Chapter 300: Surrender

Cold sweat broke out across the Pig-Headed Man's forehead as he listened to Yan Jing.

He never expected this to be where he slipped up.

But who could have possibly seen it coming?

The contact had been absolutely clear: the cat standing right in front of him was supposed to be dead.

Who in their right mind would try calling a dead man?!

"Brother Four, Brother Four—I messed up, I really messed up—"

The Pig-Headed Man thrashed desperately. The chair beneath him creaked and rattled, the noise ear-piercing in the bare white room.

Sweat poured from his scalp, rendering his fleshy pink pig head incredibly slick and greasy.

"It's fine, Jiu Jing."

Yan Jing stood over his right hand, a smile on his face. "Everyone makes mistakes."

"Re—really?"

The Pig-Headed Man lifted his head in joy.

He had indeed heard the rumors. Mao Laosi of Plague might have an eccentric personality, but he was actually the most merciful among the Plague's members.

But a second later, Yan Jing's words plunged him into an icy abyss:

"If you make a mistake, you accept the punishment, and you learn to correct it next time."

"No, no, no, no! Brother Four—Aaagh!"

His agonizing shriek echoed through the room.

Like a ruptured high-pressure water pipe, streaks of blood instantly sprayed across the ceiling.

Yan Jing didn't use too much force, sawing through the flesh bit by bit.

Soon, the saw's teeth caught on something hard.

It was the Pig-Headed Man's bone.

"No... no, no, no... Brother Four, give me a chance—"

Almost fainting from the excruciating pain and feeling the vague scrape of a sharp weapon against his bone, the Pig-Headed Man begged Yan Jing for mercy.

"Mhm. Start talking."

Yan Jing said nothing more.

"It was... it was the people from Intellect Brain..." the Pig-Headed Man gasped out, his chest heaving. "They gave me a sum of money. A lot. A whole lot."

Intellect Brain was another mafia operating in the Muke District, on par with Plague.

As he spoke, tears spilled from the Pig-Headed Man's eyes:

"I had no choice, Brother Four, I really had no choice! My expenses are huge, and business at the KTV has been terrible lately! Your Xiong Lao'er was pressing me too hard. To pay you guys back, I really had no choice, otherwise Xiong Lao'er really would have killed me—"

Ignoring the Pig-Headed Man's pleas, Yan Jing looked back at Dahan:

"The latest Truth Serum."

Dahan immediately ran back to the car and brought over a vial of green liquid, placing it into Yan Jing's hand.

At the sight of that little green vial, the Pig-Headed Man, who had been lying there like a dead dog, suddenly began to thrash about, shrieking in terror:

"Brother Four, everything I said is true, it's all true! I'm begging you, Brother Four—"

If a full dose of this Truth Serum was injected into a Second Tier like the Pig-Headed Man, even if his brain wasn't completely ruined, he probably wouldn't be able to speak coherently ever again.

"Ten thousand Eerie Points a vial." Yan Jing smiled. "Jiu Jing, didn't you want money? The money is right here."

"No, no, no, I'll talk! I'll tell the truth! I'll talk!!!! Aaagh!!!"

Soon, Yan Jing got the right answer.

It was an Enforcer in this area named Han Song.

He had obtained a lot of incriminating evidence against the Pig-Headed Man's KTV. Because of this, he threatened the Pig-Headed Man into sending Yan Jing a fake message, telling him to go to the abandoned building to trade for key clues.

It was more or less what Yan Jing had guessed.

He knew it couldn't possibly be Intellect Brain.

It was election season. Unless there was a special reason, Intellect Brain would have to have turned into pig brains to kill Plague's fourth boss at a time like this.

And if there truly was some special reason, he still would have used the Truth Serum to confirm it again.

As for the Pig-Headed Man—

He could only wish him luck.

"An Enforcer."

Yan Jing took a deep breath.

With an Enforcer involved, things became a bit complicated.

