Since arriving in this world, Zhang Wen had never felt as furious and guilty as he did now. Amelis had warned him, but his overconfidence had blinded him to the fact that Irina could be so insane as to not only want to kill him, but also refuse to spare his students! If anything happened to Amelis, Zax, or any of the others, Zhang Wen would never forgive himself!
“Speak quickly! Who is the other target?” Zhang Wen gripped Irina’s chin and lifted her face. At a moment like this, if he still showed any mercy or tenderness toward Irina, he would truly be an idiot.
Zhang Wen’s icy gaze sent a chill through Irina’s heart. However, Irina, who believed she still held the upper hand, would never easily yield to Zhang Wen’s threats.
“Hehe! Do you really think I’ll tell you?” Irina smirked and taunted back.
“You will tell me. I guarantee it. Irina, you’ve made a huge mistake! You don’t understand—there are many things in this world far worse than death for a woman!”
As he finished speaking, a dagger engraved with the words “KNIGHT K” suddenly appeared between the fingers of Zhang Wen’s free left hand. Then, with a flick of his wrist, the dagger, gleaming with cold light, sliced straight down along Irina’s neck!
Irina felt a sudden chill. Immediately afterward, the battle suit that tightly wrapped her body split open from the middle! Yet, in that moment, Irina didn’t even care about the pale white skin exposed by the torn suit.
The neat, smooth cut along the central axis of the battle suit made Irina feel as though an icy current had passed through her body, raising every hair on her skin. Irina couldn’t even imagine what would have happened if Zhang Wen’s movement had been just a little more forceful, or if the dagger had cut just a little deeper.
“I’ll ask you one last time—just who is your other target?”
The cold dagger pressed against Irina’s cheek. Between the torn halves of the battle suit, most of her full, ample breasts were exposed, but Zhang Wen seemed to have no interest in even glancing at them. His eyes remained cold and emotionless, as if he were not standing before a human being, but a machine devoid of any feeling.
Irina stared at Zhang Wen in terror, her face paling. Within just a few seconds, her body was soaked with sweat. She had no doubt—if she refused Zhang Wen’s demand, that dagger capable of slicing through a durable battle suit would carve her face open like cheese!
“It’s…” After a brief silence, Irina surrendered more quickly than she had imagined herself capable of. Her excuse to herself was that the assassin she had hired should have already completed his task. Even if she told Zhang Wen the name, it would already be too late for him to save anyone.
Beep… Beep…
However, just as Irina was about to reveal the name, a sudden ringing came from Zhang Wen’s psychic communicator, which was attached to his waist.
“Who is it?” Zhang Wen hesitated for a moment before bringing the communicator to his ear.
“Hey! Perverted teacher, what the hell are you doing?!” The voice coming from the communicator was Agate’s, clearly furious.
“What am I doing? I’m doing nothing. What are you doing? Why are you contacting me so late?” Zhang Wen asked in confusion.
“Bullshit! If it wasn’t you causing trouble, how did that idiot assassin appear on my end? No one else knows I’m in Kashares except you! Moreover, if it wasn’t some prank of yours, even if someone wanted to target me, they couldn’t have sent such a stupid assassin who’s only at the Strong level!” Agate roared furiously through the communicator.
“An assassin? You’re saying you encountered an assassin?” Zhang Wen was momentarily stunned by Agate’s furious yelling, then his face twisted into a wry, helpless expression.
Despite Zhang Wen’s careful calculations, he hadn’t foreseen that Irina’s chosen assassination target would actually be Agate! If he had known that earlier, why would he have been in such a hurry? Even if Irina had scoured the entire Kashares, she probably wouldn’t have found an assassin capable of taking Agate’s life!
“Exactly! I don’t care—I’m holding you responsible! All the damages at the inn, you’re paying for every last one of them! I don’t care!” Agate continued to shout from the other end of the communicator, finally revealing the main reason he had disturbed Zhang Wen in the middle of the night.
Although Agate’s strength had reached the Super Tier level, he didn’t have Zhang Wen’s keen senses. He hadn’t noticed the assassin sneaking into his room until the assassin was practically ready to strike.
