Pan Kuang, a level thirty-eight high-attack, high-agility martial artist, couldn't possibly have Intelligence above fifty points. If by some miracle he did, Xiao Han would have just stood there and let it happen. Boom.
The illusion left Pan Kuang completely defenceless. Every attack would hit for near-true damage. But with his level, he wouldn't stay locked down for long.
Xiao Han didn't hesitate. His left power arm cocked back and drove a fist straight into Pan Kuang's groin. Strike the vital point.
"Overload!"
The power arm's output spiked by thirty per cent. The punch landed dead centre for every man.
"Whack!''
This technique—he'd mastered it after studying countless archives from games and comics. Once unleashed, heaven and earth trembled.
No time to check notifications. While Pan Kuang was locked down, Xiao Han needed to cause fatal damage. He triggered the power arm's palm-mounted concussion oscillator. His hand pulsed. Shockwaves penetrated. Blood seeped through the skin, staining the entire lower triangle region red. His right hand wasn't idle. He drove the blade into Pan Kuang's chest. No resistance. With the illusion active, Pan Kuang's protective Qi wasn't running. The sword punched clean through.
Then Xiao Han snapped the Twin Eagles up, pressed them against Pan Kuang's heart, and slid forward, driving him back. Magazine extension triggered. Every round in the burst tore into Pan Kuang's body.
Blood sprayed, mixed with churning flames. Wet, meaty thuds.
"Click-click-click——" The magazine ran dry. Pan Kuang snapped out of it. Agony twisted his face into a mask of rage. His blade stabbed for Xiao Han's abdomen—eye for an eye, targeting Xiao Han. Xiao Han's Qi pulsed, commanding the magnetic metal to shield the vital zone. The blade stopped. But the impact force made him go pale. A chill shot from his crotch straight to his skull.
He pushed through the pain. Power arm splayed, he grabbed Pan Kuang's head and slammed it into the ground. Again. Again.
Pan Kuang's skull kissed dirt repeatedly. A pool of blood spread beneath him. He roared in pain, fighting back. His blade became a blur of afterimages, hacking at the armour. Xiao Han's HP plummeted.
"Hundred Wind Slash!"
Pan Kuang's scream was raw, primal. His blade erupted in brilliant light.
Xiao Han's instincts screamed. He threw himself back. Windreaver exploded—a tornado of blade-light spinning around Pan Kuang. The ground around him was gouged deep. Xiao Han took the hit head-on. Magnetic armour durability tanked. Anywhere the armour didn't cover turned to minced meat. A stream of damage numbers—forty-ish each—flooded his interface.
The blade-light storm lasted three seconds. Xiao Han retreated ten metres, gasping. Blood and sweat dripped. His eyes stayed locked on Pan Kuang. That move must have cost him. Cooldown couldn't be short. He couldn't spam it.
Pan Kuang stood, leaning on his sword. A wreck. The groin region a bloody pulp. Chest riddled with charred bullet holes, flames still licking, foul smoke rising. Burning and bleeding cause constant double damage. Who knew what state his insides were in. The folding blade was still stuck in his chest. His face was a horror show—nose shattered into a gaping hole, skull visible at the back of his head. A vengeful spirit.
And that spirit was staring dead at Xiao Han.
Xiao Han stayed alert, ready to dump every free attribute point into Endurance. His other ace.
Wind kicked up dust. The killing tension faded, just a little.
Pan Kuang's head slowly dropped. His breathing stopped.
The last sliver of life burned away by damage over time. The final straw.
[You have killed Pan Kuang (Lv38). You have earned 21,000 experience.]
[Level gap bonus: 10+ levels. Additional 280% experience granted. Total experience value: 58,800. Personal contribution rate: 99%.]
[You have received an additional 58,212 (99%) experience.]
[[Decapitation 3]Completed. Contribution rate: 99%. You have earned 79,200 experience.]
One hundred and fifty-eight thousand five hundred experience.
That was the total haul from killing Pan Kuang.
Defeating a higher-level enemy triggered bonus rewards. The threshold was five levels. Bonus XP was distributed based on contribution rate. Usually, players tackled higher-level challenges in teams. If anyone in the party didn't meet the level requirement, the whole squad lost the bonus. It encouraged tactical teamwork and skill. And prevented kill-stealing and cherry-picking.
Of course, some solo artists could handle it.
Xiao Han's tension released. He sat down hard, then just lay back. Sunlight hit his face. He closed his eyes, savouring the post-fight stillness. Ignoring the wreckage around him—smoke, flames, blood.
Then he remembered something. He shot up, yanked open his pants, and checked on his little man.
Relief. All good. Still a sleeping dragon.
After a rest, he started inventorying the damage. Equipment durability had taken hits. Delayed explosives were spent. His HP was slowly ticking back up. Acceptable losses.
Xiao Han walked over to Pan Kuang's body, still standing even in death. He pried open the fingers and pulled out Windreaver. He flicked the blade with his finger. A clear ring echoed.
"This green-quality cold weapon's bonus effects are pretty average. But the attack power's double my folding blade."
He sheathed Windreaver and moved to Ji Jie's corpse to search for loot. His fingers brushed something hard in the pocket. He pulled it out—a Sprout organisation communication terminal.
Xiao Han's eyes flickered. He activated it. After a dozen seconds, a holographic image of the leader appeared.
"Ji Jie, have you pulled out yet..." The leader stopped mid-sentence. The face on his screen had changed. It was Xiao Han, wearing a faint smile. The leader's expression shifted. His eyes locked onto Xiao Han.
"You?!"
Zero is using Ji Jie's terminal. The implication was clear. Raven Valley base was wiped out. Pan Kuang was almost certainly dead.
Rage surged through the leader. "You dare contact me?"
Xiao Han grinned. "Yo. Long time no see."
What was with this old-friend-reunion vibe? Have some self-awareness as the enemy! The leader choked. He took half a second to recover and demanded, "Where did you get that classified intel?"
It had been eating at him.
Xiao Han looked at him like he was an idiot. "Why would I answer that?"
The leader's voice turned venomous. "You think stunts like this can hurt the organisation? Naive."
"I blew up four of your bases."
"An ant shaking a tree. I could crush you anytime."
"I blew up four of your bases."
"We have countless executives. You won't last long."
"I blew up four of your bases."
Aaaaagh—so infuriating!
The leader's tone turned to grinding steel. Every word dripped with killing intent. "Don't think hiding with Star Dragon will save you. When my people find you, I'll rip out every tendon. Every bone."
Xiao Han chuckled. He pressed a finger to his lips and blew a flamboyant kiss.
"Then come find me. Find me, and I'll let you... heh heh heh."
The leader exploded. Xiao Han's mocking tone shredded his composure. He opened his mouth to respond. Xiaohan swung his elbow and smashed the terminal. The screen went black.
The leader's words died in his throat. He choked, trembling with rage.
"Issue the order. Zero's global assassination bounty. Raise it to five million."
Five times the original.
---
Xiao Han's smile faded. Messing with the Sprout leader wasn't just for kicks.
Sprout would keep sending people to Western Capital to track him down. They wouldn't stop until he was dead.
Looked bad for him. Actually? Meant nothing.
Because Xiao Han had no intention of going back.
That was the real plan.