Who is the formidable person?

"Alright, this is far enough. There's no one around now."

In the alley, Tang Jian stopped and turned to look at the thug who had him by the neck.

"Damn it, are you listening to him or me? I said we're going, so let's go!"

The thug roared, pushing Tang Jian.

"Easy, easy there. This kid's got soft skin; he's pretty to look at." Another thug snickered, eyeing Tang Jian, and stepped forward to grab Tang Jian's schoolbag.

Tang Jian's gaze subtly chilled. He let go as the other man grabbed his bag, then immediately kicked him in the stomach.

Thump! The man groaned, stumbled back, and landed hard on his backside, his face contorted in pain.

"You!"

The thug holding Tang Jian's arm widened his eyes, but before he could pull out the dagger from his waist, Tang Jian's right hand had already gripped the wrist that was on his shoulder.

He pressed down hard!

The thug felt his entire arm go numb. Before he could react, a sharp, stinging impact hit his chest as Tang Jian elbowed him directly to the ground.

In the blink of an eye, both thugs were down.

"What?!"

The third thug was startled. He roared, pulling out a dagger, the gleaming blade in his hand, and lunged straight for Tang Jian.

In 203 AD, public safety was incredibly chaotic.

Especially near school gates, thugs frequently brawled, and people were often beaten to death or crippled.

Even in cities riddled with nuclear radiation, heinous crimes occurred daily, and human lives were worthless.

At this moment, this thug, his face full of shock and rage, pulled out a dagger and lunged at Tang Jian, truly showing no mercy. A few wild swings would undoubtedly be fatal.

However, Tang Jian was even quicker. His left hand emerged from his pocket, five slender fingers deftly turning. A silver-white Card, like a butterfly flitting through flowers, briefly glowed in his hand before suddenly being flung out.

Whoosh—

The instant the Card was thrown, it transformed into a Sleeve Arrow, twisting like a small snake.

Clang!

The Sleeve Arrow struck the dagger in the thug's hand directly, producing a metallic vibrating sound. Then, another Sleeve Arrow suddenly detached and grazed past the thug's cheek.

Instantly, the dagger in the thug's hand was knocked loose and flew out. Blood flowed from his cheek, and he shrieked in terror, "A Card? You actually have a Combat Card?"

Tang Jian wasted no words in combat. He charged forward, driving his knee directly into the other man's abdomen, sending him flying and crashing hard to the ground.

"Ah—!" The thug lay on the ground, retching painfully, spitting out a viscous yellow and white substance.

In a flash, all three thugs had lost their fighting ability and were on the ground.

Several students watching from a distance at the alley entrance were all wide-eyed and stunned.

Tang Jian glanced at the alley entrance, his gaze sweeping over Xie Dong's frightened and astonished face. His lips curled slightly. He quickly rummaged through the thugs' pockets for money and items, grabbed his schoolbag, and left the alley via another path.

He didn't even need to ask.

Since Xie Dong was at the alley entrance and these thugs coincidentally targeted him, Tang Jian already knew who was behind this.

However, they were all students right now, and he wasn't a Card Master yet, so he could only give them a small lesson and rob the three thugs. But killing them was out of the question.

Even privileged Card Masters couldn't openly kill ordinary people at will. If they killed someone, they would still be wanted by the police, let alone ordinary Card Users.

"This is like children playing house. I even specifically made a Sleeve Arrow Card. Looks like I overprepared."

Tang Jian exited the alley from another opening. He looked through his spoils. While feeling pleased and relaxed, he also found it a bit amusing.

With the basic combat techniques he learned in college as a Combat Card Master, dealing with these few thugs was effortless, without any strain.

In his previous life, he dealt with Card Masters, the weakest of whom would have at least one Combat Card or Mechanical Card and some fighting ability.

Now, reborn and fighting these ordinary people, it was so easy that Tang Jian felt a bit unaccustomed to it, as if he had overestimated them.

However, this encounter also brought him a considerable harvest.

