Chapter 76 | The One Who Devours All

By the time the curly-haired man reacted, it was already too late.

Yue Shi was invisible, and the curly-haired man could only watch in stunned horror as his teammates died gruesome deaths, unable to see the enemy.

He himself had his legs severed, and with a dull thud, his mangled body collapsed to the ground.

Yue Shi sheathed his blade, the corners of his mouth curling into a pleasant arc.

“No!!!” The curly-haired man’s face was a mask of agony and contortion from the intense pain.

He looked at his severed legs, then at the corpses of his three teammates, his eyes filled with utter disbelief.

It seemed like only a momentary lapse in concentration, yet in just a few seconds, they had been wiped out, without even a chance to use a single countermeasure.

At that moment, the sound of footsteps reached his ears. Looking up, he saw Yue Shi, who had partially deactivated his invisibility, slowly walking toward him.

Yue Shi had only deactivated part of the effects of Hidden Black Feathers. His body was now visible, but his head remained unseen, save for his eyes. From a distance, he looked like a headless corpse with two eyeballs floating above his neck—a sight that was as absurd as it was terrifying.

The curly-haired man was momentarily stunned, but then a wave of anger, hatred, resentment, and overwhelming dread washed over him.

He wanted to fight back, but the blood loss and excruciating pain left him with no strength.

Yue Shi stood before the curly-haired man, looking down at him from above.

Enveloped by the shadow cast by Yue Shi’s body, the man instinctively looked up and met Yue Shi’s cold eyes, which were brimming with tyranny and murderous intent.

“Who… who are you?” the curly-haired man questioned, trying to feign composure. He couldn't see Yue Shi’s face, but he could vaguely sense that Yue Shi was smiling—an arrogant and chilling smile.

Even now, the curly-haired man was unwilling to accept the reality of the situation, unable to fathom how things had turned so disastrous so suddenly.

Rage and panic intertwined within him, mixed with a bit of self-loathing. Everything had happened too fast; he had been completely off-guard, thinking that in such a remote and deserted place, there was no need for extreme vigilance. He never expected that a momentary lapse in judgment would cost him his life.

Regret was useless now. Things had reached an irreversible point, and he could only stare at Yue Shi in impotent fury.

Slap!

A crisp sound echoed through the surroundings as Yue Shi struck the curly-haired man across the face. It wasn't particularly damaging, but it was maximum humiliation.

The curly-haired man was stunned.

Slap!

Another heavy slap landed on the other side of the man’s face.

Following that, a series of slaps rang out like a symphony, filled with a cheerful rhythm.

It seemed Yue Shi was simply shaming him and venting his anger.

Only when the man’s face was swollen like a pig’s head and he no longer dared to look Yue Shi in the eye did Yue Shi finally stop and ask, “Are you with Pei Yue?”

“You already know the answer, so why ask such nonsense?” the curly-haired man replied slurringly. Despite his severed legs, the repeated slaps, and his life hanging by a thread, he quickly calmed down and decided to try and stall Yue Shi.

The blood from his severed legs had been flowing heavily, but it abnormally stopped on its own very quickly. His mental state also recovered slightly, not looking like someone who had just suffered a devastating blow.

Yue Shi keenly observed the changes in his body and then asked, knowingly, “Why are you capturing transcendents? What’s the purpose?”

The curly-haired man’s eyes flickered, and he immediately realized this was an opportunity! Yue Shi had spared his life and chosen to communicate rather than kill him outright, which meant he definitely wanted information.

As long as he had utility, he could try to negotiate. This was his hope for survival!

What he needed to do now was to soothe the other’s emotions as much as possible and reduce his malice to effectively increase his chances of staying alive.

The curly-haired man softened his tone and said softly, “Why are you asking about this? Aren't you afraid of bringing trouble upon yourself?”

Yue Shi didn't speak. He looked around, scanning the ground, and his gaze finally settled on a rusted steel pipe.

He picked up the pipe and turned back to the curly-haired man. He weighed the pipe in his hand and, without warning, swung it right into the man’s face.

Thud!

The heavy steel pipe made intimate contact with the curly-haired man’s gaunt face. His head snapped to the side, his cheekbone shattering instantly, followed by him spitting out a mouthful of blood and several teeth.