First of all, Han Song was a Second Level Enforcer, not a regular law enforcer.

In his previous life, that title would be equivalent to a police captain.

He couldn't just grab the man like he had done with the Pig-Headed Man.

Secondly, as an Enforcer, why would he want to kill the original owner of this body?

In the original owner's memories, he had indeed dealt with him a few times, but it was always for minor offenses, and every time, he was bailed out shortly after.

There was no direct animosity between the two of them.

What was certain was that the Enforcer did find the original owner displeasing.

But that sort of displeasure was common to almost any Enforcer, and it certainly wasn't enough to warrant murder.

He was an Enforcer, after all. He had ten thousand legitimate ways to make the original owner's life miserable. But since this involved direct murder, the reason behind it definitely couldn't see the light of day.

"Under the circumstances of having no direct conflict, it means he either accidentally touched upon some secret, or his death would provide another benefit—like diverting the blame to someone else."

Yan Jing made a rough deduction.

As for how things would develop, he should know very soon.

After all, the news of his survival was bound to reach Han Song's ears.

"The Enforcers aren't clean either."

Yan Jing smiled, not particularly surprised.

Under such circumstances, it wasn't easy for an Enforcer to stay clean.

"Boss, what do we do now?" Dahan asked, looking down at the Pig-Headed Man, who was now visibly catatonic in his chair.

"The usual rules," Yan Jing said, his expression calm.

"Got it."

Dahan nodded and prepared to carry it out.

But before he left, Yan Jing called out to him:

"This time, I need to see the fall guy you find first."

The next day.

Muke District Law Enforcement Agency.

Han Song held his tea as he walked through the enforcement hall.

Everyone he met along the way offered him their congratulations.

"Brother Han, I heard you're on the promotion list this time!"

"Congratulations, Brother Han, congratulations!"

"That's right, Brother Han! You're the youngest Third Level Enforcer in the history of our agency, that's amazing—"

Faced with the wave of flattery, he smiled politely and replied with humility, "Just got lucky, that's all."

It wasn't until the crowd dispersed that his lips finally curled up, unable to contain his pride any longer.

It wasn't luck.

No one knew what he had sacrificed for this.

He refused to end up like the old men in the agency who couldn't move up until they died. Betting it all on a single throw of the dice—that was Han Song's life.

As for these guys who could only offer cheap flattery, they could stay at the bottom for the rest of their lives.

Practical action! Sacrifice! Risk!

Without doing so, why would anyone be willing to promote you?

But right when he was feeling proud of himself, a subordinate suddenly ran over and whispered a few words into his ear.

Instantly, his expression drastically changed.

Several hours later.

Muke District Law Enforcement Agency.

Interrogation Room.

Han Song looked at the blond man across from him, his expression grim:

"Speak! Who is the real culprit behind you!"

"I don't know, officer! I don't know, I don't know at all!!!"

The blond man's tone was incredibly bizarre, and his eyes kept rolling back.

Implanting mechanical prosthetics had side effects.

If a prosthetic malfunctioned or was incompatible with the human body, it would trigger the body's rejection, leading to a certain degree of psychological degradation.

Anxiety and restlessness. A long time ago, this symptom was also called cyberpsychosis.

But after the Heavenly Kingdom's Source of Mutation descended, this psychosis vanished.

But just after people thought they were entering an era of mechanical ascension, the appearance of the Heavenly Kingdom's second Source of Mutation unexpectedly caused this psychosis to worsen.

Under the influence of Weird Energy, the symptoms even became several times more severe.

Mechanical Rampage Syndrome.

That was the name of the new condition.

Compared to cyberpsychosis, the destructive power of a mechanical rampage was obvious. Weird Energy would fuel Mechanization, granting incomparable destructive power, and before the syndrome erupted, the afflicted suffered so much torment that their intellect could even be impaired.

Even the higher-ups could suffer from this syndrome, which was why prosthetics required regular replacement.

