American variety show world begins with subduing Jason

"But... with only twenty or thirty households, the sudden disappearance of a few would be too conspicuous and attract attention," the brown-haired youth hesitantly advised.

"You dare disobey..."

"Quiet down!" a deep, stern voice rang out.

An elderly man with white hair pushed a wheelchair, moving with faltering steps. His deeply lined, sagging face showed no trace of the kindness one would expect from someone in their eighties; instead, it was filled with a deep-seated ruthlessness.

“Gid is right to worry. I’ve worked in the police system my whole life and I know investigative methods very well. If the rabbit eats all the plants around the burrow entrance, the hounds will soon come looking for it! Especially at this critical moment, we must retreat as quickly as possible without leaving any trace.”

His mouth muscles twitched, and a trace of disgusting saliva, accompanied by bad breath, trickled down his chin and dripped onto the yellowed collar of his pajamas.

With his withered, claw-like fingers, he managed to grab a bib and wipe his drool. The old man's cloudy eyes revealed a vicious and cunning intent, like that of a jackal.

“Since there are people with superpowers here, it means that those bureaucrats have noticed you. We can’t stay here any longer. Pack your things quickly and let’s leave quietly. Head southwest to the hilly area near the border. When I was a sheriff, I prepared a hidden safe house there with money and guns, just in case of an emergency like today.”

His tone suddenly softened, and his hand, covered in brown age spots, trembled as he raised it to tightly grip the strange shadow's severed arm.

“Thomas, my dear little nephew, there are plenty of illegal immigrants and smugglers along the border. You can eat as much as you want.”

The old man's Adam's apple bobbed, and his wrinkled face was filled with greed. "Once you've fully mastered your superpowers, then... then introduce me to that generous gentleman. I'm also very good at killing... I've killed many people. Ask him to grant me the power to transform my body and rid me of aging and disease..."

As he spoke, his expression shifted and his eyes shone, as if he were envisioning how to enjoy his new life.

Just then, an untimely voice, filled with mockery, rudely interrupted, shattering his beautiful dream.

"If you want to transform your body and get rid of the pain of aging, there is a faster way..."

A streak of silver light suddenly pierced through the wooden door of the secret chamber, sweeping towards the strange figure; the shrill sound of it tearing through the air drowned out the rest of the sentence:

"...Wouldn't it be enough if I gave you a ride?"

Chapter 252 A King Smashes Noobs with Ease

"Roar!"

Upon hearing that annoying voice they had just encountered, the monster knew perfectly well that it was being followed.

It let out a strange howl, and a white bone cross dart was thrown towards the door like a rain of flowers. Then, its remaining left hand grabbed, and a dense array of cold light flashed in the corner of the wall. Spears, short swords, hand axes, and scimitars, more than a dozen weapons of various shapes and sizes gleamed with sharp blood light, as if they were lifted up by a team of invisible ghost soldiers and shot at it from all directions and angles!

At the same time, a dim yellow halo burst forth from the ground, and a violent sense of fear rose up, as if to drag people into an abyss of despair.

A combined attack from both sides would wipe out an entire group of fully armed soldiers on the spot.

Upon their rematch, it believed it had a clear understanding of its opponent's strength. With the advantage of being in its arsenal, it knew it could always retreat safely, even if it was outmatched.

"It seems you really are a half-baked amateur, lacking even the ability to accurately assess the enemy..."

Amidst the gentle sighs, the silver light suddenly surged several times over, soaring like a dragon emerging from the water, moving swiftly and agilely through the air.

"Clang! Clang!"

In an instant, spears shattered, swords broke, axes cracked, and knives shattered. Even the sharp, canine-tooth-like darts were deflected by a clever force, turning the strange figure into a giant hedgehog. If his body hadn't already transcended pure flesh and blood, he would have died on the spot.

The series of sounds of weapons breaking might have sounded crisp and pleasant to others, but to [Deadskin] Thomas, they sounded like heavy drumsticks striking his heart, making him feel as if he had fallen into an ice cave.

