Gao Yang could feel it with absolute certainty—the unsettling atmosphere emanated from the alley behind him. He was done with caution: If fortune favors me, so be it. If doom awaits, it finds me regardless. Time to charge in blindly.
But... he'd keep an ace up his sleeve.
He glanced at Wang Zikai. "You're coming with me."
"On it!" Wang Zikai practically vibrated with anticipation.
Gao Yang entered the alley. The entrance was decrepit, the buildings inside slated for demolition and long abandoned. Only one or two streetlamps remained, flickering with faulty wiring, casting everything in an appropriately sinister gloom.
The two of them advanced slowly into the narrow, lightless depths. Wang Zikai had started out eager enough, but as they penetrated deeper, his courage visibly leaked away. He swallowed hard, bent down, and retrieved a brick from the ground, clutching it like a talisman.
Suddenly, Gao Yang shot out an arm to stop him. He shouted toward the darkness ahead: "Who's there? Show yourself!"
Seconds later, a figure shuffled into view. A man. Short. Heavyset. The silhouette gradually shambled into the meager pool of lamplight, and Gao Yang finally recognized him.
"Pang Jun?"
Pang Jun wore a grimy, nondescript t-shirt. His face was pallid, his expression dazed, his steps unsteady. He heard Gao Yang's call and responded with a vague, "Hey."
"What are you doing here?" Gao Yang asked.
"Yeah... what am I doing here..." Pang Jun rubbed his head, then seemed to snap to awareness with horrible clarity. "Agh!"
He scrambled forward in a panic, grabbing Gao Yang. "Brother Yang! Save me! Please, save me!!"
"What's wrong? Take it slow."
"I—I don't know... Something's wrong with me... I got bitten..." Pang Jun's thoughts scattered in all directions.
"Bitten by what? Where? Be specific." Gao Yang's patience frayed.
"My hand... my right hand..." Pang Jun extended his arm. "It's not right..."
Gao Yang looked: a perfectly intact hand. Nothing unusual whatsoever.
"Looks fine to me." Wang Zikai leaned in, desperate to participate, sneering with elaborate disdain. "Kid's probably been jerking off too much. Hallucinating from excess..."
Even as he spoke, Pang Jun's fleshy palm emitted a soft, wet gurgle. Suddenly, a blood-red eye blossomed from the center of it.
"Holy shit—!" Wang Zikai leaped backward in terror. "What the fuck is that?!"
Pang Jun's entire body trembled, his composure crumbling. "I don't know... Help me, please help me..."
Gao Yang sensed disaster looming. He started to retreat—when Pang Jun's right hand shot out and clamped around his throat with superhuman strength. Immediately, the hand began to swell, like dough undergoing violent, accelerated fermentation. Within seconds, it had transformed into a massive tumor of semi-liquid flesh.
The tumor seemed alive, gurgling and churning as it slowly engulfed Gao Yang's head. He felt no pain, only suffocating pressure—the sensation of being smothered by putrid, slimy aspic.
Gao Yang drew the small dagger hidden in his pocket and plunged it into the fleshy mass—useless. The tumor swallowed the blade along with everything else, then spat it out with a wet splorch.
Wang Zikai, terrified, turned to flee. "H-help! Someone help!"
Gao Yang was lifted completely off the ground. That same primal fear from when Li Weiwei nearly crushed his skull returned in full force. He flailed desperately, struggling against the inevitable.
Pang Jun remained rooted in place, that grotesque, bloated tumor-hand entirely beyond his control. He wept and screamed, "Help! Someone help me... What's happening to me..."
Just as Gao Yang was about to lose consciousness from oxygen deprivation, a familiar voice rang out: "Stop!"
It was Wang Zikai!
During his brief flight, he had gradually overcome his instinctive terror—and returned. He charged at Pang Jun with a flying kick. "Let him go!"
Wang Zikai's foot connected with Pang Jun's face, sending the heavier man flying backward. The tumorous hand was forced to release Gao Yang, trailing after Pang Jun's body. As Pang Jun was about to crash to the ground, the massive fleshy appendage shot out to brace itself against the pavement, catching his body entirely.
Once Pang Jun stabilized, the tumor-hand lunged for Gao Yang again.
Gao Yang knelt on the ground, coughing violently, too slow to escape.
"You bastard—" Wang Zikai stepped between them, shielding his friend. "Touch my brother again. I dare you."
