A sharp sound pierced the air as deep gashes appeared on the trunk of a great tree.
The cuts were so severe that the tree lost its balance and began to tilt to the side.
Boom!
The massive tree collapsed.
On either side of the fallen tree stood two figures.
On the left was a towering man clad in a heavy black bulletproof suit, untouched by the chaos.
He was none other than the butcher, Xu Fan, who had just completed a surprise attack.
He stood silently, clenching his metal gloves, flicking the blood off the sharp spikes, and letting out a low, satisfied chuckle.
On the right was Zhao Zhenghong, half-kneeling on the ground.
His left arm hung limply from his shoulder, unable to move.
Three deep cuts marred his cheek and mouth, blood dripping slowly down his chin.
But it did not end there.
Beside him on the ground lay the bodies of two team members, their corpses chopped into several pieces, oozing profuse amounts of blood that stained the earth red.
Boom!
A bomb that had just been thrown exploded with a thunderous roar, igniting an even larger forest fire.
"Butcher, if I give up now, will you let me go?" Zhao Zhenghong slowly rose to his feet, wiping the blood from his eyes and locking his gaze onto Xu Fan across from him.
"That depends on what the employer says," Xu Fan replied, stroking his chin as he turned to look at a nearby cave.
In that moment, Zhao Zhenghong suddenly produced a handgun from his hand and pointed it forward, pulling the trigger.
Bang!
The gunshot rang out, and a fiery explosion erupted from Xu Fan’s chest, forcing him to stagger slightly as smoke clouded his vision.
Bang!
A second shot followed.
Xu Fan raised his arms to protect his chest, but he had underestimated the power of the bullet this time.
The second bullet was an armor-piercing round!
It punched through the metal exterior of his gloves and crashed into his chest’s bulletproof alloy plate, causing it to cave inward.
But that was all.
Xu Fan quickly dropped his hands and looked ahead, but Zhao Zhenghong had vanished from sight.
“Anna!” he frowned and asked in a low voice.
“Ten o’clock direction,” a soft female voice replied through the earpiece.
Just as Xu Fan was about to pursue, Anna’s voice came once more, “Wait, no need to.”
“What do you mean?”
“Someone is blocking him.”
*
At the edge of the raging fire, red flames danced as thick smoke billowed.
Zhao Zhenghong stumbled away, frantically sprinting into the distance.
The wounds on his face had temporarily stopped bleeding, but his broken right arm and injured shoulder greatly hindered his escape.
Seizing the opportunity created by his sneak attack on Xu Fan, he found the best chance to flee.
As he ran, memories of his team members who had met gruesome fates surged through his mind, fueling a wild rage in his heart that burned his sanity to ash.
“Xu Fan! I will definitely kill you!! Kill you!!!”
“Ahhhhhh!!” His vision clouded with blood, he roared softly, gathering every ounce of strength to sprint forward.
Suddenly, his foot stumbled as he dodged to the left and rolled to regain his balance, his eyes locking on someone ahead.
In the dense forest stood a towering dark figure.
The opponent wore a full suit of armor-like black bulletproof gear, with legs thick as tree trunks.
His figure was only slightly smaller than Xu Fan's, but it was evident that the suit was too bulky, not that he was less muscular.
“You look heavily injured,” Yu Hong said. “You’ve lost a lot of blood and should be quite weak by now, right?”
“Who are you?” Zhao Zhenghong gritted his teeth, enduring the pain and fatigue of his blood loss, glaring at the figure.
“I’m a poet,” Yu Hong said with a casual smile. “I happened to pass by and saw you were hurt badly. I thought you might need help.”
Zhao Zhenghong shut his mouth, feeling he had encountered a madman.
Suddenly, he felt a hint of familiarity in the man’s voice and recognized his figure as well.
His memory was usually quite sharp, and as they stood face to face, it all came rushing back to him.
“It’s you?!”
“Huh?” Yu Hong was taken aback, not expecting to be recognized.
Just as he was about to speak, Zhao Zhenghong sprang forward in an instant, covering several meters with his swift move, closing in on him.
Swish!
A silver blade pierced Yu Hong’s abdomen, but it was deflected by the alloy plate beneath his suit, glancing off and causing him to lose his balance.
At that moment, Yu Hong pulled out a spiked club and swung down powerfully.
The strike missed as Zhao Zhenghong dodged away.
He had expected as much; given Yu Hong's skill and reflexes, it would have been strange if he hadn't dodged.
Immediately, Yu Hong turned his attack into a sweeping motion, brushing over the area in front of him.
Whoosh!
With a whistle, the spiked club sliced through the air above Zhao Zhenghong’s crouched body, snapping branches in its wake.
Now, Zhao Zhenghong had curled his body tightly like a ball.
After avoiding the sweep, he supported himself with his arms and kicked upward with his legs targeting Yu Hong’s head.
This posture was quite unusual, as if performing acrobatics, but the heels of his boots were reinforced with metal plates, and with the power of his legs far surpassing that of his hands, should that kick land, it would be enough to break bones.
Whoosh.
At that moment, Yu Hong stood firm and did not dodge, allowing Zhao Zhenghong's boot to connect with his forehead.
Simultaneously, Yu Hong's right leg shot forward lightning-fast.
A low sweeping kick!
It was a move he had practiced for a long time—a low sweeping kick.
