The sound of motors filled the air as the machines were arranged in a scattered manner. The roaring noise perfectly masked any subtle movements, making footsteps and heartbeats imperceptible. Yin Huo crouched low behind the last motor, carefully approaching the innermost corner while using the machines as cover.
His figure flashed, hiding behind the last motor and peering through the gaps between the machines.
Several meters away, the area that was once cluttered with debris separated by half-walls had now been cleared out.
Yin Huo's gaze focused as he saw Chen Chong with his eyes closed, half-kneeling, palms pressed together and arms twisted, almost folding himself into an extremely strange posture.
He vaguely noticed that Chen Chong's muscular body exuded a dark iron color, with exaggerated bulges rhythmically pulsating. In this position, Chen Chong's whole body seemed to vibrate and breathe, and his body surface emitted heat like a furnace, appearing extraordinary!
"What is this!"
Seeing this magical scene unfold behind the motor, Yin Huo's pupils contracted, and his mind was struck with shock:
"Is this legendary martial arts? Yoga? Or some kind of special training method?"
So far, Yin Huo knew of two ways for Awakeners to enhance themselves. One was by continuously consuming spiritual fruits to enhance their life force, and the other was by using ordinary methods such as weight training to tear their muscles and strengthen their physique, speed, and strength.
But the miraculous posture and performance displayed by Chen Chong in front of Yin Huo had completely exceeded his comprehension!
"Could it be... this is the genetic lock cultivation method that only exists in those large gathering places?"
As if thinking of something, Yin Huo's heart trembled, suddenly filled with wild joy.
Yin Huo had almost never considered the elusive genetic lock. Although the world had fallen into a wasteland, they were certainly not the only survivors. In fact, the survivor gathering areas they were in were only a few counties before the cataclysm. The large gathering places that Yin Huo referred to were the large or even extra-large cities with a large population before the disaster.
Yin Huo had heard that there were at least tens of thousands of survivors in those large gathering places, and the earliest group of Awakeners had already summarized various effective special training methods. These methods could allow Awakeners to further unlock the mysterious genetic locks within their bodies, completely mastering their life force and transforming it into vital energy, thus exerting extraordinary power!
Just like the Uncrowned King of the entire Crimson Territory, Blood General.
The wilderness was dangerous, forming natural barriers that isolated each survivor gathering area, making it difficult for news to spread. This area was remote and sparsely populated, more like a primitive tribe compared to the large gathering places established based on the technological foundations of big cities.
Within this hundred-kilometer radius, there were only a few individuals who were extraordinary besides Blood General. And these individuals were figures at the level of leaders in their respective gathering areas. No one knew how they had broken the genetic lock, and there was basically no cultivation method for the genetic lock circulating. However, the extremely mysterious cultivation method displayed by Chen Chong in Yin Huo's line of sight immediately made him realize that this was most likely the cultivation method to unlock the genetic lock!
Unable to spare any thoughts to speculate why Chen Chong possessed such a method, Yin Huo's heart raced, filled with unparalleled greed and ambition:
"I must obtain it!"
"No matter what, I must get my hands on this method!"
"With it, I can..."
"Who!? Who is there?"
In the next moment, Chen Chong's alert voice suddenly sounded, causing Yin Huo's heartbeat to skip a beat.
Regaining his composure, Yin Huo saw through the gap that Chen Chong had stopped all movements and turned his head, tightly locking onto the direction where Yin Huo was hiding. With a puzzled expression, he shouted:
"Who's hiding back there? Come out!"
He had been discovered.
Unexpectedly, Chen Chong was so alert. In that instant, countless thoughts flashed through Yin Huo's mind. However, as if he had planned for this, he no longer concealed his figure, but instead smiled confidently and walked out slowly from behind the motor.
"Tiger Yin? It's you!" Seeing him come out, Chen Chong's face immediately turned angry: "What are you doing here!?"
Looking at Chen Chong's panicked expression, Tiger Yin couldn't help but smirk:
"I couldn't sleep at night, so I just took a walk around. But you... Chen Chong, this is supposed to be your time for night duty. What are you doing?"
