Chapter 90: The Invisible Assassin

Asura had always been punctual. Moreover, it was impossible for the other Casares warriors to have collectively forgotten the day of the major battle.

So, had they encountered an accident? Had they been discovered by the gangsters of the Fira Planet and ambushed? Thinking about this, Zhang Wen glanced around and shook his head lightly.

It wasn’t the gangsters.

After all, besides Zhang Wen himself, there were eight Kemal warriors who had come to the Fira Planet. Among them were powerful figures like “Unicorn Wolf,” an eighth-tier fighter, and “Iron Fork,” a ninth-tier warrior. Leading the group was Asura, a top-tier expert who had broken through to the Saint level.

They were all professional warriors who had experienced countless life-and-death battles. To defeat such a group, perhaps only the five major factions of the Fira Planet might have been capable. But to make them vanish without a trace was definitely beyond the capabilities of any gang!

Moreover, in this small, modest hotel, Zhang Wen could detect no signs of any previous battle. Many of the guests walking through the lobby and the smiling receptionists were familiar to him from his previous meeting with Asura. Judging from their expressions, they didn’t seem to have been involved in any Saint-level conflict. The layout of the hotel was exactly the same as when Zhang Wen had last visited.

What was going on? Zhang Wen furrowed his brow.

With Asura and his group missing, Zhang Wen couldn’t go alone to the Kemal Arena, nor did he intend to flee like a frightened rabbit. After a moment of thought, he headed toward the “floating elevator” located in the center of the hotel lobby.

On the Fira Planet, known as the “Hanging Gardens,” floating elevators were a common device. Their function and structure were not much different from elevators on Earth. However, instead of electricity, they were powered by the mental energy emitted by psychokineticists.

Stepping onto the large circular platform in the center of the lobby, Zhang Wen quickly arrived at the sixth floor—the same floor where Asura and his group were staying.

As he stepped onto the platform of the floating elevator, Zhang Wen remained alert, carefully observing his surroundings. He suspected that if Asura and his team had indeed been eliminated, their enemies would surely have left someone behind to wait for him to fall into their trap. However, until Zhang Wen reached the door of Asura’s room, he had not sensed any unusual presence.

Gently pushing open the thick door, Zhang Wen glanced into the room.

Although it was still a sunny afternoon outside, the window directly facing the door was tightly shut, covered by thick curtains. The room was pitch black, with not a single ray of sunlight penetrating. It perfectly matched Asura’s long-standing preference for darkness.

Besides the tightly drawn curtains, the other items in the room were almost exactly the same as when Zhang Wen had last visited. With his Spring Water Technique fully activated, Zhang Wen carefully scanned the empty room but detected no abnormal presence.

Finally, a small piece of paper lying beside the bed caught Zhang Wen’s attention. He noticed that there seemed to be something written on it. He quickly walked over, picked up the paper, and examined it.

The handwriting on the paper was indeed Asura’s. However, the content consisted only of a dozen or so seemingly random letters, scribbled together without any apparent connection.

Although Zhang Wen had some knowledge of cryptography, he couldn’t derive any useful information from the simplistic letters on the note.

However, just as Zhang Wen was about to leave Asura’s room to check the other rooms for more clues, the door behind him suddenly creaked shut!

Without the light from the hallway, the room immediately plunged into darkness as deep as the dead of night.

At the exact moment the room went dark, Zhang Wen suddenly felt a chilling sense of terror spread throughout his entire body!

A veteran of countless life-and-death moments, Zhang Wen instinctively ducked his head and leapt aside, landing on the opposite side of the bed.

However, as he steadied himself and tried to see who had attacked him from behind, he saw nothing but an empty room!

Gone?! Zhang Wen’s mouth fell open in shock.

Zhang Wen had absolute confidence in his instincts. He believed that his intuition would never send such a clear and intense danger signal without cause!

That meant the assassin hiding in this room was so skilled that even Zhang Wen, whose senses had been enhanced several times by the Spring Water Technique, couldn’t detect his presence!

What a terrifying opponent! Just as this thought flashed through his mind, Zhang Wen was startled again. The same chilling sense of danger struck him once more, and without knowing where the attacker was, he could only grit his teeth and leap aside again.

Just like before, when Zhang Wen landed, he still couldn’t see any sign of someone’s presence in the pitch-black room. Before he could even steady himself, the elusive assassin launched his third attack.

Damn it! Zhang Wen cursed inwardly, his body not daring to pause for even a second.

Since he began practicing the Spring Water Technique, this was the first time Zhang Wen had encountered such a frustrating opponent. Even when facing “The King,” although he couldn’t win, at least he could unleash his full strength and fight back. But now, he was facing an opponent he couldn’t even lay a hand on.

