Chapter 227: Lockpicking Expert

Chapter 227 – Lockpicking Expert

“City folks sure know how to have fun!”

Xiao Yu couldn’t quite understand why he found himself blurting that out.

And it was true.

Even staging a horror scene – now that was some next-level entertainment.

“Aren’t you worried?”

Xiao Yu sneered.

The scene before him was nothing short of terrifying.

The passage stood nearly 2.5 meters tall, with a saw blade jutting out about a meter from the floor.

Above, there was roughly 1.5 meters of clearance – more than enough for Xiao Yu to easily step over.

But…

Xiao Yu had a nagging feeling that it wouldn’t be that simple.

If the height was something any ordinary person could clear, they should easily avoid it, right?

So why did suspect Peng Junlong claim he had seen someone literally sliced to pieces with his own eyes?

Xiao Yu looked up at the passage’s ceiling.

And he spotted five grooves.

So that was it!

Just as he had lifted his head, five saw blades had extended from the ceiling, aligning perfectly with the lower blade, rotating to cut.

A chill ran down Xiao Yu’s spine.

Only one meter of space above and one below, with a mere fifty centimeters in between?

Could a normal person really dodge that?

Even if a professional extreme athlete, like ‘Remote Operator 02’, came along, one misstep would have him chopped to pieces.

Unless you were a circus performer or one of those daredevils who jumps through flaming hoops professionally.

Otherwise… you were done for!

And this was what Second Brother and Third Brother called entertainment?

Watching people struggle for their lives, offering their very existence as a twisted show to satisfy perverse urges?

A sharp glint of determination flashed in his eyes as Xiao Yu bent down, took a step, and charged toward the ten saw blades.

Just as he neared the rapidly spinning blades, his thigh bounced off lightly.

His body soared into the air, landing flat in a perfect horizontal stance, with head and feet aligned perfectly within that fifty-centimeter gap between the two rows of blades.

Xiao Yu could clearly see the spinning blade above, less than ten centimeters from his face as it whizzed past…

Smack!

His feet landed as gracefully as a nimble cat, and Xiao Yu slowly got to his feet.

Cold sweat beaded on his forehead and the back of his neck.

Sure enough, the ten blades behind him slid toward the far end of the passage.

But then… they paused, reversed direction, and began slashing toward him again.

“Damn!”

Uttering a swear, Xiao Yu advanced, rushing toward the end of the corridor.

There, at the far end, stood a wooden door.

It looked like a door that could be easily smashed through.

If he wanted to evade the relentless saw blades behind him, his only option was to break through this door and escape.

That was exactly what Xiao Yu planned – barreling toward the door at full speed.

Thud…

It wasn’t the sound of a door being hit, but rather the thumping of his Shoe Gun striking the ground, abruptly halting his forward momentum.

He forced his body to stop in its tracks, defying its inertia.

Cold sweat trickled down his forehead.

His eyes were locked intently on that door, a trace of fear flickering in them.

What was happening?

What could have terrified him so much?

Just as Xiao Yu was about to reach the door and smash through it,

his Wax Moth’s Ear picked up a strange sound coming from behind the door.

It was the grinding of gears, the buzzing of a blender, and the hum of a saw all blended into one unnerving noise.

He remembered suspect Peng Junlong mentioning that he had seen three different methods of death with his own eyes.

The last one… being ground into a meat paste!

What lay behind that door?

And what would happen if he crashed through it?

If Xiao Yu did break in, would he become meat paste too?

The answer was glaringly obvious!

The very scent in this passage – the odor of countless victims –

was either for the purpose of murder, to entertain some sick individual,

or perhaps a means to mend that wooden door with logic and reason?

That was why people had frequented this passage in the past.

This was no mere passage.

It was a death trap designed to torture and kill!

“Man’s worst enemy really is his overthinking!”

Xiao Yu grumbled to himself, “I overthought it all and ended up in this death trap. If my sister finds out, she’ll probably laugh at how clueless I am.”

No.

If you’re running a corporation, Mu Qingwu might be considered a sister.

But if you’re on the force, Mu Qingwu is just a little sister.

Balance restored!

With a grin, Xiao Yu spun around and charged toward the oncoming blades.

Using the same trick as before, he weaved his way through the blades and dashed back along the same route…

The moment he stepped out of the passage, Xiao Yu exhaled deeply.

But the relief on his face quickly turned cold.

He headed toward another corridor that carried little to no human scent.

“Little brother of the Machine Room, I’m coming for you!”

Why choose this corridor?

That woman had said she didn’t know where the Machine Room was.

And Second Brother and Third Brother wouldn’t let them go either.

Thus, the corridor leading to the Machine Room would have a much fainter human scent – perhaps none at all.

But then, how were food and water being smuggled in?

The passage stretched roughly twenty-five meters.

At its end, a heavy metal door appeared before Xiao Yu.

The door featured only a keyhole – nothing else.

Sizing up its defenses, Xiao Yu deduced that

even with Bear Force pushed to the limit, or his body smashed to pieces, he probably wouldn’t break through this door.

Why not rescue the victims first?

Because of the mechanism.

Unless he could control whoever was in the Machine Room, Xiao Yu believed the attackers would have ways to harm those victims.

So, how could he open that door?

Xiao Yu fixed his gaze on the keyhole and smirked mischievously.

He removed one of his Shoe Guns.

Then, he tore off the sole to reveal a steel plate hidden inside!

Many people didn’t know that lots of shoes had these tiny steel plates inside.

They served as the backbone of the shoe, maintaining the insole’s curvature and stability.

Mandated by national standards, these components were essential in certain types of shoes…

Drawing out the steel plate, Xiao Yu scrutinized the keyhole on the door.

He rubbed the steel plate quickly against the cement wall.

Luckily, this wasn’t made of abrasion-resistant steel.

Its durability was about the same as an ordinary iron sheet.

After seven or eight minutes, a thin steel plate—about the width of a fingernail—appeared in Xiao Yu’s hand.

He inserted the steel plate into the keyhole, pressing his ear close to it.

Listening intently to the sound from within.

Then he withdrew the plate and began to file it down.

Until, finally, with a gleaming, uneven-edged steel plate in hand, he grinned.

He reinserted the plate into the keyhole and turned it forcefully.

Click – the lock gave way.

Skill Activated: Lockpicking Expert!

Until now, Xiao Yu had always thought this system ability was useless.

But it had finally come in handy.

He swung the door open and darted inside.

However, the moment he saw what lay within,

he froze, motionless as a statue.