Sin Becomes a God

Chapter 42: The Russian’s Suggestion

Although Lu Renjia had broken through the constraints of a second-tier martial artist and advanced to the early stage of the first tier under the repairman’s frenzied beating—and given his current physical stats, he had at least a seventy percent chance of defeating Sloan or “The Cross”—Lu Renjia knew full well that his purpose for coming to the world of *Assassin’s Alliance* was to master the “Assassin’s Heart,”“Curved Ballistics,” and “Beyond-Line-of-Sight Sniping.” Adhering to the principle of “leaving a way out for future encounters,” Lu Renjia—after sending the repairman crashing into the wall with a single punch—deliberately feigned exhaustion, held his breath, and passed out with dignity. The moment Lu Renjia collapsed, the entire restaurant remained deathly silent. The outcome of this duel was self-evident: the repairman, who had been slammed into the wall by Lu Renjia’s single punch, had long since rolled his eyes back and was barely breathing. Even the Gunsmith, the Butcher, and Fox were so stunned by Lu Renjia’s final punch that they couldn’t recover for quite some time. The repairman, renowned for his wrist strength, was undoubtedly the physically strongest among them all. Fox and the others thought to themselves: if the repairman had been reduced to this state by a single punch from Lu Renjia, then if it were them, they’d likely be dead or crippled after taking such a blow. Just as everyone was still reeling from the sheer power of Lu Renjia’s punch, the Russian in charge of the infirmary timidly spoke up: “Shouldn’t we take these two to the infirmary first?” Only then did everyone snap out of it. The Butcher hurried forward and pried the Mechanic loose from the wall, while the Russian helped Lu Renjia to his feet and headed toward the infirmary. Watching the group scramble to carry Lu Renjia and the repairman to the infirmary, Fox, having come to his senses, looked apologetic and whispered to Sloan, “Did… did I do something wrong…? The repairman looks pretty badly hurt… The force of Lu Renjia’s final punch must have been at least three metric tons…” To his surprise, Sloan shook his head and smiled. A gleam of shrewdness flashed in his wise eyes as he said slowly, “Friendship is built on a foundation of equal strength. Have you ever seen a lion befriend a gazelle? Although the mechanic is seriously injured… at least it shows us just how powerful the future leader of Huaxia really is… If the next leader of our ‘Brotherhood’ doesn’t possess strength on par with his… perhaps…” At this point, Sloan fell silent. To be one of the “Brotherhood’s” five greatest warriors as a woman speaks volumes about Fox’s extraordinary talent and strength. Although she was physically weaker than men, her agility, speed, and sharp mind meant that the Gunsmith, the Butcher, and the Repairman dared not underestimate her. Hearing the subtext in Sloan’s words, Fox nodded thoughtfully. Come to think of it, if “The Cross” hadn’t defected from the “Brotherhood”—if he were still there—the “Brotherhood” would still be one of the world’s premier assassin organizations. Now that “Cross”—hailed as the most outstanding assassin in the “Brotherhood’s” history—had defected, Fox, who regarded the “Brotherhood” as her entire world, naturally did not want to see a future where Lu Renjia, upon becoming the leader in China, would crush the “Brotherhood.” For a moment, a cold glint flashed in Fox’s eyes—eyes known for their decisiveness and ruthlessness. As if sensing Fox’s murderous intent, Sloan patted Fox on the shoulder like a benevolent father and chuckled, “Want to take advantage of Lu Renjia’s critical injuries to eliminate this threat with a single shot? There’s no need… Sometimes, a person must keep a powerful enemy around to push themselves to constantly improve, don’t you think? ‘The Cross’ may have astonishing talent, but yours is in no way inferior…All five of you are currently at the ‘Heart of the Assassin’ application stage… If you can take it one step further and reach the mastery stage… Lu Renjia won’t be able to touch you at all…” Within the entire “Brotherhood,” aside from Sloan, the leader, who was at the “Mastery” stage of “Assassin’s Heart,” the Repairman, the Butcher, Fox, the Gunsmith, and “Cross” were all at the “Application” stage. As for the other members, they were stuck at the “Mastery” stage. “The Heart of the Assassin”—Fox, who had remained stuck at the “application” stage, sighed. “Mastering speed? Sigh… For the past three years, I’ve been stuck at