A private villa somewhere in Rome.
Wenwu was in a good mood today. The Ten Rings had gained control of several new areas, and the Macau headquarters plan was still progressing well. Apart from Afghanistan, which required some effort, everything else was going well. He had originally come to Rome to discuss a contract with the local armed leader, but he happened to take a liking to this villa. The original owner of the villa, an Italy tycoon, had initially been adamant, but Wenwu had only used some "small tricks" and the tycoon and his family had "voluntarily" left. The villa's environment was truly beautiful, nestled against the mountains and facing the sea. He was now leisurely reclining in a deck chair, holding a glass of whiskey with ice in his hand, the ten rings on his wrist glowing faintly, flashing in rhythm with his breathing.
He took a sip of whiskey, squinted at the setting sun on the distant horizon, and surprisingly felt that life was going alright. Just then, something fell from the sky.
Wenwu frowned and looked up.
A golden-red light burst forth from the clouds, hurtling straight toward the villa. It was incredibly fast; before his men could even draw their guns, the light had already struck the lawn opposite.
Two people emerged from the light.
A woman, blonde with blue eyes, wearing a red and blue bodysuit, radiating lingering golden energy, held a burly man over two meters tall in her arms. The man wore a red bodysuit with auspicious cloud patterns embroidered on the chest and a five-clawed golden dragon embroidered on the back of his cape. He wore sunglasses and a faint smile played on his lips.
"Thanks, honey." Lin Xiao steadied himself, adjusted his sunglasses, and looked across the pool at the man wearing ten bracelets on the lounge chair. He tilted his head, took two steps forward, and said with a hint of disbelief in his voice:
"What the hell are you doing in Rome? Why aren't you in Afghanistan? My wife had to carry me all the way here."
Wenwu narrowed his eyes. He didn't answer the question. He had seen too many people come looking for trouble in his life, each one making a flashy entrance and dying just as flashily. But this duo in front of him, a big, dumb guy in a red combat suit and sunglasses, and a blonde girl radiating gold, whose first words weren't "I'll take your life" but "What the hell are you doing in Rome?", he had never encountered such strange people before.
"Kill them." Wenwu put down the whiskey and waved casually.
Seven or eight men in black suits simultaneously drew their guns and fired, but the next second, the group of thugs were all sent flying backward.
Just now, the blonde woman made her move. She simply raised one hand, fingers spread, and a golden shockwave exploded from her palm, forming an arc-shaped wall of light that blasted away all the bullets. Then, with a flick of her wrist, the wall of light transformed into a pillar of light, sweeping across the area. Seven or eight men in black suits flew out like bowling pins, crashing into palm trees and marble pillars, where they lay motionless.
Carol withdrew her hand, stood beside Lin Xiao, her blue eyes fixed on Wenwu, and remained silent.
Wenwu slowly stood up from the recliner. His expression remained unchanged, but the ten rings on his wrist began to glow, the light changing from a ghostly blue to a blazing white.
"Interesting. Who are you? What brings you here?"
Lin Xiao pulled his sunglasses down, revealing a pair of smiling eyes beneath, and said in fluent Mandarin, " Our Homelander and his Hammerhead little wife." After saying this, he subconsciously glanced at Carol, and only continued when she didn't react.
"As for why I came to find you, it's because you're a major villain who brings shame to us Dragon Country. Besides, I've been eyeing your ten bracelets for a long time. Is that reason enough?"
Wenwu stared at him for two seconds, then suddenly smiled. The smile was faint, but his voice was unusually cold.
"That's enough. Every year there are always some guys who don't understand their own strength and come looking for me to die. One more or one less of you won't make a difference."
Wenwu casually waved his hand, and a blue shockwave exploded from Wenwu ring on his right hand, rushing towards the two of them with the speed of lightning that cleaved the air. Lin Xiao dodged to the side, and the shockwave grazed his shoulder, striking the outer wall of the three-story villa behind him. The entire wall collapsed inwards as if slapped by an invisible giant hand, with bricks and concrete fragments exploding in all directions, sending dust billowing into the sky.
Lin Xiao glanced back at the hole, which was at least five meters in diameter, and swallowed hard.
"This thing is more powerful than I thought."
