Deep in the Living
Chapter 125 - 119 Even More Painful Things

Chapter 125: Chapter 119 Even More Painful Things

Mr. Hawke’s status in True Hell and how strong his abilities actually are remain unknown to Luo Di; the man never broaches the topic himself.

The only thing known is that Mr. Hawke is the master of the Punishment Room and also a member of the Order, code-named [H].

Luo Di doesn’t understand how vast the difference between these two statuses might be, but when the hierarchy gap is too huge, the term "spar" becomes inappropriate.

On the surface, it looks like Luo Di may benefit from the sparring to supplement the nutrition of his spine.

In reality, Mr. Hawke is the one with deeper intentions; he wants to use this sparring to achieve a specific goal, a matter inconvenient to discuss openly with Luo Di.

Due to the Hell Contract, he cannot simply poach such a promising prospect as Luo Di, nor can he replace his spine with metal.

However, since Luo Di, as a Spine Type still in the initial stages and mainly living outside the controlled regions, isn’t under the strict surveillance of True Hell and also can’t connect with the forces of the Spine prior to Opening Spine,

Given that Luo Di has shown great endurance to suffering and physical aptitude, Mr. Hawke wants to conduct an experiment.

"Keeping his identity as a Spine unchanged while adding another identity to Luo Di."

Such an experiment involves immense risks, and Luo Di is the only unique Spine-Type material available; Mr. Hawke must proceed with utmost caution, step by step.

From the very first encounter, Mr. Hawke had laid out a detailed plan.

Initially, he introduced Luo Di to relevant knowledge and tried the most basic pain cultivation,

including wearing torture devices on his feet and carrying a Hook on his back.

After developing a basic physical constitution, under the guise of an amputated arm, he provided Luo Di with a "Punishment Room Arm."

He thought adapting to this would be troublesome, but surprisingly, the other party managed it in a short time, showing even higher compatibility with the torture device, and even drew inspiration from animal traps to create a face mask.

Now,

Since Luo Di is already capable of forcibly Opening Spine, it’s necessary to accelerate the process.

Using sparring as a pretext to carry out the most crucial and final part of the experiment.

Immediately initiating an ambiance of suffering, Luo Di was plunged into it, his entire body in a state of pain, getting warmed up in the experimental zone.

When the time is ripe,

Two Hooks originating from Mr. Hawke’s own back are directly inserted into Luo Di’s body, reaching deep into both his flesh and soul.

A flick on the surface of the Hook sends vibrations that carry strands of "Pain Essence" from the tip of the hook into his body.

The risk remains significant, possibly causing irreversible shattering of Luo Di’s spine turning a brilliant outsider into nothing but a wastrel.

But it also presents a unique opportunity.

Mr. Hawke has spent so much time nurturing an outsider because he sees something extraordinary in Luo Di, believing that he can achieve this.

"Hold on! Survive!"

Luo Di can’t hear Mr. Hawke’s words.

He only feels every channel in his body being penetrated by iron wire, the pain doubling and continuously emanating from every inch of his body, a type of pain that transcends the senses and cannot be blocked by the brain.

So painful,

Too painful,

It feels like every inch of his body is reaching its limit, at any moment it might completely collapse into rotten flesh.

But...

Luo Di’s consciousness never fades, maintaining a sliver of clarity.

Because deep in his brain, there is a painful memory and a strong resolve not to die.

...

Six days after the "Four Middle School Incident."

The vitality from Hell’s Spine has mostly healed Luo Di’s injuries, meeting the criteria for discharge.

The arm, wrapped in cling film and frozen in the school infirmary was remembered by himself, yet he never mentioned it.

Until his classmate, Li Xiaoying awakened from treatment, did she speak of the amputation, with more than ten hours already lost in delay.

The arm, amputated in a zombified state and kept frozen, had lost Luo Di’s blood supply, which, when found, had already turned stiff and black, unable to revert to a normal human arm.

Reattachment was completely impossible.

However, Luo Di himself had no intention of reattaching it, seeing the "amputation" as the cause of a series of irreversible consequences.

When Director Wang from the research department approached him to inform him of the arm’s rotten state, Luo Di who had remained silent all this time suddenly made two requests.

1. He wished to handle the useless and deeply rotten amputated arm himself.

2. He requested not to bury his family members in soil but to personally cremate them.

Director Wang didn’t say much, just agreed right away.

Luo Di took the "Cremation Certificate," discharged himself, and adapted to the shifted center of gravity due to the missing arm, traveled by vehicle to the cemetery not far from his home.

Declining help from the cemetery manager,

Even with just one arm, Luo Di skillfully completed digging and carrying bodies; the cemetery had a cremation area for bodies exceeding duration limits or prematurely decomposed.

Luo Di took each headless corpse from the vacuum bags.

After embracing each, he sent them on the conveyor.

He stood still, quietly listening to the sounds from the incinerator.

Holding the urn, he returned to the gravesite.

