Chapter 338: Luo Manuo: He Fed Me a Giant Potato

"I"

"You"

Looking at the wish list in his mind, a notification about Bena’s wish suddenly popped up—An Sheng’s mouth hung slightly open, his face frozen in stunned disbelief.

Holy shit! I literally just got holy-shitted! So the wish list can do this too?

Bena surrendered so quickly because she knew she couldn’t open the third layer of the ruins, but the ruins contained vast amounts of archival data—she planned to use herself and other archaeologists as bait to help her another companion, who possessed chameleon genes, escape.

The plan was meticulously arranged—even if the lumberjacks arrived and interrogated every archaeologist present, the chameleon would still have enough time lag to slip out of the encirclement.

The plan was perfect.

But Bena was a devout believer; when captured, she prayed to God, hoping everything would go smoothly and blessing her companion, Luo Manuo.

However.

Her silent prayer, word for word, was fully absorbed into Fuli Master’s wish list.

It revealed to Fuli Master that a chameleon-gene-enhanced warrior was hidden in the second layer of the ruins.

Moreover, from Bena’s prayer, it was clear she had strong confidence in that chameleon.

"Boom—"

An Sheng thought for a moment, then hurled the fly swatter he was holding straight onto the staircase entrance, blocking the passage completely, and shouted toward the door: "Jin Qianbao, pull the door tight—there are too many people on the second floor; wait until I knock them all out before you open it."

"!? "

Seeing Fuli Master’s actions, Bena’s expression flickered slightly, but she didn’t panic—her face still wore a sly smile.

"Raise your hands. Let me check." Fuli Master walked up to the surrendered scholars.

Altogether, there were over twenty archaeologists in the ruins, men and women—some with blonde hair and blue eyes, others with faces typical of Xia Guo.

But An Sheng didn’t care much about their origins.

He tore off their coats, ripped them into strips, tightly bound their fingers and limbs, turning them all into rice dumpling-like bundles, and dumped them all in front of the staircase entrance.

"Uh, since we surrendered, shouldn’t we get better treatment?"

Seeing Fuli Master finish binding everyone else but leaving her alone, Bena’s cheeks flushed with a suspicious redness, her lips trembling as she said:

"When you tie me up, can you tear my pantyhose and bind me extra tight? Ideally… you could scratch me twice more, leave some marks on my cheeks or chest."

"Don’t misunderstand me—I’m not a pervert. You know our field values loyalty. Look at me, spotless all over—you can tell I’m a spineless turncoat, which is terrible. Just help me out a little, for the sake of my honesty."

Bena spoke with complete seriousness, hoping Fuli Master would reward her for being honest.

Not—should I say—help, since surrendering without a fight is always a despised act.

"Oh? You want something exciting?"

Fuli Master tossed a bound scholar by the door, glancing sideways at Bena seated on the table.

"No no no, not exciting—just help me out. I’m a devout believer; we reject any premarital impurity," Bena said earnestly, her gaze darting nervously.

"Fine! I’ll give you something exciting," Fuli Master pulled a stun device from his saddlebag, rushed to Bena’s side, grabbed her collar, and glared at her: "Speak! Where’s your other companion hiding? If you don’t tell me, I’ll make you eat pineapple jam with spaghetti!"

"Huh?"

Bena froze—she never imagined the "excitement" Fuli Master meant could be this extreme: pineapple jam with spaghetti? What’s the difference from eating shit?

And

Had Luo Manuo been exposed?

Impossible—his disguise was flawless, undetectable to the naked eye, undetectable by thermal scans; the only possible exposure vectors—the recording pen and USB drive—were shielded and implanted inside his body.

"Don’t even try to deny it!"

"Fuli Master’s nose is sharp! That stinking bastard reeks of cologne—completely different from everyone here." As Fuli Master spoke, he pressed the stun device against Bena’s thigh and flipped the switch.

"Uhh…"

Bena let out a soft moan—Fuli Master froze, staring at the stun device in shock.

Wait, shouldn’t this thing make people convulse?

Why did she just moan and nothing else happened?

An Sheng, a lifelong single man across two lifetimes, didn’t know that in reality, some people play even wilder than in movies.

Wang Ya crouched before the staircase door, peering through the crack at the interrogation below, her teeth grinding so hard she thought they’d shatter.

"You mean Ma Nuo? He’s not here. As for surrendering, we Xia Guo people have a fine traditional virtue," Bena didn’t deny Fuli Master’s claim—instead, she steered the conversation, invoking the most beloved Xia Guo cliché: milk.

"Zzzz—"

Fuli Master zapped Bena twice more—she showed no signs of distress beyond slightly rapid breathing, and Luo Manuo still didn’t show himself.

Fuli Master zapped her two more times—Bena made a few half-hearted "mmms" and "aaas," clearly faking it.

"…Have you undergone electroshock training?"

Seeing Bena wouldn’t crack and Luo Manuo refused to emerge, Fuli Master’s face darkened—he ripped off Bena’s coat. She screamed.

"No! I’m a devout believer—you can’t humiliate me like this!" Bena cried out.

"Shut your mouth!"

Fuli Master bound her too, stuffed all remaining fabric into her mouth, and tossed her into the pile.

Luo Manuo, hidden above, dared not even glance down—the sixth sense of a spirit beast was a terrifying instinct; he was terrified: "…"

"Alright! Fuli Master isn’t a bad fox. Since you won’t come out, I won’t play the villain."

Fuli Master turned and sprinted to the diesel generator room, dragging out every last drop of diesel and all the weapons inside.

He kicked one oil drum after another, spilling diesel across the second floor; each drum slammed into the ruin’s walls with a "boom," diesel splashing like waves, coating everything flammable.

"Diesel has a high ignition point—it’s hard to light—but here’s good news:"

"Once ignited, diesel fumes are toxic!"

"Jin Qianbao! Go dismantle the C4 upstairs—Fuli Master’s gonna cook you a five-clawed golden dragon!"

"Dismantled it—the foreign bitch lied. Those aren’t RDX up there—just nitroglycerin."

"Who cares? Anything that burns or explodes, grab it." Fuli Master hefted a rocket launcher, aiming at the ceiling—the crosshair perfectly centered on Luo Manuo’s hiding spot.

And trembling Luo Manuo dared not look back at what was happening below.

(End of chapter)