Chapter 288 - Kill Me If You Have the Guts

The green field looked like a vast carpet under the pure white sunlight.

A young man in a white shirt and black suit walked forward, his gaze sweeping over the destroyed convoy until it finally landed on Cassius. There was a faint smile on his face, and from a distance, he radiated the noble aura of a young master.

Crack.

His leather shoe stepped on a scorched, severed hand, crushing the bones underfoot. It was unclear if the hand belonged to a member of the Gate organization.

Clap, clap, clap...

Amos started applauding, his arrogant gaze skipping across Feng Liusi and Saint Feinan, as he focused solely on Cassius.

"In such a short time, you’ve managed to take out at least five elite squads from the Gate Organization. That's nearly two-thirds of their personnel in Kura City. Impressive, truly impressive."

He slowly lowered his hands. "It's been two months since we've seen each other, hasn't it?"

"Two and a half months," Cassius corrected him. "Thanks for the intel you provided."

He was referring to the secluded locations of the veteran combat artists. Thanks to Feng Liusi, he had learned the Southern Dipper Red Falcon Fist, and the Black Ops Agency had also played a role.

Amos shook his head. It had simply been a transaction. His eyes gleamed slightly as he shifted the topic. "You had a run-in with the Gate Organization?"

Cassius narrowed his eyes, his expression unchanged. "A minor conflict, probably less significant than the one you have with them."

"So, it's a blood feud, then."

Amos immediately understood. Although he didn't know when Cassius had developed such a deep hatred for the Gate Organization, it didn't matter as long as their goals were aligned. Kura City had been rife with undercurrents lately, with a series of dangerous events likely to occur. Although the Black Ops Agency had deployed plenty of personnel, they were lacking in high-end combat power.

Amos had fought Cassius before and knew that he was definitely at B level, and a valuable asset to their fighting force.

After a brief moment, Amos extended an invitation.

"The Gate Organization has been very active in Kura City recently. According to our intel, at least two core members have appeared, both top-tier fighters. Since you have a grudge against the Gate Organization, why not temporarily join us at the Black Ops Agency? In return, we'll let you select a batch of rare dark creatures afterward."

Amos gradually closed the distance between him and Cassius, stopping about five meters away.

"How many?" Cassius asked, his expression not changing a hair.

"All the prison cages from the branches of three nearby cities," Amos responded after a moment of hesitation.

"Not enough." Cassius shook his head, glancing at Feng Liusi and Saint Feinan beside him. "There are three of us here. Give me three times that; prison cages from all the branches of nine cities."

Amos's aura faltered slightly, surprised by Cassius's audacious demand. He glanced at Feng Liusi and Saint Feinan, who seemed to be idly watching, and frowned deeply.

"No way. Prison cages from nine cities are equivalent to two counties. I don't have that kind of authority; I'd have to get approval from the Director. Besides, although we're short on high-end combatants, we have no shortage of mid- and low-level personnel. We don't really need outside help. How about this: I'll make the call, and your two friends join as well. In total, that would count as four cities' worth of dark creatures. Does that sound reasonable?"

As Amos spoke, he pulled out a cigarette case, flicked out a cigarette, and lit it, placing it lightly in his mouth. Smoke rose faintly as he took a puff. He saw that Cassius' expression seemed somewhat odd through the haze of smoke that rose.

Whoosh... Amos blew out a ring of smoke and raised an eyebrow. "Not satisfied? This is the best I can offer without going through approval. To be blunt, your two friends are just extras. If I had to report this to my superiors, I might not even get approval for one city's worth–"

He suddenly trailed off as his face turned cold. The relaxed look he had earlier vanished in an instant, replaced by a serious expression. His round glasses gleamed under the sunlight.

"We've got a little eavesdropper. Looks like the commotion we caused earlier attracted some rats crawling out of the gutters..."

As he spoke, Amos slowly raised both hands. His white gloves, covered with dense black letters, gleamed in the sunlight. The long sword emblem of the Black Ops Agency stood out in stark contrast, as though ink had been dripped onto it. Amos flicked his wrists, throwing his hands outward.

Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!

The sound of arrows slicing through the air echoed as countless metal wires shot out.

Thud!

The wires struck the ground hard, but there was no sound of piercing flesh. Amos looked over in surprise.

