11: This punch, 256 times!

He had been in this tin box for five years, like an insect sealing itself in a cocoon. Now, the cocoon was broken. Staying here any longer, apart from the repetitive and tedious stacking of cards, was meaningless.

Improve his mental strength.

This was his most crucial goal at the moment.

Lin Yu pushed aside the wobbly chair and walked to the container door. He reached out, placed his hand on the cold iron door, and pushed it outwards with force.

Screech—

The rusty door hinge let out a piercing protest.

A night wind, carrying industrial exhaust and the stench of earth, poured in, rustling the overly long hair on his forehead.

Outside, it was deep night.

The city lights in the distance were brilliant, outlining the silhouette of a steel jungle, but here, there were only a few dim yellow streetlights, illuminating the chaotic outlines and shadows of the abandoned junkyard.

Lin Yu stepped out.

Just as he walked less than ten meters out of the container, preparing to turn onto the path leading out of the yard, three dark figures emerged from the shadows of a pile of discarded construction materials, blocking his way.

Leading them was Brother Wang, the bald man.

His two subordinates behind him, one tall and one short, were the same as always, with malicious smiles on their faces.

"Lin Yu."

Brother Wang had a cigarette dangling from his mouth, its crimson ember flickering in the night.

"So late, where are you off to?"

The lanky one beside him took a step forward, cracking his knuckles with a crisp "crack, crack."

"Running away? You owe Brother Wang money, and you think you can run?"

The short, burly one directly pulled out a half-meter-long steel pipe from his lower back, tossing it up and down in his palm, the metal clanking against his hand with a dull thud.

Deep night, an abandoned junkyard, no one passing by.

This was a perfect place to "reason things out."

Being scared off by a yellow-haired girl with a phone the day before yesterday was a stain on Brother Wang's professional career. The more he thought about it, the angrier he got, the more he felt humiliated. Today, he had to reclaim his dignity.

Lin Yu stopped.

He looked at the three people in front of him, his face devoid of any extra expression.

"I wasn't trying to run."

"Not trying to run?" Brother Wang spat his cigarette butt onto the ground and ground it out fiercely with his toe. "Then you're still trying to string us along? I'm telling you, Lin Yu, my patience is limited. If you tell me any more of that bullshit like 'you'll know when the time comes' today, just watch me tear you apart!"

"Exactly! Stop the damn nonsense, just pay up!" the lanky one echoed.

Lin Yu's reaction once again surprised them.

He was very straightforward.

"Three days."

"Within three days, principal and interest, not a single cent less."

The air was silent for a moment.

Brother Wang and his two subordinates were stunned. They had prepared a belly full of threats and curses, ready with various plans for a fight, but the other party had so casually given a definite answer.

It was too straightforward, so straightforward it felt like a trap.

Brother Wang narrowed his eyes, scrutinizing Lin Yu from head to toe.

He still looked malnourished and frail, as if a gust of wind could knock him over. What made him dare to say he'd pay back in three days? What would he use to pay?

"Three days?" Brother Wang sneered, "Lin Yu, do you think I'm easy to fool? What are you going to pay with? Sell your bones?"

"You don't need to worry about what I'll pay with." Lin Yu's reply remained calm, "In three days, the money will be in your account."

"What if I don't believe you?"

Brother Wang stepped closer, his tall figure almost completely engulfing Lin Yu.

"Why should I believe you? Just because of your mouth?"

He suddenly raised his hand and grabbed a discarded scaffolding steel pipe nearby. The steel pipe was as thick as an adult's arm and rusty.

"I'm telling you, I, Wang Qiang, am a professional [Berserker], Level 17!"

As his words fell, the muscles in his arms suddenly bulged, his veins throbbing.

"Hah!"

With a roar.

Crack!

That hard steel pipe, under his strength, was actually smashed onto a nearby concrete block, bending into an exaggerated ninety-degree angle!

A huge sound echoed through the empty junkyard.

The two subordinates watched with shining eyes, full of admiration.

"See that!" Brother Wang threw away the bent steel pipe and pointed at Lin Yu's nose, "Don't play tricks with me. If I don't see the money in three days, your leg will be like this pipe."

This was the power of a professional.

Even an unranked Berserker, reaching Level 17, was far beyond what an ordinary person could contend with.

This was blatant physical intimidation.

However, facing this display, Lin Yu merely let out a soft laugh.

The laugh was very faint, yet in the silent night, it sounded particularly jarring.

Brother Wang's face darkened.

"What are you laughing at?"

Lin Yu did not answer.

He merely slowly raised his right arm, adopting a punching stance.

His movements were very slow, and his body even swayed slightly due to weakness.

Seeing this, the two subordinates were momentarily stunned, then burst into laughter.

"Holy crap? What's he trying to do? Fight Brother Wang?"

"With his small frame, he'd fall over with a gust of wind, and he wants to hit someone? I'm dying of laughter!"

Brother Wang also laughed in anger.

This was the biggest insult he had ever received in his career.

A deadbeat who wouldn't pay, a scrawny, wasted good-for-nothing, after witnessing his Level 17 Berserker power, not only didn't beg for mercy but actually wanted to fight him?

"Good, very good." Brother Wang laughed in extreme anger, "Today I'll make you understand what it means..."

His words were cut short.

Because Lin Yu punched.

A straight punch.

It wasn't fast, and the force seemed soft.

With his current depleted body, a full-force punch would at most be forty kilograms of strength.

Less than an ordinary adult male.

But at the moment the punch was thrown, his entire aura changed.

An invisible wave spread out from him.

Ghost Card Amplification Cycle (Speed Edition)!

Multiplication Card X256!

The effects of eight Multiplication Cards were instantly stacked!

On the surface of his fist, the phantom of a Card Transformation flashed and disappeared.

Card Transformation!

Attack Card [Straight Punch Impact]!

Use!

Straight Punch Impact!

That seemingly weak punch, carrying a two-hundred-and-fifty-six-fold power amplification, did not strike Brother Wang, nor did it strike any of his subordinates.

Instead, it grazed Brother Wang's body and slammed fiercely into the granite stone block behind him, which was used as decoration.

The stone block was over a meter tall, heavy and solid.

The moment the fist contacted the stone block, there was no expected loud bang.

Only an extremely dull "thump" sound.

As if it wasn't hard granite, but a block of tofu.

Time stood still for a second.

The ferocious grin on Brother Wang's face was still frozen.

The mocking laughter of the two subordinates was still caught in their throats.

The next second.

Boom—!!!

Centered on Lin Yu's fist, spiderweb-like cracks instantly covered the entire massive granite block!

Immediately after, the sturdy stone, under an irresistible terrifying force, disintegrated with a crash!

It didn't crack, it shattered!

Countless stone fragments of varying sizes, carrying terrifying kinetic energy, shot out in all directions!

Bang! Bang! Bang!

The gravel fragments hit the tin walls of the distant containers, creating dents.

A powerful blast of air, spreading from the center of the explosion, made the three of them, including Brother Wang, lose their footing and stumble backward repeatedly.

Dust filled the air.

The whole world went silent.

Brother Wang stood there dumbfounded, his body stiff. He could feel a fist-sized fragment of stone having grazed his cheek as it flew past, the wind pressure it created stinging his skin.

He mechanically turned his head, looking at the spot where the granite stone block had originally stood.