Li Qing feels like he has been betrayed by his friends and might be abandoned by Qin Jun.

On the day they arrived in A City, he met the imposing Commander-in-chief Long. Under the recommendation – read: instigation – of both Long Zhanye and the commando squad, Long Haotian ordered a few men to bring Li Qing to the mechanic building.

"Master mechanic of the apocalypse". Woah, this title sounds really cool, right? But the moment he realises he will be confined to a mechanic's room with various parts and pieces to learn for an entire month, forbidden to leave before the time is up, he nearly sobbed.

Wuwu...can he make time turn backwards?

Squatting in a corner with a gloomy air around him, he recalls the morning of that fateful day...

"You've become thinner." Slender fingers move leisurely across the slim waist as Qin Jun voices his observation, gentle gaze settling on Li Qing.

"We had to run here and there while on the road for two months. Even if we eat good food every day, I wouldn't be able to grow fatter. You don't like it?" Stretching lazily, he snuggles deeper into the cosy warmth. Turning his head so it is cradled in Qin Jun's arms, Li Qing really feels like drawing as close as possible to his lover.

"I like you a little fatter. Softer to the touch."

As the couple lie in bed and converse softly, a sudden series of knocks sound from the door. The two exchange a glance before Qin Jun rises, putting on his trousers and going to open it.

"This early in the morning, who is it?" Putting on his clothes, Li Qing exits the bedroom only to see a soldier wearing a green military uniform standing at the doorway, a solemn expression on his face.

"You are Li Qing?"

"Un. May I ask what this is about?" Li Qing glances at Qin Jun who is standing aside. Seeing the small smile on the other's face, he instantly relaxes. Since Qin Jun didn't react badly, this shouldn't be something major.

"Commander-in-chief Long has already made the appropriate arrangements and permitted me to bring you to the mechanic department. Please come with me." The soldier announces, courteously gesturing for Li Qing to follow.

"Oh." Nodding, Li Qing turns to Qin Jun. "Then...I'll go with him."

"Un, go on."

After that, Li Qing follows the soldier to the safe zone's mechanics building and enters the manufacturing factory.

"General Long will be here shortly. Wait here until he arrives." The soldier instructs before hurrying away.

There are a lot of machines within the factory, with piles of components and spare parts littering the ground. Li Qing has never touched these things before, but as a male, he possesses some curiosity towards engineering and technology. On top of that, after reading through the notebook his mother left him, he is fairly familiar with some of these pieces lying around and can recognise more than a handful of them.

Although it is quite early in the morning, there are already a lot of personnel wandering around this place, busying themselves with various tasks. From the way the workers glance at him every now and then, it is pretty evident they are curious about the sudden appearance of a youngster here of all places.

In regards to the stares he garnered, Li Qing is not too aware of it as he is too busy taking in his surroundings with sparkling eyes. His gaze drops to a black rod lying on the ground nearby. Around 60cm in length, it appears to be a rather common piece of metal.

Walking towards it, he picks it up and examines it here and there, finally noticing a concealed mechanism on the rod.

This object should be a police baton used by riot police, right? Heh, so it seems there are still things like this lying around.

Just as Li Qing is engrossed in inspecting every aspect of the baton, someone snorts and a voice carrying sharp scorn drifts to his ears. "Hmph, where did this snotty brat come from? This safe zone's machinery factory is not a place where brats come and go as they please."

Swinging the baton experimentally a few times, Li Qing casually turns to the direction of the voice. Cigarette in his mouth, threadbare leather jacket and jeans covering his body, the person looks like a messy individual judging from the stains and tears in his attire. Behind the one who spoke, two relatively younger men stand.

Not sparing them another glance, Li Qing doesn't react. Simply lowering his head again and continuing to play around with the baton, he treats the other party as though they are ghosts.

Ignored by this kid, the man feels as though he had just lost face in front of his colleagues and gradually reddens in rage.

"You...damn brat! This elder is talking to you. Are you mute?!"

Looking up at the man as he curses in anger, Li Qing's offers a faint smile. Hesitating a little as though thinking about something, he slowly opens his mouth. "Were you talking to me? I thought I hear the barking of a mad dog."

Li Qing's rebuttal causes a ripple of low chuckles to rise from the spectators. The man's face turns a deeper shade of red. "You – you actually have the guts to call me a mad dog!!"

"I didn't ah. It is you who assumed I was and answered the call." Full red lips purse slightly as Li Qing blinks, eyes full of innocence.

This person is really strange. It was obviously him who spoke so rudely ah...

"You – this brat is looking for death!!" The man roars in fury as he shifts into an offensive stance, clearly wanting to pounce on Li Qing and give him a vicious beating.

Li Qing is not like Huo Zaiyuan who know Taoist Arts, and is not like Qin Jun who has learned boxing before. He is even more not like Long Zhanye who possesses superhuman strength and fighting ability. All things considered, he is an ordinary youngster. If this was the Li Qing before Judgement Day, confronted by a grown man rushing forward with malicious intent, he would have been scared to the point of quaking in his boots and shrieking at the top of his lungs. However, after experiencing two months surviving in the apocalypse, he is now able to cut down frightening zombies without batting an eyelash, and his reflexes have been honed to the point where evading and dodging is second nature. Facing another ordinary human being is no difficult task.

