"Big brother... kill him! Kill him for me!" Guang Long howled, spitting bloody foam.
Guang Biao whipped his head around and stared at Lu Guan, who sat there eating his flatbread.
"You little bastard, you're asking to die!"
Guang Biao waved his hand.
Several more yellow mechas flew over!
Their pitch-black Soul Cannon barrels all trained on Lu Guan's table.
The diners and passersby nearby had long since fled in terror.
Uncle Li slumped on the ground, his face ashen.
It was over.
It was all over.
The mecha brigade had really come. These were regular troops!
"Flatten this shop! Blast that little brat into pulp!" Guang Biao roared.
The mechas' cannon barrels began charging, dazzling white light flaring within them.
Na'er turned her wrist, and the phantom of the Silver Dragon Spear flickered in her palm.
A silver gleam flashed deep in Gu Yue's eyes as the spatial elements began to rage.
Lu Guan swallowed his last mouthful of flatbread and brushed the crumbs off his hands.
"You moved pretty fast."
He raised his head and looked up into the air.
"But when it comes to calling in backup, you seem a little outclassed."
The moment he finished speaking-
The gloomy sky suddenly lit up.
It wasn't the sun coming out. The entire sky had been dyed crimson.
An indescribably terrifying heat instantly engulfed the whole food street.
The moisture in the air evaporated in an instant. The metal shells of the three mechas actually began glowing red, creaking under the unbearable strain.
"What's going on?!" Guang Biao paled in shock and looked up at the sky.
An enormous bank of fiery clouds gathered overhead, and a clear phoenix cry faintly rang through the heavens.
The phantom of a fire phoenix with a wingspan exceeding a hundred meters spread its wings amid the clouds.
From above, it descended.
Thud!
Thud!
The mechas that had been swaggering moments earlier erupted in showers of sparks. Their massive frames crashed to the ground, reduced to heaps of scrap.
Guang Biao took a single strike and suffered grievous injuries. Both knees slammed into the flagstones, his kneecaps shattering outright.
His eyes widened in terror. Cold sweat soaked his entire body, only to be instantly dried by the scorching heat.
"A... a Titled Douluo..."
A graceful figure slowly drifted down from the air.
Leng Yaozhu wore a fiery-red dress, her toes lightly touching down on a shattered clay jar.
Without so much as glancing at Guang Biao, she walked straight toward Lu Guan's table.
"Master," Gu Yue and Na'er said in unison, looking perfectly obedient.
Leng Yaozhu nodded, her gaze settling on Lu Guan.
"You weren't hurt, were you?"
Lu Guan grinned. "No. The flatbread was pretty good. The soup just got spilled."
Leng Yaozhu turned and looked down at Guang Biao, who knelt on the ground.
"Guang Biao, captain of the First Battalion of Eastsea City's mecha brigade." Leng Yaozhu's voice was calm, betraying neither joy nor anger. "You deployed military mechas without authorization and used armed force in a busy urban district."
Guang Biao trembled like chaff in a sieve.
"Your Excellency! A misunderstanding! It's all a misunderstanding!"
"You don't get to decide whether it's a misunderstanding!" Shrill sirens sounded as several soul-powered cars sped over. The public security officers had arrived.
The brothers, Guang Biao and Guang Long, along with the mecha squad members, were dragged into detention vehicles like dead dogs.
The charges: abuse of authority, endangering public safety, and attempted murder.
They were taken straight to Eastsea City's maximum-security prison to await investigation.
Before leaving, Guang Biao shot Lu Guan a vicious glare.
"Be careful," Gu Yue warned, having caught the look.
"Don't worry." Lu Guan smiled. "Why do you think I called the police?"
Late that night.
Eastsea City, maximum-security prison.
Guang Biao and Guang Long were locked in the same cell.
Guang Biao curled up in a corner, the excruciating pain making him wish he were dead.
Guang Long was in even worse shape. One hand was broken, his face was wrapped in bandages, and he was running a fever.
"Big brother... are we going to die?" Guang Long asked weakly.
Guang Biao gritted his teeth. "We won't! Once this blows over, the connections I greased before will start working. A few years at most, and when I get out, I'll still be a man to reckon with!"
A venomous gleam flashed in his eyes.
"Good thing someone called the police. Otherwise, if that Titled Douluo had acted, we'd both really be dead!"
"That little bastard Lu Guan, and those two girls-I'll kill them sooner or later!"
The moment he finished speaking-
The lights in the corridor outside their cell suddenly flickered.
Bzzzt-
The lights went out.
The entire second basement level plunged into darkness.
The red lights on the surveillance cameras went dark as well.
"What's going on? A power outage?" A powerful sense of unease suddenly welled up in Guang Biao.
In the darkness, exceedingly soft footsteps sounded.
Tap, tap, tap.
They stopped outside their cell door.
"Who's there? Who is it?!" Guang Biao barked.
The alloy-barred door creaked.
A figure walked inside.
By the faint emergency light at the end of the corridor, Guang Biao made out the newcomer.
He was only as tall as a boy just over nine, yet the bloody aura radiating from him was almost tangible.
Behind him, six dark-red arms of the Demon Body spread like spider legs, slowly writhing in the darkness.
"You... it's you!" Guang Biao was frightened out of his wits.
Lu Guan grinned, revealing a mouthful of white teeth that stood out starkly in the darkness.
Step by step, he approached the brothers in the corner.
Gravely injured and utterly unable to fight back, Guang Biao could only desperately shrink away. His voice warped with extreme terror.
"You dare kill someone here?! This is a maximum-security prison! If you kill me, you won't get away either!"
Lu Guan smiled.
"Who said I'd be the one who killed you?"
Two arms of the Demon Body behind him suddenly shot out.
One seized Guang Biao's neck; the other clamped around Guang Long's throat.
"Urgh... let..." Guang Biao's feet left the ground, his face swelling purple and his eyes bulging.
Lu Guan tilted his head slightly. "Don't worry. Someone will clean up for me."
The arms of the Demon Body abruptly tightened.
"We were wrong! We were wrong! Please be magnanimous and spare us..."
Crack!
Two crisp snaps of breaking neck bones rang out simultaneously.
Guang Biao's and Guang Long's heads drooped limply, every trace of life gone.
Lu Guan released his grip.
"Heh..." Looking at the corpses on the ground, Lu Guan chuckled.
"When you're wrong, admit it."
Then that figure, like a demon god, melted into the darkness.
Where no one noticed, a streak of silver flashed past.
Early the next morning.
Sunlight streamed through the windows into the Lu family's dining room.
Century egg and lean pork congee sat on the table alongside freshly fried dough sticks.
Lu Guan yawned and walked out of his room in his pajamas.
"Big brother, wash your hands and come eat!" Wearing an apron, Na'er was helping their mother carry the plates.
The television in the living room was on, broadcasting Eastsea City's morning news.
"According to our latest report, following an overnight intensive investigation by a joint investigative team, vast assets of unknown origin have been uncovered under the name of Guang Biao, the former mecha brigade captain held in Eastsea City's maximum-security prison. He was implicated in multiple cases involving bribery and violent debt collection..."
"At two o'clock this morning, Guang Biao and his younger brother, Guang Long, committed suicide in their cell out of fear of punishment."
"Further arrests of individuals involved in these cases are currently underway..."
Before you continue