The five men were all about the same height. They stood in a neat line behind Jian and bowed quietly to Wang Yiyang.
The hall fell silent. Only the noisy music from the television could be heard.
Wang Yiyang said nothing, and they didn't dare say much either.
After all, during the surgery, they had also been implanted with the five remaining chips Wang Yiyang had.
Though he didn't have many chips left, at this critical juncture Wang Yiyang hadn't hesitated at all. He had immediately ordered that one chip be implanted in each of the five men.
"From now on, you'll work for me until you've paid off all your debts ten years from now. I'll give you a base salary of thirty thousand a month, plus bonuses for missions.
"Also, from now on, the five of you will share a single codename."
Wang Yiyang thought it over.
"Let's call you the Left Hand." He raised his left hand. "The five of you will each correspond to one of my five fingers. I hope you can truly become the people I trust most."
"Yes, boss." The five bowed again in unison.
"Now, tell me your names." Wang Yiyang crossed his legs, resting his long, fair hands lightly on his knee.
His fingers began moving in strange motions, as if stretching and flexing.
Without realizing it, the six people present found their attention drawn to his hands.
After all, they were standing, while Wang Yiyang was sitting.
From their higher vantage point, they had a clear view of his hands.
One by one, from left to right, the five men gave their names.
"My name is Chen Youli. I'm at your service, boss!"
The first man on the left was Chen Youli. He was male, thirty-six years old, weighed eighty-one kilograms, and was bald. He specialized in Iron Arm Fist, Bronze Body, and other hard-body techniques. His resistance to blows was exceptionally strong. Before becoming disabled, he had been in the late stage of the Glimmer rank.
"My name is Yelu Zhaocheng. I'm at your service, boss."
The second man was Yelu Zhaocheng. He was male, thirty-nine years old, weighed seventy-nine kilograms, and specialized in throwing knives, darts, and needles. He was fast and agile. Before becoming disabled, he had just entered the Glimmer rank.
The third person.
"My name is Yan Huan. You can call me Swallow. I'm at your service."
Yan Huan was female, thirty-one years old, and weighed fifty-seven kilograms. She specialized in wrestling and joint locks. She was an agile fighter, and before becoming disabled, she had been at the peak of the Glimmer rank. She could step into Bright Light at any time.
Her fighting techniques had originally been passed down in her family. They had once run a martial arts school, but after the business went under, they turned it into a dance studio.
These three were the ones Wang Yiyang focused on most.
The other two had far less presence and confidence by comparison. They blended into the crowd on the street, and their lives after becoming disabled had probably worn away their spirit.
More importantly, both of them were over forty-five and already past their prime.
The Yanhu Sect had probably sent them along just to make up the numbers.
Wang Yiyang didn't mind. Different people had different uses.
He asked the five to describe the changes and sensations they had experienced after surgery.
He still had plenty of doubts and questions about Bio-Mechanization and Source Silver.
So he needed to gather more information.
"I had my left arm repaired." Chen Youli spoke first. "My left arm is stronger and more durable than before. I feel like it won't be long before I can train back to my peak!"
"What about its flexibility?" Wang Yiyang asked.
"It's more flexible than before! It's incredible!" Chen Youli replied, sounding excited.
"The advantage of these new limbs is that they're much stronger than ordinary flesh and blood. You'll understand that for yourself soon enough.
"Another thing is that the new limbs can be fitted with ports, so you can connect other devices and auxiliary components. You can even attach a battery to temporarily boost the strength of your new limb." Wang Yiyang gave them a brief explanation.
"You can attach a battery?!"
All six people present were stunned.
Wasn't that pretty much the same as being a mechanically modified human?
"You can test it yourselves when you get back. A small amount of current can be stored in the Source Silver. When you exert yourself beyond your limits, it'll be released to give you greater strength." This was an inherent property of Source Silver.
Thanks to Twist's memories, Wang Yiyang had known about this for a long time. But to the six people present, it was an astonishing revelation.
Wang Yiyang ignored their shock and carefully explained a few more details. Then he had Jian arrange for the five men to leave and begin their adaptation training.
Turning from martial artists into qualified bodyguards and subordinates would require a lot more training.
Being able to fight wasn't enough.
After everyone had left,
he slowly rose from the sofa.
Just moments ago, he had completed a covert hypnosis without anyone noticing.
His hands had served as the hypnotic tool.
By continuously making various gestures with his hands, he had gradually hypnotized everyone present, including Jian.
The result was that the five men, who had already been grateful to Wang Yiyang, now felt even more sincerely loyal to him.
This was covert hypnosis, a variation of Tasdak Symbol Hypnosis.
Standing in the living room, Wang Yiyang pondered for a moment. The hypnosis he had just performed had mainly been a test.
He had secretly tested whether his Hypnosis worked on Limit Martial Artists.
It seemed to have some effect, but not as much as he had imagined. Compared to ordinary people, Limit Martial Artists had much stronger self-control and far greater control over their own minds.
That meant people like them were harder to influence from the outside.
After all, hypnosis was fundamentally a form of external suggestion.
It's less effective on Limit Martial Artists, but it's enough to control ordinary people completely.
