"Urgh!!!"
Brother Hu felt an arm clamped around his neck. Struggling to breathe, he glanced down and saw two pitch-black arms.
What the hell is this?!
He had initially assumed a public security officer had grabbed him from behind, but those utterly black arms, with no pores or hairs, looked more like the limbs of some monster. They were definitely not human!
"Crk... Cough!"
Brother Hu struggled desperately. Even through his fear, he used his right hand, fitted with a Knuckle Duster, to pound the black arms with all his strength, hoping the pain would make them let go.
But how could he have known that Shadow had no sense of pain at all? No matter how he struck, Shadow's arms remained tightly locked around his neck.
Sitting inside the car, Guan Tong watched with his own eyes as this vicious criminal was put in a rear naked choke by the Shadow under his control.
He had seen this simple yet effective fighting technique on television before. It could knock someone unconscious in a very short time, and he had not expected it to come in handy now.
In less than ten seconds, Brother Hu's face went from pale to blue, then from blue to purple. Finally, foam spilled from the corners of his mouth, his eyes rolled back, and he passed out completely.
Only then did Guan Tong get out of the car. Looking at the unconscious thug on the ground, he frowned slightly.
"This guy should be considered dangerous, right?"
He had thought he only needed to stay in the car and wait to identify Xu Xiaotian. He had not expected such a vicious criminal to suddenly appear.
Guan Tong recalled Shadow and was about to check on the two public security officers the thug had knocked down. At that moment, Li Meng rushed out through the construction site gate with several others. Seeing the scene, he was shocked as well.
"What happened?!"
Guan Tong said, "A criminal disguised himself as a public security officer and escaped. He caught two officers off guard and knocked them down. When he tried to attack me, I was lucky enough to knock him unconscious."
After hearing that, Li Meng first checked on his two colleagues. Only after confirming that their lives were not in danger did he breathe a sigh of relief.
He then walked over to the unconscious criminal, turned him over, and looked at his face. His expression changed instantly. "Shen Zuohu!"
"Director Li knows this criminal?"
Li Meng nodded and said grimly, "That bastard was imprisoned more than ten years ago for controlling an organized crime group. He should have been released only at the end of last year. I never expected that, in less than a year, he'd be back to his old ways!"
As he spoke, Li Meng seemed to think of something. He looked up at Guan Tong in surprise. "Shen Zuohu is notorious for being vicious and ruthless. If I remember correctly, you're still a student, aren't you? Yet you actually knocked him unconscious... You've been hiding your talents, huh."
Guan Tong did not respond to that and instead asked, "Director Li, how are things inside the construction site?"
Li Meng stood up. "It's all over. A few who violently resisted the law were shot dead, and the rest have been cuffed. The people who were tied up are fine too, though they were knocked unconscious and haven't woken up yet. One of them should be your friend. You can go identify him."
"Okay."
"I'll have someone take my injured colleagues and the victims away first. As for Shen Zuohu..." Li Meng said with a cold laugh, "If I don't interrogate two layers of skin off him and dig out everything he's known since he was in his mother's womb, then I'll have let this uniform down!"
Guan Tong had not expected Director Li, who wore glasses and looked rather refined, to actually be such a hot-blooded man.
"As for you..."
Li Meng looked at Guan Tong and raised a hand to stroke his chin.
"Technically, you helped capture a major suspect, so according to bureau regulations, you're entitled to a reward from the Public Security Bureau. But money isn't worth much these days, and as for gold, the bureau really can't afford to hand that out..."
Guan Tong shook his head. "There's no need for a reward. I only hope Director Li can solve the case as soon as possible and find out why Shen Zuohu kidnapped High Mind Power Users and what his goal was. After all, I'm involved in this case too."
Li Meng nodded. "Fine, we'll leave it at that for now. Once there's news, I'll have someone notify you to come to the bureau. You're both a victim in this major case and an important assistant in solving it. Once it's cleared up, you deserve to know what happened."
Li Meng then took all the captured criminals away for intensive interrogation, while Guan Tong followed a car to the hospital with the unconscious Xu Xiaotian.
At the hospital, the doctor examined Xu Xiaotian and determined that he seemed to have been given a sedative. He would not wake up for at least several hours.
So Guan Tong waited at the hospital as well. More than three hours later, Xu Xiaotian woke up groggily.
"Guan Tong...? Where am I?"
"The hospital. Don't you remember being kidnapped?"
The moment Xu Xiaotian heard the keyword "kidnapped," he quickly came fully awake. Once Guan Tong told him what had happened, he was overwhelmed with gratitude.
"Guan Tong—no, Brother Tong! Good thing you notified the Public Security Bureau in time, or my life would've been over! From now on, you're my real big brother!"
"Enough. You need to be more careful in the future. Your Mind Power value and items should really be kept secret," Guan Tong said. "You may not intend to harm others, but you must be on guard against them."
"Right, right! Right!" Xu Xiaotian nodded repeatedly. "This really taught me a lesson. Sigh, next time someone asks nosy questions, I'll just play dumb and deaf!"
Guan Tong checked the time. "If you're okay, let's head back to the hotel. Get some rest and calm down. I figure the Public Security Bureau will probably ask you to go over later and make a statement."
On the way back, Xu Xiaotian gave a detailed account of how he had been kidnapped. From being approached and tricked into revealing information, to the criminal's accomplices arriving, to his failed attempt to escape, he told Guan Tong everything.
When Guan Tong heard that Xu Xiaotian had used Instant Noodles as a weapon, he felt the kid had been quite quick-witted in a crisis. If the criminal driving the car had fallen for it, Xu Xiaotian might really have escaped from them.
"It's way too dangerous out there. I'm never going out casually again." Even after they returned to the hotel, Xu Xiaotian still looked shaken.
"Brother Tong, I've decided that until I register at Capital Academy next month, I'll become a shut-in like you and stay in my room without going anywhere!"
"...If you have nothing to do in your room, you can practice using your Mind Power more and develop your Instant Noodles item," Guan Tong said. "That way, your upper limit can increase faster."
"Yeah. Then I'll go back to my room and lie down for a while. My poor heart is still pounding!"
Xu Xiaotian returned to his own room, while Guan Tong swiped his card and entered Room 306.
He sat at the table and reflected on what had happened that day.
It had not exactly been heart-stopping, but it had certainly been somewhat thrilling.
What satisfied Guan Tong was that Shadow's performance in its first real battle had met his expectations. This proved that his path of developing it further was correct.
Shadow's abilities after materializing are completely tied to my own. In other words, if I want Shadow to become stronger in strength or speed, I need to train those aspects myself as well.
But Shadow has one advantage over me: it has no sense of pain, itching, fatigue, or anything like that. And it is almost impossible to kill... As long as I can continuously supply it with Mind Power, even if it is cleaved in half by a blade, it can rapidly recover.
Based on these traits, Guan Tong gradually formed a vague plan for how to strengthen Shadow further.
Before you continue