Chapter 57: Threat

Chapter 57: Threat

#Grandis Military Academy Graduation Ceremony#

#Xu Qingran Silver Dragon#

#Xu Family Announcement#

Three hot topics.

All three have some connection to Xu Qingran.

Just a moment ago, the Silver Dragon Battalion was feeling sorry for Xu Qingran.

They were disappointed that he likely wouldn't join their faction, yet they supported his decision to leave this troubled situation, while the Golden Wing Battalion was already preparing to celebrate the arrival of their new member, Young Master Xu.

But Xu Qingran, ever the contrarian, always does the opposite of what people expect.

Thus, public opinion erupted once more.

Silver Dragon?

The Silver Dragon Battalion is currently facing heavy criticism, and the areas under its governance are getting worse. As a newly graduated military student with a special invitation, joining the Golden Wing Battalion would have meant a bright and glorious future. But choosing the Silver Dragon Battalion...

If anything goes wrong at headquarters, given his controversial nature, he could easily be blamed.

It's a reputation he worked hard to build!

Xu Qingran's fans are devastated.

"Huh? Why did Xu Qingran pick the Silver Dragon Battalion? Isn't he scared I'll take him out?!"

Mu Ziyu, who insisted he didn't care, shot up from his seat the moment Xu Qingran accepted the Silver Dragon medal. His eyes widened as if a monster had just joined their Silver Dragon Battalion.

Hearing this, Wang Jian gave him a sharp look and said coldly, "In your current state, you think you can take him down?"

"Didn't you hear he's a double S top graduate? At the same rank, do you really think you can outmatch the academy's top student?"

Facing Wang Jian's reprimand, Mu Ziyu didn't dare to talk back.

Wang Jian and his mother were classmates, and he was raised under Wang Jian's strict supervision, always viewing him as a senior authority. Even though Wang Jian is now his deputy, he instinctively heeds his reprimands.

Wang Jian sighed inwardly at this child he had watched grow up but who never lived up to expectations.

He snorted, "When you were supposed to be studying at the military academy, you were always slacking off, just scraping by. If it weren't for your royal status and sheer luck, you wouldn't be commanding the Silver Dragon Battalion today."

Harsh as it was, it was the truth.

The king of the Kayan Empire has ten children: six boys and four girls.

The eldest prince, Mu Ziyue, the queen's son, is in the Golden Wing Battalion.

The second prince was stripped of his royal status and exiled to the starry sea ten years ago for attempting to murder his siblings, never to return to the Kayan Empire.

The fourth prince, Mu Ziyu's full brother, like the fifth prince, died shortly after birth.

The sixth prince, the youngest, also the queen's son, showed extraordinary talent and intelligence by the age of seven. It was speculated that he would become a new 3S-level Type I genius, a wise ruler if he didn't go astray.

Unfortunately, he was killed by the envious second prince in the internal royal power struggle.

As for the other princesses, they are all fine. However, they either don’t want to get involved in their brothers' fights, or their mothers lack the political clout. For instance, the second princess, who was once the most favored and had the potential to become the commander of the Silver Dragon Battalion, ultimately lost to Mu Ziyu by a narrow margin.

So, she stepped back from the limelight and joined the empire’s chemical research efforts.

Few of the emperor’s siblings remain, and among these branches, there is almost no one who can compete with Mu Ziyu. Thus, the position of commander of the Silver Dragon Battalion ended up with him by default.

Wang Jian isn’t really against Mu Ziyu—after all, he’s seen him grow up. But he knows full well that Mu Ziyu isn’t cut out to be an emperor, and many things can’t be forced. However, for the Silver Dragon Battalion to concede defeat and give up the position to the more ruthless Mu Ziyue is something they simply can’t accept.

So, they have no choice but to keep supporting Mu Ziyu for now.

Mu Ziyu, embarrassed and irritated by his words, snapped, “Deputy Wang, who exactly is your commander?!”

Wang Jian sighed, lowered his head, and started scrolling through his phone, ignoring him.

