Crack!
Chen Hao’s sole was originally bent at a 90 degrees angle from his calf.
Once Meng Chao stomped on him a second time, that 90 degrees turned to 180 degrees. It was completely folded together.
Chen Hao’s eyes rolled back into his sockets. He was about to faint from the pain.
Meng Chao increased his strength. He spun the tips of his toes and went back and forth the broken bone that jutted out of Chen Hao’s wound. It became even more fragmented than before.
Chen Hao screamed, feeling like his calf had been stuffed into a grinder. But no matter how much it grinded his calf, it would not leave his bone. The pain caused his world to spin, and he could not faint.
Even Man-eating Shark Zhou Chong felt his heart thunder in fear as he watched from the side. He wanted to say something, but could not despite being known for being ruthless.
“It’s fine, Senior Zhou, trust me.” While Meng Chao was handing out the torture, he spoke without turning his head back. “It’s just as you know, aside from being an Ultimate Style martial artist, I’m also an experienced harvester. Over the past two years, I’ve harvested more than one thousand monsters. I have to cut up at least three monsters every day, so I have their biological structures imprinted in my head.
“I can dissect a Tyrant Mammoth that is as large as a fort into pieces the size of fingernail in half an hour and take the flesh off its bones without harming its most fragile periosteum. All the bones can still be pieced together to form a complete specimen.
“I can also peel the core tissue of some monsters’ brains from their ear canals.
“Compared to smaller monsters, the biological structure of humans is simple, especially when I don’t have to care about making sure that the limbs and organs remain undamaged. So, you don’t need to worry that I will kill him.
“I assure you, even if I crush every bone in his body, he will remain conscious and tell us what we need to know.”
Meng Chao moved his sole to the area above Chen Hao’s knee.
But Chen Hao was already terrified out of his mind. When he saw Meng Chao’s expressionless face, he acted as if he had seen the most hideous demon from the depths of hell. He screamed, “I’ll tell you! I’ll tell you everything!”
Meng Chao ignored him and stomped down.
Chen Hao’s knee was instantly shattered. His calf curled up, and his sole, which had suffered from a comminuted fracture, hung down limp. It swayed around and tugged at his nerves, causing him so much pain that he cried. His teeth clattered, and he nearly bit through his tongue.
Meng Chao crouched down and spoke to Chen Hao calmly. “Careful with your tongue. That’s the only reason we’re keeping you alive.”
Then, he groped about his hip bones, shoulder blades, and the joints in his arm as if he was testing just how much maximum weight his bones and joints could endure.
After groping about for some time, Meng Chao grabbed Chen Hao’s shoulder and slowly dug his fingers into his flesh. He said slowly, “After your leg is broken, you can get it amputated, and after you get a spirit energy-powered mechanical prosthetic or a spirit energy-powered chassis with continuous tracks, you can still move around.
“But if your arms are broken, that will be troublesome. Right now, the spirit energy-powered mechanical prosthetics still can’t completely imitate the functions of the human arm and fingers.
“And if I break your spine and pelvis inch by inch, you will live your entire life like a lump of mud. You will curl up in a corner of the lair while covered in your own excrement, and people will step all over you.”
Chen Hao’s eyes went wide when he heard this.
If it were not for his optical nerves keeping his eyeballs in place, they would have popped out of their eye sockets.
“I’ll tell you!” he wailed. “Just ask me! What do you want to know?! Just ask me!”
Meng Chao did not stop just because the man was crying and begging for mercy.
His fingers continued digging into his shoulder blades inch by inch like metal pliers. Cracking sounds came from Chen Hao’s shoulder blades, and countless fine cracks appeared on his bone.
“Who is your boss, where is he?” Meng Chao asked.
“I don’t know— No! I’m not lying to you! I really don’t know! I’ve only ever contacted him through emails!” Chen Hao was in so much pain that he was almost in shock, but he did not dare to faint. He quickly said, “Two months— No, three months ago, I suddenly received an email from the boss. He said that he prepared a present for me in the storage cupboard in Black Bone’s black market.
“He wanted me to help him do something simple, and it was just an investigation about wanted criminals hiding in the lair. If it’s possible, I was to contact them. Also, I was to look for some rollerbladers and deliver some resources. Those are all my fields of expertise.
“I ran to the black market and looked into the storage cupboard mentioned in the mail. It was a bag full of high-purity crystals, which are the hard currency in the lair.
“With money, everything is easy. I helped him look for a group of criminals and lost people who have been hiding in the lair for years. But I only told the boss their pseudonyms, the places they frequented, and their accounts in the deep web forums. I did not need to do any follow up later on.
