Chapter 152: Where Is My Root of Troubles?

“Su, I’m just kidding. Eight hundred Spiritual Energy Crystals. Can’t go any lower,” He Xiaotian said with a smile, slapping his thigh. But the movement was so forceful that another sharp KRAK sounded from beneath him.

The sight made Captain Su and his two subordinates’ hearts pound with fear. They were terrified He Xiaotian would crush the Food King to death, given his massive size.

‘What if he dies before we complete the transaction?’

‘Would the Cleaners have to fulfill their end of the deal, or could they just pretend nothing happened?’

“Don’t worry, he won’t die,” He Xiaotian said, clearly sensing their concern. “This bastard is strong, and his body is just as tough. Before you arrived, I smashed his head with a hammer over a dozen times, and all it did was turn his face into a bloody mess.”

It would have been better if he hadn’t explained. His explanation only served to give them a much deeper impression of his brutality.

“Eight hundred Spiritual Energy Crystals. I can’t give them to you now. After we return and submit the mission, we’ll send…” Captain Su decided to quit while he was ahead. Two hundred Spiritual Energy Crystals weren’t a dime a dozen.

If they kept haggling, annoyed him, and he just sat back and crushed the Food King to death, the loss would far outweigh the gain.

But he trailed off, unable to finish his sentence.

‘Where was he supposed to send them?’

“Send them to Shouyangzi at the Divine Void Temple. We get along pretty well,” He Xiaotian had the nerve to say. If the old Daoist had been there to hear that, he would have undoubtedly been crying, stamping his feet, and cursing the brute for his behavior.

“Alright. In that case, let me share my intel. The energy research lab used some special instruments to discover that a Netherworld Fissure is about to open on Snake Mountain. If you can get there the moment it opens, you’ll catch the energy tide.

“I believe your three ability types will spontaneously advance by a full level. Of course, if you’re a step too slow, you might only get two types, or even just one type, to evolve. If there are too many people, all you’ll be able to do is refine the impurities in your energy and store some of it.”

Captain Su revealed the inside information he knew.

“A Netherworld Fissure?” A sharp glint flashed in He Xiaotian’s eyes. Shouyangzi had briefed him on these things before. He’d only said that training near a fissure was highly efficient, but he never mentioned that one could trigger an energy tide upon opening, allowing an extraordinary’s abilities to evolve.

“What do you mean, ‘if there are too many people’?”

“Ahem… If our energy research lab can detect it, we can’t rule out the possibility that other organizations lurking in the shadows have their own ways of finding out,” Captain Su said, sounding rather helpless.

Strictly speaking, this information would be common knowledge in a few days.

Because as soon as someone wanting a piece of the pie got involved, they were bound to muddle the waters first.

They would lure in some clueless cannon fodder, then seize the benefits from the shadows.

He Xiaotian wasn’t angry. On the contrary, he felt a faint thrill of excitement.

If only he and a few others knew about this, the information would be of little use to him.

But if a whole crowd of people found out, there would inevitably be fighting and conflict.

‘And killing means Experience Points!’

‘Besides, eight hundred Spiritual Energy Crystals are worth over 200,000 Experience Points.’

‘That’s definitely double what I’d get for killing one Food King.’

‘Why else would I have so readily waived two hundred Spiritual Energy Crystals for Captain Su?’

‘So, this information is basically a freebie.’

“I understand. You can take him.” He Xiaotian stood up, and the three of them breathed a collective sigh of relief. As much as they hated the Food King, the scene was truly gruesome. This was an expert who could go toe-to-toe with their own Director, yet a civilian extraordinary had tormented him into this wretched state. “Shameful” didn’t even begin to describe it.

‘This day will probably become a nightmare the Food King will never want to remember.’

He Xiaotian’s movements were rough; he had no intention of being gentle with this bastard.

And so, the unconscious Food King was jolted awake by the sheer pain.

“Hmph…”

With a muffled groan, the Food King regained a sliver of consciousness.

The stabbing pain from his waist told him it was probably broken.

But He Xiaotian’s next move made him pass out again.

THUD!

He Xiaotian tossed the Food King to the ground with one hand, then grabbed his hammer and brought it smashing down on the man’s groin.

CLANG!

AHHH—

The Food King’s eyes bulged, looking as if they were about to pop out of their sockets.

Foam frothed at his mouth as his body convulsed once, then went completely limp.

“Holy shit!”

Captain Su didn’t even have time to react. By the time he thought to stop him, He Xiaotian had already put his hammer away.

“He’s not dead, is he?!” Zheng Peng instinctively squeezed his legs together, staring at the Food King’s bleeding crotch and swallowing hard.

“Relax, he won’t die. I’m a man of my word when it comes to business. Didn’t this guy enjoy cooking extraordinaries? I just removed the root of his troubles for him. Now when you guys stew him, he definitely won’t have that gamey taste.”

Having done all this, a sense of utter satisfaction washed over He Xiaotian.

Whether the Food King was man or monster, as long as it was a male creature, losing the ‘root of his troubles’ would cause any ambition, no matter how great, to crumble and collapse.

This punishment was direct and effective.

It shattered the mind, mercilessly!

Captain Su once again had to revise his assessment of He Xiaotian’s ruthlessness. The man treated evil-doers as if they were his father’s murderers. It was terrifying.

He Xiaotian stored his pair of hammers in his storage space, took out the folded Water-Repelling Talisman, and walked toward the ice wall.

As he drew near, the ice and snow melted away.

He plunged in without a moment’s hesitation.

Immediately, a strange power, different from Inner Strength, surged up from the Water-Repelling Talisman.

A thin, transparent, circular shield enveloped him.

All the surrounding water was pushed away.

The three of them stared, dumbfounded, as He Xiaotian, looking like some kind of merman, vanished beneath the water.

At the same time, he also spotted a small submarine.

‘So rich!’

‘As expected of the Shanghai Cleaners, they can even bring something like this out on a mission.’

‘And look at me… all I have is this one shabby talisman.’

‘Sigh, it’s enough to make you cry.’

Back in the cabin, Zheng Peng snapped back to his senses and immediately went forward to seal the opening with ice again.

Captain Su, meanwhile, walked over to the Food King, took out a special emergency medicine produced by the energy research lab, and fed it into the Food King’s mouth.

Though he hated the man to death and wished he could skin him alive…

…he couldn’t be allowed to die, at least not before he revealed his many secrets.

After a while, the Food King slowly regained consciousness.

Seeing Captain Su’s face, he felt an inexplicable sense of relief.

‘Anything is better than that three-meter-tall brute swinging his hammers.’

But before the Food King could even let out a sigh of relief, he suddenly realized something seemed to be missing.

After carefully checking…

He shouted in a panic, “Where’s my dick?!”

Captain Su smiled, then replied in a slow, deliberate voice, “Food King, didn’t you know that pigs have to be castrated before they’re raised? It ensures the pork doesn’t have a gamey taste later on.”

The Food King’s legs kicked out, and he passed out again.

…

Watching this, Zheng Peng and Zhou Yun rolled their eyes. ‘You’re so petty. Was it really necessary to scare him like that on purpose?!’