Heart 2 (Thanks to 1 Bi Meng Xing Chen 1 for the Alliance Leader reward)

Trading a life for ten years of loyalty was a bargain. After all, whether he would actually be released later depended on their respective strengths at the time.

Clearly, Zhong Can thought the same, agreeing without a moment's hesitation. He was confident that with his strength after breaking through and his rate of progress, no method would be able to control him in ten years.

"Fine. But how do you intend to ensure I don't attack once I'm out? You wouldn't just take my word for it, would you?"

"It's simple, just a small insurance policy," Wang Yiyang said calmly. "Besides, I have found a path to advance martial arts further. Follow me, and you will see the hope of a future breakthrough."

At these words, Zhong Can in the glass room jerked his head up, his eyes like bright gemstones, staring fixedly at Wang Yiyang outside.

"Are you certain?"

"I have no need to lie to you."

"Then, what do I need to do?" Zhong Can lowered his head, his tone quickly becoming animated.

If his voice had been flat and devoid of inflection before, there was now an extra vitality hidden in his tone.

Wang Yiyang thought for a moment.

"Have a chip implanted, and take a nap." He waved his hand.

Two men behind him immediately stepped forward, opened the ventilation duct above the glass room, and injected high-potency anesthetic gas inside.

Canisters of anesthetic gas poured into the glass room like smoke.

Zhong Can closed his eyes calmly and sat cross-legged on the floor. Before long, his head tilted to the side, and he drifted into a deep sleep.

This anesthetic gas was enough to knock out two elephants; it was naturally more than enough to deal with a Grand Justice martial artist like him.

Wang Yiyang waited. He did not open the glass room immediately, choosing instead to wait outside.

Fifteen minutes later, the anesthetic gas had taken full effect and was quickly extracted.

"Give me a marker, a red one."

"Yes."

Soon, a red pen was handed to Wang Yiyang.

He stepped forward slowly and began to draw one symbol after another on the transparent glass of the room.

The Tasdak symbol hypnosis he mastered primarily used sounds and symbols as a means to guide and hypnotize others.

The hypnotic effect depended on the subject's willpower and focus.

The more vigilant or relaxed one was, the easier they were to hypnotize.

Only those who were extremely self-centered, in a state of peace of mind, or with wandering thoughts were difficult to hypnotize.

In other words, narcissists or those suffering from delusions were the hardest to hypnotize.

There were two methods in Tasdak symbol hypnosis: verbal sound and handwritten symbols.

The symbols had no fixed form, as long as they could attract the subject's attention.

That was why Wang Yiyang used a red pen.

A moment later.

He had covered the glass room with a dense array of strange symbols.

Each symbol looked like a rune written in fresh blood, twisted and grotesque. Once someone looked at them, they couldn't tear their eyes away.

Soon, all five bodyguards in the basement, including Jian, were captivated by these bright red symbols.

Their movements, which had been purposeful, became slower and more sluggish. Their gazes, however, seemed glued to the symbols on the glass.

What suggestion should I plant next? Wang Yiyang narrowed his eyes.

Tasdak symbol hypnosis was just one of the rapid hypnosis techniques Finn had mastered. It was useful, but also limited.

The greatest effect of this hypnosis was to plant a small program into a person's consciousness—a small program that did not contradict their own survival.

As long as the hypnotized person perceived a fixed trigger, this small program would be executed.

For example, it could make someone do something, complete a simple action, or suddenly have a strange thought.

Of course, one-on-one, one could do much more, such as trapping someone in hallucinations of their past memories, just like in the bar earlier.

But now it was one-on-many, so the effect was not as strong.

Wang Yiyang pondered for a moment.

"When I ask if you are loyal to me, repeat in your heart ten times: 'I am loyal to Boss Wang Yiyang.'"

His voice slowly echoed throughout the basement.

Fortunately, the space was small, and everyone could hear him clearly.

"Now, answer me: are you loyal to me?"

"I am loyal to Boss Wang Yiyang." "I am loyal to Boss Wang Yiyang."...

Over and over, everyone repeated the phrase with dull, vacant eyes.

It might seem useless, but with enough repetition, it would become a form of self-suggestion.

There is a saying that if a lie is told often enough, it becomes the truth.

Self-hypnotic suggestion has the same effect. When combined with the bonus of the Tasdak symbol, the results are even more potent.

Everyone acted as if they were mentally ill, chanting the phrase in unison until they had repeated it ten times.

Although it felt a bit foolish, Wang Yiyang knew that as long as the repetition was frequent enough, the subtle influence would ensure this group became thoroughly loyal to him, without a second thought.

Once everyone finished chanting, Wang Yiyang reached out and wiped his hand across the glass, instantly destroying the integrity of the bright red symbol.

Everyone in the basement shuddered slightly and snapped back to reality. They resumed their previous tasks, as if they had completely forgotten what had just occurred.

Soon, Zhong Can was carried out, and a surgeon who had been prepared in advance quickly stepped forward, sterilized the area, laid out sterile surgical drapes, and began the chip implantation.

The chip was implanted near Zhong Can's heart.

It was only the size of a fingernail, but it could instantly release enough electric current to paralyze a person's entire body. Furthermore, in a critical situation, it could be detonated physically.

The explosive power was sufficient to destroy a high-strength, explosion-proof concrete block of the same volume as Zhong Can.

The implantation was merely a minor surgery, completed in five minutes.