However, his vitality was tenacious. This small injury was nothing. He still had the strength to turn his head and look at Yue Shi, not quite understanding why Yue Shi wasn't following the usual script.

At a time like this, there should be more dialogue, threats, and inducements. Why was he beating him half to death without saying a word?

If he died, no information could be squeezed out!

Perhaps Yue Shi just simply wanted to beat someone.

Thud!

The steel pipe in Yue Shi’s hand landed on the other side of the curly-haired man’s face. With another dull thud, the man spat out more blood and teeth.

His face was completely deformed, but Yue Shi showed no intention of stopping, repeatedly smashing the man’s head with the steel pipe. Before long, the man was a bloody mess.

By now, the only thing left in the curly-haired man’s eyes as he looked at Yue Shi was sheer terror.

Yue Shi’s sinister voice whispered in his ear at just the right moment: “Answer what you’re asked. Don’t talk any more nonsense!”

The curly-haired man nodded slightly, twitching in pain as he moved his wounds, but he didn't dare make a sound. Especially when he saw the ruthlessness in Yue Shi’s eyes, he understood that the person before him was not someone who reasoned.

Yue Shi said, “Answer the previous question. What is your purpose for secretly capturing transcendents?”

The curly-haired man, resigned to his fate, said recklessly, “Looking at you, I feel like no matter what I say, I won't escape death in the end. So why should I tell you?”

Yue Shi reached out and grabbed a handful of the man’s hair, forcing him to make eye contact. “You’re right, you’ll die either way. But a quick death and dying after enduring endless pain are, after all, different. I have plenty of strength to torture you!”

Yue Shi abandoned the meaningless question and went straight to the point: “Who is Su Yuanhe?”

The curly-haired man’s pupils constricted sharply. As the head of Lab 0, the name Su Yuanhe wasn't something just anyone was qualified to know.

Thinking of this, a flash of realization struck his mind, and he blurted out, “You’re an escaped experimental subject?!”

“Congratulations, you guessed right. Unfortunately, there’s no prize,” Yue Shi said, drawing out his words slightly.

“You really are an experimental subject?” The curly-haired man seemed a bit excited. “The association has been searching everywhere for your whereabouts. I didn't expect you to…”

He was halfway through his sentence when Yue Shi impatiently interrupted, “Where is Su Yuanhe now?”

The curly-haired man suddenly went silent.

“Where is Su Yuanhe!” Yue Shi lifted the man up, using Raven's Secret Whispers to question him harshly.

The curly-haired man was dazed for only a moment before quickly snapping out of it, breaking free from the hypnotic manipulation. He sneered, “How could I know the whereabouts of such a big figure with absolute certainty?”

“Unless something particularly rare and interesting happens to pique Dr. Su’s interest, that might draw him out. When he leaves the lab and appears in an open area, his protection is at its weakest. If you want revenge, that will be your best chance.”

“Something rare and interesting?” Yue Shi thought thoughtfully.

Then he asked again, “Has the lab’s location changed? Tell me the lab’s current location.”

The curly-haired man was puzzled. “You escaped from the lab, and you don't remember where it is?”

He really didn't remember. At that time, Yue Shi was covered in wounds, and his mental state was extremely poor. Everything in this world was foreign to him. He was running and hiding at the same time, dodging the lab’s pursuit while avoiding the thugs in the Chaos Zone. It would be a miracle if he could remember the way.

Seeing Yue Shi raise the steel pipe to strike again, the curly-haired man said very sensibly, “The location of Lab 0 hasn't changed. It has always been underground in the wasteland about three hundred kilometers southwest of Chijing City.”

Yue Shi: “They didn't move? Aren't they afraid of retaliation?”

“Retaliation? From whom? You pathetic escaped experimental subjects?” The curly-haired man’s tone carried a hint of arrogance.

“You underestimate our strength too much. Although a major accident occurred, it was ultimately just a one-off fluke. Lab 0 wasn't easy to build; not only is the location uniquely hidden, but many of the precious pieces of equipment inside are too troublesome to move. There’s really no need to go to such lengths just for a few experimental subjects.”

“So after the accident, the lab only changed the entrance locations, strengthened the security system, and imposed stricter restrictions on the subjects in custody. Thanks to you guys who escaped, all the new subjects now have to undergo minor surgeries to deprive them of their mobility.”

