The First Order

Yang Xiaojin wasn’t at home in the rented place, and only Luo Xinyu had free time to keep chatting with them in the backyard. Ren Xiaosu felt that Luo Xinyu was just killing time with them as she had nothing better to do.

Ren Xiaosu had thought Yang Xiaojin would return at night, but she was still nowhere to be seen even after it turned dark. Rather, it was Luo Xinyu who went out.

He felt that something was wrong. This must surely be a sign that trouble was about to begin.

Soon after, someone sent over the bicycles Luo Xinyu had promised them. Then Ren Xiaosu went out as well after informing the family about it. He suspected the various powers might start taking action against the Li Consortium tonight!

While Ren Xiaosu was heading out, he thought about where the action would take place if it was really going to happen. At the university?

Before it turned completely dark, he hurried off to where the university was. Someone had once described the university to Ren Xiaosu as a park with lots of greenery where the students could live and take strolls in. The university was like a utopia that felt peaceful and tranquil to be in.

But when Ren Xiaosu saw the university with his own eyes, he felt he had been deceived. He saw protruding anti-armor barricades set up outside the college’s entrance, and countless bunkers and fortifications were being constructed on the campus grounds as well. The Li Consortium’s combat troops were patrolling on the inside, and all of them were constantly looking warily around their surroundings with stern expressions.

How was this like a park? This was clearly more like a military base!

It was no wonder the Li Consortium did not bother with the antics Luo Lan had kicked up. So it was because all of their troops stationed in Stronghold 109 were concentrated here.

Just how important were research results that the Li Consortium wanted to protect them this much?

This university’s campus was not located in a secluded place at all. There were still a lot of stronghold residents walking around the nearby streets, while it was business as usual for the street vendors.

But it was at this moment that a tough-looking man in plain clothes came up to Ren Xiaosu. Ren Xiaosu could see this man was concealing a gun with the side of his body.

The man seemed to have noticed Ren Xiaosu constantly looking at the campus, so he questioned, “Boy, what are you doing here?”

Ren Xiaosu thought to himself that this person was probably someone from the Li Consortium. He never expected the defensive perimeter to be so tight. He explained himself, “So this is the university? I came here for research.”

The man laughed. “Do you think you look like a university student in research?”

Ren Xiaosu was not happy. “I’m going there to get researched on. Is that not allowed? Who are you to look down on me!”

The man was surprised. Then he signaled to his surroundings. Out came several plainclothes personnel who gathered together.

But right at this moment, a pedestrian who happened to be passing by suddenly took out a hand grenade from his pocket and threw it at the school gate. After throwing it, he did not escape but fished out a pistol to fire at random around him. It was as though he were trying to create chaos.

Ren Xiaosu took advantage of the disturbance and quickly found a bunker to hide behind. He wondered who the fuck that was and why he was being so reckless!

The gunfire intensified outside the school gate, sounding like a pot of ice-water boiling. The street vendors who were going about their business suddenly rushed up and shot all of those plainclothes personnel dead!

However, the chaos did not stop here. These killers briefly retreated after killing the plainclothes personnel before several cargo trucks turned the corner at the end of the street and headed straight for the school gate!

If it were just several cargo trucks alone, they would not have had much impact on the heavily fortified school gate. Ren Xiaosu leaped to his feet and turned and ran. He suspected the trucks were loaded full of explosives!

Several of the killers noticed Ren Xiaosu, and one of them happened to be where Ren Xiaosu was retreating towards. He raised his gun and took aim. However, just as he pulled the trigger, Ren Xiaosu shifted his weight as quickly as a ghost, making the bullet miss its target!

At the moment, every muscle fiber in Ren Xiaosu’s body stretched to its extreme. A great amount of strength was spread across every inch of his body!

The killer was stunned. How could someone be so fast that they could even dodge a bullet?!

Before this killer could fire another shot, he suddenly saw Ren Xiaosu rocketing toward him with a punch!

This punch landed right on the killer’s neck. He did not even have the chance to dodge it as he heard the bones in his neck crack!

With a single punch, Ren Xiaosu instantly killed one person!

When the killers nearby witnessed this scene and tried to shoot in response, they found themselves in a mist of blood that sprayed out of them after getting fired upon from an unknown position. They did not even manage to raise their guns.

The scent of blood filled the air. When the wind blew, mists of blood floated through in the air like a crimson cloud.

Only a sniper rifle would have such power.

Ren Xiaosu jerked his head up at a high-rise building in the distance. He saw a young woman holding a large sniper rifle and standing atop the building. The moon that had just risen was hanging right above the high-rise building and next to Yang Xiaojin.

The narrow and delicate crescent moon acted like a foil to her presence.

Suddenly, the ringing of the bell reverberated through the night from the center of the stronghold, gong after gong.

But Ren Xiaosu froze at the sound. This was because there shouldn’t have been any sound coming from the bell after 6 PM!

…

Moments before the bell was sounded.

Li Shentan was standing in the street far away from the middle of the stronghold in a magician’s costume. In front of him was a hat, and in the hat was some loose change.

He opened his mouth and said to the stronghold residents who had gathered around, “The magic of hypnotism lies in its ability to help everyone take control of their subconscious. Are there any of you who occasionally wake up from your sleep punctually at 3 AM even though you didn’t set an alarm?

“Have you heard of any seniors who can catch a child falling from seven stories up with their bare hands?”

Li Shentan paused for a moment before saying, “What is the subconscious? The human brain is made up of 14 billion brain cells and can actually store information amounting up to five billion books. Yet you’ve already forgotten whatever you remembered a moment ago.”

“Someone is managing your body for you, yet you can’t control that ‘person.’” Li Shentan laughed and said, “How dangerous is that?”

Someone in the crowd suddenly asked, “So what’s the point of managing one’s subconscious?”

Li Shentan smiled and said, “Have you ever thought about how, when you gain control over your subconscious, you’ll stand a chance of becoming a supernatural being? No, it’s more like becoming a god!” Li Shentan then gently lifted a car on the side of the road. It was as though the car were made of paper!

When the spectators saw this, they were stunned. Someone started throwing money into Li Shentan’s hat while others were checking if there was any trickery with the car.

It was at this moment that the bell rang in the night. Li Shentan smiled and said, “Let the games… begin.”

When the soundwaves of the bell started reverberating outward, countless residents in the stronghold suddenly stood still in a trance. Then they began to slowly walk in the direction of the university like they were zombies.

At first, they walked very slowly. But gradually, they picked up speed to the point where everyone was sprinting!

Their speed even exceeded that of a normal human being’s sprint record. All of these people who were sprinting even seemed like they were drawing energy directly from their life force.

A fat resident started to visibly get thinner as he sprinted, while those who were thin to begin with were now starting to look like skeletal figures of their former selves.

They kept sprinting without a care, as the instructions that Li Shentan left for them were all they cared about after the ringing of the bell acted as the trigger for the hypnosis. It was as though they were guided by a god.

Li Shentan bent over to pick up the magician’s hat from off the ground and spilled the money in it all over the ground. But he didn’t care about that.

This young man walked down the now silent street while his surroundings became an infernal hell.

Tonight, the abandoned son of the Li Consortium had presented it with a gift.