The Metal Man was plunged headfirst into the toilet, stirring up a flurry of murky splashes. Finally, he gave a weak twitch, his entire body twisted into a bizarre posture.
Tang Ye let go expressionlessly, allowing him to slump down, his head still tightly wedged in the toilet bowl.
Just then, Chen Miao, who was suspended high on an iron frame by ropes, twitched her eyelids and finally struggled to open her eyes.
The moment her consciousness returned, she felt the weightlessness of being suspended and the agonizing strangulation around her wrists and ankles.
Her vision focused, taking in the hellish scene before her. The floor was covered with people groaning in pain, and the air was thick with the stench of blood and filth.
There was also a tall figure, with his back facing her.
That back... was very familiar.
"Mmph! Mmph! Mmph!"
Desperate whimpers escaped Chen Miao's throat. With her mouth taped shut, she tried frantically to call out that name, her body struggling violently and causing the iron frame to creak.
Hearing the noise, Tang Ye turned around.
The girl hung in mid-air, her hair disheveled and her face covered in grime, yet her eyes were strikingly bright. Tears rolled down uncontrollably from the corners of her eyes, washing two clean streaks down her dirty cheeks.
"You're awake."
Tang Ye exhaled a breath of stale air, strode over, and swiftly ripped the duct tape off her mouth.
"Tang Ye... how could it be you?!"
Her newly freed lips were chapped, and her voice was so hoarse it didn't sound like her own. Seeing this familiar face, Chen Miao's tightly strung nerves suddenly relaxed. Tears burst forth like a broken dam, blurring her vision.
She remembered being dragged into a warehouse, screaming for help but finding none.
She never expected that Tang Ye would actually be here to save her.
More importantly, she had just noticed a patch of dark red blood spreading across the back of Tang Ye's head and neck. It looked like a bloodstain.
He was injured.
"I came looking for you."
Tang Ye's voice was as calm as if he were just picking her up from work. "It's okay now. We're leaving."
In a few quick moves, he untied the ropes binding Chen Miao, helped her weak-kneed body to the side, and then walked toward another girl who was also strung up.
That girl was still unconscious.
Too lazy to waste words, Tang Ye grabbed a cup of cold water from the table—God knows how long it had been sitting there—and splashed it directly onto her face.
Splash!
"Ah!"
The freezing water poured over her head, causing the girl to shudder and jolt awake. Upon seeing the gruesome scene around her, she let out an ear-piercing scream.
Startled, Chen Miao ignored her own weak legs and lunged forward to cover the girl's mouth.
"Don't scream! Don't scream! We're saved, it's okay!"
While Chen Miao was pacifying the other girl, Tang Ye picked up the empty handgun from the floor. Using a thug's shirt hem, he meticulously wiped down the gun from barrel to grip, missing no corners.
After doing this, he shoved the gun into a random thug's hand, deliberately wrapping the man's finger around the trigger.
The pacified girl finally calmed down. Though still trembling, she had at least stopped crying and screaming.
They watched as Tang Ye stepped on the throats of the wailing men writhing on the ground, crushing them one by one. They only felt that these men deserved it.
Only Chen Miao kept her eyes fixed on Tang Ye's back. Seeing the blood on his nape, her heart ached terribly.
"Are... are you okay?" she couldn't help but ask softly.
"I'm fine."
Tang Ye didn't turn around; he just tilted his head to listen to the movement outside.
"If we delay any longer, we really won't be able to leave."
Both girls had changed into different clothes, looking fairly normal now.
Tang Ye walked in front. Behind him, a small, trembling hand gripped the hem of his shirt.
The fabric was pinched so tightly it was almost twisted into a knot.
Chen Miao followed behind him, as if she had found her pillar of support, though her voice still carried the tremor of someone who had just survived a disaster.
"How... how did you find me?"
It was an abrupt question, but Tang Ye understood.
"I had to find you eventually."
The Sichuan girl had a pretty face and a good figure; otherwise, she wouldn't have been targeted by that Brother Hu.
Tang Ye didn't stop walking. Leading the two traumatized girls toward the elevator, a corpse slumped against the wall came into view. It was none other than Brother Hu.
Chen Miao's pupils contracted, but her shock was quickly replaced by a surge of anger.
Tang Ye glanced at the corpse and explained, "I was originally tailing this guy and found you in a warehouse on the outskirts of the city, but I was ambushed and knocked out by his men. After I woke up, I tracked them all the way here."
He omitted the dangers involved and concealed the slight feeling of discomfort in his heart.
Tang Ye felt conflicted right now. Although he had saved her, a thorn still lingered in his mind.
Chen Miao stared fixedly at Brother Hu's corpse, gritting her teeth, her eyes turning red.
"It's him! A while ago, Ah E and I went to the snack street and ran into this bastard. He seemed to know Ah E very well, talking and laughing with her."
"Then Ah E dragged me along, saying she wanted to treat me to food, but we ran into them again. I drank the water Ah E gave me, and I don't remember anything after that... When I woke up, I was in that pitch-black warehouse."
"Ah E! She is definitely in cahoots with this bastard!"
These words made Tang Ye furrow his brows.
This clearly contradicted what Tang Ye knew.
According to the information he had received, this woman named Ah E was supposed to be the one who told him that Chen Miao had left with Brother Hu. However, as the victim who experienced it firsthand, Chen Miao's account was obviously more credible.
The more Chen Miao spoke, the angrier she got. Perhaps feeling that cursing wasn't enough to vent her hatred, she actually stepped forward carefully and kicked Brother Hu's corpse hard twice.
There wasn't much force behind it; it was more about venting her anger.
"Kicking him is useless, he's dead as a doornail," Tang Ye's voice came from the side, devoid of any discernible emotion.
He grabbed Chen Miao, who wanted to deliver another kick, and pulled her into the elevator.
The other girl had been cowering in the back the entire time. Only now did she seem to find her voice, looking cautiously at Tang Ye with eyes mixed with fear and gratitude.
"Did you kill all those people?" she finally spoke after a long pause.
Her voice was as faint as a mosquito's, terrified of offending the man before her.
Tang Ye pressed the button for the first floor. The elevator doors slowly closed, shutting out the bloody scene outside.
He gave a hum of acknowledgment in response.
Then, he pulled out a thick stack of cash from his pocket, which he had conveniently taken from Wu Hui's office.
Without even looking, he split it into two halves and shoved them into the hands of Chen Miao and the other girl.
"Take the money and leave Guancheng as soon as possible. Go as far away as you can."
The thickness of the cash left both girls stunned.
Hearing this, Chen Miao immediately grew anxious and pushed the money back.
"What about you?"
"I killed people, so naturally I have to go on the run. I might even be on the wanted list by tomorrow."
Tang Ye said it casually, as if he were talking about the weather.

