Opportunity

At the top of the hotel, Wang Zhenguo had all but given up.

He slumped on the carpet, staring blankly at the ceiling.

The blood-red Oath Paper lay spread out in front of him, its patterns faintly shimmering in the dim light as if mocking his naivety.

"Useless..."

He muttered to himself, his voice dry.

Half an hour had passed since he posted his last message on the forum.

Aside from a few scammers, his private messages had remained silent.

Wang Zhenguo tugged at the corner of his mouth, managing a smile more miserable than a sob.

It made sense, after all.

The Oath was tempting. An extraordinary item that could force someone into a master-servant contract would normally attract countless people eager to fight over it.

But they would have to be alive to claim it.

The street crowded with monsters in the photo was enough to scare off 99.9 percent of people.

The remaining 0.1 percent who dared to come would probably have to be a fully armed special forces squad, or...

Wang Zhenguo shook his head, banishing that unrealistic thought.

Transcendents?

People on the forum were indeed spreading rumors that some had acquired supernatural abilities, that they could throw punches like dragons and send sword energy sweeping through the air.

But they were still an extreme minority.

Even if such people really existed, why would they risk their lives to save a complete stranger like him?

All for a contract whose authenticity was still uncertain?

"Heh..."

Wang Zhenguo closed his eyes and let out a long breath.

Outside in the corridor, the pounding grew more and more frequent.

The wardrobe blocking the door had shifted, and cracks in the doorframe were spreading at a visible rate.

It would hold for ten minutes at most.

No, maybe five.

"Let it be..."

He murmured, simply giving up the struggle and letting exhaustion and despair wash over him.

Memories of his life began replaying uncontrollably in his mind.

His younger self hauling bricks and sweating on construction sites, his anxiety as he signed his first contract, the exhilaration on the day his company went public, the grand wedding when he married...

He'd finally made it.

"BANG!!!"

A deafening crash came from outside the door, and splinters flew.

Wang Zhenguo flinched, but didn't open his eyes.

It was over.

That was fine, too.

But just as he prepared to meet death calmly...

BOOM!!!

A deafening explosion suddenly rang out from the street below!

Then came a second, and a third.

The sounds weren't like monsters crashing into something, nor like buildings collapsing. Instead, they were like... some heavy object striking the ground again and again at incredible speed.

Wang Zhenguo's eyes flew open.

He scrambled to the window, clutched the sill with both hands, and stared down.

Then he saw a sight he would never forget.

A figure was slowly approaching from the far end of the street.

No, not approaching.

Pushing straight through.

The person was wrapped in a layer of blood-red aura, thick as smoke. It roiled upward, trailing several meters behind him like a scarlet streak.

Everywhere he passed, the monsters lining the street exploded one after another.

Under the blood-red figure's fists, their heads and torsos all burst into a rain of blood mist and scraps.

A monster lunged from the side, claws reaching straight for his back.

The blood-red figure didn't even look around. The aura swirling around him simply rippled.

CLANG—

The crash of metal on metal rang out.

Sparks flew, but the blow couldn't even pierce the layer of blood-red aura.

More bone spikes shot in from every direction, thick as rain.

The impacts became one continuous roar, each spike bouncing away the moment it touched the aura.

The blood-red figure didn't break stride for even an instant.

Step by step, he pushed straight through from the far end of the street.

Blood mist filled his wake, and dismembered limbs littered the ground.

Not one monster could withstand a single punch.

Not one attack could break through that layer of blood-red aura.

"Is... is that even human?"

Wang Zhenguo leaned against the window, his mouth hanging open without him realizing it.

He'd seen boxers, martial arts champions, and even those special forces soldiers who were supposedly the best of the best.

But compared to what he was seeing now...

They were all like children playing pretend.

This wasn't a fight at all.

It was a crushing rout. A slaughter.

While Wang Zhenguo stared in a daze, the blood-red figure had already crossed the entire street and reached the hotel.

He walked straight into the hotel lobby.

"He... he's here to..."

Wang Zhenguo shuddered as a thought he'd barely dared to imagine surged wildly from the depths of his heart.

His will to survive burst into flame once more.

He scrambled to the door and used all his strength to brace the warped panel from behind.

"Hold on... hold on... You have to hold on!"

He gritted his teeth, veins bulging on his forehead.

The despair that had consumed him just moments ago, when he'd been ready to accept death, had vanished without a trace.

He wanted to live!

The pounding outside the corridor abruptly stopped.

Then...

"THUD!!!"

A muffled impact came from the other end of the corridor.

It sounded like something had been smashed into the wall.

The sound was advancing toward his room at incredible speed!

Wang Zhenguo's heart pounded wildly as he stared at the crack beneath the door.

He was here!

"I'm in here!"

He shouted with all his might, his voice cracking with excitement.

The moment the words left his mouth—

BOOM!!!

The pounding outside his door stopped completely.

A few seconds later...

Click.

The lock turned.

The wardrobe blocking the door was slowly pushed aside by an irresistible force.

Wang Zhenguo stumbled backward, staring wide-eyed at the doorway.

Most of the blood-red aura had dissipated, but faint crimson energy still curled around the person.

He wore a black hoodie with the hood pulled low and a mask over his face, leaving only a pair of eyes that were calm to the point of indifference.

Those eyes were fixed on Wang Zhenguo.

"The contract."

The man in black held out his hand, his voice calm.

Wang Zhenguo froze for a second, then hurriedly fumbled the blood-red Oath Paper out of his pocket and offered it with both hands.

The man in black took it and examined it in the moonlight filtering through the window.