Agate had never been someone skilled at controlling his battle energy, and in his rage, his attack was merciless. As a result, after the fight, not only were all the expensive pieces of furniture in the room smashed to pieces by Agate, but several walls were also blown apart!
To make matters worse, during the fight, the clumsy Agate hadn’t held back and accidentally killed the assassin!
When the inn staff came knocking, Agate was shocked to find out that all the damages caused during the fight were now his responsibility! And the most critical point was that the bill was an astronomical six-digit number—Agate couldn’t even afford to pay it!
Under the relentless verbal assault from the inn’s beautiful female manager, the only solution Agate could think of was to call Zhang Wen.
But while Agate wanted Zhang Wen to be the scapegoat, Zhang Wen wasn’t that foolish.
“You’re dreaming!” Zhang Wen flatly refused Agate’s demand. “The assassin who targeted you has nothing to do with me! Why should I pay your bill?”
“You…” Before Agate could finish his next sentence, Zhang Wen decisively ended the call and even shut off the psychic terminal.
“Hehe!” Thinking about the helpless, bitter expression Agate must have on the other end of the communicator, Zhang Wen couldn’t help but smirk slightly.
Then, he quickly turned his gaze back to Irina.
His eyes hadn’t softened the slightest bit because Agate had taken care of the assassin. Irina’s madness had left a deep impression on Zhang Wen. This time, she had chosen the wrong target. But next time—who could guarantee she wouldn’t do something even more reckless?
Irina was also staring at Zhang Wen impatiently. Though she didn’t know who had contacted Zhang Wen just now, she could clearly see that his earlier tension had completely vanished after receiving the call.
“Do you still want to know the name?” Irina feigned calmness as she asked in return.
“No longer necessary,” Zhang Wen replied lightly.
“What do you mean, ‘no longer necessary’?” Irina anxiously pressed.
“It means—I already know who your target was.”
“The communication just now?” A flash of disbelief crossed Irina’s eyes.
“Exactly. The assassin you sent is dead. But he did cause that guy quite a bit of trouble,” Zhang Wen said with a cheerful smile.
“Impossible! Absolutely impossible!” Irina hesitated for a moment, then suddenly screamed in wild disbelief.
After her plan to assassinate Zhang Wen had failed and she had been captured by him, the only thing keeping Irina calm was the final sliver of “revenge” she had clung to. However, when her worst fears were confirmed by Zhang Wen’s words, her last emotional pillar completely collapsed.
Suddenly, Irina realized—Zhang Wen was still alive, and that red-haired guy was alive too. So what had she actually done? She had gone through all this trouble—what had she gained? Nothing at all! The only thing she had achieved was falling into Zhang Wen’s hands once again!
“What should I do with you now?” Zhang Wen stared at Irina, his voice sounding like he was speaking to her, yet also like he was muttering to himself.
“What… what do you want to do?” Irina stared at Zhang Wen in despair and screamed.
“Hehe! Don’t worry. I won’t kill you,” Zhang Wen shook his head at her. “Killing you would be simple enough, but after your death, I would only have more trouble than I do now!”
“What do you want to do to me?” Irina looked at Zhang Wen in terror as she saw him extend his left hand and place it against her neck.
“Irina, I’ve warned you more than once. Stay away from me and my students. Otherwise, I have many ways to make someone suffer a fate far worse than death.”
As Zhang Wen spoke the last few words, Irina suddenly felt a sharp, needle-like pain at the point where Zhang Wen’s hand touched her neck. Then, to her horror, she realized her body had suddenly lost all control!
Unlike the numbness and discomfort caused by psychic turbulence earlier, Irina now felt as though she had lost all sensation—completely unable to feel her body! In panic, she tried to scream, but she was even more terrified to find that her desperate scream only produced a low, muffled sound from her throat!
“Tomorrow morning, someone will discover that Teacher Irina became overly excited, causing a fatal psychic turbulence that cannot be reversed. You won’t be able to speak, move, or even summon the strength to lift a finger. But you will continue living, lying in bed for ten, twenty years… watching yourself slowly age and die,” Zhang Wen’s cold voice continued to echo in Irina’s ears.