He had collected about 500 yuan from the three thugs, two auxiliary Flame Cards, and one One-Star Blank Energy Card.

Tang Jian checked it. The Energy Card seemed to be half-used, containing only about 50 units of energy, which reduced its value.

The two Flame Cards were worth about thirty yuan each on the market. They were the most common One-Star Blank auxiliary Cards, convenient for lighting cigarettes, and incredibly easy to make, even easier than a One-Star Blank Energy Card.

Flame Cards weren't very useful and hard to sell, so Tang Jian planned to keep them for his family.

As Tang Jian, acting as if nothing had happened, left the alley to get dinner, Xie Dong was restless and distraught, unsure how he even made it back to the classroom.

He still couldn't forget the scene of Tang Jian's swift and decisive handling of the three thugs, especially Tang Jian's gaze that looked at him from a distance in the alley afterward.

That gaze was calm, disdainful, and even completely indifferent, making him shiver whenever he thought about it. A voice constantly echoed in his mind.

"Will he know it was me?"

"Will he know it was me?"

With this thought, Xie Dong became even more terrified and uneasy.

When you do enough bad deeds, you naturally feel guilty. Xie Dong was feeling guilty now, and not just guilty—he was also worried about Tang Jian retaliating.

A flurry of thoughts wrestled in his mind: should he escalate things further and strike first, or should he proactively make amends and get on Tang Jian's good side?

Lost in these thoughts, Xie Dong was distracted and unable to focus for the entire evening study session.

Meanwhile, after enjoying a luxurious bucket meal of stir-fried tripe with green peppers, Tang Jian took his over five hundred yuan of "ill-gotten gains" directly to a Card shop. He bought two bottles of Rare Energy Water and three One-Star Blank Energy Cards, leaving only 120 yuan on himself.

Once he had these items, Tang Jian couldn't help but sigh, It really is true that crime pays.

Xie Dong truly was a bringer of wealth.

To have money and resources delivered right when he needed them most was simply too good to be true.

As for whether those punks would retaliate later, Tang Jian couldn't be bothered to care.

There weren't many Card Masters in all of Xicheng.

As long as it wasn't a Card Master coming for revenge, Tang Jian was confident that with his Sleeve Arrow Card, he could still protect himself.

When he returned to the school classroom, he heard Yang Mao and the others discussing something.

As he drew closer to listen, Tang Jian was somewhat surprised.

"Did you hear? There was another fight outside school just now. We have a real tough guy at our school! He actually took down three thugs by himself."

"Yeah, yeah, I heard too. Someone said it was a student from our senior year, and their Card Energy must be at least seventy or eighty. And they supposedly have a Combat Card as well."

"Combat Cards are really expensive though, aren't they? Maybe it was a Mechanical Card?"

"Hey, Tang Jian, did you know? A tough guy emerged from our senior year, and he even has a powerful Card. We just don't know which class he's from." Yang Mao said, patting Tang Jian's shoulder as soon as he saw him approach.

"Well... they were just three small-time thugs. Defeating them doesn't seem like such a big deal, does it?" Tang Jian hesitated.

Yang Mao and the others all glanced at him sideways.

"Just three small-time thugs? Not a big deal? If you'd run into them, you'd have been beaten to a pulp!" Yang Mao said with a look of disdain.

"They had a Combat Card, you know. Don't underestimate that expert," Xu Fei added.

Tang Jian gave them a frustrated look, said nothing, and went back to his seat, continuing to listen to them guess and flatter the "tough guy."

"I think it might be Yang Chao from Class One. All of us with the surname Yang are powerful."

"Pfft. They say that guy is eight feet tall and really burly. It's probably Wang Ba from Class Two."

Tang Jian glanced at his own rather un-muscular arms and muttered to himself, The tough guy is right beside you, and you're still guessing. What a waste of time.

Please vote! Yesterday was Qixi Festival, and I still haven't found a buyer for myself. Such a failure!