"Are you sure the surgery will succeed?"
A man with long platinum-blond hair, his face identical to Xavier’s, spoke. He was Xavier’s twin brother, Xia Ji.
Xia Ji had been in an excellent mood lately. He had learned that his younger brother was dead. Not only that, Edward Wu and Tiger Niko—higher-ups he had never liked—were dead too.
As a result, he had vaulted into the position of leader of the Worm and finally fulfilled his long-held wish. Right now, everything looked agreeable to him.
Even the utterly revolting-looking man before him.
"The preparations are complete. I am one hundred percent certain it will work. Do not worry. After today, the Connector will become two people: Dragon and Tiger."
The Rulebreaker known as Devourer wore a strange smile. "Once his long-cherished wish has been fulfilled, I imagine he will no longer interfere with your affairs. Then you will be the Worm’s sole leader—the true emperor standing at the pinnacle of the underworld."
"You understand me well. Rest assured, once you succeed, I will give you the position of regional director."
Xia Ji smiled, utterly delighted.
Yes. He did not care what anyone else thought. He had always feared and hated Shen Wulong.
The Worm had originally been a massive organization. His younger brother had inherited control of it from their father, and now Xia Ji had inherited it from his brother, becoming the Worm’s new leader.
Had he cautiously clawed his way this far just to be someone else’s dog?
Of course not. What he wanted was genuine power: to become the unquestioned leader of the Worm. He did not want anyone pointing fingers and ordering him around.
That was why an existence like the Connector was such an eyesore. He no longer wanted the Worm to operate as an organization cleaning up the Connector’s messes.
"Ha ha, I look forward to it."
Devourer turned and entered the operating room. The instant the door shut behind him, his expression darkened.
The Connector’s strongest subordinates had been mobilized, yet they had still been wiped out. The news pressed a lethal sense of danger onto him.
The Arbiter who had come this time was anything but ordinary!
He had assumed that when he woke up, he would be able to absorb Luke’s corpse. Instead, he had received news of their total defeat. That forced him to alter his plans and devote himself fully to operating on Shen Wulong.
In his original plan, once Luke was dead, he would kill Shen Wulong during the surgery. If he succeeded, he would accomplish a feat that countless Explorers had failed to achieve.
The Kengan world was famously one of Endspace’s toughest holdouts. Though it was only a first-tier derivative world, it was exceptionally resilient. No one had ever conquered it.
Was that because the people of this world possessed bodies that were simply too powerful?
Absolutely not. It was purely because one man existed: Shen Wulong.
To conquer this world, one had to defeat its ceiling, Shen Wulong. Yet even a level-ten first-tier Explorer with all thirty attribute points filled could never defeat him.
First-tier Explorers possessed no technique capable of breaking Shen Wulong’s logic. Their specialized abilities were worlds apart from his. They could not overpower him through brute force, either; they would only be redirected by a small force moving a great one.
So when Devourer arrived in this world, the first thing he did was formulate a plan to murder Shen Wulong. In his eyes, the Explorers before him had all been idiots.
Facing a master like Shen Wulong head-on to decide victory and defeat was something only an idiot would do. All he needed to do was kill Shen Wulong on the operating table.
That was how it should have gone...
"Damn you, Luke..."
Devourer muttered under his breath. If not for Luke, he could have simply killed Shen Wulong. But now he needed Shen Wulong to eliminate Luke, so he could not make a lethal move.
"Are you ready?"
Another voice sounded from within the operating room, making Devourer’s nerves tighten.
His face stiffened as he looked toward the speaker. That face was identical to Shen Wulong’s, but it was not Shen Wulong. It belonged to Shen Luohan, Shen Wulong’s first clone in this lifetime.
He was now the second person Devourer hated most, because Shen Luohan’s appearance had completely ruined his plan.
Shen Luohan ran an arms organization called the Death Merchant. What Devourer found absurd was that, in this garbage setting, Shen Luohan even possessed nuclear weapons!
Based on what he knew of Shen Wulong, after learning of Xavier’s death, Shen Wulong should have sought revenge for Xavier first. The surgery should have been put off until later.
Once Shen Wulong killed Luke, Devourer could still operate on him and kill Shen Wulong during the procedure.
But perhaps he had underestimated the difficulty of conquering this world. Or perhaps he was simply unlucky.
Before Xavier had even set out, Shen Wulong had already prepared for the surgery. And the news of Xavier’s death had never reached Shen Wulong’s ears, all because of the man standing beside Devourer.
