Chapter 553: The Unraveling of the Straw Man

Crash…

In an instant, the straw man realized something was terribly wrong.

It suddenly recoiled from Lu Xin with a frenzied speed, curling back toward the original cross.

But then it immediately felt a surge of maniacal mental power ripple through the air, as if someone had let out a shrill, cruel laugh. A massive hand reached out, gripping a bunch of straw tightly and forcefully yanking it toward the window.

“Chatter…”

A piercing roar emanated from the straw, sending tremors through the entire world; everyone felt the ground shudder.

In sheer terror, the straw man unleashed its full power.

From the withered, shriveled straw, countless glimmers suddenly ignited, illuminating the dark night.

A swarm of fireflies emerged from its body, dotting the chaotic, pitch-black sky like scattered stars.

They fluttered their wings lightly, emitting bizarre waves of mental energy.

Shh-shh-shh…

The sound of their flapping was alarmingly sharp; piercing whistles interwove above the chaotic plaza, leaving razor-like marks on scattered stones, buildings, and even the pure bronze statues.

Layer upon layer, these forces swept across the ground, merging into countless torrents of mental turbulence that surged toward Lu Xin.

“Hahaha…”

Yet, in the face of these countless blades, Lu Xin laughed wildly.

He leapt onto the roof of the Administrative Main Hall and, defying gravity, crouched against the vertical wall. His face wore an exaggerated smile, his eyes pitch-black, and he clutched a handful of straw as he watched the fireflies dance, his expression dripping with contempt.

Disdain mixed with scorn.

He was even waiting for each firefly to reach its brightest, their glow almost blinding.

Then he exhaled deeply.

A chilling wind instantly swept across the entire plaza.

The countless, dazzling fireflies lost their luster in an instant and pitter-pattered down to the ground.

He had snuffed out the stars.

…

“Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh…”

A bizarre terror enveloped the straw man as the straw on its body began to swirl, writhing like trembling snakes.

Though it was nothing more than straw, it exhibited an uncanny resilience. It slithered through the air like a snake, slicing through the silence with a shrill, cutting sound, lashing out at Lu Xin’s body like a dense, nail-like barrage.

“Clack, clack, clack…”

Under such relentless assault, no one—no matter how strong—could evade it…

Yet Lu Xin made no effort to dodge.

He simply withstood the barrage of hundreds of straw spikes, leaving his body and the adjacent wall riddled with countless tiny punctures.

In an instant, his body was drenched in blood as it streamed uncontrollably.

Yet his expression grew even more exhilarated, completely devoid of any pain. Instead, the blood-soaked straw suddenly ignited, rapidly spreading toward the heart of the straw man.

The straw man seethed with both anger and fear, as if chased by countless fiery serpents.

Lu Xin looked on at the straw man’s pitiful state and roared with laughter; the wounds on his body had already healed.

…

“Roar…”

Below, a massive form tumbled—it was the Nightmare Serpent.

The straw man’s terror and fury seemed to utterly affect it.

Like a rogue puppet, it thrashed violently, hurling stone slabs as high as ten meters at Lu Xin. Massive arms sprang forth from its colossal body, raining down relentlessly upon him.

“Hahaha…”

The horrific spectacle exhilarated Lu Xin.

His laugh was wild and hollow, utterly devoid of reason.

It seemed he did nothing at all, yet waves of mental energy radiated from him in ever-expanding circles.

Countless stone slabs flew through the air, raining down across every corner of the plaza.

Under the immense kinetic force, each slab hammered into the ground by several centimeters, embedding like shards of glass.

Wherever the stones landed, even where nothing should have been, splatters of blood erupted with a sharp hiss.

…

“How could this be…?”

Watching the shattered slabs and spreading bloodstains, Han Bing’s heart trembled violently.

In truth, the scene was eerily surreal.

Though nothing seemed to be there, the falling weight unleashed cascades of blood.

Yet, she who understood the underlying cause realized what was happening and was nearly overcome with fear.

“I… I want to know…”

Gecko, sensing something amiss, stammered, “Has that little mischief-maker who loves sneaking into the women’s bathhouse… been truly erased, or are we simply unable to see them even though they still exist…?”

Red Serpent’s heart jolted sharply upon hearing this.

For a moment, silence fell over the entire meeting room, as if the question itself defied an answer.

Yet, in truth, they all understood the answer.

Not long ago, the plaza had teemed with people.

Mizang had deployed his ability to make these people vanish—but only on a mental level.

Physically, these people…

Following that line of thought, they immediately understood where the suddenly appearing blood came from.