“No… please! Have mercy on me…” Irina struggled with all her might, begging Zhang Wen desperately as tears streamed down her face.
Compared to death, the future Zhang Wen had painted for her was a hundred times more terrifying! No one could endure lying in bed for ten or twenty years like a living corpse. The loneliness of being completely cut off from everything would be enough to drive even the most mentally resilient, professionally trained person insane!
Irina’s tears failed to achieve the effect she had hoped for—her remorse had come far too late! After learning that this woman had hired an assassin from outside the academy to attack his students, and seeing Irina now, begging desperately for her life, Zhang Wen couldn’t feel even the slightest bit of sympathy. On the contrary, only a brutal, vengeful desire brewed deep within his heart.
“Irina, isn’t it a little too late to be saying these things now? I’ve already been more than generous to you.” Zhang Wen gripped Irina’s chin again, pulling her face close to his. “At least this way, you can still breathe the air of freedom. Unless, of course, you’d prefer to spend the rest of your life in the Governor’s dungeon?”
“Please…” Irina begged desperately. Both choices Zhang Wen had given her were worse than death.
“Not satisfied with either? Haha! Then I guess I’ll just have to choose one for you.” Zhang Wen shrugged indifferently and extended his left hand again.
“Wa… wait! I can be useful to you!” Irina choked out, barely managing to squeeze the barely audible words from her throat. However, she quickly realized that Zhang Wen hadn’t stopped his hand movement at all in response to her plea.
“You need an instructor for the second-tier cadets—I can do it!” Irina used every last ounce of strength she had left, pouring out her final hope in one breath. Then she tightly shut her eyes, no longer daring to look at Zhang Wen even once.
“Such a small favor to redeem your life? Irina, you’re selling yourself far too cheaply,” Zhang Wen smirked, his left hand reaching forward again, pressing against Irina’s nape. However, this time, Irina didn’t feel the same sharp pain as before.
“No! There’s more…” Irina hurriedly opened her eyes again, desperately clinging to the last thread of hope. “From now on, I will obey your every command, no matter what it is!”
“Oh? So you’re saying—you’re willing to become my slave willingly? That’s actually not a bad offer. Unfortunately, how can I trust you? According to imperial law, any citizen who reaches the Strong level is no longer bound by any slave contract.”
“I’m willing… to accept your family crest brand.” As Irina spoke, she seemed afraid Zhang Wen might refuse, her eyes filled with desperate pleading.
“The family crest, huh…” Zhang Wen murmured thoughtfully, clearly surprised.
The family crest branding was one of the oldest traditions in the Empire. Initially, it was merely a mark that imperial nobles used to identify prisoners of war after each campaign, to distinguish them from their own soldiers.
As time progressed, the nobles no longer needed such methods to differentiate prisoners from soldiers, but the tradition had been preserved.
Of course, it was now a rarely used tradition.
In today’s Empire, accepting the family crest branding meant renouncing one’s imperial citizenship and all rights, becoming a slave to the brand’s owner for life. Additionally, imperial law clearly stipulated that the branding could only be applied if the recipient willingly agreed. After all, how many people would willingly choose to become slaves?
“If you still don’t believe me… I can prove it to you right now…” Irina thought Zhang Wen’s silence meant he still doubted her sincerity.
Irina pleaded anxiously, writhing her body with all her might, trying to present Zhang Wen with the ample breasts that had already been mostly exposed from her slashed combat suit. As she did this, Irina wept bitterly. But now, her tears were no longer from fear.
Irina had become fully aware of what she was doing. She had surrendered to Zhang Wen, but that wasn’t enough. She was desperately trying to prove her submission to him! Her self-respect, her pride—layer upon layer of defenses that had shielded her—were now permanently stripped away before Zhang Wen.
“Fine, I’ll give you a chance…” Zhang Wen gently caressed Irina’s neck.
After a brief sting, Irina immediately felt her body again. After everything she had just endured, even the unbearable tingling sensation brought her a surge of joy.
