Chapter 290 - 242: Mr. Two-headed Scale Person, Are You Bishop Hu Kaikang?

Outside the nuclear facility.

A maglev truck slowly descended.

Chu Bamboo leaped down from the back of the truck. The second person to disembark was none other than Huo Qiming, followed by Captain Yang and Li Kang from Zone Two, and Wall Announcements, who was being carried by Li Kang... After them came Ning Linglong, Guan Fei...

A large, jostling crowd squeezed out.

These were the current elites of the Special Operations Brigades from Zone One, Zone Two, and Zone Three.

There were only twenty-seven of them! But aside from their overall leader, Huo Qiming, and Captain Yang, the Third Realm expert from Zone Two, the rest were all top-tier Second Realm elites. This wasn’t to say that Huo Qiming was unable to mobilize other Third Realm powerhouses—

It was just that Jinghai itself was currently rife with undercurrents and hidden dangers... In such a situation, its powerhouses couldn’t be mobilized recklessly. In fact, being able to deploy so many Second Realm experts was only possible because Huo Qiming had forced it through with his authority.

Of course, this group of Second Realm elites was far from weak... After all, every single one of them was equipped with Spiritual Artifacts and Forbidden Artifacts.

After Chu Bamboo described the situation in detail, Huo Qiming was no longer inclined to hold back. True, Chu Bamboo hadn’t produced sufficient evidence, but the problem was that it had been all but confirmed that the nuclear facility’s key was stolen...

Under these circumstances, it was highly likely that something would go wrong at the nuclear facility!

And given the nuclear facility’s importance to Daqian, any trouble there was more than enough justification for Huo Qiming to activate the most urgent protocols.

"Go on." Chu Bamboo looked at Wall Announcements.

Wall Announcements looked pitifully at Chu Bamboo, then became aware of the oppressive gazes fixed on him from all sides. "...Chu Bamboo, you’ve really done me in!"

Wall Announcements sniffled and shuffled forward miserably, no longer even calling him by the nickname Ah Zhu. He was already well aware of just how dangerous his Divine Technique was. If it were exposed, not even the Captain’s Office could guarantee his safety.

But Chu Bamboo had just... The only reasons he was being even remotely cooperative were that he was being forced to, and that Chu Bamboo had secretly told him he would use a powerful Divine Technique to help conceal his ability afterward.

’I don’t think it’s very credible... but things have already come to this. I have no choice but to trust him.’

The main gate...

...slowly opened.

In the next instant.

The expression on everyone’s face changed.

A savage beast’s roar.

A foul, bloody stench.

A terrifying monster shot out from within!

"...Damn!" The corner of Chu Bamboo’s eye twitched. It was a bird-shaped monster that at first appeared to be only half a man’s height, but the moment it cleared the gate, its body rapidly expanded, instantly shooting up to over four meters tall! Its sparse feathers took on a metallic sheen.

Chu Bamboo was stunned. ’Wait, weren’t you supposed to be this weak? Don’t tell me there’s some kind of suppression effect inside! Then why have I never felt it before? Is it because I was too weak— And if I remember correctly, wasn’t this half-meter-tall bird monster the same one I killed in a previous timeline to get the Nuclear Stone? Son of a... Its real body is this huge, and it’s this powerful?!!’

A deep suspicion formed in Chu Bamboo’s mind. ’Have all my past actions just been me recklessly courting death...?’

The next moment...

The iron bird-like creature was instantly stomped under Huo Qiming’s foot. The ground cracked and sent rubble flying. He expressionlessly watched as one monster after another charged out of the facility. The monsters gradually slowed to a halt, staring intently at Huo Qiming and letting out threatening roars. Some of the cat-like monsters even arched their backs, their spines bristling like dragons.

"Just as I thought! I knew it," Huo Qiming said, exhaling. "But right now, I don’t have time to mess around with you!"

Huo Qiming pulled a pair of gauntlets from his coat, and then...

He threw a punch!

Countless fist-shadows overlapped.

"???" Chu Bamboo stared, dumbfounded. He watched as the once-savage monsters were struck by the Fist Seals. Their bodies began to twitch uncontrollably before they collapsed limply to the ground. The cat-like monsters writhed as if high on catnip, and some of the humanoid monsters’ scaly faces even flushed red, an expression of pure ecstasy spreading across them.

’Wait, is that some kind of Orgasm Fist?!’

Chu Bamboo really tried not to give Huo Qiming a weird look, but he couldn’t help it. ’I know his Divine Technique, or at least the one he pretends to have, is called "Give Me Back My Beauty Fist"... but this application? How did you even develop it this way??’

Chu Bamboo fought back the urge to reach out and touch Huo Qiming to probe what his Divine Technique truly was... He silently wiped the cold sweat from his brow and glanced at the other members of the Captain’s Office. He found them all stony-faced, their expressions utterly serious.

"..." Chu Bamboo started to wonder. ’Is it just because your boss is the one using this technique, so you have to keep a straight face... or... how in the world are you all managing not to laugh?!’

