Chapter 132: Calculated Chaos

As the information flashed through his mind, Lu Xin sprang into action.

Recalling the details from the materials and acting simultaneously felt like two separate, parallel processes in his mind.

His sister stuck close by his side, knowing things were about to get fun, she wouldn’t miss it for anything.

So, when the person shot between the eyes raised their gun at him, his sister instinctively grabbed Lu Xin’s hand. But Lu Xin was already moving, lunging forward with sharp precision. Before the gun was fully raised, he’d crossed the two meters and stomped down accurately on her wrist, pinning her hand to the floor. Unable to lift it, she could only pull the trigger reflexively.

*Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!*

All the bullets slammed into the wall.

After emptying the clip, the person remained expressionless, showing no emotion as they reached with their other hand to grab Lu Xin’s leg.

Lu Xin lifted one leg and kicked her elbow joint. Her arm instantly twisted into a bizarre shape.

But she showed no sign of pain or normal reaction, instead flipping her legs up to wrap around Lu Xin’s waist.

Lu Xin twisted away, dodging her legs, then brought his knee down hard.

With a sickening *crack*, her spine snapped.

Her body remained frozen in that contorted, grotesque position, eyes vacant, only her fingers still twitched faintly.

During this exchange, Gecko had kicked the card table forward. It slammed into the “card player” who’d been shot in the shoulder earlier, pinning him against the wall. The table hit with immense force, and the puppet’s body proved brittle.

Half his torso crumpled inward, stuck fast against the wall.

Yet, the man felt no pain, still numbly reaching a hand towards Gecko.

His movements were stiff and strange.

…

…

This bizarre scene stunned everyone else in the room.

The other gamblers scrambled away in terror while the two bunny girls shrieked hysterically.

Amidst the chaos, even the puppet-type ability user in the red suit seemed momentarily taken aback.

He hadn’t seemed to expect his two mentally modified people to be dealt with so easily.

Resigned to his fate, he just sat there with a helpless smile, not moving.

Gecko glanced at Lu Xin, then pulled the ability user inhibitor from his belt, preparing to cuff the man first.

But just then, Lu Xin suddenly looked to the side.

Mom stood amidst the chaotic room, watching him with a gentle smile. “It’s not over yet…” she chuckled.

Lu Xin instantly grew alert.

Immediately, he heard a faint *beep beep* sound cutting through the room’s chaos.

“There’s still a problem!”

He grabbed Gecko, who was slowly moving forward, and looked straight ahead.

Near his feet crawled the mentally modified person whose spine he had broken, her body otherwise motionless.

Only her eyes were still open, staring blankly at Lu Xin.

The beeping sound was coming from inside her abdomen.

Lu Xin’s gaze swept over her, and he seemed to see a small bomb packed with electronic parts inside her abdomen. A red light flashed on it, blinking faster and faster. His brow furrowed. As Lu Xin looked, Gecko also noticed, startled. “Son of a bitch!” he cursed, about to pull Lu Xin out of the room immediately.

Lu Xin didn’t move. Instead, he quickly crouched down and pressed his hands onto the mentally modified person.

*Crunch…*

The moment Lu Xin’s hands touched her, the mentally modified person’s body instantly contorted. Her arms, waist, head, legs, and torso folded together in an unnatural, impossible way.

She looked like a paper doll being crumpled into a ball by brute force.

The bomb in her abdomen was enveloped right in the center of the mass.

Then, Lu Xin stood up, backed away, and simultaneously shoved the crumpled form forward.

*Boom!*

The bundled mentally modified person suddenly exploded, showering the room with flesh and blood.

The bomb wasn’t very powerful, and the crumpled body absorbed most of the blast.

Still, the room instantly erupted into chaos, filled with unending screams.

“How high must his psychic power be…?”

Gecko watched Lu Xin’s actions, astonished.

The Spider-type ability affected the user’s own body, allowing for extraordinary contortions and rapid reactions.

But this was the first time he’d seen someone like Lu Xin instantly fold an opponent like that.

Mulling this over, he quickly rushed towards the mentally modified person he’d pinned to the wall.

If one mentally modified person had a bomb inside them, the other one wasn’t safe either.

Gecko, moving with uncanny agility despite his somewhat distorted movements, stepped before the mentally modified person, slashed his abdomen open with a dagger, and peered inside. The cavity was surprisingly empty except for a beating heart and, beside it, a bomb tangled in colorful wires with a single red light blinking on it.

However, this bomb showed no signs of detonating.

…Was it because his spine hadn’t been damaged?

The bombs this Puppet-type ability user placed inside the mentally modified people were meant for those who understood his methods.

Only someone familiar with him would know to destroy the mentally modified person’s spine first.

Doing so would trigger the bomb.

To be safe, Gecko quickly cut the bomb’s wires before completely destroying the spine.

…

…

“Wh-what is all this?”

Even after the immediate danger in the room passed, the bystanders were still shouting loudly.

The entire room now looked like an abstract painting, splattered everywhere with blood.

Even though the mentally modified people’s bodies were largely different from normal humans, exploding like that had still coated the room in patches of vivid red.

Everyone was terrified, screaming desperately, filling the air with noise.

The dead reviving, twisted arms, bombs…

Even people accustomed to life in the Wasteland were left numb by these bizarre and grotesque scenes.

“It looked like five people playing cards, but really it was just the two of you playing against their three…”

Lu Xin glanced at the two remaining gamblers and the bunny girls as he answered slowly.

These two card players were fine; they were actual living people.

That wasn’t surprising. If everyone at the table was a mentally modified person, who would the Man in Red Suit win money from?

One thing was certain though: these two must have lost a lot of money.

Thinking this, he looked across the room. The window was broken, and the Man in Red Suit was gone.

He had chosen a seat near the window specifically for an easy escape if things went wrong.

The bombs inside the mentally modified people weren’t powerful; their purpose was likely just to create chaos to cover his escape.

…

…

Meanwhile, hearing the gunshots from the room, the lobby outside erupted into chaos. Some people quickly ducked under card tables, gripping their guns and warily scanning their surroundings. Others scrambled to escape outside, rushing onto the street and excitedly yelling into the distance, “Quick, quick! There’s trouble here! Where are the peacekeepers? Get over here!”

*Clatter, clatter…*

In the distance, a group of people rushed towards them, feet pounding the ground, carrying various weapons, kicking over stalls as they came.

Leading the charge was the young man named Niu Zi, shouting as he ran, “I knew they were up to no good!”

…

…

“This commotion is getting too big.”

Gecko heard the chaos outside but wasn’t flustered.

He glanced at Lu Xin with a smile. “The town’s armed force will probably be here soon. We’d better not rush things. These guys might actually dare to shoot at us. Maybe we should explain the situation first before trying to capture anyone…”

Lu Xin glanced towards the corner, only to see that Mom was no longer there.

She seemed to have left the room when the bomb exploded. Maybe she was worried about getting blood on her?

She always did like to keep clean!

After a brief thought, he said to Gecko, “You stay here and explain things to them. I’ll go take care of him…”

With that, he climbed straight out through the broken window.”