Mu Ziyu glanced at his phone screen with anger, shocked to find that it was a social media platform that this old-school guy usually avoids.

The wireless phone on the desk rang.

Mu Ziyu answered it irritably, only to be furious the next second: “What? Ling Yuege went to the Golden Wing?!”

Having a big shot join is one thing, but he also lost a valuable asset!

Didn’t we agree that the Golden Wing Battalion would reach out to Xu Qingran for recruitment? For the first time, he felt his older brother was utterly useless, unable to even secure a person.

Mu Ziyu sat down, resting his forehead in his hand, as the fax machine next to him spat out new documents.

It was from the sub-camp of the Tianlong system, stating that the situation was critical and hoping that the Silver Dragon Battalion could send more personnel to help.

He just glanced at it, crumpled it into a ball, and tossed it into the basket at the corner of the desk.

Damn Mu Ziyue had recently poached an elite unit from their Silver Dragon city, and they were already overwhelmed with new personnel transfers and arrangements. As for a desolate place like Tianlong, they couldn’t afford to divert resources to it right now.

Just as he was about to ask Wang Jian for his opinion on work, he saw the man on the sofa suddenly leap up from his chair. His eyes were glued to the phone screen, and before Mu Ziyu could speak, Wang Jian rushed out of his office in a hurry.

Mu Ziyu: “……?”

Not long after Wang Jian left, Mu Ziyu had just sat back in his chair when the communicator rang.

He picked up the call, and his impatient expression turned to surprise upon hearing the voice on the other end: “Aunt Ning Luo?”

·

Queen’s Star, Grandis University.

After the ceremony, Xu Qingran took a few photos with his classmates at their invitation, then returned to the aircraft with the medal he had chosen.

As soon as he sat down, an unknown call came in.

He answered, and a woman’s low voice came through, sounding displeased: “Hello, Mr. Xu Qingran. I hope you still remember who I am.”

Xu Qingran was silent for two seconds before replying, “Sorry, I don’t remember.”

Without waiting for a response, he hung up.

The system that witnessed all this: 「……」

"Host, this woman's voice is pretty recognizable, isn't she the one who approached you for a deal at the Golden Wing Battalion last time?"

The one with frameless glasses and a thin gold chain, looking all serious and stuff.

Xu Qingran steered the aircraft away from the dock, thinking to himself, "I know."

System: "Huh?"

"They're definitely gonna grill me about why I didn't pick the Golden Wing Battalion. I don't feel like explaining much to them."

Basically, if you can dodge it, just dodge it.

"But the Golden Wing Battalion's commander seems like a tough cookie," the system said, seeing his calm demeanor, thinking he had already prepared a countermeasure. "Has the host figured out how to hit back if they come at you?"

Xu Qingran shot back, "Didn't think about it."

System: "Wait, what??"

Xu Qingran paused, "Do you really need to plan this stuff out? Isn't it just about going for it?"

The system shut up.

Sometimes it even wonders, if the host is already this reckless without his powers, what would happen if he got his top-tier lightning abilities back? Could he blow up the whole Kayan Empire? Seriously, what's the difference between that and destroying the world? Once the powers are back, it's gotta do its job and keep the crazy host in check!

Xu Qingran had no clue that the system had already pictured him going nuts with his powers.

He set the navigation to autopilot and then checked out the day's news online.

No surprise, his name was trending again.

He skipped the comments and clicked on the hashtag about the Xu family's announcement.

He thought it was about some big drama with the whole Xu family, but it turned out to be about Xu Qingan and his mom, plus Zhang Hongyan, getting declared guilty.

Zhu Ailian and Zhang Hongyan were one thing, but he was really surprised that Xu Qingan was also getting sent to the Tower of Evil.

Looking at the charges against him, like defamation—were they talking about him? Those things could be a big deal or not, but it was obvious someone was pushing to get him sent there.

Interesting.

Xu Qingran mused.

