Chapter Fifty-One: Don't Trouble Yourself

In the next instant, Cheng Luoyi's fingers, sharp as blades, plunged into her opponent's carotid artery. Yuanyuan's terrified expression froze on her face; her mouth opened as if to speak, but only blood poured out. Another body collapsed at Cheng Luoyi's feet.

“If... it reaches one hundred percent, what happens?” a low, magnetic voice sounded by her ear.

She turned her head to see Lin Dong's handsome face. He had already noticed the detail on her wrist and, curious, couldn't help but ask.

Cheng Luoyi smiled faintly. “I might die,” she replied.

The bracelet she wore was specially made by researchers, connected directly to her pain nerves, reminding her of the limits of agony she could endure. Once it reached one hundred percent, Cheng Luoyi would enter her most powerful state—and yet, that would also mark the boundary of her life.

Elsewhere, Sun Xiaoqiang was locked in combat with a crystalline core awakener. His opponent was a strength-enhanced fighter, wielding a colossal alloy axe weighing several tons, yet brandishing it as if it were weightless. The heavy axe whistled through the air, swinging straight for Sun Xiaoqiang.

“Ah! Cheng Luoyi’s already repaid Lin Dong, now it’s my turn...” His keen eyes flickered, and suddenly his body crackled with energy. His once-slim frame swelled with burgeoning muscles, his physique growing more robust.

This was Sun Xiaoqiang’s awakened ability: Fearless Berserk Transformation. His intelligence plummeted drastically, but all other physical attributes surged.

Now, the previously shrewd look on his face had faded to near-imbecility. Even as the giant axe came crashing down, he showed no fear, raising his fist to meet the blow head-on.

Metal clanged thunderously; the axe handle bent and warped. Even the strength-enhanced man’s palm split open from the shock, pain forcing him to release his weapon, which went flying.

“What...?” the man gasped in horror, never expecting such ferocity.

While he hesitated, Sun Xiaoqiang was already upon him, delivering a heavy punch to his chest. The sound of bones snapping echoed sharply in his ear. The man's entire skeleton shattered, his body twisted grotesquely like a broken rag doll, and he was sent hurtling away.

“Taken care of!” Sun Xiaoqiang clenched his fists in satisfaction.

These Black Scorpion thugs were no match for Cheng Luoyi’s group—the gap in power was insurmountable, especially since she was the number one awakener in the entire sanctuary, reputed to be the strongest of all.

Even Chen Ming and his three companions fought with perfect coordination, wielding alloy blades in tactical formation as they confronted several brain-core awakeners. It wasn’t long before two were slain.

“Damn it! They’re this strong?” Song Yang, who’d just struggled to rise from the rubble, saw two of his main fighters—his strongest men—fall. Especially frustrating was Cheng Luoyi, who was still chatting away with Lin Dong, the two of them laughing as if discussing trivial household matters.

Clearly, they didn’t see him as a threat at all.

A powerful sense of dread gripped Song Yang, as if a steel spike hovered above his brow, ready to end his life at any moment. Instinctively, he wanted to flee.

But he doubted he could escape Cheng Luoyi.

Suddenly he remembered three of his men upstairs, guarding the sanctuary’s hostages. “That’s my last bargaining chip,” he thought, leaping up to the second floor.

Downstairs, his underlings had been struggling. Now, seeing their boss flee, despair engulfed them. Only one phrase flashed through their minds: “We’re screwed!”

They were swiftly cut down by Chen Ming’s group, and the battle on the first floor ended.

Lin Dong hadn’t even intervened—these were mere lackeys, hardly worth his effort.

“Here! Take these!” Sun Xiaoqiang offered him a crystalline core and several brain cores.

Lin Dong glanced at him. “Isn’t that a bit much?”

“We need it! The director always said, ‘A drop of kindness should be repaid with a spring.’ When I was starving, you gave me bread. Now I must repay you to the fullest!” Sun Xiaoqiang declared with conviction.

Lin Dong made no further protest and accepted the crystalline and brain cores.

...

Upstairs, in the lobby that had once been a bustling KTV, emptiness now prevailed, and a tense atmosphere hung in the air. In the center, three people knelt, bound by iron chains, muffled cries escaping their gagged mouths.

Song Yang tore the tape from their mouths, intending to have them beg for their lives, hoping Cheng Luoyi might show mercy and let him go.

Before long, Lin Dong and the others arrived.

“Sister Cheng, save me! I don’t want to die, please!” one of the hostages wailed.

“Stay back! Don’t come any closer, or I’ll kill them!” Song Yang barked immediately.

Cheng Luoyi lifted her gaze. The three hostages trembled, still crying for help, nearly scared to death.

Lin Dong watched silently, curious to see how Cheng Luoyi would handle the standoff.

She paused, truly stopping in her tracks, her eyes thoughtful as she quickly calculated in her mind.

“Bringing back an awakener is worth two pounds of white flour... but killing Song Yang yields a crystalline core. All things considered, murder is the better bargain.”

Seeing Cheng Luoyi hesitate, Song Yang assumed his threat was working, and a flicker of hope lit his face.

People from the sanctuary, he thought, were always bound by rules, too used to being controlled. Fools.

“Heh, your superiors must have ordered you to bring back the hostages, right?”

Cheng Luoyi nodded. “Yes,” she admitted.

Song Yang’s confidence grew. “Good! Release us, and you can take them back.”

“No need,” Cheng Luoyi replied, “because... I never follow orders from above.”

“What?” Song Yang was dumbfounded, suddenly understanding her intent. Even the three hostages were left bewildered, their hopes dashed.

In the blink of an eye, Cheng Luoyi sprang into action, her form flickering as she shot forward with blinding speed.

Song Yang clenched his jaw, feeling the immense pressure but also unleashing his own ruthless resolve.

“Brothers, let’s take them down with us!” he snarled, slashing at the hostages; if he was to die, he’d at least take a few with him.

“Yeah! Let’s do it!” his three subordinates shouted with bravado. All were crystalline core awakeners and not without strength.

With a thunderous crash, Cheng Luoyi traded a punch with Song Yang, sending him flying through two private room walls before he finally came to a halt. Yet, shielded by his metallic skin, he emerged from the rubble relatively unscathed and launched another attack.

Meanwhile, the three awakeners engaged Sun Xiaoqiang, their teamwork and agility allowing them to hold him off, at least for a time.

The entire hall erupted into chaos—floor tiles shattered, walls collapsed, energy surges rippling in all directions.

Chen Ming and his companions stood far behind Lin Dong, not daring to intervene. These were crystalline core awakeners at war; brain-core fighters like themselves were ineligible to join.

The fiercest battle raged between Cheng Luoyi and Song Yang. Again and again, Song Yang was sent flying, only to rise tenaciously—like a cockroach that refused to die.

Cheng Luoyi’s power increased with her pain, but Song Yang’s defensive abilities prevented him from inflicting serious wounds upon her, making it difficult to break through his defenses.

“If that’s the case, I’ll have to resort to the old method...” Cheng Luoyi’s gaze sharpened.

There were many ways to inflict pain upon herself, but the most efficient was self-mutilation.

She’d done it before, back when she was in the psychiatric hospital.

But just as she prepared to act, a voice sounded behind her.

“Hey, no need for that trouble...”