Chapter Thirty-Six: Why Is the Headband on Your Head Always Flashing? (Double-Length)

Since Zhong Shenxiu had already sensed something wrong with Hyde, he naturally wouldn’t foolishly let this big target slip away. Instead, he returned to the base with the group of clueless mercenaries.

On their way through the residential district, he had the driver stop the car. Under Renault’s knowing look—one that said, “We understand”—he got out. Zhong Shenxiu didn’t bother to explain; after all, he couldn’t very well say, “It’s not what you think, I’m off to kill your boss.”

“Grell, don’t stay out too long, or you’ll miss the party back at the base!” Renault called out, excitement in his voice, as the black van started up again.

Zhong Shenxiu simply nodded, then wandered through the apartment blocks before making his way straight toward Hyde’s villa, perched on the edge of Ingram Street.

Rumble—

The very ground trembled.

Just as Zhong Shenxiu neared the villa, a surge of explosions thundered in the distance, flames shooting skyward.

He jerked his head toward the source—it was coming from the direction of the Happy Factory!

What was going on? Had another group appeared and wiped out the Happy Factory?

Was this the reason Hyde was in such a hurry to leave?

Countless thoughts flashed through Zhong Shenxiu’s mind in that moment. Without further hesitation, he strode up to the villa’s door and rang the bell.

He noticed the security camera by the doorframe swivel toward him. With earnest sincerity, he called out, “Lord Hyde, they actually abandoned me here…”

He waited for a while after speaking.

There was no response, but Zhong Shenxiu wasn’t annoyed; this was, after all, just a probing attempt. What he really relied on was his “Magic Wave,” to see if there were any weak points in the villa’s defenses—any spot he could forcibly break through.

But just as he was about to unleash the Magic Wave, the villa’s door unexpectedly opened.

“Come in.” Hyde’s voice issued from a concealed speaker at the entrance.

Zhong Shenxiu’s heart skipped a beat. Did Hyde have a few thousand Gatling guns waiting inside to turn him into a sieve the moment he entered? But on second thought, he was currently disguised as Grell, Hyde’s subordinate—and more importantly, he still had over a thousand units of magic. What was there to fear?

So Zhong Shenxiu stepped inside.

The villa was empty and stark, the yard nothing but a concrete slab with not even a patch of grass. Only a rectangular outline was marked on the far left—a size that at a glance, Zhong Shenxiu realized matched that of the large truck.

Yet the house’s front door was tightly locked, covered in thick dust, clearly rarely used.

Zhong Shenxiu scanned the area and quickly noticed something amiss.

Where was such a massive truck supposed to have gone?

The answer came as the ground suddenly rose, revealing beneath it a silver-white, single-person precision elevator.

Everything was underground.

These people really loved digging holes.

Muttering to himself, Zhong Shenxiu stepped into the elevator. The moment the doors closed, it shot downward at high speed, reaching its destination in moments.

When the doors slid open, a silvery world stretched before him.

And standing at the center was the rotund Hyde.

On Hyde’s head, his odd-looking headband was flashing incessantly, his chubby face twisted in a peculiar expression.

The ease of the journey made Zhong Shenxiu feel almost dazed, but he quickly recovered, greeting Hyde, “Lord Hyde.”

At the same time, he surreptitiously cast Magic Wave.

Truck, supplies, and that undetectable cube.

The entire underground base was small; there wasn’t a single other armed guard, nor could Zhong Shenxiu sense any heavy weaponry.

So why had Hyde let him in so easily?

Was Grell truly one of Hyde’s most trusted lackeys?

Hyde, in contrast, was not lost in wild speculations. Only a single thought echoed in his mind:

Why?

Why can’t I control him?

Why?

The God’s Whip controller on his head was pushed to its absolute limit. Even without looking, he knew it had to be flashing red furiously.

Yet he simply could not control Grell.

Impossible—Grell’s body was definitely harboring a large amount of God’s Whip; there was no doubt about that.

Hyde had intended to replenish his dwindling stock of God’s Whip. Most of what he had left had been spent awakening his subordinates.

As for the God’s Whip near Subject Zero, he dared not use it—Zero was already comatose, so fragile that Hyde feared further extraction would kill him outright. He understood the folly of killing the goose that laid the golden eggs.

So when he saw Grell, he was actually pleased. Grell patrolled around Subject Zero all the time; his body should be brimming with God’s Whip.

From other patrolmen, Hyde had extracted plenty before.

The patrol system, in truth, was just a way for Hyde to use human bodies to reabsorb the leaking God’s Whip.

He could control God’s Whip at will. Even if Grell harbored treacherous thoughts, Hyde could simply manipulate the God’s Whip inside him and turn him into a fool.

It was a foolproof plan.

Hyde was confident in this—nonsense!

Why?

Why can’t I control the God’s Whip inside him? I can’t even sense it!

Hyde was coming unglued, sweat pouring off his fat face.

Zhong Shenxiu watched Hyde’s contorted face, his attention especially drawn to the ludicrously ugly, flashing headband, and said,

“Lord Hyde, why is your headband flashing like that? Is it about to explode?”

Explode, my foot!

Hyde shot him a glare and ordered, “Grell, that room is yours now. Go tidy it up.”

As Zhong Shenxiu turned away, Hyde quietly drew the pistol at his waist and aimed at the back of Zhong Shenxiu’s head.

If I can’t extract more God’s Whip, then you can die.

His gaze turned cold and grim.

But at that very instant, Zhong Shenxiu spun around with lightning speed, his arm whipping out to snatch the black pistol from Hyde’s chubby hand with flawless precision.

Like a battle-hardened veteran, he smashed the gun’s butt squarely into Hyde’s fat head.

