Chapter 841: The Unlikely Return

“?”

Seeing the gentle, calm smile on Lu Xin’s face, the Veteran Hitman’s heart fell into an overwhelming state of bewilderment.

The bullet was sent right back…

This was no ordinary round—it had a muzzle velocity of 1232 meters per second and possessed the deadliest killing potential.

Once fired, it transformed into the harbinger of death, endowed with the power to claim human lives.

Yet, it was the target who returned it?

He had to admit that in his full seven-year career, he’d never encountered anything so absurd.

What did that imply?

It suggested that the target was rather kind-hearted, possessing the noble trait of returning lost items…

…

…

It was clear that the Veteran Hitman had been deeply impressed by Lu Xin’s noble character.

Thus, after watching Lu Xin return the bullet, his face showed no sign of abnormality.

He didn’t even twitch; he appeared completely composed.

Of course, another reason was the overwhelming mental pressure—it rendered him almost immobile…

“Sob, sob…”

Amidst the innocent, pitiful look in the Veteran Hitman’s eyes, a sudden commotion erupted across the wasteland…

That bullet, though fired by mistake, served as a signal, instantly igniting the repressed wilds.

In the distance, a Knight Orders unit wearing hats woven from weeds, hidden behind a hill, upon hearing the gunshot—without time to assess the situation—leaped from the slope, fumbling to right their motorcycles.

“Hurry up, brothers—someone’s making a move…”

“Charge forward; let’s give it all we’ve got.”

“Win and we’ll go back for some drinks and meat; lose and the wives will pray for us—either way, we get our feast…”

“…”

With these rousing shouts, one by one they mounted their motorcycles, revved the engines, and raised their submachine guns.

Blinding headlights illuminated the wasteland as the dark convoy charged wildly toward the tent.

They paid no heed to anyone around them, frantically spraying bullets.

This was the typical sight of killer organizations in the wasteland—like a swarm of locusts, leaving nothing but scorched earth in their wake.

…

…

Elsewhere, at the window of an abandoned house, a shadowy figure emerged, hoisting a single-soldier rocket launcher.

He aimed at the direction where the Veteran Hitman and Lu Xin were and, clenching his teeth, immediately pulled the trigger.

Their target was now unmistakable—the crack of the hitman’s sniper rifle had exposed his hiding place in an instant.

Thus, this team of assassins intended to silence the Veteran Hitman without delay.

They didn’t know if he had already succeeded, but it didn’t matter; in their world, colleagues were as good as enemies—all had to be eliminated.

If he had succeeded, they could kill him and claim the assassination credit for themselves…

…

…

Meanwhile, another concealed observer grabbed his walkie-talkie and shouted:

“Someone’s made a move…”

“There are many…”

“Coordinates are… hurry and bomb them, kill everyone!”

“…”

Brrr.

Following his loud report, a helicopter laden with heavy weaponry rushed in from further away.

…

…

“There are quite a few…”

Feeling the onslaught of various dangers, Lu Xin couldn’t help but marvel.

In just a day and a half, so many different assassin groups had come after him?

And they seemed to be of many different types.

Clearly, these killers’ dedication and efficiency rivaled that of someone like him who actually shows up for work.

Indeed, in this world, everyone was striving hard.

Musing on this, he stood next to the Veteran Hitman, slowly turning around as dark particles quivered in his eyes.

“Hum…”

A violent vibration rippled through the air as a mental impact thundered forward.

Directly ahead, a rocket with a trailing flame tail was barreling toward him.

The massive kinetic force made it resemble a roaring beast as it hurtled toward Lu Xin.

It slammed into an air wall erected by Lu Xin’s mental impact three meters away.

The high-density, fearfully potent wall of air struck the rocket’s fuse like a solid object.

In the next moment, a dazzling burst of light and scorching heat exploded forth.

Shrapnel, flames, and shockwaves—a torrent of destructive force swept in all directions.

At the precise moment when the rocket’s explosive power was about to peak, Lu Xin’s right hand shot forward.

His pale right hand spanned two or three meters and plunged right into the rocket.

In an instant, that pale hand retracted.

A peculiar surge of mental power trembled in its wake.

The exploded rocket was dragged in front of Lu Xin.

During the pull, the rocket began its rapid reassembly—its shattered fragments, scattered flames, and terrifying shockwaves all seemingly rewinding like a reversed film.

In a flash, the exploded rocket reverted to its pre-explosion form.

It retained its complete structure, intact fuse, and even the kinetic energy it had upon launch.

Only, Lu Xin reversed its trajectory and then let go.

And so…

A sharp ‘whoosh’ resounded as the rocket, trailing a long fiery tail, sped toward the abandoned building.

A tremendous explosion followed with a booming crash.

This blast completely flattened the abandoned building and all the heavily armed occupants within.

Immediately, Lu Xin turned his gaze back toward the wasteland.

A convoy that looked far from professional was wildly charging forward.

They swept their submachine guns in a hail of bullets while emitting bizarre, guttural shouts.

