Shackles of Humanity

”Brother Luo, my name is Abby,” the large white man said. ”Xiaohu, give Master Luo some space.” He shoved aside a prisoner with thick eyebrows and wide eyes, clearing the best bunk and warmly inviting Luo Kai to sit.

Luo Kai was unmoved. ”You know me?” he asked warily.

”How could something like the kidnapping of Black Stone Heavy Industry’s young lady be kept quiet? I heard she was rescued by a carriage driver. That was you, wasn’t it, Brother Luo? The whole incident was the talk of the town. The Longyang Commerce Association put out a million-Star Dollar bounty, and the guys on the streets nearly turned Longyang City upside down looking for you! Brother Luo, you dared to kill a Black-clothed Guard from Jiuyuan Farm Stronghold and even rescued the young lady of the Black Stone Trading Group. You’re a legend here in Longyang City!”

As the large white man spoke, the way the surrounding prisoners looked at Luo Kai changed completely, their expressions now filled with awe. A few immediately and eagerly grabbed a thermos, found the cleanest cup, and began pouring tea for him.

Luo Kai hadn’t expected to be so famous, much less that there was a million-dollar bounty involved.

He walked over and sat down next to the white man named Abby. Though the cell was crowded with prisoners, none of them posed a threat to him. Even if they all attacked at once, he was confident he could end the fight within a minute. His only real worry was how he was going to get out.

Abby shooed away the nearby prisoners and whispered to Luo Kai, ”Brother Luo, now that they’ve thrown you in here, things are going to get difficult. It’s way too easy for the higher-ups to kill a prisoner in a place like this. Even if they don’t kill you, they could lock you away for ten or twenty years. Besides, this prison is the City Lord’s turf. It’ll be very hard for Black Stone Heavy Industry to get you out. You’d better be careful.”

Luo Kai nodded. Since he was here, all he could do was wait and see. The conditions in this prison were much better than on Nanya Island. There was a toilet, a running faucet, and even hot water to drink. He could get used to it.

That evening, when the cell’s Fluorite Lamp came on, Luo Kai slept restlessly. He lay with a frown, wracking his brain for a way to escape. The cell itself couldn’t hold him, but what was he going to do about the countless guard posts and the twenty-five-foot-high walls outside?

Around midnight, the cell door suddenly opened, and five new prisoners were brought in. Each one was tall and powerfully built, with vicious-looking scars covering their bodies. One look was enough to know they were trouble.

Abby whispered in Luo Kai’s ear, ”They’re here for you. Look like veterans from the Government Army.”

Luo Kai sat up, side-eyeing the burly men with an icy gaze. They stared back, defiant. The air in the cell grew heavy and the atmosphere tensed. The more timid prisoners began to shrink back into the corners.

Luo Kai shattered the tense atmosphere. He shot to his feet and lunged at one of the men. ’These guys aren’t street punks; they’re elite soldiers. They must have killed countless times and their fighting skills will be top-notch. I have to strike first.’

The burly men never expected Luo Kai to strike first, much less with such speed and ferocity. They were too slow to react. The targeted man had just begun to dodge when a heavy fist slammed into his temple. He foamed at the mouth, his eyes rolled back in his head, and he collapsed, unconscious. And that was with Luo Kai holding back—otherwise, that single punch would have shattered his skull.

A fierce battle erupted. These men were elite soldiers, experts in hand-to-hand combat. They were caught off guard at first, but they quickly recovered and closed in, using their grappling and wrestling skills. As the old saying goes, a year of wrestling beats three years of boxing. In a confined space, it’s hard to unleash one’s full Fist Power, but grappling techniques that target and lock the joints can be used to devastating effect.

While the Mighty Dragon Fist’s power was immense, it had a major weakness: it required a brief moment of Gathering Power—a split second to tense the muscles. In close-quarters combat, this weakness was magnified tenfold.

Seizing the brief opening before Luo Kai could recover his strength, two of the men grabbed his arms and held on tight. A third wrapped his arms around Luo Kai’s waist. All three pushed at once, slamming him to the ground. No matter how he struggled, they refused to let go.

The other prisoners watched the brutal fight, scared into silence. All of them cowered in the corners, not daring to get involved. A flicker of indecision crossed Abby’s face, but he knew he couldn’t change the outcome even if he jumped in. In the end, he cowered back into the corner with the others.

”Heh heh... just your bad luck, kid!” The last man standing pulled out a dagger, holding it to Luo Kai’s throat as if to slit it.

Just then, the man saw Luo Kai’s eyes suddenly turn red. It was a strange, eerie crimson that gave off a faint glow, incredibly conspicuous in the dark cell. An intense feeling of danger surged through him. This mysterious Sixth Sense had saved his life on several occasions. With no time to think, he leaped back.

A series of sharp cracks echoed through the cell. The two men holding Luo Kai’s arms screamed in unison, thrown aside by an immense force. They writhed on the ground in agony, their arms bent at unnatural angles, obviously broken.

The man holding his waist jumped in fright and scrambled back, not stopping until he hit the door. He stared at Luo Kai as if he were looking at a monster.

Luo Kai sat up and looked at his own hands. His arms were also twisted at unnatural angles, but the difference was, he could still control them. ’The Soft Body Technique,’ he thought, remembering the skill he had always neglected. ’I always thought it had no combat applications, but it looks like I was wrong.’

After activating his Qi and Blood Surge, his control over his body had increased dramatically. He had simply willed his arms to break free of their hold, and his body had obeyed. His own arms had contorted, wrapping around the ones holding him, and then, like a python constricting around its prey, had suddenly squeezed, snapping both of their arms at once.

Everyone else in the cell stared, baffled. Luo Kai’s movements had been too subtle for them to follow. They had no idea what had just happened. ’What kind of technique was that? How did the tables turn so fast?’

Luo Kai gave his arms a slight shake, and the twisted limbs snapped back to normal. He rose to his feet and stared coldly at the two remaining men. The rest of the fight was over before it began; he knocked them both unconscious without any trouble.

「Early the next morning.」

A middle-aged man with a long, narrow knife scar on his forehead unlocked the cell door. He glanced at the five men groaning in pain on the floor and barked, ”Who did this?”

”Sir! They started fighting each other! We couldn’t pull them apart!” the prisoners all shouted, tripping over each other to answer.

The man shot them a venomous glare, then turned to Luo Kai and sneered, ”Very good. You’ve got a few tricks up your sleeve, I see.”

Luo Kai recognized him. He was one of the men who had helped kidnap Xiaozhuo, some kind of captain from the Security Department.

”Hmph. So you’re Luo Kai. Take him,” the man grunted. Two armed guards instantly appeared from behind him and leveled their guns at Luo Kai. They would clearly open fire at the slightest sign of resistance, heedless of all the other prisoners in the cell.

Luo Kai’s fists tightened. ’The cell is small, and there’s only one exit. Even if I use my Qi and Blood Surge, there’s no way I can break out.’ After a moment’s thought, he unclenched his fists, walked to the doorway, and allowed the guards to bind his hands and feet in heavy shackles.