35 Machinations

“Brother Li, isn’t that young man in the RV your friend? Why don’t you go up and say hello?”

At the back of the bus, Liu Liang leaned toward the burly Li Qi and asked innocently. If not for the calculation in her eyes, one might truly have taken her for a naive, guileless girl.

Li Qi’s gaze passed through the windshield and settled on the RV ahead, his expression complicated.

He lowered his eyes to his left arm. There, from the forearm...

When Lu Chengxi awoke, it was already noon the following day. His forehead was still groggy from the impact, yet he insisted on getting out of bed.

Leng Feixue’s maternal sympathy instantly overflowed. What a filial child. She rummaged through her clothes, only to find that she had brought no silver.

The thrashing had long since become frantic. And yet... its strength was gradually waning. After all, it had expended a tremendous amount of energy, and a snake that had just shed its skin was naturally weak. Perhaps that was also why I had been able to withstand its blow.

Then the reason so many marks could still be left on the ground was very likely the one Night Sacrifice did not wish to face...

Jiang Muchen was no fool. Team Leader Cui had said that no one from the Research Department had done it. In that case, the only person here who was not from the Research Department was Fan Xiaoxi.

As for natural-force abilities, Sun Huakai, whom I had encountered before, was a representative example. His electricity belonged to the natural-force category. Others could manipulate water, control fire, and so on. Such ability users were relatively powerful, as their attacks could produce a great many additional effects.

Mo Yichen acted as though he had not heard her and continued teasing the toy dog in his arms. Zhong Qing was furious with him and ignored him as well. She made the bed, sweating from head to toe, whether from anger or exhaustion she could not say.

“Mom, leave Auntie be. Let her go. Things have already come to this. If she still can’t figure it out, she has only herself to blame.”

Damn, what a handsome little brother.

Most of the New Humans had not even realized what was happening before blood began to spread everywhere. Countless New Humans had their arms and leg bones severed and collapsed amid shrieks of agony. Several were even cut in half at the waist, blood spraying from them like a torrential downpour.

Zhao Hui and Yang Bo went together to queue for food. Each ordered a bowl of rice, a plate of stir-fried vegetables, and a bowl of egg soup.

I lightly bit my lip and furrowed my brow, completely unaware of the helpless smile at my side.

Yan Poyue seized the bell hammer and brought it down against the bronze bell with all his strength. The crisp, sonorous chime, carrying a long, lingering tremor, once again spread throughout the entire Night Hawk Assault Team barracks.

I was ashamed and lowered my head, speechless. Old Sun was angry as well and said nothing more, merely sighing from time to time as though deeply disappointed.

Before leaving, I saw Judge Cui stride toward Lord Yan. Behind Lord Yan flowed a black river that seemed almost alive, coiling like a black wyrm as it opened its enormous jaws, as though preparing to swallow him whole.

Back when we were in Sylvan, Luo Kai had once given Antiano this appraisal: with a little more hair on that fellow’s body, he would be sharper than a monkey. Everyone from the original gladiator troupe knew it well.

A large box of sauced beef cooked in advance at Spirit Prefecture, a clay pot of boiled hot milk, a piece of baked naan scarcely different from one fresh out of the oven, and a jar of wild fiddlehead greens pickled to just the right flavor... To satisfy his uniquely hearty appetite, all these foods had been prepared especially for him by the Spirit Prefecture logistics camp.

The one who spoke was Smoker, who had been fighting Vergo moments earlier and was now barely clinging to life. It was obvious that Smoker was no match for Vergo at all; he had been completely dominated.

“Hey! Xiran! Let’s go!”

Shuni’s shout immediately broke my three-second stare with him.

Just then, a breeze swept past. A strange feeling stirred within me, but only for an instant before I returned to normal.

It was indeed a fine poem, but what followed was awkward. It should have been time for Cui Yue to perform the ceremony of paying respects to her ancestors and parents-in-law, yet Zhang Nan had nothing at all prepared, leaving even Cui Shao at a loss as to how to continue.