Stronger with Crimson Modifier-Chapter 110: Initial (3)

A room bathed in dim candlelight.

A round table stood in the center of the room.

A figure was seated at the table.

She was an exceptionally beautiful woman.

She wore a black dress that cinched at the waist, making her skin appear all the more fair and captivating.

Holding a knife and fork, she brought the last, blood-streaked piece of meat from her plate to her mouth. She then picked up a nearby glass filled with a red liquid and took a delicate sip.

If Helinta were here, she would have recognized this person as the very Lower-Rank Black Blood Species whose arm she had severed.

But now, the arm she had lost was completely restored.

Suddenly, she froze.

"Lady Chen Yu, what’s wrong? Are the ingredients not to your taste?"

Just then, a muffled voice spoke.

A massive figure slowly emerged from the shadows behind her.

This was a massive, fat man, over two meters tall. His skin was a grotesque bluish-gray, covered in bulging veins and dark spots.

With every step he took, the ground trembled.

The woman in the black dress, Chen Yu, heard him and gently shook her head.

"It’s nothing. Just a few Blood Slaves were killed."

"Was it those Secret Martial Artists? Those damn blood-bags... I’ll go and swallow them whole!"

the fat man growled.

As he spoke, a cruel and greedy light flickered in his eyes—mere narrow slits buried in the fleshy folds of a face so bloated its original features were almost invisible.

"Heh. Don’t worry, you’ll get your chance. If I’m not mistaken, the man should be here shortly."

A faint smile touched her lips as she spoke.

Images flashed through her dark eyes.

They were scenes of Hu Qi killing the Blood Slaves.

She recognized him. It was the man who had killed Lu Ming Bell’s son.

She’d originally sent two Blood Slaves to capture him, but to her surprise, he had finished them both off.

She thought he wouldn’t dare return after that. But not only had he come back, it looked like he was actively searching for her.

’Interesting. Does he really think becoming a Secret Martial Artist makes him invincible? It’s not yet clear who is the Hunter and who is the prey.’

Chen Yu swirled the glass in her hand, a mocking glint in her eyes as she watched the crimson liquid.

...

Time passed quietly, and soon it was late at night.

Snowflakes once again began to drift from the night sky, silently blanketing the newly cleared roads in a layer of white.

The roadside trees, heavy with snow, had drooping branches. Every so often, a clump of snow would fall to the ground with a soft thud.

The shops were all shuttered, nearly all of them closed for the night.

Only one or two still had their signs lit.

Just then, the car pulled over.

"Chief, we’re here."

"Yes. Park the car a bit farther away." 𝗳𝚛𝗲𝕖𝚠𝚎𝚋𝗻𝗼𝕧𝗲𝐥.𝚌𝚘𝐦

Hu Qi said, opening his eyes.

"Yes, sir!"

Sensing the caution in Hu Qi’s tone, Dai Shu wisely refrained from asking any questions.

Carrying his Long Saber, Hu Qi opened the car door and stepped out.

Looking up, he saw a welfare institute standing off to one side.

The sprawling welfare institute stood there, the nearest building a hundred meters away, giving it a desolate air.

The walls were freshly painted.

A red banner with black lettering hung beside the main gate.

—Warming Every Lonely Heart with Love, Making Our Institute a Harbor of Home.

The main gate bore three large words: Chaoyang Welfare Institute.

According to the information he’d gathered, the Chaoyang Welfare Institute in West City had been around for fifty or sixty years.

Over the years, some of the buildings had been demolished and rebuilt.

The institute had previously faced closure due to financial problems, but it was eventually acquired by a wealthy businessman surnamed Lu.

Coincidentally, this Businessman Lu had a connection to Hu Qi.

He was the father of Lu Shi, the man Hu Qi had thrown from a building.

At the time, he had planned to send the entire family to a "neat and tidy" reunion in the afterlife.

