CHAPTER 78: CHAPTER 78 YELLOW BEAR_1

Lu Yuan felt as if something was firmly locking him in place. It was as if he was strapped by six massive locks clamped onto his arms, ankles, waist, abdomen, and the nape of his neck, completely cutting off the flow of strength throughout his body. Bursts of electricity were released from the clamped points, permeating his skin, continuously striking and numbing his muscles. Lu Yuan was certain it was electricity because he had been shocked once during middle school. That was back in his rural hometown; during a rainstorm, he had run into someone’s old house to play. A broken electrical wire from the eaves of the old house had fallen into a puddle, and out of curiosity, he had touched it... He wasn’t seriously injured, but the sensation of being electrocuted had left a deep impression on him. What he was enduring now was many times more intense than that experience, and he couldn’t shake it off no matter what he tried.

Someone’s arm passed under Lu Yuan’s armpits from the side, dragging him swiftly forward across the ground. Face down, his head lowered, Lu Yuan didn’t even have the strength to move his fingers. He could feel the stiffness in his facial muscles; his mouth wouldn’t close, and saliva even dribbled from the corner of his mouth. The feeling was unbearable. Lu Yuan felt like a puppet at others’ mercy, or like a frog pinned to a board in a biology experiment, utterly unable to move.

What should I do now? Countless chaotic thoughts flashed through Lu Yuan’s mind in an instant. He forced himself to calm down, desperately thinking of a way to break this deadlock. Add points! He still had one attribute point reserved, which would be handy right about now. Adding that point to his Constitution and then activating Special Burst would double its effect. Such a substantial, short-term increase in strength could perhaps help him break free from the restraints. This was the only viable solution Lu Yuan could think of at the moment. If that doesn’t work, I might have to try surrendering or something... Determined, Lu Yuan focused his mind on his profession panel. Just as he was about to allocate the 1 attribute point to his Constitution, then activate Special Burst and Absolute Focus, break free, and seize the opportunity to escape... something he glimpsed in the corner of the living room doorway made his pupils contract sharply. The intention to add the point wavered for a moment.

BAM!

Lu Yuan was thrown onto a chair. Immediately after, the restraint on the nape of his neck was released. A conditioned reflex shot through the muscles in his neck and shoulders, making Lu Yuan jerk his head up. His eyes, however, remained fixated on one spot— There, he saw the man in the tank top and Wang Zhichao’s group, whom he had encountered earlier. They all had their eyes closed, their bodies sprawled haphazardly on the floor, piled up like trash in a corner of the living room.

A few men dressed in tight-fitting black long-sleeved garments were moving about in the living room. All of them were quite muscular and looked like fitness trainers straight out of a gym. Right then, one of them was sitting before him. He appeared to be in his thirties, with short hair, thick eyebrows, and strong, well-defined features—the kind of handsome that was generally popular. His attire differed slightly from the others; over his tight-fitting black garment, he wore a light grey sports jacket. The jacketed man sat relaxed on the chair, his hands resting naturally on his knees. His right eye seemed artificial; Lu Yuan clearly saw a blue light flashing and pulsing within it.

At this moment, a man in a tight-fitting black garment approached the jacketed man and reported in a tone clearly indicating a subordinate addressing a superior, "There are three more living individuals in the basement. Their identities were confirmed against the missing persons list; all are locals from Burnt Rock City..." The blue light in the jacketed man’s right eye paused, and he seemed to snap out of his thoughts.

"Have you checked upstairs?"

"Yes. A total of twenty-eight victims. Their identities have been preliminarily verified and sent to the Burnt Rock City Police Department for confirmation. The... ones in the backyard pool... haven’t been confirmed yet."

"Then don’t confirm them for now. Leave that for them. We can’t be expected to do the sweeping up too, that’s too much trouble..." The jacketed man chuckled and patted the subordinate’s arm.

He then turned to another man in a similar tight-fitting black garment who had just walked in from the yard and asked, "Has the bait signal been sent?"

"All taken care of, Boss."

The jacketed man nodded, then suddenly asked loudly, "Where’s Number 13?"

The living room instantly fell silent. All the men in tight-fitting garments turned their gazes in unison towards Lu Yuan. Lu Yuan snapped out of his daze, his scalp tingling slightly, and an inexplicable sense of unease washed over him.

"Number 13 is here."

Two men in tight-fitting garments carried someone in from outside. Lu Yuan got a clear look at the man they brought in. He was also wearing a tight-fitting black garment, which had a large dent in the chest. He looked like a young man in his twenties, his lips pressed tightly together, and his forehead was deeply indented. He resembled a deflated, dented leather ball. Unsurprisingly, this must have been the Cult accomplice Lu Yuan had pummeled in the hallway earlier.

"Bones in both hands are bent and deformed, extensive fractures to the sternum and ribs, severe trauma to the brain with damage exceeding forty percent..." While reporting, one of the men carrying the youth kept staring at Lu Yuan, his gaze a strange mix of curiosity and unconcealed hostility. Lu Yuan deliberately avoided eye contact, feigning calmness as if the matter didn’t concern him.

"Forty percent? That’s not so bad..." The jacketed man stood up from his chair and walked over to the unconscious youth. He briefly examined the injured areas. Lu Yuan watched, wide-eyed, as the man used his fingers to tear away a piece of skin from the youth’s forehead, revealing a metallic luster underneath. Moreover, the palms and elbows of the unconscious youth’s arms, hanging limply at his sides, were twisted in a way remarkably similar to the steel bars of the security grille on Lu Yuan’s bedroom window—bars he himself had bent.

Modified Human?! That term flashed into Lu Yuan’s mind. He stared at the men in the room in shock and horror, as if truly understanding who they were for the first time.

"No big deal... We’ll just get him a new brain when we get back. This is a good opportunity to get his chest modified too. Number 13 should have saved up almost enough money by now, right?" The jacketed man appeared relaxed, seemingly unfazed by the horrifying injuries on the youth before him. As he spoke casually, he tore off a few more pieces of scalp from the youth’s head, making the dent on his skull—the one Lu Yuan had punched—even more conspicuous.

"The True Skill of the Heaven Water Crane Sect’s fist art," the jacketed man remarked quietly, looking at the wound, the blue light in his right eye flickering incessantly. "However, you’ve only learned the superficial aspects. It’s a good thing it was only superficial moves..." He suddenly looked up and smiled at Lu Yuan, saying half-jokingly, "Otherwise, you’d definitely be dead by now. The signature techniques of the Heaven Water Crane Sect have been obscure for a long, long time..."

Lu Yuan took a deep breath, narrowed his eyes, and stared intently at the jacketed man before him. "Who... exactly are you people?"

"Ah, if you hadn’t asked, I’d almost forgotten..." The jacketed man slapped his own cheek in a self-deprecating gesture, and the blue light in his right eye vanished. He walked over to Lu Yuan in a couple of strides and glanced at a man beside him. Accompanied by a series of CLICKS, the restraints on Lu Yuan’s arms, waist, and ankles were immediately released. Before Lu Yuan even had time to sigh in relief, he heard the jacketed man say to him with a smile, "You’re Lu Yuan, right? Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Zhou Ling. We’re from the XX Bureau of Sum Country. Well, you can also call us... Yellow Bear."