The Outbreak 1

In Wang Yiyang's view, battles, conflicts, and struggles—

They all came down to a few steps.

First, gather intelligence.

Second, weaken your opponent.

Third, strengthen yourself.

Fourth, use your strengths to strike at your enemy's weaknesses.

Though all he had in his mind were basic materials on Mister's Security Department Minister.

His knowledge of past internal struggles and schemes was only a brief, simplified overview.

But after reflecting on what he had seen during this time, he had discovered a pattern.

In the internal struggles within Mister, most of the victors had acted according to that pattern.

Only a very, very small number had managed to succeed through sheer luck. And their success was usually short-lived; they soon fell from power.

Now, he was following those steps one by one.

Several days ago, he had arranged for someone to release a small amount of an invisible, colorless, odorless nerve gas at the martial arts school.

The gas posed little danger to the body. Its only effect was to significantly hinder the circulation of blood and energy when the blood was boiling and the body's energy was at its peak.

In other words, the gas had no effect on ordinary people.

But against martial arts experts like Zhong Can and Wang Xinlong, it had an indescribable suppressive effect.

Of course, Wang Yiyang's target was Zhong Can, not anyone else.

So long ago, he had secretly arranged for an antidote to the gas to be added to his grandfather Wang Xinlong's drinks.

Wang Xinlong loved his liquor and drank a few cups every morning and evening.

Zhong Can, on the other hand, never touched alcohol.

So creating that difference had been quite simple.

"According to the external vital-sign scanners, Mantis's people arrived early and are now fighting Zhong Can," Lei Wei reported quickly as she walked beside Wang Yiyang.

"Mantis managed to mobilize so many people despite all the wanted notices. Looks like they have quite a bit of hidden strength." Wang Yiyang nodded.

He took the electronic binoculars offered by a bodyguard and raised them to his eyes, looking toward the open ground in front of the martial arts school.

The open ground was a mess.

Zhong Can moved lightly among Mantis's many fighters, flickering from place to place like a streak of blood.

Each time he dodged or leaped, it brought one or two screams of agony.

Blood and severed hands and feet littered the ground.

Against Zhong Can, Mantis's fighters were like infants, utterly incapable of resisting.

Every punch and palm strike of his easily shattered their attacks and defenses.

Even when they tried to flee, all they did was make him walk a few extra steps.

"Impressive," Wang Yiyang praised.

"Very impressive indeed." Two tall, muscular men with close-cropped hair approached and lowered their binoculars.

"Minister Wang, this cooperation never mentioned that our opponent would be at this level. Don't you think we should be paid a little more for showing up?"

The older of the two men spoke with a hint of apprehension.

They wore gray-white undershirts and loose trousers. A black tiger was embroidered over each of their left chests.

They were clearly the lead fighters of Yanhu Sect's team.

"Impossible." Wang Yiyang shook his head. "Zhong Can was exposed to the nerve gas I released in advance. He won't be able to maintain his peak for much longer. That's the main reason he's frantically clearing the field right now.

"If you can't handle a situation where you have every advantage, then I may have to reconsider any future cooperation with Yanhu Sect."

The two men fell silent, then raised their binoculars and watched for a while longer.

"He's still this fierce even after being poisoned? Looks like this money won't be easy to earn..."

Wang Yiyang smiled without answering. If they could just stand around and collect their pay, why would he have hired so many people?

In the distance, Zhong Can's movements were gradually slowing.

He had just taken down more than twenty people in a row, then exchanged dozens of blows with his teacher, Wang Xinlong. He had used up a great deal of energy.

He was naturally nearing exhaustion.

By then, only Red Eyebrows and another young woman with a curvaceous figure remained among Mantis's fighters to face him head-on.

The three traded punches and kicks across the open ground, each blow as fast as a thunderclap. When they collided, they sounded like explosions of thunder.

From afar, faint rings of gray-white dust could be seen bursting outward with each exchange.

Waves of air kicked up clouds of dust that scattered in every direction.

"What an astonishing fight," Wang Yiyang said admiringly.

"Only fighters above the Bright Light Rank have this kind of strength. Ordinary martial artists are nowhere near their level," one of the Yanhu Sect fighters said in a low voice.

The two men were there specifically to guard Wang Yiyang and protect him from any surprise attack by an expert.

Wang Yiyang watched the scene in the open ground, which looked like something out of a martial arts movie, and felt a rush of emotion.

Before his rebirth, his grandfather had been murdered, the martial arts school had burned down, and he himself had been in a car accident orchestrated by the mastermind.

But now, whoever the mastermind was—

He had the situation completely under control.

Mantis or Zhong Can, neither could cause any more trouble.

"Should we go over?" one of the close-cropped fighters asked quietly.

"No. Keep a safe distance. I'm not like you martial artists. Even a little shockwave could be more than I can handle." Wang Yiyang smiled.

He wasn't the kind of fool who had to appear at the last moment to explain his plans.

As an ordinary man who couldn't even defend himself, he should stay well behind the lines and wait until everything was settled before making an appearance.

Everyone in the group twitched their lips at that and fell silent.

