Deep in the Living
Chapter 124 - 118 Discussing Skills

Chapter 124: Chapter 118 Discussing Skills

"I need to stretch a bit; it’s been too long since I last moved."

Mr. Hawke snapped his fingers, and five hooks descended from above.

They hooked into his wrists, ankles, and the back of his neck, suspending him mid-air. He used the pull of the hooks to stretch his body, performing bizarrely positioned warm-up exercises.

Crack~Creak~Snap~Sizzle!

Strange noises continually emitted from within Mr. Hawke’s body throughout the process; indeed, it had been a very long time since he had exercised—as long as a decade at least.

Luo Di, on the other hand, did not warm up, nor did he need to; his body was already heating up.

He arrived at the door and looked at the stitched scars on the monitor’s face.

He was not surprised by the monitor’s Disguise abilities but was concerned about the hellish aura emitted by the monitor.

Could this "Hell Attribute" given by Mr. Hawke affect the "Thought Corner" to some extent? Could it make the monitor less susceptible to the influence of the Corner?

Who knew, the monitor suddenly chuckled, his hand, full of sewing marks, naturally resting on Luo Di’s shoulder.

On tiptoes,

Leaning forward,

He whispered secrets in Luo Di’s ear that only the two of them could hear.

"Luo Di, you’re improving so fast~ When we first met, you even struggled with basic communication, how come you now seem almost wily.

You came to the Punishment Room initially to challenge Mr. Hawke, didn’t you?

But you didn’t say so directly, instead inserting a lot of preparatory remarks in between. Only when the timing was right did you cast your hook and easily caught your fish.

You weren’t this skilled when dealing with Isabella before; don’t tell me you were always good at this? Like me, have you always been in Disguise?"

Only when the monitor pointed it out did Luo Di realize that his "conversation" with Mr. Hawke was indeed different than before.

But he wasn’t intentionally setting a trap with his words; it was more like a subconscious act.

The monitor then placed his other hand on Luo Di’s shoulder, both hands helping to press down on Luo Di’s shoulders, relaxing his nerves.

"I’m just joking. Since you have the chance to ’spar’ with such a powerful adversary, you should Focusing on the present. Such opportunities are rare."

"Okay."

Luo Di was well aware of how formidable Mr. Hawke was.

Unable to rely on Open Spine, he could only look for ways to boost his fighting strength from other angles, and his gaze then fell on the investigator’s outfit.

Luo Di touched the sleeve area of the investigator’s uniform with his fingers, triggering a button-like structure.

The previously ’coat-like’ investigator’s uniform immediately tightened around Luo Di’s current body proportions, transforming into a black Combat Uniform that fit snugly, with clearly visible vein structures strewn across its surface.

Whenever Luo Di made any movements, especially exerting ones, he would receive significant support from the uniform.

This effect far surpassed the coat form,

Even though Luo Di took inspiration from the "Murderer," preferring the black coat as the optimal external presentation, the current situation was not a hunt, but a spar with a stronger opponent.

"Is this technology from the Corner? This piece of clothing can be seen as a Cornered Tool without any side effects or interference."

After quickly adapting to the combat uniform, Luo Di lifted his left hand close to his face.

Spikes of iron wire burrowed out of his arm, starting to construct traps in the head region.

The man in front of him, Mr. Hawke, was an expert in torture, and Luo Di’s own left arm had been granted by him; there was no chance he could outmaneuver him in terms of traps.

Since laying traps was ineffective, it might be better to use the traps on oneself.

"Jaw Splitter construction"

The current ’spar’ did not carry the threat of poison gas,

But the Jaw Splitter had a dual purpose,

One was to protect the skull,

And the other was that the Jaw Splitter piece held in the mouth could increase pain tolerance to a certain degree.

As the ’Jaw Splitter’ was placed over Luo Di’s head, Mr. Hawke, still warming up, also cast his gaze over,

Even as the ruler of the Punishment Room, having placed various torture devices on the heads of countless criminals, he had never seen such a structure—it felt very interesting to him.

He also felt a new kind of appreciation for Luo Di.

"Hm? A trap turned upside down, then worn on the head?

To filter out harmful gases, to protect the head, right? Since your body is still quite ordinary, you need to rely on the most basic breathing to function.

Now you choose to wear it, probably for enduring pain, right? Is this a design you came up with by yourself?"

Luo Di shook his head in denial, "I got the inspiration from a movie."

"Movie?"

Mr. Hawke, slowly descending from above, tilted his head curiously, as if hearing this term for the first time.

Luo Di, ever patient, began to explain about movies—how they are made, DVDs, ways of viewing, and so on.

"That’s interesting! We don’t have such things over here; the technology in True Hell is mainly focused on war, rarely used for entertainment.

I wonder if you could bring these devices over, especially the DVDs with movies burned onto them. That way, I’ll have something to do with my time in the Preaching Room every day.

