By the time Yue Shi realized what he was hearing, it was already too late.
What double-star?
What 'being a man or a woman'?
What 'swapping XX'?
What kind of depraved nonsense are you talking about!
Yue Shi had always been a devious, tyrannical, and malicious person, but at this moment, he felt that his virtuous character, his beautiful personality, and even his pure soul were being defiled!
His defenses were simply not built to withstand this form of contamination!
As if having a sudden bout of 'love brain,' Jiang Cifei spent a few moments acting lovey-dovey with Dr. Luo before extending an invitation to Yue Shi.
“I’ve renamed and rebuilt Peace Alley; it’s now Begonia Alley. Why don't you quit your job at the Investigation Bureau and come work with me?”
Yue Shi shook his head frantically in refusal. “You should keep that kind of 'good fortune' for yourself to enjoy.”
“That truly is a pity.” Jiang Cifei’s face was the picture of regret, yet his tone held a hint of temptation. “If you ever experienced that kind of ecstatic pleasure where you forget the very world around you, perhaps you would change your mind.”
“How can such debauchery exist? You guys are way too twisted.” Yue Shi was so embarrassed he felt like he could curl his toes and dig a hole through the floor.
“How rude. We’re just into Fourth Love,” Dr. Luo said, wrapping her arm around Jiang Cifei with an air of dominance.
Jiang Cifei sighed helplessly, his gaze sweeping over Yue Shi with pity. “A block of wood like you who doesn't understand romance will never comprehend the feeling. It is truly strong and powerful... strong and powerful indeed~”
“Heh.” Yue Shi’s lip twitched. He suddenly felt a subtle urge to beat this couple to death.
He didn't want to waste any more time, saying only, “I have things to do. We’ll talk some other time.”
“No need for ‘some other time.’ Your contact info hasn't changed, right? I’ll call you tonight...”
Yue Shi pretended to be deaf and hurried away.
Jiang Cifei’s mental state was most likely problematic, though there was a small chance he was just born that way.
Lately, Yue Shi seemed to run into Jiang Cifei every time he left the city. Once or twice could be called a coincidence, but happening this often was suspicious. There was likely something strange going on.
However, he had more important matters at hand for now and could only set that suspicion aside temporarily.
In the time it took to exchange those few words, The Reveler and the containment members from Lab 0 had already run quite a distance. Fortunately, the ravens had been tracking them the entire time.
Through the ravens' eyes, Yue Shi saw that The Reveler had been led astray by the speed-type transcendent and had temporarily lost his targets, wandering aimlessly in the distance.
Meanwhile, the three from Lab 0 had ducked into the basement of an abandoned building, utterly exhausted. The speed-type transcendent collapsed on the floor, gasping for air; he had done the heavy lifting during the escape and was clearly overextended. The other two leaned against the dust-covered walls, still shaken.
“Are we... safe for now?” the captain asked, his voice hoarse.
“We should have lost that freak,” the other replied, his voice trembling with the relief of a survivor.
Suddenly, a series of soft taps—tap, tap, tap—came from the ventilation duct overhead.
The three instantly froze, their hearts pounding.
“W-what was that?” the speed-type transcendent stammered.
The captain forced himself to stay calm, gesturing for silence while he listened intently. A fluttering sound followed, but it soon faded away. It seemed as though a bird had simply flown past.
“Damn it, scared the hell out of me...” one of them sighed, wiping cold sweat from his forehead. “Probably just a stupid bird.”
They didn't know that the moment they relaxed because of the “bird,” an invisible figure was already standing silently in the center of the dusty basement.
The three leaned against the wall, catching their breath, their nerves still taut. The next second—
“Thump! Thump! Thump!”
Three dull impacts rang out almost simultaneously! The captain felt a sharp pain in the back of his neck before his vision went black. The other two slumped to the ground without even a groan, losing consciousness completely.
An unknown amount of time passed before bone-chillingly cold water was splashed over his head. The captain jerked awake, choking; the intense dizziness and the pain in his neck made him want to vomit.
He tried to struggle, only to find his hands and feet bound tightly. He was hanging upside down in the air, blood rushing to his head and blurring his vision with a red tint. The only sounds were his own heavy, rasping breaths and the pained groans of his two companions—one of whom was also hanging upside down from an old ceiling beam.
In the dim basement, the only light came from a broken window high up, with dust motes dancing in the pale beams. In his distorted, inverted field of vision, he saw his other companion.
The man was kneeling on the floor. His ██ had been snapped, and his ██ had been crudely peeled back. The tender ██ was exposed in the dim light, twitching slightly like a fragile, living ██.
The air was thick with the scent of ginger, garlic, and chili, mixed with the stench of blood in a nauseating combination.
A prepared sauce dripped down the edges of the ██, the viscous liquid seeping into the folds of the ██. A rusty soup spoon was jammed into the side of the ██, stained with dark red ██, wobbling precariously.
The most terrifying part was that this person was still alive.
Tears fell silently from the corners of his eyes into the dust. His trembling pupils were filled with despair and agony, yet he couldn't make a sound. Only a faint wheeze of air came from his throat, as if he were pleading for help.
Beside this hellish scene, a pair of eyes and a mouth floated in the air. The eyes flickered with a cold, non-human light in the darkness, devoid of any humanity, like a predator locking onto its prey. The lines of the mouth were thin and sharp, the corners hooked slightly upward in a bone-chilling arc.
No body, no face—only a pair of cold eyes and a mocking mouth. To the upside-down captain with his bloodshot, blurry vision, it was the purest manifestation of a nightmare come to life.
“Ugh... ah...” The captain was paralyzed by the sight, meaningless rasps escaping his throat as absolute terror seized him. The companion beside him, who had just woken up, was so terrified he lost control of his bladder.
Yue Shi was very satisfied with their reaction. This was exactly how it should be: panic, unease, and trembling fear...
He had deliberately made himself look this terrifying for the sole purpose of intimidation—to crush their psychological defenses.
Of course, the primary source of horror was the man he had turned into a “live monkey brain” dish. This person’s ability was to swap positions with objects within a certain range.
Yue Shi had initially thought the man was a speed-type transcendent, but it turned out to be spatial displacement. Ordinary ropes couldn't hold him, and he had nearly escaped. Left with no choice, Yue Shi had randomly selected a form of torture to deal with him first.
“I ask, you answer. It would be best if you didn't lie or hide anything from me. Otherwise... I will perform a total fungal craniotomy on you for free.”
Yue Shi’s voice was flat and devoid of emotion, each syllable feeling like an ice pick driven into their nerves.
Rate on N.U.