This realization brought a terrifying question to mind…

“If… if that’s really the case, then Captain… what does that mean for him now…?”

Gecko’s neck bulged with blue veins as he trembled, “Is that man… truly… the Captain?”

Han Bing abruptly turned her head and shot Gecko a glance.

She had once harbored such doubts herself.

But now, her focus was on another matter: Mr. Lone Soldier’s stability was always paramount.

“Back when on missions, to prevent Mr. Lone Soldier’s emotions from wavering, we even steered him clear of the secondary pollution source that resembled a little girl. Although the restrictions eased later, we still strived to protect him from such horrific scenes…”

“But now…”

“…if he learns the truth, what kind of shock awaits him?”

“…”

Gecko’s body trembled as he whispered, “Then what can we do?”

Han Bing gritted her teeth, a determined expression on her youthful face, “We must warn him.”

“Warn…”

Gecko’s voice quivered as he stared wide-eyed at Han Bing, “Are you sure?”

He couldn’t ask further, for he saw Han Bing had already taken out the wireless communication device.

“You have to be careful; otherwise… let me handle it…”

A trembling Gecko managed to say, “The current Captain… seems… extremely dangerous…”

…

…

“It was never meant to be this way…”

“You shouldn’t be like this…”

Within the plaza, the straw man launched one frenzied attack after another, each proving futile.

No matter the intensity of the assault, he clutched that handful of straw with a deathly grip.

It was, after all, a part of his very body.

His plan to exploit the chaos and the puppet to force Lu Xin to let go had failed.

Using that strange ability, Lu Xin had mentally concealed everyone in Heichao City.

It appeared he had cut off the straw man’s escape, though it still retained secret ways to slip away.

If pushed to the edge, it could always retreat back to the Abyss.

But as if anticipating its plan, Lu Xin clung desperately to that part.

Realizing there was no escape, the straw man’s insanity peaked as it suddenly emitted waves of chaotic mental power—sharp and terrifying—with countless unintelligible murmurs piercing everyone’s ears.

From the perspective of a Mental Monster, it was tantamount to a barrage of insults.

As the taunting continued, the straw on the straw man burst forth like slender ropes.

These tangled ropes cascaded down, winding around the Nightmare Serpent.

In mere moments, they had completely bound the Nightmare Serpent, transforming it into a colossal straw man.

It stood towering over the Administrative Main Hall, nearly a hundred meters tall. With arms outstretched, it loomed over the city as chaotic, twisting waves warped nearby buildings like pretzels in an instant.

“If you won’t let me go, then you leave me no choice…”

Endless waves of mental power vibrated, forming a message loud enough for everyone to hear: “Perhaps your lofty part doesn’t realize that even we possess the courage to slay a king…”

“…”

Crash…

As soon as those words were uttered, the sound of wind rustling through straw filled the air.

The immense surges of power even tore at the surrounding air.

Patches of dark red ruins, like oil stains on water, emerged intertwined.

The scene alternated between the Abyss and stark reality.

That was the innate power of the straw man, distorting the world around it.

The plaza and its surroundings were caught in a relentless interplay between the Abyss and reality.

Amidst this chaos, vague human silhouettes gradually emerged, piling together—some slumbering, others waking with drowsy, bewildered eyes.

Mizang’s mental field was being torn apart by the intense radiation emanating from the straw man.

Those who had been hidden began to reappear before everyone’s eyes.

Their emergence brought forth a scene drenched in blood—the casualties of the earlier melee.

Faint red light glimmered from the left temple of Lu Xin’s glasses, emanating from his red eyes.

Han Bing’s anxious voice rang through the channel, “Can Mr. Lone Soldier hear me?”

“Mr. Lone Soldier, there are far too many innocent citizens in the plaza. Please consider the casualties while cleaning up the pollution…”

“Ssshhh…”

“…”

The mental signals over the plaza were so chaotic that they vanished after a single sound.

…

…

And as the straw man’s threat and Han Bing’s voice resonated together, Lu Xin looked up at the hundred-meter-tall straw man. In his pitch-black pupils, a bizarre smile flickered as he answered in a slow, low tone:

“In fact, I always knew.”

He murmured slowly, his voice eerily hollow and excited, “I just don’t care, hahaha.”

…

On the adjacent building, Han Bing and the others were momentarily stunned; they didn’t know whom Lu Xin was addressing.

Meanwhile, the straw man fell silent.

In the next moment, an enormous surge of mental impact force suddenly surged toward Lu Xin on the wall of the Administrative Main Hall.