Easily capable of tearing through steel, the cursed skeletal demon soldiers were all destroyed in the blink of an eye. Looking at the enemy's relaxed appearance, it was as if they were just a bundle of fragile bean sprouts. The opponent's power was so strong that the battle just now was obviously toying with him!

Not to mention they have helpers!

With a quick glance, he saw that his two "relatives" were already tightly bound by a long, red snake that was flicking its tongue. Instantly, he lost all will to fight. He turned around and rammed into the thick brick wall of the secret room, breaking through it and arriving outside. Taking advantage of the dust obscuring his figure, he pushed off with both feet and was about to fly into the sky and escape.

With a loud "bang!", the monster's figure seemed to have crashed into a transparent, hard ceiling. An invisible, enormous force descended like a mountain, pressing it flat on the ground with its limbs spread out, deeply embedded in the soil. Its comical posture resembled a flattened toad.

"Tsk tsk, used to dueling with the strong, this kind of trash is no longer worthy of our attention..."

Zhu Mingyao held a Five Sacred Mountains True Form Talisman emitting an apricot-yellow glow in his palm as he slowly descended from the floating carpet. He was filled with emotion. During this period, the enemies he had encountered were either high-ranking vampires, demon lords, or at the very least, seasoned sorcerers. The continuous fierce battles had left him quite mentally exhausted.

Now, a newbie suddenly appeared, and he felt like he had been fighting his way down from the top of the Rift to the bottom of the Bronze, experiencing the thrill of crushing a newbie. He was really enjoying it!

However, Zhu Mingyao also knew that his statement was indeed a bit Versailles-like. Although this second-generation "Deadskin" lacked combat experience, its true strength was quite formidable.

Whether it's a skeletal weapon with simple intelligence that can attack on its own and destroy energy structures, agile and mobile flight skills, or a degraded immortal body that replenishes itself by devouring flesh and blood, all are quite troublesome abilities.

Don't be fooled by how easily it defeated them; ordinary exorcists would probably be no match for it, and ordinary military and police personnel without heavy firepower would be killed in droves.

Sigh, before I knew it, I'd become the number one master in the martial arts world. There's no way around it, I'm just naturally gifted!

Just as he was shamelessly boasting about himself, dogs began barking in the distance, lights came on from several nearby buildings, and voices could be faintly heard, clearly from local residents who had been alerted by the sounds of fighting.

Turning his head, he gave a brief instruction, arranging for two girls to appease the bystanders and keep them away from the battlefield, and also to notify the police to come and arrest the monster. Zhu Mingyao then waved his hand, and four beams of yellow light flew out, transforming into five-inch-long peach wood nails that firmly pinned the monster's hands and feet.

"Tell me, how did you become like this? And what is the origin of the gentleman who bestowed power in that old man's words?" he asked, while his fingers flicked slightly, and a crimson python, coiled around the two thugs in the room, slowly crawled out.

"I'll talk! I'll talk! Let this snake leave first!" Unexpectedly, before the monster could speak, an old man and a young man screamed like pigs being slaughtered. The young brown-haired man was alright, but the old man in the wheelchair had his eyes rolled back, and yellow fluid was dripping from his crotch, emitting a foul stench. He was on the verge of being scared to death.

Zhu Mingyao shook his hand to dispel the illusion, covered his nose in disgust, and hurriedly jumped back a few steps, casting a contemptuous look: "Damn! You have such a cowardly guts to harm people?"

In the instant his attention was slightly diverted, the monster on the ground suddenly raised its head, and a bald head shattered from its chest with a bang, dragging a short, bloody section of its spine, as it burst out of the gravitational field like a cannonball!

The sharp, segmented limbs that had been curled up on either side of the dark face opened strangely, flashing a ring of translucent flesh. As if it had no weight, it darted out over a hundred meters with just a slight tremor, its speed almost matching that of a speeding sports car, and it was about to disappear into the endless night in the blink of an eye!

"He actually had a hidden move? So the head was the real body." A hint of surprise flashed across Zhu Mingyao's face, but he didn't rush to chase after him. He simply raised his peach staff and pointed it in the air.