Under the relentless attacks, Zhang Wen couldn’t even attempt to escape by breaking the window. In fact, he was forced to use every trick in the book, dodging and flipping around the cramped room like a panicked chicken, yet still couldn’t catch a glimpse of his opponent’s shadow!

However, as the attacks continued, the assassin seemed to gradually adapt to Zhang Wen’s extremely sharp intuition. His attacks became even more subtle. When Zhang Wen barely dodged the fifth attack, he almost felt the cold touch of the assassin’s weapon brushing against his neck!

If this continued, he would eventually be finished! After narrowly dodging the sixth attack, Zhang Wen realized this grim truth. But he had no idea how to break out of this deadly situation.

If they were fighting outdoors, Zhang Wen might have been able to unleash his full power and attempt to escape the assassin using his speed. However, the dark, cramped hotel room was practically the assassin’s perfect hunting ground! Zhang Wen couldn’t locate his opponent, nor could he shake off the assassin’s relentless pursuit.

With no other options, Zhang Wen could only continue to rely on his instincts and evasive maneuvers to survive. However, a small room was never an ideal place for acrobatic dodging.

After dodging countless attacks, Zhang Wen accidentally knocked over the coffee table in the center of the living room.

Crash! Bottles and jars scattered across the floor.

Caught by the coffee table, Zhang Wen finally suffered a blow.

Slicing through! The weapon seemed to be an extremely sharp dagger. Zhang Wen’s combat suit was easily cut open. He felt a sudden chill on his back, just below his neck, followed by a searing pain.

Hmph! Was this guy aiming for the spine? Truly professional! Zhang Wen rolled away again, narrowly dodging another stab aimed at his neck, and sniffed the air twice with his nose.

The area around the overturned coffee table, littered with broken bottles and jars, was clearly not suitable for continuing the evasive battle. Zhang Wen, still being pursued by the assassin, quickly fled to the side of the bed.

He leapt from one side of the bed to the other and lifted his head. Before him was still the pitch-black empty room. However, at this moment, Zhang Wen’s lips suddenly curled upward slightly.

Gotcha!

Without waiting for the chilling sense of danger to strike again, Zhang Wen sprang into action. Suddenly crouching, he spun around lightning-fast and swung his right hand toward his right rear.

Actually, Zhang Wen had deliberately chosen to dodge away from the coffee table for a reason. Among the scattered bottles and jars, one contained a strange homemade drink of Asura’s. The drink had a peculiar sour smell, which Zhang Wen’s nose had always been especially sensitive to.

After the drink spilled, the assassin’s feet had also stepped into it, leaving a trace. Once Zhang Wen reached the bed, he could use his nose to pinpoint the assassin’s location!

Crack! Zhang Wen’s right hand firmly grasped the assassin’s wrist, which held the dagger. The sharp blade stopped just inches from Zhang Wen’s neck.

With a powerful pull to his side, Zhang Wen yanked the assassin off his feet and swung him around in a wide arc like a hammer throw, slamming him onto the bed.

The assassin landed on the bed and reacted with lightning speed. As soon as his body hit the mattress, he kicked out his right leg in a sweeping motion aimed at Zhang Wen’s waist.

However, the assassin’s strength lay in his stealth. Once exposed, his attacks became ineffective.

As the assassin’s leg nearly struck Zhang Wen, Zhang Wen extended his left hand, grabbing the assassin’s calf, giving it a quick jerk, and sending the assassin spinning through the air once more, crashing back onto the bed.

This time, Zhang Wen had already used the Spring Water Technique. With that single jerk, the assassin’s body was almost completely shattered, his battle energy dissipating.

Then, Zhang Wen used the momentum of throwing his opponent to leap up, straddling the assassin’s waist. He leaned forward, pinning the assassin’s chest with his left arm while tightly gripping the wrist holding the dagger with his right hand, pressing the blade against the assassin’s throat to ensure the dangerous opponent could no longer resist.

From the moment Zhang Wen launched his counterattack to the moment he subdued the “invisible assassin,” only an instant had passed. It wasn’t until he was sure he had restrained the troublesome opponent that Zhang Wen got a clear look at his face.

“A girl?”

Before Zhang Wen’s eyes was the face of a young girl, delicate and beautiful. The girl had black hair that Zhang Wen found very pleasing. Her eyes were like the purest rubies, and her facial features were nearly perfect, almost like a character from a comic book.

Wrapped in a tight-fitting black combat suit, the girl’s body appeared slightly thin. However, the softness Zhang Wen felt under his left arm was enough proof that her figure was far from flat at first glance!

As Zhang Wen examined the girl’s face, the subdued girl also quietly looked at him. She showed no panic, her gaze as pure as an angel descending into the world!

“Damn it!” Zhang Wen couldn’t help but curse.

