Chapter 94
Over the past 25 years of his life, Leiyin had always been an ordinary person.
He came from an ordinary family, had ordinary grades in school, attended an ordinary university, and after graduation only found an ordinary job as an ordinary intern reporter at an ordinary newspaper.
He lived like any other ordinary person under society’s order, maintaining that order while being maintained by it.
Until six months ago, when his parents died unexpectedly in a car accident. Leiyin made the first decision of his life that didn’t conform to what most ordinary people would do – he impulsively quit the job he had just been made permanent in, left his hometown alone, and departed from his native country. With his meager savings, he embarked on a journey to foreign lands.
After traveling abroad to clear his mind, his savings were nearly exhausted. Just as Leiyin was preparing to return home and continue being a wage slave, on the first day he arrived at his planned final tourist destination in the Island Alliance, an accident occurred.
The spiritual veins of the Five Domains trembled, causing a surge of spiritual energy. Hundreds of people around the world disappeared, and he became one of the missing.
It was hard to say whether this accident was fortunate or unfortunate.
After being swept into the mysterious Sword Realm, he landed in a hidden village. Not encountering any “fellow Blue Star natives”, Leiyin naturally assumed he had accidentally crossed over to another world, just like the protagonists in those web novels.
However, without any protagonist’s halo, he happened to cross over to a world with a cultural background similar to the East. His similar hair color meant Leiyin wasn’t immediately rejected, but his distinctly blue eyes made it difficult for him to gain acceptance from the local residents. It was a challenging start from the beginning.
After experiencing a dreamlike “three years”, Leiyin finally put down roots in this village. His diligence and willingness to work hard impressed a powerful martial artist, who took him on as a disciple.At this point, he was finally fortunate enough to learn about this world’s unique extraordinary power and stepped into the threshold of martial arts cultivation.
From the moment he learned about the existence of martial arts, Leiyin, who had thought of himself as ordinary, developed an extreme sense of crisis. To him, the martial arts experts walking around everywhere in this world were like dangerous individuals constantly carrying loaded guns with the safety off. Who knew if he, a fragile ordinary person, might offend some powerful martial artist with a careless word, or just happen to pass by when two martial artists started fighting, and end up dead on the spot?
Feeling the danger of this other world, Leiyin, who had crossed over, was determined not to leave the village until he had learned good martial arts. Thus, he stayed low in the village for three years.
After all, without family or friends, he didn’t miss his original world much. Being able to start a new life in a new world was perhaps a good thing for him.
Until one night, he woke up startled from his sleep and saw everything around him dissipate like a dream.
He ran out of the house, and the world within his sight was like a pencil drawing being erased. The familiar houses, the familiar village, the familiar villagers, and that stern-faced teacher were all easily erased. They only had time to reveal a final bewildered smile, as if understanding something in their last moments of disappearance.
Facing the torn night sky, bathed in the infinite light shining through the cracks, Leiyin stood dazed on the spot.
He had no idea what had happened, nor did he know whether he was crying or laughing at that moment. He only knew that when he came to his senses, he had returned to the place where he had crossed over.
–On a remote island in the Island Alliance.
The moment before he was enveloped by the mist and transported, he had been sitting on a rock by the beach, contemplating life.
When he reappeared on the now-deserted beach, breathing in the salty sea air, Leiyin’s emotions were suddenly very complex.
He was back…
But the family he had finally regained was lost again in a single night. Once more, he was alone.
Leiyin fell into a deep depression, nearly succumbing to it completely.
In his poor mental state, he returned to his home in the Chenxing Empire.
Perhaps because his decision to go to that remote island to contemplate life had been spontaneous, with virtually no social connections, no friends or relatives had reported him missing when he disappeared. As a result, he had never even made it onto any country’s list of missing persons.
Therefore, Leiyin’s return from his normal overseas trip didn’t attract any attention.
In his depressed state, he couldn’t spare any energy to notice the changes in the outside world, spending his days shut in at home. To outsiders, it seemed he was still unable to move past his parents’ deaths.
