Chapter 97: Tyrant's Rage

"No entry to the second floor..." The burly figures of two Pig-men blocked the path of Li Yu and his companion.

These two Pig-men were not particularly strong. At most, they were E-Class Lifeforms, and Li Yu could easily deal with them.

However, his current goal in going to the second floor was to erase his tracks. There was no need to force a confrontation here.

"I'm looking for Big Mother..." the teenager declared loudly.

The two Pig-men, who were wearing sunglasses, finally looked down at the boy. One of them immediately let out a sneer. "So it's Kid Keli. Have you figured things out? Are you finally willing to climb into Big Mother's bed?"

A mental image of the massive, fleshy Pig-woman pinning Keri down and grunting heavily flashed through Li Yu's mind. It was a completely eye-searing thought.

"You..." Keri was visibly angry. "Stop insulting me. I'm here to collect my pay from her!"

"What did you just say!?" One of the Pig-men lifted Keri into the air by his collar, pulling off his sunglasses to glare at him.

"Big Mother is a shining pearl among our Pig-men. It is your honor that she even looked your way, and you dare call it an insult?"

"You... let me go!" Keri yelled loudly.

"What are you all arguing about!?" A pig's head poked out from the top of the stairs. Upon seeing Keri, a hideous smile spread across its face.

"Oh, it's little Keri. Hurry on up..." That smile sent a chill through both Li Yu and Keri.

"Hmph..." The two Pig-men snorted coldly and stepped aside. Thanks to the pig at the top of the stairs speaking up, Li Yu was spared any interrogation and simply followed Keri up to the second floor.

The area was filled with obese Pig-men, making one feel slightly nauseated. Quite a few of them greeted Keri, making it clear that he was a regular here.

The door to the security room was wide open, and there was not even a single person inside. Security was far too lax, though this was just an entertainment venue, after all.

Keri was led into a room deep inside, while Li Yu was left behind in the hall.

Several female Pig-men frequently cast interested glances in his direction, drool literally sliding from their mouths.

'Why doesn't your species' aesthetic standard for females apply to males?' Li Yu thought, rendered utterly speechless.

"Ignore me!" he spat out, his Mental Power surging forth. This was his first time attempting to control lifeforms on such a large scale.

Fortunately, there were no formidable lifeforms among this group; they were all just useless trash.

He walked straight into the security room, forcibly yanked out the hard drive, and stuffed it into his jacket, completely erasing any trace of him and Li Ping.

Returning to his original spot, he released his control. The group of Pig-men immediately resumed casting heated glances his way.

In the room at the end of the hall, Keri seemed to be arguing with Big Mother.

"...If it weren't for me, they all would have run away! And this little bit of Star Coins is all you're giving me?"

"Little Keri, I am the one who offered the discount. What does that have to do with you?"

"Do you want Star Coins? Come to big sister's side. On your own, who knows how long you'll have to save up before you can afford to buy back that pitiful sister of yours."

Keri stormed out of the room in a huff. Seeing Li Yu, he paused for a moment. Li Yu gave him a nod, signaling that they could leave.

Muttering curses, Keri headed down the stairs... Li Yu followed behind him with an impassive expression.

He had not brought Li Ping along. The two had temporarily separated. After all, with the situation unclear, it was better to minimize any chance of exposure.

"Sooner or later, I am going to smash this place to pieces!" Leaving the Wandering Butterfly Bar, Keri was still burning with anger.

Li Yu remained noncommittal, pondering where he could purchase sand. Suddenly, he realized there was a local informant standing right in front of him.

"Kid Keli... do you know where I can buy sand?" he asked.

"Sand?" Kid Keli blinked, looking somewhat uncertain. "What kind of sand do you need?"

"Sand? Are there different types?" Li Yu was also slightly taken aback. He genuinely hadn't researched this topic.

"Yeah... there's Comet Impact Dust, naturally forming Star Sand from the Universe, water sand formed from heavy water annihilation..."