At this point, the curly-haired man stole a glance at Yue Shi, but to his disappointment, he couldn't see even a hint of guilt or frustration in Yue Shi’s eyes.

He didn't understand Yue Shi’s selfish and malicious nature. Besides, these crimes weren't committed by Yue Shi, so why would he feel guilty!

“Don’t stop, keep talking,” Yue Shi urged.

The curly-haired man cleared his throat. “The people above are quite confident, believing that such a malicious escape will absolutely not happen a second time. Even if the Investigation Bureau finds some clues, they have ways to negotiate and resolve it through political means. In short, it’s unlikely for any more subjects to break the fortress from within. The only trouble left is the few subjects who haven't been recovered yet.”

Yue Shi added, “You just said ‘Lab 0’? Does that mean you have other numbered labs, all conducting human experimentation on transcendents and the supernatural? What are your main research results?”

The curly-haired man nodded, admitting there was more than one lab. He only wanted to stay alive now and didn't care who he betrayed. He had to survive first; living a bit longer was better than nothing. Once dead, everything was gone. Only the living had a future.

He was about to start talking about the lab’s research results when suddenly, a ring of pitch-black, chain-like patterns appeared on the skin around his Adam's apple. Immediately after, his hands flailed wildly, but he couldn't make a sound. His already bloodless, pale face was suddenly drenched in cold sweat.

Yue Shi was confused but soon thought of something. “Is there a transcendent in your organization who specializes in curses?”

The curly-haired man froze. There was indeed a transcendent in the Glory Association with the codename Curse Master, capable of casting various instant-death curses, delayed curses, area curses, and trigger-type curses.

But he didn't expect himself to have been secretly cursed by the Curse Master, and he certainly didn't expect Yue Shi to know of the Curse Master’s existence.

Then it clicked—Qiao Xu!

The experimental subject who had seen Qiao Xu at Qingshan Sanatorium and set the fire in the Chaos Zone must be the Yue Shi before him!

“Can you still write?” Yue Shi inquired. He guessed that the curly-haired man before him, much like Qiao Xu, had been placed under a trigger-type curse.

Qiao Xu’s curse was that the person who killed him would be marked.

The curse on the curly-haired man was likely to prevent him from leaking key information.

Hearing Yue Shi’s question, as soon as the man moved his wrist, pitch-black chain patterns immediately surfaced on the skin of both hands. His arms were frozen, unable to move anymore.

Seeing this, Yue Shi was slightly disappointed. “It seems you have no more value.”

A person with no value could go and die.

Would killing the curly-haired man result in being marked by a curse?

He hadn't considered that much when he killed the other three. Since they were already dead, Yue Shi didn't think such a curse could penetrate his own barrier.

With that thought, he dropped the steel pipe and turned to check the three corpses on the ground to see if there was anything good.

Aside from useless things like wallets and phones, he found some emergency medical supplies in the woman’s backpack. Among them were two test tubes containing an unknown liquid, with needle-like injection devices at the tips.

The curly-haired man caught sight of Yue Shi’s actions and held his breath for a tense moment, praying in his heart that Yue Shi wouldn't be interested in those two test tubes.

Unfortunately, things didn't go as he wished. Yue Shi held one of the tubes and walked toward the curly-haired man, looking eager to try it out.

“What are you going to do!” the man shouted in terror.

Yue Shi roughly dislocated his jaw and forced one of the tubes directly into his mouth. Then, with a forceful squeeze, he shattered the tube, injecting the unknown potion along with the glass shards into the man’s esophagus.

“Gah… cough…”

The curly-haired man resisted with all his might, his body reacting with physiological nausea, but he was at Yue Shi’s mercy and couldn't break free. He was forced to swallow all the medicine and glass shards. Immediately, a burning pain spread from his throat to his stomach.

No matter how good his psychological resilience was, he couldn't maintain his composure at a time like this. His heart was filled with nothing but despair.

The potion took effect quickly. The curly-haired man’s body began to mutate, his muscles and bones swelling and deforming, and his wounds showed signs of healing. His vitality was somewhat replenished.

But this was by no means a good thing.

Seeing the curly-haired man looking more and more like a muscular monster, Yue Shi knew what the potion in the tube was, so he carefully put away the other tube.