In the dim basement, one room shone brightly with a seductive glow, flickering neon lights casting an alluring, dreamlike atmosphere. It resembled a hidden pleasure den deep in the heart of hell, brimming with indulgence and sin.
Lin Mo had searched the entire basement facility, eventually finding his target—Fujiwara Kawako—locked in a cell near the center. But what he hadn't expected was to stumble upon this brightly lit, almost fantastical space amid the grim, foul-smelling underground.
No wonder there were no guards posted.
Tonight was the Scavengers' night of celebration. Most of them were outside, dancing around bonfires, indulging in their revelry, treating the night like a grand festival. Only a few individuals remained stationed inside, half-heartedly handling guard duty. The Scavs weren't exactly a disciplined force—their sense of order only existed under strict leadership.
And the man capable of imposing that control was enjoying himself in his private sanctuary.
To Lin Mo, this basement was filled with the marks of unspeakable atrocities. The victims had written their stories in blood, tears, and agonized screams. It was a place of horrors, but for some, a place to revel in the darkness.
This wasn't just a "processing room" or a "storage area." It was someone's playground.
The ruler of this twisted domain often stood by the operating tables, savoring the screams. When bored, he would stroll to the storage rooms to play his sadistic game of picking his next victim.
Tonight, this dark emperor had taken a particular interest in a beautiful captive, bringing her to this hidden room to share in his twisted pleasures.
Inside the neon-drenched chamber, sultry, upbeat music played, but woven into the melody were the faint sounds of a woman's sobs. The atmosphere was thick with debauchery, a nightmarish den of vice.
A hulking man, broad as a bear, lounged on a plush couch. He swirled a bottle of liquor in one hand, his eyes gleaming with sick anticipation as he watched the woman kneeling before him.
The woman, wearing a Braindance headset, stared blankly, her eyes dull and unfocused. The Braindance had sucked her into a hyper-realistic simulation, far removed from the real world. Her face, once beautiful, was now contorted with torment. Whatever she was experiencing in that simulated hell, it had completely shattered her spirit.
The man silently watched, taking slow sips of the fiery liquor, savoring the moment.
"This... is the ultimate pleasure," he murmured to himself. "How could mere physical desires compare to this?"
In a world where technology had reached unimaginable heights, Braindance was the drug of choice. It offered experiences so real, so intense, that traditional pleasures paled in comparison. No earthly thrill could match the intoxicating allure of Braindance.
The man smiled serenely, folding his hands together as he enjoyed the scene like a connoisseur of suffering.
Then, with deliberate care, he reached for his prized possession lying on the table—a gun painted in bright red and orange, as if flames danced across its surface. This was Hellfire, his custom weapon.
Originally a Unity handgun from Constitutional Arms, Hellfire had been heavily modified. It was now a beast of a gun, equipped with incendiary rounds that turned anything they touched into a blaze of heat and fire.
He stroked the gun's sleek barrel, his eyes drifting back to the trembling woman. She looked as though she was teetering on the edge of collapse, barely hanging on.
"Yes... it's almost time," he whispered with a twisted grin.
His routine was simple: watch the victim endure the Braindance, wait for the moment they thought they were free, then finish them off with Hellfire—setting their world ablaze with one final, fiery shot.
The Braindance reached its climax, the woman's body convulsing as she slumped to the floor, utterly broken.
"It's time," the man grinned, his finger brushing the trigger of Hellfire. He took one last swig of liquor, relishing the burning sensation as it slid down his throat.
He aimed the gun at the woman, ready to snuff out her life in a blaze of fire.
Boom!
A loud crash echoed from outside the room, shaking the walls.
The man flinched, his body snapping to attention. His head whipped around toward the noise. The heavy metal door had been sliced open by a sharp blade, then kicked off its hinges, crashing to the floor with a deafening boom.
His pupils shrank, and his spinal Kerenzikov implant flickered to life. A faint light glowed along his spine as the implant activated, heightening his reflexes and awareness.
In his perception, time slowed to a crawl. The world around him seemed to freeze as his body responded to the threat.
In the doorway, a figure stood—a dark, menacing shadow, moving with terrifying speed. In the slowed-down world of his Kerenzikov-enhanced vision, the intruder appeared to be moving normally, but the man knew that, in real time, they were lightning-fast.
But he still had a chance. With his Kerenzikov active, the man could move at full speed too. He wasn't just prey; he was a predator.
Sandevistan MK III, activate!
The neural systems in his brain surged with energy, pushing his body to its absolute limit. In this slowed-down world, he moved at full capacity, the gap between him and the intruder shrinking.
He raised Hellfire, his gun blazing to life with a vivid red flame, ready to unload a fatal shot at the one who dared to interrupt his twisted pleasure.
But in the frozen second before he could fire, the intruder's blade shimmered, reflecting the neon lights, and in an instant, the man's world shattered.
Time snapped back to normal.
The man's hand, still gripping Hellfire, was no longer connected to his arm. Blood sprayed across the neon-lit room as the hulking figure stumbled back, wide-eyed, unable to comprehend what had just happened.
Lin Mo stood before him, his Black Unicorn sword gleaming, the crimson edge glowing with the fresh blood of its victim.
"Who... who are you?!" the man rasped, his voice thick with pain and disbelief.
Lin Mo stepped forward, his gaze cold and unyielding, the mask covering the upper half of his face giving him an otherworldly, demonic presence.
"Me?" Lin Mo's voice was low, barely a whisper as he approached the fallen man. "I'm the one who ends this nightmare."
With a swift motion, Lin Mo's blade sliced through the air once more, severing the man's head in one clean strike.
The head rolled across the floor, the man's eyes frozen in shock, while the body slumped lifelessly to the ground.
Silence filled the room.
Lin Mo stood still for a moment, his sword dripping with blood, before turning his gaze toward the woman on the floor.
Her eyes fluttered open, no longer vacant, as the Braindance had finally released its hold on her. She stared at Lin Mo, a mixture of fear and gratitude in her tear-streaked eyes.
Without a word, Lin Mo walked over to her, gently removing the Braindance headset from her head. He offered her his hand, helping her to her feet.
"Come on," he said softly. "You're safe now."
As Lin Mo led her out of the room, the neon lights behind them flickered, the once vibrant glow fading as the darkness of the basement reclaimed its hold.