Hunger

Much to Lu Zhan's regret, he never did put his thumbprint on the contract.

Fortunately, although the contract remained unsigned, Ma Yancheng did not simply cast Lu Zhan aside after courting him.

He warmly invited Lu Zhan to stay at his home for the time being.

Although Ma Yancheng's attitude toward him had remained unchanged, Lu Zhan was not a man without a conscience.

Knowing that his "background" was now a problem, how could he drag Uncle Ma into it before the matter was fully resolved?

Perhaps out of concern for precisely that, Ma Yancheng's invitation really was nothing more than words.

When Lu Zhan insisted on leaving, he made no effort to stop him.

He did not even bring out the meal he had prepared earlier.

"Heh, heh!"

Just as I predicted. Ma Yancheng is a slippery old bastard who won't take on the slightest responsibility!

But that's what gangsters are really like!

After leaving Ma Yancheng's residence, Lu Zhan had intended to hitch another ride with Lin Kexian.

To his surprise, the old jalopy had fallen apart completely.

Lu Zhan could only borrow a hundred from Lin Kexian and hail a taxi himself.

Inside the steam car, Lu Zhan reviewed their earlier "clash," his heart filled with contempt for Ma Yancheng.

"I have a record" and "I've been flagged by the Inspection Office" were excuses Lu Zhan had devised back at the hospital to deal with the Wutu Gang.

Those three days of borrowing someone else's authority at the hospital had given Lu Zhan a thorough understanding of the Inspection Office's intimidating power.

A criminal organization like the Wutu Gang would surely avoid the Inspection Office like the plague.

But after discovering that the Wutu Gang was "in bed with" the Ninth Public Security Office, Lu Zhan had lost his absolute confidence in the excuse he had prepared.

To Lu Zhan, staying alive mattered most.

Even if the risk was only one in ten thousand, he did not want to gamble on it.

Although the contract offered by the Wutu Gang was effectively a deed selling himself into servitude, signing it was not entirely out of the question.

In just a few short days, Lu Zhan had already seen the true nature of this world.

Unlike his previous world, this one very likely possessed supernatural powers that concentrated immense might within a single individual.

Might made right. As long as he became strong enough, he could tear up the contract whenever he pleased.

And becoming an Armored Warrior was the first step toward accessing supernatural power and embarking on that path.

Lu Zhan had absolute confidence in his own abilities.

For the sake of that bright future, he could accept swallowing his pride and making temporary concessions.

But the "secret" Ma Yancheng had inadvertently revealed had chilled Lu Zhan to the core.

When I was holding the contract and hesitating, Ma Yancheng showed killing intent.

He was only a step away from me then. If he wanted to, he could have snapped my neck with that iron hand in the next instant.

I'm absolutely certain that Ma Yancheng really wanted to kill me then.

If I refused to sign the contract, Ma Yancheng would strike.

But that isn't what matters. What matters is...

The steam car traveled through streets and alleys while Lu Zhan kept his eyes tightly shut, recalling that perilous moment.

Lu Zhan could completely understand why Ma Yancheng would kill him.

Compared with the Wutu Gang, Lu Zhan was nothing but an ant.

If an ant dared to spurn their favor, they could simply crush it.

That was how gangs normally handled things. Perfectly normal.

At that moment, Lu Zhan's body had sensed Ma Yancheng's "killing intent," and the warning signals his body emitted had then been picked up by the Blood-Red Antenna.

Lu Zhan understood the entire process clearly. There was no way he could have misjudged it.

But to be cautious, Lu Zhan had done something else-something extremely risky.

Perhaps he wanted to probe the secrets of an Armored Warrior, or perhaps he wanted to study his own "information-capturing" ability.

Lu Zhan had actually taken the initiative to activate the Blood-Red Antenna in his mind, trying to capture the information radiating from Ma Yancheng's left hand.

Back at the hospital, Lu Zhan had tried the same thing while studying the Blood-Red Antenna.

But his test subjects then had been the hospital's medical staff.

Without exception, every attempt had failed.

He simply could not capture information emitted by other living beings.

It seemed that the Blood-Red Antenna did not possess that ability and could only work internally.

But Lu Zhan had clung to hope all along and refused to accept that conclusion.

He believed the doctors and nurses were too weak, and the life signals they radiated were too faint for him to receive.

This was not mere idle speculation on Lu Zhan's part. It was a conclusion he had reached after in-depth discussions with the Guarantee Center's doctors and studying some of their life-monitoring equipment.

Ever since coming into close contact with Ma Yancheng, Lu Zhan had felt an impulse, as though he could receive the life information Ma Yancheng radiated.

When they shook hands, that impulse became even stronger.

Lu Zhan had even passively heard-or rather, received-some noise.

And so, at the crucial moment that would determine his fate, Lu Zhan decided to actively "listen in" once.

If he could hear Ma Yancheng's thoughts, that would be wonderful.

Unfortunately, the fantasy was beautiful, but reality was cruel.

Lu Zhan's attempt to actively "listen in" had indeed succeeded.

He had captured the information radiating from Ma Yancheng's left hand, and it was unmistakably clear.

But the "truth" had sent a shiver down his spine.

"Hungry, hungry, hungry!"

"Eat, eat, eat!"

"Delicious, delicious, delicious!"

Every pore and every cell in Ma Yancheng's Growth Armor-covered left hand had been screaming madly.

Those cells were utterly frenzied, their gaping mouths split open as they clamored to be fed.

At that moment, Lu Zhan's five senses had synchronized.

The "hunger" he heard had transformed into vivid images in his mind.

Mouths. Millions of densely packed mouths, all lined with sharp teeth.

That was the true face of Ma Yancheng's left hand.

Besides hunger, Lu Zhan had also sensed a "greed" that seeped deep into the marrow.

What those frenzied, hungry little mouths wanted to devour was his

flesh and blood.

They wanted to eat people.

No wonder Lu Zhan's body had instinctively identified it as a "predator" when they first came into contact.

Ma Yancheng's left hand wants to eat me!

Ma Yancheng's left hand has eaten people before!

These were the judgments Lu Zhan had made based on his primal instincts.

Although Lu Zhan knew little about Armored Warriors.

Under normal circumstances, an Armored Warrior's abilities should absolutely have had nothing to do with eating people.

Otherwise, Yero City could never have enjoyed its current peace and stability. It would have become a living hell long ago.

For the sake of power, Lu Zhan could compromise and swallow his pride.

But there were still lines he could not cross.

Lu Zhan did not know whether Ma Yancheng was an "exception" within the Wutu Gang.

But a single rat dropping was enough to turn a whole pot of soup into a cesspit.

No matter how he weighed it, Lu Zhan would never jump into that cesspit.

Otherwise, his entire life would be ruined.