Opening a Restaurant in Honkai

Zhao Bai and Mei exchanged a look and nodded in perfect understanding, speaking in unison:

"We have our own regulations and follow them strictly. We won't act according to your wishes, Mr. Chen. Please just watch from the sidelines."

"What else can we do besides kidnapping?!"

"All the ranch workers have run off, and the water and electricity are cut off. I can't manage so many cattle by myself, and I still have to deal with those useless freeloaders who get paid but do nothing!"

Mr. Chen became extremely agitated: "If this continues, the losses will only grow. If the ranch were still operating normally, it would attract an investigation from the Securities Regulatory Commission. If we're deemed to be committing fraud, our missile test site will be gone!"

So that's what he was worried about...

Zhao Bai had thought Mr. Chen was worried about the cattle. He never expected him to be concerned about the testing grounds.

However, such a worry was quite normal. Besides frozen Canada and Lubyanka in Siberia, the only other places large enough to lease for such a site would be the sparsely populated areas of Australia.

"Don't worry, we'll handle it."

Zhao Bai said, forcing himself to comfort Mr. Chen. He then ushered Mr. Chen away from the scene and, seizing the opportunity, pulled Mei along as they drove rapidly towards where the flames were raging.

The closer they got, the more intense the heat waves felt.

Fearing the risk of their car exploding, Zhao Bai and Mei got out and walked. The temperature had already exceeded forty degrees Celsius, and as far as the eye could see, the landscape was desolate and bleak.

After walking only a few steps, Mei felt her clothes completely sticking to her, and she showed signs of dehydration.

"Be careful, stay behind me," Zhao Bai said, slowly placing his right hand at his waist. Ice Lotus Sky seemed to respond to his call, trembling slightly. Zhao Bai inhaled, drew his blade, and completed the action in one smooth motion, without any hesitation.

A wave of coolness spread out, and Mei suddenly felt completely at ease, the oppressive heat vanishing as if it had never been there.

"Your sword..."

"A weapon developed by St. Freya. It was originally intended to keep my sashimi fresh, but its power output is too high. Besides sashimi, it can do many other things."

Zhao Bai lied casually, making up a story about Ice Lotus Sky's origins. He gently pressed down with the hand holding the blade, his entire body tensing like a drawn bowstring, exuding an astonishing sharpness.

"Iaido?"

"No, Dimensional Slash."

As soon as he finished speaking, blinding ice and snow suddenly engulfed the entire fire scene, from sky to ground, and from ground to sky. The entire world was filled with that deep blue, frigid ice.

Chapter Twenty-Four: I Have Countless Weapons Like This

A knife for sashimi?

Indeed, sashimi is all about freshness. Chefs who are particular about it believe that metal knives impart an iron taste to the fish and disdain using them, opting for ceramic knives instead.

But Zhao Bai was on another level.

He used neither metal nor ceramic; he used technology.

The reason Ice Lotus Sky was a pure, transparent light blue was that it had no shape at all. The hilt was a controller that stabilized a three-foot space in front of it, causing the atoms to cease their movement and enter a state of complete stillness, resulting in absolute zero temperature.

What the naked eye perceived as a transparent, icy blue was actually a mixture of solidified air. Large snowflakes of nitrogen precipitated from the atmosphere, forming the visual effect of falling snow.

It wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that this blade, like the Fusion Warriors, was the crystallization of ancient techniques at their highest level.