Yet, the moment Irina met Zhang Wen’s gaze again, she froze once more. The dark woods, the lust-filled eyes—everything so achingly familiar stirred Irina’s memories. Her body trembled as she knelt down.
※※※
“No… no! Ah!” Irina screamed in terror, her naked body rolling off the bed and crashing onto the floor. Opening her eyes, Irina saw the familiar apartment and sunlight streaming through the curtains, illuminating the room.
Was it just a dream? Irina desperately hoped that the nightmarish events from last night were nothing more than another nightmare. Unfortunately, when Irina saw the clear mark on her right buttock in the mirror, her hope shattered. She collapsed onto the bed in despair, then gave up entirely and lay back down. Memories of the previous night flooded back like a tidal wave.
Irina could hardly believe that the woman in those memories was actually herself! Even the most despicable prostitute probably wouldn’t have gone that far! Zhang Wen hadn’t even made any demands. Instead, she had behaved like the most wanton harlot, using her body, her femininity—everything she had—to seduce Zhang Wen! She had begged him like a beggar seeking alms! And finally, it was she herself who had knelt before Zhang Wen, lifting her completely bare bottom so he could carve an indelible mark onto her right buttock!
“… Ah!” The barrage of indecent images caused Irina to cry out in shame. Even more humiliating was the fact that as she recalled those scenes, her body tingled with electric pleasure.
How could this be? Trembling, Irina extended her right hand to touch the mark on her right buttock. Yet instead of feeling revulsion at the symbol of her humiliation, her body reacted as if stimulated, surging with even more intense sensations.
“No… no… Zhang Wen! Mm! Zhang Wen!” Irina struggled desperately, letting out a moan that was neither hatred nor pleasure, while her hands uncontrollably caressed her own body. Her mind was filled with the lewd scenes from last night, making her feel even more ashamed, yet her body felt even more pleasure.
“No!” With a sharp scream, Irina’s body suddenly arched like a taut bow. The fantasy in her mind and the sensations in her body reached their peak simultaneously. After a long while, Irina collapsed onto the bed, exhausted and panting.
Knock knock knock! Knock knock knock!
“Irina, Irina?” The voice of the middle-aged woman from next door suddenly called out.
“I’m fine,” Irina lay motionless for a while before getting out of bed and replying casually.
“Oh… that’s good. Irina, today doesn’t seem to be a day off. Don’t you need to go to the academy?” The middle-aged woman asked suspiciously.
“Me? Not for now.” Irina walked into the bathroom, wrapped herself in a towel, and opened the door just a crack.
“Oh…” Seeing Irina’s indifferent expression, the woman reluctantly replied and finally left.
Irina closed the door and stood there blankly for a moment. But soon, as if she had made a sudden decision, she quickly changed into casual clothes and left the apartment.
“How come you suddenly want a family crest?” In the governor’s study, Temisso looked curiously at Zhang Wen sitting across from him.
“Just some recent trivial matters. I might need it,” Zhang Wen replied indifferently. “If it’s too much trouble, forget it.”
“No. A family crest isn’t a big deal. You already have the strength of a master, so you automatically qualify for the title of knight in the empire. All that’s left is for Mishia to register it,” Temisso said absentmindedly, then nodded casually and had Mishia escort Zhang Wen out of the governor’s mansion.
Neither Zhang Wen nor Mishia noticed that at the far end of the corridor leading directly to the governor’s study, a slender figure had been watching them all along.
“Why is Teacher Zhang so eager to get a family crest?” Karite, wearing a nightgown, knelt on her bed, staring at Zhang Wen’s retreating figure and whispering to herself. “Sigh! If only Mishia would help me ask! Oh! Could Teacher Zhang be… getting married?” A flicker of anxiousness crossed Karite’s blushing face.
“Phew! About time to head to the arena.” After walking out of the governor’s mansion with Mishia, Zhang Wen looked at the clock tower atop the mansion and exhaled easily.
Hopping onto a psychically-powered flying car outside the governor’s mansion, Zhang Wen soon arrived at Angele’s office. He had arrived at the arena more than ten minutes earlier than the time he had agreed upon with Angele, yet Agate had arrived even earlier than Zhang Wen.
