Wei Tianyang struggled to get up from the ground.
"Still moving, huh? Should we hit him with an anesthesia round?" the middle-aged man entering the room said.
The old lady didn't stop him but stepped back slightly.
"Make it quick," she said.
The middle-aged man pulled out an anesthesia pistol from his bosom and shot at Wei Tianyang.
"Kacha!"
The crisp sound of plastic gun mechanisms colliding entered his ears, and Wei Tianyang felt something prick his neck; then his vision blurred, and he fell into a deep sleep.
...
"Yang..."
"Yang, wake up..."
His mother's voice echoed in his ears.
The middle-aged man put away the anesthesia gun, squatted down, and grabbed Wei Tianyang's left arm.
He suddenly felt a chill in his belly and saw a warm, red, viscous mass flowing onto the floor.
"Damn..." a cry of alarm came from behind him.
Only then did he realize something was wrong, and at the same time, he felt the intense pain.
Wei Tianyang opened his eyes, which glowed crimson, his fingers transformed into long knives, ripping the man's lower abdomen open.
He struggled to his feet while grabbing the leg of a table and flipped it violently.
"Guns?! Quick!" shouted the old lady as she ran to the door.
The man with the lock cover reached for his pistol only to see the flipped table get pierced by the Bone Knife, striking his chest in an instant, penetrating both his arm and chest.
Wei Tianyang retracted the Bone Knife, and by the time he stood up, the old woman had already run down the stairs.
His stomach churned wildly, his forehead was cold and damp, and his back was soaked as well. He staggered a few steps, felt warmth in his throat, and bent over to vomit.
That bitter taste... came from that bottle of vinegar.
The old lady hadn't used lethal poison; their goal was to capture him alive.
After wiping his mouth, he ran to the door and looked down the staircase; the old woman had long since vanished, but he memorized her scent.
He returned to the room and searched the two dead men.
Both men were armed, and just like before, Wei Tianyang couldn't trigger the guns, unsure what recognition technology they used.
They both had foldable screen cell phones; one of them had been broken by Wei Tianyang, the screen splitting in two.
Wei Tianyang took one of the phones and put it in his backpack.
Suddenly, the window shattered, and two tear gas grenades were thrown in, spinning on the floor and emitting a green poison gas.
Assailed by the pungent smell, Wei Tianyang quickly put on his backpack, covered his nose and mouth, and darted into the innermost bedroom.
Just as he burst through the door, the bedroom window shattered, and bullets grazed his neck, striking the wooden door behind him.
He lay on his side under the bed and quickly glanced outside the window; a shadow flashed across the neighboring building.
"He's inside, take him alive, don't shoot the head."
"Is the inverted triangle sealed?"
"Not yet."
"What abilities?"
"His hands can turn into Bone Knives, possibly a defective product of the Beast Project."
"The Beast Project was halted long ago; I thought there were no more beasts."
"Unclear, we'll know once we send him back. He's run so far already!"
"The town exists for this purpose; he was unfortunate enough to walk right into it."
Wei Tianyang heard muffled whispers coming from outside the door, where someone wearing a gas mask was speaking.
This little town was actually an asset of Tiantai Pharmaceutical?!
Before he could ponder further, two tear gas grenades were thrown through the window, one landing squarely on the bed.
The green, pungent gas swiftly filled the room as heavy footsteps approached through the living room, closing in on him.
No escape?
Wei Tianyang suddenly burst out laughing; the floor was nothing more than a few dozen centimeters of concrete!
He clenched his right fist and struck straight down!
The floor shattered like chocolate, and the whole building shook from the force of his punch.
He fell with the collapsing floor to the ground level, a room identical to the one above but without any furnishings or decor—just an empty shell.
One could imagine that there might not be many finished rooms in the whole building.
Wei Tianyang climbed out from the pile of cement and rubble and quickly moved through the living room, landing another punch on the locked front door.
He didn't run, he had no intention of fleeing. The agitation within made his body heat up.
"Kill them all! Kill them all!"
He chanted inwardly as he charged into the hallway, extending his right hand towards the dozen or so people congregated there.
His fingers transformed into a Bone Knife, shooting straight through, piercing the bodies in front of him. He could feel their body heat and the texture of their flesh and organs; the Bone Knife was an extension of his fingers.
"He's down below!" shouted an undercover guard.
Wei Tianyang gritted his teeth and swung his right hand, his Bone Knife slicing horizontally through the bodies of the guards, leaving five deep gashes in the wall.
The narrow stairway was instantly stained red with the outpouring of entrails, as blood and intestines trickled down the steps.
Halfway down, a guard who had luckily escaped Wei Tianyang's wrath turned to flee, but slipped on a piece of intestine, stumbling a few steps before falling to the ground.
Guards from the second floor burst out of their rooms upon hearing the commotion, only to be greeted by a flying corpse that knocked down the one at the forefront.
Wei Tianyang followed close behind, sweeping his Bone Knife and cleaving everyone in two.
Blood and flesh flew everywhere, staining his dark blue jacket pitch black.
The thick smell of blood permeated through the stairwell as Wei Tianyang, following the scent of an old lady, climbed out of the window and onto the backside of the street.
The town was all facade—beyond the main road, the backstreets were filled with buildings without doors or windows, mere mock-ups. Even the vehicles parked on the streets were nothing but empty shells.
The old woman stood by a black van at the street corner, speaking on her phone. She seemed entirely different from before; somehow, she reminded him of Ruan Yu.
When Wei Tianyang appeared in front of her, she was only mildly surprised, but quickly composed herself.
"So, the suppressant doesn't work on you. I knew this day would come," she said calmly, her expression serene.
Wei Tianyang didn't speak, just extended his right hand.
"At least, the Beast Project wasn't a total failure... ha, the idiots on the board..." She was laughing as she spoke, but her head flew off before she could finish.
Wei Tianyang withdrew the Bone Knife, his fingers slick with sticky blood.
"I have nothing to do with your plans," he said coldly, looking at the headless corpse on the ground.
He looked up, smelling the air and catching the scent of car exhaust.
It was strong; the car had not been gone long.
He picked up the old woman's phone. The call had been disconnected and the screen was locked; he tossed the phone into his backpack, planning to deal with it later.
Fortunately, the keys to the van were still in the ignition, and the door was unlocked; he started the car with ease.
This fake little town wasn't far from Qiyang City. He was desperate to return to his mother's side, especially now that a civil war had erupted, and she needed him more than ever.
He drove the van out of the town, following the main road for a dozen or so minutes, and soon saw the highway sign.
Even though he barely knew how to read, he recognized the three large characters for "Qiyang City."
"Mom... wait for me, I'm coming home," he gripped the steering wheel tightly, floored the gas pedal, and drove determinedly in the direction of home.