Yashan said, "I want revenge. I want to kill that bone man! But I can't do it… Boss Wei, please help me…"
Su Hao immediately said, "I can't help you. I may not even be that bone man's match. Don't think about throwing your life away. Stay alive and take care of your daughter. Without your protection, it will be very difficult for her to grow up safely."
Yashan suppressed his emotions and said, "I know. Boss Wei, I know. But right now, my heart is full of hatred. I want him to taste what it feels like to lose everything! I want to kill him. Otherwise, I won't be able to face Taini, and I won't be able to face myself either… After I kill him…"
Seeing that Su Hao did not respond, Yashan choked up again.
"Boss Wei, anything is fine. As long as I can kill the bone man, I'll work like an ox or a horse for you! I'm begging you. Help me. I can't do it myself. I really can't…"
Su Hao thought for a long time.
In this world, the only person he was somewhat familiar with was Yashan, who stood before him. But in the end, he was only familiar with him. How could Su Hao risk his life to help him?
However, when Su Hao looked at the shell armor covering Yashan's body, his thoughts suddenly became active, and many ideas came to mind.
After a moment, Su Hao slowly said, "Killing that bone man isn't impossible."
The despairing Yashan suddenly raised his head and looked at Su Hao with burning eyes.
Su Hao continued, "I can help you obtain the power to kill the bone man. However…"
Yashan hurriedly asked, "However what?"
Su Hao raised three fingers.
"However, you need to wait two years. At least two years. Only after two years can you go kill him."
Yashan was instantly surrounded by surprise and joy.
No matter how long he had to wait, as long as the bone man died, that was enough.
He could afford to wait.
Compared to having no hope of revenge at all, this result was already a thousand, no, ten thousand times better!
Su Hao added, "This won't be without conditions. Don't think it's only natural for me to help you."
"First, you will serve as my assistant for five years. When I call, you come."
"Second, anything you obtain from me cannot be revealed to a third person without my permission, including your daughter, Taini."
"Third, I won't help you for no reason. You need to show me your value. Five years from now, you'll help me do one thing. As for what it is, we'll talk about it in five years."
Yashan immediately replied, "Okay!"
…
When [Thread Demon] Xike rushed into An's office, the flames had already followed the thin thread and slowly spread to the envelope.
If he had been just a few seconds later, the envelope would have been swallowed by fire.
Xike raised his hand.
An invisible thread shot out, wrapped around the envelope, and pulled it back into his hand.
He casually extinguished the flame and opened the letter.
"Respected Leader Xike, congratulations on making it in time. The flesh of the Level Five [Control King] you wanted has already been placed in your home. There is no need to thank me. This is what I should do.
"Oh, right. I regret to inform you of some bad news. The [Control King] flesh in your home is only half of the total amount. It is not enough for you to advance.
"The other half was taken half a year ago by the [Night Demon], who suddenly appeared in the city. There was nothing I could do about it. If you truly wish to advance, you will need to find the [Night Demon].
"Once again, thank you for your assistance!"
"Bastard!"
Thread Demon violently tore the letter to shreds.
"Ahhhh!"
He vented his rage madly.
In an instant, the three-story building was sliced into countless pieces and collapsed with a thunderous crash.
As for An, the person Xike wanted to tear into ten thousand pieces, he had already arrived outside the southern part of the city and regrouped with the members of his Six Star Group.
Fude, the Level Two mutant [Rampager] of the [Armored Man] sequence, had successfully advanced and become a Level Three mutant, [Counterthorn Beast]. He obtained two new abilities: "Damage Reflection" and "Flying Needles."
Charlie, the Level Two mutant [Entangler] of the [Silk Weaver] sequence, had also successfully advanced into a Level Three mutant, [Cutter Beast]. He obtained two abilities: "Sharp Thread" and "Piercing Thread."
An did not rush to devour the flesh in his hand.
Instead, he gathered everyone and asked, "I'm about to leave this city. What are your choices?"
[Counterthorn Beast] Fude immediately said, "Leader, I'll go with you."
Charlie said, "After I kill that bitch Charlotte, I'll come find you."
The other two also expressed that they were willing to leave with An.
An nodded and turned toward the darkness.
"Then let's go."
Aside from Charlie, everyone else followed An and left.
…
Yashan's home had already been destroyed, so Su Hao simply had Yashan follow him and used him like a household servant.
However, his courtyard was a little too small.
So he moved into a larger house.
As for funds, Yashan had worked for the Cleaners' Gang for years, helping people clean up messes, so he had accumulated some savings. Su Hao borrowed them without the slightest pressure and used them first.
After Su Hao finished checking Taini's injuries, he turned to Yashan, who was watching eagerly from the side.
