Volume 2, Chapter 92 – Hidden Danger

‘Jinhua Dance Floor’—the headquarters of the Shiyou Gang—Lian Feng woke from unconsciousness to find he’d been placed under soft confinement in a specially made bedroom.

Why call it specially made?

Because everything in it was soft. Though it didn’t feel especially soft when you touched or stepped on it, if you squeezed hard, it definitely gave.

Lian Feng hadn’t understood at first what that meant. Only after he opened the drawers and cabinets and dug out some very particular tools did it click—this was where scum locked up the playthings they’d taken a fancy to, designed to keep those playthings from suddenly deciding to hurt themselves.

Damn it, they actually locked me in a place like this?

Feeling insulted to his core, Lian Feng realized the iron sword he’d filched away was gone. All he could do was kick and pound the door with all his strength, and soon enough, he drew Han Shiyou over.

“What’s the matter, little brother?” Han Shiyou’s face was projected onto the TV via the intercom in the hallway.

“Let me out,” Lian Feng said, enunciating each word. “And I want to know what’s going on outside!”

“That second request I can grant you, but I can’t let you go.” Han Shiyou shook his head. “Huang-head’s shown you real feeling, you know. Let me give you a bit of advice—don’t waste his kindness.”

What kindness?

What kind of “kindness” is that supposed to be?

If he hadn’t woken up in a place like this, Lian Feng might not have taken it the wrong way. But hearing this now only made his skin crawl.

He even thinks I look like his dead little brother?

That sort of excuse wasn’t fooling him anymore—Huang Meng probably had some special kink!

Han Shiyou had no idea that his apparently well-meant arrangements had, from the root, completely twisted Huang Meng’s intentions. He went on earnestly advising the youth: “…You came up from the northern district too. Don’t tell me you don’t know how messy this world is?”

“So how is keeping you out of fights between the big shots not for your own good? What’s so bad about sticking with Huang-head? Even your enemies—we brothers can help you settle them.”

Like hell I’d be “brothers” with you!

The earnest persuasion took on a very different flavor in Lian Feng’s ears. Feeling as if his mind had been contaminated, he turned off the TV and refused to look at Han Shiyou’s “disgusting face” any longer.

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So much for talking him around.

Han Shiyou shrugged and told the servant beside him, “Take away his old device and get him a new one to play with.”

“Yes, sir.”

“The new device needs to be bound to a parent device. I want to be able to monitor whatever he’s plotting at all times.”

“Yes!”

Elsewhere, in a food processing plant not far from ‘Jinhua Dance Floor,’ Yu He and Cao Chuan were propping each other up as they huddled in a corner with two unconscious youths, eating food they’d stolen from the workshop.

They were lucky—the plant processed meat. There were canned meat and sausages aplenty. They weren’t going to starve hiding here; worst case, they’d die on full stomachs.

“Bai Xiang’s fine, even said she’s coming to save us.” Yu He chewed as he spoke, then put down his phone and looked to the side.

“How are they doing?”

“Terrible.” Cao Chuan shook his head. “The bullets aren’t so bad… We were all wearing new battlesuits underneath, so that impact didn’t matter much. But this cut…”

He didn’t go on. He just lowered his head to stare at the ghastly stitched-up wounds on the two of them, shaking his head with a sigh.

The wounds were “ghastly” because there were many of them, and they were deep. One even slanted from the side of the neck all the way down to the center of the chest, just short of hacking through the ribs.

It was a horrifying cutting injury; the hope of making it out alive was very faint.

“As long as the emergency spray can close the surface, the rest is up to fate.” Yu He tried to comfort him. “Cultivators aren’t afraid of a little bacterial infection anyway.”

Not that they were completely immune.

Cao Chuan gave a wry smile.

Still, a small operation like this shouldn’t be a big problem. It all depended on whether his internal organs could hold out.

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As he thought this, he looked down at the straw mat beneath him.

There were many bloodstains on the mat, all seeping from the wounds on his legs.

If anyone from the State Chancery who knew Cao Chuan were here, they’d be shocked—Cao Chuan’s two legs were gone. Even if he recovered, all he could do was get mechanical prosthetics, a huge disadvantage for his future cultivation.

“Have you managed to contact the higher-ups?” Cao Chuan, with no time to worry about himself, asked Yu He again.

Yu He shook his head. “External communications are still cut.”

They said they were doing emergency repairs—only an idiot would believe that.

“There’s something very wrong with that Xu Zhe.” Cao Chuan frowned.

To pull something like this off overnight—the Roads Directorate could not wash their hands of it.

But what he couldn’t understand was: what reason did the man have to throw in with the Prince’s Manor?