If not replaced in time, one would end up exactly like the guy sitting across the table.

"I'm asking you a question!!! Answer seriously!!!"

Han Song slammed his hands on the table and stood up.

Three hours ago.

The already catatonic Pig-Headed Man was left at the police station entrance by an unknown person. His Information Component had been stripped off, his right hand was nearly severed, and he couldn't speak clearly.

Two hours ago.

He sent people to check the surrounding surveillance cameras, but all the footage had been deleted.

Finally, through the eyewitness accounts of a few pedestrians, they managed to track down the person who likely took the Pig-Headed Man.

But the descriptions from those pedestrians had scared him into a cold sweat.

Then, one hour ago.

The blond man in front of him turned himself in.

Anyone could tell that this person was just a fall guy!

Yet the man insisted that he was the one who did it.

"How much did he give you?!"

Han Song glared fiercely at the blond man who was playing dumb.

The blond man didn't answer, still playing the fool, but merely raised a single finger.

The meaning was self-evident.

Ten thousand Eerie Points.

The equivalent of 500,000 Surface World currency.

The reason the blond man revealed this information was to tell Han Song something.

He had to offer a number higher than this for it to even be possible.

"Motherfucker!"

Han Song couldn't match it, and he wouldn't anyway.

He reached out and turned off the law enforcement recording equipment nearby.

Then, using all sorts of old tricks, he violently beat the blond man:

"Are you going to talk! Are you going to talk! Motherfucker, talk!!!"

His methods were seasoned; he would absolutely not leave any detectable trauma, but the pain remained.

It didn't take long for the blond man to lie gasping weakly on the floor.

Han Song wiped the sweat from his forehead.

He had used this tactic countless times to beat confessions out of suspects.

And his sweat right now wasn't just from being tired.

It was also from fear.

Mao Si wasn't dead!

The person behind him was not someone to be reasoned with. Failing to get the job done was one thing, but if Mao Si found out something... just thinking about it sent a chill down his spine.

Right at that moment, the Information Component on his right hand vibrated.

He glanced at the name, immediately hurried out of the interrogation room, and after looking around, hid in a corner and answered the call.

"It's Little Han, sir, can you hear me?"

"How is the matter being handled?"

"It's—it's still being handled—"

Han Song glanced at the blond man in the interrogation room.

"I am very disappointed."

The voice on the other end was extremely low.

"Sir..."

Han Song's throat tightened.

"If you can't handle it well, just say so. I will arrange for someone else to handle it."

The voice continued, "As for your promotion, your child's schooling, and the tens of thousands of Eerie Points your wife embezzled from the company, you will have to resolve all of that yourself."

"No, no, no, sir, rest assured, I will definitely resolve it."

Han Song swallowed hard, his heart trembling.

"I'm giving you one last day."

The call was disconnected.

Han Song clenched his fists, his knuckles turning white.

"Motherfucker, Mao Si—"

A vicious look flashed across his face as he hurried back into the interrogation room.

Looking at the blond man groaning on the floor, his rage boiled over, and he delivered a vicious kick directly at him.

"Motherfucker! I'll teach you not to talk! I'll teach you!!!"

He threw himself directly on top of him.

But unexpectedly, right at that moment, terror filled his eyes, because the blond man on the ground suddenly curled his lips into a smile, and then—

All kinds of electronic wiring, scattered components, scrap, and metal casings poured out from his rolled-back eyes. In an instant, a perfectly fine person had turned into a pile of garbage-like electronic equipment. The lights on the ceiling began to flicker rapidly.

"Mechanical Rampage!"

Han Song's face instantly turned deathly pale.

And at that moment, a subordinate happened to run over:

"Bad news! Brother Han, outside, there are so many reporters outside! They're saying, they're saying we arrested the wrong guy, that the real culprit is someone else!! It's—"

"It's—it's Mao Laosi!!!"

"He voluntarily turned himself in!!!!"