Shen Luohan had sealed off the information and allowed Shen Wulong’s separation surgery to proceed according to schedule. Then, after Shen Wulong fell into deep anesthesia, he threatened Devourer and demanded Shen Wulong’s memories.
Yes. Shen Luohan wanted to become the new Shen Wulong. He had no intention of letting Shen Wulong divide himself. What he wanted was Shen Wulong’s complete memories.
He was Shen Wulong’s first clone, possessing exceptional strength and surpassing even Xavier and the others. Yet he had never been able to reach the summit, simply because he was not Shen Wulong.
Shen Luohan had never expected such a perfect opportunity to arise. After Devourer demonstrated the division and fusion of a human body, Shen Wulong immediately decided to undergo the separation procedure.
"You underestimated human evil..."
Shen Luohan looked at Shen Wulong on the operating table. Shen Wulong had taken everything far too much for granted. Without a loyal hound like Xavier at his side, he had actually dared to undergo surgery?
Today, he would become the new Shen Wulong. As for whether he would inherit Shen Wulong’s original troubles after becoming Shen Wulong, that was not something he needed to consider for now.
If those troubles truly bothered him in the future, he could just have Devourer perform a separation on him then. The only difference was that he would be more cautious and have subordinates he trusted oversee the operation.
"Are you certain? Once you fuse with him, you will no longer be yourself."
Devourer questioned Shen Luohan again. In truth, he did not want to do this at all. His ability fused people’s memories and personalities. Once Shen Luohan became the new Shen Wulong, Shen Wulong might no longer be so easy to deal with.
"This is my wish. And you will become the new highest-ranking executive. As for that worthless fool outside, let him die."
Shen Luohan revealed a wicked smile. That idiot Xia Ji had no idea Shen Luohan was here. He still thought he was going to become the Worm’s leader.
But once Shen Luohan became the new Connector, the first thing he would do was kill a fool like Xia Ji. The man dragged down the organization’s average intelligence far too much.
"I do not care about becoming a high-ranking executive. I only hope you will help me kill Luke. I want his corpse."
Devourer was trapped between a rock and a hard place. If he refused to perform the surgery, Shen Luohan would kill him. Shen Luohan had the strength to do exactly that. But if he performed it, he could not play any tricks either, because Shen Luohan had ordered trusted subordinates to dispatch ten submarines around this isolated island.
If anything happened to Shen Luohan during the operation, Devourer would be met with a missile barrage. In the worst case, nuclear weapons might even be deployed. With his abilities, escaping this place would be impossible. He could only obediently perform the fusion surgery for Shen Luohan.
"No problem. To me, who is about to become Shen Wulong, Luke is merely a minor character. As an arms merchant, I value integrity above all else. Your wish will be granted."
Shen Luohan smiled. "Now, perform the fusion surgery on us."
………………
Naturally, Luke knew nothing about Shen Wulong’s replacement. At the moment, he was immersed in the ocean of martial arts.
Three days had passed since the Kengan Annihilation Tournament. The day after order had been restored, Luke fought an extra match with Kuroki Gensai. With his physical strength restricted, Luke had a thoroughly satisfying battle with Kuroki.
The result held no surprises. Luke still won. Many Kengan Association members considered that only natural. After all, Chairman Katahara had ruled the Kengan Association for far too long. Very few people had truly believed the Kengan Annihilation Tournament could unseat him.
But to everyone’s surprise, after gaining the right to appoint the Kengan Association’s chairman, Katahara Metsudo did not appoint himself. Instead, he appointed Nogi, the man who had initiated the tournament.
Luke was not surprised. Old man Katahara was too old. All he wanted was to find a reliable successor; the tournament was simply one part of his entertainment.
After the match, he and Kuroki had a friendly exchange regarding the realm of martial arts. Each absorbed some of the other’s techniques, and both improved. They had become good friends through battle.
Afterward, Luke returned to the Kure Clan’s territory and plunged straight into its "library of martial arts."
As the Kure Clan’s benefactor, Erioh Kure gave him special access. So long as Luke did not spread the knowledge outside the clan, he was free to learn any of the martial arts kept there.
Like a sponge starving for water, Luke rapidly absorbed every outstanding technique, running simulations in his mind and combining them with the battles he had fought recently. His specialization levels had actually risen again.
Recommend an old friend Tian Li’s new novel, Martial Saint! It is also about a powerhouse from the Lu family—an extreme-path martial artist and an insanely satisfying martial arts story. Just read it.
Comments (0)
Please log in to leave a comment. Login or Register