The fully armed elite soldiers around them began closing in, step by step.

The drones overhead were quietly tightening the perimeter too.

In the distance, snipers slowly shifted their sights toward the living people on the field.

"Wait." Wang Yiyang suddenly felt that something was wrong.

Through the binoculars, Zhong Can's movements were indeed slowing, while Mantis's fighters were suffering more and more injuries.

But for some reason, he couldn't shake the feeling that something was off.

So many of Mantis's people had been killed or injured. Why were they still fighting to the death instead of retreating? Weren't they afraid to die?

The question flashed through Wang Yiyang's mind. He immediately grew alert.

His brows knitted together.

"Has anything unusual come up on the scanners?" he asked quickly.

Lei Wei froze for a moment, then quickly pressed the communicator at her collar and quietly asked a few questions.

But there was no response from the other end. It seemed the soldiers monitoring the entire area had lost contact.

Lei Wei's expression changed too. She immediately began contacting all the operation team leaders.

As she quickly grew alert and realized something was wrong,

the Limit Martial Artists of Yanhu Sect and the Martial Alliance also sensed it. They hurriedly gathered around Wang Yiyang, guarding him on all sides.

Squads of soldiers quietly assembled around Wang Yiyang's vehicle.

But Wang Yiyang paid none of that any attention. He was staring through his binoculars at the ground in front of the martial arts school.

Until now, Zhong Can and the two Mantis leaders had been fighting there.

But the scene had changed completely.

Zhong Can was kneeling on one knee, clutching his abdomen. Blood kept dripping between his fingers.

The two Mantis fighters were pale and leaned on each other for support, barely able to stay on their feet.

Each had completely lost the use of one leg. Their kneecaps had been shattered, leaving nothing but bone fragments.

And now, the real center of attention was no longer Zhong Can, Wang Xinlong, or even the two badly wounded Mantis leaders.

It was a muscular old man standing ramrod straight, his long white hair reaching his waist.

He was bare-chested, his bronze-colored muscles covered in all kinds of scars and wounds.

He wore only a pair of black trousers. His arms hung loosely at his sides, and his muscles looked as if they had been cast from bronze, without a trace of bulk.

"Zhong Can. Is this the answer you wanted to give me?" The old man's expression was calm, devoid of emotion. He simply watched Zhong Can in silence.

His two disciples, Red Eyebrows and the curvaceous woman, stood behind him, but he didn't even shift his gaze toward them.

Zhong Can slowly let go of his abdomen. The wound that had been bleeding moments ago had temporarily closed, stopping the flow of blood.

It was a sophisticated form of muscle control, allowing him to force his muscles to close a wound in an extremely short time.

He narrowed his eyes and stared at the long-haired old man without a word, as the invisible aura around him began to gather once more.

The long-haired old man shook his head slightly in disappointment, turned his gaze away from Zhong Can, and looked instead at Wang Xinlong, who had recovered somewhat.

"Wang Xinlong. It's been a long time." They actually knew each other.

Nicolas and Xiao Hong were supporting Wang Xinlong. His expression was just as grim as he stared at the long-haired old man.

"Are you... Wu Qi?" He recognized the other man.

Many years ago, they had studied martial arts together as fellow disciples.

Back then, they had gotten along quite well. But later, their differing beliefs had gradually led them down separate paths.

Wu Qi stood with his hands behind his back, his gaze fixed on Wang Xinlong.

"After all these years, you're still so weak."

"Weak? I'm simply holding to what I believe in!" Wang Xinlong stood up and straightened his back. Various complicated emotions flickered across his aged face.

"What is it you believe in? Turning martial arts into a fitness routine?" Wu Qi sneered. "Since ancient times, we've been killers, men above other men! Our reputations were built on the blood of the weak. And yet you once wanted to turn martial arts into exercise?"

He pointed at Zhong Can.

"Look what you've turned a promising talent into! Is this the ideal you wanted to uphold? Forcibly suppressing the will of someone who seeks the ultimate in martial arts?"

Wang Xinlong looked at Zhong Can as well, his eyes filled with disappointment and silence.

"Times have changed..."

"That doesn't mean it's time for us to leave the stage!" Wu Qi cut him off, spreading his arms.

Rat-tat-tat-tat-tat!

A continuous burst of gunfire erupted in an instant.

Wu Qi's expression changed. His figure suddenly turned into a grey shadow as he dodged left and right several times, quickly leaving the spot where he had been standing.

A cluster of bullet and needle holes had appeared in the ground where he'd been.

By the time the gunfire stopped, he was already a full twenty meters from Wang Xinlong and the others.

At the same time, bursts of rapid gunfire erupted in the distance.

The gunfire came without warning, but soon faded and fell silent, and everything returned to the quiet of before.

Wu Qi's expression darkened. He reached up and pressed the button on the communicator at his collar, but there was no response.

He immediately realized something was wrong, and his gaze grew even more ominous.

He had brought eighteen of the most capable fighters from his sect. They had all received the finest assassination training, so taking out those unknown grunts nearby should have been easy.