Chapter 367: Enhancement

The group temporarily shook off the pursuing mutants and reached a flat high ground to rest and bandage their wounds.

Standing atop the height and looking down, the entire island resembled a battlefield. The sea surface was filled with frogs, their croaks rising and falling in waves; the harbor was littered with severed limbs and body parts; from within the dense forest, cannon fire occasionally boomed; flames erupted toward the Tu family mansion, thick smoke rolling skyward.

Seeing Lu Hu's hesitation, Li Cheng said: "The Brocade Uniform Guard came ashore to investigate the Tu family's treason. Under these circumstances, there's no need for secrecy anymore."

Good news: the Tu family did not commit treason.

Bad news: what the Tu family is doing is even more sinister than treason.

Those killed by the mutants also turn into undead, possessing immense strength, swift movement, and tenacious vitality. Undead transformed from ordinary servants rival post-heavenly martial artists; those transformed from post-heavenly martial artists rival primordial experts.

If this disaster were to occur in the densely populated Northern and Southern Directly Governed Regions, or in border garrisons stationed with frontier troops,

Merely imagining the scene made Lu Hu's scalp prickle. He immediately recounted what he knew: "A month ago, the garrison office in Tianjin received two anonymous letters of unknown origin. The first letter detailed numerous crimes committed by the Tu family.

For example, they imprison and drug foreign brides and recruit sons-in-law, ensuring they can never leave the island;

They regularly purchase slaves from Korea, Japan, and Western sea merchants, smuggling them onto the island under cover of night—all slaves have vanished without a trace;

Additionally, they secretly collude with the White Lotus Sect; smuggle firearms to the Jurchens; and sell intelligence to the Japanese pirates."

"That's it?"

Li Cheng raised an eyebrow. The moral standards of Ming Dynasty mid-to-late literati were roughly equivalent to potato chips stripped of air.

They had no ability to get real work done, yet excelled at land consolidation in their hometowns, factional infighting at court, colluding with foreign enemies, and draining the state's blood.

The Tu family's crimes sounded terrifying, but they were all old tricks long exhausted by high officials, scholars, and aristocrats—wherever the soil lies, it buries people; beneath the flower beds of every noble household lie several slain concubines and servants, or servants disguised as Japanese pirates and witnessed dead.

Especially when it's an anonymous letter.

Lu Hu's face flushed with embarrassment as he continued: "There was a second letter, but after the commander read it, he departed for Jingcheng that very night—I didn't see its contents. I only know it contained a painting."

"A painting?"

Zhang Fuluang's expression changed drastically; he leapt to his feet. "What kind of painting? Was it this kind?"

He pulled out a sheet of rice paper from his robe and handed it to Lu Hu, who took a deep breath. "Based on the paper's material, it should be the same kind."

The others were confused, but Zhang Fuluang and Brother Sikong's faces were grim as they recounted in detail the murals seen in the Divine Molting Corridor—and how Zhang Fuluang had been dispatched to the island.

"So the Tu family's ancestor, the king of the Cangze Ancient Kingdom nearly three thousand years ago, possessed precognition and could foresee three millennia ahead? And this precognitive ability was somehow inherited, sending letters to Longhu Mountain and the Brocade Uniform Guard?"

Su Konghu scratched his head with his left hand, while his female companion Wang Biliu was applying medicine and bandaging his right arm.

Zhang Fuluang paused. "Hard to say. There are too many unexplainable points here.

First, if the Cangze king truly could foresee three millennia ahead, why did the Cangze Ancient Kingdom vanish from history?"

Second, the material of the corridor murals is undoubtedly ancient, yet the left mural depicts only me and Brother Sikong—there's no depiction of Master Pi Fu. The right mural, portraying the banquet massacre, shows most guests' faces as blurred.

Third, if this precognitive ability was inherited by the Cangze Kingdom's survivors—the Tu family—why have they remained poor for centuries, content to live as sea-dwelling boat people? Even a trace of precognition would have been enough to lift them out of poverty."

