Chapter 588

Underground top-secret containment area.

The red alarm is still flashing.

At the end of the Corridor, the half-meter-thick alloy blast door no longer looks as it did.

The door panel is covered with dense holes, its edges corroded black, and scattered on the floor are melted metal fragments. Wires inside the wall are exposed, sparks jumping a few times before dying out.

The air smells of burnt.

There is also a bloody smell.

The special police retreated to the sides, guns raised, but no one dared to fire.

The containment hall ahead has already been more than half destroyed.

More than a dozen specially made containment cabinets lie overturned on the ground, their doors shattered, the suppressive material inside completely devoured. Even the silver-gray patterns on the walls used to restrain Strange Rule have been gnawed away, incomplete.

In the very center stands a teenager.

Lu Yu is barefoot.

His school uniform jacket is torn open, revealing a pale chest. At the chest, black lines slowly wander; tiny flesh buds sprout at the edges of the flesh, only to be pushed back by some inner force.

His left hand hangs at his side.

Yet his five fingers have already changed shape.

The Nail are elongated, dark-tinged, and the edges tremble irregularly.

That is not a human hand.

Lu Yu lifts his head.

Both eyes are scarlet.

Ash piles beneath his feet.

That is the rule material swallowed inside the containment area, the swallowed confinement devices, and traces left by a few low-danger Weird.

When Jiang Yuan and Su Ming arrived, they saw Lu Yu raising his hand.

He slashed across an isolation wall ahead.

The wall surface did not explode.

It merely split cleanly down the middle, the break unnaturally smooth, with the Reinforced Steel Bar and wiring inside severed together.

A special police officer's throat tightened.

"Jiang Team."

"Lu Yu's mental index has already exceeded the warning line."

Jiang Yuan did not respond.

He stared at Lu Yu.

The black mist on Lu Yu's body did not spread outward, yet it is more troublesome than spreading.

That thing is contracting.

The more severe the contraction, the more it shows Lu Yu is suppressing.

If he cannot hold it back, the entire containment area will become his food.

Su Ming raised his hand, and a Time Marrow Worm protruded half its body from his palm.

The worm's feet touched the air and instantly retracted.

Su Ming frowned.

"Time ability cannot get in."

"The area around him is covered by the Devouring Rule."

Jiang Yuan drew a Black Card.

The card face spun between his fingers.

"Can it wake him up?"

Su Ming looked toward Lu Yu.

"You go try?"

Jiang Yuan did not take up the conversation.

He and Lu Yu are not exactly acquainted.

They can cooperate because the enemy is more troublesome.

But now, Lu Yu's body has no trace of an enemy.

Only loss of control.

Such people are the hardest to handle.

Lu Yu used to be good at hiding.

He would pose as a quiet student, show just the right amount of vulnerability when needed, and make the Federation, Eden Garden, and Qiu Ce Yuan willing to give him resources.

But Jiang Yuan has never liked him.

It is not because Lu Yu has done anything.

Rather, every time Jiang Yuan sees this teenager, he feels an inexplicable awkwardness.

Lu Yu is too steady.

So steady he doesn't seem like a teenager.

Now, that shell is gone.

Only then did Jiang Yuan see what was inside.

Lu Yu looked toward Jiang Yuan.

His gaze lingered on Jiang Yuan's waist Card Bag for two seconds.

Move aside.

When he spoke, his voice was hoarse.

Jiang Yuan didn't move.

You stop first.

Stop?

Lu Yu lowered his head and glanced at his own hand.

Black mist crawled up his arm; as it swept over his skin, the flesh split and then healed.

I've already stopped.

If you take another step forward, what gets swallowed won't just be the wall.

Jiang Yuan gripped the Black Card.

Then what do you want to swallow?

Lu Yu looked up.

The surrounding special police's breathing went ragged.

Someone instinctively tightened their grip on the trigger.

But Jiang Yuan didn't retreat.

Lu Yu still retains the ability to communicate.

This shows he hasn't completely lost control.

But this bit of sobriety won't last long.

Su Ming took a half step forward.

Lu Yu.