Chen Chong's face changed at first, then he hurriedly defended himself: "I... I was just tired and moving my body here."
"Moving your body? Hehe..."
Tiger Yin let out a sinister laugh, his gaze on Chen Chong was like watching his prey:
"Very well, Chen Chong, am I stupid or are you? If I report what you just did to the general, do you think he will believe it? You've hidden yourself so well, do you think the general will trust you if you reveal your secrets willingly? In fact, even if you tell the general your secrets tomorrow, he won't trust you anymore, he will suspect if you have more secrets hidden. So next, he will take action to capture you, disable you, and then use various means to expose all your secrets from birth until now, before ** you like crushing an ant!"
"You!"
Chen Chong's face immediately turned pale, his forehead veins pulsating. He clenched his fists tightly, then gritted his teeth and growled:
"Tiger Yin, what do you want? If you want to report me, you can do it now!"
Tiger Yin showed a silent smile, and laughed softly:
"You are quite clever."
With his hands behind his back, Tiger Yin walked back and forth, carefully observing Chen Chong's strong figure, and finally revealed his true intention, calmly saying:
"As the saying goes, the guilty are not always responsible, while those who possess valuable assets bear the guilt. Perhaps you can share this miraculous training method with me to convince me to continue concealing your secrets. As long as you tell me the details of this secret, not only will I help you conceal it, I can even help you escape the territory without being discovered by the general. How does that sound?"
At this moment, Tiger Yin's face was filled with a sense of control. From Chen Chong's performance, it was obvious that the strange training technique he just used was his biggest secret, and Blood General had no knowledge of this secret. This was Chen Chong's biggest weakness!
In Tiger Yin's view, Chen Chong's silent cultivation, despite being ambitious and sinister, was no match for the irresistible threat of Blood General. Tiger Yin was confident that Chen Chong could only let him manipulate and obey!
As for the possibility of Chen Chong getting angry and killing him to keep the secret, Tiger Yin didn't even consider it.
The reason was simple, he had experienced numerous dangerous battles as a seasoned awakened individual, while Chen Chong was just a novice. Even if he practiced the method of unlocking genetic locks, there wouldn't be any earth-shattering changes in such a short time of half a month. Unless Chen Chong had the power to instantly kill him, any action from Chen Chong would only accelerate his own demise!
"So, have you made up your mind?"
Tiger Yin narrowed his eyes and revealed a sinister smile:
"This is your only chance to persuade me..."
"** , I'll play along with your act, so you don't run away immediately. Are you panting now?"
However, in the next moment, in Tiger Yin's gaze, the Chen Chong who had been angry, frightened, and unwilling just a second ago, suddenly changed his expression. All his emotions disappeared, replaced by a fierce and ruthless interruption:
"Do you think I didn't know you would come ** today? Persuade you? I don't have that habit. I will only crush you!"
Bang!
Without waiting for Tiger Yin to respond, in the roaring sound of the motor, a dull echo suddenly erupted!
Chen Chong took a step, and the cement ground cracked instantly. At the same time, his towering figure fiercely rushed through the air, covering a distance of several meters in an instant. The iron-like fist, as big as a sand pot, brought forth a ferocious and roaring airflow, smashing down on Tiger Yin's head!
In the narrow space, the air surged like a tide, stirred up by Chen Chong's punch. The momentum was like a giant wielding a heavy hammer, ferocious and chaotic!
At this moment, the suffocating fist wind seemed to be rushing towards him. Tiger Yin never expected that Chen Chong would actually attack him. His eyes were filled with horror, his face twitching, and his body hair stood on end!
This was his alertness honed in countless life-and-death crises:
With this punch, he might die!
"Ah!"
His heart seemed to be firmly gripped by a giant hand. His previous complacency vanished instantly. Tiger Yin let out a twisted low growl from his throat. Chen Chong's sudden and swift attack caught him off guard. Even with his reaction, he couldn't fully evade it. He could only barely turn his head, while raising his arm defensively against Chen Chong's incoming punch.
However...
Crack! Crunch!