"Stop talking nonsense." Carol leaped into the air, unleashing two punches simultaneously, two golden beams of light crisscrossing and shooting towards Wenwu. Wenwu raised his left hand, two rings lighting up at the same time, a semi-transparent blue barrier blocking his path. The golden beams of light collided with the barrier, the shockwave sending the water in the pool flying three meters high. Before the water even landed, Carol was already in front of him. Her right fist, glowing with blinding golden light, slammed down, shattering the barrier. Wenwu slid back half a step, his right hand fingers spread, three rings simultaneously shooting out three beams of different colors—red, blue, and purple—aiming at Carol's head, chest, and abdomen respectively. She dodged the first two beams to the side, the third grazing her waist, tearing a hole in her battle armor and revealing a patch of skin rapidly healing beneath.
"Interesting recovery ability, you're very strong."
Carol's response was a whip kick. Her instep, glowing with golden light, lashed towards Wenwu's neck, faster and more powerful than before. Wenwu raised his arm to block, the light of the ring condensing into a shield on his arm armor, but Carol's leg force still managed to knock him back half a step. His heel plowed two deep furrows in the lawn, the soil and turf turning up to reveal the yellow earth beneath.
"You've got some skill." Wenwu flexed his wrist, and all ten rings lit up simultaneously, their light converging from different colors into a blinding white glow. "But it's not enough."
A burst of white light.
A tremendous force blasted outwards from Wenwu, as if someone had detonated a small bomb on the lawn. Carol was thrown backwards by the force, tumbling twice in the air before regaining her balance and landing in a pile of rubble opposite the pool. She knelt on one knee, clutching her chest, her blonde hair slightly disheveled over her shoulder, but her blue eyes still shone with an astonishing light.
Lin Xiao stood not far away, watching the scene unfold. The carefree smile on his lips faded slightly. He noticed that although the wound on Carol's side was healing, it was healing much slower than before. Lin Xiao narrowed his eyes. He couldn't delay any longer; Carol couldn't hold on any longer. He had to finish this quickly.
Ignoring Doupao's warning, Lin Xiao took a step forward, a smile returning to his face.
"Hey, you old man!" Lin Xiao, hands in his pockets, stood in front of Carol, looking up at Wenwu was suspended in mid-air. "You hit a woman so hard, have you been single for too long?"
Wenwu shifted his gaze from Carol to Lin Xiao's face. He wasn't angered by the trash talk; instead, he re-examined the big guy with the look of someone scrutinizing prey.
Your words are more powerful than your abilities.
"Thanks, I think so too." Lin Xiao grinned, a dagger suddenly appearing in his hand. He transformed into a blue afterimage, appearing in front of Wenwu in the blink of an eye. His right fist slammed towards Wen Wu's face with a whoosh, followed by two red laser beams.
Wenwu didn't dodge. He raised his left hand, and two rings lit up simultaneously, forming a blue barrier in front of him. Lin Xiao's fist slammed into the barrier, producing a muffled "bang." Wenwu's expression remained unchanged. He suddenly clenched his fingers, and a shockwave exploded from the barrier, sending Lin Xiao flying.
Lin Xiao somersaulted twice in the air before landing on his feet, sliding several meters across the lawn before coming to a stop. He shook his numb right hand, looked down, and saw that blood was seeping from his knuckles; the wounds were healing at a visible speed.
"You're really stubborn."
"There are even harder ones."
Wenwu spread his right hand, and five beams of light shot out simultaneously. Lin Xiao had no time to dodge, so he crossed his arms in front of his chest to block. The beams struck the battle suit on his arms, scorching five black holes in the nanomaterials, and the skin underneath sizzled from the heat. Lin Xiao gritted his teeth and cursed, "Bitch!" The impact propelled him backward, his shoes carving two deep furrows in the grass.
Just then, a golden wall of light rose up behind him, blocking the remaining beams of light. Carol appeared beside him, holding up an energy shield with both hands. The shield's light was slightly dimmer than before, and fine cracks had begun to appear at its edges, but she held it firmly, not retreating an inch.
"Hide behind me," she said.
"That's exactly what I was going to say."