The Taotie Core has gone berserk; it's controlling you.

Lu Yu didn't answer.

He suddenly lifted his head and looked upward.

The alloy plates of the containment area's ceiling began to darken.

The black mist crawled upward along his line of sight.

One light went out.

The second.

The third.

The entire containment area plunged into darkness.

The special police formation fell into disorder.

Liang Wen hurried over from behind, the hem of his black windcoat sweeping dust off the ground.

He gripped that long blade in his hand, and still had a half piece of compressed biscuit in his mouth.

What's the situation?

I just went to get something to eat.

Did this kid wreck the place?

Su Ming glanced at him.

Say less.

Liang Wen stared at Lu Yu's hand.

This isn't wrecking the place.

This is preparing to feast.

Lu Yu tilted his head.

His scarlet pupils fell on Liang Wen.

Liang Wen's Adam's apple moved.

He shoved the biscuit back into his pocket.

I take it back.

This classmate's emotions are unstable; we should show more concern and less provocation.

Nobody laughed.

Liang Wen himself couldn't laugh either.

He has seen many out-of-control curse users.

But Lu Yu is different.

This guy devours rules.

Walls, guns, the blockade line, even abilities themselves—anything nearby could be eaten.

Liang Wen wasn't sure whether his Rewind would work.

Moreover, he couldn't afford to gamble.

His daughter still lay in the hospital ward.

His life wasn't worth much.

But there are some things he hasn't seen yet.

Jiang Yuan raised his right hand.

Shadow spread from beneath his feet.

The black edge crept across the ground but stopped three meters from Lu Yu.

Lu Yu stared at that patch of shadow.

"Your Shadow Ghost can also eat."

Jiang Yuan said.

"Then you come."

The ashes beneath Lu Yu's feet rose.

The black mist surged forward.

Jiang Yuan's shoulders tensed.

The Black Card was already pinched between his fingers.

As long as Lu Yu crosses that boundary, he will strike.

He will not harm Lu Yu.

But this is a containment zone.

Behind him were researchers, ordinary special police, and Zhao Qi and Han Cheng, who had just withdrawn from the Tongxin Plan laboratory.

They had just succeeded once.

We cannot all die here.

Lu Yu suddenly stopped.

He raised his hand and pressed it against his chest.

The flesh beneath his palm bulged.

Something inside was striking.

Sweat beaded on Lu Yu's forehead.

His breathing grew increasingly ragged.

"Get lost."

"All of you, get out."

Jiang Yuan sensed something was wrong.

Lu Yu was not threatening.

He was suppressing.

He could no longer hold it down.

Su Ming raised his hand and pressed the communicator.

"All personnel, retreat."

"Seal the Seventh Dock Passage and activate Level Two isolation."

Special police began to withdraw.

Their steps had just begun to move.

Lu Yu suddenly bent over.

Black mist burst from behind him, striking outward in all directions.

Jiang Yuan's gaze darkened.

The Dark Shadow Court unfolded.

The black domain pressed down on the hall.

The Time Marrow Worm in Su Ming's palm opened its mouthparts.

Time was dragged slower.

The speed of the black mist's spread decreased.

But it was still too fast.

The Black Card in Jiang Yuan's hand flew out.

The blade of the card sliced through the air, aiming straight for Lu Yu's shoulder.

He did not aim for a vital point.

He wanted to first cripple Lu Yu's arm.

The Black Card had already crossed the shadow's boundary.

Only half a meter remained between it and Lu Yu.

A female voice suddenly came from behind.

"Don't hit him!"

Jiang Yuan's fingers clenched.

The Black Card veered off.

It grazed past Lu Yu's shoulder, slicing the wall.

Behind the crowd, a girl rushed out.

Chen Yao.

Two special police reached out to stop her.

Chen Yao shook them off and ran quickly.

"Chen Yao!"

Su Ming spoke.

"Come back!"

Chen Yao did not stop.

She saw Lu Yu standing there.

Chen Yao saw the abnormal undulating black pattern on his chest.

Chen Yao saw the blood on his hand.

Chen Yao also saw that when he lifted his head, his eyes were no longer human.

