In the new complex under construction, Lian Yufan stayed out in the open, attracting Destroyer 217’s notice. He used countless pieces of reinforced concrete to block the Destroyer’s line of sight and ordered Huan Zixu in strong terms to take Feng Kui, leave the new complex as quickly as possible, and not hold him back any longer. 

Feng Kui and Huan Zixu’s constitutions were stronger than those of ordinary people. When they were armed, their combat power could be favorably compared to that of special forces, but without any weapons, their impact on the battle would truly be too small. 

Destroyer 217 seemed to be very much on his guard against Huan Zixu. He kept pursuing him with attacks. Fortunately, Feng Kui wouldn’t stint to sacrifice himself to protect him. Huan Zixu was unharmed, but there was hardly a patch of flesh left on Feng Kui’s limbs. If not for his special physique, the initial item that had long ago integrated with his body, and his high pain threshold, he would have died of pain or blood loss by now. 

Though Feng Kui’s defensive abilities were greater than other people’s, at this moment, he could no longer stand up. A portion of his leg bone had been severed by a wind blade. Lian Yufan wanted to repair it for him, but because he was held up dealing with Destroyer 217, he couldn’t get to Feng Kui. 

“Don’t hinder me anymore, go!” Lian Yufan roared. 

Right now, leaving him alone to hold up the enemy was the ideal choice. Lian Yufan had never been of a self-sacrificing disposition; he only wanted to keep losses to a minimum. It was always better for one to die than for three to die. This was the simplest possible math problem. 

Huan Zixu also wasn’t about to sacrifice his life for anyone other than Feng Kui. He looked deeply at Lian Yufan, then unhesitatingly hauled Feng Kui up and ran. 

Feng Kui was too heavy. The highly dense mental skeleton made Feng Kui five times heavier. People of his build weighed a hundred kilograms, but Feng Kui weighed over five hundred. 

Huan Zixu couldn’t carry him on his back. He could only drag him while desperately fleeing. They moved very slowly. 

Feng Kui couldn’t move his limbs. He stiffly said, “A-Xu, leave me.” 

“Shut up!” Huan Zixu’s tone wasn’t at all nice. 

“A-Xu—his attacks—you’re the target. If you go, I’ll be safe.” Feng Kui smiled simply, as though he were telling Huan Zixu a joke. 

When they had been levelers together, Huan Zixu had discovered that Feng Kui could obtain people’s good opinion more easily than he could. 

That was normal. All people were merely human. No one would like a person who was too clever and scheming. They wouldn’t want to be caught in a trap. But everyone liked a simple, upright, and kind-hearted person. Even if the good opinion involved the malicious intent of wanting to trick that person out some money, at least it was still a good opinion. 

Whether it was his ability or his scheming, Huan Zixu could always attract hatred. When he had been weak, Huan Zixu had always said to Feng Kui, “Fuck off, you’ll be safe away from me.” 

He was weak and incited people to try to kill him. Feng Kui had no future with him. 

Feng Kui, like a robot, would always crackle a laugh, ignoring Huan Zixu’s rude language, continuing to follow his teammate. 

After passing one hundred levels, Huan Zixu gradually became powerful. The protector and the protected had switched places. But Feng Kui didn’t remember those times. 

The words Huan Zixu had always said had now been spoken by Feng Kui, who had already forgotten those conversations. Huan Zixu stopped in his desperate flight from the complex and bent his head to say to Feng Kui, “Don’t think about it. I’ll die, and I’ll make you shoulder the blame!” 

Crafty, paranoid, ferocious Huan Zixu… Feng Kui watched a teardrop or a raindrop slide down from the corner of his friend’s eye. In his mechanical voice, he stiffly said, “My shoulders are very strong.” 

Bang! An air cannon smashed a huge chuck of concrete. Lian Yufan was crushed under it, dead or alive. 

Destroyer 217 soared towards Huan Zixu and waved his hands. A long pole axe appeared in his hands. He aimed it at Huan Zixu. “I know you’ve lost your ability, but I’m still not going to listen to a word you say. What would I do if I accidentally got tricked by you again?” 

Then he swung the pole axe. A wind blade many times stronger than before flew out, cleaving towards the two wholly defenseless people. 

Feng Kui found the strength somewhere to press down with his hand, of which only five fingers of metal bone remained, holding down Huan Zixu, who was still standing. He used his large body to shield Huan Zixu, though who knew whether this wind blade would cut right through his body to Huan Zixu. 

Destroyer 217 smiled faintly. The Protector with the assembly power had lost his combat ability. If he only took out Huan Zixu and Feng Kui, he could say he had accomplished his mission. 

But just as the wind blade was about to hit Feng Kui’s spine, an alloy rib shot out from Feng Kui’s back. Immediately after, countless ribs shot out, merging with his spine. Almost instantly, Feng Kui turned into a pure metal armed vehicle. The awful wind blade only made a faint imprint on the armed vehicle. 

“How could this be? Hasn’t Feng Kui lost the System?” Destroyer 217 was alarmed and let off dozens of wind blades in a row. 

