Chapter 34: Lion Grass Mercenary Group |
About ten minutes passed, and Luo Yi was driving the Mustang, almost out of the city.
Xia Heng started frequently checking the rearview mirror. Wu Zhong knew someone was following them again.
"Which car?" Wu Zhong asked, turning his head to glance back from the rear seat.
Luo Yi picked up a cigarette, thought about the fact he was driving and didn't light it, instead stuffing it directly into his mouth to chew. "Yeah, don't bother looking. There are seven or eight cars between us. It's that silver refrigerated truck way back there."
Wu Zhong looked for a long time before spotting it. The license plate was from Xiang Province, meaning they'd been followed since they entered Xiang Province territory.
"Have you fought them before?"
"Yeah, a rookie. Didn't dare fight me at all." Luo Yi picked up his milk tea cup, found it was already empty, and casually tossed it into the back seat.
Wu Zhong picked up the empty cup and sniffed it, only then realizing Luo Yi hadn't been drinking milk tea earlier, but damn baijiu!
"Huh? You were drinking alcohol?"
Wu Zhong's eyes widened. "Wait, you're driving! You're drinking while driving? Let Brother Xia take over."
Luo Yi scoffed. "It's fine, it's fine."
Wu Zhong was speechless. How could Brother Xia let an alcoholic lunatic be the driver?
Xia Heng said calmly, "It's harmless. His driving skills are excellent, and his alcohol tolerance is even better."
"This isn't about alcohol tolerance! What if we get pulled over by traffic police?" Wu Zhong said excitedly.
Luo Yi put another cigarette in his mouth to chew. "What traffic police? Relax, I haven't had a drink in twenty minutes. We're heading straight out of the city onto the national highway."
Wu Zhong had no choice but to continue observing the person following them.
He incidentally found his bag in the car - the pistol and laughing grenade were still inside.
After observing for a while, Xia Heng said, "Still that same rookie. His Polymorphic Power secret art is probably tracking-type."
Luo Yi spat out the cigarette butt and put another one in his mouth to chew. "Something like aura observation technique, I guess."
"He must have sensed my outstanding... domineering aura, like a firefly in the dark night."
Xia Heng rolled his eyes, then said somewhat irritably, "Too many mercenaries have been dispatched to search for us."
"Among them are plenty using aura observation and tracking methods. It was unavoidable that we'd run into someone from one group while driving across provinces."
"My Multivariate Moment is always active. No matter how well I conceal it, if someone gets too close they can sense it. That guy probably discovered us when we stopped for gas together."
Wu Zhong asked curiously, "Just one person? Didn't you say it was a mercenary group?"
Xia Heng nodded. "It is a mercenary group. We've only spotted their scout for now."
"That's why this guy only dares to follow, not fight. Because before you woke up, we were driving on the highway the whole time, so their main force couldn't catch up."
Luo Yi chuckled lightly. "After I spotted him, I led him to a park planning to have some fun with him, but he just ran away."
"Logically he should have lost us, but now he's managed to follow us again. It must be an aura observation technique, and his perception is quite strong."
Wu Zhong pressed further. "How can you be sure it's a specific mercenary group?"
"Couldn't it just be a lone wolf operating solo?"
Xia Heng's tone carried considerable arrogance. "What lone wolf would be this weak and dare to wade into these troubled waters?"
Luo Yi laughed. "If you recognize them, just say you recognize them. Why act so pretentious?"
Xia Heng curled his lip. "Lion Grass Mercenary Group. I've seen this scout before."
"Oh?" Luo Yi said curiously. "When did you have dealings with Reinhardt's crew?"
"Just crossed paths once." Xia Heng didn't want to explain further.
Luo Yi didn't press further, only saying, "Aside from Lion Grass Reinhardt himself, I don't think much of anyone else in that mercenary group."
Xia Heng pondered. "If they're operating domestically, Matsutake might be leading the team."
"Matsutake's illusion technique is really troublesome."
"His illusion technique is extremely advanced. It can perfectly integrate with the current environment, making it impossible to distinguish reality from illusion, difficult to detect. He can even layer multiple illusions, rendering ordinary countermeasures useless."
"If we fall under his illusion, Little Wu, you'll have to rely more on yourself."
