Big Trouble

Xiang Kun knew that there were always various chaotic things in this world, and that people were committing crimes and getting hurt every moment. He had no intention of becoming a "superhero" and did not want to get involved in every single thing that happened to him.

If it weren't for Xia Tianhuo, whom he had only met once, if Xia Tianhuo wasn't Lao Xia's cousin, if Xia Tianhuo's ransom call hadn't been made directly to Lao Xia's cell phone, and if it had been some other foreigner he didn't know who had been kidnapped in Montamira, and he had only occasionally seen the news online or in the news, he certainly wouldn't have gone to such lengths to come all the way to Myanmar to rescue him.

The same applies now. When riots occur in Myanmar, it is Myanmar's own business. Their police and relevant departments will handle it, and their own "heroes" will step forward.

His blood-drinking period is approaching, so it's best to keep a low profile and get back to drink blood as soon as possible.

But just as he was preparing to continue his journey and leave Montamira, some sensory information he had gathered made it impossible for him to remain completely detached.

His location wasn't far from the small restaurant where he had eaten the previous night, and his instinctive gathering of various sensory information led him to discover that the restaurant, and the owner of the restaurant Guihai, whom he had met the previous night, were being attacked, and the situation seemed quite dangerous.

Furthermore, based on his auditory information, he determined that there were no local police officers from Montamira nearby, making it virtually impossible to rely on local official forces for assistance.

So in an instant, he made a decision—being in a foreign country, he couldn't stand by and watch his compatriots, who had previously shown him kindness and indirectly helped him, die.

At the entrance of the restaurant Xiang Kun had visited last night, the owner Guihai, and two waiters were desperately blocking the door to prevent people from rushing in.

Outside, seven or eight Myanmar, some shirtless and others wearing vests, were shouting and making a ruckus, wielding various machetes, homemade spears, and homemade knives. It looked quite frightening.

The restaurant's roller shutter door was never actually lowered; only the outer glass door was closed. Naturally, this door offered no protection against lawless thugs and was easily smashed to pieces with a few blows from machetes and metal objects.

Seeing the thugs rush in, one of the employees quickly turned and ran to the kitchen, while another employee, who didn't have time to run, could only join the boss in using chairs from the shop to try and block them.

There was a table of local diners who were having a late-night snack in the shop, but now they were huddled in a corner, trembling with fear, and dared not make a sound.

It wasn't that the boss was brave or unwilling to run away; it was simply that the thugs appeared so suddenly that he had no time to react and instinctively retreated into the shop.

The restaurant owner watched as his waiter, who was turning to run to the kitchen, was stabbed by a thug with a homemade long-handled knife and fell to the ground, screaming in agony. He and another waiter were also forced against the wall. Filled with despair, the restaurant owner thought he was going to die today. The phone call he made back home that evening might be his last words to his wife and children.

But just as he was thinking this, the thugs who had rushed into the store with strange cries suddenly panicked and stopped chasing and slashing at him and the shop assistant. Instead, they ran away with their heads in their hands.

When he came to his senses, he saw a tall, burly man wearing a baseball cap and a navy blue jacket grab one of the thugs by the neck with one hand, lift him up, and slam him to the ground. Then, he twisted his body and delivered a whip kick to the thigh of another thug, sending him sprawling to the ground as if he had been hit by a car. He was in so much pain that his back was twitching and he couldn't even make a sound.

In that brief moment of surprise, the restaurant owner realized that none of the thugs who had just stormed in were still standing.

The restaurant floor was littered with people lying haphazardly, each one looking terrible. Some had their limbs bent and bones exposed, some had been thrown against the wall and were bleeding profusely and unresponsive, and others were clutching their injuries and screaming in agony. It was as if these people were all in the same car and then caught in a horrific accident.

"Luckily, no vital organs were injured. Quickly call an ambulance or take the wound to the nearest clinic to get it treated."

It wasn't until the man in the baseball cap walked over and checked on the injured waiter that the restaurant owner, who spoke Mandarin with Guihai accent, realized who it was. He repeatedly agreed and subconsciously said, "Brother, you're Chinese too...?" Then he suddenly recognized the man in the baseball cap as the fellow villager who had eaten at the restaurant the night before!

"Holy crap, bro! It's you!! You really saved my life!!" The boss patted the man in the baseball cap on the shoulder with delight, then, together with another employee, helped the injured man out of the store, carefully stepping over several thugs lying on the ground like corpses.

As they helped the man into a small truck parked not far away, four more masked men carrying long sticks and large knives swaggered along the road.

