Liquid Silver Phantom Martial Arts

"This old man wants complete control of Peace Prefecture City, not to maintain a three-way division of power between the Martial Pavilion, the government, and the Military Department."

Nie Renxiong's words were astonishing. If outsiders heard them, the Heavenly Stem King would likely rush over overnight to deal with him personally.

"Aren't you afraid I'll turn around and expose this?" Chen Xu asked with an ambiguous smile.

Nie Renxiong threw back his head and laughed heartily. "Before meeting you, this old man thought there was some possibility of that. After meeting you, I no longer worry."

He did not mention his original plan at all. The strength Chen Xu had displayed qualified him to change from someone to be used into a collaborator.

"As long as this old man can guarantee you the greatest possible benefits, our cooperation will not end."

Chen Xu did not refute him. With interest, he said, "Tell me about the cooperation, and what benefits Chen will receive."

"Deputy Pavilion Master Chen should know about the five recent major incidents in Peace Prefecture City. A dignified prefectural city still hasn't managed to catch the culprit. Isn't that utterly ridiculous?"

With his hands clasped behind his back, Nie Renxiong's eyes brimmed with endless killing intent. "What if I told you that the Martial Pavilion and the government deliberately allowed the culprit to remain at large?"

"What do you mean?" Chen Xu leaned against the wall and asked with interest.

His gaze darkened, and Nie Renxiong smashed the nearby wall with a single punch. "If there's competition, compete openly and fairly. Yet for the sake of climbing higher, they even dare join forces with the Martial Alliance. They've rotted to the extreme!"

What use was such a rotten Martial Pavilion and government to him?!

Chen Xu calmly watched Nie Renxiong's performance. This guy was no better than those two. If the Military Department truly mobilized and went all out to hunt them down, those two forces, unable to act openly, could not stop them at all.

He was probably waiting for the government and the Martial Pavilion to join forces with the Martial Alliance, so he could launch a righteous campaign against them and take Peace Prefecture City in one sweep.

By the time the newly appointed Pavilion Master and Prefectural Governor arrived, they would pose no threat to Nie Renxiong. With all your subordinates being someone else's people, what could you use to contend against them?

Nie Renxiong's gloomy expression suddenly changed, replaced by a touch of smugness. "Deputy Pavilion Master Chen, how about this script? The Peace Prefecture Martial Pavilion and the government collude with the Martial Alliance, but they turn on each other over an uneven division of spoils. The Military Department discovers them and wipes them all out."

War always came with the loss of some resources.

Chen Xu glanced at Nie Renxiong. That statement was practically an open hint of where those lost resources would end up.

"Deal." Chen Xu changed the subject. "But Chen can stay in Peace Prefecture City for three days at most. If Minister Nie fails to find an opportunity within three days, I'm afraid our cooperation will have to be delayed."

He had to return before the finals began. The Martial Alliance might attack Jinning Commandery during the finals. As the Deputy Pavilion Master of the Jinning Commandery Martial Pavilion, he had to protect the Martial Pavilion's resource vault from infringement.

Embezzling from the vault he guarded would absolutely never happen to him. Really.

"Fine. When it is time to act, I will naturally contact Deputy Pavilion Master Chen."

"Little Xie, bring Deputy Pavilion Master Chen intelligence on the upper ranks of the Martial Pavilion and the government."

After accepting the intelligence, Chen Xu did not linger. His figure flickered repeatedly, and in less than five seconds, he vanished from the underground parking garage.

Only after Chen Xu had gone far away did several soldiers gather around Nie Renxiong.

"Minister, why did you suddenly change the plan? At most, his strength is evenly matched with yours. With the strongest marksmen in our unit added in, we might not be unable to take him down."

Nie Renxiong waved his hand. "You have not stepped into the realm of Martial Artists, so you do not know how terrifying they are. The ordinary firearms we carry cannot possibly threaten him."

"Besides, he is no ordinary Martial Artist."

Nie Renxiong knew that there was not much difference between himself and Chen Xu on the surface. Yet as time passed, he would sooner or later be left behind, looking up at that young man's back.

One was the setting remnants of the sun, while the other was the rising morning sun. He had initially only intended to use him, but on second thought, paying some benefits in exchange for an expert who would most likely step into [Martial Momentum] in the future should be a worthwhile deal.

In a pitch-black alley, a young woman in a business suit carried her small handbag in front of her and walked with her head down.

She had not wanted to leave work so late, especially during this period when major incidents were happening frequently. But one had no control over one's life in the workplace. Working overtime was routine for her.

As for overtime pay... heh heh, getting even part of it was already good enough. There was no shortage of people in this world. If you were unwilling to bend over and be harvested like chives, someone else would be willing.

"Little sister, why are you walking alone so late? Come play with your big brother."

The frivolous male voice that suddenly sounded beside her startled her so badly that her entire body jolted.

She tried to take out her pepper spray from her bag, but Ghost immediately pinned down her hand.

"Help..."

A small crimson tongue flew from the woman's mouth and landed on the filthy ground.

For a moment, the woman had yet to realize what had happened. When the excruciating pain struck, it hurt so badly that she nearly fainted on the spot.

"Call out one more time, and it'll be your head that falls off." Ghost's voice was gentle, but his words sent chills down the spine.

The office worker's eyes widened as tears flowed uncontrollably down her face. Her instinct to survive temporarily suppressed the pain, and she begged, "I can give you whatever you want. Please don't kill me."

Half her tongue had been cut off, making her voice somewhat slurred.

"Don't worry. I won't let you die so early. We still have a whole wonderful night ahead of us." Ghost kissed her cheek.

He placed a blue-and-white capsule into the woman's mouth.

"Be good. Swallow it." The woman did not dare disobey him. Trembling, she opened her mouth and swallowed it with her saliva.

"Finally caught you, you damned serial killer!"

On top of a low-rise building outside the alley stood a figure wearing a motorcycle helmet and a tight black night suit, with a red cape fluttering behind him.

He leaped down, blocking the alley entrance, and tossed out a pair of gleaming silver handcuffs.

"Peace Prefecture City's hero beneath the night, Thousand Changes, has arrived!"

"I advise you not to remain stubborn and attempt to resist."

"My strength is beyond what scraps of this era like you can imagine."

"You have only two choices!"

"Either put on the handcuffs yourself and follow me to the Public Security Office to surrender;"

"Or resist to the end, take a beating, and then be taken to the Public Security Office by me."

Even though his voice was distorted by the helmet, it was still easy to tell that he was some brat going through puberty.

"Scraps of this era? What arrogant nonsense!" Ghost laughed in extreme anger. Having always considered himself beyond the ordinary, when had he ever been insulted like this?

Like an arrow released from its bow, he arrived before Thousand Changes in the next instant. His sharp nails stabbed toward the motorcycle helmet. He intended to tear apart both the helmet and the head inside it.

Ghost's gentle expression vanished completely, replaced by a savage, crazed, bloodthirsty gaze.

"Brat, you may be young, but your mouth is filthy. I want to see whether you'll still dare talk like that after I tear your mouth apart!"

"So fast!" Thousand Changes did not even have time to show shock beneath his helmet.

A piercing scraping sound rang out. Inside the punctured helmet, a flash of silver gleamed brilliantly.