Wu Zhong pressed his lips together. Him? How could he possibly fight a group of veteran mercenaries?
But if even Xia Heng said it was troublesome, he had nothing to say.
Luo Yi glanced at Xia Heng. "Oh? Matsutake's Polymorphic Power includes illusion techniques? Never heard that before."
"How do you know? Old Xia, you've really changed a lot since we last parted."
"..." Xia Heng froze for a moment, then said, "Although we've only been apart for half a year, many, many things have happened."
Both fell silent.
Wu Zhong blinked, wondering what Xia Heng used to be like that would make Luo Yi feel he'd changed so much.
To break the awkwardness, he asked, "Um, Lord Luo, do you have any channels to help me become an Awakened?"
Luo Yi chuckled lightly. "Have Yang Chunsha marry Old Xia, then become their son. Problem solved."
"..." Wu Zhong thought to himself, why did he even bother asking him?
Clearly Xia Heng was more reliable. If even Xia Heng found becoming an Awakened difficult, Luo Yi was even less likely to help.
Wu Zhong stopped talking and looked out the window.
Suddenly, his pupils contracted. Everyone else in the car was also startled.
At the intersection ahead, a group of traffic police were conducting drunk driving checks.
"Huh?"
Yang Chunsha patted Wu Zhong. "You really are a jinx."
Wu Zhong whispered, "What should we do? Can we turn around?"
"Can't turn around now." Xia Heng looked at Luo Yi. "Can you handle this?"
"Are you kidding? How long has it been since I drank?" Luo Yi indeed looked perfectly calm, with no signs of having drunk alcohol.
Wu Zhong glanced at the previous milk tea cup and couldn't help but grimace. "How long since you drank? Weren't you just drinking earlier..."
Luo Yi ignored him and drove straight through, completely complying with instructions to pull over, rolling down his window.
Seeing his cooperation, the traffic police saluted and asked him to blow into the breathalyzer.
But when Luo Yi blew into it, the alcohol tester beeped an alarm...
Wu Zhong thought they were done for, because at a glance, damn, the screen was completely red.
Even the traffic police were stunned. 198mg/100ml?
"Please step out of the vehicle!" The traffic police officer's voice even cracked.
Luo Yi looked innocent. "Huh? I haven't been drinking."
The officer was furious. "198 and you still say you haven't been drinking? Turn off the engine! Get out!"
He opened the car door, found the keys and immediately clenched them in his palm.
Luo Yi got out and spread his hands. "I really haven't been drinking. Misunderstanding, misunderstanding. The instrument must be broken."
Wu Zhong was utterly speechless.
Several traffic police officers gathered around, asking him to come to the roadside first. "Your breath reeks of alcohol, and you say you haven't been drinking?"
"Really haven't! The buns I ate went bad and the smell is lingering..."
The traffic police laughed angrily, taking out a new mouthpiece. "You won't admit it, huh? Fine, test again."
"This is our disposable mouthpiece, opening it in front of you, see?"
Luo Yi obediently spread his hands. "Don't worry, I 'recently' haven't been drinking. I'll cooperate completely."
The officer emphasized, "If you haven't been drinking, that's best. If you haven't been drinking, you're a law-abiding citizen."
He replaced the mouthpiece and handed it over. "Place the front in your mouth and blow steadily... blow air, blow blow..."
Luo Yi cooperated completely, and as soon as he blew, it started beeping wildly.
"Damn..." Wu Zhong had been wondering if he had some trick up his sleeve, but it turned out he was just being stubborn?
The traffic police officer said sternly, "Your alcohol level is one hundred milligrams of alcohol per hundred milliliters of blood."
"This seriously exceeds the drunk driving standard... You haven't been drinking? You've been drinking plenty."
Luo Yi's eyes were clear, his face full of grievance. "Do I look like I've been drinking?"
"They're the ones who drank. Your machine has problems, might be contaminated."
"I demand a blood test!"
The traffic police nodded. "Blood test, fine... Take him for blood draw."
Luo Yi was quickly led away, leaving Wu Zhong stunned. The man really had a stubborn mouth.
Other traffic police were questioning Xia Heng. "What's your relationship with him?"
Xia Heng said calmly, "We're all friends."
"Have you been drinking?"