The four men glanced at the restaurant with its smashed entrance, looked up at the sign with Chinese characters, then turned their gaze to the group of people getting into a car by the roadside. They then shouted a few words in Burmese and strode towards them.

The restaurant owner's heart, which had just been at ease, jumped again. But before he could say or do anything, the man in the baseball cap had already stepped forward and punched the approaching thug in the face.

Before the thug could make a move or a sound, his head snapped back, his body stiffened, and he collapsed to the ground, looking as if he had offered his face up himself.

After throwing a punch, the man in the baseball cap followed up with a kick, striking another thug wielding an iron bar in the groin. The latter bent over, bounced slightly, let out a soft "oh," and then collapsed to the ground, silent.

With a couple of quick slaps, the man in the baseball cap took down two men. To the restaurant owner nearby, it all seemed effortless and carefree. The sound of the punches and kicks, in particular, inexplicably reminded him of the sound of meat being slammed onto the cutting board in the kitchen—crucial and efficient.

After the two men in the baseball cap were instantly killed, the remaining two thugs reacted and turned to run away.

The man in the baseball cap didn't chase after the two. He turned back and said to the small truck, "It seems like this mess in Montamira isn't going to end anytime soon. Should we call the police directly, or contact our consulate first? I suggest you find a safe place to hide tonight. By the way, do you know what's going on? Everything was fine last night. How did it suddenly become such a mess tonight?"

"I don't know either. I heard around noon that a big boss's son was killed in a staged car accident the day before yesterday. Besides the police, it seems the boss contacted a lot of big shots in Montamira to help him find out who killed his son. A lot of people gathered in various places in the afternoon, but I didn't expect it to be this big... And one of those guys who came into my shop, I recognized him. He lives around here, so he shouldn't be one of those big shots... I don't know why this happened..." The restaurant owner said, then, remembering something, whispered to the man in the baseball cap, "Brother, were you... in the army?"

Last night, when he saw this fellow villager in the baseball cap, he only thought that the man looked strong and probably got into good physical condition from being out and about a lot. But today, witnessing firsthand how easily and cleanly the man in the baseball cap dealt with those armed thugs, the phrase that popped into his mind was something he often saw in online novels. "Murder techniques."

He used to think the urban novels that WeChat recommended to him were ridiculous. He wasn't someone who had never been in a fight before, and he knew that even someone who had trained would have their legs go weak in this situation. No matter how good your kung fu is, you're still afraid of a kitchen knife, let alone so many people and so many long weapons.

This fellow villager from Guihai is definitely not an ordinary person; he must be a "tough guy" who has experienced a lot.

The man in the baseball cap neither gave him a positive nor a negative answer; he simply waved him off, telling him to drive away quickly.

"Hey bro, what's your name? Let's exchange contact information. I'll treat you to drinks when I get back to China!" The restaurant owner quickly asked, watching the figure in the baseball cap turn and leave.

The man wearing the baseball cap was naturally Xiang Kun. Hearing the restaurant owner's words behind him, he almost blurted out, "My name is Chinese," but in the end, he just waved his hand and said nothing more.

Xiang Kun actually went a bit too far in the restaurant. Under normal circumstances, in China, he would have subdued the thugs in a more restrained and "reasonable" way. Even if he had injured them equally, his movements would have been more subtle and "reasonable."

But his time to drink blood had come, and he was already feeling the hunger for blood. Moreover, it was nighttime, making him more prone to mania and a stronger sense of violent impulse. Although he could maintain his rationality by occasionally sensing Lao Xia's "emotional-like" states, he was still somewhat affected when he took action.

Later, on the roadside, the same thing was done to the two thugs. If they hadn't been deliberately suppressed, those two would have been beaten even more badly, and the remaining two wouldn't have had a chance to escape at all.

After rescuing the restaurant owner, Xiang Kun did not leave Montamira immediately. Not far away, he rescued a Chinese couple who were being attacked by thugs.

Based on the restaurant owner's words and the various sensory information he gathered from the surrounding area, Xiang Kun deduced that several factions in Montamira were currently engaged in a fierce power struggle.

The main forces that caused the conflict and fought were the local forces, including Wu Lun, and a group of Guihai people.

Although the former was a local power, the latter was also an outsider. Without direct official intervention or favoritism, the Guihai people's influence in Montamira was not inferior.

However, after the riots broke out, the official attention and the police force in Montamira were drawn to the conflicts between the major forces. Instead, those who usually only engaged in petty theft, incited by certain individuals, began to attack Chinese shops and businesses, and even affected tourists who were visiting Montamira at the time, with many people being attacked.

