A Forceful Strike

"Cost?"

Faced with Ma Long's menacing threat, Chen Fan remained unmoved. Instead, he looked at Ma Long with interest and calmly asked a question.

"Oh? What price? What price do you want me to pay?"

His eyes, as still as a deep well, seemed to be looking at an inanimate object completely unrelated to him; there was no anger, no fear, not even seriousness.

This indifferent calm was, in Ma Long's eyes, the ultimate humiliation. He laughed in fury, his face contorted with rage, and he pointed menacingly upwards, toward the magnificent building in the distance of the base, stained with the blood and glory of countless soldiers.

"The Colosseum! I challenge you to Death Match! Do you dare?!"

The moment the words "Death Match" were uttered, it was like pouring a bucket of cold water into boiling oil; the crowd erupted in a gasp of astonishment.

The Colosseum is the bloodiest place to settle personal grudges; once you enter, it's a fight to the death, and even Base Regulations can't interfere.

Lei Kun, Leng Yan, Monkey's expressions changed drastically in an instant. The fighting spirit and trust that had just been ignited were extinguished by a chilling fear.

They stared intently at Chen Fan, their eyes filled with undisguised worry and anxiety.

That's a powerful expert at the Mid-Stage Sixth Grade Undying Realm, a top-tier existence who ranks among the best in the entire War Zone 450!

However, to everyone's surprise, Chen Fan chuckled and slowly shook his head upon hearing this.

"Go to the Colosseum? No need for that trouble."

Upon hearing this, the ferocity on Ma Long's face instantly transformed into contempt and arrogance. He assumed Chen Fan was afraid, so he immediately seized the opportunity and used all his strength to loudly mock the people around him.

"What? You piece of trash who only knows how to ambush, are you finally scared? A coward who dares to do something but not admit it! I knew it, you're the kind of scum who only dares to bully my little brother who just entered the sixth rank!"

The surrounding chatter immediately shifted.

"As expected, he was still afraid. Ma Long is a mid-stage sixth-rank cultivator with a deep foundation; he's not even in the same league as Ma Kui."

"This newcomer was too young and impetuous after all; he's really messed up."

"The previous victory seems to have been nothing but luck..."

Many people began to echo this sentiment, and their gazes towards Chen Fan shifted from awe to disdain.

Lei Kun and his two companions were extremely anxious but didn't know what to do. They could only watch helplessly as Ma Long enjoyed the advantage of public opinion and prepared to further humiliate Chen Fan.

Just then, Chen Fan made a move.

He didn't display any earth-shattering aura, nor did he unleash any burst of energy, nor even reveal a trace of killing intent. He simply took a casual step forward, as if he were taking a leisurely stroll after dinner.

With this step, space seems to lose its meaning.

One moment, the two were several meters apart, separated by Ma Long's teammates and Lei Kun and others. The next instant, Chen Fan's figure appeared in front of Ma Long as if by teleportation.

It's so fast that no one's visual senses can process it!

A hand that wasn't particularly large gently landed on Ma Long's rock-solid chest.

Ma Long's pupils suddenly contracted to pinpoints, a fear emanating from the depths of his soul causing the hairs on his body to stand on end. The Undying Power within him erupted wildly, attempting to form the strongest defense and try to blast the ghostly figure in front of him away!

However, he was horrified to discover that an irresistible Dao Rhythm emanated from beneath that palm. This power, like an invisible Divine Fire, instantly burned through all his energy defenses, ignored his body that had been tempered and refined over countless trials, and directly invaded his Origin Source, completely destroying the Undying Foundation he had painstakingly cultivated for many years!

"Puff!"

Ma Long coughed up a mouthful of blood mixed with golden fragments, his tall and burly body collapsing to the ground like a puppet with its strings cut, his eyes wide open, filled with incomprehensible horror.

His aura deteriorated at an alarming rate, and in the blink of an eye, he went from a powerful sixth-rank expert who dominated the war War Zone to a cripple who was even worse than an ordinary soldier.

Chen Fan withdrew his hand, and from beginning to end, he didn't even glance at Ma Long on the ground.

He turned around and spoke to his three teammates behind him, who were completely Petrification and had even forgotten to breathe.

"Alright, problem solved. Let's go turn in the quest."

The entire venue was deathly silent.

All the mocking voices were silenced in that instant.

Countless horrified gazes converged on the boy who remained calm, as if nothing had happened.

As they stared blankly, the crowded people parted the sea like Moses parting the ocean, creating a wide passage for him.

Chen Fan, accompanied by three teammates who seemed to be sleepwalking, walked through the crowd and headed straight for the huge Light Screen in the Mission Hall.

There, the completion button for the S-rank mission "Eradicate the Black Marsh Bug Nest" quietly awaits to be pressed.

In the deathly silence, the crowded people seemed to be roughly pushed aside by an invisible hand, making way for Chen Fan in an almost exaggeratedly wide passage.

All eyes were on the nonchalant young man.

The look in his eyes was no longer one of disdain, but filled with horror.

Chen Fan ignored the gazes around him, and didn't even glance at Ma Long, who was curled up like a shrimp on the ground.

He took a step, and behind him, Lei Kun, Leng Yan, Monkey mechanically followed his steps.

One step, two steps.

He walked straight to the enormous, floor-to-ceiling Light Screen in the center of the Mission Hall.

With a light Light Screen of her slender, fair fingers, she pressed the "Complete" button for the S-rank mission "Eradicate the Black Marsh Bug Nest".

The movement was so casual, like flipping a light switch in a dormitory.

The next second, a cold and emotionless system notification sounded through the megaphone in the hall, resounding in everyone's ears.

"The S-rank mission 'Eradicate the Black Marsh Bug Nest' has been confirmed as complete."

"The Pioneer Team Seven has earned 100,000 base Merit Points, plus an additional 200,000 Merit Points, for a total of 300,000 Merit Points."

"Team rankings are being finalized..."

Almost instinctively, everyone in the hall turned their gaze to the more impressive War Zone Squad Contribution Rankings on the side of the hall.

The data for the Pioneer Team Seven was like Curvature Ship undergoing a spatial jump; their ranking started from the bottom of the list and skyrocketed upwards at a completely illogical speed!

The 100th place... the 50th place... the 20th place...

The number representing glory and status broke through the top ten with unstoppable momentum amidst countless gasps of astonishment!

Finally, under a deathly silence, it came to a steady stop at a number that would shake the entire War Zone 450.

[Seventh Place]!

"Boom!"

After a brief silence, the entire Mission Hall erupted in chaos!

"Seventh! Am I seeing things? The Pioneer Team Seven, that perennial bottom-ranked cannon fodder team, have made it to seventh?"

"Three hundred thousand Merit Points! One S-rank mission? When did Black Swamp Insect Nests become so worthless!"

"This... this is even more outrageous than him crippling Ma Long in one move!"