Retreating a step back and to the side, he swiftly dodges the other party, baton in hand extending and cracking down on the man's face. Although Li Qing held back, the force behind that swing is enough to snap the other's face to the side.

"Don't come near me again. I wouldn't be courteous the next time."

"Stinky brat!" Clapping a hand over his face, a blazing inferno ignites in his eyes as he throws himself forward once again.

"Ai..." Heaving a soft sigh, Li Qing clutches the baton in both hands this time. Twisting his wrist, the 60cm melee weapon doubles in length as the hidden spring activates. Bringing the baton slicing through the air at twice the speed and strength of his first strike, Li Qing slams it brutally into the man's stomach.

"Urgh..." A grunt of agony wheezes out of the adult, hands automatically coming up to his stomach as he falls to the ground. "You...you..."

"I already warned you not to come over, but you didn't listen." Li Qing's expression remains incredibly innocent even as he murmurs in his heart. If he treats this man like a zombie and continues hitting non-stop, this person would be beaten to death long ago. Eh...it seems I have gotten more skilful. Hmm...looks like I didn't slay zombies in vain on the entire journey here.

"Goddamn punk, courting death! Men, get him!" Still unable to get to his feet due to the acute pain in his abdomen, the man bellows for his two side-kicks.

The two are clearly wary of Li Qing and his baton, but spurred on by the older man's shout, they charge forward, aiming on flanking Li Qing.

"Oi, oi, I'm warning you oh. Don't come over, or else any injuries you sustain wouldn't be on me." Eyeing the two, Li Qing tries to keep up a bold front, but a trace of nervousness appears on his face. Swiftly dodging a grab, he twists the handle of the baton again, retracting the extra length and replacing it with a sharp blade.

Seeing Li Qing on the retreat but still spouting warnings, jeering grins emerge on their faces as they ignore the youth's words and continue their forward assault.

In their minds, they know that as long as they don't charge in carelessly like the man did before, this soft-looking youngster will absolutely not be able to land a strike on them.

Clenching his teeth at the confident bearing of these two opponents, Li Qing waves the baton in his hand, aiming to scare when a sudden imposing shout full of fury rings through the factory.

"General Long, it's him...he was the one who provoked us first." The man who was sent to the ground by Li Qing crawls painfully to his feet, pushing the blame on the innocent party.

Compared to the man and his lackeys, for some unknown reason, Li Qing is even more afraid of this General Long who he has never met before.

It's not because this general's appearance is scary or fierce. On the contrary, like the other men of the Long family, he is very good-looking with deep, dark eyes, a straight nose and lush, pink lips. Black military uniform contrasts sharply with his fair skin, his bearing giving off a daunting aura.

"Scram." Said General Long coldly spits out a single word.

"But..."

"If this elder sees any one of you three in this factory again, this elder will shoot you on sight. Scram. Don't make this elder repeat it again."

Clearly aware that this General Long is truly furious, the three men flee immediately.

Staring at the general, Li Qing bites his lips lightly as he sets the baton aside. "I – I'm sorry. I..."

"Come with me." The fury akin to a volcanic eruption abruptly vanishes from General Long's face. Sweeping a glance over Li Qing, he beckons the youngster over and sets off towards his office.

Hesitating for a second, Li Qing stares at the rapidly retreating figure before he forces his legs to move and hurries to catch up.

One leading the way and one following, the two enters the office. General Long settles himself in a soft leather chair, pulling a cabinet open to take out a book. The text is then placed on the desk in front of Li Qing.

"For an entire month, you are forbidden from taking a single step out of the factory. Once you have memorised this entire book, follow the instructions written in it to build an operational probe. Once you have completed that task, you will commence work here. If you fail to complete it, you can scram."

Gazing down at the text that is as thick as an elementary school textbook, Li Qing pales.

A month for him to memorise it, and he has to build some kind of probe. This...how is this possible?

"That..."

"Didn't you hear what I just said?" General Long asks blandly as he gets started on some paperwork.

"I – I heard."

"Since you've heard, why are you still lingering here? All the parts and components in this factory can be used however you wish. But remember, you cannot waste anything."

"Yes, Sir..."

~~~

Ever since that day, Li Qing eats, sleeps and works day and night in this factory. Huo Zaiyuan and Long Zhanye did come by and see him during this period. Even Zuo Hanyang dragged along his fellow adjutant You Nuandong to pay him a visit. But Qin Jun didn't appear even once.

Squatting in a corner and facing the pile of components, the book given to him by General Long lays open next to him. Thinning his lips, Li Qing snatches up a pair of pliers in his grease-stained hand, clamping a pair of wires together and twisting them.

Bastard Qin Jun...wait until the month is up, he will definitely give him a beating.

"Li Qing!" General Long's loud voice booms out.

"Eh...coming!"