novelraw Chapter 269: There's Really No Difference
Chapter 269: There's Really No Difference
A massive pressure enveloped the entire alley.
Medium-risk Tenth Stage peak!
Just one step away from High-risk!
The Awakened individual who was about to deliver the killing blow froze mid-action.
He felt like a tiny boat in a violent storm, ready to be crushed at any moment.
He looked toward the source of the pressure with disbelief.
At the alley entrance.
A figure shrouded entirely in black shadow had appeared at some unknown time.
"You..."
The Awakened's voice was hoarse, and he dared not take another half-step forward.He had no doubt that if he made any further suspicious move, he would become a corpse in the next second.
Medium-risk Tenth Stage peak was simply not something his level could contend with.
Su Zhan didn't even glance at him.
His figure moved, appearing beside the Aberrant who had already been paralyzed with fear by the pressure. He grabbed the Aberrant by the collar, lifting him like a chick, then turned and melted into the darkness behind him, vanishing without a trace.
The oppressive feeling completely disappeared.
Only then did the leg-technique Awakened gasp for air, looking at the empty dead-end alley with lingering fear, both shocked and furious, yet not even daring to think about pursuit.
He quickly shouted into his communicator, "Backup! Quick! The target... the target was rescued by a mysterious Aberrant! Extremely powerful, at least Medium-risk peak!"
Meanwhile.
Su Zhan had already carried this Aberrant through several leaps and bounds in the complex network of alleys, completely distancing himself from that area.
He found it rather curious. The dead Purge Division member the other side mentioned was likely killed by him, and the body had already been given to Lin Wei as payment.
What a coincidence of fate;
this Aberrant was also bearing the brunt of their anger.
Heh heh heh... somewhat interesting.
In the blink of an eye, he had left the urban area of Lincheng and arrived at a desolate suburban scrapyard.
The place was piled high with rusted metal.
Su Zhan casually threw the limp Aberrant in his hand onto the ground.
"Ugh..."
The Aberrant groggily opened his eyes, first feeling the relief of having survived a catastrophe.
The Purge Division pursuer was gone.
But then, he saw the black-clothed figure standing before him and the desolate surroundings, and his heart instantly sank again.
"Tha... thank you, senior, for saving my life..."
The Aberrant struggled to get up and express his gratitude.
Before he could finish speaking.
Su Zhan moved.
"Crack! Crack!"
Two crisp sounds rang out almost simultaneously.
"Ahhh—!!!"
Su Zhan, with lightning speed, cleanly dislocated both of the Aberrant's arms. They hung down limply. The intense pain made him instantly curl into a ball, cold sweat pouring down.
"Se... senior! Why?! I... I haven't offended you!"
His face twisted in pain, looking at Su Zhan with terror and confusion, not understanding the reason for this sudden torture.
Out of the wolf's den, into the tiger's lair, and this tiger's lair was even more terrifying.
Su Zhan looked down at him from above. "The method the Transcendence Society uses to summon Mist events. Speak."
The Aberrant was stunned, then cried out even more fearfully, "Su... summon the Mist? Senior! I... I don't know! I really don't know! I'm not from the Transcendence Society! That bastard from the Purge Division wronged me!
I'm just a small-time nobody trying to hide and survive;
how would I have the qualifications to know such a core secret!"
"Won't talk?"
Su Zhan's tone held not a trace of fluctuation. He raised his foot and precisely stepped on the joint of one of the other's dislocated arms, slowly applying pressure.
"Ahhhh—! It hurts! Stop! Senior, spare me! Have mercy!"
The Aberrant let out a pig-slaughtering howl, his body trembling violently. "I really don't know! I swear! If I knew, may I be struck by lightning! How could I possibly know about the affairs of big shots like the Transcendence Society! Please, believe me!"
Su Zhan didn't lessen the force under his foot. "The method, or, death."
"I don't know! I really don't know! What do you want me to say?!"
The Aberrant was crying and sniveling, almost fainting. "Senior... sir! You've got the wrong person! I'm just trash, I don't understand anything... please let me go, I'll serve you like an ox or a horse to repay you..."
He begged desperately, his words incoherent.
Su Zhan coldly observed his reactions.
Still pretending in front of him?
That Awakened earlier had already said—that was also done by your Transcendence Society.
Su Zhan wasn't so easily fooled.
He hadn't dealt with that Awakened earlier because it wasn't necessary;
he didn't do unnecessary things.
Moreover, the other party seemed to be a leg-enhancement Awakened. Taking him down would require some effort, and the other had already called for backup, so finishing him off wasn't convenient.
Now it was time to deal with the matter at hand.
"You're lying."
Su Zhan stopped wasting words.
For the next few minutes, the scrapyard echoed with painful whimpers and the sounds of bones being dislocated.
The specific details of the torture process need not be described, but it was absolutely a hellish ordeal enough to shatter an ordinary person's will.
Su Zhan's finger pressed close to the other's eyeball, Mist Energy beginning to erode the optic nerve.
The Aberrant's psychological defenses completely collapsed.
He realized that playing dumb would only lead to more prolonged suffering;
death was now a luxury.
"Ahhh—! Stop! I'll talk! I'll talk!"
He screamed hoarsely, his eyes filled with terror. "The method is... is... a brand bestowed by the Lord... to communicate... communicate with the Mist's will..."
He described it intermittently.
Some hidden restriction within his body seemed to be triggered, and a violent energy began to gather.
He was trying to self-destruct.
"Want to die? Not that easy."
Su Zhan had anticipated this. His hand shot out like lightning.
The Mist Energy condensed at his fingertips instantly struck out dozens of times, piercing the other's body, deliberately avoiding vital points.
He was just guessing wildly. Apart from avoiding vital points, the rest of the attacks were random.
He had no clue which meridians could cause self-destruction.
But if precision isn't enough, make up for it with firepower.
"Pfft pfft pfft pfft..."
The Aberrant convulsed violently, dozens of tiny bloody holes bursting open on his body.
He collapsed to the ground like a pile of mud.
Even the ability to commit suicide had been stripped from him.
Su Zhan said coldly, "Will you talk or not?"
The Aberrant was utterly broken. The dual torture of body and mind made him beg only for a quick death.
"I'll write... I'll draw it for you... I'll write everything out... I beg you... give me a quick end..."
He knew that handing over the core secret meant the Transcendence Society would never let him go, and Su Zhan would most likely silence him. But at this moment, death was the only release.
Su Zhan threw paper and a pen to the other and helped him reset one of his dislocated arms.
The paper and pen were naturally prepared in advance.
The Aberrant began to draw shakily.
Su Zhan watched coldly.
He knew that once the method was obtained, this Aberrant's life would also come to an end.
But this was precisely part of the transaction.
Su Zhan looked at the Aberrant.
Yet in his heart, he felt a certain emotion.
Why were his interrogation methods so cruel?
This was actually experience gained from Qin Bai.
Back when he first witnessed Qin Bai's cruel methods and his behavior of "rather kill the wrong person than let them go" without knowing the truth.
He had felt somewhat disgusted.
But now?
Was he really certain this person was from the Transcendence Society?
No.
Could it be that Awakened was wrong?
So, while uncertain, he was subjecting the other to brutal torture.
And he wasn't even planning to let the other live.
Heh heh heh...
What was the difference between this and Qin Bai's actions?
Su Zhan laughed mockingly in his heart.
The current him and Qin Bai truly had no difference.
In the end, everything would be decided by strength.