Chapter 400: Double Kill

Facing this result, Zeng Qing was completely unsurprised.

Now that the truth had come to light, she was still the flawless executive director. She likely held even more evidence to help restore the company's reputation. Furthermore, she was the one who had stepped forward to uncover the truth and turn the tide. Whether from a business or political standpoint, she was a far better choice than Zeng Ru.

Zeng Ru simply couldn't see reality.

Why would that man ever care about feelings?

In the face of profit, feelings were bullshit to him.

Even if he utterly despised Zeng Qing, the board of directors would never agree to remove her.

She had anticipated this exact outcome without exchanging a single word with him.

That statement felt like a death sentence, but Zeng Qing's revenge was far from over.

"Furthermore, the lawyer who just read the statement, and—"

Zeng Qing's gaze swept the room. When her eyes fell upon the judge, the man's face turned deathly pale. He looked at her as if pleading for mercy, but Zeng Qing only offered a faint smile. "And Your Honor, I am requesting out-of-court political intervention regarding you."

As soon as she spoke, the Law Enforcement Agency officers stationed outside stormed into the courtroom.

They sprinted straight toward the judge.

"Judge Zhang, please come with us. Ms. Zeng Qing has provided us with extensive evidence indicating that you have accepted bribes."

"No, no, no! You can't do this to me!"

The judge nearly slumped over his desk. Then, he looked at Zeng Qing. "It was her! She was the one who had someone contact me! It wasn't me! I didn't do it!"

But the Law Enforcement Agency officers didn't listen to a word he said. They simply hauled him to his feet.

The entire Law Enforcement Agency of Muke District was under Zeng Qing's control. Contacting the Victory District Law Enforcement Agency was child's play—especially now that she was the executive director.

"Councillor Chen Xue is over there."

She pointed a finger toward Tianxuan, who was collapsed on the floor with her lower half covered in blood, offering a helpful reminder.

The officers immediately sprinted toward Tianxuan.

But unexpectedly, Tianxuan sprang to her feet and dashed toward the exit. Moving at terrifying speed, she vanished in the blink of an eye. Right before fleeing, she made sure to point at Yan Jing and scream, "Yan Jing is right here!!!"

This stunned the crowd all over again. Heads whipped around to stare at Yan Jing, whose face was partially covered.

That Yan Jing—was right here in the courtroom? Right under everyone's noses?

Yan Jing merely smiled. He pulled down his disguise, revealing his true face.

"Everyone, it's been a while."

"Yes, I did it. Though I did it together with Ms. Tianxuan."

The moment he finished speaking, a massive pair of wings unfurled from his back, and he shot out of the courtroom at terrifying speed!

Before anyone could react, a howling gale swept through the entire room.

Meanwhile, in a blind spot unnoticed by the crowd, another figure slipped out, trailing after the two who had just left.

"Uncles and aunts, right here and now, I offer my sincerest apologies on behalf of Nuochen Biotech. We were too late in handling certain matters. For everything you have suffered, we are willing to offer twenty times the standard compensation. Furthermore, we will dispatch our expert Mao Si to guarantee that all of your sick children are fully cured."

"In addition, I, Zeng Qing, would like to take this opportunity to announce something."

Zeng Qing looked straight into the cameras and spoke. "After internal discussions, we at Nuochen Biotech have realized that our previous business philosophy regarding our factories is completely outdated."

"Environmental protection, green operations, and clean energy—these are what we truly pursue—"

As Zeng Qing spoke with such composure, the Fifth Tier bodyguard brought by Zeng Ru glared with a vicious light. Like a cornered beast making a desperate final struggle, he lunged straight at the defenseless Zeng Qing.

But a second later, Mao Si's claws slammed down once more, caving in the man's entire chest.

"No interrupting when others are speaking."

Elsewhere, the mechanical core inside Tianxuan's body buzzed like a swarm of bees as she dashed into the distance.

The Information Component on her wrist flared to life, connecting to Kaiyang.

"Hello? Where are you? I'm almost at Victory Court."