transmigrates into the world as the sect master of the Heavenly Yan Sect, which is on the verge of being wiped out. He binds a system that grants him cultivation power based on the number of disciples he has: for each disciple, he automatically gains a year's worth of cultivation every single day! Take one disciple: every day he gains 1 year of cultivation power. While others struggle through a year of bitter training, he gets the same just by sleeping through a single night. Take ten disciples: every day he gains 10 years of cultivation power. Foundation Establishment, Core Formation, Nascent Soul—he breezes through all bottlenecks without lifting a finger. Take one hundred disciples: every day he gains 100 years of cultivation power. Even a Soul Transformation Venerable before him can’t survive a single blow. Take ten thousand disciples: every day he gains 10,000 years of cultivation power! With a wave of his hand, he topples empires. With a single step, he crushes the sacred grounds of the universe. ... While others fight tooth and nail for secret techniques, Lin Yan casually hands out Nascent Soul-level cultivation manuals as beginner textbooks. While others strain to find talented recruits, Lin Yan opens his doors to anyone—so long as they’re human. In just three short years, the Heavenly Yan Sect went from a backwater sect made up of three crumbling huts to a sacred land that every cultivator under heaven would kill to enter. ... One day, otherworldly demon gods invade, with a million demon soldiers pressing down upon the realm. Lin Yan, yawning, rises from his lounge chair and glances at the system panel: [Current Disciples: 1.28 million] [Daily Cultivation Increase: 1.28 million years] He waves his hand casually, and the countless demon soldiers are reduced to ashes in an instant. “So noisy… interrupting my fishing.”

rowess are unmatched, commanding a million-strong army! Yet, the Emperor wants to depose him for the sake of a false prince? Hold on, are you throwing me into some female-oriented romance plot? How can I tolerate this? With a grand wave of his hand—the Nine Clan Extraction Technique! Slander the Emperor? Very well, all of you shall die! ... The False Prince: "Although I am not the biological son, Father and Mother love me more. The throne should be mine!" The Female Lead: "Qin Xiao, you are the Emperor, and I am a commoner. If you wish to marry me, you must abdicate. Otherwise, you will never have me!" The Empress: "After we divorce, you must give me half the empire!" The Transmigrator Consort: "You worthless Emperor, why should I kneel to you? All men are equal—I advise you to be kind!" The Great General: "The enemy general is my childhood sweetheart. For her sake, I willingly abandon the frontier defenses!" The Retired Emperor: "Although Yu'er was adopted, I prefer him. Qin Xiao, you should abdicate and let him become Emperor!" ... Very well! So this is how you want to play? Facing this twisted world of female-oriented tropes, Qin Xiao grins and raises his hand to unleash—the Nine Clan Extraction Technique! I am the Emperor. Why would I bother reasoning with you? Seal the gates! Leave none alive!

Cheng's father told him he was getting remarried—to a wealthy woman. Cao Cheng realized his time had finally come: he was about to become a second-generation rich kid. Sure, it might be a watered-down version, but hey, at least he'd have status now, right? The wealthy woman also had four daughters!! Which meant, starting today, Cao Cheng gained four stunning older sisters?? But that wasn't even the whole story... "My name is Cao Cheng—'Cheng' as in 'honest, smooth-talking gentleman'!"

tions: attribute allocation, analysis, proficiency, and simulation. Specializing in mechanical alchemy, from crafting sorcerous battle armor to handcrafting mechanical maidens, his mechanical legion conquers endless realms... Relying on his wits, he begins with a student-teacher romance, wins over a female director, enslaves a female assassin and a underworld queen, becoming the husband of a Grand Duchess... He enslaves the Goddess of Magic from the divine realm, developing his power simultaneously in both the Wizard World and the Realm of Gods...