If you can make it happen, we might consider giving you a discount on the debt you owe."

"Hm, I’ll try to draw the Hell Symbol on relevant objects and see if I can bring them over when I return. Shall we begin the spar now? Time is running out."

Luo Di swallowed another single-dose medication to quickly stabilize the rapidly collapsing scene before his eyes.

"Let’s go!"

Mr. Hawke stretched out his arms wide, fully displaying his body.

The moment his five fingers unfolded with his arms, an oppressive force came over him; an invisible force field enveloped his entire body, something Luo Di had never experienced before.

It forced him to retreat,

Forcing him to bow his head,

Forcing his knees to bend inward and kneel,

When Luo Di managed to lift his head with extreme difficulty, even his vision was affected by this invisible pressure.

Behind Mr. Hawke, a terrifyng tableau emerged,

Countless sinners being tortured in various ways,

Every inch of their bodies belonged only to their own sensation of pain, whether skin, flesh, bones or blood vessels all dominated by torture devices.

Screaming,

Wailing,

Surrounding,

Blooming,

The class leader, as a spectator, also felt this oppressive force, and was compelled to exit the Preaching Room once again, involuntarily hugging his body and clenching his legs.

As the primary target, Luo Di’s thoughts were constantly being washed away by this oppressive force, as if he was on the scene, one of the tortured.

Crack!

Teeth clenching tightly onto the clamps of the Jaw Splitter.

Luo Di resisted this pressure and the torment of pain on the thinking level, and with grit, took a step forward, his eyes with Red Veins Through the Eye showing no sign of retreat.

On the other hand, Mr. Hawke became excited when he saw that Luo Di had adapted to this mental onslaught in such a short time.

The hooks hanging behind him tore at his skin from excitement, the more he looked at Luo Di, the more pleasing to the eye.

"What a pity that you can withstand the pain of my hellish realm before truly Open Spine; you really have a talent! Why mix with those addicted to killing, why not come to me and report!!

Such a waste!"

As Mr. Hawke was lamenting, Luo Di had already approached him.

With knife in hands,

Strands of Hell Iron Wire also climbed up the Zombie Blade and combined to a degree with the pituitary inside, making the blade’s teeth even sharper and more capable of tearing flesh.

A powered slash,

With the support of the Combat Uniform, the effect was doubled,

Slashing diagonally towards Mr. Hawke’s body,

This act of killing held nothing back, much like the fights within the nursing home.

Ding!

A crisp metal collision echoed in the Preaching Room.

The falling Zombie Blade was firmly caught between two fingers,

The miniature hooks between the nails also clamped down on the blade, immobilizing it.

Mr. Hawke even took the time to examine the special structure of this knife.

"Oh, this is a weapon made using the pituitary gland? Indeed, it’s much different from Hell Weapons, more vivid, more vital.

It even combines with Hell Attributes, such inclusiveness."

The next second,

Hawke felt a strong blow to the abdomen,

Luo Di’s shoe sole was already on it, kicking the leather jacket inwards,

Hawke’s body weight was similar to that of an average Human, and such a heavy kick naturally sent him flying, his body nearly crashing into the altar steps.

The hooks in his back suddenly started pulling on the skin, stopping the retreat, and finding his center to stand firm.

When Hawke looked up again, Luo Di’s body had changed—his Spine was breaking through the skin, though it had not formed the Open Spine state.

"Is this the lowest level Spine posture? Come on... Let me lower my level a bit to play with you, give you some Nutrition."

No longer utilizing the imposing pressure on the mind and voluntarily downgrading, Hawke drew the hooks from his back to use as weapons, one in each hand.

Luo Di charged at the same time,

Ding! The blade collided with the hook.

The teeth, plated with iron wire, frantically rubbed against the hook, scattering copious metal sparks all over.

Huff~ Luo Di exhaled a breath under the mask, bursting with power to fend off the hooks.

Hawke’s body was thus fully exposed!

With a slice... Swish!

A diagonal cut, ten centimeters deep, opened Hawke’s torso from the left chest down to the waist.

If it had been a Human, they would now be in a ’guts spilling out’ state.

But inside Hawke’s body was pitch black, like an unfathomable abyss with no end in sight.

"Oh? You actually managed to cut me, but it’s too shallow, the gap in levels is still too great... Even with me lowering my level voluntarily, it’s impossible to bridge the gap."

Taking advantage of the interval in Luo Di’s slashing,

Hawke’s arms, raised high, pressed down at the same time, bringing down the hooks in his hands.

Swoosh!

The spikes deeply pierced into Luo Di’s shoulders, reaching deep into his flesh.

Not only that,

Hawke had another subtle maneuver not easily noticed—when the hook entered the body, his fingers lightly flicked the surface of the hook, transmitting a special frequency vibration into the body.

This was a kind of pain Luo Di had never experienced before, a pain beyond limits.

Loud screams of agony reverberated throughout the Preaching Room...