Afterward, Zhong Can was placed outside and injected with a neutralizing agent for the anesthetic gas, waiting for him to wake up.

At the same time, Wang Yiyang dismissed all his subordinates and began painting various blood-red symbols all over the surrounding walls.

He was going to attempt to hypnotize Zhong Can!

North District, Ease Inn.

The wall clock ticked softly, its hands pointing to 3:15.

In the dead of night, the only person on duty in the inn's reception hall was the landlady, who was busy playing a mobile game.

Her hair was still wrapped in numerous spiky dyeing foils, and she wore a creamy yellow dress over her stout frame. From a distance, she looked like a split, chubby durian.

Hiss.

Suddenly, the inn door was pushed open silently.

Figures clad entirely in black, holding suppressed submachine guns and carrying ammunition chains, wearing bulletproof vests, swarmed into the inn.

A few of the men in black exchanged hand signals. One stepped forward and delivered a swift chop to the neck, knocking out the landlady, who had been hunched over her game.

The rest of the group filed into the inn's hallway.

Half of them secured the elevator, while the other half quickly headed up the stairs.

Soon, they arrived quietly at the room where Kong Ping and Gu Fu were staying—the kind of incredibly cheap, small inn that didn't even require identification.

The door didn't even need to be forced; there was already a tiny gap.

One of the men in black skillfully took out a small needle, gently inserted it through the gap, attached a yellow, fish-bladder-like sphere to the end, and squeezed it hard.

Soon, silent gas began to flow into the room.

The men in black waited quietly until all the gas had been injected.

Then, one of them checked his wristwatch to time the effect.

Two minutes later, one man reached out to grab the doorknob, while another used a tool to gently slide against the electronic lock.

Click.

The lock opened.

The door was pushed open slowly. In the darkness behind the door, a young boy with red hair was smiling at the intruders.

"Hello."

Gu Fu raised a hand in greeting.

BOOM!!

To the side, Kong Ping transformed into a red blur, charging out with immense force and slamming into the two men in black at the doorway.

Their bodies were struck as if by a cannonball, flying backward and crashing into the wall, splattering blood everywhere.

Kong Ping stood up as if nothing had happened and retracted his right arm.

BANG BANG BANG BANG!!!

On both sides of the hallway, all the men in black fired at him frantically.

The dense hail of submachine gun fire formed two overlapping webs, completely engulfing Kong Ping and Gu Fu.

But the two simply raised their hands, and a thin, glowing protective barrier blocked their path. Every bullet became perfectly embedded in the light screen.

"You take the left, I'll take the right." Kong Ping walked out slowly, then suddenly leaped, swinging his right arm in mid-air.

Swoosh!!

The front half of his right arm suddenly detached, decomposing in the air into a dozen micro-metallic devices.

All the metallic devices locked onto the men in black on the right with precision, flying toward them with colorless exhaust trails.

Thwip, thwip, thwip, thwip!!

A dense barrage of impacts erupted simultaneously.

Every man in black on one side of the corridor was struck by the metal devices; not a single one survived.

All the metal devices floated back up from the corpses' heads, automatically returning to Kong Ping to reassemble into his arms and embed themselves back into place.

He turned around with a calm expression.

On the other side, Gu Fu was just retracting his hand with a smile, flashing him an OK sign.

"There are more outside. Grab a live one," Gu Fu reminded him again.

Kong Ping nodded and strode toward the corridor stairwell.

As he reached a corner, he suddenly raised his hand to shield the left side of his face.

BOOM!!

A violent explosion detonated from the left, and crimson flames instantly swallowed him whole.

At the same time, a massive volley of bullets fired from downstairs, raking the flames with frantic intensity.

As the firelight dissipated, Kong Ping slowly walked downstairs, stepping out from the smoke.

Every single bullet was frozen solid one meter in front of him.

A glimmer of red light slowly ignited in his left eye.

SHING!!

In an instant, over a dozen transparent spikes erupted from before him, blasting toward all the men in black on the first floor.

Each spike was a palm-length long, appearing as if forged from clear water, with razor-sharp tips.

They spun at high speed in mid-air, carrying immense penetrating power.

The surrounding men in black had no time to react; they were all pierced through the center of their brows and collapsed to the ground.

In a heartbeat, the hotel lobby on the first floor was left in ruins, riddled with bullet holes and soaked in blood.

"Tsk, tsk, tsk. Kong Ping, your Reaper Suit mastery is so much higher than mine. You can already utilize Force Field Spike?"

Gu Fu walked out from behind, his right arm slowly shifting from a metallic hue back to flesh tone.

Kong Ping did not reply, instead looking toward a corner of the wall.

"Come out."

Behind a wine cabinet bar in the corner, a trembling man in black slowly stood up.

"Don't... don't kill me! I'll tell you everything!!" his voice was thick with tears.

"Who sent you?" Kong Ping said indifferently.

"We are... we are from the Security Department!" the man in black replied, trembling. "It was Wang Yiyang! Minister Wang! He ordered us to take you out!! Don't kill me! I've told you everything!!"

He let out a sudden, desperate shriek.

"He isn't lying," Gu Fu whispered from behind.

Kong Ping fell silent.

Creeeak.

The door, already battered and broken by bullets, was suddenly pushed open slowly.

Outside the door, a tall, slender figure bathed in moonlight slowly stepped into the lobby.

"Nice to meet you."

The newcomer removed the round hat that had been obscuring his face.

"I am Wang Yiyang."