Oh, Let Me See What Other Tricks You Have

Under the cover of night, three heavily armed figures were rapidly approaching Jie La Er's cabin.

As one of them approached the hut, he immediately pressed himself against the wall and peered through the window. But before he could make out anything, the other patted him on the shoulder and said, "Don't be so nervous, Karl. That guy is in the detention center at the Bone Headquarters. He can't be here."

The man called Karl was somewhat displeased by his companion's interruption, "Jim, you're really being irresponsible. So what if he's not here? He used to be..."

"'Knight of the Evening Star,' we all know that, but as you said, it's from the past." Jim shrugged and said, "The second-generation Pioneer Force has been in office for ten years now. You still remember the 'heroes' from ten years ago? Don't you know that in this era, even the best prosthetics should be obsolete after three years?"

Karl was clearly dissatisfied with Jim's statement and was about to retort when the burly man, whose physique was like a small mountain, spoke up at the back, "Alright, let's get moving. Don't forget why 'Lord Yongxin' went to so much trouble to hold off that Xiaoxing. Don't waste time here."

The big guy was clearly the leader of the three. As soon as he spoke, Jim and Karl stopped talking and prepared to get to work.

With a loud bang.

Karl smashed the old lock, and the wooden door creaked open.

Jim was about to push the door open when the big guy stopped him.

"Wait, look over there." The big guy pointed behind the door.

The two looked in that direction and discovered a small, hidden mechanism behind the door. If they walked straight in, the mechanism would be triggered immediately, and a small crossbow bolt would be fired from behind it.

Jim was shocked. "He actually installed this in front of his own house."

Karl said, "That's why I told you to be careful of him."

"Even if you say that, what use is such a small arrow?" Jim said. "Who can it wound?"

The big guy stepped forward and used his extended prosthetic arm to disassemble the small device. Then he sniffed the arrow and said, "Dissolving Liquid. This isn't for dealing with people; it's for dealing with contaminants. It used to be standard equipment for the Pioneer Force... the original Pioneer Force, of course."

Jim was somewhat skeptical. "That little bit of solvent on the arrowhead can kill a contaminant? That contaminant is far too easy to deal with."

"Of course not. This amount of solvent can only cause the contaminant to stagnate for about ten seconds at most," the big guy explained. "After that, it will return to normal."

"What's the use of that?"

The big guy glanced at Jim and said calmly, "In the Land of Corruption, those ten seconds are enough to save your life... Obviously, he doesn't expect this device to kill the contaminants, but rather to hold them back to buy more reaction time. Ten years ago in the Contamination Zone, such a device was called a doorbell, an essential item for sleeping peacefully at night to avoid being corroded by contaminants while asleep."

After listening to the big guy's explanation, Karl nodded thoughtfully, then asked, "But this isn't Contamination Zone, so what is he trying to deal with by setting this up?"

That's a really good question; even the big guy couldn't answer it after a little thought.

"Perhaps it's just his habit," the big man said casually. "No one who comes back from the Contamination Zone ever comes back easily."

The big guy's double entendre was clear to both Karl and Jim.

Because the big guy was also a member of the Pioneer Force, but the second-generation Trail Blazers Devil Squad, it was precisely because of this experience that Karl and Jim approved him to be the leader.

This is what seniority is.

"Go in." After checking the door again, the big guy spoke again, "There shouldn't be anything inside."

Karl and Jim went into the house, but having been caught in the previous trap, they became much more cautious.

"What were we looking for again?" Jim asked as he carefully made his way through the cramped room.

"Anything that makes you suspicious," the big man said in a deep voice. "That former Xiaoxing has changed more in the last few days than he has in the past ten years. Lord Yongxin believes that he must have encountered something, or... gained something."

"Just suspicious things... I think there are way too many," Jim muttered. "Everything in this house is a ten-year-old relic, that alone is enough for me. What is this, a museum?"

Jim's attempt to lighten the mood with a joke went unanswered, which bored him, so he simply continued working in silence.

Then, a huge shadow blocked his way, startling him. "Holy shit."

