Chapter 137: Escape from the Secret Chamber

Outside the dilapidated house, the air was thick and stifling. The paint on the metal door had long since peeled away, revealing the rusted iron sheeting beneath.

Shen Feng was nowhere to be seen. The only people left at the scene were two muscular men in tight pink bodysuits, standing expressionless before the two closed doors. Time ticked away, second by agonizing second. Both of the pink-clad musclemen knew better than anyone that if the people inside failed to escape within the next few minutes, the bombs would send everything here to the sky—themselves included, as they would become the final sacrifices in this grand game.

Just then, a faint "click" came from the hinges of the door where Chen Yu was held. The sound was soft, but in that environment, it was piercingly clear. The two musclemen’s gazes snapped toward it instantly.

Before they could react, a violent roar tore through the air!

"BOOM—!!!"

A ferocious shockwave exploded in a fan shape, centered on the doorway. The heavy metal door, like a soda can kicked with immense force, instantly deformed and twisted, tearing from its frame and spinning away for over a dozen meters. Where the entrance had been, thick smoke billowed, fire and dust churning into a chaotic grey curtain.

In the global livestream, the breath of every viewer hitched. They only saw the screen shake violently, followed by a deafening blast and a screen filled with dust and debris.

What happened? Did it explode? Was Chen Yu blown to pieces?

As countless speculations and exclamations flooded the chat, a lean figure emerged, unhurried, from the smoldering ruins. He was covered in dust, his face smeared with soot, and his hair a tangled mess; he looked utterly wretched. Yet, the corner of his mouth still held his signature, roguish smirk.

It was Chen Yu.

Back in that godforsaken room, he hadn't just successfully dismantled the ticking death trap; he had audaciously performed a "technical modification" on it. He had salvaged a portion of the explosives and, using tools and basic materials exchanged from the system store, forced a timer bomb into a directional demolition device.

To be honest, it was pure improvisation. He had never done this kind of technical work before and had no idea how much explosive force a certain amount of material would yield. The police academy taught you how to catch thieves, not how to play with explosives. He had simply relied on his sheer grit and a few unreliable snippets of knowledge from short videos, guessing that it "should be about right," and went for it.

At that moment, he felt he had lost his mind. But he had to do it. He couldn't die. Damn it, he absolutely could not die here! There was a pervert named Shen Feng waiting for him to rip his head off, and there was a truth owed to everyone that he had to uncover. Li Qing's face flashed through his mind, her dull, lifeless eyes like needles piercing his heart.

He had to take the risk. If he won, the world was his; if he lost, well, he’d be more careful in the next life.

"Damn, seems my luck isn't too bad," Chen Yu spat out a mouthful of gunpowder-tasting saliva, silently mocking himself. "With this kind of craftsmanship, it’d be a waste if I didn't enroll in a heavy machinery course."

The muscleman in the next room had clearly heard the earth-shattering explosion. The sound of him kicking at the door stopped instantly. Perhaps Chen Yu's success had inspired him, or perhaps the fear of death had shattered his sanity. He seemed to have lunged toward the red light in the corner of his room, trying to emulate Chen Yu and create a miracle.

But miracles are miracles precisely because they do not happen easily. Five seconds after Chen Yu walked out of the room, a roar even more massive than the first erupted from the neighboring house!

This time, it was no directional blast—it was a full-scale detonation.

The entire ramshackle adobe house was lifted into the air, instantly disintegrating in the flames. Bricks, wooden beams, mud—everything was torn to shreds by the terrifying energy. A violent tremor rippled through the ground, and Chen Yu stumbled, nearly falling. The earth itself was shaking!

He stared blankly at the flattened site, now just a crater spewing black smoke, a surge of indescribable lingering fear washing over him. *Holy crap... this bomb was that powerful? If my hand had slipped, or I'd cut the wrong yellow wire... or if I’d been a little clumsier and miscalculated the dosage just a hair...*

Right now, he would have been the one scattered into the wind. Sweat instantly soaked through his already tattered shirt. Even with his nerve and psychological fortitude, this brush with death had broken him out in a cold sweat.

"Shen Feng... you piece of trash..." Chen Yu cursed under his breath, suppressing his racing heart, his eyes turning cold once more.

Just as his thoughts churned, a sharp gunshot rang out without warning.

Chen Yu’s pupils constricted. He snapped his head around to see the muscleman on the left, a mist of blood exploding from his head as he toppled backward, his gun still smoking. He had killed himself. No hesitation, no struggle—it was as if he had simply pressed a pre-programmed switch.

The other muscleman was clearly stunned, his facial muscles twitching as he stared at his comrade’s corpse. But his reaction was lightning-fast. The moment his partner fell, he snapped out of it, his thick hand flashing toward his holster. He knew that if Chen Yu survived, their mission had failed. And the consequences of failure were worse than death.

Yet, he was fast, but Chen Yu was faster.

The moment the gunshot echoed, Chen Yu was already in motion. His brain hadn't even finished sending the signal before the combat instincts honed through countless trials took complete control of his body. He pushed off with his legs, lunging across the ground like a predatory leopard.

"Dammit!"

Only one thought remained in Chen Yu’s mind: don't let him draw that gun!

The muscleman saw Chen Yu’s rapidly enlarging figure reflected in his eyes; his fingers had already touched the grip of his weapon. But that was as far as he got.

Chen Yu transformed his right hand into a blade, striking precisely at the man’s wrist artery.

"Ugh!" The muscleman felt a jolt of searing pain and numbness; the strength left half his body, and his attempt to draw the gun came to an abrupt halt.

Chen Yu gave him no chance to breathe. He grabbed the man’s arm with his left hand, shifted his weight, and executed a clean, textbook shoulder throw.

"Thump!"

The two-hundred-plus-pound frame slammed into the ground with a dull thud. The man was a tough one, though; dazed and battered, he still tried to struggle, pushing off the ground to rise. Chen Yu’s eyes turned icy. He drove his knee down, pinning the man’s chest so hard he couldn't breathe, and simultaneously delivered a merciless elbow strike to his temple.

"Thud!"

The man’s body jerked, then went completely limp. His eyes rolled back, and he lost consciousness.

The entire sequence was fluid and lightning-fast; from the sudden strike to the neutralization of his opponent, it had taken a mere three seconds. In the livestream, the global audience, who had just recovered from the two massive explosions, hadn't even realized what was happening before the fight was already over.

The chat fell into an eerie, frozen silence. Everyone was stunned by Chen Yu’s fierce and efficient moves. *Is... is this really the same streamer who was famous for his trash talk and deduction skills? This level of combat is even more intense than Special Forces!*

Chen Yu stood up, panting heavily. He glanced at the unconscious man on the ground, then at the bleeding corpse nearby, his expression complex. These men under Shen Feng were brainwashed fanatics. He knew that even if he kept this one alive, he wouldn't get any information out of him.

Now, on this island, besides himself, there should only be the final mastermind left.

He looked up toward the area shrouded by jungle in the center of the island. Shen Feng was there.

Just then, a burst of static crackled. Through the loudspeakers scattered across the island, Shen Feng’s mocking voice echoed.

"Excellent, Chen Yu. You have surprised me once again."

"Now, there are only the two of us left on this entire island!"

"Come to the villa in the center of the island!"

"I am waiting for you here!"

The voice reverberated over the empty ruins with the arrogance of a ruler. Chen Yu stood straight and brushed the dust off his clothes. There was no fear on his face—only a smile filled with lethal intent.

"Coming, brother," he whispered, his voice so soft only he could hear.

"Wash your neck clean and wait for me."