A tall figure in a black suit was standing a step beyond the wires. No one had noticed when he appeared, but his muscular right hand was raised, gripping a struggling figure mid-air. But the struggling was in vain; there was a chilling snap as something in the struggling figure’s body was crushed. The figure convulsed, and both hands dropped limply.

Clatter, clatter...

The skin and flesh on the figure's body collapsed, along with the internal organs, into a soft, messy pile on the ground. The only thing that remained in the hand of the man in the black suit was a gleaming white skeleton, reflecting a bone-chilling light in the sunlight.

Seemingly noticing Amos' gaze, the man in the black suit smiled at him. It was a smile that carried an unprecedented sense of ferocity. Amos's heart involuntarily skipped a beat.

He felt a sudden, intense sense of danger. He slowly turned in another direction, where a tall, slender young man in a white suit moved with a cold elegance. Despite the hot weather, there were faint, translucent snowflakes swirling around him.

The young man slowly let his hand fall, revealing two figures, frozen into ice sculptures. Their faces were locked in expressions of terror, as if they had been killed in an instant.

Amos continued to turn, and found Cassius casually tossing a severed head in his hands, before flinging it into the distance. It landed squarely atop a mangled mass of flesh, shaking for a moment before settling firmly in place.

Cassius muttered, "There sure are a lot of monsters in Kura City. Aside from the Gate Organization, the Blood Spirit Society, and all these medium-sized powerhouses, I even sensed the presence of the Blood Race and Shadow Demons earlier..."

Amos bit his lip in frustration, holding his cigarette to keep it from falling. He couldn't help but feel a bit embarrassed. Despite being the one to attack first, these three had been faster than his Mist Threads, taking action in the blink of an eye!

If this kind of instant acceleration had been directed at him...

Amos contemplated the fact that he might have met his death already. His face hidden in the smoke, he quietly concealed his embarrassment as he retracted his wires.

"Seriously... Cassius, this bastard, why didn't you say so earlier..."

Suddenly, Amos froze as he sensed a hulking figure appear behind him. The intense heat radiating from the figure felt like a powerful magnetic field, shaking him to the core.

A hand slowly reached over his shoulder and pulled the burning cigarette from his lips with two fingers.

A deep voice echoed near his ear, "Kids shouldn't smoke. It makes you look too cocky...

"Someone needs a beating."

Amos whipped his head around in anger, only to be met with the sight of the burly man in a black suit, casually puffing on his cigarette. The man glanced down at him with a condescending smirk, blowing white smoke from his nostrils as he flicked the ash from the cigarette.

"Kid?!" Amos nearly laughed in disbelief.

The thing he hated most was someone mocking his appearance.

Zing, zing, zing, zing...

Metallic wires flashed and spilled out like liquid from the gaps in his white gloves. The wires tangled, tightened, and sliced through the air. The number of wires increased tenfold in a matter of moments.

Amos seemed to transform as well as his hair grew wildly, and he became taller. His soft, refined face was now sharp and commanding, exuding a mature, imposing presence. In an instant, he had shifted from looking like a boy to a stern young man.

"You dare steal my cigarette?" His voice was low and powerful.

"What's there to fear? Kid, you're still a bit green..." A chuckle sounded beside him.

Amos felt as though a world filled with crimson mist had engulfed him in an almost irresistible force. A massive creature, so large it blocked out the sky, descended through the haze with its wings, its menacing blood-red eyes staring down at him.

It locked eyes with Amos, whose head was raised to meet its gaze. For a brief moment, the world fell silent, and all that could be heard was the thudding of his heart.

"Alright, just show off your strength; that's enough. Don't do anything unnecessary," a familiar voice echoed from beyond the misty world.

Immediately after, Amos heard a finger snap. The blood-red world in Amos' vision quickly faded away, and the surroundings came back into focus, illuminated by the bright midday sun.

He stood there, somewhat dazed, as if struck by something. After a moment, he took a deep breath and brushed his long hair back from his forehead.

He smirked as he muttered to himself, "Heh, I won't let you get what you want."

Five minutes later.

"Eight cages, that's the price! Don't even try to threaten me. It won't work... If you have the guts to kill me, go ahead. Otherwise, that's the price."