The fist wind rose, mixed with clear bone-cracking sounds. Tiger Yin's eyes bulged suddenly!
"How is it possible, how can there be such power!"
In that split second, it was his only thought.
In the next instant, their fists collided. Tiger Yin's arm bones broke and shattered without any resistance. Then Chen Chong's iron fist, which was heavier than a weight, directly landed on his shoulder, violently shaking his internal organs. Under the astonishing force, his waist and legs couldn't even hold on for half a second. They instantly bent like straw, and he fell heavily to the ground!
With a crisp sound, under Chen Chong's powerful blow, Tiger Yin's knees landed heavily on the cement ground, causing them to shatter.
"Poof!"
In the dim light, Tiger Yin, still in a kneeling posture, suddenly spewed out a mouthful of blood. Then, a large amount of crimson blood gushed out from his nose, mouth, eyes, and ears, covering his face in a gruesome manner.
This was because Chen Chong's punch not only shattered his arm bones, but also ruptured most of his internal organs, making it impossible for him to even speak.
"You..."
His mouth twitched slightly, Tiger Yin weakly, laboriously, and unbelievably raised his head, blood gushing wildy from his face. It seemed like he wanted to see Chen Chong's face clearly, and perhaps wanted to ask a question.
However, just as he lifted his head halfway, all his questions, resentment, and unwillingness froze. Then his head drooped weakly.
He was dead.
At the peak of his ambition, greed, and desire, he died without even blocking Chen Chong's punch.
While Chen Chong's towering figure maintained the posture of throwing a punch, standing in front of the lifeless Tiger Yin, he looked down at him with a sneer, saying:
"Useless thing, I haven't even used my full strength, and you're already dead!"
Crack!
To prevent Tiger Yin from playing dead, Chen Chong's large hand, like a fan, stirred up a heavy gust of wind and slapped it heavily. Tiger Yin's dropped head immediately twisted at a distorted angle, and his neck had completely snapped!
In the noisy motor room, the motors continued to hum, masking all the sounds of the short battle that had just taken place.
Chen Chong stood before the lifeless body of Yin Hu, his eyes fixed on his own palm, filled with intense joy and confidence.
"This is my power now..."
In fact, with Chen Chong's careful thinking, when he encountered Yin Hu, he had already anticipated that the other party might come to secretly probe his secrets. He had also prepared to eliminate any traces without any burden.
As expected, he had waited for this person by lying in wait.
For him, Yin Hu's arrival served an important purpose, which was to test his current strength. Although he had achieved preliminary electric propulsion, he was not clear about the extent of his power.
The result was somewhat unexpected for Chen Chong. With no fancy techniques, relying solely on wild power and speed, Yin Hu was killed with a single punch without even putting up a fight!
And he hadn't even used his full strength.
Yin Hu was also an experienced awakened individual, on the same level as Qiao Jun who had been defeated by Blood General. This comparison meant that Chen Chong was fully capable of fighting against Blood General.
Looking down at Yin Hu's body, Chen Chong's eyes flickered as he wondered:
"Blood General has the strange means of bloodline gu. I wonder if Yin Hu has been implanted with it? And if I kill Yin Hu, will Blood General sense it?"
Chen Chong had witnessed how Blood General tortured Qiao Jun with bloodline gu, rendering him completely powerless to resist. However, he couldn't be sure if Yin Hu had been implanted with bloodline gu or if Blood General would sense his death.
With power in his hands and confidence, Chen Chong didn't hesitate. He picked up Yin Hu's body and walked to a burning boiler in the motor room.
Whoosh.
The coal feed opened, and flames spewed out, casting a fiery light on Chen Chong's face.
Expressionless, he casually threw Yin Hu's body into the boiler.
Complete destruction. Undoubtedly, this was the most perfect method of eliminating any traces, saving him from many troubles.
Chen Chong turned and left. He first went to Xue Lao's room and found Xue Lao still fast asleep, completely unaware of what had happened. Then he collected some coal ash and cleaned up the bloodstains in the motor room.
Having completed everything, Chen Chong acted as if nothing had happened. He didn't engage in any further cultivation but quietly waited in the boiler room.
