Chapter 228: A Harmonious Society Saved You

Before Xiao Yu was a room, not very large, filled with iron racks, machinery, control panels—and a person.

The man appeared to be in his fifties, with long, gray-white hair. Time had etched deep lines on his forehead, but what caught Xiao Yu’s attention were the man’s eyes. They gleamed with a mixture of coldness, malice, and cruelty—emotions so twisted that they defied description.

What froze Xiao Yu in place, though, was that the old man was eating something—a roasted human hand.

Xiao Yu had seen his fair share of corpses. He’d been exposed to disgusting, gory scenes plenty of times before. But this was the first time he’d ever witnessed someone casually eating another person, right in front of him.

His stomach churned as bile rose in his throat. It took him a moment to suppress the nausea and regain control. When he looked back at the man, his gaze had changed. Xiao Yu no longer saw a person in front of him—just a corpse waiting to happen.

For now, though, he held back. The old man still had one hand clutching the roasted human hand, while the other rested on a button on the control panel.

“Police?” the old man snarled, taking another bite of flesh, his eyes filled with venom as they locked onto Xiao Yu.

Xiao Yu didn’t respond, his eyes scanning the room.

“Don’t try anything,” the man sneered. “If I press this button, those toys will die instantly. You understand?”

Xiao Yu’s gaze slowly returned to the man’s face, remaining silent.

“Now, take out all your weapons and put them on the ground,” the man demanded, chewing on the human flesh like a devil.

Xiao Yu stayed calm, slowly reached down, placed his service weapon on the floor, and briefly glanced at the metal racks. His eyes followed the connections running from the steel frames to the control panel. He noticed the man’s hand wasn’t just hovering over the button—it was also in contact with the metallic surface of the control panel.

Raising his head, Xiao Yu looked directly at the man. 

“Can I ask you a question?”

The man hesitated, clearly thrown off by the inquiry. “What?”

Xiao Yu’s expression was serious, almost curious. 

“How do you see other humans—your fellow beings, your equals? What do you think life is worth?”

He asked as if he genuinely wanted an answer.

“What’s that?”  

The old man grinned, revealing bits of meat still clinging to his teeth. 

“Fellow beings? Life? What’s that supposed to mean?”

“I see.” Xiao Yu nodded calmly. “If you don’t respect life, then your life doesn’t deserve any respect either.”

“Huh?” 

The old man froze, his expression puzzled. What did that mean? He didn’t understand. But then, he noticed Xiao Yu’s hand gripping a nearby metal rack. 

Why was he grabbing that?

The old man didn’t have time to figure it out. 

Sizzle!

In an instant, a spark of electricity shot from Xiao Yu’s hand. The old man, with his hand still resting on the metal control panel, convulsed as if struck by lightning before collapsing, paralyzed.

Xiao Yu had just activated his skill–Eel’s Shock.

The moment the electric current discharged, Xiao Yu felt completely drained, collapsing to the ground as he gasped for breath. Eel’s Shock was powerful—capable of delivering an electric charge of 350 to 650 volts in an instant. 

Metal, being an excellent conductor of electricity, carried the current from the rack to the control panel, where the old man’s hand had been resting. 

The outcome was inevitable.

Xiao Yu wouldn’t have used the skill unless absolutely necessary. The side effects were far too severe. 

The shock left his entire body hollow, as though all his strength had been drained. For the next ten minutes, he couldn’t even move a finger. Using Eel’s Shock in the middle of an arrest was almost like asking for trouble. It was a double-edged sword. If wielded properly, the enemy would fall. But if not, Xiao Yu would be the one to collapse.

He had taken the risk because the woman had said there were only four of them in the basement. Xiao Yu had already killed two of them, and the woman was unconscious. That left only the old man.

“Come on then, let’s hurt each other,” Xiao Yu muttered to himself, smiling faintly.

It took him a full ten minutes to recover.

Xiao Yu let out a heavy breath, the feeling of exhaustion slowly fading. Even so, getting back to his feet was a struggle. He picked up his handgun and, step by step, walked over to the old man lying on the ground.

The man was still alive but unconscious.

Xiao Yu crouched down and stared at him.

“You know, if I weren’t a cop, I’d show you the most brutal punishment this world has ever seen. You’re really lucky to be living in a time like this.”

He stood up, his strength returning. He raised his leg. He stomped down.

Crack!

“Ahhh…!”

Four more sickening cracks echoed, followed by the old man’s screams of agony.

Without looking back, Xiao Yu left the control room.

A man with four broken limbs wouldn’t be able to mess with the control panel, right? Yeah, probably not.

He had to leave, or else he might not be able to keep his killing intent in check.

After all, no one would see, so what was there to worry about?

People can lie to others, but they can’t lie to themselves.

Sometimes, Xiao Yu wished he could be an executioner, but unfortunately, he was just an enforcer of the law.

***

Reaching the final corridor, Xiao Yu heard footsteps approaching from behind.

They finally arrived, huh?

Good. At least the cops weren’t the last ones on the scene.

Xiao Yu grinned at the thought, recalling a joke: “I’m a cop too!”

He stopped in front of a cell, gazing through the iron bars at the three victims inside. For the first time in a while, his heart softened.

Their mouths, eyes, and ears had been sewn shut, turning them into twisted, silent victims.

It hurt to look at.

Not feeling sympathy for criminals didn’t mean Xiao Yu couldn’t feel for others.

As Zhao Changshan and Zhou Tinghuo arrived and took in the horrific scene, their expressions were complicated. Waves of murderous intent flickered on the faces of the other officers.

Just like Xiao Yu, all they could do was drag the woman and the old man out of the basement like they were hauling dead weight.

The criminals would now face the justice of the law.

***

“Second Brother’s real name is Li Haibo, and Third Brother is Zheng Hao.” 

Zhao Changshan sat on the stone steps outside the island estate, handing a cigarette to Xiao Yu as he shared the newly obtained confessions from the woman and the old man. 

“They must’ve gotten wind of something and went into hiding.”

“Heh!” 

Xiao Yu let out a cold laugh, clenching the cigarette between his teeth as he glanced at the forensic team by the well in the courtyard. They were pulling up one skeletal remains after another. His voice was icy as he spoke, “You think they can really escape?”

That was the third set of remains.

The well was the very spot where Xiao Yu had first smelled the stench of death when he arrived at the island and the estate. It was also where the suspects had dumped their victims.

The forensics team had just informed everyone that after examining the well, they estimated there were at least eight bodies down there.

And on top of that, Wang Mei’s body had been found.

It was hard to hide a body within the city, but who would have thought these criminals would transport the bodies out of the city and hide them on an island?

Through interrogation, both the woman and the old man revealed that Second Brother and Third Brother weren’t just deranged killers. They were using the dark web to livestream their murders, torture, death games, and even acts of cannibalism, all to make enormous profits.

When Wang Dong, far away in the capital, heard his junior brother’s report, he was utterly stunned.

Immediately, National Security’s Second Division was fully deployed and headed straight for Bencheng.