But then, Zhang Hongyan also spilled the beans about the fake match between Xu Yan and Qi Shengxue.

Even though it was too late, at least it gave Qi Shengxue some closure.

I wonder how the Qi family and Wang Jian will take this news?

The silver aircraft gradually vanished into the sky.

Shen Tingyu had been out of town for the past few days, so Xu Qingran wasn't rushing back to Fei Star.

He first went to see Xie Nanyi again, who had already redone the soul match between him and Shen Tianyi for him.

Of course, it was done privately.

"55%? That's quite high," Xu Qingran exclaimed when he got the results.

Another 10%, and this report would backfire, making it impossible to use it to break off the engagement with the Shen family. Xie Nanyi wasn't interested in his and Shen Tianyi's data, only hesitantly asking, "So, how did it go after you took that data back the other day?"

Xu Qingran thought for a moment and told her, "You can ask your brother, Xie Nanjun, how Shen Tingyu's mood has been at the military headquarters recently, and you'll know."

"Hmph." Xie Nanyi pouted, but seeing that Xu Qingran's overall energy and spirit were slightly better than when he came that day, and his tone sounded quite light-hearted, she had a rough idea in her heart.

Has her old classmate finally gotten a chance to repair his spiritual pool?!

Just as she was feeling a little hopeful in her heart, she heard Xu Qingran ask her, "I heard that the inhibitor for Shen Tingyu's injured spiritual pool was jointly researched by you and Uncle Xie?"

"Sort of, yes." Although there were only two of them in the small studio, Xie Nanyi paused and then leaned closer to Xu Qingran, lowering her voice to explain, "Actually, we also asked the second princess for some advice. She is currently the most skilled pharmacist in the Kayan Empire."

"It's just that this potion can't be mass-produced yet, and its effects are limited, so it can't be released to the public."

Xu Qingran frowned.

So, strictly speaking, Shen Tingyu is the first tester?

Xie Nanyi said, "There's no other choice; he's a special case."

"Others with spiritual pool injuries like his would have been locked up in the spiritual department of the Tower of Evil long ago. But if we don't try, with more frequent episodes, we're worried he might go berserk and eventually end up as a mental patient."

"My dad, Nanjun, and I can't bear to see him turn into a madman and spend his life in the Tower of Evil."

"He definitely doesn't want that either, so when the product was ready, he agreed to the trial without hesitation."

From the current results, there are no side effects, but the efficacy can be diminished over time.

They haven't developed a new and better inhibitor yet.

"That's true." Xu Qingran responded.

If it were him, even with just a sliver of hope, he would take the risk.

Xu Qingran also asked Xie Nanyi for a paper copy of the soul compatibility data related to Lu Cheng.

Coincidentally, he noticed eye-related research tools on her workbench and casually asked, "Did you guys also repair Shen Tingyu's injured eye?"

Xie Nanyi pulled out the data printed by the printer and walked towards Xu Qingran while asking in confusion, "What eye injury?"

"His eye was injured too? How come I didn't know about it?"

Xu Qingran hesitated, "Was it at the Tower of Evil?"

"Ah, you're mistaken. It was the eldest prince who got his eye injured at the Tower of Evil. Ahem, but it was indeed Shen Tingyu who caused the injury."

It was when he unleashed destructive spiritual power, injuring the enemy a thousand and himself eight hundred, to negotiate his way out of the tower.

Xu Qingran had heard about this during his time at the Tower of Evil.

But that day, he saw Shen Tingyu's eye, which was severely injured by Mu Ziyue. Didn't Xie Nanyi and the others notice? Could it be that he had already sought medical treatment before leaving the tower?

"But now that you mention it, I do remember that one of his eyes wasn't in great condition." Xie Nanyi suddenly recalled, "The right eye seems to have a severe case of night blindness."

Apparently, Xie Nanjun discovered this.

At that time, Shen Tingyu hadn't yet risen to the rank of general, and it was also a year marked by many battles between the military and the devil groups. In the chaos of battle, there were always minor injuries, and Shen Tingyu's left eye was cut. Although it didn't affect the eyeball, the doctor still bandaged it for a few days.