"Forget Victory Court, something happened. I'm moving toward Victory Bridge. Head over there—"

Before Tianxuan could finish, a blaring alarm erupted in her ears. Her automated system instantly wrenched her body into a violent twist. The very next second, a pitch-black spear tore through the sky like a thunderbolt on a clear day, howling right past her ear.

It merely grazed her shoulder, but a string of blood immediately splattered into the air.

She cried out in pain. Not daring to divide her attention any longer, she sprinted wildly into the distance.

Kaiyang also understood the situation was critical. Still in his car, he threw the door open and leaped straight out.

This scene terrified the driver in the front seat. He stared blankly at the dashboard showing a speed of five or six hundred kilometers per hour, thinking he must have seen it wrong.

A few minutes later, Tianxuan finally reached Victory Bridge.

By now, she was covered in wounds. Messy strands of hair clung to her face, and her clothes were in tatters. The alarm systems inside her body had been blaring like crazy, but she had shut them down long ago.

Warnings were useless anyway. Her opponent had no intention of letting her go.

Halfway there, she had tried to block one of Yan Jing's spear strikes. The result was the bowl-sized crater now in her shoulder.

Tangled wires were exposed to the air, drooping limply.

By this time, Yan Jing had consumed a Fear Fruit. He had entered his first stance while simultaneously activating the Fear Bird Stance and employing the Power of the White Stone.

He smiled as he looked at Tianxuan opposite him. "Out of strength? Ms. Tianxuan."

"Yan Jing, I think we can talk about this."

As Tianxuan spoke, she covertly manipulated a mechanical wire to send her location to Kaiyang via her Information Component.

Right now, the Yan Jing standing across from her looked like an absolute monster. The massive wings on his back practically blotted out the sun. Wreathed in dense fog and white silk, he didn't look like a creature of this world.

Tendrils slithered out from amidst the feathers, a sight enough to make anyone's scalp tingle with dread.

"Whatever you want, we can give it to you—"

Tianxuan managed between heavy pants.

"I want your life."

Yan Jing replied softly.

"There's no need to go that far—" Tianxuan forced a smile, slowly backing away. "I think we could try being friends—"

"Think about it. We had a pretty pleasant cooperation before."

"Of course, if you really aren't willing, then—"

"Forget it."

As those final two words fell, a vicious gleam erupted in Tianxuan's eyes, her killing intent instantly boiling over. Countless firearms materialized from the surface of her body. Their cold, jagged edges caught the sunlight, practically radiating the smell of gunpowder and smoke as they locked onto Yan Jing.

At the exact same time, a steel-forged figure several meters tall lunged at Yan Jing from behind. Its target was aimed squarely at Yan Jing's heart.

But a second later, wreathed in black mist, Yan Jing blinked his crimson eyes at Tianxuan. Then, he instantly whirled around and threw a punch.

A terrifying surge of force instantly detonated between the two of them.

It was a giant constructed of steel, several meters tall. Every inch of its pitch-black fuselage exuded a razor-sharp edge. A single glance at its heavy frame conveyed a horrific sense of power. At the very top of the machine sat the face of a youth, half encased in metal.

Right now, Kaiyang's inner shock was written all over that face.

He never could have imagined that this Fifth Tier human across from him could rely on his flesh and blood body to meet his punch head-on—and not lose out in power in the slightest!!!

But before he could even process it, Yan Jing's storm-like assault descended.

In just a brief second or two, a sky full of afterimages bloomed between them as fists flew.

Kaiyang pushed his mechanical core's output to one hundred and twenty percent. Operating under this extreme overload, he barely managed to block the barrage of punches Yan Jing unleashed.

It was right then that Tianxuan finally shook off her dizziness. She hurriedly aimed at Yan Jing again. But as she watched the two figures moving so fast they looked like twin beams of light, she realized she couldn't lock onto Yan Jing alone.

"Fire!"

Kaiyang's roar crackled through her earpiece.

Who knew if Yan Jing could still use that controlling ability again? He was prepared to tank Tianxuan's artillery fire; he absolutely had to put Yan Jing down as quickly as possible.

