Chapter 201: Awakening
Bai Linyu stood where he was without moving. “What? None of you are coming over voluntarily? Then... I’ll come find you myself?”
The moment he finished speaking, he kicked off the ground and suddenly charged forward. But everyone in this group on the arena was a coward. One after another, they dodged to the sides, and some even slipped and fell while running because of the slick blood covering the ground.
One of them happened to land with his head close to the ground and saw a severed head right in front of his face. Half of the face that remained still wore an expression of dying with its eyes wide open, frightening him so badly that he immediately screamed.
The people surrounding the arena burst into laughter when they saw it, finding him absolutely hilarious!
Not only was he a coward, but he was also incredibly timid. Even getting back to his feet was unusually difficult. He would try to stand, slip and fall, finally manage to get up, take barely two steps, and then slip again.
Everyone could tell at a glance that he worked in an administrative position.
But anyone capable of entering Yu Lanfeng’s legion possessed a certain degree of combat ability even if they worked in administration. There was no way someone could be this useless.
Yet what were they seeing now?
“Why is he so damn useless? He’s definitely a spy! We don’t even need to investigate! I told you before that he never fit in with our base. Look, look! Doesn’t this prove he was never one of us?”
“Look at that pathetic way he’s scared out of his mind! This is fucking hilarious!!”
“Hahaha... He fell again! Again! Hurry, look! He’s ridiculous!”
Everyone surrounding the arena mocked them.
And it was not only the man from before. There were plenty of others just like him. Out of these hundred people, roughly ninety-five were dodging and running around everywhere.
They looked as though they were terrified out of their minds, but it also seemed as though they were trying to exhaust Bai Linyu’s stamina.
Except...
Could the stamina of a powerful Ability User really be exhausted simply by making him run around like this?
How naive.
In truth, they knew this themselves, but with no other options available, they could only choose the stupidest method.
Bai Linyu kept chasing them around and eventually began finding it annoying.
What he wanted was speed!
Speed!
The Marshal had already said that as long as they killed everyone, nothing else mattered. Everything else could be pushed aside.
Since that was the case, they could save themselves the trouble of interrogations and simply drag everyone here so the whole base could enjoy themselves.
After all, their dissatisfaction with these people had not started yesterday.
Generally speaking, ordinary people who genuinely joined the legion to serve the Empire, or perhaps simply wanted to distinguish themselves—whatever their objective might be, as long as there was nothing wrong with their identity, they would request a transfer to another military base once they realized they did not fit in here.
Bai Linyu approved every single such application.
As far as he was concerned, if someone who was unsuited to this place voluntarily wanted to leave, they were doing him an enormous favor.
But obviously, no matter where you went, there were always people who did not fit in, made no effort to integrate into the group, yet also did not think there was any need to leave and find a different environment.
They simply remained awkwardly stuck here, making everyone else dislike them.
After this continued for long enough, these people naturally began provoking everyone’s anger. Others started feeling that they were merely occupying positions for no reason, that they had never seriously come here to fight on the front lines at all, and must have ulterior motives.
And now all those people with ulterior motives were gathered right here.
Naturally, everyone was delighted.
Many were already preparing to take matters into their own hands!
The result of Bai Linyu losing his patience was one kick for every little brat and one punch for every whimpering bastard!
In practically no time at all, he killed the entire group on the arena.
“This group was no good! Next time, send up some people with actual strength! Come on, everyone, help me pick! Whoever catches your eye, throw them up here!”
Yu Lanfeng remained on the balcony, watching the performance over there.
Bai Linyu fought continuously from the beginning until nightfall. He did not rest, eat, or even drink water in between. He simply kept fighting and beating people down.
The people on the surrounding arenas had already changed several times, yet Bai Linyu was still active on his own arena.
Although he looked slightly sweaty and somewhat tired, he was still extremely excited, as though he could continue for several more days and nights without a problem!
As for the people who stepped down from the surrounding arenas, it was not because they had run out of strength.
There were simply too many others lining up behind them, waiting for their turn. They could not monopolize an arena forever.