Wang Yiyang thought it over, picked up his phone, and dialed a number he hadn't called in a long time.
A moment later, someone answered.
"Hello, boss." It was Lei Wei.
"Come over to my place, the new house. Also, have all the squad leaders who work for me come here."
"Okay."
After hanging up, Wang Yiyang walked to the floor-to-ceiling window and looked out at the distant scenery.
Now that he had confirmed the effectiveness of Tasdak Symbol Hypnosis, he was going to make a big move this time.
He had suspected for a while that Lei Wei had a problem, and that some of his squad leaders might have one too.
He might as well settle it all at once with Symbol Hypnosis.
He reached into his pocket and felt a red pen in there. He had prepared it long ago.
It was the same one he had used in the basement.
In the city center, at a bustling dessert shop to the right of Wanshen Department Store,
two young women with long hair were carefully taking photos of the food on their table, one item after another.
Their table was piled with little cakes, small rolls, and homemade desserts made from things like fruit and ice cream. Most of the items were inexpensive but looked pretty.
"You tell me—how many has it been now? Your parents still won't give up? These days, falling in love on your own is the way to go. Have they even thought about how few people around us got married after meeting through blind dates?"
The long-haired girl in a white beret laughed.
"Don't even start. My mom's practically threatening to die over this. I told her my job is important right now and I don't have time to think about marriage or dating, but she just won't listen." Xie Yishu looked exasperated.
She had graduated just last year and had passed the customs officer exam this year, smoothly leaving school life behind and entering the workforce.
For men, perhaps the pay at customs was low, the work was heavy, and there was little room for advancement, so they weren't interested.
But Xie Yishu wanted a steady civil service job and a peaceful life.
She wasn't ambitious, and she liked the kind of work environment without office politics.
The income wasn't high, but being comfortable and happy was what mattered.
That was how she saw it.
"What job is so important? Your department has you crawling around cargo containers all day for that little bit of pay. What could be so important about it?" Her best friend, Su Xiaoxiao, took a bite of her milk cone and laughed.
"I really don't get you. You commute from the city every day, spending over two hours just getting to work. You don't even arrive until after nine, and when you commute home after work, it's already ten, time for bed. What's the point of going so far?"
Xie Yishu shook her head. "You think I want to? I didn't have a choice. The other departments had filled all their positions, or weren't hiring. Customs was just easier to get into..."
"So what? Have you thought about the future? You work so hard every day. Are you planning to find a coworker and spend the rest of your life at that unit?"
"Stop talking about the rest of my life!" Xie Yishu shoved a little cake into her friend's mouth. "You're always picking on me. I'm going on a blind date today, remember? I'll need your help! He's the son of one of my dad's coworkers. It'd be rude to reject him too bluntly, so help me out and let him know tactfully that I'm not interested."
"Don't worry, leave it to me!" Su Xiaoxiao patted her ample chest, though the cake crumbs all over her face made her promise hard to take seriously.
"Anyway, I want to enjoy being single for a few more years. Getting tied down this early just isn't my style." Xie Yishu added one last thing.
"You're always talking about me. What about you?" Xie Yishu took a sip of mixed fruit juice and looked at her friend. "Didn't you say you were going to send yourself abroad? Why haven't you brought it up again?"
Su Xiaoxiao shook her head.
"I don't like going to big places. It's so much more comfortable staying here in my little city. Last time I went to that book club or whatever, all the other women were so socially and intellectually sharp... I felt completely out of place. They all lived on their own without relying on their families, while I just sat there not knowing what to say."
"Why do you rich people worry about this stuff all the time? You have money to spend. Why care what people say? What business is it of theirs if you spend your parents' money?" Xie Yishu said, envious and resentful.
"You don't understand... When they talk about going out, shopping, traveling, or dating, they all pay for it themselves.
"And they're all so capable. They earn as much as their families give them as spending money.
"I sat there holding a bag my mom had bought for me, completely at a loss. It was so awkward." Su Xiaoxiao sounded helpless.
"Why were you embarrassed?"
"I felt like I didn't understand anything. Everyone seemed like an adult, and I was the only kid." Su Xiaoxiao waved a hand helplessly. "You wouldn't understand. My dad said I could have the freedom to choose whom I married, but only if he stopped giving me spending money every month and I supported myself. Then I could be as free as I wanted.
"So I had a fight with Dad, and now my money's been cut off. I'll have to rely on you to get by."
"Tut, tut, tut." Xie Yishu had nothing to say.
"Anyway, enough about me. I refuse to believe I can't survive without my family!
"Let's talk about you. Actually, I think as long as he's a good person, it doesn't matter if you met through a blind date. You just have to be happy with him." Su Xiaoxiao tried to persuade her.
"What does 'a good person' mean? What kind of person do you think is good?" Xie Yishu asked, exasperated.
"Calm and collected, content with the status quo, likes living a peaceful life, doesn't have grand ambitions, knows how to enjoy life, and likes reading." Su Xiaoxiao counted them off on her fingers.
"Why shouldn't he have grand ambitions?"
"Because the next step after having grand ambitions is leaving home to chase them. Isn't that exhausting?"
"...You're something else." Xie Yishu had no answer.
Before you continue