Apocalypse King: Recruiting S-Tier Beauties With My Ruler System
Chapter 179: Waiting, preparing... the Viper coils

Chapter 179: Waiting, preparing... the Viper coils

March 23rd, 6:42 PM — Underground Cell, Gu Tianhao’s Compound

John Wang POV

——

"Haa..."

I gritted my teeth and lowered myself.

Drip!

Air pushups weren’t real pushups. You hover, a fist-width above the floor, then explode back up without touching.

"Hap!"

Again.

And again.

Blood and sweat smeared the floor beneath me.

My arms burned with agony as I held myself in the air, vertically holding my body as I performed air pushups. From the moment I was attacked for the second time. I decided that sitting here would only lead me to become useless.

One more.

The chain on my ankle clinked softly with each repetition, too short to let me stand, just long enough to move.

My body felt heavier than usual, but also stronger.

Like my bones had grown thicker overnight.

The dull bruises across my ribs and back pulsed with a slow, aching heat, but no longer felt like they were breaking me. My skin had darkened slightly, bronzed and glistening with sweat. Not golden. Not tanned. Just... tougher.

[System Upgrade Progress: 91%]

The number hovered in my vision, flashing faintly with every breath I took.

"Phew..."

After the first time I woke up, the system and my body changed several times as if it was being destroyed and reborn in four-hour intervals.

But now... this one seemed to be the last.

I would probably black out once more before tonight.

[Intense Exercise Complete!]

[Cultivation Increased: 2%]

[Primordial Tyrant Body Scripture – Passive Absorption Active]

[Elemental Affinities Detected: Water (Medium), Fire (Medium), Earth (Strong), Wind (Weak)]

This thing was something I gained from the moment I woke up after blacking out. I never realised that upgrading the system would change things so much.

It almost felt like I’d fallen into a fantasy world...

Dancing particles of colour appeared around me when I focused my eyes, and those particles would slowly swirl through the air and enter my body.

Be it through my lips, nose, skin...

Then that message about absorption would pop up.

The moment the new scripture awakened, I understood it instinctively. I didn’t need a teacher.

Just pressure.

Pain.

Sex.

And time.

Time I didn’t have.

Mu Qinglan... Jiang Roulan... Shen Yifei...

Thanks to this technique, I could sense their general direction, feelings, and emotions.

That’s why I woke up despite the pain.

Mu Qinglan’s determination, darkness and fury to kill the man who hit me.

Jiang Roulan’s affection, loyalty and desire and her dark emotions...

I stole those feelings from them after she used the system to dismantle their corpses.

The issue was Shen Yifei.

Because of her intense self-hatred and insecure feelings, I couldn’t use the cultivation technique to remove them... only decreasing them slightly.

Although I could dull their negative feelings a little, it was impossible to create false feelings or improve the positive ones.

So I could only wait... for my time.

I remembered Roulan’s lips the night before they captured us. The way her hand lingered on my arm. I remembered Qinglan’s cries when they beat me bloody.

I pushed again.

The wounds would heal.

But if I broke here?

There’d be nothing left of me to save.

Again.

Again.

Again.

My training might have lasted hours... until. The sound of footsteps had become a rhythm, and solid boots paced down the corridor. A pause. Then the clink of keys. The metallic screech of the barred door swinging open.

I didn’t look up.

My body hurt, but it wasn’t the pain you could grit your teeth through and ignore. This was a cold ache that lived in your bones. But I wasn’t broken, because the past few hours helped to reinforce my body and will.

The bruises hadn’t vanished completely.

They just sat there like reminders—my reward for surviving. Dull purple patches across my ribs and shoulder, one on my cheekbone, and dozens lining my forearms. But under the skin, I felt it.

The new technique was working.

I almost feared that I might shatter Qinglan’s pelvis if I thrust into her at full power.

[System Upgrade: 96%]

My ribs hurt every time I exhaled, and there was a raw, constant burn under my skin, like someone had buried coals inside my body. Still, I kept moving.

Each air pushup strained my arms. My chest dipped low over the cold, filthy floor, the smell of blood and mould thick in my lungs. I didn’t care. I needed to move and feel something that wasn’t helplessness.

The moment I paused, I knew they’d come again.

Gu Tianhao’s goons liked to play executioner, making sure I stayed weak. But they didn’t know something was brewing under the surface.