Xie Nanjun didn't notice the issue at first.

Until one day when their consumption was particularly high, and even Shen Tingyu's spiritual power reserves were nearly depleted. He watched as his comrade almost stepped into a bottomless abyss on a pitch-dark battlefield.

Shen Tingyu's expression was remarkably calm and composed, making it hard to tell he couldn't see the path clearly. It seemed more like he was ready to face death.

Only after Xie Nanjun asked did he reveal the truth.

Xie Nanyi added, "With spiritual energy, he's fine on a daily basis and can function normally."

"But when overexerted and without spiritual energy, using one eye is just like being a typical night blindness patient."

Xu Qingran quietly noted this down.

Xie Nanyi then handed him the data about himself and Lu Cheng: "Didn't you already get this? Why do you need it again?"

Xu Qingran habitually folded the documents neatly and simply said, "I think it might be useful later."

Once he got what he wanted, Xu Qingran left.

He timed it perfectly, making a special trip to see Xu Qingan and the others the day before they were sent to the Tower of Evil.

Zhang Hongyan was okay; he had nothing to say to her.

It could only be said that they had it coming.

The first person he saw was Xu Qingan.

In confinement, his younger brother stopped pretending to be innocent and pitiful in front of him. When he sat down across from him, his eyes were full of resentment.

Xu Qingan asked coldly, "Xu Qingran, what do you want? Here to laugh at me?"

Xu Qingran replied bluntly, "Yes."

After answering, he gave a couple of symbolic laughs: "Haha."

To show the joy he felt right then.

Provoked, Xu Qingan stood up as if to hit him but was quickly shoved back down by the guards.

Xu Qingran, sitting calmly in the chair, didn't move at all, as if he knew Xu Qingan would never get a chance to touch him.

After a moment, Xu Qingran casually asked, "Xu Qingan, how does it feel to go from everything to nothing? Exciting?"

Xu Qingan was so angry his eyes almost popped out.

Xu Qingran then asked him, "How does it feel to be framed and sent to the Tower of Evil by the one you love most? Exciting?"

Xu Qingan, eyes red, shouted angrily, "Xu Qingran, what do you want?!"

"I don't want to do anything," Xu Qingran said.

With a slight lift of his eyes, he looked aloof and proud: "I just wanted to see you break down."

Hearing this, Xu Qingan was furious and kicked the table again.

The guards warned him again.

Xu Qingan said, "Don't get too smug!"

"Even if Lu Cheng knows the truth about the compatibility, so what? There will always be a me between you two. Even if he is willing to turn back and be with you, you can never go back to the past!"

Xu Qingran raised an eyebrow.

He thought to himself, so Lu Cheng already knew about it.

It didn’t matter to him.

"You're right," Xu Qingran said, tilting his head slightly, "even if he came crawling back, I wouldn’t take him."

"Xu Qingan, are you getting the wrong idea?"

As he spoke, he stood up, his tone cold: "From start to finish, only you acted like a possessive dog, thinking everyone wanted your fiancé."

"Look at me—do I even seem to care about him anymore?"

"I wouldn’t take him even if he were handed to me on a silver platter."

Xu Qingan was stunned.

He wasn’t sure if he regretted all the precautions he’d taken against him or why Xu Qingran’s words didn’t anger him.

Then, Xu Qingran went to see Zhu Ailian.

Her dark circles were deep, like she hadn’t slept properly in weeks.

When she saw him, she barely reacted, just kept staring blankly at the table.

Xu Qingran had only a few things to say to Xu Qingan’s mother.

He asked her, "By the way, did you ever find the severed hand of that Voltman—the one that made you fall from the building?"

At the mention of her lost child, Zhu Ailian finally stirred.

She stared at him, speechless.

Until he smiled and said, "I came here to tell you—stop looking. It’s pointless."

"Because that Voltman was already missing an arm before it ever showed up there."

