Killing the Tiger

Ocean City Concession.

A fine winter rain, like endless ox hair, shrouded the entire Western street in a chilling, murderous mist.

Lu Zhen, dressed in black night-traveling clothes, was like a night owl merged with the darkness, silently lurking in the shadows of the clock tower across the street.

He stared at the two-story Western mansion with arched windows diagonally opposite.

That was the secret residence where, according to Sun Gouzi, Duan Hu kept his mistress within the Concession.

Duan Hu, the second-in-command of the Black Dragon Water Stronghold, was a genuine expert at the early stage of Bright Force. At this level, his Blood-Qi Like a Furnace radiated outward like a protective aura, and a single swing of his arm possessed a terrifying force of five thousand catties.

In the eyes of ordinary martial artists, he was already a ghost-like, invincible powerhouse.

But to Lu Zhen, he was nothing more than mediocre.

Although he was also a newcomer to Bright Force, his freakish Lv.5 "Blood-Qi Like a Furnace" physique had forcibly pushed his limit to seven thousand catties in a single arm!

A full two thousand catties of absolute strength suppression, combined with the freakish defense of Copper Skin Iron Bone—this was the confidence that allowed him to sneak into the Concession alone tonight for the kill!

Only...

Lu Zhen tilted his head slightly.

Through the pattering rain, two blocks away, came the faint, rhythmic sound of metal clashing and the "hissing" of high-pressure valves venting steam.

That was the "Mobile Patrol Squad" of the Concession Guard Department.

They were all elite lackeys, fully equipped with "Steam Battle Gear" exoskeletons crafted by the Western Arsenal!

Those steel monsters, driven by interlocking gears and high-pressure steam, were armed with Western rapid-fire guns; once entangled by them, the trouble would be immense.

This is the foreigners' territory; I must not cause too much of a stir and attract the battle gear troops.

I must finish this quickly. Within three breaths, life and death shall be decided!

Lu Zhen took a deep breath.

"Boom—"

A pale bolt of lightning suddenly split the night sky.

Under the cover of the thunder, Lu Zhen's figure moved!

He pulled a blurred afterimage through the air, silently vaulting over the mansion's high iron fence.

His hands hooked into the brick seams of the Western exterior wall like iron claws, and like a giant gecko, he scrambled onto the second-floor balcony in a few movements.

Inside the second-floor bedroom, a gramophone was playing a decadent, slow Western tune.

Duan Hu, his tattooed upper body bare, had just climbed off the fair, tender belly of the popular showgirl. He casually threw on a silk robe, walked to the table, and was about to pick up a glass of red wine.

Suddenly, the Bright Force intuition honed from years of licking blood from the blade made every hair on his body stand on end!

A chilling, murderous intent, as if tangible, had already pierced through the thick glass window and locked onto him tightly!

"Who?!"

Duan Hu roared, not hesitating to push his early-stage Bright Force Blood-Qi to the limit. Five thousand catties of violent force instantly surged into his right arm as he turned and unleashed a cannon punch, swift as thunder, directly at the window frame!

"Bang!"

The window glass exploded into thousands of crystalline shards in an instant!

But meeting Duan Hu's fist was not some hidden weapon, but an iron fist just as large as a palm-leaf fan, carrying an even more terrifying aura of blood-qi!

Lu Zhen smashed through the rain curtain and glass, bringing the damp chill of the night wind, and collided head-on with Duan Hu's cannon punch in the most savage and domineering manner!

"Crack—!"

Duan Hu's prideful five thousand catties of Bright Force, under the unreasonable monster strength of Lu Zhen's seven thousand catties and the absolute suppression of "Blood-Qi Like a Furnace," were like brittle, withered wood.

The bones of his right arm, from wrist to elbow, shattered inch by inch! The sharp, white bone fragments pierced directly through skin and flesh, and blood sprayed wildly!

"Urgh—"

Duan Hu's pupils shrank, a shrill scream about to break through his throat.

A cold glint flashed in Lu Zhen's eyes as he turned his fist into a claw, like a goshawk hunting a rabbit. His left hand moved fast as lightning, gripping Duan Hu's throat and crushing the scream right in his windpipe!

Following this, Lu Zhen used the momentum of his forward charge and bent his right knee sharply.

Like a heavy siege hammer, it slammed into Duan Hu's chest!

"Boom!"

The knee strike was dull and thunderous.

Duan Hu's sternum collapsed completely in an instant, and the violent Bright Force aura passed straight through his body, pulverizing his heart into a pulp of meat!

His eyes bulged, filled with disbelief, horror, and despair.

This second-in-command of the Black Dragon Water Stronghold, who had once shaken the Great River, didn't even have time to leave a final word before being hammered into a corpse in a mere two breaths.

The showgirl on the bed, startled awake, was about to scream when Lu Zhen flicked a piece of broken glass from his fingertip, striking her sleep-inducing acupoint with pinpoint accuracy. The showgirl rolled her eyes and immediately slumped onto the bed.

Lu Zhen let go, allowing Duan Hu's limp corpse to slide onto the Persian rug.

His movements were extremely fast; without a moment's pause, he immediately leaned over to search Duan Hu's robes and drawers with lightning speed.

Kill the man, loot the corpse—the iron law of the underworld.

In mere moments, he fished a stack of HSBC bearer bonds from an inner lining, totaling a staggering two thousand silver dollars!

Along with these were several heavy gold bars and a Black Dragon Token, the symbol of the Black Dragon Water Stronghold's second-in-command.