This immediately caught the attention of Karl and the big guy. "What's wrong?"

"Come and see... what is this?"

In front of Jim was a large machine that looked very old, with rust covering all its parts. By Jim's standards, such a thing should be called scrap metal.

Jim simply couldn't regard the machine in front of him as scrap metal, because it looked far too... imposing. Just standing there made Jim feel like he couldn't breathe.

"What the hell is this thing?" Jim asked.

The big guy had also come over, and when he saw the machine, he also showed a surprised expression.

"This is... a contamination detector," the big guy said. "It's an instrument that the Pioneer Force used to detect whether they had been contaminated."

Karl was puzzled. "It's just for detecting pollution, why make it so big?"

"Because detection is only one of its purposes," the big man said in a deep voice. "Its more direct function is to remove the pollution after it has been detected."

"How do we clean up the contamination?" Jim asked instinctively. "How do we clean it up?"

The big guy patted a recessed area on top of the machine. "See this? This is for holding the Chainsaw Sword, understand now?"

Some things don't need to be explained too clearly.

Jim and Karl only needed to imagine what the Chainsaw Sword would look like embedded in the machine to immediately understand how it worked, and a chill ran down their spines.

"That old guy, is he really that ruthless to himself?" Jim muttered. "He doesn't even plan to leave himself a complete corpse."

Karl added, "This should have been standard equipment for 'Night Star' back in the day, but it hasn't been activated in a long time."

At this moment, the big guy sensed something. He first looked at the core of the machine, then at the seat in it, and then his brows furrowed little by little.

"No, this machine was started recently," the big man said slowly, "Within the last day or two, after he came back."

Jim and Karl were both stunned.

The big man slowly retreated, and the more he looked at the details of the machine, the more certain he became of his earlier deduction.

This machine has been started.

Jim was still in shock. "Why did he start it?"

No one answered him, because the answer was easy to come up with with just a little thought.

Why is the testing instrument being activated?

That's because... they feel they've been contaminated.

At that moment, a scene flashed through the minds of all three: a rigid and lonely Knight, sitting alone on the instrument meant to kill him in the dead of night, pulling the lever and awaiting his fate.

"It seems... Lord Yongxin's judgment was correct." The big man spoke slowly. "There has indeed been a change in that guy, even he himself has noticed it."

"...But he's still alive and well," Jim said. "That means the machine wasn't working, so was he contaminated or not?"

"What does this have to do with us?" The big man glanced at Jim and said nonchalantly, "And what is your definition of pollution? According to the definition of pollution ten years ago, then we..."

The conversation ended there, but Jim already understood.

"Yes, times have changed," he said. "Pollution needs to be redefined. If he's dead, then he's pollution; if he's alive, then we're pollution. It's that simple."

After a brief exchange, the three of them continued searching for the "suspicious object," rummaging through the pile of "junk."

They weren't afraid of leaving too many traces and being discovered by Jie La Er later, because once they entered the house, it was destined that they couldn't hide it, and Jie La Er would definitely find out—they Knight of the Evening Star, not just some Tom, Dick, or Harry.

In other words, they can only do this once; it won't work the next time.

Therefore, they don't need to worry about so much; they just need to find the suspicious object before Jie La Er returns.

This was a very simple task, because they knew exactly how long Jie La Er would be imprisoned. They had plenty of time to turn the hut upside down and then burn it down.

But for some reason, this easy task brought inexplicable pressure to the three of them.

This feeling was especially strong for the big guys who used to belong to the Devil Squad; it was like returning to Land of Corruption.

That damn place always felt suffocating, enough to drive a person crazy, which is why the big guy retired from the devil and worked for a new organization.

But now, it's like he's back in that damned place.

But this was clearly just an ordinary house, filled with nothing more than scrap metal from ten years ago.

So where does this strange sense of oppression come from?

The longer the big guy stayed in the room, the more irritable he became, especially when he walked to the desk and saw the photos of the former "Night Star" troops on it. The feeling of returning to the Land of Corruption intensified. Finally, he couldn't take it anymore and kicked the leg of the desk chair.