“Hey! Why are you so slow? I thought you weren’t coming at all, and was about to go with Xie alone!” As soon as he saw Zhang Wen, Agate started shouting like he had swallowed gunpowder.
Agate had been in a terrible state last night. The mighty Flame Demon, number three enforcer of the organization, had been forced to wash dishes all night at the inn! Every time he thought about the female workers desperately trying to suppress their laughter while he washed dishes, Agate felt like crying and banging his head against the wall.
Moreover, that demon-like female manager had said that as long as Agate couldn’t pay off his debt to the inn, he would have to keep washing dishes to repay it—13,424 days in total, which was roughly forty years! Agate swore to the heavens that such a tragedy would never happen to him!
“Haha!” Zhang Wen wasn’t provoked by Agate’s outburst but instead burst into laughter. The more Agate fumed, the more Zhang Wen could tell how badly he had been pushed around by the beautiful manager of the Almace Academy Inn the previous night.
“Agate, work hard and prepare to pay off your debts. Nothing at the Almace Academy Inn comes cheap,” Zhang Wen teased, patting Agate’s shoulder.
“All because of you, you bastard!” Agate was practically beside himself with anger.
“That’s got nothing to do with me,” Zhang Wen was a master at playing dumb.
“Hmph!” Agate huffed angrily.
“Miss Angele,” at that moment, the door to the arena manager’s office opened again. Two men wearing matching blue combat suits and equipped with psychic communicators on their ears entered, nodding respectfully to Angele.
“Which two of them are the candidates recommended by your arena?” One of the men, taller with short black hair, glanced at Zhang Wen and the others in the room before asking Angele.
“All three of them,” Angele waved her hand casually.
“All three? Your arena should only have two spots,” the man with the black hair frowned slightly and asked again.
“This is Kemer Arena,” Angele smiled calmly.
The black-haired man remained silent for a moment, then, as if receiving instructions through the communicator, nodded briskly. “Alright.” The other man, with a scar on his cheek, immediately gestured for Zhang Wen and his group to follow.
Zhang Wen, Xie, and Agate followed the two blue-uniformed men for several minutes before they soon saw a psychically-powered flying vehicle parked by the roadside outside Kemer Arena. The model of this vehicle was clearly different from the common taxis in Kasares City.
From Zhang Wen’s perspective, having been accustomed to seeing luxurious sports cars in his previous life, the psychic vehicles driven by the two blue-clad men were at least three or four levels above the common ones in Kasares City.
“Sorry, we didn’t expect Kemer Arena to recommend three candidates at once, so please bear with the cramped space,” the short-haired man explained as the psychic vehicle, which was meant for four people, felt slightly tight with the three of them inside. Then the vehicle sped off along the streets of Kasares.
Compared to the psychic taxis commonly seen in Kasares City, the vehicles driven by the two blue-uniformed men were indeed much faster. Soon, they had already driven Zhang Wen and his group out of the city limits of Kasares.
“Where exactly are we going?” Seeing the increasingly dense jungle and the growing number of side roads around them, Xie, ever cautious, immediately furrowed his brows and asked.
“Please rest assured, this is a private road owned by Mr. Mohan, and psychic barriers have been set up nearby. There won’t be any magical beasts around,” the short-haired man explained again to the three of them.
“Tsk! Just some ordinary magical beasts…” Agate disdainfully lifted his head.
“Of course. All of you are warriors recommended by Kemer Arena, so naturally, you won’t be worried about magical beasts. Please be patient, we’ll arrive soon.”
“Fine.” Xie nodded and said no more.
The psychic vehicle continued along the maze-like road for about another hour before gradually slowing down and coming to a stop. What appeared before Zhang Wen and his companions was a temporary dock hastily built and an endless expanse of the azure sea!
“What is this?” Agate stared blankly at the roughly a hundred martial artists gathered around the dock.
At this time, the psychic vehicle that had brought Zhang Wen and his group quickly drove off with the two blue-clad men. In the next ten or so minutes, several other vehicles of the same model successively arrived, each dropping off one or a few martial artists.