Bai Linyu obviously had no such concern.
He had an entire arena exclusively for himself!
As long as he did not voluntarily step down or get knocked off, he could remain there indefinitely.
Yu Lanfeng checked the time. The sky had already gone dark.
Only then did he turn around and return to the bedroom.
After taking a shower himself, he wiped Nan Yu’s body clean as well.
Naturally, he did not skip even the most private areas.
Nan Yu lay motionless on the bed, but within his consciousness, he could actually feel everything.
This was way too stimulating!
Yu Lanfeng was personally wiping his body, and he did not miss a single place. Although Nan Yu was being cleaned thoroughly, he felt that instead of doing this, Yu Lanfeng might as well simply take him into the shower and bathe together with him. It might even be faster.
But Yu Lanfeng had never done that.
Or perhaps he had thought about it but decided that wiping Nan Yu down like this gave him a better opportunity to take advantage of him.
That was what Nan Yu thought, at least.
In reality, the Nianshen Grass could not leave Nan Yu’s hands right now.
Who knew whether the Mental Power circulation between Nan Yu and the Nianshen Grass would break once they were separated?
And if it broke, could it reconnect afterward?
No one knew the answers to these questions.
That was why Yu Lanfeng was exceptionally careful with the Nianshen Grass in Nan Yu’s hands. Whenever Nan Yu needed to be moved, Yu Lanfeng personally handled it.
In short, he refused to allow even the slightest ✧ NоvеIight ✧ (Original source) possibility of that Mental Power connection being broken.
Nan Yu had no idea that Yu Lanfeng was being so painstakingly careful for this reason.
If he could speak, he would definitely explain that there was actually no need to go this far.
His Mental Power could extend outside his body. Although it could not currently extend very far, anything within one meter of him was still manageable.
Of course, doing so would greatly reduce the effectiveness of the Mental Power connection.
Sure enough, the best method was still to hold the Nianshen Grass in his hands and sit beneath the sunlight so it could absorb even more of the excess Mental Power.
Yu Lanfeng did not know whether it was merely his imagination, but he constantly felt as though Nan Yu was about to wake up.
Yet whenever he looked closely, Nan Yu seemed completely unchanged.
Yu Lanfeng often sat beside the bed and told him rather childish little stories.
Nan Yu secretly looked down on them, yet still used his Mental Power to listen to every word clearly, almost as though he found them entertaining.
The slaughter outside did not actually continue uninterrupted for very long.
Aside from Bai Linyu, who could remain on the arena continuously, the longest anyone else lasted was three hours. One man had already “received” three groups of opponents, and if he wanted, he really could go rest for a while.
But everyone here had already become somewhat crazed.
His eyes darted around before he decided to walk to the edge and switch with the next person.
Someone else quickly entered the arena, while he himself walked down feeling completely refreshed.
Everyone immediately crowded around and asked how it felt.
Seeing him walk off the arena so easily, no one thought anything of it.
In truth, everyone who went up there was holding onto a competitive urge to compare themselves with their general.
At the same time, they knew perfectly well that they could never truly match him.
So some compared themselves once or twice, while the stronger ones managed three or four rounds. Once they could no longer continue, they used the changeover as an excuse to step down.
Everyone understood what was happening.
They simply did not say it aloud.
The man stood below the arena and wiped away his sweat.
Fortunately, he had come down early enough that he still looked relaxed.
If he had climbed down gasping for breath with his vision going black, everyone would certainly have looked down on him and mocked him.
Of course, their mockery would have been good-natured rather than genuine contempt.
But when it came to the people being killed on the arenas, they truly did look down on them.
Neither side was using their abilities, so logically speaking, they should have been evenly matched. After all, many of these people had previously fought on the front lines too.
So why did they now seem so utterly helpless?
Logically, both sides had fought on the front lines and neither could use their abilities.
Why had those people become so fragile while they themselves seemed so much stronger?
They could practically pin them to the ground and crush them effortlessly.
