"Come out! Come out!!" Su Jin's eyes spat fire, his arm blurring like a localized hurricane.
His mind was utterly saturated with carnal filth; by all biological metrics, he should have finished this humiliating task already.
But the midday sun was glaring down, his physique was comprehensively enhanced by the system, and no matter how fast he cranked his wrist, his body simply refused to yield!
Theoretically, retreating into the shadows should have helped, but right now, it did absolutely nothing.
Sensing three figures approaching his flank, Su Jin panicked. He hunched over to shield his compromised dignity and roared, "Kite that bitch away from me! Piss off! If I catch one more glimpse of her, I'm permanently ruined!"
Cheng Du and Fu Hu pivoted, forming a physical barricade in front of Su Jin.
For the first time, genuine terror exploded in Liang Cui's eyes.
No!
In the middle of a bloodbath, how dared he actually try to rub one out?!
She knew the insidious mechanics of her own Ability; her pheromonal hijacking relied entirely on manipulating the target's physiological arousal.
If he actually managed to empty the tank, regaining control over his mind would be impossible.
And the moment his head cleared, she was a dead woman!
"You two useless sacks of meat! Out of my way!" Liang Cui shrieked. Ignoring her agonizing injuries, she lunged forward, desperate to bypass them and harvest Su Jin's life.
But the two men had already adapted. Fu Hu shifted into the vanguard, planting his feet like an immovable iron tower to block her path.
...
High above, the sun tracked across the sky.
Su Jin kept furiously working the pump, desperately checking the sun's glare.
Hobbling with his pants around his ankles, he chased the shifting shadows until he finally collapsed against the rooftop's iron access door.
"God damn it!! Just fire already! If you don't come out right now, I'll chop you off!!" Su Jin's bloodshot eyes bulged, cold sweat practically raining from his forehead.
A hundred frantic strokes later.
Su Jin gasped for air, violently shaking his head to purge Liang Cui's increasingly intoxicating visage and the suffocating emotional spell from his brain.
He jammed a hand into his chest rig and yanked out his smartphone.
Panting heavily, his thumb flew across the screen.
Unlock. Hidden folder. Open the downloader...
"Fuck! Where's my porn?!"
Staring at the completely empty download queue, Su Jin was so apoplectic he nearly squeezed out a few pathetic tears.
He hyperventilated for a second, forcefully suppressing his murderous rage, and began swiping again.
It's fine... it's fine! You can't beat me!
I still have the galleries. I still have the smut fics!
...
Downstairs, in the narrow stairwell.
Zhang Wan, along with the rescued woman, Sister Liu, Sun Ya, and Wei De, huddled in agonizing suspense.
"Can anyone hear what's happening? My ears are shot," Sun Ya muttered, his face creased with anxiety.
"I can hear them. The scuffling just got louder—someone's backed up right against the door," Fu Qingdai whispered, her brows furrowed.
"There's no gunfire. None of them brought pieces. Should we slide a gun out to them?" Wei De suggested grimly.
Right on cue, two heavy thuds rattled the iron door.
"Absolutely not! They're locked in a melee inches away. If we barge in at this range, we're just meat-shields," Sun Ya instantly vetoed.
"Just hold them off a little longer, I'm almost done!" Su Jin's frantic, strained voice bled through the rusty metal.
Fu Qingdai's eyes snapped wide as tactical inspiration struck.
"Brother is pinned at the door. That means Dad and Brother Cheng are holding the line somewhere else... Hand me the gun!"
Sun Ya hastily shoved his pump-action shotgun into her hands.
Fu Qingdai racked the slide and screamed through the iron barrier, "Brother, I'm bringing you the gun!"
"What!?" Su Jin's head snapped up, a fresh sheet of cold sweat freezing on his face.
He frantically thumbed the text-to-speech option on his smut novel, shoved the blaring phone into his pocket, and slammed his free shoulder against the door.
"Qingdai? Do not come in here! We're in the middle of a goddamn warzone!"
...
"What did he say? Did you catch that?" Sun Ya asked urgently.
"It was muffled... Brother Cheng was roaring, it drowned him out," Fu Qingdai bit her lower lip. "But I heard my dad yelling in the distance. The main fight is pushed back. Brother is holding the door completely alone!"
"Then that settles it. We kick the door, toss him the piece, and fall back immediately."
Fu Qingdai nodded with lethal determination and shoved the handle.
It jammed. She slammed her shoulder against it twice, then looked back at Sun Ya.
Sun Ya glared back, his adrenaline spiking. "Why are you looking at me? The hinges are rusted shut! Put your back into it, breach on three!"
CLANG. The heavy door was violently rammed open.
"Motherfucker..."
The impact threw Su Jin completely off balance. He staggered forward and crashed to his knees, utterly exposed.
He turned his head with agonizing slowness. His bloodshot, feral eyes locked onto the rescue party just as his phone speaker aggressively broadcasted:
"...Tonight, she let her silken hair cascade down to her waist like a dark waterfall, wearing nothing but a scandalous slip dress..."
The five spectators stood utterly paralyzed, their wide eyes flicking in horrifying sync from his bare crotch up to his face.
Su Jin's lips vibrated. A tidal wave of apocalyptic, soul-crushing humiliation drowned out every other instinct in his brain. A millisecond later, it transmuted into pure, unadulterated fury. "What the flying fuck are you all doing?! Are you actively trying to get me killed?! I told you we were in the middle of a firefight, who gave you permission to breach!"
Fu Qingdai's entire face practically ignited. She dropped the shotgun like it was radioactive.
