Killing

[Enemy killed, Slaughter Points +189]

Lu Hao stared at the scene before him, completely dumbfounded.

Seriously, man, you made yourself sound so tough. I thought you had some kind of backup plan, but that was it?

I thought you were a king, but you turned out to be bronze-tier.

Lu Hao grumbled to himself, then looked around. Blood was splattered everywhere. The cleanup crew would probably be cursing up a storm when they came to deal with the mess.

Lu Hao headed back the way he had come.

After passing through two rooms, he found a pile of household trash. This was where Lu Bo had been living. After searching the place, Lu Hao found a black case. Inside were two hefty bars of gold and several bottles of pills.

He opened it to check. There were only ordinary Blood Vitality Pills, Organ Protection Pills, and Healing Pills.

After taking the pills and photographing the scene, Lu Hao headed outside. Those two bars of gold must have been what drove Lu Bo to kill.

The gold had to be handed over to the Detective Bureau, which would contact the victims' families and distribute it. Lu Hao's biggest reward was probably the Slaughter Points. They would let him temper four more bones.

He got into Viper's car.

"All taken care of?"

"Yeah, it's done. Let's head back to the Detective Bureau. It was a little different from what I expected," Lu Hao said.

"How so?"

"I thought these fugitives would be about as skilled as the people at the Duel Arena. At the very least, I figured they'd have some combat sense. But I barely tried, and the guy was already dead."

"It was like expecting a big boss, only to find some low-level mob that I could kill with one hit."

Lu Hao told Viper what had just happened.

"Haha, that's normal. You do realize that most criminals used to be ordinary people or ordinary martial artists? They only became criminals after giving in to greed or going through some change."

"How much real combat experience could they have? They'd only just entered the martial world and didn't even understand how things worked before they turned to crime. Anyone who knew more wouldn't brazenly kill people and rob them."

"That's why these missions are meant to train students from places like Martial University. Otherwise, we'd just send out a middle-rank martial artist and crush them all. As for the Detective Bureau's real enemies, they're the Evil Cult."

"Those people are the Detective Bureau's targets. The Evil Cult has plenty of low- and middle-rank members, and even a few high-rank ones. They're much more dangerous."

Lu Hao nodded. He hadn't expected that a mission he'd thought would be full of danger would turn out to be no problem for him once he actually got there.

Back at the Detective Bureau, Lu Hao turned in the mission and handed over the gold he'd recovered.

When he reached the lobby, his phone showed a deposit of 200,000 yuan. The Detective Bureau sure worked fast. They'd sent the reward before even confirming the details. Weren't they worried someone might make a false report?

He went back to the mission-selection terminal and this time picked a mission involving a late-stage first-rank martial artist. This mission had a much more detailed description.

Name: Bai Yifan

Sex: Male

Age: 38

Strength: Late-stage first rank. He has practiced the Basic Combat Technique and may be carrying a short weapon. He may have even broken through to the peak of first rank.

Case: An employee at a Pill Company's brick-and-mortar store, he killed his supervisor in a fit of anger after an argument, then fled with a large quantity of pills.

Latest information: Bai Yifan was discovered hiding in Shihe Village, on the outskirts of Magic City.

Reward: 400,000 yuan

Late-stage first rank, possibly on the verge of reaching the peak. This was a good target. Hopefully he really had broken through. The more Slaughter Points, the better.

Lu Hao accepted the mission and headed for Shihe Village.

When he arrived, he found that the place wasn't much better than the unfinished building from last time. There were a few people scattered about, but not many.

Wasn't a place like this paradise for criminals?

"Uncle Wang, why doesn't the government clear out these villages on the outskirts and unfinished buildings? Then criminals wouldn't have anywhere to hide."

"Xiao Lu, you can't just look at the surface. Think about it: if the government tore this place down, those criminal martial artists would have to hide in the city. How much damage would that cause to ordinary people when we tried to catch them?"

"Oh, right. I'm so used to having power that I forgot how dangerous martial artists are to ordinary people."

They stopped the car outside. Driving into the village would have made them too conspicuous. Lu Hao got out and cautiously made his way inside. First, he'd find Bai Yifan's exact location, then decide what to do.

It took Lu Hao a full hour and a half to find Bai Yifan. That guy was slippery. He was hiding in the cellar of an empty house.

If Lu Hao hadn't noticed signs of human activity nearby while searching and waited there for a while, he'd seen Bai Yifan come out to fetch something. Otherwise, Bai Yifan might really have slipped past him.

Now that he'd found Bai Yifan, all that remained was to make his move.

The good news was that no one else was near Bai Yifan's hiding place. The bad news was that Bai Yifan was holed up in the cellar and wouldn't come out.

Lu Hao had no idea what was inside the cellar. There might be traps. He was only a first-rank martial artist, not impervious to blades and bullets. He could get hurt, and one mistake could turn the tables on him.

There was no choice. To be safe, Lu Hao messaged Viper to say he was going to stake out the place for a while. He refused to believe Bai Yifan would stay inside forever. He'd come out once already, so he'd come out again. It was only a matter of time.

Lu Hao hid himself in a secluded spot in the house and waited.

One hour, two hours, three hours...

There wasn't the slightest sound from inside. Lu Hao nearly gave in and charged straight in, but reason quelled his impatience. He needed to be patient, stay calm, and think things through.

Half an hour later, at last, the cellar door in front of Lu Hao moved. Bai Yifan tested the waters, then finally came out.

Lu Hao sprang into action and swung his blade at Bai Yifan.

"Clang!"

The sound of weapons colliding rang out. Lu Hao saw a rod in Bai Yifan's hand. It had blocked his attack.

Lu Hao shifted his weight in midair and pressed on, bringing down a second slash. This strike unleashed his Vital Blood to lethal effect, more than fifty units of it bursting from his blade.

Bai Yifan held up the rod to block again, but he hadn't expected the strike to be so powerful. He couldn't withstand it at all. The blade, together with the metal rod, came crashing down toward his chest.

Boom! Boom!

The explosive clash of Vital Blood rang out.

Lu Hao saw his slash drive the metal rod into an inner armor vest. The armor had been ripped open by the force of his Vital Blood, exposing torn flesh.

Blood trickled from Bai Yifan's mouth. He pulled a pill from his right hand and was about to swallow it.