Yaming stood on the podium and spoke in a calm voice. "Heh, not bad. You actually brought the regular army to our doorstep. How ignorant. With a force this small and these 'superhumans,' I don't even need to lift a finger!" As she spoke, Yaming waved her hand lightly, and a massive barrier enveloped everyone in the Pitch Black plaza.
The superhumans hovering in the sky had a leader who spoke up. "Don't get so cocky. Open fire and take them out!" At his command, dozens of restricted missiles and countless enhanced explosive warheads roared toward the crowd from Pitch Black!
The superhumans didn't move. The enormous explosions and noise shook the earth. Soon, smoke billowed everywhere, making it impossible to see anything.
The smoke slowly cleared. The people from Pitch Black stood safe and sound inside the protective barrier. Everyone from Sea of Fire went wild. Firepower capable of destroying an entire city couldn't even damage a single barrier?
Then another person on the podium spoke. Judging by his voice, it was probably Kuo Ming. "A nuclear warhead might put a few cracks in that barrier. What's this puny firepower supposed to do? Sea of Fire, oh, Sea of Fire. This time, for that dead man, I'll have to make your company disappear from this world!"
Kuo Ming made his move, surging toward the superhumans with an enormous stream of energy. As he shot through the air, several armed helicopters close to him were torn to shreds. Before the superhumans could even fight back, they had all turned into pools of blood. Then the wreckage and blood vanished into thin air, and the remaining helicopters exploded for no apparent reason.
The people around the perimeter began attacking. All kinds of strange abilities came into view before Heming.
Qiming grinned at Heming. "Heh, see? Miss Yaming knew they'd attack us long ago. Those people on the perimeter are all elite first- and second-level fighters. These three thousand regular soldiers are no match for them. I think they'll only need two minutes..." Qiming trailed off.
It was over in less than forty seconds. Qiming didn't know what to say about the more than three thousand well-equipped regular soldiers.
In the next second, the people on the perimeter returned to their original positions. Three more people emerged from behind the last row and headed toward the podium.
Qiming cursed under his breath. "Damn, there were three special-class fighters mixed in with the perimeter troops. No wonder they finished so fast. The ten people on the podium are all key members of Pitch Black. They're not all here, but the ten of them together could destroy a major country as easily as a game—though, of course, no one would actually do that."
Yaming glanced around the plaza and used powerful streams of pink energy to break down the corpses of the regular soldiers and turn them into crystals. The crystals slowly floated into the sky and disappeared.
Yaming spoke in a sorrowful tone. "We don't like fighting, and we're even less willing to kill. The immediate family members of everyone who died will receive compensation and a letter of apology from Pitch Black, then have their memories erased. We don't want to bring misfortune to anyone. We're only doing this to protect ourselves. Sea of Fire has more than eight hundred branches around the world. We only need to destroy its two hundred or so main branches. Let Sea of Fire's other enemies acquire the rest. When carrying out the destruction missions, be careful around ordinary people. Don't hurt them unless there's no other choice. As for Sea of Fire's special personnel and direct subordinates, it's fine to send them all away. Our goal this time is to destroy Sea of Fire in one fell swoop. Since Pitch Black was founded, this is the first time we've been betrayed—and the first time we've been directly attacked. Kuo Ming will assign your missions shortly. I hope everyone will be careful." After speaking, she left the podium and headed backstage.
After Yaming left, Kuo Ming stepped forward and said, "The ten of us will personally handle Sea of Fire's headquarters. The rest will be assigned according to each action team's strength..."
Another hour or so passed before all the assignments were finished. Our team's mission was to deal with the Qinghai branch in China. We had to go to the Pitch Black plaza to get the detailed information.
After the meeting, Qiming picked up the information and gathered the rest of us at the entrance.
We got into the organization's van.
On the way, Qiming said, "The Qinghai branch has 357 armed direct subordinates and four traitors from ancient Chinese demonic sects. The mission is in three days. The organization wants everyone to act at the same time. We'll get there first and wait for intelligence from headquarters before making our move. Heming, you're still a rookie, so this time you only need to deal with the armed men. Your abilities are pretty good, but you don't know how to fight yet. When we get there, I'll train with you. It'd be bad if you got shot."
Heming nodded.
Three days later, near Sea of Fire's Qinghai branch, Qiming and three others crouched in a corner like street thugs.
Qiming checked his watch, then said, "Ming Yin and Xi Ming have already made their move. Let's go. Heming, your target is the basement. No one else will compete with you for it. Once you're done, come upstairs and meet up with us."
Heming and the others nodded and set off.
Heming went alone to the parking lot. After quietly dealing with the guards, he made his way toward the basement.
