Starting with Blood Healing to become an Ancient God

Rio placed the explosives on the bed and walked to the window. Across Hyde Street were the Telecom Cinema and the Arkham City Bank.

This is a great location, situated on the western edge of the central area, and currently not very crowded.

Although there aren't many people, an explosion would still have a very good effect.

After all, it's right across from Arkham's only movie theater and bank, which would definitely attract a lot of police and defense forces.

Rio calmly took out a cigarette, lit it, took a deep drag, and said leisurely, "Enjoy the last moments of your lives!"

His identity was that of a seafood merchant and a military spy who had been infiltrating Arkham two months ago. Initially, his mission was simply to monitor the activities here and prevent the Rhodes Merchant Guild from disrupting the military's experimental plans.

With the annihilation of the entire legion and witnessing many unbelievable situations, his thinking had actually changed somewhat.

In particular, in the past month or so, he has witnessed firsthand the changes in the entire city of Arkham. The previously chaotic, filthy, and backward city is rapidly transforming.

If he didn't have that kind of status, he really wouldn't mind continuing to live here and becoming a part of this place.

After all, that mayor truly possessed formidable abilities and a personal charisma akin to that of a god.

However, for a qualified soldier, obeying orders is his destiny.

The giant's iron will would not allow him to change his allegiance because of such a small temptation.

Rio took out his pocket watch and looked at it halfway through his cigarette.

There are still ten minutes until we can act together.

"Once this mission is over, I should retire and enjoy my life." Rio thought of his two children who always idolized him and his kind wife who was always worried about his safety.

Looking down at the inside cover of the pocket watch, there was a round photograph on it, a black and white family portrait.

Rio, with a reserved smile on his face, was accompanied by a middle-aged woman with a gentle smile. In front of them were their two children, aged twelve or thirteen.

The whole family wore happy smiles, and even through the black and white photo, one could feel their harmonious joy.

Just then, there was a knock on the door.

"Who?" Rio quietly turned around, closed his suitcase, and put it aside, asking.

A woman's voice came from outside the door: "Hello sir, I am a staff member of the Arkham Cultural Center. We are conducting a survey on the opinions of out-of-town businessmen regarding the current state of Arkham."

Upon hearing this, Rio frowned slightly. He had indeed heard of the Arkham Cultural Center, and their staff had recently been doing similar work.

He never expected to run into this group of guys.

"I'm not available right now, let's do it tomorrow!" Rio said, using his voice to mask the sound of a bullet being chambered.

The woman outside the door said, "Sir, it's just filling out a questionnaire. It will only take you two minutes."

Rio paused for a moment but did not refuse.

Arkham is known for its conservatism, and with martial law in effect recently, it's easy to attract attention if you overly refuse.

It's important to know that the relationship between the people and the police in Arkham is far stronger than anywhere else in the Empire.

Thinking this, he walked to the door and opened it. He had already planned that if the other party sensed something was wrong, he would eliminate him and then detonate the bomb in advance.

In the operation plan, everyone had been given orders that, although there was a specific time, the bomb could be detonated within five minutes of the critical moment.

Rio opened the door a crack and saw a rather beautiful woman with striking red hair.

She was wearing a black suit, looking very business-like and formal.

At this moment, she was holding a notebook with a stack of questionnaires that wasn't very thick.

"Sir, thank you for your cooperation," the woman said with a smile.

Rio glanced at the other person cautiously and said, "Go ahead and ask."

"What do you think of our Arkham culture and customs?" the woman asked.

Rio smiled and said, "Very good, very warm and hospitable."

"What is the state of public order in Arkham?"

"It's just as good as the capital, and it's very safe here."

Are you satisfied with the scenery in Arkham?

"Of course, the scenery here is one of the best I've ever seen."

Do you plan to work or live here again in the future?

"No one would want to come!" Rio thought to himself, but said with a smile, "Of course, this is practically my second hometown."

The woman's smile grew even brighter and more cheerful as she said, "Arkham has recently opened some fun amusement facilities. Would you like to try them out?"

Rio shook his head: "Sorry, I still have some work to do and I don't want to go out for sightseeing right now."

As soon as she finished speaking, the woman leaned closer with a warm smile and said, "No, you want to!"

The woman pushed the door open suddenly, causing the door panel to dent and the safety chain connecting the door and the frame to break completely.

Rio's eyes widened instantly, he took a step back abruptly, and drew his pistol to fire.

At that moment, the woman suddenly stepped forward and, with lightning speed, covered the muzzle of Rio's gun with her hand.

"Idiot!" Seeing this, Rio could even picture the scene of his hand being pierced and blood spurting out the next second.

boom!

After a muffled thud, Rio did not see any splattered blood.

Upon closer inspection, Rio suddenly realized that his hand, which was gripping the muzzle of his gun, was now covered in blue scales.

