"What the hell do you need this barrel for?"
Li Qingyu narrowed his eyes dangerously at the rebel who had grabbed the machine gun along with him.
The man met his gaze, flinched slightly, but didn't remove his hand.
"You already have one, this one is mine now!"
Li Qingyu took a deep breath, trying to contain his rage.
"According to the pre-war agreement: I help you drive off the SIT, but all the equipment of those I kill is mine."
This rebel, it seemed, had heard nothing of the agreement. He knew only one thing – first come, first served.
"And how am I supposed to know you shot him? Half the fighters were firing in all directions!"
Li Qingyu's patience snapped. He pointed at the corpse and barked:
"Are you blind?! Look: the armor is pierced through! Your pathetic rifles aren't capable of that!"
The rebel averted his eyes: there was nothing to argue with. But he wasn't going to let go of the machine gun – it was an expensive item.
He yanked the barrel sharply towards himself.
"Whoever you made agreements with – go to them! This is mine now!"
Li Qingyu grinned maliciously. Decided to go rogue? Well, no problem.
He released his fingers. The machine gun remained with the rebel, who was already about to carry away his prize, but he didn't succeed: his body flew into the air, traveled about five meters, and crashed into the mud. Pain flared in his stomach, his eyes rolled back.
Li Qingyu lowered his leg after the kick, landed on top, and began methodically smashing the opponent's face with his fists.
"You decided to go rogue, you bastard?! Don't you recognize agreements?! You're stealing my loot, huh?!"
Bang! Bang! Bang!
"Aaaaaah!"
He repeatedly drove his fists into the flesh until the crazed scream attracted a dozen rebels.
"Hey! Stop! You'll kill him!"
Two of them jumped forward and pulled Li Qingyu away.
He didn't resist. A couple more blows, and the guy would already be dead, and that would create unnecessary problems.
He picked up the machine gun, spat in the mud, and growled:
"Touch my loot again, and I'll rip your guts out!"
If they had been in the "Dark Zone," he would have already thrown a grenade at their feet.
Li Qingyu was about to get back to work, but a dozen and a half rebels stood before him.
Leading them was Arum – an old acquaintance.
Once, Li Qingyu had made a fool of him in front of everyone. Arum's face still bore the marks of bruises. Hatred blazed brightly in his eyes.
A dozen fighters with autoguns stood behind their leader. One order – and Li Qingyu would become a sieve.
Arum pointed at him and shouted:
"On what right are you beating our fighters?! You won't leave until you answer, scoundrel!"
Li Qingyu chuckled coldly. He raised both machine guns at once – the black muzzles pointed directly at Arum's chest.
"Answer? I'll answer your mother!"
The rebels instantly raised their weapons, but Li Qingyu didn't flinch.
"Well, you runt? Want revenge? Give the order! Let your curs shoot!"
He bared his teeth predatorily:
"Just know – I won't shoot them, I'll shoot you. While they're peppering me, these two barrels will be enough to send you, you creature, to hell."
Arum turned pale, a drop of sweat trickled down his forehead.
"You think we revolutionaries are afraid of death?!"
Li Qingyu twisted his lips.
"If Old Man Sen had said that – I would have believed him. But you, Arum, are just cowardly shit."
He turned to the crowd:
"Old Man Sen led the kamikaze riders himself. And where were you, hero? Hiding, you bastard? In the back? Behind your curs with autoguns?! Everyone fought, lost friends, and you were saving your strength! And after that, you dare squeak as if you're not afraid of death?!"
The rebels stirred. Doubt and contempt appeared on their faces. Arum stood alive and well, while many commanders had fallen in battle. His dozen fighters were also unharmed. Too clean to be true.
Realizing things were going badly, Arum hurried to cover himself:
"Don't listen to this scoundrel! Nobody knows who he is! Maybe he's the one who led the SIT here! A spy!"
Li Qingyu spat at his feet and barked:
"I'm a spy?! I took down twenty SIT soldiers with my own hands! More than all of you combined! And you, you rotten egg, dare to stink about me?!"
At that moment, Parson stepped between them.
First, he looked at Li Qingyu – this man had saved his life. Then he turned to Arum.
"Mister Junkman is our ally. Without him, we wouldn't have won. We must not forget gratitude."
He addressed the others:
"Before the battle, we agreed: all the equipment of the SIT soldiers he killed belongs to him. All the commanders were there then. If you don't believe it, ask your leaders."