As Hyde toppled, losing his balance, Zhong Shenxiu’s eyes flashed coldly. Four gunshots rang out, each hitting Hyde’s limbs with brutal accuracy. Blood gushed forth.

“Aaaah!”

Hyde collapsed to the floor with a pig-like scream, all ability to move lost.

Zhong Shenxiu retrieved the pistol with satisfaction. The fluidity of his actions was the epitome of mastery; Gun Combat Arts, a fusion of three passive skills, was indeed formidable. Achieving this level would take a real soldier at least a decade.

And Zhong Shenxiu, ever meticulous, would never have exposed his back to Hyde so carelessly.

He’d been using Magic Wave the entire time; every move in this little base was under his watchful eye.

He glanced at the Colt M2000 pistol in his hand, identical to the mercenaries’ weapons, and couldn’t help but sneer at the bleeding mass before him.

At first, he’d thought Hyde had some formidable tricks up his sleeve—high-tech weapons, maybe a mutant rhino-man waiting inside.

When he’d turned away, he’d been fully prepared to unleash magic at any moment.

Magic Shield, Lightning Legs—all ready to deploy for whatever happened next.

And yet...

This was it?

Just a petty handgun, and he thought he could take my life? How absurd.

Zhong Shenxiu reckoned even the real Grell, if forewarned, could dodge such a clumsy sneak attack.

Let alone himself—with Magic Wave and master-level Gun Combat Arts.

This was all?

Zhong Shenxiu looked with renewed disdain at the man who was likely the mastermind behind the Ingram Street anomaly.

This turn of events made him reconsider his previous assumptions.

This fat fool wasn’t the true culprit—he was far too pathetic, merely a lackey. The real mastermind had to be someone else.

Remembering the explosions at the Happy Factory, Zhong Shenxiu refocused his resolve.

“Pfft—”

Hyde’s bloated belly, now spread on the floor like a pancake, convulsed as he spat up blood and struggled to lift his head and look at Grell.

“You… Are you with S.H.I.E.L.D.?” Hyde croaked.

Being taken down so easily, Hyde finally understood in that instant—why this man couldn’t be controlled by God’s Whip, how he avoided the explosion, why S.H.I.E.L.D. had mobilized so swiftly.

So… he’d been harboring a S.H.I.E.L.D. mole at his side all along.

Commander Pierce… didn’t you say there were no S.H.I.E.L.D. agents near me?

Pain wracked Hyde’s body, making it hard to think straight.

But Zhong Shenxiu, hearing the question, was taken aback—

What? S.H.I.E.L.D.?

How did this get pinned on S.H.I.E.L.D.?

So this fat lackey knew about S.H.I.E.L.D., meaning he wasn’t a complete waste—just terribly incompetent.

Seeing Zhong Shenxiu remain silent, Hyde assumed consent.

He smirked, threatening, “You… You can’t kill me. If you do, no one will be able to lift the God’s Whip shrouding Ingram Street… and once you’re in S.H.I.E.L.D.—”

Bang!

Zhong Shenxiu raised the pistol and shot him in the head.

Hyde’s face froze in disbelief, his eyes wide as saucers, but the light in them gradually faded.

So much bluster, so many words for a mere lackey.

Zhong Shenxiu holstered the pistol, scoffing inwardly. He pondered: The explosion at the Happy Factory had only just ended. If he hurried over, he’d make it in time—but if he lingered here, that might not be the case. He didn’t have much time.

Wanda was probably still at the Happy Factory!

But before that, he had to check out the cube that blocked his Magic Wave. It was likely connected to the barrier encasing Ingram Street.

He turned to leave but doubled back, taking the ugly headband off Hyde’s fat head.

Such an eyesore—if Hyde wore it all this time, perhaps it was some kind of artifact.

Still, he didn’t expect much. If it were valuable, why hadn’t Hyde used it against him?

Probably worthless.

No matter, he’d pocket it just in case.

The hamster-like hoarder in Zhong Shenxiu surfaced again. He wiped the blood and brain matter off the headband and stuffed it in his pocket, then followed the Magic Wave’s readings toward the undetectable cube.

Pushing open the door, Zhong Shenxiu was stunned. In the room, there was only a transparent cube—and inside it, a woman lay.

It really was Wanda!

Though far more haggard than before and little more than skin and bones, that reddish hair was unmistakable.

So… Hyde really was the final boss after all?

How could he be so weak…

That was the only thought in Zhong Shenxiu’s mind.

But a glance at the system showed the main quest still unfinished:

Rescue Wanda (0/1).

Why?

He quickly realized—Wanda was still trapped inside a cube as solid as thick glass.

Did he need to get her out of the cube to truly finish the quest?

No time to waste. Zhong Shenxiu searched for a way to open the strange cell, but found nothing—no seams, no locks.

The entire cube seemed forged in one seamless piece.

This was puzzling.

Fine.

If there was no trick, brute force would do.

Without hesitation, Zhong Shenxiu’s fist, wrapped with thirty units of magic, smashed into the glass wall.

Boom!

A tremendous sound shook the room, but the seemingly fragile glass only cracked slightly.

What on earth was this made of? Was it even glass?

Zhong Shenxiu was amazed. One punch from him could pulverize Grell’s skull, yet here it barely made a dent.

No matter.

If one punch wasn’t enough, then two.

Boom—

Fifty units of magic!

This time, the tough glass wall shattered into a rain of shards.

Quick as lightning, Zhong Shenxiu cast a ten-point Magic Shield on both himself and Wanda.

It cost a hundred magic in total, just to break the cell—Hyde’s cell used up more of his magic than Hyde himself did.

Still, he was satisfied—completing the mission with minimal cost was best. Indeed, the moment the cell broke, the main quest completed as well.

[Mission Objective: Rescue Wanda—Complete]

[Reward: Chaos Magic, +10 Mental Power—Granted]