He nodded and put the contract away.

Then he turned his head toward the corridor.

"Turn around," the man in black said softly. "Don't look back."

Wang Zhenguo didn't understand, but he did as he was told, squeezing his eyes shut.

About ten seconds later...

"You can look now."

Wang Zhenguo opened his eyes and turned around.

The man in black was already standing at the door, indicating that he should follow.

Wang Zhenguo hurried after him. As they passed through the corridor, he instinctively glanced to the side.

The walls and ceiling were covered in dark green blood and scraps of flesh.

But there wasn't a single intact corpse.

He couldn't even see any large pieces of limbs.

There was nothing but blood and scraps of flesh.

Wang Zhenguo swallowed and didn't dare ask. He lowered his head and quickly followed the man in black.

They went downstairs together.

The lobby was just as bloody, and there were no bodies there, either.

Following behind, Wang Zhenguo barely dared to breathe.

Only when they had left the hotel and reached the open street did they stop.

"Close your eyes."

The man in black suddenly spoke.

Wang Zhenguo immediately squeezed his eyes shut.

The next moment...

He felt someone grab him by the back of his collar.

Then the wind roared in his ears.

Wang Zhenguo was so frightened his heart nearly stopped, but he gritted his teeth, not daring to open his eyes or make a sound.

He could feel himself moving.

At an unbelievable speed.

He had no idea how long this went on.

Maybe only a few minutes, or perhaps more than ten.

At last...

The wind gradually died down.

His feet touched solid ground again.

"Open your eyes."

Wang Zhenguo slowly opened his eyes and found himself standing on an unfamiliar street.

The buildings on either side were intact. There was no blood and no monsters.

"Walk a few hundred meters farther, and you'll reach the Safe Zone."

The man in black pointed ahead.

"Go the rest of the way yourself."

With that, he turned and walked back the way they had come.

He didn't even spare Wang Zhenguo another glance.

It was as if the rescue had been nothing more than a small favor he'd done on a whim.

Wang Zhenguo stood there, stunned as he watched the man in black's retreating figure.

But he hadn't even signed the contract yet?

He was just letting him go like that?

He opened his mouth to say something, but no words came out.

Not until the man in black was about to disappear around the corner...

"W-wait!!"

Wang Zhenguo suddenly shouted hoarsely, his voice trembling with excitement.

The black-clad man stopped and turned his head slightly.

"Y-you're not going to make a contract with me?"

When Wang Zhenguo asked, a swirl of complicated emotions rose within him.

He had already prepared himself mentally.

He would trade the freedom of the rest of his life for a chance to survive.

He had even thought about how he would negotiate and what he could bargain for if the other party made unreasonable demands.

But now...

The other party hadn't brought it up at all.

He had taken the Blood Oath.

And then he'd left.

As if Wang Zhenguo himself didn't matter at all.

The black-clad man turned back. Only his eyes were visible, and they regarded Wang Zhenguo with a peculiar look.

"Isn't it a good thing for you if we don't sign?"

He asked quietly.

Wang Zhenguo froze.

That was true.

Without a contract, he was still free.

That was clearly a good thing.

So why did he feel so empty inside?

The black-clad man seemed to see his confusion. After a two-second silence, he added:

"It's not that I look down on you. I'm just not very interested in signing contracts."

With that, he turned around again and started walking away.

This time, he didn't stop.

Wang Zhenguo watched his retreating figure, his thoughts in a complete muddle.

He doesn't look down on me?

He's just not interested in signing contracts?

Then why risk coming to save me? Just for that piece of paper?

But though that paper was precious, was it really worth taking such a huge risk?

Or... for someone at his level, was that kind of risk simply insignificant?

All sorts of thoughts clashed wildly in his mind.

Meanwhile, the black-clad man's figure was about to disappear at the end of the street.

"Wait!!!"

Wang Zhenguo suddenly sprinted after him.

He ran as fast as he could, nearly using up all his strength. Just before the black-clad man turned the corner, he managed to block his path.

"Huff... huff..."

Wang Zhenguo panted, bracing his hands on his knees as he looked up at the black-clad man.

Those calm eyes looked back at him, the man's brow slightly furrowed.

Clearly, he was already getting impatient.

Wang Zhenguo took a deep breath and straightened up, his face more serious than ever.

"Sign me."

The black-clad man raised an eyebrow.

"I can do a lot for you."

Wang Zhenguo continued quickly, "You seem like the kind of person who prefers to work alone, and you don't want to reveal your identity in the real world, right?"

"But at this point, you know better than I do that everyone is scrambling for resources."

"Those backed by the Federation or powerful organizations have teams and logistical support. They'll only progress faster and faster."

"And even if you're strong, handling resources, gathering intelligence, exchanging for supplies... all those chores will take up a lot of your time and energy when you're on your own."

He stared into the black-clad man's eyes.

"But I can help you."

"I can act as your representative within the Federation, take care of all the tedious matters, exchange resources for you, gather intelligence, and handle anything you can't appear in person for."

"Signing me costs you nothing."

"And I can help you... get further, faster."

The street fell silent.

Jiang Ran looked calmly at Wang Zhenguo.

For the first time, a thoughtful expression appeared in his calm eyes.

A few seconds later.

He slowly raised his hand and took the blood-red Oath Paper from inside his clothes.

"Have you thought it through?"

Wang Zhenguo nodded firmly.

He felt that his mind had never been clearer than it was at that moment.

Over all these years in business,

he had seized several opportunities that others called once-in-a-lifetime, and built his success from the ground up.

But...

He felt that this moment was the greatest turning point of his life.