The monster, which was fleeing at breakneck speed, suddenly felt a blur before its eyes. A hazy, five-colored light swept over it, and a crimson figure suddenly leaped out from the void, wielding a blazing scimitar that cleaved down, leaving a bright trail of fire!

It made a sharp turn, narrowly avoiding the attack, and lunged at the side.

Before it could even rejoice at its escape, a yellowish-brown, kite-shaped shield rapidly enlarged in its field of vision. With a bang, a large mass of darkness and chaos spread before its eyes, and hundreds of golden stars around it joined hands and began to tap dance. The surrounding scenery was vaguely visible, and the scene changed from rushing towards it to retreating rapidly.

When the monster regained consciousness, it was horrified to find itself back beside its body. Five illusory, spiritual hands tightly covered its face, squeezing so hard that its skull cracked. They picked its nose, pried open its mouth, and tugged at its ears, as if playing some strange game, making it impossible for it to move.

As the saying goes, even a lion uses its full strength to hunt a rabbit. Although he had tested the monster's strength in their first encounter and even consulted the divination using the Six Ren method, the cautious Zhu Mingyao still secretly laid down the Five Ghosts ambush, which proved to be very useful.

"Although I know a little about soul-searching and spirit-capturing techniques, to save time and not just for a quick death, please confess now!"

A few wisps of dark light hung between Dead Skin's eyebrows, the threat clearly evident.

Chapter 253 The Circus? Experience Pack!

Zhu Mingyao was not intentionally deceiving the other party.

Accessing souls and memories is always an extremely delicate task. It's fine if the target is an ordinary person, but it becomes exceptionally troublesome if the target is a powerful superhuman.

In the classic vernacular novels of this world, there are often plots where some evil sorcerer imprisons and tortures the soul of the victim for years in order to extract secrets, but still gets nothing. This reflects this situation from another perspective.

Let alone the fact that his skill in soul-searching techniques is only average, even if you dragged Bai Ziyuan, who specializes in this art, over here, it would take several days and a full range of techniques to pry all the information out of a supernatural being with considerable magic resistance.

So if the monster really cooperates obediently, he wouldn't mind giving it a quick and painless end.

Hmm, forging a magical artifact should be satisfying enough!

Feeling the intense phantom pain from the slight contact of the light needles on his head with his skin, Thomas's bulging dead fish eyes trembled and turned. Perhaps a chaotic and numb monster like the first generation of "Dead Skin" could be fearless of torture, but he, the second generation who had only been transformed for half a year, was far from having such an iron will.

Being a ruthless killer and being fearless of death are two different things. If he truly regarded death as nothing, why would he have dragged his crippled and aged body to live for twenty or thirty years?

"I...I'll tell the truth, please...please spare my life..." Thomas stammered, his jaw trembling as the dark, disgusting, arthropod-like tentacles on his cheek opened and closed.

"Don't even think about it! Letting you die without any pain is already a great mercy!" Zhu Mingyao interrupted the monster's bargaining, his face as cold as ice.

"Think of the innocent people you have killed. I have extensive knowledge of the relevant aspects and can make you suffer ten times more than they did before they died!"

His palm shimmered with ever-changing light, and the spiritual light formed all sorts of wondrous runes, refining demons, torturing ghosts, and slaying souls, swirling around Thomas's face.

In any field, destruction is much easier than construction. Soul-searching and interrogation are more difficult, but ruthless and perverted methods have no barriers to entry.

Sensing the chilling intent hidden within the runes, and recalling the twisted faces of his victims, suffering unbearable agony, the chainsaw-wielding killer Thomas's psychological defenses finally crumbled. He resignedly murmured, "Fate is mine."

"About six months ago, a guy suddenly contacted me..."

"Don't come any closer, help, I..." A high-pitched, distorted voice suddenly cut in, drowning out the monster Thomas's confession.

Zhu Mingyao frowned and glanced over. He saw that the brown-haired, buck-toothed youth next to him had bloodshot eyes, his facial muscles were contorted, and he was shouting incoherently. He seemed to be on the verge of a mental breakdown. Meanwhile, the wheelchair-bound old man, who was urinating and defecating, had simply passed out.