The armed vehicle stood up into a roughy ten meter high enormous mechanical skeleton. He waved a hand and scattered the wind blades. 

Feng Kui, who had passed 199 levels, may not have had that much fighting value, and his combat methods were extremely unitary. But he was definitely the leveler with the strongest defensive abilities in the Clearing League. He was a lump of iron that couldn’t be melted, softened, broken, or shattered. If he had determined to protect someone, then no one would hurt that person. 

And the person he protected was Huan Zixu, the person no one in the Clearing League wanted to have anything to do with, the person Destroyer 217 had wanted to kill on contact. 

Ding! A coin bounced off Feng Kui and into Destroyer 217’s air shield. A drop of water wet the hair of the Destroyer, who had all along been protected by air from the rain.  

His air shield had vanished. 

“What’s going on? Your ‘false exchange’ should only be able to change people’s thoughts!” Destroyer 217 looked in fright at Huan Zixu, who was standing firmly on the metal skeleton’s shoulder. 

“I also think it’s strange.” A cold smile flashed through Huan Zixu’s eyes. “I suddenly had my power removed, and now it’s suddenly been restored, and my origin ability and initial item have suddenly fused. The clearer really is using me as a chess piece to deal with the System. It’s a very unpleasant feeling having everything about you controlled by someone else.” 

On the point of death, Huan Zixu and Feng Kui had both felt the existence of the rules. They were probably the ones who reacted fastest. As soon as they noticed that their powers had returned, they had entered battle mode. 

Feng Kui’s origin ability and initial item had been unified long ago. He had entered battle mode even faster than Huan Zixu. 

Huan Zixu, on the other hand, had taken a bit of time to adjust to his new ability. For the levelers, the System had forced apart the abilities of the bodies and the power of their souls. In battle, Huan Zixu had always had a sense of sluggishness. Now his power had entirely merged, filling Huan Zixu with happy surprise. 

His initial item was the “Sales Champion,” his origin ability “false exchange.” When the initial and the origin were put together, they became “forced sale.” 

All Huan Zixu needed was a coin to trade for Destroyer 217’s air shield. 

Huan Zixu snatched the air shield and used it to protect himself and Feng Kui. It felt good to be out of the rain. Huan Zixu said, “While admittedly the black-cloaked man has given me an unpleasant feeling, you…destroyed the apartment I just bought! You’re dead!” 

He took a second coin from his pocket. This had been to take the bus between the studio and the complex. Using money to deal with Destroyer 217 was really more than he deserved. 

Huan Zixu flicked his fingers lightly. The coin flew like a bullet towards Destroyer 217. 217 quickly pulled out his phone to equip a mental type item to resist, but the coin stopped in front him, not moving. 

Feng Kui went to the pile of rock where Lian Yufan was buried and crooked his metal fingers slightly. The steel bars in the cement answered Feng Kui’s control, causing the tons of cement to fly away, quickly revealing Lian Yufan, who had been crushed by a stone and was on his last gasp. 

Seeing Lian Yufan’s disastrous condition, Huan Zixu reached out his right hand, touched the tip of his thumb to the pad of his forefinger, and flicked lightly. The coin that had been fixed in place in front of 217 tapped the center of his brow. 

“Could you equip some medicine and give it to him?” Huan Zixu pointed to the dying Lian Yufan. 

Destroyer 217 was unable to control his body. He quickly used a lot of points to equip high quality wound medicine. The enormous Feng Kui plucked the suddenly appearing bottle of medicine out the air and gave it to Huan Zixu. 

Huan Zixu took the medicine bottle, jumped off the large skeleton, went up to Lian Yufan, and shook the medicine bottle at him. 

Lian Yufan, on his last gasp, couldn’t speak anymore. He could only quietly look at Huan Zixu. 

“I’m not the kind of person to give away something for nothing,” Huan Zixu said to Lian Yufan. “Next time Yu Hua wants to force me into a ship with someone, you’re going to help me. Even if it takes using your Protection Organization’s power, you still can’t let Yu Hua get everything he wants. Get it? If you agree, don’t move. If you don’t agree, shake your head.” 

Where was Lian Yufan going to find the strength to shake his head? Huan Zixu laughed and said, “Then let’s call it a deal.” 

He held Lian Yufan’s chin and fed him the medicine. 

Instead of calling the System’s healing medicine “medicine,” it would be better to say that it was healing power. A power strong enough to bring the dead to life poured into Lian Yufan’s body and restored it. 

While Huan Zixu was healing Lian Yufan, Feng Kui was playing swat the fly. 

There was endless reinforced concrete in the construction site. The pieces mixed with Feng Kui’s body, and the mechanical skeleton grew larger and larger. Feng Kui was already taller than the building where Huan Zixu had bought an apartment. He stood where the building had originally been positioned, swatting at Destroyer 217 again and again as though he were a fly. Destroyer 217 was resisting tenaciously, equipping countless items to attack Feng Kui, but they all seemed to do no more than tickle him; they couldn’t do him any harm. 

