Effortless Subdual

At the supermarket entrance, four eyes met.

Intense malice approached within his perception, and Chen Feng keenly sensed that it all came from the two men before him.

Then, perhaps because they noticed he was also here.

The two men's eyes flickered with brief surprise.

What followed was a scene that exceeded expectations.

Clatter!

One of them yanked down the supermarket's roll-up door, forcibly sealing off the inside from the outside.

The loud noise drew Aunt Zhang, who was stocking shelves, to hurry over, two cans of yellow peach preserves still in her hands.

"Xiao Feng, why'd you suddenly close—"

Before she could finish, Aunt Zhang's face went pale as she froze in place.

Looking along the flow of events, the reason was clear.

The two men, wearing masks and caps, had after closing the roll-up door, suddenly pulled two spring knives from their waists.

One stood guard at the roll-up door, pointing his knife at Chen Feng, while the other strode toward Aunt Zhang.

"Hand over the cash, and make it snappy!"

The vicious voice rang out; Chen Feng found it somewhat familiar, as if he'd heard it somewhere before.

Thud!

Then, the yellow peach can hit the floor, leaving a dent in its metal casing.

Someone was robbing the supermarket!

Aunt Zhang, near the shelves, trembled with fear, her face pale.

Seeing the other man point his knife at her and step closer, making a threatening shushing gesture.

She felt her legs give way, couldn't stay steady, and collapsed on the spot.

"If you want to live, don't call the cops."

"Play nice, and put all the money in."

The cap man at the register kept urging and threatening, while placing a red plastic bag in front of Chen Feng.

There were no other customers in the supermarket right now, and with the roll-up door shut, no one outside seemed to notice anything amiss.

Expressionless, Chen Feng felt a flicker of irritation.

With the blade pointed at him, he followed orders and pulled open the cash drawer at the register.

Inside were plenty of loose bills—mostly fives and tens, but quite a few fifties and hundreds too.

Scattered together, it probably added up to two or three thousand yuan.

"Hurry it up!"

"Don't you fucking try any tricks with me!"

The man at the register was getting anxious, his tone harsh and irritable.

As he spoke, he even deliberately smacked Chen Feng on the head as a warning.

Affected by this, Chen Feng paused mid-motion and looked up at him.

"The fuck you staring at, your dad?"

"Money! I told you to get the money!"

"And the smokes back there—Tian Hua, Lotus, Chong Jiu—grab a few packs of each, now!"

The man pointed the spring knife at him, and Chen Feng glanced sidelong at the shelf area.

Aunt Zhang was trembling all over, shaking her head slightly at him, her eyes pleading, as if signaling him not to do anything rash.

As for the other man, seeing she was defenseless, he simply grabbed a few large bags of betel nut.

"Fuck, the hell you spacing out for?"

"You believe I'll stab you right now?"

Seeing Chen Feng stop with the money in hand, the man at the register grew impatient and cursed angrily.

The spring knife waved back and forth, as if to teach Chen Feng a lesson.

Rustle.

A big handful of bills went into the bag, and the knife-wielding man's gaze followed, his expression easing, eyes seeming a bit excited and eager.

"And the smokes!"

"Hurry up and—"

Snap!

A sudden sound rang out!

The knife man's wrist suddenly throbbed with pain before he could finish speaking. Looking down, he saw Chen Feng had already tightly gripped the wrist holding the spring knife.

Their eyes met, cold light flashing.

"Calling me 'dad' and 'mom'—"

"Spoiled you rotten?"

Boom!

!!

The cold words fell, and Chen Feng yanked downward. His 8.9 strength stat exploded fully, slamming the man's hand onto the cash register counter on the spot.

The spring knife was jarred loose and fell. The mask man's face went pale.

Before he could resist, a large hand reached out and grabbed his head.

Then, with a crash, it smashed into the metal surface of the cash register counter.

Boom!!

A dull echo rang out. The metal surface of the counter dented slightly.

The cap flew off. The figure went limp. The supermarket fell into instant dead silence.

"Shit!"