Unfortunately, he wasn’t strong enough back then to see it through.

He’d wanted to make up for that past regret, but the man had apparently sensed something and fled Qirong City two months ago, disappearing without a trace.

Hu Qi considered it a shame.

...

The institute’s main gate was shut tight. The steps before it were buried in snow, resembling an entrance to some unknown abyss.

A few bare trees shivered in the cold wind, their twisted branches hung with icicles of varying lengths.

The snow made a CRUNCH CRUNCH sound under Hu Qi’s boots as he advanced.

Hu Qi soon reached the main gate.

An orange-yellow light shone from the window of the security booth.

Through the glass, he could see a security guard in his sixties or seventies dozing at a desk.

A thermos sat on the desk beside him.

The old guard seemed to sense something. He rubbed his drowsy eyes and began to look up.

But in the next instant, Hu Qi simply flicked a finger.

POW!

A pebble, infused with Qi Blood True Strength, shot out like a bullet.

There was a faint sound of shattering glass.

A hole burst open in the center of the old guard’s forehead. Blood and brain matter splattered across the wall behind him.

His body slid from the chair and collapsed onto the floor.

Hu Qi didn’t spare it a second glance.

With a light leap, his form became a black shadow that vaulted over the two-meter-high iron gate and vanished.

The old guard had been emitting the aura of a Black Blood Species. It wasn’t the result of mere contact; the scent came from within him.

He must have been in the process of transforming.

A normal person being turned by a Black Blood Species has only two possible fates: a successful transformation into a Blood Slave, or a failed one, resulting in immediate death.

Either way, there was no turning back into a human.

...

The lights were dim in a spacious room.

Narrow cots were packed tightly together. The bedding was thick, but it did little to stop the penetrating cold.

Children were curled up under their blankets like little animals seeking refuge.

Their breath plumed white in the cold air, their little faces flushed red.

"Ultraman is so cool! I wanna be a Superhuman when I grow up."

"Are you stupid? The Ultraman that grows big is fake! Only the Fried-Egg Hero is real!"

A group of little kids whispered and argued amongst themselves.

The children were very young, most of them only five or six years old.

"Xiaoyao, what’re you thinkin’ about? Are you hungry? Here, you can have this!"

Just then, on a cot in the corner of the room.

a snotty, grubby little boy stuck his bottom in the air as he pulled a half-opened package of chocolate from under his pillow. He offered it to the little girl beside him.

The little girl wore her hair in pigtails and had a touch of baby fat on her cheeks.

Around eight or nine years old, she was huddled in the corner hugging her knees, completely silent.

Her face was turned away, her gaze fixed on the endlessly falling snow outside, lost in thought.

Hearing his voice, the girl, Xiaoyao, pulled her gaze away from the window and looked at the little boy.

A small smile graced her face as she reached out to pat his head.

"I’m not hungry. I was just thinking about something. You should eat it. Don’t save it for too long, or it’ll spoil!"

"Okay."

The boy nodded, not quite understanding, and popped the half-eaten piece of chocolate into his mouth.

Just as they were speaking, the sound of approaching footsteps came from outside the door.

Hearing the sound, the little kids who had been chattering nonstop a moment ago instantly fell silent.

The next second, the door was pushed open.

A stone-faced, middle-aged woman in her thirties with curly hair walked in.

Her face was a bit round, her complexion sallow, and a few faint freckles were scattered across her cheeks.

"Hello, Teacher Yan!"

Seeing her, the children quickly called out a greeting, then immediately held their breath.

She was one of their teachers.

She was usually very strict and never smiled.

Any child who made a mistake would receive a harsh scolding and punishment.

As a result, she commanded immense authority in their eyes.

Teacher Yan nodded.

Her gaze swept across the room.

It landed on one particular corner.

"Xiaoyao, come with me. Someone is here who wants to adopt you."

she said flatly.

At her words, a wave of envious gazes fell upon the girl.