Chen Yao's steps paused for a moment.

Just a moment.

Lu Yu looked over at her.

Black mist swirled around him.

He spoke.

"Don't come over."

Chen Yao continued forward.

She didn't cry, nor did she say much.

She simply walked up to Lu Yu.

Then she opened her arms and embraced him.

Everyone around them stopped.

The second Black Card in Jiang Yuan's hand did not fly out.

Su Ming stared at Chen Yao, his finger hovering over the terminal.

Liang Wen stood in place, not even uttering his usual idle chatter.

Chen Yao held him tightly.

Her forehead pressed against Lu Yu's shoulder.

Black mist touched her patient gown, and the hem quickly turned black.

Lu Yu's hand rose.

His fingertips had turned into blades.

They were very close to Chen Yao's back.

The shadow beneath Jiang Yuan's feet lifted.

Chen Yao, however, lifted her head.

She looked at Lu Yu.

"You're back."

Just four words.

Lu Yu's hand halted in midair.

A brief blankness appeared in his scarlet eyes.

Chen Yao held him, not letting go.

"At first, they said you were locked up."

"I didn't believe it."

Lu Yu's throat moved.

He wanted to push Chen Yao away.

But his hand stopped halfway up.

His memory held many plans.

Using whom, guarding against whom, deceiving whom, killing whom.

In his plans, Chen Yao had always been the most special one.

Because she was Chen Shao's sister.

She could restrain Chen Shao.

She could enter Qiu Ce Yuan.

She could become a line between the Federation and Eden Garden.

Lu Yu had never regarded her as someone needing protection.

At least, he had always told himself that.

But now.

Chen Yao embraced him.

She did not ask what he had become.

She did not ask whether he would kill.

She simply said.

"You're back."

The black pattern on Lu Yu's chest stopped undulating.

The black mist halted half an inch from Chen Yao's body, not advancing further.

He lowered his head.

Chen Yao's hand still gripped his clothing.

She gripped it tightly.

Lu Yu suddenly recalled his past life.

After that great disaster, many people were shouting for help.

No one would wait for anyone to return.

He survived because he was ruthless enough.

He treated others as food, as resources, as numbers.

But Chen Yao was different.

She ran over and embraced him as he was now.

She embraced a monster that even he himself despised.

Lu Yu closed his eyes.

The Taotie Core in his chest emitted a low rumble.

He raised his hand and pressed it against Chen Yao's back.

He did not hurt her.

The black mist retreated from around them.

It retreated back into Lu Yu's body.

The corroded marks on the ground stopped spreading.

The lingering black on the ceiling also slowly dissipated.

The containment area's lighting was restored.

The special police still held their guns.

No one lowered theirs.

Because Lu Yu's oppressive presence remained.

But he was no longer out of control.

Lu Yu opened his eyes.

The scarlet in his pupils receded, returning to their original black.

He pulled Chen Yao away from his embrace.

The motion was gentle.

Chen Yao looked at him.

"Are you okay?"

Lu Yu gazed at her for a few seconds.

"I'm fine."

Liang Wen muttered quietly beside him.

"This girl really has a way with words."

Su Ming ignored him.

He stared at Lu Yu.

"Now that you've regained your senses, just how much did you swallow?"

Lu Yu turned around.

He swept his gaze over the debris of the containment bins on the floor, then looked toward Jiang Yuan.

"That's enough."

Jiang Yuan put the Black Card back into his Card Bag.

"You almost ate everyone here."

"I won't."

Lu Yu answered quickly.

"I just can't control my hunger, but that doesn't mean I'll do something irreversible."

Jiang Yuan stared at him.

Lu Yu's previous behavior was too dangerous.

That statement lacks credibility.

But Chen Yao stood beside Lu Yu.

She did not leave.

Jiang Yuan did not press further.

The projection of Lord Wei appeared above the hall.

The old man sat in his office, the tea beside him already cold.

"Lu Yu."

"Explain."

Lu Yu lifted his head.

"The digestion period of the Taotie Core has ended."

"His power has stabilized."

"Next...... we can go look for the Eye of Truth."