"Brother, here is your gun!"
Before it even hit the floor, Zhang Wan snatched it up.
The group scrambled over each other in a chaotic, terrified retreat, slamming the iron door shut behind them with a deafening bang.
Grinding his molars to dust, Su Jin scrambled up, yanking his pants back into place. Throbbing veins threatened to burst from his temples.
He violently shook his head, then locked his predatory, murder-filled gaze back onto Liang Cui.
The apocalyptic embarrassment of that encounter had acted like a bucket of ice water on his overheated brain.
Her Ability wasn't absolute mind control; it exploited physiological loopholes. He'd only fallen for it because his biological self-restraint was garbage.
The pheromones were bound to creep back in. He needed to execute her, fast!
Snatching the dropped shotgun, Su Jin racked it and charged at Liang Cui like a rabid dog.
"You two, clear my line of fire!"
Su Jin's roar cut through the chaos like a holy decree for Fu Hu and Cheng Du.
Liang Cui's eyes widened in sheer panic. Seeing the barrel aimed her way, she aggressively closed the gap, latching onto Fu Hu in close-quarters combat.
The fire-breathing idiot was tapped out. This hulking brute was slow. He was the perfect meat shield.
Peering from behind Fu Hu, she sneered at Su Jin. "You've got a ruthless streak! I've never been backed into a corner by a man before. I concede this round, but I'm taking one of your mutts to hell with me! Pull the trigger! Let's see if you have the guts to hit your own man!"
Fu Hu's neck veins flared as he roared back, "Director, ignore this filthy whore! Fire! I'll bet my life against hers! Let's see whose flesh gives out first!"
...
Out in the stairwell, the five survivors stared at the walls, completely traumatized.
Their brains were still short-circuiting from the horrific sight they'd just witnessed when Fu Hu's muffled roar echoed through the steel. Zhang Wan's face drained of all color.
Sister Liu rushed to pat her back. "Wan, you've bagged yourself a real man! Old Fu is tough as nails, he'll walk away from this without a scratch."
...
"Kekeke! What kind of masculine bravado is this?!" Liang Cui spat, her voice dripping with venom. "I see through you now! No wonder my pheromones couldn't fully break you. You're a fucking impotent eunuch! And that other one? A raging faggot! You're in a deathmatch and you're jerking off to audiobooks?!"
"What! Cheng Du, you—"
"Director, I swear to God I'm not!" Cheng Du bellowed, horrified.
Weaving through Fu Hu's strikes, Liang Cui kept whispering her psychic poison into Su Jin's ears. "I've tasted a thousand men. That boy is absolutely obsessed with you! But you should thank me today. Even with his twisted little preferences, my aura will eventually dominate him. It's just a matter of time."
"Shoot me. Pull the trigger right now and you might clip me. Wait another minute, and your little boy-toy is going to rip your throat out for me! Hahahahaha!"
...
"Wan, don't overthink it. Men all end up like that at a certain age anyway. Honestly, the act itself is highly overrated," Sister Liu consoled sagely.
"Sister Liu, please, just stop talking," Zhang Wan whimpered, burying her face in her hands.
...
Sweat poured down Su Jin's face, his finger trembling on the trigger guard.
The shotgun's spread was too wide. There was no guarantee Fu Hu could trigger his hardening Ability in time, nor did it cover enough of his body mass.
If he pulled the trigger, the collateral damage would be catastrophic. This bitch was baiting him precisely because she knew Fu Hu was a perfect ballistic sponge.
Su Jin didn't dare close the distance either. His clarity had partially returned, but the physiological pressure was still burning in his blood.
Her spell was an area-of-effect aura. The closer he got... the harder it hit.
But if he kept stalling from afar, he was going to spiral right back into a mindless, rutting animal.
What the hell was the tactical play here?
Just as Su Jin's tactical calculus hit a dead end, Cheng Du's voice wavered. "Director... I smell something really sweet..."
"Hahaha, almost there," Liang Cui purred, slipping past a hook from Fu Hu while continuing her psychological warfare. "Still holding your fire? If you hesitate any longer, it's game over!"
Su Jin's head snapped toward Cheng Du. The younger man's eyes had glazed over with a sickly, euphoric haze; his combat stance had completely dissolved.
Ice flooded Su Jin's veins. He threw his last shred of dignity into the incinerator and unleashed an earth-shattering roar.
"Cheng Du! Do not let this cheap whore seduce you! I can sleep with you too!!"
The sheer, mind-bending absurdity of that scream hit Cheng Du like a freight train. He snapped his head around, his eyes instantly clearing in absolute, terrified shock!
Su Jin stood there holding the shotgun. Somehow, in the ensuing chaos, he had stripped entirely down to his boxer briefs and tactical socks, standing with his legs planted wide to assert total dominance.
Liang Cui's jaw practically unhinged. She stared at him in utter, uncomprehending disbelief.
"I thought you were actually packing some heat with that Ability! Is this it?! Give it up, bitch. On sheer aesthetic appeal, you can't outclass me!" Su Jin barked. With terrifying speed, he shucked the heavy buckshot shells from the weapon and hurled them like solid slugs straight at Liang Cui's face.
...
"Qingdai, breathe. The Director is just doing what he has to do to survive. He definitely doesn't play for the other team," Sister Liu whispered softly.
The two older men stood in the stairwell, faces entirely blank, staring into the void as they listened to the three women cope.
Fu Qingdai's expression cycled through five different shades of horror and betrayal. Finally, she gritted her teeth so hard they nearly cracked, turned on her heel, and sprinted down the stairs.