"That's the iron person — Hu Ge."

"The one who killed the big ape, right?"

"Yeah, him. Supposedly very strong. Cold though, keeps to himself."

"If you can kill that thing, you'd better be strong."

"How does some drifter iron person from out of town end up that powerful? Our own evolved people can't even take on the weakest of those apes one-on-one."

"Maybe he's just gifted. You heard they're turning The Chart into a proper textbook? Apparently a lot of the content came from Hu Ge."

"No wonder Commander Zhao went out personally to recruit him."

"But is he actually the actor Hu Ge? Has anyone seen his face?"

"Nobody has. Nobody's ever seen him take the helmet off. He lives in his truck — that truck is something else, by the way. People at the Research Institute say he definitely modified it before the catastrophe. The power and armor on that thing are nothing like a normal heavy truck."

"He knew the apocalypse was coming?"

"Modifying vehicles isn't that strange — plenty of people do it. Hu Ge probably came from money. Regular people can't afford it; even basic custom parts cost a fortune."

"What a shame I wasn't driving when it hit. Could've been an iron person myself."

"Please. Half the camp drove for a living and none of them became iron people. It takes more than being behind the wheel — you need the luck, and most of us don't have it."

"Who are you backing?"

"Song Qi. I've talked to him — good guy."

"I'm backing Hu Ge. That armor is incredible. All those weapons hanging off the back — that's style."

"Hu Ge's probably stronger."

"Could be all decoration. Pretty on the outside, hollow on the inside."

The whispers carried easily to Shen Cong. Within fifty meters, nothing escaped him if he chose to listen. The problem was the volume — filtering useful information out of the noise took effort.

The referee called the match to order.

The fight started. It also ended — before the crowd had fully settled down to watch.

Shen…