"Tyr—Tyrannosaurus Rex?" The Bull Demon's roar cracked between incredulity and fury. "You're joking!"
Caught inside Chen Xiao's woven field of water and serrated space-shards, the Bull Demon's temper snapped. He poured everything into his awakening, the raw power flaring outward until a thick, black armor wrapped his body. Bull's Breath burned like magma along the plates. He charged like a beast with nothing left to lose—this was his ace, his ticket to the Yakuza Lord seat.
"Boss is serious… Bull's Armor is the trump card!" his men shouted, gaining hope. Even when cornered, they believed in him.
Chen Xiao only smirked. The Bull Demon plowed forward to break the shard-field and end the fight with a single blow.
"Eight-Directional Annihilation!" Chen Xiao answered.
The world tore. Space fractured into razor-taste shards that spun like a gale. Blue streaks of destructive force hammered the Bull Demon from every angle. The so-called impenetrable Bull's Breath peeled away like wet paper; cracks spidered through the armor, then the whole thing collapsed. The Bull Demon staggered, bleeding and stunned.
"How is this possible?" his men shrieked. "Bull's Armor resists gunfire—how did it break?" Fear replaced bravado on their faces. "That man—he's too terrifying!"
Chen Xiao vanished—not with a cheap trick, but with the true invisibility that drained stamina and bent space. The Bull Demon's skin crawled; no pulse, no breath, no trace. Panic hollowed him out.
Then, a single punch launched from nowhere. The Bull Demon flew—hundreds of meters—smashed through buildings and wreckage like a tossed rag. The force left a crater and a silence. Evolution Value +80.
"Boss!" his men yelled, and then fled. Chen Xiao was merciless. A second sweep of Eight-Directional Annihilation turned the remaining five into nothing more than wind and blood. The villa fell quiet.
He returned to the upstairs room where Liu Ruyan and the little maid trembled. The maid's eyes were rimmed red with fear; Liu Ruyan watched, unreadable.
"You weren't worried they'd break in if I was dead?" Liu Ruyan asked dryly.
Chen Xiao shrugged. "He's strong—his magic armor is well-developed for the wasteland. But nothing invincible."
Liu Ruyan rubbed her temples. "The base's nine regions are brutal. My southwest is a wasteland. The top candidates are SSS-tier; Li Yuanfeng—rank four—is terrifying."
Chen Xiao set his jaw. "I'll help where I can."
She eyed him, half amused, half doubtful. "You serious? Li Yuanfeng can swallow Third-Order New Humans whole."
Chen Xiao smiled, a slow, cold thing. "Since the apocalypse I've learned one rule: kill everyone who stands in my way, and none will remain."
Liu Ruyan blinked. The maid, still clutching a blanket, peered up as if the line were both threat and promise.
Outside, the city sagged back into uneasy silence. Inside, the villa kept its small lights and smaller lives. Chen Xiao's hands flexed. The fight was settled, for now—but the war around the Yakuza election, the Tang family, and the capital's looming wedding was only tightening its noose.
He had walked through burning gates and broken walls. He had turned space into a weapon and water into armor. If anyone thought he would stop, they hadn't learned the truth: once Chen Xiao chose a path, he did not look back.
"I shall kill them all," he murmured, almost to himself—ironclad resolve folded into a sentence that promised ruin to anyone who stood between him and those he vowed to protect.