"Hmm? Something's wrong!" Sensing the illogical and intense emotional fluctuations of the two, the Heartfire Divine Power suddenly became alert. The [Earthly Fiend Transformation Serpent Technique] had long since reverted to the Vermilion Long Rope. What were they still afraid of? Could it be that they had some kind of rope phobia left over from a deeply unforgettable and abusive relationship with the rich woman?

With his mind racing, Zhu Mingyao didn't use any offensive or defensive techniques. Instead, he immediately unleashed a white light like lightning, enveloping the two murderers' accomplices.

His reaction was timely, extinguishing the glimmer of fear that was sneaking out from the seven orifices of the two men. Then, he raised his index and middle fingers, and a Qingguang sword with cloud-patterned lotus hilt appeared. He slashed through them, eliminating any possible backup plan and cutting off the possibility of being killed to silence them!

Zhu Mingyao skillfully thwarted the unknown entity's pre-arranged tricks, but his calm gaze remained fixed on the monster's face.

"...Found me, I, I..." The murderer, transformed into a monster, now had a stiff face, his mouth full of sharp teeth opening and closing meaninglessly, like a broken record, clearly having had his sanity secretly destroyed.

A strange aura rose, and the monster's head began to wriggle. Its dark, slippery skin gradually deformed and swelled, and the wrinkles around its eyes, ears, nose, and mouth were smoothed out by an invisible force. In a moment, it transformed into a swaying black balloon, with its foot-long spine hanging down like a tied rope, trembling as it went. It looked both ferocious and eerie.

"What is this disgusting thing?"

Madison, having appeased the local residents, turned back, his face full of disgust.

"Sweet child, sweet child, do you like balloons? Do you like candy? Do you like toys...?"

A sharp, eerie laugh suddenly rang out, like a leaky brass trumpet, startling the little witch so much that she almost dropped a fireball.

The three, regaining their senses, cautiously cast over a dozen spells, sealing the balloon completely. Upon closer inspection, they saw a blurry smiling face still speaking from the balloon held down by the Five Elements Spirits:

"Do you like magic? Do you like wild animals? Do you like puppets? Welcome to the Circus, a world-class circus, where we are dedicated to providing you with an unforgettable and fun experience!"

The laughter abruptly stopped, and then there was no sound at all.

After investigating, Zhu Mingyao, with a grim face, unleashed a burst of demon-refining fire, burning away the human-headed balloon and the monster's remains.

"Slay Deadskin Thomas, the apprentice knife thrower of the [Terror Circus], and gain points..."

Silently pondering the reward information from the system, he whistled awkwardly. It was the first time he had seen a monster name with a prefix title; apparently, it was part of an organization.

Is this part of a series of tasks? Has the system's intelligent program finally been upgraded?

Having made a joke of himself, Zhu Mingyao felt no fear, but rather eagerness, as if he could see countless golden reward points beckoning him in a coquettish manner—"Grandpa, come on over!"

Based on his recent adventures, he has now figured out a new pattern: any being whose true identity can be revealed by the system in a single encounter is not much higher in rank than himself, and is considered an elite monster that he can barely handle.

In contrast, the mysterious demon that the comrades fought together to defeat in the Skull Island secret realm only displayed the simple words "Demon Incarnation." That kind of demon is the real boss that is currently beyond our reach.

The appearance of information like "Apprentice Throwing Knife Hand" indicates that a series of monsters of roughly the same level are lurking behind it.

A large group of highly intelligent monsters, each with unique abilities and strength around the [Knight] level, are banding together and secretly plotting. Their power is enough to turn an international metropolis upside down. Most small and medium-sized supernatural organizations would avoid them, fearing that they would come knocking on their door. Even the well-equipped federal government is on high alert.

But to a certain kid with a cheat code, it was simply too terrifying... and tempting to the teeth!

The rewards are generous, the danger is not high, and the cost-effectiveness is extremely high. After completing this round, I'm afraid I'll have accumulated enough experience to even connect to my Destiny Talisman!

That's a Golden Core cultivator, hehe... I'm about to succeed...

"Are you under some kind of curse from the enemy? ...Why are you drooling?"