Capítulo 48: Hitting the Jackpot
Chen Chong's height now approached nearly six feet and six inches, towering over the huddled thugs by a head, and then some. His limbs and chest were visibly bulging with muscles, and as he moved his strong arms, the thugs blocking his path were brushed aside like chicks.
"Is this guy really Chen Chong!?"
"Uh... isn't he a bit too muscular?"
"Where did this guy come from? He looks even taller than Iron Mountain's boss."
"Wait a minute... I remember him. He definitely wasn't this muscular or tall when he first arrived! What's going on?"
At the back of the crowd, Old Man Xu wore a worried expression. Chen Chong's towering figure traversing through the crowd emitted an indescribable sense of oppression. Apart from those who hadn't seen Chen Chong before, the thugs who had encountered him before felt that Chen Chong seemed completely different from their memory, sparking astonished murmurs.
The astonishment wasn't limited to just these thugs. When Chen Chong finally emerged from the crowd and stepped forward, Iron Mountain, Li Bao, Zhang Long, Bone Soldier, and other awakened individuals all turned their heads, their gaze fixed on Chen Chong with a mix of surprise and suspicion.
The reason was simple. It was broad daylight now, and Chen Chong was no longer disguising himself. Anyone who had interacted with Chen Chong multiple times immediately noticed the drastic change in him. It was like he had become a different person!
Especially Iron Mountain, who wore a look of disbelief. He vividly remembered that when he first met Chen Chong, Chen Chong was half a head shorter than him and had a rather weak physique. But now, Chen Chong, just standing there, had a towering figure even taller than his! And it had only been about ten days since they last met!
On the wooden stage, General Blood remained silent, squinting his eyes as he observed the drastically changed Chen Chong. Dangerous glints flickered in his crimson eyes.
Despite being only a few meters away from Chen Chong now, facing him directly, General Blood, with his extraordinary perception as a transcendent, vaguely sensed Chen Chong's intense and solid life force. Yet there was an elusive quality about it, like an iceberg submerged in the sea, making it hard to grasp.
But one thing was certain: Chen Chong now seemed to be on par with any awakened individual present. Beneath the muscles threatening to burst his clothes, there was evidently a latent explosive power!
General Blood hadn't expected Chen Chong to undergo such a drastic change since the last territory raid. It completely subverted his understanding!
From Chen Chong's restraint and the changes in his body, General Blood seemed to sense a scent of conspiracy and betrayal.
For a moment, both General Blood and Iron Mountain, along with the other awakened individuals, stared at Chen Chong with a peculiar gaze, casting the entire space into an equally eerie silence.
"Chen Chong, it seems you're doing quite well in the territory?" General Blood broke the silence with a hoarse voice, carrying an inexplicable meaning.
"General, I find it quite strange too." Under the scrutiny of a hundred pairs of eyes, Chen Chong made a show of bowing respectfully and said, "Since I awakened and started living in the general's territory, with adequate food and drink every day, my body has started growing like a second puberty. General, with your vast experience, I wonder if this counts as awakening some special ability?"
As Chen Chong spoke, including General Blood, Iron Mountain, and the others, all furrowed their brows, considering a possibility: Could Chen Chong's change be due to awakening some special dominant ability?
They hadn't witnessed Chen Chong's miraculous body transformation during his secretive practice of the Iron Body 27 techniques like they did with Yin Hu. Their immediate association was that Chen Chong might have awakened some special dominant ability, and the nutritional supplements in the territory had caused such a significant change.
Among awakened individuals, those with abilities were not numerous, and most awakened individuals had latent abilities that were almost meaningless. Those with dominant abilities were very special and rare. Possessing the ability to strengthen one's physique was not an impossible occurrence.
However, the fact that such a significant change occurred in just a short span of ten days was still too incredulous, filling Iron Mountain and the others with doubt.
General Blood himself was also a possessor of a dominant ability. It was unclear whether he believed Chen Chong's explanation. He just stared at Chen Chong's eyes with an inscrutable gaze, a faint smile playing on his lips.
"Oh? So that's how it is."
Chen Chong met General Blood's sinister and unfeeling gaze with a sincere and puzzled expression.
