Deep in the Living
Chapter 267 - 255: The Living and the Livestock

Chapter 267: Chapter 255: The Living and the Livestock

"Mask"

The first special ability endowed by the Corner system.

An object obtained based on the mask blueprint designed by Luo Di.

Once the mask ability is activated, most of the gray tentacles implanted in Luo Di’s body are called upon and cannot be released voluntarily.

These tentacles are in a concentrated state and spread throughout the mask, arranged like living threads.

At first glance, there seems to be no difference from an ordinary mask,

But upon closer inspection, you’ll find the slender tentacles wriggling inside the mask like earthworms, each emanating a faint gray, as if they could penetrate the nerves.

Even for someone like Benjamin, who has spent half his life specializing in the brain,

Upon seeing this mask, he felt as if his own brain was being touched, occupied, and penetrated by these tentacles.

However,

The mental barrier he had set deep within his brain was triggered, and he immediately regained clarity.

Looking at the Murderer not twenty meters away, he held nothing back and extracted all ten syringes from his suit and inserted them directly into his brain.

The milky liquid in these syringes are all essence of brain marrow, extracted from the brains of countless pitiable individuals over the years.

A one-time overdose injection, coupled with his own ability as a systems holder,

Triggered a mutation.

His brain was swelling rapidly, and his skull was crazily proliferating, almost reaching 2 to 3 times the size of a normal person. His hair fell out, and his scalp was covered with blood vessels as thick as little fingers, also in a milky white color.

Even Benjamin’s pupils were emanating a white glow.

He had never entered such a state before, and no one had ever forced him into it.

The wreckage of the cars trapping him started to tremble as well, enveloped by the shimmering white light.

At this moment, Benjamin had an epiphany; his mind reached a higher level.

"Ah! No wonder all those geniuses are rushing to the Corner to ’meet their deaths.’

It seems I was short-sighted. The extreme threat of death can cause a lifeform’s brain to generate an intense will to live, and this desire will lead lifeforms to higher echelons.

Excellent!

I too want to go to the Corner,

I too want to see what true Fear really looks like,

I will give up everything I have in Moon City to pursue a higher level!

But before that, I’m going to kill you..."

No sooner had he finished speaking,

Then the car door wrapped in the shimmering white light was forcibly ripped off and hurled towards Luo Di at high speed like a blade... This was pure psychic driving, achieved without reliance on any physical body.

Just as the car door was about to slice through Luo Di’s body.

Whoosh!

A metallic luster zipped by swiftly.

The Iron Gate was cleaved in two and flew towards both sides of the road.

The speed of the slashing was so fast that the actual cutting process was indiscernible.

Immediately afterwards.

The car was dismantled by a dense psychic force visible to the naked eye, big and small pieces shot towards Luo Di at near-bullet speed.

Because they were shot simultaneously, and so swiftly,

Even with the fastest slashing speed, it was impossible to slash all of it. In Benjamin’s view, there would always be a piece that could touch Luo Di’s body, able to slice or pierce through his flesh.

However, Luo Di himself did not prepare to draw his Slaughter Knife.

The hot breath exhaled from his mouth,

His left arm lit up with intense Hell burn marks, and his palm opened up facing forward,

"Torture Device Construction"

Clang clang clang!

A continuous clang of metal striking echoed,

All the car fragments and parts were knocked away,

A heatwave and steam rapidly dispersed in front of Luo Di, and a huge, imposing Iron Maiden stood before him.

Made of Hell Metal, unbreakable,

The high-speed incoming car parts could at best leave some slight white marks on its surface.

Moreover, the Iron Maiden today looked somewhat different from the one that once contained Wendy.

Still a product of Hell, it looked more refined, with some of the metal bearings even sporting a gray polish.

Blockage complete.

The Iron Maiden immediately retracted into numerous spiky iron wires back into the palm of his left hand, the torture device retrieved, refilling his left arm.

The road was littered with scattered metal fragments, and the half car lying over ten meters away was completely dismantled.

Benjamin, empowered by brain enhancement, did not attack, but instead used the time bought by the metal fragments to flee swiftly.

Fleeing towards the Mercury Hotel on the street outside.

His powerful spiritual power wrapped around his body in a shimmering white light, not needing physical exertion, Benjamin moved towards the Mercury Hotel almost in a floating state.

In his perception, Luo Di did not chase after him, still following behind at a normal walking pace.

That was for the best,

That way he could smoothly head towards the Mercury Hotel.

Just when Benjamin thought everything was going well,

His psychic power captured something rapidly incoming, moving too fast to dodge, so he hastily formed a [protective shield] with his psychic power to block it.

But such a shield was downright rubbish in Luo Di’s eyes,

It was nowhere comparable to the color membrane condensed by that color monster once encountered on the island.

Moreover, Luo Di today is no longer the man he once was.