Zhu Ailian froze for a moment before the meaning of his words sank in.

Her eyes widened, and her breath quickened: "You... it was you...!"

Xu Qingran let out a soft laugh, but his icy stare sent a shiver down Zhu Ailian’s spine.

"Yes," he said.

"As long as I’m alive, you and Xu Yan won’t have another child."

·

When Xu Qingran stepped out of the police station where Xu Qingan and the others were held, the sky outside was clear and bright.

On his way to his car, he was intercepted by a familiar group.

The group with golden wing badges still wore blank expressions: "Mr. Xu, a word, please?"

Then, they escorted him to a nearby restaurant with a private booth.

"Mr. Xu, our commander wants an explanation for your actions at the graduation ceremony."

In the private room, the same stern middle-aged woman was waiting to speak with him.

Xu Qingran stayed composed, unfazed by the room's tense and crowded atmosphere.

He tapped his index finger on the table and said, "I thought I was pretty clear during the live stream."

The woman’s dark eyes lingered on him before curving into a faint smile. "But I thought Mr. Xu had already reached an agreement with Golden Wings beforehand," she reminded him.

It was clear she wasn’t buying his explanation.

Xu Qingran countered, "If I remember right, I only said I wanted to see your sincerity."

"I never said that showing sincerity meant I’d automatically agree to your terms. You didn’t even draft a contract beforehand. What if you reneged on your promise after I joined?"

Once a military graduate chooses their faction, they’re locked in for at least five years.

Even after that, transfers depend on circumstances. If you’re just a grunt and your commanding officer denies your request, you’re stuck.

"Our commander gave his word, and he always delivers," the woman said, her tone turning icy.

Xu Qingran kept his cool. "Sorry, but I’m not one to trust easily."

"Besides, what you wanted me to do seems off the table now, doesn’t it?"

The official compatibility data between him and Shen Tingyu was a measly 0.01%.

He said matter-of-factly, "Your Golden Wings general is clearly picky. With zero compatibility, I’m not exactly his type. How am I supposed to win him over?"

The woman replied, "Mr. Xu, you might not realize."

"Even if you’re incompatible with our general, the commander handpicked you. Whether our earlier deal stands or not, the commander wants you in, and you’ll comply."

"Our commander doesn’t take kindly to disobedience."

The room went quiet.

A waiter came in to refill their tea and serve fruit. Neither side spoke until the waiter was gone.

Xu Qingran’s lips curled into a faint smile. "If you really wanted me, you should’ve done your research and known me better."

"Like knowing I don’t respond well to threats or being strong-armed."

The woman’s lips tightened into a frown.

The tension in the room thickened.

Xu Qingran, unfazed, took a sip of his tea. "Tell your commander we’re not a match. I’m out."

The woman fixed him with a long, hard stare.

She didn’t order her guards to act. Instead, she left in silence, her heels clicking sharply on the floor, radiating hostility.

Xu Qingran ignored them, plucking a grape and popping it into his mouth.

"Hmm, sweet."

Outside the restaurant, the middle-aged woman and her seven or eight guards walked about a hundred meters before she pressed the communicator by her ear.

Her expression icy, she said, "Move in."

As soon as she finished speaking, an explosion suddenly echoed from the direction of the restaurant.

The street erupted in chaos as people were terrified by the sudden explosion. Those near the restaurant fled in panic, while those further away, out of immediate danger, were momentarily frozen, staring in terror at the flames erupting in the distance.

The woman stood still, looking back with an expressionless face.

Behind the lenses reflecting the firelight, there was a chilling coldness.

The explosion had occurred precisely in the private dining room where they had just been speaking with Xu Qingran.

It wasn’t until the local fire brigade arrived as quickly as possible to disperse the crowd that they made their exit.

They also failed to notice that on a street behind the restaurant, Xu Qingran, who should have been dining in the private room, was standing among the crowd, watching the fourth-floor fire with everyone else.

Other private dining rooms on the fourth floor happened to have patrons who were innocently caught in the blast.