"Damn it," he cursed.

The old desk immediately began to shake, and the yellowed photos on it fell over one by one.

The big guy had only glanced at it before intending to look for clues on the other side, but that one glance caught something out of the corner of his eye, so he stopped and looked in that direction.

He saw a very strange box, which seemed out of place with the overall style of Lyra...

Karl, who was standing nearby, also noticed what was happening and immediately widened his eyes. "What's that?"

Jim stopped what he was doing and looked over at the same time.

Uneasy, very uneasy.

This was the big guy's most immediate feeling when he saw the box, and the strange patterns on the box made him feel that his spirituality was frantically warning him.

But Jim and Karl clearly didn't feel that way. They walked towards the desk together, and after a slight hesitation, the big guy didn't stop them. He just watched the two of them walk to the desk, and then Karl opened the box.

When they saw what was inside the box, they all showed expressions of shock.

Because what was inside the box was a finger.

"So you still found out." Bai Wei's voice echoed in Jie La Er's mind. "Tsk, what a hassle. If you had just reattached my finger earlier, none of this would have happened."

Jie La Er's expression was also grim. He glanced at the skeletal Knight guarding him outside the cell, knowing he wouldn't be able to get out anytime soon, and asked in a low voice, "What should we do? Will they take your finger away?"

"Although they don't know what my finger is—after all, you Lyra don't know much about the outside world—that doesn't mean the being behind it doesn't know," Bai Wei said calmly. "Once they take it, things will get very complicated. Just think about it, what will happen if those guys who have been playing you for a fool get my finger? Anyway, I think you'll never find out the truth."

Jie La Er clenched his fists, and the absurd idea of "breaking out of prison" even flashed through his mind.

But Jie La Er also knew that even if he escaped from prison now, he couldn't get home immediately, since they weren't even in the same district.

What can we do now?

Just then, he heard Bai Wei let out a soft "Eh".

"You really are very lucky," Bai Wei said casually. "Your friend came to your aid."

Friend?

Jie La Er was slightly taken aback.

Where does he have friends now?

"Bang"!

The window next to the desk was suddenly broken.

Karl, who was closest to the window and still studying his fingers, was instantly swallowed by a huge mouth.

This left Jim was standing nearby, completely stunned.

"Get out of the way!" The big guy kicked Jim aside to prevent him from being bitten by the contaminant.

Yes, this is a pollutant.

The contaminants had been lodged on the roof beams for so long that the three people who entered the room did not notice them.

Jim was dumbfounded. "How could there be contaminants?!"

The big guy ignored him, and instead, with a stern face, he unbuttoned his shirt, revealing four thick mechanical arms emerging from behind him.

No wonder he'd always felt something was off, like he'd returned to Land of Corruption... With such a huge pollutant right on their foreheads, how could they not feel that way?!

This explains why Jie La Er had set up the trap at the entrance; it really was there to deal with the pollutants.

But this isn't Contamination Zone at all, so where did these pollutants come from?

Looking at the contaminant that had swallowed Karl whole, the big guy felt that familiar fear surge up in his heart again. He shook his head violently, burying the thing back into his heart.

There's no time to think about that now; the most important thing to do right now is to deal with this pollutant!

As a former member of the Devil Squad, Big Guy has extensive experience in combating contaminants. Especially after retiring from the Devil Squad, he has been equipped with four mechanical arms, so there is no need to worry about his combat capabilities.

However, just to be on the safe side, he activated [Overload] ahead of time.

Every metal part of his body emitted a tremendous roar at that moment.

The pollutants rushed towards him, and the familiar attack still made the big guy's heart tremble, slowing his movements by half a beat.

Fortunately, because it had just swallowed Karl, the pollutant was not moving very fast, which gave the giant enough time to react.

So the big guy raised his hand and delivered a powerful punch, sending the pollutants flying back towards the desk.

This smooth sailing made the big guy very happy.

Yes, Karl is inside this guy's body, so he's being dragged down!

Now is the best opportunity!

Thinking of this, the big guy immediately strode forward and activated the four mechanical arms before the pollutant could get up, making the four mechanical arms also form a fist shape, and then aimed at the pollutant.

