Rebirth in the Apocalypse: Third Time's a Charm

Chapter 384  Mud Water?

"You are finally awake, and here was me thinking that you were on a time limit or something," smirked Bin An Sha from where he was drinking a cup of coffee on the couch. Wang Chao only glared at him as he ran his fingers through his hair. His clothes were crumpled from sleeping in them, and his face had indentations from where it rested on his pillow.

"Yeah, yeah. Ares can make up the time," he grumbled as he went to the kitchen and grabbed the pot of coffee. He poured himself a cup and walked over to the other man. Sitting down in one of the chairs, he crossed his legs and brought the coffee up to his lips, and took a sip.

It was all he could do not to spit the… swamp water?... out. Whatever was in his cup was not coffee, no matter how much it looked like it.

"Not to your tastes?" smirked Bin An Sha as he took another sip from his own cup. He would admit that it had taken him a while to get used to the mud water, but after he did, it no longer tasted that bad.

"Hardly; I am surprised that you drink that," said Wang Chao, a look of disgust on his face as he put the cup down on the table beside him.

"Well, now that there is no more coffee, mud water is the only thing we have to replace it," shrugged the other man like it wasn't that important. However, if he ever found someone with real coffee, he might have to marry them: man or woman.

"There's no more coffee?" asked Wang Chao, surprised. He knew that, according to Li Dai Lu, coffee would eventually run out, but with how much of it she drinks every day, he hadn't realized that it was that bad right now.

"You seem surprised. Do you know where to get some of the good stuff?" demanded Bin An Sha. He was man enough to admit that he would cheerfully slit the other man's throat if he were holding out on him.

"Maybe, but what can you give me in return?" smiled Wang Chao with a shrug of his own. He was a businessman, after all. There needed to be some give and take. And by the sound of it, coffee was in high demand.

"I already told you; I can't help but get rid of the voice in your head," answered Bin An Sha as he leaned back into a more comfortable position. "But I will be going with you. We can discuss the particulars on the road."

"So, you will give me nothing but expect coffee in return?" said Wang Chao, copying the other man's posture. "Seems a little unfair."

"Ah, but the sooner you give in, the faster we can go back to your wife. I mean, you do want to see her, right?" smirked Bin An Sha as he drank the last little bit of mud water. It was made out of mushrooms and other herbal ingredients that could be found easily around City A. It gave people the same amount of caffeine as a cup of coffee but tasted nothing alike.

"Fine," answered Wang Chao. "But we have to go to one place first."

"To go see your grandfather?" asked Bin An Sha as he stood up and went to wash out his cup. Wang Chao followed him and did the same. "I never thought I would see the prince of City A washing his own dishes," he continued as he watched Wang Chao.

"You would be surprised at what I do now," smirked the other man as he turned his cup upside down to dry.

"Then, if you are ready, Man of Mystery, let's get going," said Bin An Sha as he walked to the door and started putting on his shoes.

Wang Chao raised an eyebrow but didn't say anything.

His first was to go to the ranch and make sure that everything was as it should be. He knew that Li Dai Lu was hesitant about going back because she was worried that it would not be like she remembered. If that was the case, then he would make sure that it was put back in order before she came back.

The two men left, Bin An Sha locking the door behind him. Although there was nothing really in the condo but some furniture, he didn't want to tempt anyone dumb enough to steal from him.

As soon as they were outside, Wang Chao spotted Area. The bike flew over to him, followed by another one.

"What the Hell is this?" asked Wang Chao, more than a little confused.

"This would be Phonoi," grumbled Ares, clearly not impressed with the add-on. "As long as that man is here, he will be helping. Then he can disappear into the depths of Hell for all I care."

"Gee, big brother, try to act like you are a little happy to see me," sneered the other bike as it approached Bin An Sha. "Sorry, he has a stick up his exhaust pipe. It makes him cranky. I am Phonoi." The new bike looked a lot more streamlined than the other four. But Wang Chao had no idea where it had come from.

"I thought the scientists made only the four of you, plus Cerberus," asked Wang Chao as he climbed on Ares.

"Yeah, well, we thought there were only four of you, plus the Queen. Now that this guy has shown up, the fates decided to play a fucking joke. He literally came out of nowhere," grumbled Ares, his engine revving his dissatisfaction on the matter.

"Like I said, he is a grouch. Feel free to ignore him," said the new bike as Bin An Sha climbed on. "And you can just call me Murder. Phonoi is too much of a mouthful."

"Murder?" asked Bin An Sha as he looked at Wang Chao in confusion. "What the Hell is going on? First the voice in my head, and now a talking bike? I think that you have not told me everything, Wang Chao."

"Don't worry, I'll have plenty of time to read you in," muttered Wang Chao as he put on his helmet and took off.

"War is clearly not happy either; I wonder what happened to throw a wrench in everything?" asked Murder, not sounding like he really cared either way.

"He is no longer the only War," smirked Bin An Sha, "And there can only be one."