Their enthusiasm was undeniable.

But their aim was so off that not even Number Fourteen could be hit.

Lu Xin sighed deeply, then stepped forward under the Red Moon.

“Hum…”

As he took that step, a violent tremor suddenly rippled through the air.

In the eyes of the still prone Veteran Hitman, it felt as if every pore in his body was being pricked by needles—dense waves of air striking him as if in terror.

Faint, ephemeral shadows began to appear beside Lu Xin…

These shadows rushed forward instantly—the first fixed itself thirty meters away, and then a second surged ahead.

One by one, under the Red Moon, a chain of shadows came to life.

Lu Xin’s body seemed to vanish from sight, reappearing at the next shadow, then disappearing again.

It was like his figure was flickering, reminiscent of a glitchy TV signal.

After several flashes, Lu Xin reappeared between the tent and the Knight Orders, standing under the Red Moon.

He gently raised his palm toward the fierce, wild Knight Orders.

“Sob, sob…”

Suddenly, the roaring engines of the motorcycles dwindled to a feeble hum.

That Knight Orders unit, as if crashing into an invisible wall, collided violently.

The handlebars twisted and the bodies toppled over.

Yet they didn’t crash heavily onto the ground; instead, both they and their motorcycles suddenly began to levitate.

It was as if they had fallen into an unseen, exceedingly dense water.

Flailing wildly, they were helplessly lifted into mid-air, their shouts stifled by the strangling force.

Some instinctively squeezed the triggers, firing off bullets.

But even the discharged rounds lost their vigor, lazily drifting in the air as if about to drop.

“Next time I move a safe, I might just use this ability.”

Lu Xin silently pondered this.

In his everyday life, he wasn’t accustomed to employing his mental power—it was usually restricted.

Ability Users all possess extraordinary mental strength.

This strength can manifest as a mental impact or transform into a distorted force field.

That force field embodies what ordinary people refer to as telekinesis. Though telekinesis is hard to control and rarely achieves optimal results, Lu Xin suddenly found that his control over mental power had improved.

And it had grown stronger, too.

“Phew…”

He exhaled softly, his palm gently clenching into a fist.

Crackling…

In the next moment, all the motorcycles, people, and the knives, bullets, and daggers in their hands levitated, compressed together by a massive distorted force field, merging into an inseparable mass.

Then, one by one, spherical objects began to drop heavily to the ground, each impact forming a deep crater.

“Crack.”

Lu Xin spun around again, his movements uncanny as the bones within him creaked, and he gazed toward the southern sky.

There, a cluster of flickering lights emerged—three or four helicopters rapidly closing in on his direction.

His pupils constricted as the scene repeatedly zoomed in and out before his eyes.

He could even make out the single-soldier missiles and multi-barrel rotary cannons hanging from those helicopters.

Since their hiding spot was far, their arrival would be delayed.

At that moment, it seemed they had heard the chaos here and were rushing over to secure business.

Feeling their urgency, Lu Xin stood waiting.

The opponents arrived with eager anticipation.

Lu Xin, too, waited expectantly for them.

Gradually, as the distance closed to effective attack range, the lead helicopter’s pilot shifted his finger to the launcher, fixating on the tent below and on Lu Xin, who looked up quietly from nearby.

…He was piloting the helicopter to crush him, ready to fire.

…Yet Lu Xin merely stood there, not even holding a gun in his hand?

A surge of absurdity gripped him; his heart tightened, and then he abruptly slammed down the launcher.

At that very moment, Lu Xin also fixed his gaze on the pilot and slowly raised his hand.

Shaping it like a handgun, he pointed toward the helicopter in the sky.

When the rocket from the helicopter ignited and careened downward, Lu Xin fired.

With a single finger twitch, a sharp ‘pop’ rang out from his lips.

In the next moment, a burst of dark particles vibrated intensely, triggering a dense, distorted wave of air.

It shot upward with incredible speed in the direction Lu Xin pointed, growing larger as it ascended, churning turbulent air that formed a visible spiral pattern, and struck the helicopter with full force.

Boom.

The helicopter, along with the freshly launched missile, exploded in a massive burst—the enormous flames lighting up the earth.

“What kind of monster is that?”

The two helicopters behind were startled by the sudden turn of events; they hadn’t detected any heavy weaponry on the opponent…

Yet before they could reposition to avoid the blast, Lu Xin exhaled deeply once more and surveyed the helicopters above, the bullets that had been fired at them, and the people scattered across the wasteland.

Countless gazes were fixed on him.

“It’s such a pity to destroy them; after all, I still haven’t managed to buy a helicopter…”

“But…”

A thought flickered in his mind. He pressed his hands together and suddenly thrust them upward.

It looked like a simple dance move.

Then, an immense surge of mental power erupted from the ground with a tremendous roar, surging mid-air.