Lin Xiao moved behind Carol, patted the dust off her shoulder, and his smile returned. Wenwu narrowed his eyes, a disdainful sneer curling at the corner of his mouth.
"You're a grown man, hiding behind a woman? Aren't you afraid people will say you're a kept man?"
"Yes." Lin Xiao nodded matter-of-factly, resting his chin on Carol's shoulder and putting his hands on her waist. "I have a sensitive stomach, so I like to live off women, don't you know? Soft rice is so delicious, you don't even have to chew, you can just swallow it."
Carol turned her head and rolled her eyes at him. The eye roll was perfectly executed, with a hint of undisguised helplessness mixed with her disdain.
Lin Xiao grinned at her, then lowered his voice, his lips almost touching her ear. "His ring can absorb energy and then rebound; a direct confrontation won't work. I need a breakthrough; you help me create one."
How is it manufactured?
"By drawing his full attention, I have a way to defeat him in one fell swoop."
Wenwu's attack interrupted their conversation. He didn't want to give the two illicit lovers any more chance to breathe. He crossed his arms in front of his chest, and all ten rings simultaneously lit up with a dazzling blue light. The light formed a rotating halo around him, moving so fast it seemed to cut through the air.
Let's hit the road together.
The halo exploded. Ten shockwaves were released simultaneously from the ten rings, fanning out and crashing towards Lin Xiao and Carol. Carol activated her energy shield, the golden light wall colliding with the blue shockwave, shaking the entire villa area. The air was filled with piercing shrieks, and the aftershocks of the energy collision shattered the surrounding flowerbeds, palm trees, and even the windows of the villa. Under immense pressure, cracks began to appear on Carol's shield, spreading from the edges towards the center. With each crack, her face paled further. But she didn't retreat a single step.
Lin Xiao stood behind her, watching her back, watching her shoulders tremble slightly from the shockwave, watching the wound on her battle suit that hadn't fully healed, gritted his teeth, and a knife appeared in his hand.
It was that damn Enma.
The scabbard was jet black with dark purple patterns, and the guard was a metal carving in the shape of a clover. When he drew the sword, the blade gleamed with an eerie purple light in the setting sun. A cold suction force spread from the hilt throughout his body, and he felt his strength being frantically devoured by the sword, as if someone had turned on an invisible valve inside him.
"Damn it—" Lin Xiao cursed through gritted teeth, veins bulging on his forehead, but his hand gripping the knife remained steady without trembling. Lin Xiao swung Enma with force, and a purple blade of energy formed.
" Carol! Now!"
Carol heard Lin Xiao's voice. She pushed her shield forward forcefully, and golden light exploded, temporarily repelling the shockwave from the Ten Rings. She sidestepped to create an opening, and a purple blade of energy grazed her shoulder as it flew away.
Wenwu saw it. He had no time to dodge, and instinctively raised his left arm, causing three rings to light up as shields. Enma's blade energy collided with the shield, producing an extremely piercing metallic scraping sound. The shield cracked. The blade energy cleaved through the barrier and struck Wenwu in the chest, sending Wenwu flying backward and spitting out blood.
A crisp cracking sound rang out, and a fine crack appeared on the surface of a ring on his finger. The crack then widened, deepened, and spread, finally exploding into fragments with a sharp crack. The fragments flew off Wenwu's wrist, tracing several blue arcs in the air before landing on the lawn. The light faded, and they turned into several dull, lifeless metal fragments.
Wenwu looked down at the empty spot on his wrist, then at the few pieces of debris on the lawn, and his expression finally changed.
"You--"
He raised his head, his eyes no longer holding scrutiny and composure, but instead filled with a furious rage that had been provoked. All nine rings lit up simultaneously, and he transformed into a streak of blue light, charging towards Lin Xiao.
After unleashing that strike, Lin Xiao was so exhausted that he knelt on one knee. The tip of Enma's blade was stuck in the ground. Lin Xiao felt as if all his strength had been drained away, and he barely had the strength to lift his head. He watched the blue light getting closer and closer!
P. S.: I'll update the next chapter shortly. Thanks to the veteran reader for the four little gifts. I've been updating only one chapter a day for the past few days to prepare for the release of my new book, "Starting as Dark Tiga, I'm Really Not a Villain," which will be available next month!