67: Well done

With the ear-piercing hiss of hydraulic exhaust, the alloy hidden door disguised as a bookshelf slammed shut, completely cutting off Thunder Owl's panicked retreating figure.

The originally tense atmosphere inside the cabin instantly became somewhat eerie.

Thunder Owl had fled, but the mess he left behind remained.

The patrol leader named Brother Leopard stood with twenty men, holding modified repeating crossbows and homemade shotguns, firmly blocking the only exit.

Their faces were a portrait of bluster masking inner fear; their palms gripping weapons were drenched in sweat, and their eyes darted around, not daring to meet Su Chen's gaze. Yet, out of long-standing fear of Thunder Owl's authority, they didn't dare scatter just yet.

Su Chen was in no hurry to make a move.

He leisurely pulled a pack of cigarettes he'd just swiped from Old Mo out of his pocket, tapped it twice against the back of his hand, and stuck one in his mouth without lighting it.

He was listening.

Or rather, the blind girl Qin Xiaoyu, who had been shrinking behind him like a frightened quail, was listening.

The little girl's fingers gripped Su Chen's belt buckle tightly, her fingertips turning white. Her other hand pointed beneath the oil-stained red carpet in the center of the cabin, her voice trembling like a leaf in the wind.

"Underneath... something is counting down."

"Tick-tock, tick-tock, it's very fast."

Su Chen raised an eyebrow.

That made sense. With Thunder Owl's 'rather I betray the world than let the world betray me' personality, now that he'd been stripped bare, how could he possibly hand over this base converted from a Boeing 747?

He wanted to take everyone down with him; now that's true love.

Su Chen spat out the unlit cigarette, his gaze sweeping past the crowd and pinning accurately onto Brother Leopard.

The man was quite large, but a puddle of yellowish-brown pus was seeping from his left sleeve, dripping onto the floor from his wrist and emitting a nauseating stench.

Those were typical symptoms of acid rain corrosion. In this post-apocalyptic world lacking antibiotics, it was essentially a notice for amputation or death.

"Brother Leopard, right?"

Su Chen walked toward the arrows pointed at him with his hands in his pockets, as if taking a stroll in a garden.

"If you think that firestick in your hand is faster than Thunder Owl's iron fist, go ahead and pull the trigger."

Brother Leopard's Adam's apple bobbed violently as he instinctively took half a step back, unable to keep his gun steady.

The sight of Su Chen taking Thunder Owl's punch head-on and acting as if nothing had happened was simply too world-shattering.

"Don't be nervous. I'm a man who values fairness in business."

Su Chen didn't stop, though the smile at the corner of his mouth held no warmth.

"Did Thunder Owl just take a secret passage?"

"That path can only be deadbolted from the inside. In other words, he's treated you all as abandoned pawns to cover his retreat."

"There's enough C4 buried under this floor to blow this iron bird to the sky. There's less than two minutes left on the countdown. Do you think Boss Thunder left you a remote?"

As soon as he said this, the already tense encirclement instantly erupted into chaos.

The twenty-odd guards looked at each other, panic spreading like a plague.

"You... you're full of shit!"

Brother Leopard roared, as if trying to bolster his own courage.

"The boss wouldn't just abandon us!"

"Whether I'm full of shit or not—are your eyes blind and your ears deaf?"

Su Chen suddenly accelerated, closing the distance like a ghost.

Before Brother Leopard could react, he felt a sharp pain in his wrist, and the shotgun was already in Su Chen's hands.

With a crack, Su Chen snapped the crudely made shotgun in two with one hand and tossed it aside.

Then, he did something that caught everyone off guard.

Rip—

Su Chen ripped away the dirty bandage on Brother Leopard's left arm that had long since fused with the rotten flesh.

"Ah!"

Brother Leopard let out a pig-slaughtering scream, his whole body convulsing in pain.

The wound was deep enough to see bone, and the surrounding muscle tissue had turned a necrotic grayish-black, with maggots faintly visible in the pus and blood.

The people around them gasped, instinctively covering their noses and mouths.

"Bear with it. You're screaming like a girl, it's annoying."

Su Chen barked, his right hand forming a claw.

Within his palm, the golden Sacred Yang True Qi was no longer the overbearing explosive force from before, but instead transformed into a scalding torrent that he ruthlessly pressed onto the rotten flesh.

Sizzle—

Like boiling oil poured onto ice, a burst of thick white smoke rose along with a burnt stench.

Brother Leopard had been screaming, but after a few seconds, the screams stopped abruptly, replaced by an incredulous groan.

Under the horrified gazes of everyone, the originally rotten wound's necrotic flesh began to fall off and turn to ash at a visible rate.