Keri actually knew quite a bit. Li Yu pondered this. The Sand Worm would absorb power from the sand, so the higher the quality of the sand, the stronger it would become... That should be how it worked, right?

"The better kind of sand..."

"Then you want Star Sand. It costs one hundred thousand Star Coins per ton. Many lifeforms use it to temper their bodies..." Keri suggested.

"That's not cheap..." Li Yu murmured. Keri immediately offered, "Then how about the Comet Impact Dust?"

"You misunderstand..." Li Yu shook his head. "I mean, since the price is not cheap, it must be of excellent quality..."

'What a wealthy tycoon...' Keri thought, entirely speechless. To this guy, expensive simply meant good.

Under Keri's guidance, Li Yu arrived at a street lined mostly with storefronts. Some people had even set up stalls on the ground. It truly lacked the grandeur one would expect from the Interstellar Era.

The style here was incredibly flamboyant and savage. No Man's Land lacked any orderly city planning, overflowing with a chaotic mix of darkness and vibrant neon splendor.

The shop selling sand was practically deserted. The owner lay asleep on a chair with a cowboy hat covering his face, only stirring slowly when he heard movement.

"Oh, it's Keri... What are you here to buy..." The owner, a member of the Interstellar Humans, glanced at Keri and spoke lethargically.

"This customer needs to buy Star Sand!" Keri announced loudly.

"Star Sand!" The owner jolted awake and leaped up, his face full of excitement. After all, Star Sand was not something people bought on a regular basis.

"You need to purchase Star Sand?" The owner sidled up to Li Yu with a fawning expression.

"That's right..." Li Yu nodded. He looked around and saw several glass tanks, but instead of water, they were filled with sand. A multitude of strange creatures were burrowing and swimming through it.

There were colorful lizards, one-eyed sand snakes... and unknown lifeforms covered entirely in scales.

"How much do you need? There's a discount if you buy more than a ton..." the owner said, rubbing his hands together.

"Ten tons, I suppose..." Li Yu estimated, throwing out a number.

"How much?!" The owner's voice shot up an octave, his eyes blazing with fervor. This was a massive client.

"Ten tons..." Li Yu repeated. "Do you have it?"

"Yes... yes!" The owner nodded frantically. "I'll give you a five... no, a ten percent discount. How does that sound?"

"Mm..." Li Yu's reaction was completely flat. Small change... it was all just small change.

"Can it be delivered to my Spaceship?"

"Yes... of course it can..." The owner nodded excitedly.

Li Yu provided an address, though it was not the actual location where his Spaceship was moored. After paying the bill, he prepared to leave. He wanted to go back and study that key.

Keri was held back by the owner, but Li Yu paid it no mind. He simply waved at Keri and left on his own.

"Keri, you really brought your uncle a huge piece of business this time..." The owner was thrilled. Being a generous man, he immediately withdrew five percent of the total and handed it over as a commission.

This was one of the unspoken rules of their trade. Keri didn't refuse, though his expression betrayed an unusual level of intense excitement...

"It's enough... it's enough..."

He muttered under his breath. The owner looked at him with mild surprise, reining in his smile. He sighed and prepared to make some calls to the other sand dealers.

After all, who would hoard ten tons of Star Sand for no reason? He would have to source the stock from elsewhere.

On his way back, Li Yu noticed that the area around the Wandering Butterfly Bar was heavily cordoned off by Green Knight soldiers. This caused his expression to shift slightly, and he found a secluded corner to alter his facial features.

A crowd of onlookers had gathered in the distance to watch the spectacle, oblivious to what had actually happened.

"What's going on?"

"How did the Wandering Butterfly Bar provoke trouble with these guys?"

Some long-time customers who had just returned to No Man's Land asked in bewilderment.

"Who knows. These green-armored soldiers have locked down several places already. I have no idea what they're searching for."

...