The conflict between local forces and the Guihai people's forces was likely triggered by the murder of the "big boss's" son Teng Li.

However, Dream Within a Dream Xiang Kun knew from the jade pendant man at the scrap metal yard that "Brother Kui" and his group were not only not with law-abiding Guihai businessmen like the restaurant owner, but also not with the Guihai people who were already doing shady business in Mengtami. They were just a group of marginal figures without any status, otherwise they would not have risked taking this job to kidnap the "big boss's" son.

But the one behind "Brother Kui" is Wu Lun, the leader of the biggest local power. It seems this guy is deliberately trying to muddy the waters and pin the blame on the Guihai people of Montamira.

Xiang Kun didn't care at all about how these underground forces fought each other, what grudges they had, or what the outcome would be, nor did he want to get involved.

But now a large group of opportunists are attacking ordinary Chinese merchants and tourists, which makes Xiang Kun's rage somewhat uncontrollable.

Let's leave Montamira right now. Xiang Kun will feel very frustrated. His senses are too strong; he knows too many tragedies are happening and will happen.

But if he continued to attack, he could control himself the first few times, but if it happened a few more times, he was certain that he would lose control of his violent emotions and "go on a killing spree" in Montamira.

Previously, he could still be mindful of whether he was being monitored or whether there were any electronic devices like cell phone cameras pointed at him. But if the restrictions were truly lifted and he acted recklessly, it would be almost impossible for him to guarantee that he wouldn't be exposed.

First, control the "Super-Linked Object" to disable all electronic devices within its range?

That's one option, but it would cause too much of a stir.

Moreover, although he had no trouble dealing with the thugs wielding cold weapons, and could easily overwhelm them with his strength, speed, and reflexes, he was only one person, and the number of people he could help was limited. Furthermore, he might even escalate the riots further.

After thinking for a few seconds, Xiang Kun decided to try another plan that would "create a big commotion".

He found a secluded spot, squatted down, and then threw out the dozens of "Super-Linked Object" beads he was carrying, placing them on the side of the road. Through subtle control, he distributed the beads around the road.

Xiang Kun entered a "Hyper-Sensory State" and began to invoke the fear projection of the "Eight-Armed Eight-Eyed Wooden Carving".

Yes, his "big commotion" plan is to directly project the fear of the "Eight-Armed Eight-Eyed Wooden Carving" to influence the entire Montamira!

Although he knew that his emotional projection on the ship at noon had made a significant difference, and that his current emotional projection, activated through the "Super-Linked Object" matrix in a "Hyper-Sensory State," was much stronger than it had been during the Spring Festival, he still couldn't allow the fear projection of the "Eight-Armed Eight-Eyed Wooden Carving" to affect such a large city.

They couldn't even affect a single neighborhood, let alone an entire city.

Unless you give him a period of preparation beforehand, and fill the entire city with "Super-Linked Object", it might be worth trying.

However, Xiang Kun now has a compromise solution to exert a wide-ranging influence on fear projection.

That is, in a "Hyper-Sensory State," he would assemble the dozens of "Super-Linked Object" beads he had launched into a regional whole, and then within this whole, he would invoke the fear projection of the "Eight-Armed Eight-Eyed Wooden Carving."

Next, he will move the entire emotional projection "field" by moving these "Super-Linked Object" as a whole.

As the "domain" moves, everyone included within its scope will be affected.

The tungsten steel beads hidden by the roadside, moving along the ground at night, would likely go unnoticed amidst the commotion.

At noon, under the influence of the fear projected by the "Eight-Armed Eight-Eyed Wooden Carving," "Brother Kui's " boat went from stillness to motion, causing them to erupt into a fierce battle and infighting.

Now, in Montamira, where riots are taking place, Xiang Kun knows that the emotional projection of the "Eight-Armed Eight-Eyed Wooden Carving" can also bring about a very strong "stopping the fighting" effect.

Of course, ordinary people not involved in the riots may be affected to some extent, but he believes that these minor impacts are acceptable compared to the effect of saving lives and quelling the unrest.

Moreover, doing so can also, to some extent, allow Xiang Kun to shift his attention to emotional projection, thus alleviating the mania and violence brought about by the blood-drinking impulse.

He also vaguely realized that this widespread emotional projection could have an uncontrollable and lasting impact on the entire area, but after considering various options, he ultimately decided to use this method.

Moreover, he doesn't intend to move or project his emotions throughout Montamira; he will only move them to the riot areas targeting ordinary Chinese people and tourists, so the actual scope is not large.