In combat, Tianxuan always followed Kaiyang's orders implicitly. Instantly, countless rounds of artillery fire transmuted into thick beams of light, shooting toward the two figures in midair amidst a continuous, deafening bombardment.

"Boom! Boom! Boom—"

Immediately, rolling clouds of smoke and dust blotted out the entire sky.

Who did it hit?

Tianxuan held her breath and focused, peering into the dust cloud.

But the very next second, a figure shrouded in dense black fog plummeted from the sky and slammed straight into her. Yan Jing's hand—covered in the White Stone and shifting threads—plunged right into her chest. He was mere inches from touching her mechanical core.

Tianxuan's body scraped roughly along the ground, skidding toward a distant wall. Feeling Yan Jing's hand about to breach her mechanical core, she panicked and immediately triggered her self-destruct system.

"Boom!!!"

A terrifying explosion echoed into the heavens, as if a massive bomb had been dropped on the area. Horrific temperatures instantly engulfed everything in the vicinity. The bridge, which still hadn't been fully repaired, was swallowed by the blinding, extreme light before finally collapsing with a thunderous crash.

This was the desperate, dying strike of a Sixth Tier expert.

As the rumbling finally faded, the surrounding scenery looked as though it had been painted with the colors of war. Everything was pitch-black, the lingering heat boiling the air around it.

Kaiyang, who had flown to a safe distance, immediately dropped down. He found Tianxuan lying on the ground with less than half of her ruined body remaining, and gathered her into his arms.

""

He saw Tianxuan open her mouth, as if trying to say something.

"What did you say?"

He couldn't hear her clearly. After such a horrific self-destruction, he suspected her vocal systems were completely destroyed.

Yet Tianxuan's mangled face revealed an anxious expression, her mouth continually opening and closing.

Left with no choice, Kaiyang hurriedly lifted her closer to his head, using his mechanical core to enhance his auditory systems.

Finally—

He finally heard what Tianxuan was saying.

"Run... Run..."

Run?

He froze. A moment later, a terrifying force transmitted from near his foot, accompanied by the shriek of bending steel. In the very next split second, an entire chunk of his mechanical skeletal frame tore loose from his leg.

Looking down at Yan Jing by his feet, fear bloomed in Kaiyang's heart for the very first time.

Right now, Yan Jing looked as though he had completely transformed into a monster.

The figure inside the pitch-black mist was already a mangled mess of flesh and blood. In some places, sections of bone were even visible. Yet he didn't look exhausted in the slightest.

Black and white threads roamed over his wounds, densely intertwining as if substituting for his missing flesh. In his right hand, he held the chunk of mechanical skeleton he had just ripped away, while his left hand held an apple that he was currently munching on.

With every bite taken by that mouth—which was now missing half its lips—his condition visibly recovered a little.

Without a shred of hesitation, upon seeing this clearly, Kaiyang immediately turned around. He pushed the mechanical core inside his body to one hundred and fifty percent. Driving his propulsion systems to their maximum boost, plumes of exhaust flame erupted behind him as he dashed madly into the distance.

This guy was a genuine monster!

Boundless terror gripped his heart. Their deduction had been right—that Sixth Tier expert from Nuochen Biotech last time must have died by his hands.

With such a massive gap in strength, there was absolutely no way to win right now. There was only one way to survive, and that was to run!

But a second later.

Yan Jing snapped his fingers.

Kaiyang's entire body jolted to a violent halt. He suddenly felt as if his whole body had rusted over; his movements became agonizingly slow.

"Warning! Warning! Massive obstruction between wheel axles! Clearing recommended!!!"

A burning smell wafted into his nose. It was the scent of short-circuiting wires, caused by his propulsion system forcefully operating without being able to move his body.

Kaiyang used all his strength to raise his arm, and finally—

He got a clear look at the threads writhing between every interlocking crevice.

They were from when they traded punches earlier—

He turned his head in a daze, only to see the spear flying straight at his face!