Amos' firm demand forced Cassius to give in. What was originally nine cages had been reduced to eight, which was a bit of a painful concession. Cassius had no choice. After all, he'd gone a little too far earlier in humiliating Amos. A small step back was necessary to placate him.

After discussing a bit more, the vehicles of the Black Ops Agency were already faintly visible at the city and suburban border. Amos glanced at Feng Liusi and asked, "Who is he?"

Cassius had nothing to hide so he calmly replied, "An elder from the Covert Martial Arts world, Feng Liusi, also known as 'Blood Fist.'"

"Damn," Amos cursed, spitting on the ground. "No wonder I couldn't beat him."

Amos had paid attention to the information collected two months ago by his old administrator, Franz, about reclusive martial artists in the six eastern counties for Cassius. It had included one notorious individual, known as 'Blood Fist,' 'Kill Fist,' and 'Death's Fang.' If one were to classify B rank experts into different stages—low, middle, high, and top—Blood Fist Feng Liusi was at the top executive stage.

Amos was fully aware of his own strength. He had categorized the Violent Storm's Three Limits techniques as "Mist," "Steel," and "Ultimate," with each threshold corresponding to one metal wire, one hundred metal wires, and one thousand metal wires.

As a teenager, he was at the first limit, "Mist," capable of channeling slicing power, which barely met the threshold of a B rank. He had then reached the second limit, "Steel," allowing him to channel both slicing and piercing power simultaneously. This allowed him to fluctuate between the lower and middle stages of B rank. It was only when he reached the third limit, "Ultimate," and touched upon the ultimate destructive power, could his combat abilities grow explosively.

This would allow him to hover at the peak of the top stage of B rank. Amos didn’t know the true strength of the incomplete theory of the fourth limit; it might very well be at "A" rank.

Since he was only at his second limit, "Steel," it was completely normal that he couldn't beat Blood Fist Feng Liusi.

Amos felt a bit more at ease at that. The four of them exchanged some words, not dwelling too much on their earlier unpleasantness, and quickly reached an agreement to go after the Gate Organization. No matter the time or place, the Gate Organization remained a mutual enemy.

𝚏𝗿𝗲𝐞𝚠𝕖𝐛𝗻𝗼𝐯𝕖𝚕.𝚌𝗼𝗺

Two minutes later, three low-profile cars were driving along the road from the suburbs to the city. The window of the last car was rolled down slightly. Inside, four men with distinctly different temperaments had cigarettes dangling from their mouths.

They exhaled clouds of smoke, and had menacing auras. They looked like a gang of mobsters out on the streets.

***

On the second day of the Tulip Antique Exhibition.

After yesterday's incident, the host, Cloud Dog Fist, had strengthened security once again. Bodyguards were everywhere, whether inside or outside the exhibition halls, in the corridors or even in the corners. Their stern eyes roved around the area, giving the attendees a sense of security.

There was a substantial turnout at the Tulip Antique Exhibition. Although not as crowded as the first day, it was still a decent number of people. Nearly a thousand antique items had been displayed in the east and west halls in a variety of categories. Unfortunately, Cassius, in his time-travel state, couldn't absorb the energy of lingering thoughts. Otherwise, with a bit of searching, he might have been able to find one or two treasures.

Cassius wandered leisurely through the east hall. He was dressed in a brand-new casual suit, pausing occasionally to admire the collections.

Scholars wearing glasses were bent over to examine the patterns on the antiques, clicking their tongues in admiration and discussing with their colleagues. Wealthy merchants with protruding bellies stopped in front of a famous gallery with a few friends. They pointed and gestured with satisfaction, as if they planned to buy everything up after the exhibition.

A few boys and girls, dressed in school uniforms, curiously looked around. It seemed the exhibition had set aside some spots specifically for schools to let outstanding students broaden their horizons.

Cassius slowly wandered around until he wound his way back to Feng Liusi and Saint Feinan's side. "Cloud Dog Fist has really brought in a lot of people, huh? They've even called in three more pugilists. I wonder if any combat artist elders have shown up. If they have, things could get interesting..."

"What do you mean by that?" Saint Feinan sensed something in Cassius's tone.

"Heh..." Cassius chuckled. "What if those members of the Blood Spirit Society hiding among the crowd get exposed in broad daylight...

"Would Cloud Dog Fist instantly wipe them out completely? Maybe I should give them a hand..."