And at the edges, tender pink granulation tissue actually began to grow, as if countless invisible small hands were rapidly weaving cellular structures.

In just half a minute, the arm that was supposed to be useless was perfectly intact, except for some redness on the skin.

This was the domineering nature of the Sacred Yang Divine Body—it could both kill and heal.

Of course, this crude healing method was a bit painful, but the results were instantaneous.

Su Chen let go and disgustedly wiped the dirty blood from his palm onto Brother Leopard's clothes.

"If I were you, I'd find tools to tear up the floor right now instead of dazing here. You have forty-five seconds."

Thud.

Brother Leopard's knees buckled; this time he wasn't beaten into kneeling—he knelt for real.

Looking at his perfectly restored arm and then at the indifferent man before him, the shock was even more intense than when Su Chen had withstood Thunder Owl's attack.

In this damned world, ruthless killers were everywhere, but someone who could snatch a person back from the King of Hell was a living Bodhisattva, a true god!

"What are you all standing around for! Do you want to die?! Pry up the floor!"

Brother Leopard jumped up and charged toward the center of the cabin like a mad dog, desperately jamming his dagger into the gaps in the floor.

Only then did his subordinates snap out of it, dropping their weapons and swarming forward.

A race against time.

Wood chips flew, and when the long-rotted composite floor was violently pried open, the red timer strapped to the fuel tank pipe was ticking down to 00:10.

The complex red and blue wires made Brother Leopard sweat profusely, his hands shaking like he had Parkinson's.

"Cut the blue one."

Su Chen's voice came coldly from behind.

Brother Leopard didn't have time to think about how Su Chen knew; he instinctively sliced through the blue wire.

Beep—

The timer's red light froze at 00:03.

The only sound in the cabin was heavy breathing—the exhaustion after escaping death.

Brother Leopard slumped onto the floor, wiping the cold sweat from his face.

Suddenly he turned and kowtowed heavily to Su Chen, his forehead hitting the floor with a dull thud.

"Master Su, from now on, my life is yours."

"That bastard Thunder Owl was heartless, so don't blame me for being disloyal! I know all the defense maps and sentry positions of this market!"

Su Chen wasn't surprised by this.

In the face of absolute power and survival interests, Thunder Owl's rule, maintained through fear, was as fragile as paper.

"Clean up the scene, and don't let things outside get chaotic."

Su Chen left those words and turned toward the cabin door.

Just then, a series of hurried footsteps came from outside the cabin door.

Lin Mengyao was in a black tactical suit, holding a composite bow that was still dripping blood. Her usually cold face carried a hint of murderous intent.

Seeing Su Chen walk out unharmed, the tension in her eyes softened slightly, but she quickly regained her aloof posture.

"The outside has been cleared. There were about seven or eight of Thunder Owl's diehard loyalists; I left no survivors."

Lin Mengyao's voice was crisp and efficient; this woman had adapted to her role faster than Su Chen had imagined.

"Additionally, the market exits have been blockaded. It's now impossible for Thunder Owl to mobilize the supply convoys outside."

"Well done."

Su Chen casually straightened a stray lock of hair by her temple. This slightly intimate gesture made Lin Mengyao's body stiffen and her ears turn slightly red, but she didn't pull away.

Just then, a faint fragrance wafted over.

A young woman in a red velvet high-slit qipao stepped out from the shadows on the side with delicate steps.

She held an exquisite red sandalwood box in both hands and walked up to Su Chen with a submissive attitude, like a maid from a wealthy family in ancient times.

"Mr. Su, my master sent me to deliver this."

Su Chen raised an eyebrow and opened the box.

Inside lay a cold-glinting black magnetic card with no markings except for a dark gold Thorn Flower crest.

"My master says that although Thunder Owl fled, the wealth he's extorted over the last ten years is all in the underground alloy vault that can only be opened with this card."

"It's his lifeblood and the capital he'd need for a comeback."

The maid paused, her voice dropping even lower.

"Master has already prepared tea in the Red Cabin. She wishes to speak privately with Mr. Su about some secrets regarding Thunder Owl's physical mutation."

Su Chen picked up the magnetic card, his thumb brushing against the cold patterns.

Ye Hongyu was indeed a character not to be underestimated.

As soon as Thunder Owl fled, she was eager to offer her allegiance, even exposing his hidden assets.

"Lead the way."

Su Chen tucked the card away and gave Lin Mengyao a reassuring look.

He wanted to see what this woman, who was famously beautiful in the market yet could hold her own against Thunder Owl, was really up to.

After all, when he was treating that blind little girl earlier, he had sensed a very interesting aura.

And the source of that aura seemed to be inextricably linked to this Boss Leaf.