Xu Qingran watched as paramedics carried the more seriously injured onto stretchers and into ambulances. He sneered with a cold edge.

He had known that with Mu Ziyu’s temperament, things wouldn’t be let go so easily if the negotiation didn’t go well.

When he sensed the disturbance, there wasn’t much time left. He had leapt out of the window facing the back street on the fourth floor. The moment his feet touched the ground, the building behind him—the very spot where he had been sitting—exploded.

So, was this a threat?

Xu Qingran narrowed his eyes, left the chaotic scene, and returned to his aircraft.

The one he had taken out today was still the one given to him by Mo Chengfei. According to Mo Chengfei, it was the latest model, not yet fully on the market, and the most robust, stable, and fastest aircraft available.

Considering his future profession, it was even equipped with advanced stealth technology, effectively concealing his tracks.

Absolutely flawless.

The system observed Xu Qingran powering up the aircraft. He circled a few times over the city, locked onto the direction where the group he had spoken to had left, and silently followed. In his eyes, a ferocity, bordering on madness, slowly surfaced.

The system trembled with a bad premonition as it asked, "Host, what are you planning to do?"

"Nothing much, just paying them back in kind," Xu Qingran replied without changing his expression.

Since they had sent him such a threatening package, he naturally had to return a bigger one.

The system: "..."

Is this how favors are returned?!

Xu Qingran had once tracked Mu Ziyu’s aircraft with Shen Tingyu, and from that single experience, he had learned the key to maintaining the right distance and angle to avoid detection.

Moreover, at that time, Mu Ziyu even had fighter ships guarding him. In comparison, tracking just one aircraft now was child’s play.

Xu Qingran followed them all the way from the Tian Shen system into the Tian Ying range.

The Tian Ying system was among the disaster-stricken areas, so there were many abandoned, empty zones.

As they descended into the planet’s atmosphere, it became harder for Xu Qingran to stay hidden after following them so far. Seizing the moment, sensing they had noticed his presence, he increased the output of his psychic energy.

Then, piloting his multi-billion-credit aircraft, he rammed it into the one carrying the middle-aged woman and her guards.

The woman in the aircraft hadn’t expected Xu Qingran to be unharmed, let alone to have quietly followed them to this desolate, uninhabited disaster zone. She certainly hadn’t anticipated him confronting them so boldly, with the determination to take them down with him.

She adjusted her glasses amidst the turbulence, her expression remaining composed as she barked the order, "Open fire!"

The pilot's hands flew across the control panel.

Xu Qingran's handling of these special vehicles had grown increasingly adept after undergoing various combat mech training sessions at the military academy.

Unlike their cumbersome firing, his professionally honed and excellently executed skills, paired with the latest model of aircraft, which handled with remarkable agility, skillfully dodged all the psychic firepower attacks aimed at him.

Then, he spun around, mustering all his firepower, appearing to risk his life as he continued to crash towards his target.

With each impact, the glint in Xu Qingran's eyes grew brighter.

This reckless behavior suddenly felt like a game of bumper cars to him.

The system exclaimed, "!!!"

Who could understand? It longed to be sent to a world where the protagonist only needed to indulge in sweet romance! Why did it, a mere system, have to risk its life daily alongside its host? This level of excitement was more than any system could handle!

The worth of something valued at billions was undeniable.

During the collision, the opposing aircraft was already faltering, while Xu Qingran's aircraft remained unscathed.

Finally, through sheer persistence, he forced both aircraft to plummet from the sky, crashing to the ground.

The open wilderness echoed with the thunderous crash of heavy objects hitting the ground, followed by a shower of sparks.

It was daytime.

Even in the disaster zone, the massive disturbance failed to rouse the eerie creatures sprawled on the ground.

The aircraft bearing the golden wing emblem was shattered into pieces.

As the cabin door automatically sprang open, a woman in a tailored suit and a short, narrow skirt teetered out on high heels. Her once-neat hairstyle was now disheveled, her glasses crooked on her face, presenting a picture of utter disarray.