The Pig Slaughter Knife that flew towards Benjamin at high speed was thrown by Luo Di with all his muscles tensed.

It was not only bolstered by strength and velocity, but the blade’s surface was also shrouded in a tracking grey ash, aimed at targets marked with gray.

When the blade touched the pure white mental barrier,

the gray covering the blade directly peeled it away.

It seemed as if it contained a restraining power, able to break through enchantments directly.

"What!?"

Benjamin could not understand why his dense mental barrier, which could even stop bullets, could not at all block the blade, and there wasn’t even a hint of deflection.

There was no time to dodge.

Crack~

The blade shattered Benjamin’s spine, piercing through his body from front to back.

Spurting a mouthful of blood, the connection between Benjamin’s brain and body was completely severed, the front of his body revealing a scene of his guts hanging out.

A normal person would have fallen and awaited death at this point.

But he was able to continue floating and moving by relying on spiritual power, yet requiring the diversion of spiritual power to stop the bleeding, seal the wound, protect the intestines, and retract them back inside his body.

As for the broken spine, he would have to think of a solution if he survived.

The warmth of the Mercury Hotel’s lights was already upon him.

The desire for survival once again squeezed the potential of his brain, as spiritual power carried his half-paralyzed body successfully to the hotel.

He floated up the steps and pushed the door open!

As the bright crystal lights came into view, Benjamin felt reborn.

Perhaps due to tonight’s lunar eclipse, the black manager in charge of the Moon branch of the hotel was even standing at the front desk, welcoming guests with a smile.

"I request the highest level of hotel protection! I will bear all the expenses alone."

The manager nodded and responded with a smile:

"During the lunar eclipse, the hotel will implement special management measures. The upper residential areas have been locked down, and guests arriving during the lunar eclipse are requested to move to the dining area on the second floor and wait for the end of the eclipse.

According to your request, I will mobilize all of the hotel’s security to the dining area to provide you with safety and protection services."

"Fine, and get me a night-time nourishment package as well."

"No problem."

Benjamin took the nearby stairs straight to the dining area.

As the manager said, the place was already filled with hotel security. Aside from those equivalent to investigator level personnel, there were even some special Pseudo-People there that he had never seen before.

A minute went by.

Ding!

The hotel door opened, welcoming another guest.

Luo Di had removed the mask from his face to avoid causing fear to the innocents. However, the Slaughter Knife was still in his hand, his eyes filled with bloodshot veins and exposed killing intent.

"Mr. Luo, as the manager of the Mercury Hotel’s branch, I have an obligation to remind you. If you commit murder inside the hotel, it will seriously violate the group’s regulations.

Your membership will be completely revoked, and you will also be permanently wanted by the group."

Faced with the manager’s warning, Luo Di did not stop but followed the scent to the stairs. As he passed the reception, he responded:

"I’m just slaughtering livestock."

Realizing who the unfamiliar young man was, the manager had an epiphany, "Oh, apologies! I mistook you for someone else, welcome to the Mercury Hotel, Mr. D."

...

Clang!

The dining hall doors were pushed open with force.

The heavy sound of leather shoes echoed once again.

At the same time, there was a distinctly different air of killing intent spreading like hellfire magma, leaving ash on every dining table.

The security personnel seated there did not stand up to stop him; they simply watched quietly. Or perhaps, they were already suppressed by this killing intent, even foreseeing the scene where they would be directly killed if they took action.

A few people were about to get up but felt the direct surge of killing intent from Luo Di, as if a grey blade was suspended above their heads.

The heavy footsteps ultimately reached the corner.

The half-paralyzed Benjamin was sitting there, with freshly served sashimi just placed in front of him.

He remained calm, even slowly savoring the sashimi.

He made no complaints about the Crystal Hotel’s service, nor did he talk about the mass slaughter, the lunar eclipse, or the strength displayed by Luo Di.

Benjamin was only pondering one thing, something he couldn’t figure out no matter what.

"How strange... Our first conversation was fairly ’pleasant’, why did you completely change your mindset just by going downstairs for a few minutes.

What happened that made you willingly sacrifice such a promising future, risk the death penalty, and give up on the things you aspired for?

What happened downstairs?

Who did you meet after crossing the crosswalk, and what kind of privilege were you granted?

Why did you suddenly resolve to kill me?

I really want to know, after all, there’s nothing in Moon City that I am unaware of, can we sit down and have a proper chat? Perhaps..."

Crack!

A sound of breaking came from atop Benjamin’s head.

Sliding blood turned his vision red,

Benjamin subconsciously touched his head, which had been completely severed, and for the last time, looked at the young man before him,

He noticed that the look in the other’s eyes had changed.

It was a gaze of someone high looking down on someone low,

Not scrutinizing a person, but regarding a piece of livestock to be slaughtered.

Of course, it’s impossible for humans to converse with livestock...