“When he saw that I was doing things well, the boss asked me to look for the next batch of people and deliver some goods to them. They were all Deification Pills. But I didn’t need to do this myself. I have plenty of friends, so I could get things done with just one word.
“Then, over the past few days, the boss asked me to prepare a few strongholds in the lair to help him receive the people who flee here from outside. I was to deliver the resources they brought in from outside to the boss in exchange for Deification Capsules, weapons and ammunition.
“Some of them might have high tolerance toward the Deification Capsules and not easily killed by the side effects. The boss asked me to send them to the depths of the lair, where someone would receive them.
“In any case, I’m just an insignificant lackey. Right from the start to the end, I’ve never met the boss. I’ve only received remote instructions and don’t know anything— No! I know something! Don’t kill me! I’ve told you everything! Don’t kill me!”
Chen Hao was so scared that he became incoherent.
“Where did you send the raw materials and the robbers who have really good tolerance toward the Deification Capsules?” Meng Chao tossed another question.
Crack!
Before Chen Hao could answer, a light pop came from his shoulder blade.
A sharp, broken bone pierced his flesh and jutted out.
But Meng Chao did not stop.
It seemed like before he could hear all the answers from Chen Hao, he would crush all of his bones.
Chen Hao was scared out of his wits and spoke faster than before. “Everywhere! I sent them to downtown areas with a lot of people moving around, or alleys that are one-way paths and provide no places to hide. The rollerbladers are the ones who send the stuff over. The people who receive the goods are another batch of rollerbladers that I don’t know. I suspect that they pass the goods to a few more batches of their kind. No one knows where the people and goods finally lead to!”
This was as expected, and it was a highly effective anti-tracking method.
Meng Chao did not suspect that Chen Hao was lying.
But he still crushed Chen Hao’s second shoulder blade and asked, “Do you know whether your boss has other lackeys like you?”
“I don’t— No, I know!” Chen Hao hesitated for a moment before he spoke. “The boss doesn’t want us to know his true identity. He doesn’t like it when we ask for information among ourselves either. But I think he has a few more lackeys like me in the lair.
“I know that there is someone who is not loved by his family and is in a similar condition as me. A few months ago, he suddenly started spending lavishly. I met him a few times in the gambling sites and the black market. He even wanted to come up and talk to me. It seemed like he wanted to ask me whether I was working for the boss.
“That person was too flashy, so I thought he would definitely be unable to live for long, and as expected, before long, he disappeared. No one knows whether he was killed because someone eyed his money or because he angered the boss.
“In any case, I heard that recently, many wanted criminals and lost people who have been lurking for years have become restless, and plenty of them aren’t among those I contacted.
“The robbers are the same. I read online that there have been hundreds of robberies over the past few days in Dragon City, but I only managed around one hundred. It would have been impossible for me to handle all of them.”
Meng Chao thought for a moment and asked, “You should have delivered the most recent batch of raw materials. Where did your boss ask you to send them?”
“I don’t know— I mean, I don’t know for the time being.” Chen Hao’s face turned from stark pale to waxy yellow, and he spoke in a choked voice. “Once I make sure that my area is safe, as the boss asks, I will send him a message, and he will tell the address where he will receive the goods.”
“Did you tell the boss that there’s something wrong with the two robbers who came late just now?” Meng Chao asked.
“No. I didn’t have time. I hired nine rollerbladers and had them bring some smoke bombs while going around the streets. I told them to detonate them at certain periods of time, then hide in dark corners to observe,” Chen Hao answered in a quivering voice.
“If someone acted abnormally or made them feel uncomfortable, they were to immediately notify me. In the end, right after one of them contacted me, you rushed down.”
“Did your boss teach you this or did you think of it on your own?”
“The boss told me.”
“Then, your boss might know that we’re already in the lair and have captured you. You’re useless now,” Meng Chao said.
“No! It’s not that way!” Chen Hao hastily shouted. “The boss taught me the method, but the routes the nine rollerbladers take are set by me, because I’m more familiar with the environment in the lair. I know in which places it’s easier to shake off or discover pursuers. The boss has never asked me about the routes before, so he doesn’t know them!”
Meng Chao narrowed his eyes and observed Chen Hao’s microexpressions for a while.
Then, he turned his head around to discuss with Zhou Chong.
It was only then that he handed Chen Hao’s communicator back to him and said, “Send a message to your boss and say that the last batch of robbers and raw materials is safe. Then, ask him where you’re supposed to send them to.”
Chen Hao trembled as he tapped on the communicator.
Meng Chao continued holding his shoulder blade, which brought him sharp pain.
Almost at the moment the email was sent, there was a reply from the boss.
There were only three words in it.
“Leprosy Village?” Meng Chao looked at the old and bizarre name. He was a little taken aback. “Is there a place like this in the lair?”