The girl’s innocent gaze made Zhang Wen feel a bit awkward. Anyone entering the room at this moment would likely assume that Zhang Wen, the “weird old man,” had forcibly pinned down the cute girl. No one would believe that this angelic-looking girl had been a merciless “invisible assassin” just minutes ago!

Of course, even though he was a grown man sitting on the girl’s waist, pinning her soft and full chest with his arm, and holding a dagger to her throat, it might seem rather indecent. But Zhang Wen could only accept that. Having witnessed her terrifying abilities, he dared not let his guard down for even a moment around this girl.

“What’s your name?” Taking a deep breath, Zhang Wen asked the girl sternly.

“Vicky.” The girl looked at Zhang Wen for a while before calmly uttering two words.

“Alright. Vicky, why did you attack me? Where did Asura and the others go?” Zhang Wen furrowed his brow and asked again. Based on his previous fight with the girl, Zhang Wen believed she definitely had the capability to silently eliminate all eight of them, including Asura!

This time, Vicky only calmly looked into Zhang Wen’s eyes without uttering a single sound.

Vicky’s silence told Zhang Wen that he wouldn’t get any more useful information from her. Judging from her fighting style, her martial arts were simple and effective. Even after being captured, she remained terrifyingly calm. She looked like someone who had been trained from a young age to be a deadly operative. No matter how you looked at it, she was clearly someone who had been trained from a young age to be a deadly operative. For someone like that, even torture would be useless.

“Fine! Get up!” After a moment of thought, Zhang Wen slowly released Vicky.

Although keeping Vicky around would pose a significant threat, Zhang Wen had no choice. With Asura and his group all missing, if they were still alive, Vicky was the only bargaining chip he had left. After all, the time and cost required to cultivate an assassin as terrifying as Vicky would undoubtedly be enormous. Zhang Wen could only hope that, in the eyes of her superiors, Vicky’s life was more valuable than that of Asura and the others.

After that, Zhang Wen searched the other rooms of the Casares warriors with Vicky, but still found nothing. It seemed the enemy had great confidence in Vicky’s abilities, leaving no more assassins besides her.

“Put these on.” When they finally searched the room of the last bounty warrior, Zhang Wen casually pulled out a clean set of clothes from the female bounty warrior’s suitcase and tossed them to Vicky.

Since Zhang Wen had decided to keep Vicki by his side temporarily, he naturally wanted to minimize the risks. He certainly couldn’t allow this terrifying little girl to wander the streets in her combat suit. One moment of carelessness, and she could bring endless trouble upon him.

Therefore, Zhang Wen specially selected for Vicki a very impractical outfit—a short skirt suit completely unsuitable for battle, and a pair of high-heeled shoes with extremely tall heels.

Vicki glanced at the items Zhang Wen tossed in front of her, said not a word, and immediately began stripping off her combat suit right in front of him. Her youthful, bare body was suddenly exposed to Zhang Wen’s eyes.

Vicki’s skin was pure and smooth, her shoulders slightly delicate, yet her chest, as Zhang Wen had previously sensed, was surprisingly full and plump! From there down, her curves sharply tapered inward, outlining a slender waist and a flat, charming abdomen.

“Idiot!” Zhang Wen hadn’t expected Vicki to act so decisively, nor had he anticipated that beneath her combat suit, she wore absolutely nothing—not even undergarments. However, he couldn’t afford to lose sight of Vicki for even a moment. Embarrassed, he muttered a curse and hastily pulled out a set of undergarments from his companion’s suitcase, tossing it to her: “Put this on!”

Vicki picked up the undergarments Zhang Wen had thrown last, looked at them for a moment, and then turned a confused gaze toward him.

“You’ve never worn this before?” Her innocent expression only made Zhang Wen’s headache worse.

“No.” Vicki shook her head again.

“Damn it!”

“Help me.” Vicki stepped closer to Zhang Wen, calmly extended the undergarments toward him, seemingly unbothered at all about being naked in front of him.

“Fine.” Zhang Wen furrowed his brow and took the pieces of cloth from Vicki. He wasn’t worried about her pulling any tricks.

In the darkness, Vicki might have been a formidable assassin, even giving Zhang Wen a headache. But in a well-lit room, unarmed and exposed, she couldn’t escape his grasp.

“Arms out!” Zhang Wen walked behind Vicki and slipped the bikini-like undergarments over her body.

Because one hand was holding a dagger, Zhang Wen’s movements were inconvenient. Added to that, Vicki herself seemed either unwilling or uncooperative—intentionally or not—which made Zhang Wen’s attempts to dress her extremely awkward. The clasp in front of her chest took him several tries to fasten properly. During this time, his left hand brushed against Vicki’s full, soft breast more than once, making it seem as if he were deliberately taking advantage of her.