On the second floor of the Wandering Butterfly Bar... Big Mother was kneeling on the floor, her head drenched in a cold sweat. She was surrounded by the corpses of dead Pig-men. Blood pooled across the ground, seeping through the floorboards.

"Where is the security hard drive?" The woman who had appeared earlier glared down at the obese pig, her eyes filled with utter disgust.

"I... I don't know..." Big Mother trembled violently. She had no idea what a hard drive even was.

"This is your territory... and you don't know where the hard drive went?" The woman raised a green gun and pressed the barrel directly against Big Mother's forehead.

"I... I really don't know! Maybe... maybe it was taken away by someone else..." Big Mother's brain spun frantically.

'After those green-armored soldiers left, it seemed like only one person came upstairs... No... it was two people... Keri!'

Big Mother hastily shouted, "I know... I know!"

"What do you know?" The woman narrowed her eyes.

"It was Keri... It had to be Keri! He was the only one who came up here, and he brought someone with him, a man..." Big Mother explained, a surge of bitter resentment welling up inside her.

"Do you know where he is?"

"I don't know, but his sister is in the slave market. He won't abandon his sister..." Hatred burned in Big Mother's eyes.

"Very well..." The woman nodded. A loud bang echoed, and Big Mother slumped lifelessly onto the floor.

"Go investigate this Keri. Once you find him, bring him to me..." the woman ordered. She paused for a moment before adding, "And bring his sister... bring them both."

"Yes, ma'am!" Several green-armored soldiers acknowledged the order and departed. The woman surveyed the room and frowned. "Burn this place down, and wire the compensation fee to the public account of No Man's Land."

Fierce flames erupted from the Wandering Butterfly Bar, causing even Li Yu to frown slightly. Dealing with this group seemed like it would be rather troublesome.

He thought of Keri. The teenager was the only potential leak. He hadn't expected the other party to act so quickly. The importance of that key appeared to be extraordinary.

After a moment's thought, he opened the Black Hole Network, found the Black Skull account, and sent a message.

"I have found the people who attacked you in the Pale Land. They are in No Man's Land."

Black Skull: "?? Elaborate."

Li Yu: "Send the money."

Black Skull: "How can you prove it?"

Li Yu directly extracted a short clip from the Wandering Butterfly Bar's security footage, isolating only the frame showing Li Ping.

Because Baal had forcefully insisted that the attacker could not possibly be Li Ping and must have been an imposter, the Black Skull had never issued a public bounty for Li Ping.

Five hundred thousand Star Coins were transferred to his account!

Li Yu: "The Black Skull truly has deep pockets. Awesome.jpg"

Black Skull: "Cut the crap. What is the exact situation..."

Li Yu: "They were at the Wandering Butterfly Bar, but their backing seems quite substantial. If you show up late, you probably won't be able to catch them. Hehe.jpg"

Black Skull: "Furious.jpg"

Li Yu closed the window and walked back to the Spaceship with a brisk step. Li Ping had already returned to the ship.

"Li Ping..." Li Yu called out.

"What are your orders..." Li Ping immediately stepped forward, looking at Li Yu with deep reverence.

"Go find that group of green-armored soldiers from earlier. Tell them you know where the item is," Li Yu instructed.

"And act as if you have powerful backing behind you..."

"Yes, sir!" Li Ping did not hesitate in the slightest, turning on his heel to leave.

"Wait..." Seeing how resolute Li Ping was, Li Yu felt a brief moment of hesitation. "Stay safe."

"Yes, sir!" Li Ping's eyes instantly reddened, welling with unshed tears. He shouted his acknowledgment and marched out of the Spaceship with an aura of indomitable resolve.

"What did you just send him off to do?" Hunter wandered over and asked.

"He went to enjoy some blessings... Do you want to join him?" Li Yu countered.

"No... no thanks..." Hunter immediately shook his head. Enjoy blessings? Yeah, right. It was a miracle if Li Ping even managed to make it back alive.