Like a vast, unseen sea emerging suddenly, it swept upward with terrifying force, rolling the blazing fire and shockwaves back into the sky—the two helicopters were soon engulfed, followed by two massive columns of fire shooting skyward…

It was as if a display of pyrotechnics laced with steel shards and human screams painted the night sky with a brilliant sunset.

In that moment, the night transformed into day.

…

…

“What is that…”

At that moment, the searing heat and flames in the air reached their zenith.

Simultaneously, countless hearts turned ice-cold.

Observers hidden in the distance, drone footage from the skies, and special reconnaissance by some Ability Users all captured the same scene.

A man stood under the Red Moon, strands of crimson moonlight revealing tentacle-like appendages surging upward around him.

One after another, these massive tentacles—each hundreds of meters long—swung and roiled in the air.

They seemed capable of plucking the Red Moon from the sky, turning the entire area into a hell of dark red.

Was this the target worth a billion?

…

…

“Phew, it sure feels good…”

Amid countless terrified stares, Lu Xin turned in the backdrop of raging fires above him, his expression impassive and his hair neatly arranged.

Taking advantage of everyone’s distraction, he quietly blew a whistle with his finger.

He had to admit, living in that villa with the Doll meant watching far too many movies.

This was the first time since returning from the old Research Institute Site that he had indulged in his powers—like a person cooped up in a dark cell for a week, bursting with pent-up energy—and it gave Lu Xin an indescribable, unbridled thrill.

But precisely because of that sensation, Lu Xin quickly snapped back, curbing his power.

Letting loose was exhilarating, but also dangerous.

As his mental power surged, shattered, incomplete shadows flashed in his ears and eyes—some seemingly slumbering in the abyss with colossal forms, others materializing from tentacle-like growths on humanoid shapes.

There were also those complex, dense murmurs, persistent as if trying to seduce and dissuade him with half-heard voices.

The initial impact…

Not only did he feel its deepening influence while digesting the Unique Consciousness,

but even when unleashing his abilities freely, its impact was palpable.

Had he stayed calm just a moment longer, he might have opted to commandeer one of the helicopters—it was worth so much, after all.

Yet, at the moment of action, his urge to obliterate those helicopters and enjoy the fireworks overpowered any desire for their value.

This was a dangerous sign.

Was this what Director Xue Jia of the Moon Eclipse Research Institute had warned him about previously?

The alliance between the Moon Eclipse Research Institute and Mom had indeed taken away the biggest trump card of the First Researcher.

But this plan, in some way, affected him too—now that the ‘Primordial’ had reached the first level of the Abyss, its impact on reality had strengthened, so his own influence grew slightly as well. It was like—hurt the enemy a thousand, lose two hundred?

More importantly, a troubling thought began to surface in Lu Xin’s mind.

This was an impact that couldn’t be solved—not at least for now.

As someone once tainted by the Primordial, the inherent conflict and link between Pollution Entities and Pollution Sources could never be erased.

Alas!

Lu Xin waved his hand, calming his mental power and severing the cascade of illusions and voices.

So annoying—just like a nagging grievance that wouldn’t cease…

Even though it had long been dead, it still lurked in the abyss, watching him coldly, muttering:

“Give up. Become divine. Accept it…”

A proper god shouldn’t be treated like a doormat…

…

…

After subduing the sudden chaos and the Primordial’s influence, Lu Xin turned around.

After a brief pause, he walked toward the Veteran Hitman who was propped up on the rooftop.

Meanwhile, near the tent, Number Fourteen and Little Nineteen stood in stunned silence—Lu Xin’s earlier display of dispatching the attackers had left them overwhelmed by the shock of witnessing such scenes firsthand. Even in a world under the Red Moon, riddled with bizarre and irrational events, the raw sensation of power was most palpable when dealing with ordinary people.

“Clang…”

Little Nineteen stared at Lu Xin’s retreating figure, her mouth agape.

After a long moment, the small knife in her hand suddenly slipped to the ground.

Then she bowed her head and obediently began washing her feet.

It seemed that only by seeing the visage of this monstrous figure could she finally feel safe.

“Maybe… he really can succeed?”

Number Fourteen also dropped the pork knuckle he was holding, and for the first time, a solemn expression flickered across his chubby face.

Seeing that Lu Xin hadn’t returned yet, he quietly mulled over his thoughts and made a decision.

Silently, he got up and strolled to a spot far from the tent where no one could overhear, then crouched down and, after surveying the surroundings, picked up a stone about the size of a palm, long and rectangular, and pressed it against his ear.

Taking a deep breath, he furtively looked around and whispered, “Huh?”

“Sister Five?”

“I think maybe we can trust Number Nine…”

“He seems even stronger than before. Can you believe he can smack an airplane with his hand?”

“I’m not messing around…”

“Alright, I’m just too fat to even reach it now…”

“But Sister Five, do you really think we can help him?”

“What I mean is, he doesn’t even know what we could possibly do for him, nor is he aware of the dangers he faces. I feel like his reaching out to us is purely…”

“Just a way to repay us…”

“And he’s got money! Really, loads of it!”