As he spoke, the muscles of Wang Zikai's right arm exploded in sudden, tearing expansion, shredding his sleeve. His skin transformed, becoming rough and hard, taking on a gray-green hue—like bronze beneath the sodium-yellow streetlight.
Smack! Wang Zikai's "bronze hand" caught Pang Jun's "tumor-hand" solidly.
Two inhuman, massive arms pressed against each other, locked in confrontation.
"Rrragh—!" Veins bulged across Wang Zikai's forehead. His eyes had shifted to deep green without him noticing. His arm continued to power up, reaching a crushing grip strength of 1000kg within five seconds.
The tumor-hand stood no chance. It seemed to possess its own consciousness, emitting faint, panicked sounds. It thrashed wildly, trying to retract—but too late.
Squelch! Finally, Wang Zikai's beast-transformed bronze arm crushed the tumor-hand entirely, exploding it in a spray of pale purple plasma.
By the time Gao Yang rose to his feet, Pang Jun had collapsed unconscious, his arm restored to normal.
Wang Zikai gasped for breath, his chest heaving. His right arm, which had burst through its sleeve, gradually returned to its ordinary form.
Gao Yang stared at Wang Zikai's back—silent, imposing—and felt a chill rise from his soles. Was he truly just a Lost One? Why did it feel like the potential sleeping within him far exceeded both Li Weiwei and Auntie He?
He couldn't decide whether to call Wang Zikai's name or simply run.
Then Wang Zikai turned slowly around—and his eyes were swimming with tears, on the verge of weeping with joy. "Gao Yang! You weren't lying! I actually got stronger!"
"...Huh?" Gao Yang's expression must have been comical.
Wang Zikai rushed forward, grabbing Gao Yang in a bouncing, spinning hug. "Did you see that?! My Qilin Arm! That cultivation method you gave me is fucking amazing!"
"Oh, it was nothing... mainly your own hard work..." Gao Yang forced a smile: Thank the heavens this idiot isn't particularly clever. Otherwise the consequences would be unthinkable.
"Oh right!" Wang Zikai had been too busy celebrating to remember Pang Jun. "Who would've thought—Pang Jun turned out to be a traitor. Want me to kill him?"
"Don't." Gao Yang stopped him. He thought for a moment. "Your place is nearby, right?"
"Yeah."
"Your parents are divorced, you live alone?" Gao Yang pressed.
"Right, so what?"
"Come on. We're going to your place." Gao Yang pointed at Pang Jun on the ground. "Bring him too."
...
Pang Jun weighed at least 180 jin—over 200 pounds. Wang Zikai hoisted him onto his back and walked the entire distance without breaking a sweat, as light as if carrying a sparrow.
Gao Yang concealed his shock: Once beast abilities awaken, they're truly terrifying. I'm practically a lamb living among wolves.
Wang Zikai's family wealth was obscene. His father ran a real estate empire; his mother was a minor celebrity, regularly appearing on television. His residence was a villa in the riverside district, where property prices were measured in gold per square inch.
The three-story villa came with its own parking garage, swimming pool, private garden, and a small landscaped grove—its value beyond comparison with ordinary luxury homes.
Inside the underground garage, Pang Jun had already been tied securely to a chair with elaborate knots.
Gao Yang had considered contacting Qing Ling, but phone calls left digital traces, and meeting her too frequently risked drawing suspicion. Besides, with Wang Zikai's current combat capability, protecting him was more than sufficient.
Gao Yang instructed Wang Zikai to fetch a basin of water. Wang Zikai obeyed without question. In this brief window, Gao Yang checked his system—sure enough, his Luck points had doubled again, generated when Pang Jun had "attacked" him earlier.
He closed the system. Back to idle grinding.
Soon Wang Zikai returned with the water. Without waiting for instructions, he dumped the entire basin over Pang Jun's head. Pang Jun sputtered awake with a yelp.
"Wh-where... is this?" Pang Jun was still disoriented. "Brother Yang... why am I tied up... What happened to me..."
"Are you human or beast?" Gao Yang demanded.
"I'm human! An Awakened!" Pang Jun shouted. "You knew that already!"
Gao Yang said nothing, thinking: Pang Jun has a talent. He healed me before—he should be human. But that tumorous giant hand... that wasn't a human talent. It was some form of beast transformation. No, better safe than sorry. Need to verify.
He turned to Wang Zikai. "You have any films at your place?"
Wang Zikai blinked. "What films?"
"You know. Those films."