Puppet

"If I hadn't come sooner next time, I might have really died here," Luo Wanyai, panting as he leaned against a telephone pole.

"I'll definitely do it next time," Liu Dezhu said, then looked at Qing Yuan.

Flame.

A blazing flame.

The moment Liu Dezhu clashed with the seven assassins, the intense heat he exuded instantly turned them into fireballs.

Flames exploded outwards from Liu Dezhu and Luo Wanyai, sending the assassins flying with the scalding heatwave.

After reaching C-Class, Liu Dezhu rarely had the opportunity to go all out. It wasn't that he was lazy, but rather that Qing Chen had arranged everything so well that he didn't need to exert himself to the fullest.

However, at this moment, the power of C-Class Awakened was clearly revealed in the night of Zheng City.

Irritable.

Extremely irritable...

The flickering flames are like musical notes dancing on a musical staff.

Because awakening releases the body's potential, Liu Dezhu's cultivation speed is slower than others, but he still persists.

For no other reason than that the boss told him that if his cultivation level reached B-Class, his awakening level would also be brought to B-Class.

Upon hearing this, Liu Dezhu, just as his boss had once told him to remain angry, truly remained angry.

But at this moment, Liu Dezhu looked at Luo Wanyai, who was always smiling, but whose face was so pale, and suddenly felt a surge of anger within him.

The last time he was this angry was when his mother almost lost her life.

Qing Yuan carefully examined Liu Dezhu with his only remaining eye.

However, Liu Dezhu was completely enveloped in flames at this moment, making it impossible to see his face.

Liu Dezhu's abilities were never revealed to the public, so Qing Yuan was unable to discern his identity.

"It seems there's an organization targeting me in a planned way," Qing Yuan laughed confidently. "Let me guess, there are two possibilities. One is that one of the Shadow Candidate is Time Walker like me, doing quite well in the Outer World. The other is that one of the Shadow Candidate has Time Walker assisting them, and they also have a reason to eliminate me. I wonder which one you are? And who is your boss?"

Liu Dezhu didn't speak. He looked around. The seven assassins were quite strong, each with strength above E-Class, and some even had D-Class.

According to the boss's guess, Qing Yuan must have a large number of gene warriors around him, because one-seventh of the Qing family's annual gene drug quota is in the hands of Qing Yuan's father.

Judging by the timeline, since the time travel incident, an ordinary person would have been able to receive three doses of gene serum.

Three gene-modifying agents, D-Class.

If Qing Yuan's father, Qing Yu, is truly Time Walker, then he would definitely create a gene warrior force for his son that can conquer two worlds.

Liu Dezhu was a little curious about how Luo Wanyai managed to gouge out one of Qing Yuan's eyes while surrounded by such a group of people.

At this moment, Qing Yuan laughed and said, "Don't want to talk? That's fine, let's test the strength of your organization first."

As soon as he finished speaking, the seven assassins who had already gotten up attacked Liu Dezhu at the same time.

Liu Dezhu smiled and said, "Qing Xing to greet everyone."

The flames dancing around his body suddenly stopped, and Liu Dezhu roared as he punched the oncoming assassin, "Down!"

All the training Liu Dezhu had received during this period came to fruition at this moment.

With the feet as the foundation, the power is transmitted from the earth to the twisting waist, and then to the swinging arms.

But then a punch, wreathed in flames, arrived first despite being thrown later. It was clearly the assassin who struck first, but Liu Dezhu was much faster.

Before the assassin could react, the explosive punch had already slammed into his face.

The assassin's neck cracked, and he was slammed to the ground, his body contorted in pain.

In an instant, that incomparable fist erupted with dazzling flames.

The flames instantly enveloped the assassin's entire body.

A streak of light spun, and flames ripped the earth!

Kusanagi!

Ura-hachi-shiki. Orochi Nagi!

The next second, another assassin behind him had already swung his knife.

Liu Dezhu.

He bent over and flicked his left foot backward.

He actually used his toes to flick the other person's chin in one smooth motion, sending the assassin flying into the air.

"Rise!" Liu Dezhu quickly twisted his waist and jumped up, catching the falling assassin with a right hook.

With a loud bang!

A blinding flash of fire erupted from that hook punch once again, blasting the assassin into the sky.

Kusanagi!

Ura-hachi-shiki. Oni-yaki!

Luo Wanyai, leaning against the telephone pole, was dumbfounded. Was this still the same idiot from the villa during the daytime, who only knew how to gossip about his boss and laugh all day long?!

While Qing Chen was away in Europe, Liu Dezhu was also busy, constantly figuring out how to use his thermal Awakened abilities.

Nan Gengchen suggested that he learn from Kyo Kusanagi from King of Fighters, regardless of whether he was good at it or not, as long as he looked good.

"Watch out!" Luo Wanyai warned.

Just as Liu Dezhu was falling from the sky, two assassins swung their knives at him.

Before they could even reach Liu Dezhu, a figure suddenly appeared out of nowhere and struck the two assassins in the throat with two rapid circular blows.

It was none other than Nan Gengchen wearing a mask!

The cultivation method differs from gene serums in that after a gene serum injection, one's strength stagnates at a certain level, making it difficult to approach the threshold of the next level.