By the time Leiyin finally adjusted his mood, he discovered that in just a few months, the entire world had changed!
The revival of spiritual energy, the return of the Lord of the Heavenly Capital, even the neighboring country had begun to fully promote martial arts… Despite being one of those who had “transmigrated,” he ended up learning the truth about the “transmigrating” just like many ordinary people. He hadn’t even managed to participate in events like #SeekingTheHeavenlyCapital,WitnessingTheReturnOfTheLord#. Was he the real loser here?
However, perhaps because of this, he had successfully been overlooked by the authorities, becoming an unregistered martial arts practitioner?
–The fact that the Empire seemed to be controlling martial arts practitioners was something he learned from his new friend Matthews, a car accident survivor whom Leiyin had accidentally rescued. Matthews was incredibly passionate about martial arts.
Through Matthews, Leiyin gained access to the Extraordinary Forum. He learned that the “transmigrators” in the Chenxing Empire had all gone silent after returning, unlike their counterparts in neighboring countries who were active online. It was suspected that the Empire’s upper echelons had ordered them to keep quiet or placed them under special control.
–This made him extremely cautious!
However, despite Leiyin’s careful efforts to conceal his “trangmigrator” secret and his identity as a martial arts practitioner, living in an information age where personal information was difficult to keep 100% confidential, his secret was somehow exposed to the vast empire without his knowledge.
Even when he woke up to see the ceiling of the laboratory, he didn’t know how he had been exposed or captured.
The nightmare began at that moment.
From the fragments of conversation among the experimental staff, Leiyin learned that this research institute was likely conducting some kind of human evolution experiment. Martial arts practitioners like him, whose physical data differed from ordinary people, were viewed as half-finished samples that had already begun to evolve. Whether for extracting blood and cells as experimental materials to inspire researchers, or as subjects for further enhancement experiments, they were considered highly valuable.
While he wasn’t the only one chosen for such purposes, many martial arts practitioners were on the “missing persons” list and had returned under public scrutiny. Many eyes were still watching them, and if they suddenly “disappeared” again, it could cause trouble.
This made the research institute cautious about arbitrarily capturing people; at most, they would take blood samples under the guise of official check-ups.
In contrast, Leiyin, a “wild” martial arts practitioner with almost no social connections, could disappear suddenly without arousing any investigation.
Therefore, most of the institute’s test subjects were ordinary death row inmates from prisons, with very few martial arts practitioners. Those few had been secretly captured after careful selection by the institute.
This also made them extremely precious in the eyes of the researchers, who couldn’t afford to waste them carelessly.
But this certainly didn’t mean they were lucky.
The longer one survives in hell, the more pain accumulates!
As these memories of the past few days involuntarily surfaced in his mind, Leiyin’s body unconsciously trembled.
From the moment he woke up here, every drop of his blood, every cell, every organ no longer belonged to him, but became tools for devils to play with.
—But now, all of that was over!
The downpour washed over everything as gunshots rang out in the rain.
Leiyin sprinted through the rain, his fists and feet like the coldest weapons in the world. Any obstacle blocking his path to freedom was mercilessly torn apart and destroyed.
The sounds of violent collisions, agonized wails, bones breaking, and continuous gunfire erupted in succession.
Then, they turned into a bloodstain that even the heavy rain couldn’t wash away.
Huff…Huff..
The free wind outside the laboratory blew past Leiyin’s face as the world in his vision was covered by large patches of blood red.
Who could have imagined that after breaking out of the underground research facility, he would be greeted by so many obviously military-trained armed soldiers? It seemed an entire unit was stationed nearby.
The implications were chilling.
This only fueled the fire of hatred in his heart.
Rainwater mixed with blood dripped from his sleeves, which were also stained with unidentifiable human tissue fragments. The man, now dyed black and red, stood in a pool of bloody mud, glaring at everyone surrounding him with eyes that seemed capable of tearing everything apart.