"...You’re the only one being so expressive!" Huo Qiming grabbed Chu Bamboo. After a moment’s hesitation, he grabbed Wall Announcements with his other hand. With a light stomp, he shot like a cannonball into the nuclear facility. His voice turned cold again as he commanded, "The rest of you, apprehend the captives!"

"And follow the old rules! Control your thoughts! Don’t go probing into secrets you shouldn’t! Consider yourselves nothing but instruments of execution! Otherwise... Hmph!"

"...Yes, sir!"

The group responded in unison.

Li Kang and Captain Yang exchanged a glance and followed closely behind Huo Qiming. Ning Linglong stared at their retreating backs, a hesitant look on her face. But in the end, she didn’t follow. With a sigh, she began to round up the monsters.

...

They advanced,

slashing through every obstacle.

Though they still encountered plenty of monsters, Huo Qiming insta-killed them all with a single punch. It was only now that Chu Bamboo understood just how powerful Huo Qiming truly was. Seeing Old Huo’s previously pathetic state, he’d almost thought Huo Qiming was just some guy who’d gotten his position through connections and seniority...

But this only made Chu Bamboo’s heart grow heavier, because it also revealed just how powerful Hu Kaikang’s fabricated avatar had been.

Finally.

The group arrived in the deepest part of the nuclear facility.

Chu Bamboo was set down. His eyelid twitched a few times as he looked down at the tightly bound Two-headed Scale Person staring ferociously at the masked Fifth Apostle. There were also other monsters, working silently with blank expressions.

The handsome, elegant Eleven playfully held a small whip, cracking it in the air from time to time with a sharp CRACK that made the Two-headed Scale Person—Brother Hei—flinch in terror. Of course, Eleven was merely toying with him; the other monsters’ work pace didn’t change whether he cracked the whip or not.

The monsters were slitting the wrists of unconscious humans, one by one, using their blood to draw a strange sigil.

Blood, unconscious humans, monsters, a masked man, a beautiful young boy, a near-future base with metallic walls... All these strange and contradictory elements combined to create a scene of stunning, visceral impact.

"...So that’s how it is," Chu Bamboo murmured. His gaze drifted back and forth between Eleven and the Fifth Apostle.

’I get it now...’ Chu Bamboo thought, ’Eleven was never at the Union Headquarters. The entire time... no, I should say, before eleven o’clock, or perhaps a little after ten, he was here in the nuclear facility, supervising the operation. Those monsters we fought on the way in probably weren’t being controlled by his Divine Technique! After all, their savagery seemed all too natural... but these silent ones, working so obediently, are almost certainly under his control. The biggest surprise is, why is Fifth here? Logically, shouldn’t he be lying in wait near the City Government Office... No, wait!’

The pieces clicked into place for Chu Bamboo. ’So that’s it. In the last timeline, I tipped them off by causing that incident at the Union. The news must have reached Eleven, and maybe he sent a request... That’s why Fifth left this facility and followed us... and ultimately, did what he did.’

’From this angle, maybe Eleven’s strength... doesn’t match Huo Qiming’s?’ Chu Bamboo mused. ’That’s the only piece of good news I’ve got.’

He also realized that under normal circumstances—at least, until their plan was complete—both of them were supposed to remain inside this nuclear facility.

’But, according to what Huo Qiming said... weren’t several other keys stolen as well?! Why are both of them here, in this one facility...? Is there something special about this particular facility? Or is this just their first target? Are they planning to take this one down before moving on to the others?’

Chu Bamboo felt a complicated mix of emotions; he didn’t know whether to laugh or to curse.

He’d originally just wanted to save the Two-headed Scale Person... and he’d ended up running smack into the big bosses of this whole affair. Two of them!

Chu Bamboo glanced over at Huo Qiming and sighed. ’What’s the point? We’re screwed!’

"Welcome, everyone." Eleven casually cracked his whip again before tossing it aside with a bored expression. He straightened his collar and slowly floated up until he was level with them, at which point he offered a slight bow.

"Now then, please forgive me for..."

"Eleven," Chu Bamboo cut in abruptly, an unreadable expression on his face. "If I commanded you to stop right now, in the name of the Saint, would you?"

The area fell silent.

Eleven narrowed his eyes, sizing up Chu Bamboo. He let out a wistful sigh. "If you were truly the Saint, if you truly possessed a sliver of omniscience, then you would already know my answer."

"Yes, I suppose so." Chu Bamboo sighed. He then looked down at the Two-headed Scale Person, and at the Fifth Apostle who was sizing him up with great interest. "Bishop Hu Kaikang, you can drop the act."

At the name "Hu Kaikang," the Two-headed Scale Person’s body went rigid, its face twisting in anger and grief. As for the Fifth Apostle... his expression was impossible to read behind his mask.

"..." Then, the Two-headed Scale Person realized the speaker’s gaze had landed on him. His voice took on a strange, inexplicable tone.

"So, is your real name also... Hu Kaikang? Mr. Bishop."