109: Shadow assassination, forced collection

"Tsk, what's the panic? They're on chains."

Chen Du offered a casual word of comfort.

In the darkness, the flint wheel of a lighter clicked.

A cluster of flames flickered, illuminating his cold profile.

"These Pig-headed Man have plenty of strength, but their brains are a bit small."

He blew out a smoke ring.

His gaze swept over the two girls shivering in fear beside him.

"Do you see now? In this hellhole, weakness is the original sin."

Chen Du reached out and helped An Nuonuo straighten her crooked maid bowtie.

Causing the Little loli to tremble all over.

"I don't want to see you making expressions like lambs to the slaughter."

As his voice fell...

Chen Du took a step forward.

Without any flashy wind-up...

The shadow stretched out by the firelight at his feet seemed to come alive, instantly boiling and surging!

Countless pitch-black tentacles surged frantically from beneath his feet.

"Since this is a Meat Processing Plant, let me show everyone..."

Chen Du's voice sounded exceptionally cold amidst the black tide.

"...what professional deboning really looks like."

"Die!"

At this moment, a Boar-Headed Man had already raised its cleaver high, about to chop down at the man at its feet.

If this hit landed, he would definitely turn into human sashimi.

In the nick of time.

The Boar-Headed Man seemed to sense a strange chill from beneath its feet and instinctively tried to leap up.

Too late.

Its shadow rapidly hardened, transforming into several pitch-black ground spikes that shot upward!

Its proud thick fur and hard skull were as brittle as paper before this power from the abyss.

A black spike pierced directly through its jaw, exiting through the skull with a mixture of red and white fluids!

The Boar-Headed Man's cleaver froze mid-air, and a gurgling sound began to emit from its throat.

Immediately after...

Puchi, puchi, puchi!

Three more muffled sounds.

The remaining three Pig-headed Man—whether they were in pursuit or swinging iron bars—all froze at the same instant.

Chest, throat, back of the head.

All were pierced by precise Shadow Spikes!

Instant kill.

Bang bang bang bang!

The four massive corpses crashed to the ground like collapsing mountains.

The survivors who had been waiting for death all gaped, their jaws nearly dislocating.

The Regeneration Man with the severed hand forgot his pain, and the Office Lady who had wet herself forgot to cry.

They all stared blankly at the man walking out from the shadows.

Black shirt, one hand in his pocket, a cigarette dangling from his mouth.

With such a leisurely pace, how was he here to kill monsters? He looked exactly like a leader coming for an inspection!

"This..."

The Crab Claw Man watched this scene, his brain's CPU completely fried.

Just three seconds ago, this monster had kicked and broken his ribs—a despair-inducing strength.

But now?

Before this man in the black shirt, these terrifying butchers were like dead meat on a cutting board, without even the right to struggle.

Even... the ash on the man's cigarette hadn't fallen.

Is he even f*cking human?!

Chen Du ignored those gazes that looked as if they were seeing God.

He walked straight to the corpse of a Boar-Headed Man and pressed his palm down.

[Sacrifice!]

A dark red light flashed by.

The corpse shriveled and disappeared.

However...

Chen Du's brow furrowed, a look of disgust on his face.

[Sacrifice successful!]

[Obtained: life essence x3.]

That's it? Just this?

Such a big guy, thick-skinned and armed, and it only gave 3 portions of life essence?

Not even a skill book or some trash equipment dropped?

"Mass-produced goods?"

A hint of doubt rose in Chen Du's heart, and he couldn't help but complain.

This drop rate only showed that these Pig-headed Man weren't elite monsters at all.

Even possibly puppets mass-produced on an assembly line.

He instinctively looked deeper into the enclosure.

Those hundreds of Live Pigs still maintained that eerie posture.

Hundreds of pairs of red eyes stared in unison at Chen Du.

Even after such an intense battle just now, their gaze didn't waver in the slightest.

"A bit interesting."

By now, the survivors had finally come to their senses.

Supporting each other, they tremblingly gathered around.

The Crab Claw Man seemed to be the leader.

Clutching his stomach, he looked at Chen Du with awe.

"Bi... Big boss!"

"Thank you for saving our lives! Truly, thank you so much!"

An Nuonuo immediately puffed out her chest.

Borrowing his authority, she snorted: "Of course! Look who he is. This is our Captain! These little monsters are just a piece of cake!"

Lin Keke planted her spear into the ground.

Getting into character: "My Lord has descended, all evil shall disperse! You mortals, why haven't you knelt in worship yet?"

Though it was a bit chuunibyou, no one found it funny at this moment.

In the apocalypse, strength is the only truth!

The Crab Claw Man felt his heart pounding as he looked into Chen Du's cold eyes.

He was also a shrewd person and immediately caught on.

"Um... Big boss, we know the rules!"

Gritting his teeth, he handed over several frozen steaks from his arms.

"These are what we just fought for our lives to get... It's not much, but it's a token of our appreciation."

"We beg the big boss to protect us for a while! As long as we can get out alive, we're willing to serve you like cattle and horses!"

Seeing this, the others also reluctantly gave up their treasures.

"Yes, yes! This is my leg of lamb!"

"This is luncheon meat! It's not even opened!"

For a moment, all sorts of supplies were piled in front of Chen Du.

They watched expectantly, hoping to buy their lives with these.

However...

Chen Du didn't take them.

He coldly scanned the ground, then looked at the group.

"A tribute?"

Chen Du chuckled.

His combat boot casually stepped on a bloody steak.

"I think you've misunderstood the logic here."

"If I hadn't acted just now, you would already be dead."

"In other words, from the moment I acted, your lives, along with your supplies, already belong to me."

Chen Du straightened up and blew out a smoke ring.

His golden pupils glowed slightly: "Using my spoils of war to negotiate terms with me... who gave you the courage?"

These words were like a thunderbolt striking everyone's heads.

The Crab Claw Man was stunned.

He gaped for a long time, unable to speak.

"This... this is too overbearing, isn't it?"

"We clearly traded our lives for this! This is purely bandit logic!"

But seeing the coldness in Chen Du's eyes and Lin Keke and An Nuonuo already picking up the supplies...

No one dared to make a sound.

Dare to resist?

Look at the fate of the four Pig-headed Man on the ground—that's your example.

"Collect them."

Chen Du waved his hand indifferently.

"You got it! As you command, Captain!"

Lin Keke immediately switched modes, stuffing meat into her clothes while pointing at the survivors:

"What are you looking at? This is a tax, understand? It's your honor to be saved by my Lord! This is a mandatory collection!"

An Nuonuo picked up the bag of crushed steaks and whispered, "They're a bit crushed, but they can still be eaten in porridge..."

The two girls were like a swarm of locusts, stripping the area bare in the blink of an eye.

Having finished...

Chen Du didn't even bother to glance at the group; he turned and left.

He didn't mention protection at all.

The survivors looked at each other.

Finally, the Crab Claw Man gritted his teeth and waved.

"Follow them!"

"Be thick-skinned! Only by following the big boss will there be meat to eat! Even if it's just a sip of soup!"

The group hung far behind Chen Du's trio like abandoned puppies.

And behind them...

Inside that massive enclosure...

Hundreds of Live Pigs, hundreds of pairs of scarlet eyes.

Turned their necks in unison.

"Gulu... gulu..."

Low guttural sounds echoed in the factory, like some eerie funeral rite.