Chapter 131: The Red Suit

The expressions of the people in the room shifted as they watched the seemingly friendly young man who had suddenly pushed the door open and walked in.

A rugged-looking man sitting across from the man in the red suit, the type who looked fierce and hard to mess with from appearance alone, slammed his palm on the table. He looked like he was in a foul mood, his eyes red from losing. Startled for a moment, he shot up and cursed, “Who the hell let you in? Don’t you know we’re playing cards…”

As he yelled, he reached for the gun tucked into his waistband.

People living in the Wasteland generally fell into two types: those with very good tempers and those with very bad ones.

But before he could draw his gun, a cold dagger was suddenly pressed against his throat. Gecko, who had entered the room unnoticed sometime after Lu Xin, had already subdued the man reaching for his weapon.

Holding the dagger against the short-tempered man with one hand, Gecko drew his own gun with the other.

“Wha— What… what do you want?”

The man’s temper cooled considerably. He slowly released his grip on his gun and asked in a trembling voice.

Gecko slowly straightened up, glanced at Lu Xin, and flipped the safety off the gun in his other hand.

His eyes swept over the other six people in the room, lingering on the two girls wearing rabbit ears. A smile spread across his face as he casually twirled the gun in his hand, his finger tracing circles near the trigger.

With the safety off, the gun was ready to fire at any moment.

But Gecko’s control was precise. His finger rested on the trigger but didn’t apply enough pressure to fire.

As he spun it, he might have looked like he was just showing off, but the gun effectively covered everyone remaining in the room.

“Brother, which one is it?”

He asked Lu Xin with a grin, “Or is it all of them?”

Lu Xin didn’t answer, just gave a slight nod, his gaze fixed on the man in the red suit across the table.

The man had long hair and wore a flamboyant, bright red suit. How he managed to keep it so vibrant and clean in a place like the Wasteland was a mystery, making him stand out like a flower among the dusty crowd.

Lu Xin recognized him instantly without Mom needing to point him out.

He was the Puppet-type ability user from the Knight Orders that attacked the Second Satellite City.

The reason was simple: Lu Xin felt a sense of familiarity when he saw the man’s smile.

Some time ago, a mentally modified person had tried to approach him, but Lu Xin had blown its head off. Now, looking at the man in the red suit, he realized the smile was identical. Thinking back, it must have been this man smiling at him through the mentally modified person back then.

…

…

The man in the red suit met Lu Xin’s gaze, hesitated slightly, and then offered a faint smile.

He placed the cards he was holding down on the table. “Three aces. I win,” he said with a smile.

Across from him, the rugged man with Gecko’s dagger at his throat shifted uncomfortably.

He looked like he wanted to curse but couldn’t with the sharp dagger pointed at him.

After putting down his cards, the man in the red suit leaned back slowly against his chair. His narrow eyes sharpened as they scanned Lu Xin and Gecko. “Who are you?” he asked slowly, a smile playing on his lips.

Gecko instinctively glanced at Lu Xin.

Lu Xin’s expression remained unchanged. “I think you know who I am, so I won’t answer that,” he said slowly. “I’ll just state my purpose. I’m here to take you back. It’s best if you don’t resist, because I intend to bring you back alive. Killing you only becomes meaningful after you’ve been tried and sentenced…”

“However, I don’t have experience fighting ability users, so if things get physical, I can only go for the kill.”

“In that case, I worry you might already be dead by the time I capture you…”

…

Gecko’s expression turned slightly odd as he listened.

The smile on the man in the red suit’s face deepened.

After a brief pause, he shook his head slightly and muttered to himself, “No wonder Boss was so careful…”

Then he smiled at Lu Xin. “What you say makes a lot of sense.”

As he spoke, he slowly extended both hands as if giving Lu Xin the opportunity to handcuff him.

Gecko watched his movements intently, ready to shoot at the slightest sign of trouble.

But throughout the entire process of extending his hands, he was unnaturally compliant, showing no intention of resisting.

At this moment, however, the expressions of the few people sitting at the sides of the card table turned bewildered.

They had seemed terrified when Lu Xin burst in and Gecko pulled out his gun, remaining silent the whole time. But now, two of them, as if overcome by extreme fear, suddenly cried out and simultaneously fell backward.

As they tilted, one pulled a handgun from under his chair, aiming insidiously at Lu Xin.

The other used his shoulder to shove the card table upward, trying to flip it towards Gecko, who held the gun.

“Not behaving!”

Gecko’s voice snapped out.

Two gunshots rang out simultaneously.

The gun spinning rapidly in his hand barked twice, short and loud.

The two troublemakers collapsed to the ground at the same time, one shot between the eyes, the other in the shoulder.

Their movements slowed, and they slumped limply.

The situation seemed momentarily under control, bringing a faint sense of relief.

But unexpectedly, the man in the red suit sitting across the table suddenly chuckled.

In the next instant, the two who had collapsed limply suddenly snapped their eyes open.

Both the one shot in the head and the one shot in the shoulder moved with surprising speed and ferocity.

One, lying on the ground, aimed at Lu Xin and pulled the trigger.

The other quickly flipped the card table, sending cards and money flying everywhere.

…

…

“Mentally modified people!”

Seeing these two nearly unkillable ‘card buddies’, Gecko immediately shouted a warning to Lu Xin.

Lu Xin watched them, recalling the materials he had reviewed:

“Puppet-type ability user research materials…”

“This was his first time hunting an ability user, and having no prior combat experience against them, Chen Jing had prepared extensive materials for him. These were compiled and analyzed personally by several professors from the Qinggang City Research Institute.”

“Puppet-type ability user characteristics: Controls others’ actions via psychic threads!”

“Characteristic: The higher the psychic power magnitude and the more refined the ability, the more adept the control, capable of perfectly mimicking reality.”

“Key point: Puppets used by Puppet-type ability users require special preparation. Normal people can potentially be controlled, but individual will and psychic power magnitude often lead to resistance issues in manipulation. Only puppets created through procedures like lobotomy and psychic cleansing of the brain, resulting in puppets devoid of mental power, can be freely controlled by the ability user.”

“First-stage Puppet ability users do not possess will transference ability…”

“First-stage Puppet-type ability user control limit: 10 puppets.”

“Mentally modified puppet weakness: Destroy the spine.”

“Puppet-type ability user weakness: Approach the main body, destroy their will.”