Chapter 156 127: Bandit? Usurper

"Cerebrospinal fluid is leaking from his nostrils. Preliminary judgment is a basal skull fracture."

"With this much force, the brain must have been under extreme compression inside the skull."

As they spoke, a few team members reached out.

They pried at the face, which was mangled beyond recognition, and pulled back an eyelid.

The eyelid was caked in blood, releasing a metallic scent at the slightest touch. Prying it open revealed a bulging, white eye.

"Massive hemorrhaging in the eye, specifically in the anterior chamber and retina. The cerebral blood vessels are ruptured, too..."

"What the hell is his brain like now? The blood vessels can't have *all* burst, can they?!"

"Should we... open up the skull and take a look...?"

"A person did this?!"

The three of them were all talking at once, but the gist of it was...

They were questioning reality itself!

The three exchanged glances, their eyes filled with bewilderment.

How much force can the human face withstand?

Between 120 and 230 kilograms. A world-class boxing champion, like Tyson, has a punch force around that maximum value.

Of course, some media outlets have claimed his punch force reached 800 kilograms.

But then again, it was the media that claimed 800 kilograms—the new-era media, not the first generation of journalists who established their professional creed.

But regardless of which claim is true...

He had the ability to kill a man with a single punch. On a good day, he could punch someone into the state we see here.

But...

How many Tysons are there in the world?

"And with his hands tied, no less..."

Someone looked down at the ropes by their feet, their eyes still dazed.

"Break free from the ropes, land a single, precise punch straight to the face, and then snatch the gun?"

"Judging by the positions, this all must have happened in an incredibly short amount of time..."

"Holy shit, *this* is a criminal investigation consultant?!"

"The guy who's supposed to use his brain?"

The three, who were usually well-composed, were completely thrown, even letting a curse slip.

The rest of their colleagues weren't any better off.

Standing over Cheng Yang's body, a colleague stared at the gunshot wound on his chest—a textbook shot to the lungs—and the other men who had been shot and killed, lost in thought.

"Two precise shots to the chest... A Mozambique Drill? Did he not go for the head because it wasn't necessary, or what?"

"We haven't found any other bullet impacts at the scene, and no extra rounds are missing from the magazines. In other words, the other three men..."

The investigators looked around, growing more and more confused the more they examined.

"One-shot headshots?"

"Three consecutive shots?"

"And at sea? Huh?"

What's it like at sea?

Rocky!

Very rocky!

Anyone who's ever been fishing on a small boat knows that the vessel can rock enough to make you puke!

It's not the kind of swaying that makes you lose your balance, but a different kind, one that feels like it's trying to scramble your brain!

Under these conditions, forget headshots; you'd be lucky to line up a three-point-aim on their body.

"Chief, where did you find this guy?"

A team member couldn't help but turn back to look at Zhang Liang.

"Is he from the Navy Special Forces?"

"No, that can't be right. You could pull anyone from anywhere, and they wouldn't have survived this."

"A narrow boat with no cover, five armed men against one who's tied up... If I hadn't seen this with my own eyes, I'd curse out anyone who told me this story."

"He's basically Superman!"

Hearing this, Zhang Liang also fell silent. He looked at the scene around him, his brow furrowed.

'His... abilities are maxed out.'

'Firearms proficiency, physical conditioning, mental fortitude, strategic thinking, and intellect...'

'He's practically a perfect hexagonal warrior!'

'If it had been him... Zhang Liang didn't think he could have survived this.'

'In fact, if Xu Huo really was from some special forces unit... his commander would have to be insane to let him retire!'

'This is the pinnacle of solo combat capability, a perfect example!'

'Never mind sending him on missions; just having him compete in tournaments and win awards would be enough for them to treat Xu Huo like a precious treasure.'

"He's..."

"A criminal investigation consultant."

Zhang Liang said after a moment of silence.

"Used to be a private detective. The kind that catches cheating spouses."

"An investigation consultant..."

"A detective who catches cheaters?"

Everyone fell silent, instinctively glancing at the corpse whose head had been pulped.

'An investigation consultant who can cave in a skull with one punch...'

The stark contrast was so baffling that they felt like something had just shattered.

It was as if...

You're in an ancient battle and decide your top priority is to take out the enemy's strategist, so you lead a team to sneak into their command tent.

You expect to find a Zhuge, a Zhou Yu, a Guo Jia, or a Xun Yu commanding the battle around a sand table.

But...

when you throw open the tent flap, you see the muscle-bound Lü Bu, the glaive-wielding Guan Yu, and the twin-halberd-wielding Dian Wei...

Everyone fell silent.

"Alright, and to think you guys were complaining about him earlier,"

Zhang Liang said casually, looking up and gazing into the distance.

The team members exchanged glances, wry smiles on their faces.

"Who knew he was such a beast... In this situation, if it were me, I honestly can't imagine how I'd survive..."

Zhang Liang ignored them.

The boat was already drifting toward Zhaozhou City.

After a few hours of drifting, the silhouette of Zhaozhou City was now visible.

Seeing this, Zhang Liang took a deep breath and said in a heavy voice:

"Pack it up."

...

...

Xu Huo was completely unharmed.

Or rather.

The hostage had killed all five of his kidnappers!

"After boarding the boat, I used words to provoke them into hitting me. Under the cover of darkness, I removed their magazines, leaving only one fully loaded, and tossed the rest into the sea."

"Then, in the morning, I took advantage of the ropes that were ostensibly tying me up to make them lower their guard, then I seized a gun and killed them."

"However, I didn't expect that one of them had a spare magazine, and that Cheng Yang had bullets on him and had already loaded his gun."

"I was left with no choice but to kill them."

「November 13th.」

Inside the detention room, Xu Huo faced Zhang Liang and confessed everything.

What he said was basically the entire account of the incident, though he had slightly altered the time when he stole the firearm.