Many people analyzed the situation and concluded that their mental states were partly responsible.
But everyone believed that was only a small part of the reason.
The main reason was that these people normally neglected physical training and did not persist with special combat training. Their abilities might be powerful, but they were unfamiliar with hand-to-hand combat.
Some were practically incapable of it.
Once they lost access to their abilities, they no longer possessed any power to fight back!
Yu Lanfeng had already lain down on Nan Yu’s bed to rest while guarding him.
The revelry outside continued.
Naturally, once the doors and windows were shut, not even the slightest sound from outside entered the room, allowing them to rest peacefully.
This revelry continued for an entire week.
And even during that time, they could still spare personnel to go to the front lines and crush the Ability Beasts.
Every victory was completely overwhelming.
When the Ability Beasts surged toward them in enormous numbers, they were utterly powerless against these Ability Users.
They were forced backward again and again until, in the end, they actually turned and fled in terror.
Naturally, the soldiers did not let a single one escape.
Even Ability Beasts that dug holes and hid inside them trembling with fear were dug out with the soldiers’ bare hands and beaten to death!
Every Ability Beast corpse was brought back to the base so they could prepare delicious meals from them later.
After all, Ability Beast meat was extremely beneficial to Ability Users!
And the stronger the Ability Beast, the greater the benefits its meat provided.
Yu Lanfeng spent these seven days here rather comfortably.
During the day, he watched the ongoing carnival outside. At night, he rested together with Nan Yu.
Whenever he had time, he naturally contacted Qin Wenxing or the other military bases and handled official matters.
Nan Yu’s condition also appeared to have improved considerably.
Judging from his complexion alone, anyone would think he was merely asleep rather than genuinely unconscious.
Yu Lanfeng could see it too.
He felt it would be soon...
Very soon, Nan Yu would wake up.
And once that happened, Yu Lanfeng would finally be able to free his hands to deal with certain people who needed dealing with.
Especially the Bai family!
Zhou Yun from the previous military base had also been arrested.
After all, Zhou Yun and Zhou Teng were brothers, and Zhou Yun’s mother was actually a member of the Bai family.
Although they had not yet discovered exactly which woman from the Bai family she was, judging by the current situation, she was probably hiding.
Yu Lanfeng broke down everything that had happened recently piece by piece and told Nan Yu about it while lying beside him.
He absolutely could not allow Nan Yu to wake up from this long sleep without knowing anything that had happened.
The atmosphere of this military base was not particularly suitable for Nan Yu.
However, after investigating, Yu Lanfeng discovered that the number of people currently lying in the hospital because their Mental Contamination had reached S-rank was actually lower than at every military base they had visited before!
It seemed that although the people here were crazy, they still knew their limits.
Their self-control was actually quite good.
Of course, precisely because their self-control was so good, they appeared especially insane in other areas.
Just like now...
After seven days, the revelry finally came to an end.
Before leaving, Bai Linyu ordered everyone to clean the place thoroughly, while he himself ran to the nearest bathing facility to wash himself clean.
His body was covered in layers of dried blood that had accumulated over the past several days without being cleaned away.
It took him quite a while just to wash all of it off.
During this period, Yu Lanfeng also took the opportunity to inspect the other aspects of the military base.
He found everything to be quite clean and orderly, with basically nothing requiring special attention.
Therefore, once every spy had been killed, Yu Lanfeng took Nan Yu and left for the next military base.
Afterward, they passed through another three or four military bases.
They did not spend very long at any of them.
Yu Lanfeng handed the matters over to each base to handle themselves. Once the lists of spies and all the evidence against them were publicly released within the military bases, practically no one who saw them had any doubts.
After all, the evidence was right there!
They had solid proof and had no reason whatsoever to lack confidence.
The generals at these military bases were much slower.
They conducted simple interrogations of the spies, generally spending three or four days on the process.
Those whose resolve began to waver were temporarily kept alive.
The rest were killed one by one right in front of them.
That way, everyone understood that if they refused to speak, they would end up exactly like those people.