Nan Gengchen's Zhunti Method of cultivation is different. He cultivates his Qi channels step by step, improving by one point with each channel he cultivates. He says he is already close to C-Class, so his strength will be infinitely close to C-Class.

This is an advantage that gene warriors cannot match.

The two assassins clutched their shattered Adam's apples and slowly retreated.

The shattered Adam's apple punctured their trachea, making it impossible for them to breathe. In just over ten seconds, they felt suffocated.

Everything in sight gradually went dark.

Nan Gengchen watched all of this silently. He knew that he would have to go through all of this sooner or later, and he couldn't always be protected by Qing Chen.

Therefore, he stared intently, without looking away.

Try to accept this feeling as soon as possible.

The remaining three assassins also retreated in surprise and uncertainty, because they didn't know if there were other experts hiding here.

Liu Dezhu stopped on the ground and said to Qing Yuan, "Your body must be a puppet, right? Although your original body is safe and sound, it must not be easy to find a good puppet. Don't you feel any heartache at all?"

Qing Yuan remained calm, seemingly unaffected by the constant flow of blood in his abdomen.

He smiled and said, "Perhaps your fighting spirit isn't very long, so you're trying to stall for time by chatting? Actually, there's no need. Tonight is just a brief greeting, and I'm sure we'll meet again in the future."

As he spoke, Qing Yuan picked up a short knife that had fallen to the ground, then lightly slashed his own neck and collapsed to the ground.

Liu Dezhu was horrified when he saw this.

The fierce battle he had imagined did not occur, but the scene of his opponent slitting his own throat and committing suicide without regard for others truly shocked him.

For no other reason than that the other person was too calm when they committed suicide.

Even though Qing Chen had told them it was a puppet, seeing this scene was still shocking.

The three assassins not far away did not linger in the fight; they turned around and merged into the crowd, swiftly withdrawing from the battlefield.

Liu Dezhu looked at Nan Gengchen and remained silent for a few seconds. "Wasn't he handsome just now?"

Nan Gengchen exclaimed, "I knew it! If you want to look cool while playing with fire, you have to learn from Kyo Kusanagi!"

"Hey, you two... come help me up," Luo Wanyai said.

Only at this moment did Liu Dezhu finally have the mind to observe Luo Wanyai's injuries. "How are you? I'll take you to the hospital now."

"No, no," Luo Wanyai, his face contorted in pain as he still refused.

The back of Luo Wanyai's suit was tattered and torn, making him look like a homeless person.

Liu Dezhu Nan Gengchen were heartbroken.

I never expected Lao Luo to go to so much trouble for Bai Zhou.

However, after Liu Dezhu reached out and touched Luo Wanyai's back, he asked with some surprise, "Wait, why isn't there any blood on your back?"

Luo Wanyai said, "I knew this trip would be dangerous before I came to Zhengcheng, so I asked a friend to get me a bulletproof vest to wear underneath. Winter clothes are thick, so no one can tell..."

Liu Dezhu: "..."

No wonder Luo Wanyai chose the most reckless fighting style; he was relying on his high defense!

Who would have thought of that!

When would Time Walker wear a bulletproof vest during combat?

I reckon those seven assassins were stunned when they slashed Luo Wanyai in the back—why wasn't he losing health?!

Liu Dezhu sighed, "If we're talking about shrewdness, you, Lao Luo, are the shrewd one. So why are you pretending to be in pain now?"

Luo Wanyai said, "I have two cuts on my leg... I need some simple stitches. I don't need to go to the hospital, I can handle it myself."

Liu Dezhu and Nan Gengchen felt relieved. They looked around and said, "Let's go, let's talk somewhere else."

"By the way, where's the boss?" Luo Wanyai asked.

"I don't know."

The three assassins walked silently and quickly down the street, splitting up.

They pushed through the crowd and threw all the knives in their hands into the trash cans by the roadside.

More than ten minutes later, the three met again at the intersection of Fuyuan Road and Shangding Road.

They stood by the roadside as if nothing had happened, as if the battle that had just taken place had nothing to do with them.

Soon, a black minivan drove up to the intersection, and the rear door opened automatically.

Just as the three were about to get into the car, a young passerby walked past them from behind and casually reached out his hand.

The assassins felt as if something incredibly light brushed against their necks.

They reached out and wiped their hands, and when they opened their palms again, their palms were covered in blood.

The assassin looked in horror at the tall, straight back of the passerby, who walked further and further away without turning his head back.

The driver of the van was still looking ahead. Seeing that the three people hadn't gotten in yet, he urged, "Get in."

No one responded.

The driver turned his head again and saw that the three assassins were lying next to the car, in pools of blood on the ground.

The driver turned to look into the distance; the pedestrian's figure had already disappeared. He laughed, "I didn't fall for it."

Instead of restarting the van, he got out and drove straight away. After walking a few dozen meters, he pressed the remote control in his pocket.

With a loud bang, the van exploded into a fireball.

This is another puppet of Qing Yuan. He specifically told the three assassins that he would come to pick them up, knowing that someone would be following the assassins.

If the other party follows the vehicle and attempts to hijack the driver and the assassin, they can interrogate them to obtain clues about "Qing Yuan".

Then everyone will turn to ashes together.

Anyway, it's just a puppet. Although making a puppet is a bit troublesome, Qing Yuan doesn't care.