Forty-nine rules of the end times

Chapter 35 The Shadow's First Battle
"Uh!!!"

Tiger felt someone strangling his neck with an arm. He struggled to breathe and looked down, only to see two pure black arms.

what is this? !!

He initially thought the person who had grabbed him from behind was a sheriff, but those two pure black arms, devoid of pores and hair, looked more like the arms of some kind of monster, definitely not human!

"Cough...cough!"

Tiger struggled desperately, and in his fear, he used his right hand, which was adorned with brass knuckles, to pound the black arm, hoping that the latter would feel the pain and let go.

Little did he know that the shadow had no sense of pain. No matter how he struck, the shadow's arms remained firmly locked around his neck.

Sitting in the car, Guan Tong watched as the vicious criminal was strangled from behind by the shadow she controlled.

The rear naked choke was a simple yet effective fighting technique he had seen on TV before, capable of rendering someone unconscious in a very short time. He never expected it to come in handy now.

In less than ten seconds, Tiger's face went from white to green, then from green to purple, and finally, white foam spilled from the corner of his mouth, his eyes rolled back, and he completely fainted.

Guan Tong then got out of the car. He looked at the unconscious assailant on the ground and frowned slightly.

"This guy must be a dangerous person."

He originally thought he could just stay in the car and wait to identify Xu Xiaotian, but he never expected that such a vicious criminal would suddenly appear.

Guan Tong withdrew his shadow and went to check on the two police officers who had been knocked to the ground by the thug. At that moment, Li Meng led several people out of the construction site gate and was also shocked by the scene.

"what happened?!"

Guan Tong said, "A criminal disguised as a sheriff escaped and ambushed and knocked down two sheriffs. When he tried to attack me, I managed to knock him unconscious."

Li Meng first checked on his two colleagues to make sure they were not in any danger before he breathed a sigh of relief.

He then walked up to the unconscious thug, turned him over, and looked at his face. He was immediately shocked and exclaimed, "Shen Zuohu!"

"Does Director Li know this thug?"

Li Meng nodded and said in a deep voice, "This bastard was imprisoned more than ten years ago for running a criminal gang, and he was only released at the end of last year. I didn't expect that less than a year later, he would start doing his old tricks again!"

As Li Meng spoke, he seemed to remember something and looked up at Guan Tong in surprise: "This Shen Zuohu is known for his fierceness and ruthlessness. I remember you were a student, right? You were able to knock him unconscious... It seems you are quite the hidden talent."

Guan Tong didn't respond to that question, but instead asked, "Director Li, how's the situation at the construction site?"

Li Meng stood up and said, "It's all over. Several people who violently resisted the law were shot dead, and the rest were handcuffed. A few of the people who were tied up are fine, they were just knocked unconscious and haven't woken up yet. Your friends should be among them, you can go and identify them."

"Ok."

"I'll have someone send my injured colleagues and the victims first. As for this Shen Zuohu..." Li Meng said with a sneer, "If I don't interrogate him thoroughly and dig out everything he knows from the womb, I'll be doing a disservice to this uniform I'm wearing!"

Upon hearing this, Guan Tong was surprised to find that Li Meng, the bureau chief, who looked quite refined with his glasses, was actually a man of strong emotions.

"As for you..."

Li Meng looked at Guan Tong and raised his hand to touch his chin.

“Logically, you’ve assisted in the capture of a major suspect, and according to the bureau’s regulations, you should receive a bonus from the Public Security Bureau. But these days, money is pretty useless, and as for gold, the bureau really can’t afford to pay that…” Guan Tong shook his head and said, “I don’t need the bonus. I just hope that Director Li can solve the case as soon as possible and find out why Shen Zuohu kidnapped a person with high mental strength, and what his purpose was. After all, I am also related to this case.”

Li Meng nodded and said, "Okay, let's leave it at that for now. I'll have someone notify you to come to the station when there's any news. In this major case, you are both a victim and an important accomplice in solving the case. Once the case is solved, you should know what happened."

Li Meng then brought all the arrested criminals back for interrogation, while Guan Tong went to the hospital in a car with the unconscious Xu Xiaotian.

When they arrived at the hospital, the doctor examined Xu Xiaotian and found that he seemed to have been given a sedative and would not wake up for at least several hours.

Guan Tong waited at the hospital. After more than three hours, Xu Xiaotian woke up groggily.

"Guan Tong...? Where am I?"

"Hospital. Have you forgotten about being kidnapped?"

Upon hearing the keywords "kidnapping," Xu Xiaotian quickly came to his senses. After learning what had happened from Guan Tong, he was immediately filled with gratitude towards her.

"Guan Tong, no, Brother Tong! Thank goodness you notified the police in time, otherwise I would have lost my life! From now on, you're my big brother!"

"Alright. You need to be more careful in the future. Your mental strength stats and items should actually be kept secret," Guan Tong said. "After all, you shouldn't have the heart to harm others, but you can't be without the heart to guard against them."

"Yes, yes! Yes!" Xu Xiaotian nodded hurriedly. "I've learned my lesson this time. Sigh, next time someone asks me a stupid question, I'll just pretend I'm deaf and dumb!"

Guan Tong checked the time: "If everything's alright, go back to the hotel. Rest and calm down. I reckon the police will probably call you in for a statement later."

On their way back, Xu Xiaotian recounted in detail how he had been kidnapped. He described everything from being approached and tricked into revealing information, to the arrival of the criminals' accomplices, and his failed escape attempt.

When Guan Tong heard Xu Xiaotian use instant noodles as a weapon, he thought the kid was quite resourceful. If the thug in the car hadn't missed, he might have actually managed to escape from them.

"It's too dangerous outside, I'll never go out casually again." Xu Xiaotian still looked shaken after returning to the hotel.

"Tong-ge, I've decided that before I go to Capital Academy to register next month, I'll be a shut-in like you, just staying in my room and not going anywhere!"

“…Since you’re idle in your room, you can practice using your mental power more and develop your instant noodle gadgets,” Guan Tong said. “That way, your skill ceiling will increase faster.”

"Okay, I'll go back to my room and lie down for a while. My heart is still pounding!"

Xu Xiaotian went back to his room, and Guan Tong swiped her card to enter her room, 306.

He sat at the table, reflecting on the day's events.

It wasn't exactly thrilling, but it was definitely exciting.

To Guan Tong's satisfaction, "Shadow's" performance in its first real-world application met his expectations, demonstrating that his approach to in-depth development was correct.

"The functions of the materialized shadow are completely linked to me. In other words, if I want the shadow to become stronger or faster, I also need to strengthen my training in that area."

"However, the shadow is stronger than me in that it does not have the sensation of pain, itching, or fatigue. Moreover, it is almost impossible to kill... As long as I can continuously supply it with mental energy, it can quickly regenerate even if it is cleaved in two by a knife."

Based on these traits, Guan Tong gradually developed a vague plan on how to further enhance the shadow.

(End of this chapter)