The fleeing workers had stopped by the road and taken out their phones to film Feng Kui. Their wounds had been healed, and they couldn’t be hurt by the wind blades. With this “miraculous” phenomenon happening to them, it was as though they were dreaming. No one had attention to spare to flee. Get your phone out and film! This kind of thing only happens one in a lifetime…no, once in ten lifetimes! 

In less than a minute, Lian Yufan was healed and stood up. He said to Huan Zixu, “You didn’t use ‘false exchange’ on me just now. How are you going to guarantee that I’ll help you?” 

“I’ll leave it to your conscience.” Huan Zixu shrugged. “I’m an unethical salesman. This is my first time doing a trade where I may sustain a loss. If I encounter an unethical buyer, then that will just be fate.” 

Lian Yufan suddenly thought that his luck was good. He had been gravely injured three times, but each time he had been healed by Destroyers. Was it traditional for Destroyers to fight over the System’s medicines?

The two of them smiled at each other and quickly ran to Feng Kui’s feet. Bracing themselves on the metal skeleton’s legs, they leapt nimbly up to Feng Kui’s shoulders. 

Two powerful levelers and one already healed Protector—faced with this array, even if there had been two of Destroyer 217, he couldn’t have won. Destroyer 217 didn’t have an unyielding spirit. His head drooped. He quietly said, “I can’t beat you. I’ll wait to be captured. I…” 

As he spoke, the bomb planted in his body by the System sensed Destroyer 217’s betrayal. The System gave him no opportunity. It detonated the bomb. 

“Run!” Clever as he was, Huan Zixu had guessed what the System would do while Destroyer 217 spoke. But it was already too late. 

Feng Kui grabbed one person in each hand and converted to his armed vehicle mode once more, hiding Huan Zixu and Lian Yufan inside and piling all the steel bars in the construction sight on top of himself. 

Bang! After the enormous explosion, Feng Kui climbed out of the heap covered in dirt and rubble. Huan Zixu and Lian Yufan were intact. 

Lian Yufan looked unhappy. He contacted Director Xiao. “Director, with Huan Zixu and Feng Kui’s aid, we’ve won without casualties, but unfortunately we couldn’t take the Destroyer alive. He self-destructed.” 

“Good, I’ve finished here, too,” came Director Xiao’s voice. “Yuan Luori arrested a certain Destroyer 183 at the amusement park. We can ask him for the relevant information. I’m getting ready to return to the base for the interrogation.” 

“Really? That’s great. Yuan Luori has performed a valuable service this time!” Emergency calls weren’t suitable for idle chat. Lian Yufan reported valuable information: “The property damage is tremendous. A whole building complex has been blown up. Many people had bought apartments there.” 

“As long as no one has been injured, it’s all right. The organization will help rebuild. We won’t make innocent people bear the losses,” Director Xiao said. 

Lian Yufan put down his communications device and said to Huan Zixu, “Don’t worry about your apartment anymore. If you can just think of a way to cover up this business of misappropriating public money, the apartment is yours. I won’t pass it on to Yu Hua ahead of time. After all, I agreed to help you.” 

“But I can’t find the receipt!” Huan Zixu searched the spot where Destroyer 217 had exploded. “When that bastard blew up, was he holding my folder or not? That was just the receipt for the advance, I have to exchange it for another receipt when I make the down payment, it can’t be gone!” 

“Well…” Lian Yufan went through his pockets and got out a slip of paper that had been soaked by the rain and used his power. A ragged folder flew out of the ruins and assembled in Lian Yufan’s hand. 

“How come you have a piece of the receipt?” Huan Zixu asked, snatching the folder. 

“Professional habit,” Lian Yufan said, putting his hands behind his back. “Whenever I see something important, I tear off a piece and keep it. That way, it’s easy to get evidence later.” 

“So when you tore a piece from the receipt, who were you getting evidence for?” While he had gotten his receipt back, Huan Zixu couldn’t avoid being suspicious. 

Lian Yufan blinked. “I was going to report it to the organization. You want to buy an apartment using the falsified materials the organization provided. If there was some careless mistake, that would be bad. I was going to give it to our logistics department and have them go over the materials more carefully. I only wanted to help you! Help you!” 

“You wanted to tell Yu Hua, right?” Huan Zixu said firmly. “You were going to tell him that I wanted to use public money to buy an apartment!” 

Lian Yufan raised his hands, looking innocent. “No, definitely not.” 

Huan Zixu took out a coin and aimed it at Lian Yufan. Clenching his teeth, he said, “Looks I really ought to give myself a safeguard. Conscience is unreliable indeed.” 

Lian Yufan made a decisive getaway, and Huan Zixu chased after, holding up his coin. Behind him, the mechanical skeleton watched his retreating figure and crackled a happy laugh. 

---

Author's Note

Huan Zixu: What’s a conscience? How much money is it worth? 

Lian Yufan: What’s a conscience? How many lives is it worth? 

They look each other in the eye and shake hands to indicate that they share the same ideas. 

They turn away and spit simultaneously. This person is too heartless, not worth associating with.