After finally managing to get the undergarments on Vicki, Zhang Wen quickly retreated to his original spot.

Vicki, however, first lowered her head, staring at the undergarments now covering her chest. Then, as if suddenly realizing something, she suddenly blushed, her delicate face rapidly turning red.

“What the hell is she up to?” Zhang Wen was once again puzzled by Vicki’s shy expression.

At first, Vicki’s behavior had led Zhang Wen to believe she was like a few girls he’d seen in his past life on Earth—girls who had been rigorously trained from a young age into precise killing machines, completely devoid of normal feminine modesty. But now, it seemed like that wasn’t quite the case.

Forget it, no need to think about it… After all, he was just going to use her to get the lives of Xie Luo and the others back. Zhang Wen shook his head hard, shaking away his confusion, then pointed at the dress and heels he had previously placed on the bed: “Now put them all on.”

Vicki, her face still flushed, seemed to fully understand her current situation. She showed no resistance to Zhang Wen’s command and obediently picked up the clothes to begin dressing.

The female bounty fighter who had come to the planet Fira with Xie Luo was a woman of well-proportioned figure. Her evening gown fit Vicki quite well. The only slight discomfort for Vicki might have been that the bounty fighter’s bust was a bit smaller. Vicki’s full, plump bosom stretched the neckline open, revealing a dazzling expanse of pale skin and a deep, enticing cleavage.

Overall, the process of putting on the evening dress went rather smoothly. However, the next challenge proved more difficult.

The pair of high heels Zhang Wen had chosen had heels nearly twenty centimeters tall—definitely not something just anyone could wear. For Vicki, who had never worn heels before, walking in them was even more unstable than walking on stilts.

The kicker was that these super-high heels were the work of a renowned designer from the Empire. The designer’s trademark was simple: expensive price tags, excellent quality, and once you put them on, taking them off was no easy task.

But this was exactly what Zhang Wen wanted to see! His purpose in giving Vicki these clothes and shoes was precisely to limit her abilities. If she could still move around freely in high heels, climbing mountains and crossing seas as if walking on flat ground, wouldn’t all his efforts have been in vain?

Once fully prepared, Zhang Wen led Vicki, who now walked with a wobbly, unstable gait as if she might twist her ankle at any moment, back out onto the streets.

Zhang Wen believed that those people who had followed him from the Themis Academy all the way to the inn were definitely connected to the group that had taken Xie Luo away. They had followed him here, probably to confirm that he would be killed by Vicki.

Indeed, as soon as he returned to the street, Zhang Wen immediately sensed several unusual gazes. The groups who had previously followed him separately along the way now seemed to have gathered near the inn.

When they saw Zhang Wen reappear at the inn’s entrance with Vicki, and that Vicki was wearing such an astonishing outfit, the eyes of the several mysterious observers watching him widened in even greater surprise.

“Hey!” Zhang Wen smiled faintly and, together with Vicki, strode directly toward a parked psychokinetic hovercar by the roadside.

The young man inside hurriedly pretended to be listening to the radio, but Zhang Wen had already knocked on his window.

Knock knock knock!

“What… what do you want?” The young man finally rolled down the window, looking at Zhang Wen in fear.

He had witnessed Vicki’s terrifying abilities five days ago. At that time, he had been standing outside the inn and had watched with his own eyes as Vicki silently infiltrated the building, knocking out one by one the eight bounty fighters from the Cassares Arena and tossing them out the back door—including even Xie Luo, who had surpassed the Saint Rank.

At that time, he had practically regarded Vicki as a ghost or a god.

Yet now, this man had somehow survived her perfectly laid ambush and even captured her alive! Just how powerful must this guy be?

“Hey! You’ve been tailing me since the Themis Academy. Why are you asking me what I want to do?” Zhang Wen replied with a half-smile, turning the question back at the young man.

“I…” The young man was left speechless by Zhang Wen’s counter-question.

“What’s your name?”

“Hook…” Under Zhang Wen’s gaze, the young man Hook was as obedient as a rabbit.

“Alright. Hook, I don’t care who your boss is. Deliver this message to him: return Xie Luo and the others unharmed, not a single hair missing. Otherwise… although I really hate to be cruel to a beautiful girl, I’ll have no choice but to do something rather ungentlemanly to Miss Vicki. As for the debt you owe us for ambushing Xie Luo earlier, we’ll settle that with your boss later.”

With a smile still on his face, Zhang Wen finished speaking and knocked again on the window of the psychokinetic vehicle before walking back into the inn with Vicki.

Hook, drenched in cold sweat, watched Zhang Wen walk through the inn’s door, then hastily pulled out a psychic communicator and placed it to his ear.

“Boss! Big trouble!”