"Don't worry. Before long, she'll be able to jump around again."
Yashan was first delighted, but then sorrow appeared on his face.
Taini had not woken up yet.
He did not know how he was supposed to tell her, once she woke, that her mother and brother were already dead.
Su Hao walked out the door and said to Yashan behind him, "Yashan, come with me. Before I help you obtain power, I need to confirm a few things."
Hearing this, Yashan put away his grief and followed Su Hao into the courtyard.
Ever since his wife and children died, his heart had become much colder.
The old him had been like a playful big child, someone who could recklessly pursue the vague dream of becoming a [God].
But now, he had suddenly become a truly mature man.
And yet, the price of this transformation had been far too great.
Su Hao pulled out a small knife from somewhere. It flickered with a cold light.
Yashan felt a chill run down his spine. A bad feeling filled his heart.
Even a mature man could not remain calm when facing a knife meant to cut flesh.
Su Hao smiled.
"Don't worry. I'm only taking a small sample."
Yashan silently nodded.
Su Hao said, "Yashan, transform into a [Rampager] first."
"Yes, Boss Wei!"
Yashan nodded.
He first took off all his clothes until only a pair of shorts remained. Then his body rapidly grew taller at a visible speed.
His skin turned black and hardened. In the end, it shone with a dark, glossy luster, like the shell of a dung beetle. Just looking at it gave the impression that it was extremely tough.
His body also expanded by two full sizes.
In just a few seconds, he was covered from head to toe in a thick layer of shell armor.
Yashan's original appearance could no longer be seen at all.
Every time Su Hao saw this kind of transformation, he was deeply shaken.
It was simply unbelievable.
"During the transformation, his blood qi is being consumed in large quantities."
Through his radar, Su Hao sensed Yashan's current state and made a guess.
Perhaps blood qi was the energy source that activated the genes and allowed this transformation to happen.
In other words, blood qi was very likely the "energy" the Zhu Huo people spoke of.
It was just that the people of this world did not know how to accumulate large amounts of blood qi or how to control it.
They merely relied on their bodies' instincts to gather it.
Because all they needed to do was plunder genes, they could easily accumulate blood qi and advance. As a result, they had never conducted deep research into blood qi energy.
However, this guess still needed to be proven through experiments.
Before that, Su Hao needed to perform a small experiment.
Su Hao gently tapped the back of the knife against Yashan's shell armor, producing a series of clanging sounds.
"Yashan, can you control the shape of your shell armor?"
Yashan shook his head.
"No. Whatever shape it has, that's the shape it takes when I use it."
Su Hao nodded.
"If the shell armor separates from your body, will it disappear?"
Based on [Bone Demon]'s previous battle, Su Hao had discovered that the bone spikes generated by Bone Demon would gradually crumble and vanish after some time.
Since [Rampager] belonged to the same sequence as [Bone Demon], perhaps it possessed similar characteristics.
Yashan shook his head.
"This… I've never tried it, so I don't know what will happen."
Su Hao waved the small knife in his hand and revealed a smile.
"Come. We'll know once we try."
Next, with Yashan's extreme cooperation, Su Hao successfully removed a piece of shell armor from Yashan's body and left it alone for a period of time.
After confirming that the shell armor would not disappear, Su Hao began testing its properties.
According to Su Hao's thinking, the reason golden threadworms in his previous life could become the key to solidifying runes was because of the unique life properties of golden threadworms. Their conductivity toward blood qi was better than other materials.
Then, as shell armor transformed from Yashan's own body, did it also possess biological characteristics and good blood qi conductivity?
To Su Hao's delight, Yashan's shell armor indeed possessed excellent blood qi conductivity.
It could completely replace the function of golden threadworms.
This made Su Hao extremely interested in this kind of shell armor.
In his previous life, he had captured many shelled creatures and attempted to carve runes on them. But without exception, all of those attempts had failed.
The reason was that the shells of those creatures had already undergone a complete transformation in essence. They had left the category of biological flesh and no longer possessed good blood qi conductivity.
But Yashan's shell armor was different.
The shell armor transformed from Yashan's skin was a special substance that existed between flesh and biological shell.
It looked like shell armor, but in essence, it was still flesh and blood.
As long as Yashan was willing to spend blood qi, it could transform back into skin and flesh again.
Then Su Hao's gaze toward Yashan changed.
It was as if he were looking at an inexhaustible pile of golden threadworms.
Su Hao's attitude toward Yashan immediately became extremely warm.
He pulled Yashan over by the hand and said, "Yashan, come, come. I'll teach you the method to obtain power right now!"
Yashan was instantly overjoyed.
What did the excellent blood qi conductivity of Yashan's shell armor mean to Su Hao?