235: Chapter 235 Four Kills

"Alright, Boss."

The tattooed man stepped forward, pulled out the two butcher knives, and placed them on a wooden rack nailed to the cabin wall before sitting down to the side.

The Boat Boss's face regained its previous slippery smile. He fished out a few disposable cups and said to the Lin father and son, "Come, sit. There's some food here. Have some hot tea; the river air is heavy with chill at night."

"You're too kind," Lin Tianxiong thanked him, then pulled Lin Fang down to sit.

The Boat Boss tossed a few peanuts into his mouth and asked, "Who did you offend, Boss, to be in such a hurry to leave the country?"

"This... it's better not to say."

Embarrassment and awkwardness appeared on Lin Tianxiong's face as he waved his hand, clearly not wanting to discuss it further.

Seeing this, the Boat Boss didn't press further. He just gave a couple of chuckles, his gaze circling the Lin father and son again before finally landing on Lin Fang, who was wearing black-rimmed glasses.

"This young master looks like he's still a student. He's very refined; one look and you can tell he's scholar material."

"That's right,"

Lin Fang said with some unease. For some reason, he felt like these people harbored ill intentions.

Maybe it was just because they looked ugly.

Afterward, the Boat Boss arranged a place for Lin Fang and his father to sleep. It was a cramped little room with only two broken wooden beds on the left and right, along with some clothing that emitted an odd odor.

The skinny man who led them there simply used his hand to crudely sweep the items on the bed onto the floor. He flashed his big yellow teeth at the two of them and said, "Alright, just sleep here for the night. We'll be out of the Central Continent tomorrow."

Given the environment, this was indeed as good as it would get.

Lying on the bed, Lin Fang listened to the movement around him. Feeling that no one else lived there, he spoke in a low voice to Lin Tianxiong on the other bed, "Dad, are you asleep?"

"Xiao Fang, what is it?" Lin Tianxiong turned over, surprised.

Lin Fang hesitated for a moment. "I don't think it's safe here. These people are suspicious. Maybe we should call the police."

"Don't overthink it, Xiao Fang," Lin Tianxiong faced Lin Fang. In the dim light, his expression appeared somewhat blurred. "These people look a bit fierce, but everyone in this line of work is like that. We paid them enough; they won't try anything."

"Besides, call the police? We're currently smuggling ourselves out. Wouldn't calling the police be like walking into a trap? Stop thinking so much and go to sleep..."

"..."

Lin Fang's words paused. Just as he wanted to say something, fragmented clips suddenly flashed through his mind. These weren't things he had experienced, but seemed like other memories.

In these first-person perspective images, there was the alien creature Venom, a massive underground Hive base, Planetary Engines towering into the clouds, and powerful Jaeger Mechs...

The protagonist within seemed to be capable of anything, from soaring through the sky to diving into the sea.

Strange. Weren't these scenes from movies? Why would he suddenly think of them?

Lin Fang felt a faint heat at the center of his forehead. Just as he wanted to think deeper, Lin Tianxiong next to him suddenly began to cough violently.

"Dad, what's wrong?" Lin Fang got up to check.

"My throat's uncomfortable, it's nothing," Lin Tianxiong waved him off, turned on his side to sleep, and soon began to snore.

Seeing this, Lin Fang also decided to rest. After all, without concrete evidence, everything was just his own speculation. Perhaps he really was overthinking it. Lin Tianxiong was right; in these grey-area transactions, it wasn't strange to encounter people with unsavory appearances.

After an unknown amount of time, Lin Fang fell into a slumber.

Suddenly, a feeling of palpitations jolted Lin Fang awake. Only then did he discover that the tattooed man from the boat was already standing by the bed, holding a butcher knife.

Seeing Lin Fang wake up, the tattooed man was startled and immediately swung the knife diagonally down toward Lin Fang's neck. The strike was heavy and powerful, carrying a ruthlessness intended to chop his head clean off.

There was no time to think, no space to dodge.

In the nick of time, Lin Fang rolled violently toward the side of the bed. Instead of moving away from the blade, he used the height difference of the bed frame and the momentum of his own roll to let his upper body narrowly brush past the heavily swinging blade.

Thud! The butcher knife hacked fiercely into the hardwood bed board.

Meanwhile, Lin Fang had already used the momentum of his roll to land in the narrow gap between the bed and the cabin wall. The moment his feet touched the ground, there was no pause; he bounded up like a leopard that had been gathering strength, slamming his entire body into the tattooed man, whose balance was unstable after the missed swing!

Bang!

His shoulder slammed hard into the other man's ribs! The tattooed man let out a muffled groan and staggered back, his grip on the knife involuntarily loosening slightly.

Lin Fang took the opportunity to close in. His left hand clamped onto the pulse point of the man's knife-wielding wrist like a steel pincer, and he pressed his thumb down hard! This was an extremely tricky grappling technique targeting nerve nodes; the intense pain and numbness caused the tattooed man's fingers to go limp.

The moment the butcher knife slipped from the man's hand, Lin Fang caught it with his right hand and slashed the man's throat completely open with a single stroke.

The movement was clean and efficient, as if practiced a thousand times. Hot blood gushed out from the severed neck like a fountain, splashing all over the floor.

But it wasn't over. Almost as the tattooed man hit the ground, the door was burst open from the outside. The Boat Boss, the skinny man, and another sailor seen earlier on the deck appeared at the door simultaneously! The Boat Boss held another butcher knife, the skinny man gripped a dagger, and the sailor brandished a rusty iron bar.

Without many words, they pounced on Lin Fang at once.

A moment later, Lin Fang achieved a quadra kill.

Lin Fang stood in the middle of the messy room, panting heavily. Four corpses lay strewn at his feet, and thick blood spread wantonly across the floor, leaving almost nowhere to step.

How had his skills become so formidable? Lin Fang was dazed; just now, it had been entirely instinctual.

"Xiao Fang, what happened?" Lin Tianxiong cried out in shock at this scene, hurriedly getting up.

Lin Fang stared at him steadily, his gaze deep and inscrutable.

"Dad, you certainly slept soundly."

"..."

With this accident occurring and neither of them knowing how to pilot the boat, Lin Tianxiong suggested returning to the shore first. Lin Fang agreed, but as soon as they returned to land, they saw red and blue police lights approaching as several police cars roared onto the scene.

Over a dozen uniformed officers got out and surrounded Lin Fang, the beams of their flashlights cutting through the pre-dawn darkness.

"Police! Don't move! Hands behind your head!"

A sharp shout came, carrying unquestionable authority.

Lin Tianxiong acted like a frightened ordinary citizen, raising his hands high, his voice trembling: "Officers! We... we are the victims! There were robbers on the boat! My son, he..."

"Come back with us first," two officers said, walking over with handcuffs.

As the cold sensation of metal touched his wrist, Lin Fang suddenly felt a jolt. The thought that he must not be controlled by others immediately flooded his mind.

Almost without thinking,

Lin Fang twisted his hand and broke free from the officer's control. But the moment he made a move, the dozen or so officers in front of him opened fire without any warning.