“There! There are people ahead!”
“I see them! There are several of them!”
They were saved! They were finally saved!
Zuo Lin'an had spotted them too, but at this moment... there were only about eight minutes left until eight o'clock.
These two prisoners were the perfect targets for them to handle—one for each of them.
After all, these two knew they could kill people here. If that information got out...
Xu Youyou was no fool either. While the two prisoners were distracted by their excitement, he took a few quick strides behind them and knocked them both out with a swift, effortless blow to the back of their necks.
Then, each grabbing one, they dragged the unconscious men toward a nearby row of single-story houses, more than half of which had already collapsed.
Zuo Lin'an picked a random spot. Surrounded by weeds that grew taller than a person and piles of discarded bricks, it was the perfect place to block any prying eyes.
However, it wasn't on the hour yet, so Zuo Lin'an still had to wait a few minutes.
Xu Youyou, on the other hand, had no such restrictions. Having kept quiet for so long, he was practically dying to talk. With three sharp slaps, he woke his prisoner right up.
Seeing the man open his eyes, Xu Youyou smiled and said, “Hey there, big guy. What's wrong with you? You look pretty built, so why is your physical condition so poor? I barely tapped you just now, and you went right out.”
Hearing his voice, the man's groggy mind slowly cleared. Seeing Xu Youyou's smiling face, a chilling dread welled up from the depths of his heart.
He knew nothing about Death Rules or methods of execution; he only knew that he was likely done for.
Run?
There was no way he could run!
This kid was incredibly strong, and he was bound to be fast too. How could someone like him possibly escape?
Without a second thought, he dropped to his knees, tears and snot streaming down his face as he begged desperately.
“Please... please don't kill me!”
“I can be your dog!”
“From today on, you're my boss! I'll do whatever you want! I'll be your dog!”
“Spare me, please don't kill me, don't kill me... I don't want to die...”
With tears and snot smeared all over his face, he looked incredibly filthy and disgusting.
Even Xu Youyou couldn't help but look disgusted. He didn't even want to look at the man, let alone dirty his hands on him.
He casually kicked the man in the chest. Though he didn't use much force, the kick almost knocked the wind out of him.
Immediately after, he began his work.
This was his first time killing someone inside Sin Hunter City.
“Right, first the arms, and then...”
He muttered to himself as he worked, suddenly recalling what Zuo Lin'an had told him earlier.
The longer the final step of assimilating the specter body took, the higher the success rate would be. Thus, he deliberately dragged things out while performing the execution.
However, this man's constitution wasn't very good. Even though Xu Youyou tried to delay, he couldn't stretch the time by much.
Moreover, he had to ensure the man was still alive right before he twisted his head off.
This left him with even less time to work with.
In less than three minutes, Xu Youyou had twisted the man's head off. He tossed it aside and focused his senses, carefully feeling the changes within himself.
After his first kill, Xu Youyou felt a strange, cold aura surge from within. This aura seemed to hover right behind him, invisible and intangible.
Yet, it was incredibly distinct to his senses.
“Is this... what the instructor was talking about...?”
This was undoubtedly his own specter aura. Xu Youyou was highly satisfied. Once his specter body took shape, he too would become a Human-Specter Symbiont.
Of course, that was assuming he could survive the final step.
Snapping back to reality, Xu Youyou looked at the dismembered corpse before him. He quickly cleaned up, burying the remains under some dirt and broken bricks.
At the very least, it significantly dulled the smell of blood.
Once he finished tidying up, he went to find Zuo Lin'an.
Zuo Lin'an was currently sitting on a rock, with the prisoner he had dragged over still lying unconscious on the ground.
It made sense.
There were still a few minutes left before eight o'clock.
Xu Youyou looked around and said nothing, silently standing to the side to wait.
Time ticked away, second by second.
Zuo Lin'an kept his eyes glued to the electronic clock in his hand. The very moment it struck eight o'clock on the dot, his knife plunged cleanly into the back of the man's head.
Xu Youyou had witnessed the subsequent steps more than once, but watching it again now still filled him with awe.
He truly hadn't expected Zuo Lin'an to be this ruthless.
He was ruthless to others, and even more ruthless to himself.
After all, whatever he did to others now would eventually be inflicted upon him in the exact same manner once his specter body fully formed.
Just imagining the scene of Zuo Lin'an being... made Xu Youyou's scalp tingle with dread.
Of course, the same applied to himself.
Forget it, best not to think about it.
They were both so capable; they would definitely succeed.
An outstanding guy like him, Xu Youyou, couldn't afford to die so early. He still wanted to spend more time with his aunt, and he wanted to keep living to enjoy all the wonderful things this world had to offer.
While his mind was wandering, Zuo Lin'an finished his work.
Seeing this, Xu Youyou stood up and went over to help clean up the body, burying the remains under a mixture of dry grass, mud, and scattered bricks.
Zuo Lin'an and Xu Youyou had their own concerns.
After all, a small criminal settlement was not far away. If they left these dismembered body parts lying around and those people spotted them, they would likely suspect the newcomers immediately.
After all, they were the new faces here.
To play it safe, the two changed into fresh clothes and wiped themselves down with water. Only after completely washing away the scent of blood did they walk forward together.
As they drew closer to the single-story houses ahead, someone quickly noticed them.
Yet, these people showed no particular reaction to their approach. None of them even bothered to walk over, simply waiting for them to arrive.
Only when Zuo Lin'an and Xu Youyou stood right in front of them did a man leaning against the wall finally look up.
“Oh? We got newcomers?”
Xu Youyou smiled and said, “Yeah. We were dropped onto the rooftop of an abandoned residential building by a plane last night. We wandered around all night without seeing a single soul, so we're really glad we found someone just as day was breaking.”
The man burst into laughter and patted Xu Youyou on the shoulder.
“Consider yourselves lucky then!”
“Most of Sin Hunter City is a wasteland. The majority of people live near the city center, and only a tiny handful live out here on the outskirts.”
“Wandering for just one night and running into us is pretty decent luck.”
The smile on Xu Youyou's face grew even warmer.
“Tell me about it!”
“By the way, I'm Wang Kai, and this is my brother, Zhang Lin. How should we address you, big brother?”
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