The claws, which had completely mutated into monsters, crushed his greatest asset in the next second.

The pistol in the woman's hands was as easy to crush as a fluffy, soft white loaf of bread.

Rio's years of combat experience allowed him to react quickly; the instant he lost his weapon, he thrust out with the dagger at his waist.

He felt a fierce gust of wind rush towards him, and when he came to his senses, he found himself being lifted into the air by the woman, who was holding him by the neck.

At that moment, the woman looked at him as if he were a dead chicken.

Chapter 0261 Catching Mice

At this moment, Rio looked at the beautiful woman in front of him with difficulty, still unaware of how he had been exposed.

As one of the top reconnaissance soldiers in the army, he possesses extremely strong skills in concealment and counter-reconnaissance.

He had been lying low here safely for two months, and had even become friends with everyone he knew.

He couldn't understand how the other party had managed to find him so precisely at such a crucial time.

Keep in mind that there were only ten minutes left before the explosion.

"Why are you in such a hurry to leave? We have many fun activities waiting for you at Arkham," said Larry, the red-haired man, with a warm smile.

Rio struggled as his neck was gripped and he gradually suffocated, only to find that the other person's body was like steel, and no matter how much he struggled, he could not hurt the other person in the slightest.

"You...you..." Rio tried to say something, but couldn't get the words out.

Larry casually tossed him into the corner of the wall, opened his briefcase, and after seeing the detonators and explosives inside, turned around with a smile and asked, "Mr. Rio is too kind. You came here to play and even prepared your own fireworks. It seems that you really like our Arkham."

At this moment, he took a couple of difficult breaths in the corner, seized the opportunity when Larry was off guard, and suddenly lunged forward to leave through the door of the room.

But just as he ran out of the door, a black iron shovel came flying at him, the blade of which struck Rio hard on the nose.

In an instant, Rio felt the world spin, and intense pain shot from his nose to his brain, with tears and blood flowing freely.

Staggering two steps, Rio collapsed to his knees, struggling to lift his head and open his eyes.

Through his flowing tears, Rio saw a young woman wearing an apron.

The woman was about twenty-seven or twenty-eight years old, with brown hair styled in two long braids.

Thanks to her well-maintained skin and makeup, the woman looked quite attractive.

At this moment, the woman was holding a shovel, and her hands were visibly trembling, as if she was afraid.

But her dark eyes now held a frightening excitement and a sense of novelty, as if that moment had awakened something special within her.

“You…” Rio recognized the woman at a glance.

She was Mrs. Thomson, the proprietress of this revolving hotel. She was the one who handled my paperwork when I came in.

Mrs. Thomson seemed still somewhat frightened, but then she seemed to remember something, and said with hatred on her face, "You damned bastards! Why aren't you all dead yet!"

During the last hunt, Mrs. Thomson was nearly assaulted by soldiers of General Piggle's Second Army, but Kenneth saved her at the last moment.

From that time on, the seeds of hatred were sown.

This time, the anger and hatred that had been building up inside him for so long erupted completely with that shovel strike.

After Larry finished dealing with the explosives and came out, he said to Mrs. Thomson, "Make a phone call for me."

Mrs. Thomson seemed to have known all along; she nodded and left with her shovel.

Larry squatted down and looked at Rio with a smile, saying, "Now you can say you've truly experienced the simple and warm hospitality of the people of Arkham, right?"

Rio covered his nose, his earlier resolve gradually eroded by fear. He whispered, "So what if you arrest me! You can't stop this city's destruction!"

Larry then reached out and grabbed him by the neck, lifting him up and saying, "Is that so? While I don't know how Arkham was destroyed, I know very well how you thirteen were destroyed."

! ! ! !

Upon hearing this, Rio's eyes widened suddenly, and the hand that had been covering his nose slipped limply from his grasp.

"You...you all knew all along..."

Larry casually said, "It's not that early. You turtles have been hiding very well. If it weren't for this large-scale operation, you might have continued to hide, right? So we gave you a chance, a chance to show your faces and wait to be caught."

"Okay, time is tight, I have other work to do."

As Larry spoke, his hands, which resembled iron clamps, began to wave.

With a piercing sound of bones shattering, and amidst screams, Larry crushed all the bones in Rio's limbs.

Larry then casually tossed him onto the counter on the first floor like trash, leaving him in Mrs. Thomson's care while they waited for the police to arrive.

Mrs. Thomson said, "We've already notified them."

Larry nodded, then quickly ran out.

At this moment, Rio, pale with pain, was trembling uncontrollably.

Mrs. Thomson looked at him with eyes that were both frightened and yearning, then raised her shovel and slammed it hard against his chest. With each strike, Mrs. Thomson's eyes grew brighter and her fear gradually diminished.