A burly man, upon entering the room, was so shocked by the scene that tears instantly welled up and slid from the corners of his eyes.
Just as he was about to shout "Mom!", Gu Ya grabbed his wrist and pulled him into the room.
Unexpectedly, a thin girl stood behind the big man.
After a single glance at the corpses and blood, the girl's eyes rolled back, and she fainted.
After tying up the man and woman, Gu Ya coldly asked the big man, "Do you want to die or live?"
The big man trembled all over and quickly said, "Live! Live! I want to live, sir! Don't kill me. I'll give you the goods, and the three I have with me, all to you. Please don't kill me!"
"What goods?" Gu Ya asked with suspicion.
The big man's eyes rolled as he was about to come up with a bad idea, when Gu Ya fiercely grabbed his ear and tore it off!
Blood instantly flooded the left half of the big man's face, and the pain made him howl!
"Think carefully. If you dare lie to me, your fate will only be worse than theirs!" Gu Ya said, then pressed the ear back onto the big man's wound.
A portable stitching robot materialized in his hand, threading the ear back in place!
The big man sweated profusely from the pain. After a moment to recover, he spoke.
This time he was more honest, revealing everything from the lowest to the highest levels, and the scope of operations of the criminal organization, all to Gu Ya.
This giant looked intimidating, but in reality, he was incredibly naive, timid, and cowardly.
After listening, Gu Ya smiled faintly and said, "So you're all 'tiao ke' (traveling merchants), specializing in making women earn money for you. Your organization has quite a broad reach. Besides doing good deeds, you dabble in everything else."
The giant nodded frantically, even smiling with a hint of pride, saying, "Yes, yes! Our organization is a top force in the Black Star Empire! We have dealings with the Black Star ruling elite!"
"Little brother, I see you have potential. Join our organization, and I guarantee you'll live a life of luxury for the rest of your days!"
Gu Ya conjured an consciousness helmet and placed it on the big man's head.
Half a minute later, Gu Ya emerged from the big man's consciousness world, took a deep breath, and smiled helplessly.
He raised his hand and gently patted the big man's blood-covered left cheek, Gu Ya said fiercely, "You're actually a serial perverse killer! You tortured and murdered 83 young girls and 45 young boys. Well done, well done, you're quite famous on Black Star! The nickname 'Riverbank Butcher', huh?"
The big man's eyes suddenly froze, and his expression instantly turned cold, no longer the naive appearance from before, but rather exceptionally sinister and vicious.
The big man's mouth curved upwards, higher and higher, until it reached a point that was impossible for a normal person, forming a semicircular grin as he laughed evilly.
"I didn't expect you to find out. Then I can't let you live." The big man spat out the words through gritted teeth, quickly raising both hands to grab Gu Ya's head and smash it forcefully to the ground!
After smashing it more than ten times, until Gu Ya's head was shattered, the big man stopped, then absentmindedly dug out the brain matter and stuffed it into his mouth.
Gu Ya's true body watched from the side.
The big man, tormented by a "phantom dream," repeatedly bashed his head against the hard concrete floor until his skull cracked and his eyeballs popped out, which he then picked up and put into his mouth.
"Killing you is too easy, hehe!" Gu Ya said coldly, carrying the girl out of the den.
The big man leaped out from behind Gu Ya and ran towards the street, tearing at his own flesh as he ran, blood and flesh raining down like droplets. He roared with laughter, "I'm free! I've ascended! My soul belongs to the divine! I am the Riverbank Butcher! I've murdered over a hundred people! Men and women..."
The big man repeated his words over and over, sprinting into the distance.
If no one intervened, this murderer would continue to tear his flesh until his death.
Gu Ya now completely understood what Ning Yu was doing.
She must have discovered this evil den and wiped out everyone inside.
But why had she disappeared?
Avoiding all surveillance equipment, Gu Ya found the nearest Black Star Security Bureau, left the girl at the doorstep, and then departed.
Clutching a signal transmitter, Gu Ya had no idea where to search for Ning Yu and Ye Ying.
This super simple transmitter made it impossible to trace Ning Yu in reverse.
With the enemy so close and the situation urgent, failing to find his teammates was truly troubling Gu Ya.
After calmly considering, Gu Ya decided to act first, searching for them as he moved.
After all, Ye Ying was protected by Ning Yu, and ordinary people couldn't harm her.
Just then, a woman with long hair rushed past Gu Ya, and they collided forcefully.
The woman repeatedly bowed her head in apology and then hurried away.
Gu Ya watched the woman run further away with a cold gaze before lowering his head to open the crumpled paper in his palm.
Moments ago, the woman had faked a shoulder bump, but in reality, she quickly slipped the crumpled paper to Gu Ya.
The paper had an address written on it, less than a ten-minute walk from their current location.
After a few seconds of doubt, Gu Ya put the paper in his pocket and headed for the address.
Arriving at the depths of a narrow alley, this was indeed the address on the paper.
There was nothing to fear, Gu Ya steadily opened the door and walked in.
Upon entering, he saw Ning Yu lying on a hospital bed, an IV drip attached to her arm.
And sitting by the bed was the woman who had given him the paper.
Finally finding his disappointing disciple, Gu Ya felt no joy. He opened his mouth and asked, "Where are Ye Ying and the others?"
Ning Yu gathered some strength, speaking slowly and wearily, "In the slums northwest of the city. They are very safe."
"Safe?" Gu Ya wished he could tear Ning Yu apart!
She didn't even consider where they were. In the enemy's lair, there was no such thing as absolute safety!
However, Gu Ya suppressed his anger and quickly walked to Ning Yu's side, taking her mechanical left hand.
Ning Yu's anemia was peculiar; Gu Ya had never seen such a condition.
Having spent a month with her, Gu Ya hadn't had time to investigate the cause thoroughly.
But now it had reached a point where it had to be cured. If Ning Yu were left untreated, and a battle began, her anemia would flare up, causing significant losses to the team.
At this moment, the few of them were confronting the entire Black Star Empire, and losing even one person meant losing considerable combat power.
With [Code Tampering] activated, Gu Ya instantly entered Ning Yu's mechanical body.
"So that's how it is! You should have told me sooner." Gu Ya said coldly. "You're burning blood to power your mechanical body, so of course you'll be anemic!"
"Master..." Ning Yu said wearily, "You don't need to worry about me. I'll prepare blood plasma in the future."
"No need!" Gu Ya said coldly, suppressing his anger, "Bear with it for a moment!!"
As soon as he finished speaking, Ning Yu's left side suddenly burst apart, and internal components and parts scattered across the bed like building blocks!
Immediately after, a brand new mechanical body materialized.
Where her heart used to be, a tiny cybernetic battery now resided, emitting a faint blue glow.
With the cybernetic battery as its power source, Ning Yu no longer needed to burn blood, thus preventing anemia.
Ning Yu had been gritting her teeth and enduring, but Gu Ya was incredibly fast. The pain had barely registered in her brain before the new body was connected.
Looking at her new body, Ning Yu sighed with relief and smiled tiredly, "Master, you look fierce, but you're actually a very kind person!"
"Stop blabbering. As soon as you can move, hurry up and take me to find Ye Ying. We still need to plan our infiltration tactics," Gu Ya said coldly.
It was then that he noticed the woman by the bed.
Gu Ya asked suspiciously, "And who is this?"