Chapter 52: Are You Even Worthy?

"Tae-sang!"

The surgically enhanced beauty let out a sharp cry, her eyes turning red as she lunged forward!

Before she could take two steps, however, a massive, blood-stained blade pressed against her throat.

Right before her eyes, she watched Kim Tae-sang drop to his knees with hollow eyes, collapsing limply like a dead dog.

At that moment, even the biggest fool would understand what they were up against. It was an apex powerhouse, an absolute powerhouse!

The middle-aged man who had previously shouted his bitter grievances surged with excitement and roared at Lu Ming, "Expert! Kill them! Kill these South Korean dogs! It's them! Yesterday, they invaded our territory, plundered our resources, and slaughtered our compatriots! When there was nothing left to loot, they even rounded us up by force to use as living human shields for their own protection! Their methods were utterly brutal! Over three hundred people! Three hundred whole people! Only a few dozen of us are left alive! Expert! Avenge us! Avenge those fallen compatriots!!"

Lu Ming let out a cold sneer. "Avenge you? Avenge what? Are we even close?"

As soon as those words dropped, not just the dozens of Chinese survivors, but even the South Koreans were stunned.

So they weren't on the same side!

A flicker of hope ignited in the hearts of the South Koreans.

Although this guy was powerful, it seemed he wasn't here to rescue them! Did that mean they still had a chance to negotiate?

The middle-aged man wore a bewildered expression. "You aren't here for us?"

Lu Ming laughed brazenly. "For you? Don't make me laugh. Over three hundred of you, too weak to fight and too cowardly to hide, what value do you possess that makes you worth saving? Hurry up and get lost with that bunch of trash. If you linger a moment longer, you'll be the ones acting as human shields."

"You!"

The middle-aged man's face turned icy. Just as he was about to rebuke Lu Ming, a crossbow bolt whasted through the air, leaving a deep, bleeding gash across his cheek.

"Don't make me repeat myself. Get lost!"

Wincing in pain and clutching his wound, the man was struck by the terrifying intent to kill gleaming in Lu Ming's eyes. This man genuinely wasn't here to save them, nor did he regard them as compatriots at all!

The dozen or so people behind him, already consumed by fear, exchanged glances before scrambling wildly down the stairs!

The man shot Lu Ming two deep, complex glances before trailing closely behind the crowd as they fled the shopping mall.

Only after everyone had vanished did Lu Ming turn his gaze back to the remaining nine South Koreans and flash a smile.

Seeing that Lu Ming possessed no lofty notions of national solidarity, the surgically enhanced beauty instantly plastered a flattering expression across her face.

Carefully reaching out, she pushed down Lu Ming's giant ring blade. As she pressed it away, she flaunted her assets, pulling the neckline of her top downward and adopting a coquettish, sugary voice: "Oppa~~ You are so heroic! Kim Tae-sang isn't even worth a dog compared to you. I suppose you must be looking for an obedient, clinging attendant who knows plenty of special tricks to keep you thoroughly pampered and comfortable. What do you think of me?"

With that, the woman darted the tip of her tongue across the corner of her lips, oozing seduction from every pore.

Unfortunately, just as she thought her appearance and charm had won her a glimmer of favor in Lu Ming's eyes, the seductive expression on her face was abruptly replaced by agony.

Her brows furrowed tightly, her features twisting as her gaze drifted downward, inch by inch.

Deeply embedded in her chest was the massive blade she had just been pushing away.

When she raised her head once more, she was met with Lu Ming's gaze—as cold and detached as if he were looking at garbage.

Next, a solid, powerful sole blotted out her vision, stepping squarely onto her proud face.

Squish.

With a forceful stomp, the blade was wrenched free, and fresh blood spurted violently. The woman collapsed into a pool of blood, convulsing mindlessly before turning into a corpse a moment later.

"Tch tch, truly disgusting. A walking pile of cybernetic plastic modifications whose entire body isn't worth a single strand of my Chuxue's hair, yet you dared to covet my looks. Do you even have the right?"

With a flick of his wrist, he shook the blade, sending blood and lingering blade Qi radiating outward to scour the metal until it gleamed with a chilling light.