After a moment, General Blood withdrew his gaze and nodded slowly, saying in a leisurely manner:
"Indeed, Chen Chong, it seems you have more potential than anyone present. However, before we proceed, Bone Soldier mentioned that you had an encounter with Yin Hu before his disappearance. So... do you have any connection to his disappearance?"
"General, this is a mistake!" Chen Chong immediately exclaimed, putting on a theatrical performance under the scrutiny of all eyes:
"That evening, I met Captain Yin Hu, but we just chatted briefly, without any conflict. Captain Bone Soldier should be able to testify. After collecting supplies, I went back to my room to sleep. I didn't see him again until I went to the power station for my night shift. I'm new here, and Captain Yin Hu has always treated me kindly. He even personally arranged the easy job at the power station for me. Why would I harm him? And how could I, with my limited abilities, be a match for Captain Yin Hu?"
General Blood squinted his eyes, seemingly judging the authenticity of Chen Chong's self-defense. At this point, Li Bao suddenly exclaimed, his eyes darting around:
"Why wouldn't there be a reason? I've hardly seen you around the territory lately. Are you deliberately avoiding being noticed because you're afraid of being discovered with your changes? I think you're being rebellious! Maybe Yin Hu became suspicious of the changes in you and went to observe you during your night shift, and then you found out and used some method to kill him! And the power station is remote, with noise to cover it up. After killing Yin Hu, you burned his body in the boiler to destroy the evidence, which is why no one found Yin Hu's traces all over the territory!"
Whoosh!
With Li Bao's words, including Iron Mountain and other awakened individuals, everyone's gaze instantly returned to Chen Chong, filled with cold suspicion.
In this post-apocalyptic wasteland, human hearts were deceitful, and foolish people wouldn't survive long. Li Bao's speculation had some strained aspects, but it was the most reasonable speculation for Yin Hu's disappearance, providing a plausible explanation for the absence of a body throughout the territory.
"So... that does make some sense."
"I was wondering why we couldn't find Captain Yin Hu's body. If it was cremated in the boiler, then it all adds up."
"But what's strange is, how could Chen Chong easily kill Captain Yin Hu?"
The thugs erupted into murmurs, and at the back of the crowd, hearing the discussions, Old Man Xu sweated profusely, secretly worrying for Chen Chong. In his view, there was no connection between Yin Hu's disappearance and Chen Chong. It was obvious that this Li Bao was just slinging mud.
It really was hitting the nail on the head.
With countless skeptical gazes bearing down on him, Chen Chong remained unfazed. He put on a look of 'outrage' and angrily retorted, "Li Bao, what's wrong with you? The changes in my body are just the abilities brought about by awakening. What secrets could there be? Just because of our conflict last time, you're now slandering me so blatantly? General, this Li Bao has evil intentions. He's afraid of his own deeds being exposed, so he's randomly accusing people to escape punishment!"
"You're spouting nonsense!" Li Bao's face flushed red, and he cursed loudly, "You're the one fishy here! Yin Hu's death has nothing to do with me!"
Chen Chong countered without reservation, sneering coldly, "How so? Yin Hu made you green with envy, isn't that your biggest motive? Isn't the revenge for stealing your wife enough?"
Everyone present watched the argument like a show. General Blood squinted his eyes, observing the two, his thoughts inscrutable.
Iron Mountain and the others looked back and forth, but most of their suspicions fell on Chen Chong.
Undoubtedly, compared to Li Bao, Chen Chong had more motive and opportunity to kill Yin Hu. But what they couldn't figure out was how Chen Chong, against a seasoned awakened like Yin Hu, managed to kill him. What method did Chen Chong use?
At this moment, Li Bao's scars were exposed by Chen Chong's blatant mockery. His veins bulged, and he suddenly turned towards the stage, facing the silent General Blood, and said, "General, please do justice! Chen Chong is lying! I absolutely didn't..."
"That's enough!"
In the next instant, on the wooden stage, General Blood impatiently interrupted the quarrel. He stared at Chen Chong, a smile tinged with bloodthirstiness curling his lips.
"To determine if Chen Chong is lying is quite simple."
Swoosh.
In the next moment, amidst everyone's gaze, General Blood abruptly tore open his shirt, exposing his sturdy chest and the hideous tumor tissue to the air!