I grit my teeth while lowering myself, prepared for the coming beating. My body was better than before—stronger, denser—but still not enough.

[98%...]

Footsteps. The echo of two voices.

"Is he still alive?"

"Doesn’t matter. We’re not allowed to kill him... yet."

I didn’t look up.

Not until the door opened and the cell lights flickered.

The two guards stood there, smug as ever. One had a baton. The other held a metal rod.

They stepped in, slow and casual, like they were walking into a stable.

"Time for your daily reminder," the one on the left said, twirling his baton.

I didn’t flinch, not this time.

"Say something, asshole," the right one snapped.

I smiled, just barely.

And that seemed to piss them off more than anything.

The first hit landed on my shoulder. The next was against my gut. I coughed blood, spat it to the side, and took another blow to the back.

[99.8%...]

I curled forward—not from the pain, but to shield my core. That was when the rod struck my spine.

Something cracked.

My mouth opened in a silent scream—

[System Upgrade: 100% - Complete.]

Time froze.

A warm chime echoed through my skull. The pain numbed instantly. Not gone, but dulled—like a painkiller had been shot into my soul.

Then...That voice.

[Hello, John... It’s been a while.]

It was soft. Feminine. Older than me, but sweet. Her tone was teasing, like a neighbourhood older sister who’d caught her little brother doing something dumb again.

[You sure know how to get beaten up. What am I going to do with you?]

My eyes widened. My breath caught.

[System: Ruler Interface 2.0 — Activated.]

[Primary Cultivation Technique: Primordial Tyrant Body Scripture]

[Link Confirmed: Mu Qinglan, Shen Yifei, Jiang Roulan (weak bond)]

[Qi Type Absorbed: Fire, Ice, Earth — all stable.]

[Body Status: Enhanced, Regenerating.]

[Welcome back, my precious pervert.]

"...you’re real," I whispered.

"The hell is this kid saying!?"

"Who cares? Just hit him!"

[Of course I am. Who else would bother saving your silly and reckless ass?]

I started laughing.

The guards blinked, confused.

That was when the glow beneath my skin began to fade.

My wounds pulsed, leaking steam. My bones cracked again—this time, realignment. My muscles tightened, and I felt my heart thump like a war drum.

I stood.

Not fully healed.

Not fully ready.

But enough to return the favour to these fools.

My bare feet touched the ground like thunder.

The guards flinched.

I could feel it now. Not just the power from the upgrade, but my blood, my core, myself, finally waking up. Like all the pain, humiliation, and despair had forged a second spine through my body.

A dantian pulsed low in my abdomen, deep and hot, like an ancient furnace.

The air crackled around me. Moisture trembled. The metal rod in the thug’s hand wavered from condensation. The other one raised his baton—and then dropped it as soon as I met his eyes.

"What the fuck—?!"

"Shit! Call backup—!"

My body rushed forward.

I grabbed the man’s face, fingers sinking into flesh as I slammed his skull against the wall. The crack rang out like a dropped coconut, and he collapsed in a heap, twitching.

The other tried to run.

Bad choice.

I kicked the baton from the floor, caught it mid-air, and drove it into the back of his knee. He screamed, toppling over as it bent inward. A gruesome wound. Then I pressed my foot against his back, forcing him down.

"Still think I’m the trash around here?" I asked, voice low, raspy.

He whimpered something—too wet to understand, but I couldn’t wait.

I dropped beside him and leaned close. "Where’s Mu Qinglan?"

He didn’t answer.

So I twisted the baton, pressing it into the joint of his shoulder until it popped.

"Where!?"

"S-Southeast wing—!" he gasped. "Second floor, she’s locked there—!"

"And me?" I asked, eyes narrowing.

"B-basement. No guards down here except us. No one wants the job..."

That tracks.

I stood, breathing hard.

Then I turned and looked toward the iron door, still ajar. The hallway beyond was dim, the torches barely lit.

[Now that we’re finally synced, John... I’ve unlocked your internal map.]

The voice returned—gentle and warm, like she was whispering from the side of my neck.

[You’ve got one floor between you and the mansion’s outer structure. Another two to reach her. If you want, I’ll start highlighting optimal paths.]

"Do it," I muttered.

[And John?]

"Yeah?"

[Your body’s still recovering. You’re not invincible.]

I snorted. "Wasn’t planning to go full Superman just yet."

[Good. Because this isn’t a hero story, it’s yours.]

"Then... make me a one!"

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