Chapter 403: Conflict Escalates

Triss’s hatred for Duan Fei stemmed from the Lord Angel’s attention to him. This unreciprocated affection grew abnormally strong upon discovering that Duan Fei was high-quality “food,” which in turn transformed what he intended for Duan Fei into the greatest of blessings.

Triss’s blessing centered on three things: an unnaturally calm emotional state, exceptionally powerful deductive abilities, and extraordinarily strong escape skills.

The calm emotional state allowed him to ignore most mental corruption. The twisted limbs he had seen before would now be replaced by more cartoonish images, leaving his emotions unaffected.

The powerful deductive abilities made more information appear in his field of vision. Clues would materialize on certain items, and more details would appear after he observed them.

For example, above Triss’s avatar, terrifying words like “psycho,” “mother complex,” and “deformed love” appeared. A single glance was enough for Duan Fei to decide he’d help the guy reserve a room in a psychiatric hospital.

And the extraordinary escape skills allowed him to see a map of the base. All the routes he had explored by controlling the Shadow People the previous night now appeared before his eyes, as if he were using a map hack.

‘These cheats are enough. Any more and this game will be too easy.’

Completely satisfied, Duan Fei shook Triss’s hand and said, “Don’t worry, Triss. After I kill you, I’ll help you build a comfortable coffin.”

“I don’t like your joke.”

“It’s enough that I like it. Anything else? If not, I’m leaving.”

“…Goodbye.”

Watching Duan Fei leave, Triss felt that things weren’t going as planned.

He had intended to warn Duan Fei, to savor his pathetic struggles like a cat toying with a mouse. But now, it seemed he was the one being played.

Besides, making his target suffer was also for the Lord Angel’s sake. Intense pain caused the brain to secrete certain hormones, and despair was an exquisite seasoning, capable of making the brains the Lord Angel enjoyed even more delicious.

The Lord Angel would eat such food, of course, but Triss still hoped to offer the Lord Angel something far more delectable.

Leaning back in his chair to think, he opened his computer and summoned an instructor.

When the man arrived, Triss looked at the burly instructor and noticed the brace on his nose.

A few days ago, this instructor had a run-in with Duan Fei. His nose had been smashed in, and he’d been laid up in bed until today.

But compared to the physical pain, the mental torment was far worse. Being sent flying by a short man from the East had made him a complete laughingstock.

No one else would bother looking into *how* Duan Fei had managed to defeat him; they only saw the instructor’s humiliation.

The instructor, who had been summoned, was apprehensive, fearing he would be dismissed for his incompetence. But Triss’s first words put his concerns to rest.

“That Duan Someone… I need you to deal with him.”

The instructor let out a long breath and licked the corner of his mouth. “Don’t worry. I guarantee he’ll disappear without a trace.”

“Don’t kill him, or I guarantee you’ll be the one who dies. I need you to make him despair, feel loss, and suffer. Use your best methods to torture him, but do not kill him.”

The instructor immediately adjusted his mindset. “Don’t worry, I will. How many men can I use?”

“You can use most of the personnel. You can even use the graduated cadets.”

The instructor chuckled darkly, gave a military salute, and left. Only Triss remained, his hands clasped in prayer to the hidden Angel.

Soon, the instructor, now free to exact his personal revenge, sprang into action.

The instructor was one of Triss’s trusted subordinates and one of the few who knew the truth about the camp.

In his eyes, all the cadets were just food for the Angel. Their training was meant to improve their Constitution, so that after their brains were eaten, their bodies could still be of some use.

Therefore, the matter of being beaten senseless by “food” was something he absolutely could not tolerate.

The instructor found the cadets loyal to him and gave them their orders.

Some cadets began to surveil Duan Fei. When they discovered he had started firearms practice, they immediately sent someone to sneak into his room and smash everything in sight.

During the midday break, Duan Fei returned to his room to find that his belongings had been utterly destroyed. Even his tablet was smashed.

A crowd of cadets gathered around to watch the spectacle. They were already unfriendly toward Duan Fei for his prodigious Talent, and now, seeing his trashed room, they all wore expressions of schadenfreude.

Glancing around, Duan Fei looked at them one by one. Above each of their heads, a single word appeared: Bystander.

His powerful deductive ability began to work. Information on everyone present was instantly listed out, saving Duan Fei the time he would have spent chasing down clues.

‘This feeling of seeing the answer at a glance, like the system is helping me cheat… it’s pretty damn good.’

Sweeping his gaze across the crowd, Duan Fei pointed at a guy with the word “Participant” over his head and said, “You. Come here. I’m talking to you.”

The man was two meters tall and covered in thick body hair. At a glance, he looked like a bear that had escaped from the circus.

Shoving aside the people next to him, he swaggered up to Duan Fei and looked down at him. “What do you want, kid?”

Without wasting a single word, Duan Fei stomped on the man’s foot, his face instantly twisting in pain.

Then, he pulled out a Crowbar and slammed it into the man’s knee.

The crunch of shattering bone made everyone flinch. Then, Duan Fei swung the Crowbar again, this time right between the man’s legs. The blow was fast and vicious. Everyone heard the sickening sound of it connecting, and some of the weaker-stomached cadets even fainted on the spot from the phantom pain.

A person in that much pain doesn’t scream or even move. They just foam at the mouth and pass out. When they wake up, they’ll be a very burly girl.

Of course, Duan Fei wasn’t *that* cruel.

Tossing a [Rough Healing Technique] on the man, Duan Fei activated the Skill’s special effect and applied a debuff.

‘Anyway, there’s no way any of his Attributes are over 37, so applying this debuff won’t be a problem.’

Planting his foot on the unconscious brute, Duan Fei pointed at another person. “You, get over here.”

Two bald “Participants” walked forward, both reaching into their pockets at almost the same time, ready to pull out shivs fashioned from toothbrushes.

Duan Fei, however, could see their intentions perfectly.

Text prompts appeared above their heads, laying out their entire plan, including their very next move, for him to see.

Without any more talk, Duan Fei summoned Yan Yuan and fused it with his right hand.

A flash of fire flared, and a fiery mark appeared on his right hand. Yan Yuan’s voice rang in his ear, “Master, you finally called for me! Are you in trouble? Go on, beat the crap out of them! I’ll cheer you on!”

“You’re a cheeky bastard most of the time, but I have to admit, your timing is perfect.”

Raising his hand, Duan Fei fired off two Magic Bullets, blowing a hole through each of their legs.