Unexpectedly, they really did manage to extract some information in the end.
And it was information that surprised Yu Lanfeng somewhat.
It was connected to Nan Yu.
And also to the Bai family!
The only person connected to both Nan Yu and the Bai family seemed to be Bai Zhouyun, right?
Could it really be him?!
The information they extracted only revealed that someone surnamed Bai was in contact with the organization.
As for exactly what they were discussing or what that person intended to do afterward, the spies did not know much because they were not part of the same operation.
Yu Lanfeng’s expression changed slightly when he received the information, but he quickly returned to his usual calm state.
“Did you find out where that person surnamed Bai is now?”
“Marshal, according to what we heard, he’s somewhere near Border Region One, but we haven’t been able to confirm it.”
Yu Lanfeng actually found this information quite credible.
After all, if it really was Bai Zhouyun and he wanted to do something while knowing perfectly well that Nan Yu would remain beside Yu Lanfeng...
Then he would naturally choose to wait somewhere near the military base in Border Region One, where Yu Lanfeng spent most of his time.
If he were fortunate enough and had particularly good luck, perhaps he might even manage to see Nan Yu once or twice.
Unfortunately, even if Bai Zhouyun were unbelievably lucky and actually saw Nan Yu, he would have no opportunity to truly speak with him.
So...
Yu Lanfeng looked at the report in his hands.
In truth, he did not take it particularly seriously.
Bai Zhouyun posed absolutely no threat to them.
But for some reason, Yu Lanfeng still felt irritated.
Nan Yu clearly had nothing to do with Bai Zhouyun anymore, yet Yu Lanfeng still felt strangely stifled and annoyed inside.
It was the first time he had ever experienced an emotion like this.
He had no idea what was going on.
Once they returned, perhaps he could ask Qin Wenxing.
If Qin Wenxing did not know, then he might as well directly ask...
Yu Lanfeng continued visiting the other military bases without changing his methods in the slightest.
He remained as ruthless as ever.
Everyone whose name appeared on the list was killed without exception.
As long as they worked quickly, Yu Lanfeng did not care what method they used.
One military base chose an especially simple method.
They locked everyone inside an enormous enclosed hall, sealed it, and began releasing poison gas!
That truly was the most effortless method.
“Marshal, is this fast enough?”
Yu Lanfeng nodded. “Very good. Very fast. Make sure every corpse is properly cleaned up afterward. If any of them have family members, and you can confirm those relatives are citizens of the Empire and have no rebellious intentions, give them the compensation payment. Understood?”
“Yes, Marshal. Understood.”
As before, Yu Lanfeng remained at this base for around ten days.
When it was finally time to leave for the next military base, he returned to their room and began packing.
In truth, they did not own very many things.
Once Nan Yu recovered, he definitely had to buy all kinds of things for him and fill his room with them.
No.
Fill their room.
Unlike now, when all their belongings together barely filled one or two boxes, and even those contained nothing except necessities.
After Yu Lanfeng packed everything into the spatial button, he turned and walked back into the bedroom, intending to pick Nan Yu up and take him along.
He bent down and slowly began wrapping the blanket around Nan Yu.
But suddenly, he felt pressure around his wrist.
It felt as though someone had grabbed him and was stopping him from continuing.
There were only two people here.
Himself.
And Nan Yu.
Yu Lanfeng slowly lowered his gaze.
The person gripping his wrist was none other than Nan Yu, who was lying on the bed.
Nan Yu opened his mouth and tried to say something, but an abrupt discomfort rose in his throat.
He immediately began coughing.
It was a dry cough and extremely uncomfortable.
Seeing this, Yu Lanfeng hurriedly poured him a glass of warm water.
“Hurry, drink some water.”
Nan Yu slowly stopped coughing, leaned over, and took a sip.
Then he looked at Yu Lanfeng sluggishly.
“I want another glass.”
Without complaint, Yu Lanfeng poured him another one.
Only after Nan Yu finished drinking did he collapse into Yu Lanfeng’s arms like some boneless creature.