"The three of us had a little this morning. Since he was driving, he didn't drink." Xia Heng answered calmly.
They asked a few more questions, then they stood by the roadside waiting for processing.
Wu Zhong glanced at the previously following silver refrigerated truck - it had also pulled over for inspection.
The driver was a young man in a white shirt and suit pants, quite refined-looking, wearing a subtly flashy pair of glasses.
Of course he hadn't been drinking. After testing, he was about to be released.
The subtly flashy young man drove past the three of them, glanced their way, and his eyes met Wu Zhong's.
But he didn't look away; his gaze even held some provocation.
"Tch..." Wu Zhong curled his lip, watching him drive away.
The other party knew they were exposed too, not even changing vehicles - this was blatant tracking.
"His teammates should be arriving soon."
Xia Heng agreed. "They didn't catch up earlier because we drove straight to Rong City without stopping."
"Now with your recovery time in the hospital and the delays on the road, they should have arrived by now."
Wu Zhong whispered, "We're already exposed. This group might report our location to the firefighters..."
Xia Heng reassured him. "If they were going to act, they would have done so already. These guys are after you, planning to eliminate you secretly and inherit your things."
Wu Zhong didn't know if this was good news or bad news.
Unit 985 hadn't found them, but other mercenaries had - except these mercenaries wanted him dead!
As they were talking, after waiting about twenty minutes, the traffic police brought Luo Yi back.
The traffic police officers looked somewhat confused.
Luo Yi, however, was strutting proudly. "No problem, no problem. All a misunderstanding."
The other traffic police were astonished. "What's going on?"
The returning officer pursed his lips. "His blood test came back clean."
"Huh? He blew 198 alcohol content!"
"But the blood draw results show he hadn't been drinking. The handheld instrument must be broken..."
"But everyone else we tested came out normal."
"Anyway, we should still replace the machine."
The traffic police discussed among themselves, then let Luo Yi return to the car.
"All a misunderstanding. Let's go." Luo Yi's eyes were clear as he retrieved his keys and started the car.
The traffic police still cautioned the others. "Even though he hasn't been drinking, you're not allowed to drink in the car either."
"Understood, understood. We stopped drinking long ago."
Everyone agreed, then drove off.
Soon after, they left the city and got on the national highway.
Wu Zhong couldn't help asking, "What happened? How did you pass the blood test? What did you do?"
Luo Yi said calmly, "Didn't do anything. There really wasn't any alcohol in my blood."
"That alcohol from so long ago had already metabolized long ago."
Wu Zhong was astonished. "You drank half a jin of baijiu, and only twenty minutes later during the blood test, it had already completely metabolized?"
"Twenty minutes - for normal people, the alcohol would have just started entering their bloodstream!"
Xia Heng explained, "You said it yourself - normal people. He's not human."
"Among the mental illnesses he's absorbed, five have reached severe levels. This makes his physical fitness at least six times that of a normal person."
"Note - comprehensively. Among these, cell activity and immune system are doubled again, reaching twelve times."
"So his liver's rate of metabolizing pure alcohol is at least 120g per hour... equivalent to metabolizing over half a jin of 50-proof baijiu per hour."
"This alcohol has low proof, and he deliberately drinks slowly while driving, so it's basically metabolized as soon as he drinks it, just like water. It never even gets into his bloodstream."
Wu Zhong was dumbfounded.
Xia Heng continued explaining to him that apparently for the Mad Blood Clan, each mental illness absorbed increases comprehensive physical qualities.
Including but not limited to muscle power, nerve reaction, sensory functions, immune system, cell activity.
Cell activity and immune system increase the most, while nerve reaction and sensory functions increase the least.
But overall, having five times the physique of a normal person is exceptionally terrifying.
"So it's based on type? Repeatedly absorbing the same mental illness has no effect?" Wu Zhong pressed.
Luo Yi took out another cigarette and stuffed it in his mouth to chew. "Yes, I picked acceptable diseases."
"Repeats don't make you stronger, but absorbing repeated diseases has therapeutic effects. Actually, that's more useful."
"If I get injured, absorbing two or three alcoholics with severe withdrawal symptoms can basically heal the injury."
Wu Zhong understood. "So non-repeats add attributes, repeats add health?"
Luo Yi laughed. "Succinct."