The other man cursed at the sight, hesitated, then finally chose to drop the betel nut and charge over with his spring knife.

"Let him go, old man!"

Bluster masking cowardice.

Chen Feng's gaze was calm. Ignoring the one he'd knocked out, he braced one hand on the counter and vaulted over to the front.

The spring knife stabbed viciously. He sidestepped, his sanshou expertise kicking in instinctively.

Shh!

The blade grazed past his shoulder. His eyes turned colder.

Without hesitation, he threw a punch.

Dong!!

The fist connected with a jaw. A tooth flew out, mixed with blood spray.

The figure staggered back, crashed into a shelf, and fell to the ground, unconscious on the spot.

Goods clattered down in a cascade. Aunt Zhang, sitting slumped on the floor nearby, stared wide-eyed.

She looked up. The sturdy build cast a shadow under the lights. The yellow peach can that had fallen was picked up again.

The familiar yet unfamiliar young man reached out, his tone calm as he said:

"Call the police, Aunt Zhang."

Over half an hour later.

Security Bureau personnel and supermarket manager Liu Fang appeared one after another.

The rolling door was pulled up. The two thugs sat back-to-back with heads drooping, hands and feet bound with white zip ties.

Aunt Zhang's face was pale, still not recovered, silently putting the fallen goods back in place.

The sturdy young man beside her was expressionless, but everyone present, after learning the situation and watching the surveillance footage, couldn't help but take a few extra looks at him.

"Impressive."

"Kid, you've trained in sanshou, right?"

A Security Bureau staff member showed some appreciation for Chen Feng. The latter nodded lightly in response.

Seeing this, Liu Fang's expression was complicated. Only after confirming that Chen Feng and Aunt Zhang weren't injured did she finally breathe a sigh of relief.

"These two are repeat offenders. Quite a record."

"One's called Huang Hu, the other Zhou Xiaoshan."

One of the Security Bureau men, Xiang Jianjun, a middle-aged man in his forties, spoke up.

With a simple operation on his smart wristband, he quickly pulled up the two thugs' identities and criminal history.

Chen Feng wasn't surprised. He'd recognized the two men as soon as the mask came off.

They were the same punks he'd met in the alley that day, just missing the ringleader, Zhao Jin.

"Sir, what happens to them next?" Liu Fang asked from the side.

"Prison."

"Robbery, intentional injury—those are serious crimes in our Chi Kingdom. Even if it was attempted, they're looking at at least three to five years."

Xiang Zhihua explained. Liu Fang and Aunt Zhang both relaxed, relieved.

Only Chen Feng glanced out the supermarket window.

It was almost dawn now. Few pedestrians or cars passed by.

But he recalled that those two thugs always followed that leader, Zhao Jin.

He wondered if today's incident had anything to do with that man.

With that in mind, he proactively mentioned it to Xiang Jianjun, so as not to miss any leads.

"Alright, I'll interrogate these two further later. I'll notify you if anything comes up."

"That's it for the statement. I'll take these two away. If you have any follow-up questions, you can reach me."

With a nod, Xiang Jianjun didn't linger.

After a brief exchange of instructions, he and another Security Bureau officer soon escorted the two thugs away.

"Xiao Feng, you worked hard today! Well done!"

"I knew I hadn't misjudged you!"

Watching the Security Bureau leave, Liu Fang quickly returned and showered Chen Feng with praise.

"I've already spoken with the boss. First, here's two thousand in cash as a reward."

"Also, I'll upgrade your employee card—from now on, you'll get a thirty percent discount on all purchases."

"What do you think?"

"Thank you, Sister Liu."

With a slight nod, Chen Feng naturally wouldn't turn down more money.

Soon, a transfer notification came through on his phone, and it was time for him to clock out.

"Go on, go on. Head home and get some good rest."

"You're our big hero today."

Liu Fang said with a smile, her eyes full of admiration as she looked at Chen Feng.

Without another word, Chen Feng nodded lightly.

A moment later, he pushed aside stray thoughts, turned, and left, heading back to his home.