“I’m still so tired. I still really want to sleep!”
Yu Lanfeng said, “It’s fine. Sleep some more. We’ll leave in a couple of days.”
Nan Yu said, “There’s no need for that. We should leave now. Just carry me.”
Yu Lanfeng suddenly sensed something subtle.
“Did something happen that I don’t know about?”
Nan Yu looked at him in surprise.
“You’re that perceptive? Something really did happen, and it’s something good. Guess?”
Yu Lanfeng stared at Nan Yu for several seconds before saying, “Does it have something to do with your Mental Power? Have you assimilated all that Mental Power from before?”
Nan Yu narrowed his eyes with a smile.
“What else? And then?”
Yu Lanfeng said, “You... advanced?”
Nan Yu cheered and threw himself into Yu Lanfeng’s arms.
“Mm-hmm! You’re right! You guessed it! I really did advance! I finally reached the level I’ve dreamed of!”
High-Tier Mental Power User!
He was now a High-Tier Mental Power User!
From now on, no matter what kind of monsters or demons he faced, he would never be afraid again.
“Bro, from now on, I can protect you too!”
He spoke with complete seriousness.
Yu Lanfeng still wore that same smile.
He had always possessed this much confidence in Nan Yu, and he firmly believed whatever Nan Yu told him.
Seeing his expression, Nan Yu became somewhat embarrassed.
“I’m not saying I’m the strongest or anything. I’ve just become really powerful. When there’s a chance, I can show you first.”
Yu Lanfeng had no objection.
After all, even if Nan Yu wanted to demonstrate his abilities, he would be doing it right under Yu Lanfeng’s eyes.
If anything went wrong, Yu Lanfeng could immediately save him.
Nan Yu was about to continue chattering when he suddenly realized Yu Lanfeng seemed to have moved a little too close.
He opened his mouth, intending to say something.
Yu Lanfeng kissed him.
By the time Yu Lanfeng finally released him, Nan Yu could only lean against his chest and catch his breath.
Very good.
As expected, they were simply not on the same level.
Even though Nan Yu could fight now, he was still quite far behind Yu Lanfeng.
Nan Yu’s awakening finally allowed Yu Lanfeng to breathe a sigh of relief.
He planned to tell Nan Yu about Nan Yun and Nan Zhen’s disappearance.
In truth, even if he did not say anything, Nan Yu would find out once he returned to the Capital Star.
The Nan family might keep quiet, but Nan Yu could not possibly stay inside forever, could he?
The moment he went outside, he would undoubtedly hear many different versions of what had happened.
Either way, there was no avoiding the fact that he would eventually learn about it.
Since that was the case, it would be better to tell him now.
Yu Lanfeng said, “There’s something I need to tell you.”
Nan Yu said, “Go ahead, Bro. I’m listening.”
Yu Lanfeng said, “I didn’t tell your family about you falling unconscious this time. I didn’t tell Dad or either of your brothers. But they kept trying to contact you. Finding a suitable person wasn’t easy, so they found Qin Wenxing and then reached me through Qin Wenxing. They’re very persistent.”
Nan Yu said, “So you didn’t tell them, right?”
Yu Lanfeng said, “That’s right. Don’t worry. But I still advise you to come clean and hope for leniency.”
Nan Yu did not seem particularly concerned.
“Why? Very few people know about this. As long as you don’t say anything, no one will ever find out.”
Yu Lanfeng said, “Did you forget that Dad is also part of our legion? And he’s a Major General. Do you really think he won’t be able to find out about this? I kept it hidden before because I didn’t want your condition to affect their studies and missions. Now that you’ve recovered, you should tell them the truth.”
“Besides, your brothers and your dad are also hiding something from you. If you can, go find them and confess everything to each other. I’m staying out of the middle of it.”
Nan Yu blinked.
“Hmm? Something’s going on! Come clean and hope for leniency!”
Yu Lanfeng said, “I’m not getting involved in this. I’m not telling you. You go tell them yourself, and then they should confess to you too.”