The next moment, Mo Shang raised a hand and slapped the fireball away as casually as swatting a mosquito.
"Boom!"
The fireball shot backward and slammed into the base's alloy wall, exploding with a muffled boom.
Mo Shang shook his head in disappointment, then spoke again.
"Young man, that's not how you play with fire. Your energy is too scattered. You need to concentrate your strength into a single point. That's the only way to unleash its ultimate destructive power, like this..."
As he spoke, Falling Star Flame surged around Mo Shang, then gathered into a pinpoint at his fingertip. A breath of destruction spread through the air, sending a chill down everyone's spine.
Not only that, the monitoring equipment beside them let out a piercing alarm.
"It's already exceeded the detection range?!" Director Chen glanced at the readings on the monitoring equipment, utterly astounded.
That instrument could even detect the energy signature of Tsar Bomba.
Yet a little fireball in Mo Shang's hand had set off the alarm. His strength was clearly far beyond anything they had imagined!
"Well? Want to keep going?" Mo Shang pointed at Blazing Flame and smiled faintly.
At that gesture, Blazing Flame felt his scalp prickle, and a sense of mortal danger enveloped him.
His teammates, who had been training with him, hurried forward and bowed apologetically to Mo Shang.
"Sorry, sir. Blazing Flame had a little to drink earlier. He's a bit drunk..."
"Right, right, he's drunk. Please be the bigger man and let him off..."
Hearing this, Yellow Immortal rolled his eyes and said, "If he's drunk, then get lost! Are you waiting for the Immortal to deal with him personally?"
"Yes, yes. We'll take him away right now..." Blazing Flame's teammates didn't dare argue. They immediately hauled him away, still standing there in a daze.
Mo Shang watched them go, chuckled, and let the flame in his hand dissipate.
"Sorry, Mr. Mo Shang. We failed to keep him in line and made a fool of ourselves in front of you."
Once the farce was over, Director Chen promptly apologized to Mo Shang.
"It's fine." Mo Shang waved a hand, unconcerned.
"Let's head over. This way, please."
Chen Guodong took the lead again, guiding everyone farther down the gleaming, cold metal corridor.
After passing through several checkpoints that required multiple forms of identity verification, they entered a spacious conference room.
The room was simply furnished, with a long conference table in the middle and a massive holographic display covering one wall.
The screen showed data analysis on a number of Weird Instances...
"Please, have a seat."
Chen Guodong gestured, and a staff member immediately brought in warm tea. Then, without making any unnecessary movements, the worker promptly left.
"Mr. Mo Shang, I'll skip the pleasantries. I hope you'll lend a hand to the Chosen Ones of the Dragon Kingdom in the next Weird Instance," Chen Guodong said bluntly.
Mo Shang didn't reply. He only smiled at Chen Guodong, lifted his tea, and took a sip.
Seeing this, Chen Guodong realized what he meant. After a moment's thought, he continued, "As for compensation, we'll do our best to meet any request that's within our power..."
"What I want is probably beyond your reach..." Mo Shang said with a smile and a shake of his head.
The things that interested him weren't merely beyond the Dragon Kingdom's ability to provide. The entire Blue Star probably didn't have them.
Hearing this, Chen Guodong fell silent.
After witnessing Mo Shang's terrifying strength, he understood that ordinary things clearly wouldn't interest someone like him...
Seeing him fall silent, Mo Shang smiled and spoke again. "Don't worry. Zhou Yi's talent is strong enough. No instance can stop him."
Chen Guodong paused at that, then turned to Zhou Yi and asked, "Xiao Zhou, what's your talent?"
"S-Rank Talent: Strength. It lets me break the rules and crush the weird," Zhou Yi replied without hiding the talent he had drawn.
"S-Rank Talent? Breaking the rules? Crushing the weird?" Hearing this, Director Chen sucked in a sharp breath.
"Yes. You probably saw it during the livestream. I smashed through the gate of the Bloody Slaughterhouse with one punch. I can ignore the rules and clear an instance directly," Zhou Yi confirmed.
"Good! Excellent! With you here, Xiao Zhou, the Dragon Kingdom's rise is just around the corner!"
Director Chen stood up and clapped Zhou Yi on the shoulder, brimming with excitement.
"Don't worry. You're contributing to the country, and the country won't let you down. Just tell me what you need."
"I need money," Zhou Yi said without hesitation. He couldn't help it; he was genuinely tired of being poor.
"Sure. How much do you want?" Director Chen asked with a smile and a nod.
"If possible, this much..." Zhou Yi held up one finger.
"One hundred million? No problem. I'll have someone transfer it right away. Give me your account number..." Director Chen nodded at once.
"No, no, that's not what I meant. Not one hundred million..." Zhou Yi hurriedly cut him off.
"Not one hundred million? Ten billion? That's no problem either. I'll put in the request right away..."
Hearing this astronomical figure, Zhou Yi was completely stunned.
When Chen Guodong saw that Zhou Yi wasn't responding, he thought the amount was too small and continued, "One hundred billion isn't enough? What about one trillion? If that won't do, I can try to get approval for ten trillion..."
"I meant ten thousand. No billions..." Zhou Yi clarified.
"No billions? Then you mean yuan—ten thousand yuan?" Director Chen asked, wondering if he'd misheard.
"Yes..." Zhou Yi nodded.
As soon as he spoke, the room fell silent.
Chen Guodong's expression shifted from shock to confusion, then finally to a trace of sympathy. He sighed.
"Ah, Xiao Zhou, you can ask for more. Don't be shy. Never mind ten thousand yuan—even one hundred billion or ten trillion isn't beyond the country's means..."
"Here, I'll transfer one billion to you first. Spend it as you like. If it's not enough, I'll apply for more."
After all, Zhou Yi was now a national hero, and they would need him to keep clearing instances in the future.
The rewards from each instance were of immense benefit to the whole country, far beyond anything money could buy.
The last ten-percent boost to the physical fitness of the entire population had undoubtedly brought enormous benefits to the country.
"Thank you, Director Chen," Zhou Yi said quickly.
"We should be the ones thanking you. You're clearing instances for the country, so naturally, we won't let you down. Whether it's money or anything else, if you need it, we'll do everything we can to help!" Director Chen said again.
"I, Zhou, have drifted through life for half a lifetime, and only regret never finding a worthy lord. If you don't cast me aside, I'm willing to take you as my adoptive father!" Hearing this, Zhou Yi dropped to his knees with a thump.
"There's no need for that, there's no need..." Director Chen hurriedly helped him back up.
Before you continue