He refilled the soil layer by layer, just like he used to do every holiday, only this time packing the soil very tightly, ensuring it would never be dug up again.

After handling his family’s matters, Luo Di didn’t leave the cemetery.

He immediately went to a newly expanded area of the cemetery.

A brand-new tombstone stood there, surrounded by flower petals and footprints that hadn’t been cleaned up in time.

A young man’s photo was attached to the tombstone, beneath which his name was engraved.

[Gao Yuxuan]

Luo Di remained expressionless.

He took out a lighter prepared in advance,

a small bottle of high-concentration alcohol,

several litchi wood sticks that could restrain the Evil,

and that severely rotten zombie’s left arm,

and set them on fire.

In Luo Di’s view, it was precisely because of the loss of the left arm that led to the incident with Little Gao that night; if he had not been injured, everyone could have acted together.

While the arm burned, Luo Di also bowed three times in front of the tombstone.

As he stood up after the final bow, his right hand was firmly clutched on the tombstone, his previously lifeless eyes now glaring wide, with bloodshot eyes surfacing.

"I’m sorry... I will definitely kill them all."

...

Hate, anger, the extreme of slaughter.

These emotions supported Luo Di as he gradually awakened through the pain, with Red Vein Through the Eye, his emanating killing intent even burst out on a small scale.

As Luo Di gradually regained his consciousness, he also began to cope with the pain in his body.

The pain essence flowing in his body seemed consciously "submissive," acknowledging this human. The essence no longer stimulated the whole body, but flowed normally through the veins.

Luo Di’s body was stabilizing,

and naturally, Mr. Hawke noticed this stability; he felt the killing intent surging from Luo Di’s body, and the dense scent of hatred.

Mr. Hawke understood why this young man was chosen by the powers of the Spine side, even he had to admit, this young man was indeed too suited for slaughter.

"You really did it..."

The ’tamed pain essence’ was flowing through the veins into Luo Di’s spine.

Coincidentally, the ’Hell’s Spine’ was in a hungry state, hungrier than ever.

Even though the pain essence tasted more bitter than anything else, the spine still chose to devour it.

While replenishing nutrition, it also accepted the pain essence.

Mr. Hawke could clearly see that a thin iron wire was forming along the midline of the spine, signifying that [Pain] would serve as Luo Di’s ’second system’.

"It worked!"

Just as Mr. Hawke was excited about the success of the experiment, he suddenly sensed a slight dangerous scent from the youth lying on the ground with congested pupils.

Luo Di, having absorbed the pain essence, was no longer hungry in his spine.

The satiety level of the spine jumped directly from 15% to 25%; indeed, the amount of pain essence was substantial.

His body was also being healed as the spine fed.

However, Luo Di’s consciousness had not recovered, mired in the painful memories from several months earlier, almost being swallowed by hate.

He no longer remembered the matter of the ’sparring’; instead, he treated the situation as a life-and-death duel.

To defeat the strong man before him, he must go all out, using every card in his deck.

Click! His dry tongue slapped between his severely burnt mouth.

With his vocal cords vibrating, Luo Di’s throat screamed vigorously:

"Open!"

The already arched Spine on his back changed again,

steam rising,

Sizzle!

The investigator’s outfit hurriedly made adaptive changes, splitting open on both sides, leaving a slit for the spine.

A structure resembling sawteeth began to form on the surface of the spine and started rotating like an electric saw.

With the integration of the Pain System, a metal wire could also be slightly seen joining the operation in the middle of the spine.

"What kind of Spine Type is this!?"

Mr. Hawke, who had originally wanted to examine the Spine Type, was stunned by this scene, never having seen it in his personal experience and hardly able to give a specific assessment.

He wanted to observe it carefully to contemplate this quality of spine type.

But Mr. Hawke also realized the danger,

Luo Di, who had just accepted the Pain System, continued to forcibly open his spine under unsaturated conditions, his body would turn to ashes.

Luo Di was almost berserk,

completely ignoring the hooks inserted in his shoulders, pouncing towards Mr. Hawke like a primitive beast, his gaping mouth wide open, while his hands frantically swung the blade.

Whether it was maneuverability, suppressive force, or intensity of killing intent, all were far higher than before,

but the next second,

Snap!

A super-fast finger strike surpassing the limits of perception lightly landed on Luo Di’s forehead.

There was no pain, but an alternative type of attack that went straight to the brain.

All conscious sensations were instantly severed.

Luo Di’s eyes instantly lost focus, his body falling to the ground from mid-air, falling into a deep coma, the open spine state displaying just for a second before being forcibly interrupted and returning to normal.

Meanwhile,

Wu Wen, who had previously been standing outside the door, actually came here,

completely disregarding Mr. Hawke’s opinion, she placed her hands on Luo Di’s back.

Bursts of energy from the nursing home, opposite to aging, were injected into it. During the injection, Wu Wen’s arms also aged.

Mr. Hawke watched this scene and nodded silently, seemingly acknowledging the young girl before him.

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