Scarface spat out a bloody mouthful of saliva. The broad-bladed cleaver in his hand reflected a dazzling, murderous gleam beneath the blazing sun.
His face, packed with layers of flesh, twisted into a cruel grin as he advanced step by step.
His heavy boots crushed the waist-high weeds of the wilderness, producing a grating crunch.
"Hey, brat! Didn't you hear me talking to you? Hurry up and throw that tattered bundle on your back over here! If you waste even a second, I'll chop you two little brats to pieces and feed you to the wild dogs!"
Scarface bellowed, his rough voice echoing across the empty wilderness.
Baldy beside him burst into brazen laughter too. His greedy eyes were fixed on Tang Wu behind Su Yu, and he muttered obscenely, "Big brother, the kid's probably scared stiff by our show of force. Look at those legs of his—he's standing there like a fence post, too scared to move. Hurry up and grab the bundle. That pretty little girl will fetch a good price."
Faced with two grown men wielding deadly weapons, Tang Wu trembled all over.
She clutched Su Yu's clothes, tears falling like beads from a broken string as she let out a faint whimper.
"Brother Yu, let's give them the bundle. I'm so scared..."
Tang Wu's voice shook terribly. She didn't dare look at the two bloodstained cleavers.
Su Yu stood perfectly still, his thin back straight as he firmly shielded Tang Wu behind him.
His radiant golden Eye of Truth coldly regarded the two foolish bandits before him.
In his vision, the crude green System Panel above Baldy's head flashed with a glaring red light. It clearly displayed the robbery mission and its pitiful reward of 100 points.
Su Yu knew full well that his body was only six years old.
Though he had awakened with Innate Full Soul Power and a body far stronger than an ordinary person's, going head-to-head with two grown men who had spent years living by the blade would be foolish.
He hadn't obtained a Soul Ring yet and had no offensive Soul Skills. Strength alone wouldn't be enough to beat the two of them.
But he had a trump card specifically designed to counter systems.
Su Yu took a deep breath and slowly closed his eyes, focusing all his mental strength within his body.
In an instant, a warm current surged up from his dantian.
This was the Innate Full Soul Power he had just awakened.
This pure, immense force surged wildly through his limbs and bones like floodwaters bursting through a dam.
Without drawing attention, Su Yu moved his right hand behind his back.
As he poured in Soul Power, a cloud of gray mist silently gathered in his palm.
The mist had no temperature and emitted no light. It was like a blind spot that had appeared from nowhere in the middle of space.
The gray mist churned and compressed. In just one second, it transformed into an unremarkable, dingy gray square.
This was his Second Martial Soul, the rule-type Martial Soul—the [Conceptual Eraser].
The moment the Conceptual Eraser took shape, the air around it rippled strangely.
Ordinary people couldn't detect the fluctuation, but Su Yu could sense that this power seemed capable of warping all the rules and common sense around it.
"Hey, brat! Are you deaf? I've got a limit to my patience!"
When Scarface saw that Su Yu hadn't handed over the bundle and had instead closed his eyes, he flew into a rage.
He took two more steps forward, raising his cleaver high, its blade aimed straight at Su Yu's head.
"If you're so eager to die, I'll grant your wish today!"
Scarface roared, muscles tensing as he prepared to bring down the cleaver.
At that critical moment, Su Yu snapped his eyes open.
Chilling light burst from his radiant golden pupils.
His gaze passed over Scarface and locked onto the green System Panel above Baldy's head.
Su Yu's right hand clenched behind his back.
The Conceptual Eraser in his palm instantly transformed into a stream of pure gray energy.
With a flick of his thoughts, the energy followed his gaze, turning into a thread of gray so fine it was almost imperceptible. In a bizarre manner that ignored the distance between them, it shot toward the panel above Baldy's head.
The gray thread moved so fast that neither Scarface nor Baldy noticed it.
Su Yu's eyes remained fixed on the red mission prompt on the panel.
[Mission: Rob the two children in front of you and take their belongings.]
Like a living thing, the gray thread landed precisely on those words.
Su Yu focused all his strength. His Innate Full Soul Power drained away like water through an opened floodgate.
The energy required to modify the system's rules was astonishing. In that single instant, half the Soul Power in his body was sucked away.
But the results were immediate.
As the gray thread touched the words "two children," they blurred as if an invisible hand had scrubbed them hard. Then the four characters completely disintegrated into a jumble of data code before dissolving into flecks of green light and being erased without a trace.
A huge blank appeared in the middle of the previously complete mission prompt.
Fine beads of sweat appeared on Su Yu's forehead, and his face paled.
But he knew it wasn't time to relax. He had only completed half of the mission's modification. He had to fill in the missing words to completely change Baldy's behavior.
"Change!"
Su Yu growled inwardly. His thoughts raced as he squeezed every last drop of Soul Power from his body, forcing it along the gray thread and into the blank space on the System Panel.
The gray rule-energy twisted and shifted rapidly in the empty space. In less than half a breath, it coalesced into two fresh green characters.
"Companion."
The mission prompt changed completely in an instant.
[Mission: Rob the companions in front of you and take their belongings.]
The moment the two characters took shape, a crisp mechanical notification suddenly rang out in Baldy's mind.
"Ding!"
Baldy had been leering at Tang Wu when the sudden system notification made him freeze.
His grin instantly stiffened. The moment he heard the notification change, his eyes—which had been filled with greed and malice—turned vacant.
His pupils slowly lost focus, as if he'd lost consciousness and an invisible force had taken control of his mind.
Baldy's blank stare lasted for less than a second before it was replaced by a crazed, blood-red frenzy.
He abruptly turned his head, his neck making a stiff, cracking sound.
His bloodshot eyes fixed on Scarface, who had been about to attack Su Yu, like a hungry wolf locking onto its prey.
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