Having faced the dead before and slaughtered countless young prime variants, any lingering trauma from killing had long since vanished. To him, they were merely limbs, mere shells.

"Xiaoxue, tie them up."

Chuxue's small hand swept outward, spinning threads and weaving a net in one fluid motion that cocooned the remaining eight South Koreans tightly.

With that done, Lu Ming raised a hand and silently murmured *Greed*, causing the three corpses to dissolve and be recycled.

[Successfully decomposed the corpse of primary hunting warrior "Kim Tae-sang". Obtained: Specialized Crystal x1410, Primary Warrior Energy Fluid x200ml.]

[Successfully decomposed the corpse of limit-tier combat soldier "Park Ha-na". Obtained: Specialized Crystal x410.]

[Successfully decomposed the corpse of limit-tier combat soldier "Choi Yong-joon". Obtained: Specialized Crystal x410.]

Hmm?

What was the meaning of this?

Decomposing human corpses also yielded specialized crystals?

And the exact quantities matched the total requirements for advancing specialized levels.

Ah, wait—*Greed* doubled the yield of collected items.

That meant harvesting human corpses under normal circumstances would only yield half of the total required for advancement.

It finally made sense why mere South Koreans had managed to advance to primary hunting warriors in such a short span of time; they had likely accumulated all their resources by hunting and killing their own kind.

After all, once their levels were high enough, killing high-tier soldiers and limit-tier combat soldiers yielded anywhere from 50 to 150 specialized crystals.

Going about it this way, wasn't it far quicker and more convenient than butchering aberrant monsters?

Heh!

Lu Ming almost burst out laughing. He glanced at the eight people tightly bound in spider silk, feeling deeply tempted.

Meeting that particular glance from Lu Ming, all eight individuals felt a creeping chill wash over them, trembling uncontrollably from head to toe.

[Prompt: Three "masterless spatial pouches" detected nearby. Do you wish to acquire them?]

Naturally.

"Yes."

[Successfully reclaimed masterless spatial pouch. Obtained: 160-slot Spatial Pouch x1, Specialized Crystal x2560, Silkworm Silk x400, Nongfu Spring Purified Water x100 cases, Beef Instant Noodles x47 cases, Compressed Biscuits x35, Various Beverages x74 bottles, Long Sabers x3, Fine-Steel Straight Saber x1, Type-54 Handgun x1, 7.62mm Ammunition x24, Park Ha-na's Custom Intimate Apparel x3 sets, Eye Masks x3, Riding Crops x3, Unidentified Spherical Objects x10, Handcuffs x2...]

The supplies at the beginning filled him with joy, but the bizarre items that followed left him utterly speechless... ah, no, rather, he couldn't comprehend them at all—completely beyond understanding.

[Prompt: Spatial pouch capacity is full. Unable to continue recycling items. Upgrading the spatial pouch level will expand its capacity.]

[Prompt: Detected a 160-slot spatial pouch inside the inventory. Do you wish to inherit the pouch slots?]

Oh? They even had this feature?

"Yes."

[Prompt: Spatial pouch inheritance successful. Current capacity: 108/160.]

[Successfully reclaimed masterless spatial pouch. Obtained: 80-slot Spatial Pouch x1, Specialized Crystal x768, Silkworm Silk x120, Nongfu Spring Purified Water x10 cases, Beef Instant Noodles x5 cases, Katana x1, Park Ha-na's Custom Intimate Apparel x2 sets, High Heels x2, Dog Leash x1.]

[Successfully reclaimed masterless spatial pouch. Obtained: 80-slot Spatial Pouch x1, Specialized Crystal x900, Silkworm Silk x300, Nongfu Spring Purified Water x30 cases, Beef Instant Noodles x22 cases, Compressed Biscuits x20, Various Beverages x150 bottles, Daggers x2, Custom Intimate Apparel x10 sets, Unidentified Rod-shaped Objects x2, Essential Oil x500ml, Women's Outfits x8 sets, Gold Jewelry x7 pieces, Various Other Unidentified Toys x20 types...]

[Prompt: Spatial pouch capacity is full. Unable to continue recycling items. Upgrading the spatial pouch level will expand its capacity.]

Lu Ming: "..."