Late into the night, outside the power station, everything was calm. No one came knocking on the door, and there were no unusual movements.
"It seems that either Yin Hu wasn't implanted with bloodline gu, or Blood General doesn't have the ability to sense the death of his parasites!"
Gazing at the remains of Yin Hu in the burning flames of the boiler, gradually turning to ashes, Chen Chong silently pondered.
Obviously, the death of an awakened individual was not a trivial matter. If Blood General could sense Yin Hu's death, the territory would not be so peaceful now.
Dispelling his concerns, Chen Chong stood up and stretched his neck. He returned to the motor room and began the auxiliary cultivation of electric therapy.
After an hour, his ultimate true qi had once again significantly strengthened, and the currents generated in his dantian became even more powerful. Chen Chong dismantled the circuit and began refining his physical body through iron forging.
Time passed in such cultivation. As dawn approached, Chen Chong stopped all cultivation and returned to the boiler room.
After a night of burning, Yin Hu's body had been completely incinerated by the high temperature and pressure in the boiler, mixed with charcoal ash, leaving no trace behind.
After a quick inspection, when it was time to finish work, Chen Chong added the remaining coal, then left the power station before the other laborers arrived, walking towards his residence under the faint morning light.
...
In the early morning, silence was broken.
Ding... Ding... Ding...
As the urgent work bells rang throughout the territory, laborers dragged their weary bodies out of bed, their eyes bloodshot, and walked like zombies towards the various factories.
"Hurry up, stop dilly-dallying!"
In the dense crowd, Wei De, Lu Kai, and more than twenty members of the supervisor team stood at various intersections, cursing and occasionally cracking their whips in the air, creating snapping sounds.
A moment later, when all the workers had entered their respective factories, Wei De and Lu Kai greeted the other supervisors and lackeys, "You guys keep an eye on them, we're going to get water for the captain!"
Then the two of them ran to the water source not far from Blood General's manor. After reporting their identities, they carefully carried a basin of relatively clean water.
The main source of water in the Crimson Territory was extracted groundwater, and its usage was strictly controlled. Not to mention using water for washing, even normal drinking water was severely limited. They only had such a small cup per person per day, and as for anything else, forget about it. Except for rain, most people in the entire Crimson Territory didn't have the opportunity to take a bath in a year.
But as an awakened individual and the captain of the supervisor team, Yin Hu was an exception. His allocation of resources was relatively high among the captain level, allowing him to indulge in using clean water for brushing his teeth and washing up every day. As the most clever and attentive lackeys under Yin Hu's command, Wei De and Lu Kai naturally took on the errand of running around.
Carrying the water, they made their way to the door of Yin Hu's solitary house. Lu Kai gently knocked on the door and said politely, "Captain, we brought water for washing up!"
Inside the room, it was silent with no response.
Lu Kai was about to knock again when Wei De took a closer look and saw the locked latch, and said in surprise, "Wait... don't knock, the captain's door is locked, he's not inside!"
Lu Kai also froze, leaning in to look at the locked door latch, wondering, "Could it be that the captain has already left? Why haven't I seen him at all?"
The two men looked at each other, then with doubt in their hearts, Wei De and Lu Kai put down the basin of water and ran through all the factories in half an hour, asking everyone along the way, but none of the supervisor team members had seen Yin Hu.
"Damn it."
Back at Yin Hu's residence, the door was still locked. Wei De didn't think of anything bad and muttered in exhaustion, "Where did the captain go?"
Lu Kai wiped his sweat and suddenly remembered something. He had a flash of insight, "Wait, I remember hearing the sound of General's convoy leaving at dawn. Could there be something special happening, and the captain went with General?"
Just as daybreak, when Lu Kai was going to the toilet, he happened to hear the commotion of Blood General's team setting out, naturally making the association. Although Yin Hu's duty was to supervise the territory, as an awakened individual, there was still a possibility of being temporarily conscripted by Blood General.
Wei De immediately complained, "Damn, why didn't you say so earlier? It made me run here for nothing!"
"Damn, I just thought of it!"