Her composed expression barely wavered until she stumbled upon exiting, tumbling to the ground, at which point her facade finally cracked. Several surviving guards emerged behind her; some hastily assisted her to her feet, while others brandished their weapons, poised for combat.

In stark contrast, the nearby silver-white aircraft, aside from a few scratches and dents from the impact, appeared largely intact.

Not even a wisp of smoke rose from it.

But the person inside the aircraft was not unscathed.

Xu Qingran pressed open the cabin door, stepped out with steady steps, and when he looked up at them, red liquid could be seen sliding down from his temple.

He was still holding a psychic short knife that Shen Tingyu had specifically left for him for self-defense, his half-smiling expression made several people slightly stunned.

After Xu Qingran walked down, he said nothing.

Like a death god reaping lives, he walked straight towards them, without a word, directly swinging the knife at the guards.

The scene suddenly fell into chaos.

The woman, not skilled in fighting, consciously avoided to the cabin door of the crashed aircraft, her expression still relatively calm.

Over the years, working for Mu Ziyue outside, she would always encounter people like Xu Qingran who were dissatisfied and wanted to kill her out of anger. That's why the Crown Prince arranged elite guards for her.

Although the number was not large, the average level was 3S, so she had always been very confident.

The woman took a moment to press a special button on her bracelet, sending a request for assistance to the nearby base.

Xu Qingran was still fighting with several of her guards.

Many attacks aimed at him were deftly dodged thanks to his nimble movements. As she watched, the woman slowly realized that Xu Qingran wasn't as easy to handle as she'd thought.

Even though he was a double S-level D-type, his psychic level should only be near S-level under normal conditions.

Yet, this double S D-type was going toe-to-toe with 3S-level opponents!

In no time, Xu Qingran had already taken out two or three people.

His innocent face showed no emotion, but his methods were downright savage. He could've ended them with one blow, but instead, he went for their most sensitive spots while they were still awake.

Maybe sensing her shock, Xu Qingran shot her a glance after kicking a guard's head, his eyes full of scorn.

Before they knew it, only one guard was left standing against Xu Qingran.

They were already hurt from the aircraft crash, and against the nearly untouchable Xu Qingran, they didn't stand a chance.

The woman felt something was off and instinctively backed up a few steps.

Facing her, the last guard tried to catch Xu Qingran off guard, raising his knife to strike from behind.

But Xu Qingran just lifted his hand and caught the psychic blade coming at him.

The sharp blade, clenched in his hand, sliced through his palm's defense with strong psychic energy, cutting deep into his flesh. Blood slowly turned the blade's tip red, but he acted like he felt no pain, gripping it tight and even yanking the knife from the attacker's hand.

He then nonchalantly tossed it aside.

In the quiet, Xu Qingran suddenly let out a low chuckle.

His lips curled slightly as he said, "How dull."

As soon as he spoke, he spun around and grabbed the messy sneak attacker. With one hand gripping the man's arm and the other lifting his leg to kick the man's gut, the force he used was stronger than expected. Plus, his grip was tricky, making it hard for the man to escape, constantly tugging on the most painful nerves.

After taking down all the capable fighters, Xu Qingran, slightly winded, walked towards the woman by the cabin door, trying to stay calm.

The woman nervously clenched her fists, her voice still icy: "Mr. Xu, this is a crime—"

Before she could finish, his bloodied hand gripped her neck, cutting off her words.

After fighting several guards solo, Xu Qingran had also taken a number of hits, some worse than others.

Blood from his forehead wound dripped into his eye, turning it red.

"Acting like bombing a restaurant isn't a crime," Xu Qingran sneered, looking down at the helpless woman. He tilted his head slightly and said, "Go tell your boss to grow a spine and sue me, maybe even send me to the Tower of Evil for the worst punishment."

As he spoke, the corner of his mouth twitched up, but his eyes turned cold.

"That way, I can show him what it's like to lose his other eye."