Chapter 109: The Most Rudimentary Method of Killing

The computer displayed a message sent via Bluetooth by Huang Long when the four of them had scattered to flee.

"Since the Council Building has ended up in this state, Speaker Zhang is likely doomed for one reason or another. I suspect that given Yao Lun’s personality, he will almost certainly move against you. After all, you killed his son, and he is a man who holds a grudge like no other."

Ji Cheng curled his lip. He had had no choice; back on the wilderness island, if he hadn't killed Yao Zhenyuan, he really might have been done in by him. Even if he were given the chance to choose again, he would definitely kill him.

The text continued to scroll across his wrist-mounted computer.

"We will split up to run shortly. Old Zhou looks to be severely injured and his emotional state is extremely erratic; I will try to stay close to him. As for the business between you and Yao Lun, I really cannot intervene. I hope you understand."

As a councilor, Huang Long maintained quite good interpersonal relationships. Even with someone as cold and reclusive as Yao Lun, he shared years of camaraderie, though it was never particularly deep. As for Ji Cheng, despite his top-tier talent and potential, Huang Long truly had no reason to help him deal with Yao Lun.

"However, I can offer you one piece of advice: Yao Lun has a small mechanical device that can activate an energy shield. Once the shield is engaged, standard methods cannot break through its defense. Most importantly, the shield covers his entire body, leaving no blind spots."

Ji Cheng paused. He searched his memory, and suddenly understood what that small mechanical device of Yao Lun’s was. If it really was that thing, it would indeed be a bit troublesome.

"However, his small device cannot be recharged, and the shield's duration is limited. It won't stay active indefinitely, so if you use tactics like an ambush, or catch him off guard, you still have a chance to defeat him. Your melee combat ability is truly strong."

"Good luck."

"Brother Huang is acting decently enough; at least he provided me with quite a bit of information," Ji Cheng mused as he watched the message finish playing.

"There is indeed an opportunity, but it doesn't lie in a melee ambush—it lies in arrangements made in advance..."

He scoffed at Huang Long’s suggestion. He would have to be insane to go and fight Yao Lun head-on with real blades and guns. What if he was set up? What if there was a mistake? Wouldn't that just be throwing his life away?

High-end players often use the simplest methods of killing, such as carpet-bombing with nuclear weapons.

"Old Yao, that brainless fool, after losing track of me, he certainly won't return to the Grey Zone security station. He’s bound to go looking for his single-pilot aircraft. As long as I calculate the timing well and land a few nuclear warheads on his path, everything will be solved."

Ji Cheng was satisfied with his plan. After learning about the timeline last night, he had guessed that Speaker Zhang was likely in trouble. There were too many anomalies; at times, it felt as if he were wholeheartedly dedicated to Nanhang, while at other times, it didn't feel like that at all.

Connecting this to Pang Weiwei turning into a monster, it reminded him of a symptom: rejection.

This is a condition where the body’s immune system treats the gene-progenitor as an enemy and launches an attack. Speaker Zhang was a Tier 3 ability user, and Tier 3 gene-progenitors already possess the characteristics of "living matter." Once rejection occurs, the counterattack of the gene-progenitor easily causes neurological and cerebral damage, even causing a person’s temperament to change drastically and inducing strong self-destructive tendencies. There were too many documented cases of this.

He might have barely been able to control his body before, only occasionally having issues, but as the rejection worsened, he finally lost complete control between 5:30 PM and 5:56 PM yesterday.

Once he guessed this, one important conclusion could be drawn: Nanhang New City was likely finished. The destructive power of an out-of-control Tier 3 ability user is terrifying.

"Still, there are many, many suspicious points that remain to be investigated..."

Ji Cheng closed his computer and set off toward the Emerald District in the east. He had to do one thing to ensure that Yao Lun arrived at that underground hangar exactly around 8:00 AM tomorrow.

***

Nanhang New City, Silver District.

Not far from Ji Cheng’s location, inside a room in a residential building, Yao Lun stood in the living room with a gloomy face. Several corpses lay on the blood-stained carpet before him, and a withered branch was slowly being pulled from the neck of a child who had just stopped breathing.

"I will definitely kill you, Ji Cheng! I will tear you limb from limb and make you regret everything you’ve done!"

"You killed my son, and now you’ve become a Tier 2 ability user. Everyone is beholden to you, everyone supports you, even that old fool Zhou Ze is backing you!"

As Yao Lun spoke, his face turned angry and twisted. He was inherently sinister and vicious, a man who held grudges, yet he had been forced to endure after Ji Cheng killed his precious only son—all out of loyalty to Zhang Sheng. Now, how could he possibly suppress that intense, blood-like murderous intent?

"Follow your command? Who do you think you are? I was out roaming the wilderness with the Boss before you were even born!"

He squeezed his palms tightly, his eyes as terrifying as a bloodthirsty wolf. "Everything you have now should have been Zhenyuan’s. He should have been the one surrounded by stars, not you!"

"He was killed by you, and looking at the state of the Council Building, the Boss must be dead... You, Ji Cheng, go down and keep him company in the grave..."

Yao Lun’s face grew increasingly hideous, heavy breaths venting from his nostrils, his entire presence filled with malevolence. In a fit of cathartic rage, he pulled out a gun and squeezed the trigger frantically at the family he had just murdered.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

He acted as if he were looking at Ji Cheng.

"I noticed you from the moment the ability user selection ended. You were the one with the most suspicion. But you will never know that your wrist-mounted computer was locked onto by me long ago."

At the time, Ji Cheng’s dedicated computer had been shipped directly to the 304 Sentry Base, and it had been intercepted by Yao Lun during that process.

"I had originally intended to finish you off while you were performing your mining mission. I didn't expect you to be so lucky; you were only two days into your first mission when you were coincidentally called back... But it still comes in handy now."

He sneered and took from his breast a piece of machinery slightly smaller than a fist, then pulled out a data cable and connected it.

If Ji Cheng were here, he would certainly recognize this device, which looked like a small speaker. It was, in fact, a special type of robot.

Although the public’s impression of robots is generally that they are human-shaped machines used for heavy or dangerous work, that is actually only one branch of robotics. The Imperial Ministry of Industry divides robots into three types: War-Soldiers, Sentinels, and Mech-Garments.

War-Soldiers are suitable for interstellar battlefield environments; they are heavily armored and armed, with every part being a weapon. They possess the highest combat power within their level, and their control method relies primarily on the data-ether body.

Sentinels are generally used for patrol and inspection, possessing various relevant functions, but their combat power is weaker. Users typically issue commands to them indirectly through a network hub.

Mech-Garments, however, are completely different. They are generally about the size of a fist, flying around the user. They are purely auxiliary equipment, but their importance is actually greater than the first two. For instance, essential devices like energy shields, flight propulsion, positioning, and wide-range scanning are often integrated into Mech-Garments.

Without this, even if you have been injected with the highest-grade gene-progenitor, a single ordinary ship-mounted cannon blast would be enough to blow you to dust.

Therefore, the old nobles who survived from the Imperial expansion era and were tempered by the fires of war stubbornly classified Mech-Garments as "wearables," meaning they were as essential for going out as one's clothes and trousers. That is the origin of the name "Mech-Garment." If anyone were to demand they turn off or surrender their Mech-Garment, it would be considered a profound insult.

What Yao Lun held in his hand was a very typical, basic model.