Surrounded at the center, clearly unarmed and covered in wounds, he laughed madly in the pouring rain. Yet the heavily armed enemies around him were pale-faced with unfocused eyes. Every cautious step they took towards him seemed like a step into hell.
“…Devil!”
He heard someone’s trembling voice.
“Aren’t you the ones who turned me into a devil?” Leiyin found it amusing, and he actually laughed out loud. “This terrifying body is thanks to you!”
“I really should repay you properly!”
In his current condition, dealing with such an elite armed unit was still quite difficult. This was only because they had been avoiding his vital areas when shooting, aiming to capture rather than kill.
More reinforcements could arrive at any moment.
Leiyin’s eyes darkened.
Even if he couldn’t escape in the end, he absolutely wouldn’t let these bastards take him back. At worst, they would all die together!
The only regret was…
…He might have to disappoint the divine one.
Just as Leiyin was preparing for mutual destruction—
Bang!
A gunshot rang out, and someone in the encirclement fell.
Before the others could react.
Bang bang bang bang bang bang!
Continuous gunfire rose and fell like piano keys, mixing with the sound of the downpour to form a unique melody.
“Get down! Get down! There’s a sniper!”
Someone shouted, and everyone began to hit the ground or seek cover. Of course, even more of them fired back in the direction of the gunshots, trying to take out the sniper.
In an instant, the scene descended into chaos.
This research facility was built in the outskirts of the Chenxing Empire’s capital, Star City, with no inhabitants for hundreds of meters around. On normal days, any stranger approaching would be immediately detected by hidden sentry posts or captured on surveillance cameras.
But now, in the heavy rain and flashing lightning, visibility was greatly impaired. Their attempts at counter-sniping and searching yielded no results. Instead, comrades would occasionally fall, hit in the brain or heart by bullets from an unknown direction, while the enemy remained as elusive as a ghost… In such a situation, even well-trained soldiers couldn’t help but be psychologically shaken.
Especially concerning was the escaped test subject who was also on a killing spree nearby, turning the surroundings into a scene of carnage. They had to be cautious not to fatally harm this subject.
Bang bang bang bang bang bang!
“Ahahahaha…”
The continuous gunfire, the maniacal laughter of a test subject, the splattering blood and brain matter… If anyone survived this, it would surely become a nightmare haunting them for the rest of their lives.
Fortunately, reinforcements were about to arrive. The test subject also seemed to be swaying from injuries and exhaustion. The remaining people swarmed in—after all, capturing the test subject was their mission. Others were surrounding the sniper hidden in the shadows.
Was it enough?
… It should be enough.
As an overwhelming fatigue washed over his mind, Leiyin was about to take himself out along with the people rushing towards him. Through his blood-stained vision, he seemed to glimpse a shadow flitting by in the heavy rain.
A black trench coat, a black umbrella—like a ghost of the rainy night, he instantly traversed an unknown distance. In a moment, he appeared before Leiyin. One hand landed on Leiyin’s shoulder while the other raised the pitch-black umbrella forward.
Bang—
Leiyin suddenly woke up from his dream, abruptly sitting up straight.
“Hiss—”
This violent movement aggravated the wounds on his body that had not fully healed, causing even his facial muscles to twitch in pain.
Bright light from outside the window shone on his face, accompanied by that intoxicating scent of freedom.
The horrific scenes from the laboratory in his dream and the vast expanses of blood red seemed to silently fade away. He let out a soft sigh.
No, that wasn’t a dream!
That was what had actually happened to him!
Though only a day had passed, it felt like a lifetime ago.
Leiyin looked at his body, now full of strength, and the bandages and gauze wrapped around various parts. He tugged at the corner of his mouth, his eyes turning terrifying for a moment.
“Are you alright, buddy?” Someone gently knocked on the door and entered with a breakfast tray, setting it down beside the bed. They reminded him, “Hey, you’re pretty badly injured, don’t move around too much.”
“When Mr. K brought you here, I really didn’t think someone with such severe injuries could survive. It’s a miracle!”
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