the application level; I haven’t even come close to reaching the threshold for the ‘Mastery of Speed’ talent…” Sloan smiled. “Kid… you’ve got a long road ahead of you… Don’t rush it. Before you learn how to master speed, I think you should first find a way to master your own heart…” Leaving aside how Sloan was dispensing motivational advice to Fox in the silent dining hall, Lu Renjia was now lying comfortably in a medicinal bath in the “Brotherhood’s” special medical room. A liquid as clear as water bubbled up from the bottom of the pool; its icy touch felt like a cold spring welling up from the earth, yet this crystal-clear water was permeated with a refreshing, invigorating fragrance. Just then, Lu Renjia, lying in the water, heard the Russian’s distinctive accent: “Everyone, please step out… the patient needs to rest…” “Hey… Russian, that Fixer guy isn’t going to die, is he? Damn it… Doesn’t that son of a bitch usually brag about having the strongest wrists in the whole U. S.? Great… I’ve blown all my savings on this… Um… Russian, could you put a little less medicine in that Chinese kid’s tub… so it takes him a few extra days to recover? Would that work?” The Butcher said shamelessly. The Russian glanced at Lu Renjia, who was lying in the water with his eyes tightly closed, and teased, “We’ll see… His injuries are much less severe than the repairman’s. Even if I reduce the dosage, given his physical condition, he’ll probably recover in three to five days at most… You’d better have the money ready by then… But don’t worry—if you get hurt, I’ll definitely up your dosage…” The butcher’s mouth twitched, and he could only drag his feet away. After everyone had left, the Russian walked into the medicinal bath where the repairman lay and slowly poured the prepared potion and some melted paraffin into the water, muttering to himself, “Sigh… Not only are all the ribs in the repairman’s chest broken, but he’s also suffering from a concussion… It’ll probably take at least three days for him to regain consciousness… Are certain people still planning to feign unconsciousness?” Lü Renjia, lying in the water, had long suspected there was something fishy between this Russian and “The Cross.” By deliberately mentioning that the repairman would take at least three days to regain consciousness, wasn’t he reminding him that, in this centuries-old medical chamber, there were only the two of them? Lü Renjia opened his eyes with a smile, pushed himself up with both hands, and sat up straight. “How did you know I was faking it?” Lu Renjia asked with a chuckle. The Russian adjusted the ridiculous dark green hat on his head, turned around, and raised an eyebrow. “I’m a doctor, you know? When I helped you up just now… I could feel your strong, powerful heart still beating steadily. Even though you were holding your breath to make it seem like you were seriously injured, you couldn’t hide that from my senses! Besides… my ‘Assassin’s Heart’ is different from everyone else’s… When I activate it, I gain analytical abilities fifteen times greater than those of an ordinary person…” “Analytical ability, huh? That’s quite an ability… Does everyone’s ‘Assassin’s Heart’ work differently? By the way… what did Sloan mean by the ‘three levels’ of the ‘Assassin’s Heart’?” Lu Renjia asked next. Lu Renjia’s words took the Russian by surprise. He’d been standing right next to Sloan when the latter made that remark, and at the time, Lu Renjia had been slowly getting back to his feet after taking a punch from the Repairman with 1. 5 metric tons of wrist force. After all, such a severe blow to the temple would normally be followed by tinnitus, dizziness, hallucinations, and other symptoms. This showed that Lu Renjia’s injuries were far less severe than he had imagined. For the Russian, who was aware that Sloan had tampered with the “Loom of Destiny” to issue commands, Lu Renjia—whose true strength was unfathomable—was undoubtedly someone worth recruiting. As his analytical abilities, fifteen times greater than those of an ordinary person, kicked into gear, a sincere smile spread across the Russian’s face. “Well, that…You could say it represents the hierarchy of an assassin’s strength! When the ‘Assassin’s Heart’ is first triggered, the abilities each person possesses are almost identical… The ability to control blood flow to activate the ‘Assassin’s Heart’ is called ‘Mastery.’ Above ‘Mastery’ lies the process of identifying the strongest talent you’ve gained after awakening the ‘Assassin’s Heart,’ and then, through constant training, making that talent even stronger—this is ‘Application’… As for ‘Command’… I’ve only heard about it. It’s said that assassins who elevate the ‘Assassin’s Heart’ to the level of ‘Command’ can enhance every physical ability to astonishing levels…” Lu Renjia smiled thoughtfully. “So, with your analytical ability fifteen times that of an ordinary person, have you also reached the ‘Application’ level?” The Russian let out a wry laugh. “Even with analytical abilities fifteen times greater than the average person’s, what good is it to elevate the ‘Assassin’s Heart’ to the ‘Mastery’ level? Have you ever heard the saying: ‘If your body can’t keep up with your brain, and your reactions can’t keep up with your thoughts… it’s all for nothing’?” These words couldn’t help but remind Lu Renjia of a scene from the world of *The Legend of the Condor Heroes: The Demon Cult Leader*, where he had crushed Zhao Min—the “Female Zhuge Liang” with her extraordinary strategic genius—and her entire entourage with his overwhelming strength. Thinking of this, Lu Renjia couldn’t help but cast a sympathetic glance at the Russian. In the “Brotherhood”—that den of tigers and wolves—what good was even the highest level of strategic genius? With Sloan—a monster who had elevated the “Assassin’s Heart” to a level of mastery—at the helm, and a host of “Brotherhood” members blindly loyal under the spell of his hypocritical facade, achieving anything would require the kind of formidable strength possessed by “The Cross” to dare defect from the “Brotherhood.” In Lu Renjia’s eyes, the Russian’s physical stats were only four to five times those of an ordinary person. With such strength, the Repairman, the Butcher, the Gunsmith, and Fox could crush him as easily as squashing an ant. Therefore, even if the Russian knew what Sloan was up to, he could do nothing but play the fool. “We have an old saying in China: ‘One ounce of strength overcomes ten ounces of wisdom.’ It means that in the face of absolute power, any schemes or tricks are useless… No matter how clever you are, you can’t withstand the crushing force of raw power… By the way, the Butcher still owes me five million… Any good suggestions?” Lu Renjia chuckled. “Hehe… It’s only natural to repay debts… The Butcher may have a terrible temper, but he’s a fair player… Although he’s amassed quite a fortune over the years, shelling out five million all at once would still sting him… All gamblers love money…I suspect your visit to the ‘Brotherhood’ isn’t just about a simple exchange… The Butcher’s blade technique can split a bullet in two… Though I don’t know if you’ll be able to master the ‘Heart of the Assassin,’ the Butcher’s blade technique is absolutely worth five million…” the Russian said slowly. Listening to the Russian’s analysis, Lu Renjia nodded. Since coming to this world, he hadn’t really cared about money or material possessions. From the moment he became a qualified user of the “Evil God System,” wealth and riches had long since become as fleeting as clouds; only overwhelming power was what every qualified user sought. “Thank you for your advice, but there’s no such thing as a free lunch. Since you’ve provided me with this intelligence… what should I offer in return?” Lu Renjia said softly. The Russian’s good-natured smile remained unchanged as he rubbed his hands together like a shrewd merchant. “Tsk, tsk, tsk… I’ve been treating you as a friend… but since you insist on repaying me… well, if in the future a young man is tied to a stool by a repairman and beaten mercilessly, would you be willing to teach him that Chinese martial art that can withstand such blows?” Hearing this, how could Lu Renjia not realize that the Russian was asking him to pass on the *Invincible Vajra Body Divine Art* to Wesley Gibson, who was about to arrive? He shook his head with a smile and made up an excuse on the spot: “This martial art is an ancient discipline that’s been passed down for hundreds of years—and it’s the closely guarded secret of a martial arts sect that once dominated the Chinese martial arts world centuries ago… Even for me, it took over a decade to reach my current level. It’s not like the ‘Assassin’s Heart,’ which can be activated in a short period of time…”As he spoke, Lu Renjia kept his eyes fixed on the Russian’s expression. When he saw a look of disappointment flicker in the man’s eyes, Lu Renjia changed the subject. “However… if certain people were to teach me how to activate the ‘Assassin’s Heart,’ I might just pass on some other method for rapidly boosting one’s strength to that unlucky youngster…”