The Terrifying Power of Thornfire

After settling on a name for his organization, Su Yi returned to Iron Beetle to stock up. The deal with the Hound Gang was tomorrow.

In front of the blue row house, Su Yi noticed that the two security guards were gone.

Something's wrong.

To guard against trouble, Su Yi immediately held the robot tight against his chest and drew its repulsion field in until it covered his skin.

The moment he pushed the door open, a strong smell of blood hit him.

So something did happen. If I had to guess, it was the Wolf Fang Gang.

The Wolf Fang Gang controlled the black-market arms trade throughout the Rootvine District and the nearby border areas.

Behind them stood the faction of Vine City's mayor, Manco Follet.

The Wolf Fang Gang's current boss was Weber Nigel, Follet's brother-in-law and the head of the Rootvine District Patrol Bureau.

With the patrols under his control, the Wolf Fang Gang held an overwhelming advantage over the other gangs.

Just then, two armed young men with cybernetic modifications rushed out from behind the door and slammed Su Yi against the wall.

"Shut up!"

The thug on the left snarled the warning at him.

"Move!"

The two of them seized Su Yi and dragged him into the room where he had made his previous deal.

Six bodies lay on the floor. Two belonged to the security guards he had seen before.

Su Yi recognized the other four as well. They were the young men who had supplied him before.

But Iron Beetle was nowhere in sight.

At the stall where they had made the deal, a vicious-looking middle-aged man wiped blood from his hands and turned around.

When he saw Su Yi, contempt crossed his face. "Looks like people have started forgetting about the Wolf Fang Gang."

"Even a stray like you dares to meddle in our business."

As Su Yi looked at the man, his information appeared.

[Name: Niu Dao]

[Faction: Wolf Fang Gang]

[Rank: Enforcer Captain]

[Void Abyss Projection: Inactive]

[Level: 7]

[Health: 1200]

(After failing to catch Iron Beetle, all he wants to do now is kill.)

Niu Dao fixed his gloomy eyes on Su Yi.

"Where did Iron Beetle run off to? How much stock did you get from him?"

As he spoke, Niu Dao raised his blood-soaked dagger and pointed it at Su Yi's eye.

Su Yi remained perfectly calm. He glanced around and saw that the other thugs were only level three or four.

He, on the other hand, had reached level eight. He was no longer the man he used to be.

Having made his basic preparations, Su Yi saw no reason to keep acting meek.

So he said evenly, "Friend, I don't know where Iron Beetle went."

"But I suggest you let me go. Otherwise, the consequences will be serious."

The thugs on either side snickered at his audacity.

Niu Dao burst out laughing too. "Well, well. Now any stray thinks he can mouth off to the Wolf Fang Gang."

In the next instant, Niu Dao's expression changed. His blade shot toward Su Yi's eye at tremendous speed.

Zzz!

Niu Dao froze.

His alloy dagger had stopped less than two centimeters from Su Yi's eye. No matter how hard he pushed, it would go no farther.

It was as though he had driven it into a wall of steel.

At that moment, Su Yi erupted with strength and broke free of the two thugs holding him.

Then he reached out to seize Niu Dao by the throat.

Niu Dao had not expected Su Yi to be so strong. Fortunately, years of combat experience let him dodge the grab with ease.

He stepped back and hurled his dagger.

Zzz!

That strange sound came again. An invisible force caught the dagger in midair, and it dropped to the floor.

"An Empowered!" Niu Dao exclaimed.

Su Yi sighed. "Why did you have to make me do this?"

"Now that you've seen my secret, I have no choice."

Niu Dao pulled out a gun and fired at Su Yi.

At the same time, Su Yi lunged forward.

Bang!

An invisible force stopped the spinning bullet. Su Yi's hand closed toward Niu Dao's throat again.

Niu Dao's eyes stayed calm. To a fighter with his years of experience, Su Yi's movements looked painfully clumsy.

So that shield only stops bullets. I'll beat you to death with my fists!

Low-level Empowered were little different from ordinary people.

Niu Dao had already killed seven or eight of them.

He twisted away from Su Yi's grasp with ease.

But just as he raised a fist to break Su Yi's ribs, a wave of searing heat struck him.

"What—"

A flash of red swept across Niu Dao's vision. Then he lost consciousness forever.

Sizzle!

The acrid stench of char filled the cramped room.

The six thugs still standing were stunned.

They had seen an eerie thorn of flame flash past.

Then their boss's head had been burned to charcoal.

Thud.

Niu Dao's corpse, its head charred black, collapsed to the floor.

Su Yi turned to the six remaining thugs and smiled faintly. "Don't worry. It won't hurt a bit."

The six thugs roared.

Four drew their weapons and attacked Su Yi in a frenzy.

The other two turned and ran.

Su Yi ignored the gunfire, lunged forward, and unleashed Thornfire.

He swung the terrifying molten thorn like a whip.

Aah!

Piercing screams rose with thick black smoke. The two fleeing thugs were cut in half at the waist, their wounds charred.

The four who had fired stood dumbstruck as the hundreds of bullets they had shot clattered to the floor.

Su Yi turned toward them with a fierce grin. "I told you. It won't hurt!"

Hidden in an underground chamber, Iron Beetle had finished speaking to his superior by phone.

"A clash with the Wolf Fang Gang was inevitable."

"Since they came after us, hit them back."

"Do they really think I'm afraid of them?"

"They're nothing but lackeys of the locals."

Iron Beetle nodded slightly. "Understood."

He turned and climbed into a hulking suit of gray power armor, roughly two meters tall.

Each of its arms carried two triple-barreled heavy machine guns.

At close range, those guns could easily turn a person into pulp.

Once the armor was running, he pressed a switch.

The mechanism lifted the suit rapidly upward.

A section of floor behind the counter in the trading room sprang open, and the power armor leaped out.

"Die, all of you!"

But when Iron Beetle, seething with rage, looked through his visor to take aim, he went still.

Bang!

The power armor's alloy boots hit the floor with a heavy thud. Iron Beetle stared at the charred bodies strewn across the room and the thick smoke rising from them, utterly baffled.

Su Yi turned to him with a smile. "You've got quite a treasure trove here!"

Iron Beetle caught sight of a flash of searing red just before Su Yi put it away. His eyes widened in disbelief.

"You... killed all these people?!"