“Tsk! What exactly is that guy Hassan planning?” As the number of martial artists around them increased, Agate couldn’t help muttering to Zhang Wen and Xie, “Almost all of these people are experts above the tenth rank. Gathering such strong combat power at once, is that bastard planning to start a war?”
“There are many people here I’ve never seen before. They’re definitely not from Kasares,” Xie whispered.
“Not just not from Kasares. From their accents, I can tell there are martial artists from the Empire, as well as quite a few from the Alliance and the Federation,” Agate sneered, “I bet your Mr. Hassan has probably gathered every expert he could find in the entire Southern Border.”
“Indeed, quite a grand move,” Zhang Wen smiled slightly, then quickly signaled Agate and Xie to keep quiet with a finger to his lips.
Agate and Xie were momentarily confused, then heard an unfamiliar voice from behind.
“Hey! You three, judging from your looks, you must be locals, right?” The speaker was a young boy with a baby face. He stood just a few steps away from Zhang Wen’s group, wearing a very bright smile.
“That’s right. Got a problem with that?” The only true native of Kasares among the three, Xie, replied coldly to the boy with the baby face.
“Haha! Don’t be so gloomy! I mean no harm! My name is Dennis Ryan, from the first sanitation planet of the Alliance,” the boy with the baby face cheerfully extended his hand toward Xie.
“What do you want? Alliance guy.” Xie frowned at Ryan but ignored the hand he had extended.
“Cough!” Ryan awkwardly withdrew his hand but quickly smiled brightly again, “I overheard you just now talking about wanting to know why Mr. Hassan has gathered so many experts. Is that right?”
“Exactly,” Xie finally nodded.
“Hehe! If that’s the case, I have a little deal to propose. I’m wondering if you’re interested?” Ryan smiled mysteriously and took a couple of steps closer to Zhang Wen’s group.
“What kind of deal?”
“Very simple. I know why Mr. Hassan has gathered everyone. I can tell you this information. In return, all you need to do is promise to help me with a tiny… tiny… favor when the time comes,” Ryan pinched his fingers, making a very small gesture to the three of them, “I guarantee it’ll be a great deal for you!”
“What do you think?” Xie didn’t directly answer Ryan’s proposal but turned to ask Zhang Wen.
“What do you think?” Zhang Wen smiled and returned the question to Xie.
“Heh! What are you hesitating for? Where else can you find such a great opportunity? I’m giving you the information right now, and all I ask for in return is a promise! When I make my request later, whether you agree or not is entirely up to you!” Ryan spread his hands, pretending to be helpless and urging the three on.
“Hmph! Who knows what tricks you might pull? But fine, I’ll agree. Speak quickly, and spit it out!” Agate impatiently slapped Ryan’s shoulder hard.
“Hehe! This red-haired guy sure has some strength,” Ryan winced in pain while rubbing the spot Agate had hit, mumbling a few words before brightly smiling again. “Alright then. I’ll tell you the information right now. Actually, this time Boss Hassan summoned us for an upcoming competition. I’m not exactly clear about the competition’s specific purpose, but Boss Hassan is determined to win. Therefore, he wants to select the top five martial artists from the Southern Territory to represent the Mohan Corporation in the event. However, it’s said that one of the five spots has already been reserved for a certain mysterious high-level expert. So, the rest of us are only competing for the remaining four spots.”
“Oh? Just to determine four competitors, and he splashes out several hundred million imperial credits already. Boss Hassan is indeed extravagantly wealthy,” Agate couldn’t help but sarcastically comment after listening.
“Is that mysterious high-level expert Iron Mask?” Xiu Luo ignored Agate’s mocking remark and instead asked Ryan.
“Hehe! This is already beyond the scope of our deal. If you want to know, you’ll have to offer extra conditions,” Ryan replied with an extremely bright smile.
“Tsk!” Xiu Luo unhappily curled his lip and fell silent.
“Well then, I’ve already told you all the information. When I come to ask for your help later, please don’t refuse!” Ryan winked, held up one finger, and then quickly disappeared into the crowd with a beaming smile.
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