Boom!!!
They both struck each other almost simultaneously.
Zhao Zhenghong was hit in the chest and flew backward, slamming into a tree trunk and rolling onto the ground, spewing blood on impact.
Yu Hong stood firm, shaken but unharmed from the hit to his face.
No, it wasn’t entirely without damage; at least two cracks had formed in his goggles.
Thud, thud, thud, thud.
Yu Hong strode forward, closing the distance, reaching out to grab Zhao Zhenghong.
Suddenly, Bang!
A gunshot exploded near them.
Yu Hong staggered, fire bursting from his chest—a result of an explosive bullet!
Following the explosion, another shot rang out.
Bang.
An armor-piercing round struck Yu Hong’s helmet, but what could pierce thin steel plates made no significant impact on his heavy 25-millimeter thick alloy helmet; it merely created a dent.
Yu Hong was startled by the two shots, but upon realizing he was unscathed when the flames subsided, he became furious and charged in with a kick.
This kick, powered by his rage, was combined with his inner force.
Boom!!
It struck Zhao Zhenghong’s arm, which held the gun.
The arm broke with a crack, rebounding violently against the tree trunk, blood and flesh flying.
By now, Zhao Zhenghong had lost so much blood that he was weak and ineffective, those two gunshots constituting his final struggle.
“If I wasn’t injured…” he weakly shouted.
“If you weren’t injured, do you think you could see me?!” Yu Hong interrupted confidently, delivering another swift kick to Zhao Zhenghong's already injured hand.
Zhao Zhenghong had grown weak to the point of being barely able to resist.
The last round of resistance had drained his final strength.
Nevertheless, his opponent showed no mercy.
Yu Hong kicked twice more, breaking Zhao Zhenghong's legs.
Zhao Zhenghong howled in pain, collapsing to the ground, devoid of any will to fight back.
He could only groan in agony, lying painfully on the grass, blood seeping from his wounds.
Yet Yu Hong still did not relent and unleashed a flurry of kicks upon him.
Bang bang bang bang!!
This time, it was a cathartic assault, targeting his stomach, head, arms, and legs, hitting every exposed area.
While he kicked, Yu Hong cursed.
This guy had caused him countless worries, forcing him to expend effort setting up traps and alerts, repeatedly ambushing and attacking him.
He had pent up a mountain of frustration, and finally, he had a chance to unleash it all.
After a thorough beating, he stepped back. “Alright, alright, let it out. If you kill him, there won’t be anything to clarify.”
Just then, Li Runshan’s voice finally rang from the side of the forest.
He took a deep breath, stepping back to inspect the now crumpled Zhao Zhenghong.
“Alright, time for me to take a break.”
Li Runshan was speechless; he had been called to ensure this guy's safety, to help him fight against the fleeing man, but he hadn’t expected the outcome would come so quickly, defeating the opponent after just a few exchanges.
Putting away his slingshot, he examined Yu Hong’s gear.
“Okay, the problem’s solved. I’ll interrogate him to see if there are any loose ends.”
“Fine.” Yu Hong squatted down, grabbing Zhao Zhenghong by the head, shaking it to confirm he was indeed near death before letting him drop and stepping aside for Li Runshan.
Compared to him, Old Li had many more methods at his disposal.
He walked a short distance away to check for injuries before standing behind a tree to wait for Old Li.
Before long, Li Runshan approached, clapping his hands.
“Done, got the information.” He said with a smile, “This guy is Zhao Zhenghong. He has been trying to capture you due to the Great Radiant Stone technology. The last three attempts were all orchestrated by him. He was the head of the joint army in a nearby town with a group of people under him.”
“So this matter is resolved?” Yu Hong blinked.
“Mm, when he is dead, the flame goes out. This matter is settled. It’s quite simple, really; it's just a small leader who has an eye on your skills and wanted to kidnap you. So the people he sent didn’t kill anyone,” Li Runshan explained, “When you think about it, it’s quite normal. The powerful forces can get decent access to Aurora City’s production quotas directly, while only small factions like us would have the demand.”
“I see... Will I face similar troubles in the future?” Yu Hong asked.
He knew he couldn't avoid revealing some things as a trade-off for resources, but should he expose himself without showing enough might or influence, it would inevitably lead to further attacks.
“So you'll need some help,” Li Runshan chuckled. “Next, it’s time to discuss payment. You promised the travel fees and the Blue Whale suit upgrade.”
“Just give me the items; I’ll check them first, then negotiate with them about how to upgrade,” Yu Hong sighed with relief, glad that the matter was settled.
What followed was timely clean-up.
Before long, half an hour later, Li Runshan, Yu Hong, and Xu Fan gathered at the front of the stone building near the post office.
“This is the employer?” Xu Fan scrutinized the large fellow standing across from him.
Upon a closer look, the figure was not especially big; it was just that the suit he wore was a bit too bulky, combined with the thick helmet, making him appear quite tall and large.
Xu Fan noticed the bullet and burn marks on the opponent's helmet and chest, but despite that, the suit showed only minor signs of damage.
This level of protection… seemed quite formidable.
Xu Fan felt his confidence bolster.
The man knew about his Blue Whale suit yet still dared to engage.
He clearly had some skills; it was evident this suit was not inferior to a brand new Blue Whale.
(End of Chapter)