"That's impossible!"
The Ophiuchus Legion member who had fired the gun shouted in disbelief. Panicking, he fired several more shots at Mu Yang.
Rat-a-tat-tat! Fierce gunfire erupted, tongues of flame spewing from the muzzle. He had thought this would surely kill his opponent, but his triumph did not last long before his expression turned even more terrified. After firing that barrage of bullets, the man across from him remained completely calm, as though he had not taken the shots seriously at all.
Mu Yang raised a hand and waved his palm through the air a few times, stopping every single bullet.
Clink, clink, clang. The crisp sound of more than a dozen bullets hitting the ground struck at the hearts of every Ophiuchus Legion soldier.
"Monster!!" No one knew who shouted first, but fear instantly spread among the Ophiuchus Legion soldiers. "Everyone, fire! Kill him!" In their panic, the Ophiuchus Legion men shouted fiercely to hide their fear, hastily raising their guns and opening fire on Mu Yang all at once.
"You're asking to die!"
Suddenly, Mu Yang moved. With a whoosh, countless afterimages flashed like ghosts, darting through the Ophiuchus Legion soldiers. Then came a rapid series of cracking blows. In only a few seconds, every member of the Ophiuchus Legion had fallen, their lives extinguished.
"They're all dead?" The islanders stared wide-eyed at the scene before them in disbelief.
"They really are dead. Those bastards got what they deserved!" others cried out in satisfaction.
At that moment, an elderly man recalled legends he had once heard. Trembling, he approached Mu Yang. "Could it be... are you one of the legendary martial artists?"
Mu Yang nodded and admitted, "That's right. I am a martial arts practitioner."
"Ah, the rumors said martial artists possessed power beyond the reach of ordinary people. So it was true after all." The old man was so excited that his voice caught in his throat.
"Sir, who were these people? Why were they running roughshod over this island?" Mu Yang asked with a frown. As far as he knew, Earth had long entered the era of rule by the United Kingdom. It should not have been so disorderly.
The old man sighed. "They were from the Ophiuchus Legion. The Ophiuchus Legion is an extremely overbearing armed organization. They rule over a vast area nearby and act like kings there. Even the United Kingdom's military cannot keep them in check."
After hearing the old man's explanation, Mu Yang more or less understood the nature of the Ophiuchus Legion. It was probably similar to the Red Ribbon Army from the original work, an armed organization that had survived under the United Kingdom's rule. Earth was simply too vast. Though it was nominally governed by the United Kingdom, there were actually many places beyond its jurisdiction.
However, compared to the Red Ribbon Army of later generations, the current Ophiuchus Legion was clearly far more brazen. If the Red Ribbon Army was a private armed group hiding under the United Kingdom's rule, then the Ophiuchus Legion was more like a regional military force that had carved out its own territory and rule.
Damn it, it looked like the United Kingdom's governance had serious problems!
"Sir, what are you planning to do next?" Mu Yang looked at the corpses scattered across the ground and suddenly felt a headache coming on.
Before, the islanders had been able to swallow their anger and live under the Ophiuchus Legion's rule. Now that he had killed these people on the island, there was no longer any room for reconciliation between the two sides.
"Ah, we can't go on like this!" The old man let out a long sigh and shook his head. "We had considered leaving this place before, but we couldn't bear to part with it. But after what happened today, even if we can't bear it, we have no choice."
Mu Yang nodded. Though he sympathized somewhat with the old man and the islanders, he did not feel guilty for killing the Ophiuchus Legion members.
To be fair, he felt no guilt whatsoever about this matter. The saintly sentiment of I didn't kill him, but he died because of me struck him as absurd. He had merely done what he believed was right at a coincidental yet timely moment.
Fortunately, the islanders were not ungrateful people. They did not blame Mu Yang for killing the Ophiuchus Legion members and causing them to leave their homeland. Perhaps they had long wanted to leave this place anyway.
Over the next while, the islanders began packing their belongings to leave their homeland. After learning much about the Ophiuchus Legion from the old man, Mu Yang leaped into the air and bade them farewell.
Clatter, clatter. April trudged along a pebble-strewn path with her schoolbag on her back. Her frail body struggled under its weight, and as she went deeper, the vegetation around her gradually grew sparser.
April looked blankly at the road beneath her feet. At that moment, she came to her senses. She seemed to have gotten lost. Looking around, she found that everything had turned an earthy yellow. She had entered a vast, flat plain.
"I... think I went the wrong way."
April shrank into herself. Her brown hair clung to her face, messy from not being washed.
Two months ago, she had secretly boarded a merchant ship to the mainland. After getting off, April had tried to find her way home based on the vague memories in her mind. But how reliable could the memories of a five-year-old girl be? She had wandered farther and farther off course, and now she did not even know where she was.
"Roar—"
A beast's roar came from afar, followed by a rolling cloud of yellow dust racing across the plain. After a while, a light-blue dinosaur chasing an antelope appeared in view. The dinosaur stood over two meters tall, its dark eyes like light bulbs.
As it drew closer, the blue dinosaur spotted April. For some reason, it abandoned its prey and ran toward her instead.
Thud, thud, thud. The dinosaur drew nearer and nearer, and the ground began to tremble beneath its footsteps.
Terrified, April hugged her head and fell hard onto the ground. Tears immediately filled her eyes. "Sob... so scary. Don't eat me."
The blue dinosaur was already right before her. April could even feel the hot breath from its nostrils. Yet after a long while, she did not feel any pain. When she opened her eyes, she met the blue dinosaur's dark, light-bulb-like gaze.
It was a very young-looking blue dinosaur. Its large head leaned close to April, black horns growing from the top of its head and both sides of its jaws, gleaming under the sunlight. Its belly was plump and covered in white scales. The pair of tiny wings on its back flapped noisily, but rather than lifting it into the air, they kicked up a cloud of choking dust.
"Squeak! Krah!" The young blue dragon tilted its head and called as it moved closer to April, but its eyes were fixed on the jar of candy in her arms.
"Do you want some honey?" April realized what it wanted. Trembling, she opened the lid of the jar and held it out.
"Hisss~~" The young blue dragon stretched out its tongue and gave it a lick, letting out a delighted cry.
With the innocence of a child, April seemed to forget her fear. Happily lifting the honey jar, she continued feeding it honey. "You like it too? This sweet honey is the best! Have some more!" Children loved sharing their happiness. As long as they had something in common, they could quickly become good friends.
"Aom." Little Blue Dragon licked April's fingers, then moved to lick her cheek.
"Heehee, stop licking me. Can you take me with you? I can't find my way back."
"Wuka." Little Blue Dragon gave a cry, looking as though it only half understood.
Before you continue