It was one thing for the Prince of Nanling’s Manor to cultivate its own power base, brainwashing a batch of utterly loyal deadmen—that was normal enough… But you, Lord Xu, were clearly outside all that. Why insist on joining them in a line of work that was guaranteed to cost you your head?

“Who cares what his reasons are! He’s not getting away either way!” Yu He said angrily. “I’ve had my eye on Qingyun Pharmaceuticals this whole time! He’s been awfully close with that Dr. Huang lately—if he didn’t do it, who did?”

“I always thought he cared about people’s livelihoods.” Cao Chuan shook his head. “He’s a hell of a liar.”

“Old Cao, do you remember when he started changing like this?” Having calmed down, Yu He felt the whole thing was off.

“Changing… in what way?”

“Reining in his fangs, staying out of low-level politics, ending up with support from all sides because of it,” Yu He said. “At his age back then, he should’ve had at most a couple of years left before retirement. But because everyone backed him, he’s managed to stay in that seat till today.”

“Five years ago, I think.” Cao Chuan thought back. “About when the Zezhou Incident happened. Zezhou was in August; Xu Zhe’s change of style was before May. I really can’t remember exactly when, because it wasn’t until May that I came over and met with him once.”

“He must’ve started siding with Yao Qingyuan right around then!” Yu He said firmly. “That old fox—his infiltration of the south is full-spectrum!”

The “old fox” here did not refer to Xu Zhe.

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Cao Chuan knew exactly who his colleague meant.

Unconsciously furrowing his brow, he still couldn’t understand why Yao Qingyuan had to raise troops and stand on his own.

Just like Bai Zhuqing, no one in his right mind could understand it—even if he succeeded, so what? Did he really think he could hold the territories of Ze and Qi?

The outside world’s technology might be advancing by leaps and bounds, but as long as Great Yu still had a Sword Lord, those damn federations wouldn’t dare make a rash move!

Relying solely on the Sami Union and the Luohou Kingdom was nowhere near enough to stand on his own! You think Yao Qingyuan didn’t understand that?

Barring any surprises, Xizhou, Jingzhou, and Luezhou encircling Ze and Qi must already have three armies gathering on the outskirts, just waiting for him to rebel so they could move in!

“Revenge.”

Yu He hadn’t thought that deeply about it. He figured maybe the guy just wanted to stir up trouble, pure and simple.

“He’s pushing eighty-five, he hasn’t got many good years left. Add in his dissatisfaction with the Empress Dowager’s arrangements back then…”

At that point, Yu He stalled.

This wasn’t something you could talk about openly.

It was practically the highest taboo in Great Yu’s current political system!

They weren’t rebels or traitors; this was one topic they still couldn’t touch!

“Forget it, let’s drop it.” Cao Chuan frowned. “Is Bai Xiang really coming?”

He rated Bai Xiang’s level quite highly—she’d made a complete name for herself at Qizhou University, the news of it spreading like wildfire. Conservatively, she was already a “little invincible” within Condensing the Aspect. If she was willing to come save them, that was of course ideal.

But he still hesitated. Bai Xiang hadn’t fully grown into her power yet. Was it really right to throw her straight into a battle that would definitely see Divine Fetus–realm fighters take the field?

“Look at the state you’re in—stop worrying about other people.”

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Yu He glanced at his torn-off legs, his expression turning dark.

“From what I’ve seen, she’s very good at dealing with that kind of thing. Maybe things will turn around.”

“There are too many of them…” Cao Chuan shook his head.

“She might not be able to handle it.”

At that, the nightmare scene he’d witnessed in the pre-dawn hours surfaced again in Cao Chuan’s mind.

The people locked up in that lab… the youngest had been only ten.

They’d already been as careful as possible about exposure to contamination, but who could have guessed the greatest danger would come from that group of “victims” themselves?

Over a hundred bio-modified humans, all apparently tied to Demon Pool–type contamination…

After transforming they lost all reason, yet clearly could receive orders and carry out simple tasks—lizardman warriors!

Luckily, it was daytime now.

In broad daylight… if he didn’t want to tear the mask off just yet, Lord Xu should rein himself in a bit, right?

He fell silent, pulling out his phone to try again. Messages still wouldn’t send. They were completely trapped in Chilong Circuit.

Ding-dong~

A pop-up happened to bring up the morning headlines.

【Large-scale network outages and signal interference have already been adjusted and repaired by professionals. We sincerely apologize for any inconvenience caused during this period.】

【Chilong’s scenery after the thunderstorm.】

【Multiple schools, including No. 1, No. 3, and No. 6 High Schools, have reported cases of food poisoning. Ambulances are currently treating students on-site… We will continue to follow up with live coverage for you.】