suffer.

  He could run ahead of time， instead of living every day in fear in the Wasteland— facing mutated beasts one day， bullets the next， starvation the day after that.