Then, General Blood's nails scraped across the surface of the tumor, and a terrifying worm, the Bloodline Gu, emerged.
After taking out the Bloodline Gu, General Blood stood on the wooden stage, breathing slightly heavily. He extended his palm forward, looking down at Chen Chong indifferently.
"Chen Chong, swallow it! This is a reward that a valuable person deserves. As long as you swallow it, I'll believe that Yin Hu's death has nothing to do with you. Furthermore, Yin Hu's position will be yours!"
Hiss.
Most of the thugs present gasped in shock, their eyes darting between Chen Chong and the Bloodline Gu in General Blood's hand, filled with jealousy and envy.
As far as they knew, the Bloodline Gu could rapidly increase the host's life force, even allowing an ordinary person to grow to the level of an awakened. It was said that Bone Soldier, who was in charge of supplies, was originally just an ordinary person when he first followed General Blood, and it was the Bloodline Gu that made him an awakened. And being the supervisor in the territory was undoubtedly a comfortable and prestigious position. These two things falling on one person's lap seemed like a pie from the sky. How could they not envy and covet?
As for the control brought about by the Bloodline Gu, these thugs didn't care at all. General Blood was already formidable, ruthless, and irresistible. Being controlled by such a strong figure wasn't difficult to accept; instead, it was an honor. And not just anyone had the qualification to make General Blood use the Bloodline Gu.
At this moment, Li Bao hadn't expected General Blood to handle the situation like this, his expression turning extremely ugly. Not only him, but including Iron Mountain and the other awakened individuals, their gazes flickered, suddenly understanding General Blood's intention:
Obviously, General Blood now probably suspected that Chen Chong's and Yin Hu's disappearance were related. However, Chen Chong now seemed to possess an extremely special dominant ability. In General Blood's eyes, his value had skyrocketed. For General Blood, it was completely unnecessary to execute Chen Chong for the sake of a worthless dead man. And taking out the Bloodline Gu was just a form of coercion, a way to make Chen Chong submit completely under his command!
They could foresee that once Chen Chong swallowed the Bloodline Gu, General Blood would inevitably downplay the situation. At most, he would privately punish Chen Chong, but wouldn't delve too deeply into Yin Hu's disappearance.
However, even if Li Bao guessed General Blood's intentions, he didn't dare to oppose him, feeling as if he was inadvertently helping General Blood ascend smoothly, which left him extremely frustrated.
Below the stage, the crowd surged, their eyes eager. On the stage, General Blood held the Bloodline Gu, breathing slightly heavily, a smile on his face as he calmly addressed Chen Chong, "Come up. What's wrong, Chen Chong? Are you unwilling? Or perhaps... you are the one who killed Yin Hu?"
In reality, including his confidant Iron Mountain, no one knew that the Bloodline Gu in his hand was not fully cultivated yet. It actually required several months of cultivation. The life connection he had established was still very weak and couldn't effectively control an awakened individual. However, he took it out now precisely as Iron Mountain and the others speculated – just to test and coerce Chen Chong into complete submission!
Despite his absolute confidence in his own strength, seeing Chen Chong change so drastically in such a short time astonished General Blood. It made him realize the danger of letting Chen Chong continue to grow unchecked. So he decided to take action early and completely bring Chen Chong under his control!
"I..."
Faced with General Blood's cutting words, Chen Chong struggled for a moment, remained silent for a while, then slowly raised his head under everyone's gaze and said dejectedly, "General, you jest. To receive your reward is my good fortune. How could I dare to refuse?"
With a sigh, he seemed like a deflated ball, and reluctantly ascended the stage from the other side, walking towards General Blood.
Seeing Chen Chong reluctantly submitting, General Blood immediately revealed a satisfied smile.
For him, even the fiercest wolf would become a loyal dog in his hands. This was not an empty boast. Although Chen Chong had ambitions, patience, and the lucky ability of dominant awakening, faced with his overwhelming power and authority, he had no choice but to submit. There was no other way!