"Indeed, I know a Western hermit named Doctor Strange who once said his greatest regret was never learning his master Doctor Strange Gambler's precognitive ability to dominate casinos."

Li Cheng casually spun a tale: "But for the third point, there is an explanation: atavism.

For instance, dipteran insects whose hind wings have generally regressed occasionally produce individuals with two pairs of wings;

Dolphins occasionally develop extra flippers;

Human infants sometimes possess tails or excessive body hair.

The Tu family's ancestor—the one said to have visited the Dragon Palace—likely awakened his ancestor's precognitive ability, thereby rising to wealth and reclaiming the lineage."

"Huh?"

Brother Sikong froze. "So… the several letters sent to Longhu Mountain and the Brocade Uniform Guard were also left behind by the Tu family's ancestor? He foresaw his degenerate descendants' wickedness and intended to kill them for the greater good?"

"No. The Tu family's first generation died over a hundred years ago. This rice paper hasn't been preserved—it's clearly not a century-old relic. I lean toward the idea that someone within the Tu family who possesses precognition sent these letters."

Li Cheng shook his head. "Living as a wealthy merchant in the South China Sea is far more comfortable and stable than being king of the Cangze Ancient Kingdom three thousand years ago."

"I understand. The Tu family has a traitor. He doesn't want to join the others in treason—he just wants to be a rich man."

Su Konghu slapped his thigh. "But if he has precognition, why not simply inform the court? Have imperial troops arrive with a hundred warships to surround the island and force the Tu family to surrender—

If they refuse, unleash a barrage of cannons and blow all the rebels to smithereens.

That would make more sense.

Moreover, Commander Lu was sent by the Brocade Uniform Guard, and Daoist Zhang was sent by Longhu Mountain. Why didn't either side reveal from the start that the Tu family had an inside informant?

Both the Brocade Uniform Guard and Longhu Mountain have imperial backing. It doesn't make sense they didn't know each other's mission was to investigate the Tu family."

"Who knows? Maybe only by arriving on this island without prior knowledge can a good outcome be achieved."

Li Cheng shrugged and said to Lu Hu: "Brother Hu, your Brocade Uniform Guard must have contingency plans."

"Yes."

Lu Hu strangely felt Li Cheng's tone when calling him "Brother Hu" carried a northeastern accent. He cleared his throat. "The original plan: three days from now at dusk, a merchant ship will dock, carrying several Brocade Uniform Guard members to rendezvous."

"Three days? We might not survive tonight."

Wu Ge's expression was grim. Not far below, tree shadows swayed—the undead could spot them at any moment.

Dark clouds loomed slowly toward the island; fine rain drifted through the wind. Bitter wind, bitter rain, surrounded by undead. If Wu Ge hadn't cared for his junior sister, he'd likely have already jumped off the cliff into the sea.

"I have a plan. Face death to be reborn."

Li Cheng had been waiting for Wu Ge to say this: "Everything began with the Tu family. Fight our way back to the Tu mansion, capture Old Lady Tu and the other Tu family members—and everything will be resolved."

Ah, this—

The group exchanged glances. Lu Hu frowned. "Master Pi Fu, we have martial artists here, but so do the undead. Undead transformed from primordial experts are especially fierce and violent."

Primordial experts' physiques rival Captain America; a single matchlock rifle can hardly threaten them.

Undead transformed from primordial experts snap trees thick as a man can embrace as easily as playing.

"I know. So I'll give you some enhanced methods. Wait a moment—I'll be right back."

Li Cheng called for Huiyu, ducked into the forest, pretended to fiddle around, then actually retrieved two large crates from his 3D warehouse and carried them back to Lu Hu and the others, who stared in stunned silence.

"The firearms in the left crate are my friend's hometown specialty: Gatling, Maxim, Barrett, Kalashnikov. The vials in the right crate are protein powder, boldenone, stanozolol, methenolone, and Compound Five—all for strengthening the body."

(End of Chapter)