Li Yu then had Claptrap take the ship out for a brief flight to switch its camouflage before returning to No Man's Land, anchoring at a completely different docking bay this time.

Meanwhile, Clone One's journey of revisiting an old place in the Resident Evil World refreshed with its first day's logs.

[Day One - Resident Evil World: The simple folk customs of Raccoon City, where lovely zombies roam everywhere.

Walking down the streets, you spot a scantily clad beauty fighting against the detestable zombies.

You descend from the sky, slaughtering everything in your path. Alice is left stunned. When she finally sees your face, she is utterly shocked because, in her memories, you had already been infected.

You tell Alice that it was only because of her that you managed to hold on. Although Alice is suspicious, in this bleak and pale world, reuniting with an old friend is still a cause for joy.

You affectionately support Alice, even though she doesn't need the help.

You travel together, reuniting with Jill, Terry, Carlos, and the others. You also manage to locate the doctor's daughter and desperately fight your way out of the siege.

In the end, you confront the Tyrant that was modified from your original body. The Umbrella Corporation adopted your plan and transformed you into the first-generation Tyrant.

Furious, you engage in a fierce battle with the Tyrant. Using terrifying strength, you defeat the abomination and successfully escape Raccoon City.]

[Acquired Special Item: Tyrant's Rage. Would you like to extract it?]

So many things happened in just one day... But then again, the storyline of Resident Evil 2 inherently took place within a span of twenty-four hours.

Encountering a Tyrant forged from his own original body was quite an experience. Back then, he didn't possess much strength, but now, he could absolutely crush his past self.

Li Yu felt somewhat speechless. After all, it was Clone One's own chaotic scheme to offer up a plan to the Umbrella Corporation. It remained to be seen just how much of his proposal they had actually adopted.

[Special Item Acquired: Tyrant's Rage. Being modified into a Tyrant is a humiliation for the host. Let the fury of the Tyrant incinerate everything.

Effect: For one hour after use, the user will ignore all pain and emotional interference. Overall strength is doubled, and Self-Healing Ability receives a tenfold amplification.]

'Damn!' Li Yu's eyes widened. What a fantastic item! This was practically an explosive potential booster. It looked like a standard syringe, filled with a dark green liquid.

'Not bad at all... What's so humiliating about this? So what if I was modified into a Tyrant? If I got something like this every time, I'd gladly be experimented on a few more times.'

"Master... your sand has been delivered..." Claptrap's voice rang out.

"That was pretty fast..." Li Yu said, mildly surprised.

The address he had left wasn't their current location, but another docking port that was completely empty.

Since it was empty, the owner would naturally have to contact him upon arrival.

"Just tell him to drop the cargo off there. We'll go pick it up. Once we've collected it, take the ship out for another spin and switch up the camouflage again," Li Yu instructed.

The Spaceship powered up. As if suddenly remembering something, Li Yu pulled a small black metal box from his pocket.

He approached Mo Duo. Ever since she had merged with that dark green bead, she had become increasingly reclusive and silent.

She frequently sat in front of the porthole hugging her knees, staring blankly out into the boundless Void of the Starry Sky.

"What are you thinking about?" Li Yu's face abruptly popped into Mo Duo's line of sight. They were so close that they could almost feel each other's breath. Mo Duo jumped in surprise, a faint blush creeping onto her cheeks.

"Nothing..." she shook her head, turning to look in another direction.

"Colored Contact Lenses. Remember to wear them the next time you go out..." Li Yu tossed the black metal box to her. Mo Duo caught it, pursing her lips. "Thank you..." she murmured softly.

"If something is bothering you, you can tell me..." Li Yu said after a moment's thought.

"Mm..." Mo Duo continued gazing into the Void. Her profile was exquisitely beautiful, though her eyes remained entirely unfocused.

Hunter stood to the side, completely mute. 'Why doesn't anyone care about me? I'm shivering from the injustice. When will men finally be able to stand up for themselves?'