Seeing Chen Chong seemingly benefiting from the situation, Iron Mountain, Li Bao, and a few others couldn't conceal their deep-seated jealousy and resentment. For Iron Mountain, Chen Chong's rise undoubtedly threatened his position. As for Li Bao, he had completely torn his face with Chen Chong in the struggle, creating a formidable enemy. Yet, this formidable enemy seemed to be rapidly rising, leaving them with a strong sense of crisis.
The two or three hundred thugs below the stage naturally didn't know the twists and turns of the situation. They all eagerly watched everything on stage, as Chen Chong approached General Blood.
"Chen Chong, you are very clever, knowing when to endure and recognizing the situation."
The Bloodline Gu squirmed slightly in General Blood's palm as he extended his large hand, offering it to the dejected Chen Chong. With crimson eyes, he spoke in a tone of complete control, a smile that seemed both genuine and cunning playing on his lips.
"I'm glad to see you make this choice. Believe me, you won't regret it. Go on."
To General Blood, although Chen Chong's changes were apparent, they were not enough to escape from his grasp. Moreover, his suspicious nature led him to believe that Chen Chong's transformation was not as simple as just a dominant ability. He had already made up his mind to coax out any secrets Chen Chong might be hiding after he took the bait.
Hearing General Blood's words, Chen Chong lowered his head, slowly raised one hand, palm open, seemingly preparing to accept the Bloodline Gu.
Very pleased with Chen Chong's compliance, General Blood smiled faintly and prepared to pour the Bloodline Gu into Chen Chong's palm.
However, in the next moment, Chen Chong, who had been appearing dejected and submissive since stepping onto the stage, suddenly revealed a sinister smile. Seizing the moment when General Blood let his guard down, he swiftly stepped forward, muscles bulging on his lowered right arm, and unleashed a lightning-fast punch!
Boom!
In a dull roar, with both intent and ferocity, Chen Chong's fist, which had been meticulously planned, struck without warning, catching General Blood completely off guard! At the same time, the wooden platform, paved with dozens of wooden boxes, shattered and collapsed under Chen Chong's foot, turning into countless fragments flying in all directions.
General Blood didn't have time to dodge. He immediately felt as if his heart and chest had been struck by a heavy artillery shell. His eyes bulged, his sturdy military uniform burst open, and then, with a teeth-gritting sound of bones cracking, his body was lifted off the ground and sent flying in agony!
"You!"
As General Blood flew through the air, shaken by the powerful punch, his bones, muscles, and organs ruptured, blood gushing from his mouth in a desperate spray, splattering into the air. It felt as if he hadn't been punched, but rather hit by a speeding car, almost costing him his life!
Boom!
In the blink of an eye, General Blood's body flew like a cannonball for more than twenty meters, crashing heavily into the wall of a low building behind him, smashing a large hole through it before being buried under rubble.
Seeing this scene, whether it was Iron Mountain, Li Bao, Bone Army, and other awakened individuals, or the hundreds of thugs eagerly watching, they all felt as if their heads had been struck by a boulder, their minds blank!
Chen Chong actually dared to attack the powerful, brutal, and irresistible General Blood, and even sent him flying like a ragdoll with one punch. This incredible scene left them completely stunned, unable to think.
Meanwhile, as Chen Chong struck a fatal blow, leaving General Blood half-dead, amidst the flying wooden debris and the shocked, dazed crowd—
Swoosh!
In the next instant, the **Indestructible Diamond Body** was fully activated. Chen Chong's body began to violently swell, instantly tearing apart the already tight leather jacket, revealing large patches of dark blue, steel-like muscles. Veins, like old tree roots, crawled on the surface of Chen Chong's skin...
With the full force of the **Indestructible Diamond Body**, in the blink of an eye, Chen Chong's figure swelled again, turning into a humanoid tyrannosaurus over two meters tall!
Clang!
As Chen Chong clenched his fist, it emitted a sound akin to the clash of gold and iron. He stared in the direction where he had sent General Blood flying, his face twisted into a ferocious smile:
"You bastard, I've endured you for a long time! Now, it's time for you to die!"
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Without any wasted words, completely ignoring the shocked and dazed onlookers, Chen Chong's tyrannosaurus-like body compressed the air, each step covering nearly ten meters. He left behind large craters, each a meter in diameter, as he viciously charged toward the spot where General Blood was about to land!
Seize the opportunity to strike when your opponent is weak!
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