Lu Zhen tucked the items into his coat, didn't even glance at the corpse on the floor, and vaulted into the vast, rainy night.

He came and went like the wind, a silent killer.

From start to finish, it hadn't even taken half a cup of tea's time!

A few minutes later.

"CRASH!"

The mansion's front door was kicked open by a burst of violent mechanical force.

A squad of Concession Guard Department officers, clad in dark blue uniforms and carrying high-pressure steam tanks on their backs, rushed to the second floor with Western-style rapid-fire guns leveled.

When the leader kicked open the bedroom door and saw Duan Hu lying in a pool of blood, his chest completely caved in, the pupils beneath his mask constricted to the limit.

"Traces of Bright Force energy discharge..."

The guard captain's voice trembled as he spoke to his subordinates: "The dead man is the second-in-command of the Black Dragon Water Stronghold. An arm severed in one strike, a heart shattered in one blow! This was pure, overwhelming force!"

The news of the Black Dragon Water Stronghold's second-in-command dying in the mansion exploded through the Ocean City concession instantly.

Along the streets, the Western-style cafes and high-end teahouses were already packed with foreign firm agents and wealthy aristocrats. People whispered to one another, voices hushed, their faces masks of unconcealable shock and terror.

"Did you hear? The dead man was a Bright Force master! His sternum was smashed to pieces!"

"Who could have such heaven-defying guts? To kill a Bright Force powerhouse in broad daylight within the foreign concession?"

"This is a slap in the face to the Imperial Guard Bureau! Even the Western Battle Gear Patrol couldn't stop the killer. This Ocean City... I fear it's going to be in chaos for a while!"

Rumors spread like wildfire across the Ten-Mile Foreign Field, leaving everyone on edge.

At the crime scene, inside the cordoned-off Western mansion.

Fujita Shoichi, head of the Concession Guard Department, strode into the chaotic second-floor bedroom, followed by the leader of the Black Dragon Water Stronghold, Duan Hai, whose face was livid.

Duan Hai looked at the collapsed, mangled corpse on the floor. His eyes turned blood-red, and his violent, surging energy caused the damp air around him to ripple and distort.

He crouched down, his thick fingers gripping Duan Hu's shattered arm bone, his eyelid twitching wildly.

Years of living on the edge of a blade gave him an instinct that allowed him to see the truth at a glance.

"It's Bright Force... and a top-tier master of fist techniques!"

Duan Hai gritted his teeth, suddenly looking up, his eyes filled with venomous hatred as he roared: "It must be the Gu Family! It's that old dog Gu Wanshan's man, A-Kuan! He killed my son, and now he's come for my brother!"

"Fool, use your brain."

Fujita Shoichi, standing to the side, spoke coldly.

"That A-Kuan is only a novice in the Bright Force. Your brother, Duan Hu, is also at the early stage of Bright Force. If they had actually fought, even if he lost, the commotion would have been enough to flip half this street."

Fujita's gaze was sharp as a blade, sweeping over the shattered glass and the evidence of a single-strike kill, before he said coldly:

"The Imperial Guard Bureau knows the movements of the Gu Family's retainers like the back of our hand. None of them left the main hall last night. To crush Duan Hu with one punch, leaving him no room to retaliate... this person is at least a master of the middle or late stage of Bright Force!"

"The Gu Family has no such person."

Duan Hai froze, the murderous aura on his body stalling: "Not the Gu Family? Then who in this Ocean City would strike with such ruthlessness..."

Fujita Shoichi narrowed his eyes, a flicker of deep apprehension crossing his gaze as he muttered to himself: "Fist techniques that reach the divine, a strike like thunder... could it be the Xiao Family?"

"The Xiao Family?!"

At these words, Duan Hai shuddered as if his tail had been stepped on, his face draining of color.

The Xiao Family!

They were the true behemoth of all Ocean City, the undisputed leaders of the Ocean City martial arts world!

Never mind a mere Tongjiang Chamber of Commerce; even the Western concession and the powerful families within the "Hetero-Martialist Alliance," equipped with their top-tier serums, had to tread carefully in front of the Xiao Family, barely able to stand on equal footing.

Duan Hai swallowed hard, his hands and feet turning cold.

It was rumored that within the inner court of the Xiao Family, there were over a dozen martial masters who had attained "Dark Force" alone!

And that old patriarch, who had been in seclusion for years, was said to have long since crossed the threshold of Dark Force, reaching a terrifying, unfathomable realm.

Even more chilling was the new generation of the Xiao Family.

The Xiao Family's heaven-favored daughter, Xiao Yuqing.

At a young age, she had already swept aside her peers, stepping into the "Dark Force" realm, and was ranked as one of the "Four Great Geniuses" of Ocean City's younger generation, her fame resounding.

Thinking of this, Fujita Shoichi and Duan Hai exchanged a glance, both breaking into a cold sweat at this terrifying conjecture.

If it truly was the Xiao Family who had acted, the nature of the matter had completely changed.

Whatever Gu Family, whatever feud with water bandits—in front of such a giant, they were nothing more than ants and clowns not worth mentioning!

Fujita Shoichi's expression was grave to the extreme.

The Kwantung Army, the various Western powers, the Chinese warlords, the Martial Alliance of the World... every one of these top-tier factions that looked down upon the world was secretly calculating and laying out their moves in this grand game of heaven and earth.

If last night's assassination was truly a signal that the Xiao Family or those other top-tier powers had entered the fray...

If they dared to be so ignorant of death as to get swept into a vortex of this magnitude.

They would absolutely be crushed to pieces, left without a grave to call their own!