Jim, who had just gotten up, was slightly stunned when he saw this scene, and then immediately shouted, "Wait! Karl is still inside!"

As if to confirm their suspicions, Karl's voice echoed from within the contaminated body, "I'm still alive..."

But as the voice was uttered, the fists rained down like a storm, choking Jim's last words.

Thump, thump, thump, thump, thump!

With the boost of [Overload], the mechanical iron fist was so fast that it was like driving piles, and it delivered hundreds of punches to half of the pollutant's body in a very short time!

This caused the pollutant's body to collapse instantly, rapidly turning into puddles of mud and... flesh and blood.

Yes, what was flying around was not only the body of the pollutant, but also Karl's body that had been swallowed by the pollutant.

Jim's eyes widened!

He watched helplessly as the pollutants were smashed into a red and gray mixture by hundreds of mechanical iron fists, and the overwhelming stench of blood assaulted his senses.

Why, why is this happening?!

Karl is still inside!

Jim wanted to say something more, but soon, two clumps of scarlet dust fell in front of him.

He glanced down at it, realized what it was, and then couldn't stop himself from vomiting violently.

Hearing the commotion, the big guy turned and glanced at Jim without saying a word.

But his own eyes were already filled with excitement.

He chose to retire because he couldn't stand the Contaminated Land environment and... he was afraid to face the pollutants again. Although the Devil Squad had undergone more modifications than its predecessor, the Evening Star Corps, in Big Guy's opinion, it was still far from enough.

More modifications and greater power are needed to truly contend with those monsters.

Just like... like this now.

During this time, the pollutants tried to retaliate against him several times, but they were all suppressed by the indiscriminate pile-driving attack and crushed into tiny pieces of flesh.

This scene made the big guy even more excited, as if something addictive was burning wildly in his mind.

Modifications of this magnitude, even within the Devil Squad, would be considered absolutely illegal.

This is because it could very well cross the blurry line between humans and machines. The human brain has no way of controlling so many bodies that don't originally belong to it, which could easily lead them toward a more dangerous direction.

But so what?

Why care about those things if you're after power?

Moreover, he can control himself!

Look at the present, look at the present!

This pollutant is completely powerless against it!

The big guy became more and more excited. Even though half of the pollutant's body had been completely smashed and was almost impossible to restore, he still did not stop attacking until he completely destroyed it and half of its body was stained red.

"Huff, huff, huff..."

The robotic arm temporarily stopped operating due to overheating, but the big guy's excitement did not decrease; in fact, it continued to heat up.

Because the pollutant's body still has a small portion remaining, and this small portion was specifically left behind by the larger entity.

This small part is no longer able to launch an attack independently. It's like a lizard's tail that has been cut off, and it can only rely on instinct to wriggle along the wall.

But so what?

The behemoth was preparing to unleash Overload again and launch another attack like the one before.

Even though reason told him that doing this was completely unnecessary, that the pollutant had lost 80% of its threat, and that all that was needed was to deal with it as soon as possible.

But he refused to listen to reason.

Because that kind of battle was really... exhilarating.

This was a feeling he had never experienced before, at least not when he served in the Devil Squad and fought those monsters in the Contaminated Land.

So, is fighting really such a bloody yet enjoyable thing?

Thinking this, the big guy couldn't help but smile.

That smile sent a shiver down Jim's spine, whose face was pale from vomiting.

He didn't know why, but after activating [Overload], the big guy seemed like a different person, but he didn't dare to ask because Karl was already dead, so he just curled up in the corner and didn't dare to make a sound.

The big guy didn't care about Jim; he just waited for the [Overload] to recover while walking towards the remaining half of the contaminant.

"Come on, little monster." The big guy grinned cruelly at the pollutants. "Let's see what other tricks you have up your sleeve."

The pollutant on one side writhed desperately, as if making a final struggle.

This made the big guy's smile grow wider and wider.

Then, the pollutants suddenly jumped up.

Then he swallowed the box containing the fingers in one gulp.