During the two and a half days leading up to this, Qiming had taught Heming the Pitch Black Heart Method, which everyone in Pitch Black knew. According to Pitch Black's rules, anyone below level three could only learn the basic method. It was easy to practice and worked well: it increased strength and speed, and let you generate energy inside your body. But you needed the beginner method to learn how to use that energy, so it wasn't much use yet.
Before teaching him the method, Qiming had said that the power Kuo Ming used at the Pitch Black plaza probably wasn't even a tenth of his full strength. Generally speaking, if a special-class fighter used his full strength, a level-two fighter wouldn't even be able to see his movements. But at the Pitch Black plaza, everyone could see Kuo Ming's movements. That meant Kuo Ming had just been playing around with them...
He'd also told Heming that learning the method would naturally bring out his body's special constitution. His was rapid growth, which was decent. Apart from Qiming, Heming was the only one in their team with rapid growth. "Oh, I have high-speed growth, which is a little better than yours. Heh..."
After quietly taking out the two guards at the basement entrance, Heming charged straight through the door. Some people inside hadn't even reacted before he sent them flying. Those who did react tried to grab their pistols and other weapons, but now Heming could move three times faster than an ordinary person. Many of them were taken out before they could react.
Before long, all forty-seven people in the basement had died at Heming's hands. He was impressed with himself. So this was how easy it was to kill someone.
He didn't have time to think about it. This was the path he'd chosen, and he'd already made up his mind. Before they came, Qiming had talked to him about killing...
After planting the bombs, Heming took the elevator straight to the top floor. On his way out, he planted a bomb in the elevator. Qiming and the others had already finished their fight. Four men in black trench coats lay on the ground.
When Qiming saw Heming, he said, "These guys never bothered to train. They just went out drinking and making merry. This was supposed to be a tough fight, but they were less than half as strong as they'd been in the reports from two years ago. We took them out as soon as we attacked. What a bore. Xi Ming, report to headquarters that the Qinghai branch has been destroyed. Let's go."
Two hours later, the Sea of Fire Qinghai branch was brought to an end in a huge explosion. The rest of us also reached the designated location as instructed.
Two hours after that, Qiming and the others returned to the Okinawa branch to wait for headquarters to review the mission.
What a long review process.
I won't go into the details.
Anyway, as of today, the global company Sea of Fire had disappeared.
Everyone in Pitch Black got three days off. Heming didn't, though. For some reason, he had to carry out a relatively simple mission: protect two special people.
After the others left, Qiming explained the mission in detail.
Kuo Ming had assigned this mission personally. Heming had to protect two Chinese people visiting Japan. The mission's duration was uncertain: they might leave after just a few hours, or they might stay for years. It all depended on luck. He was pretty lucky; missions like this came up less than once in ten thousand times. Anyway, he should go back to the room the company had arranged for him and rest for the night. Tomorrow, he'd set off for Tokyo Airport to meet them. These were their photos, and they'd come up and greet him. The mission would be easy; he just had to be a little careful. And he shouldn't say anything stupid. They weren't ordinary people. He should understand that although he was supposed to protect them, the real purpose was to learn something from them while they were there. Qiming was warning him now: last time, the United States headquarters had sent two level-two fighters to protect them, but after only a few words, they got into a fight. Those two spent three months in the hospital. Headquarters had no choice but to send a few more people. He was on his own. Qiming was busy, so he should go. "Hey, hey, take this credit card. Whatever you do, remember to pay first. That's important."
Heming wanted to complain after hearing Qiming go on and on, but he didn't get the chance. He returned to his "home," and as soon as he lay down, he began practicing the Pitch Black Heart Method. He didn't know how long he practiced before falling asleep. When he woke up, it was already morning. He was punctual, so he arrived at the airport before the appointed time and waited for the two of them.
The airport announcement sounded: "The flight from China has arrived. Anyone meeting passengers, please proceed to Exit 2 immediately. Thank you for your cooperation."
Heming stood at the exit, watching as passengers began to come out.
Only after nearly all the passengers had left did Heming spot two young Chinese people, a man and a woman, dressed in ordinary clothes. They matched the descriptions in the information exactly. He immediately went over to them.
"My name is Guangcheng Heming. I'm in charge of your protection detail. Welcome to Japan." Heming politely greeted the two guests, who were younger than him.
"My name is Lv Tian, and she's Zhen Yajie. Those are aliases. I'd like to use the name Zhen Ming, but for certain reasons, I can't. Our first stop is Wind Valley, the new commercial district in Tokyo. You'll be our guide!" the young man said to Heming.
Zhen Yajie linked arms with Lv Tian and said, "They send people to bother us every time. She's certainly very thoughtful, huh?"
Lv Tian smiled at Heming and gestured for him to lead the way.
After the three left, someone standing in a corner of the airport said, "The targets have been confirmed. We're continuing to observe. All units, do not engage without authorization."
Before you continue