Chapter Twenty-Six: Ferocity

Above the roof of the Maybach, the night was deep and unfathomable. Out of the darkness, the figure who had just torn open the entire car roof appeared before the two men.

He had no face, for it was completely covered by a black mask. Only his eyes shone through—the twin dark holes in the mask revealed a pair of eyes that gleamed like starlight against the night sky, falling into Wang Changming’s gaze.

Those eyes were chillingly cold; the instant Wang Changming saw them, he felt as if he had plunged into an icy abyss.

“President Shengyi. Wang Changming?”

The man behind the mask spoke with an indifferent voice.

“You are…”

Wang Changming swallowed hard, shaken, responding slowly as if wrestling with an agonizing thought.

From the corner of his eye, he saw his driver quietly moving his hand toward a small compartment beneath the driver’s seat. Wang Changming knew all too well what was hidden there. It was, after all, why he paid the driver such a high salary.

Finding a skilled, discreet driver with military experience and proficiency in firearms was no easy task.

“…who…”

The driver’s right hand slipped stealthily into the compartment, out of the masked man’s line of sight.

“…I don’t know…”

The pistol hidden in the compartment was suddenly raised—aimed, ready, targeting the masked man—

A flash of lightning.

A burst of fire.

“—Bang!”

Almost the moment the muzzle flared, a wave of blood erupted.

But it was not the mark of a bullet wound to the chest.

It was proof that a head had been severed!

“Puh—”

Wang Changming’s eyes widened in horror.

His lips trembled.

He had lived so many years, thinking himself able to keep calm no matter the circumstances.

But at this moment, his composure shattered.

For before his eyes, an unimaginable scene unfolded.

The pistol that had just been in the driver’s hand was now a lump of mangled metal on the ground.

And at the same time, the driver’s head had fallen aside.

A torrent of blood gushed forth.

The wound at the neck was unnaturally clean.

On the masked man’s right hand, blood dripped from the palm to the edge.

But it was not his own.

…What did this accumulation of elements mean?

Wang Changming understood, but his rational mind refused to accept reality.

…Could it really be true?

That masked man—

With a mere instant,

Had crushed a pistol into twisted iron.

With a single strike,

Had sliced his driver’s head clean off.

—How could such things exist in this world?!!!!

Yet while Wang Changming was still frozen in shock and terror, the masked figure, like a harbinger of death, casually shook the blood from his right hand and fixed his gaze upon him.

“…Wang Changming.”

“…You…”

This time, it was not to stall for time, but because Wang Changming’s mind was so distraught he could not utter a coherent sentence.

But the masked man did not wait for him to gather his words; he bent down and seized his shoulder.

“…What are you going to do?!”

Wang Changming’s fear was instinctive.

And in the next instant, he found himself “flying.”

The masked man, upon grabbing him, leaped, carrying him dozens of meters into the air!

The biting wind rushed through his trousers, chilling him to the bone, but Wang Changming’s spirit was near collapse. He could only let the masked man carry him, not knowing where he would be taken.

“Thud—”

After leaping tens of meters, the masked man landed with him on the ground.

Surprisingly, the rapid descent did not kill Wang Changming from the shock; with a deft flick, the masked man dissipated the force upon landing, sparing him.

Then another leap.

And another descent.

Leap after leap, Wang Changming felt his vision constantly shifting until they finally stopped.

“Where is this…”

The muscles on Wang Changming’s face stiffened. He looked around and recognized familiar traces in the surroundings.

No—this was the environment he knew best.

Here was the villa estate, hundreds of meters from where the Maybach had been parked, where he had lived for ten years!

But after surveying the grounds, he finally understood why he had seen no lights from afar.

The familiar courtyard had become a sea of blood. The surveillance cameras and hidden monitoring equipment had all been destroyed, as if the place had endured a brutal massacre.

———————— o o o——

Legs, legs, legs, legs, heads, heads, heads, hands, hands

———— o o

Legs, legs, heads, heads

——

Hands, hands

||— o— o— o…………

Torsos, torsos, hands, heads, hands, heads, hands, heads, blood, blood, blood

…………………………………………………………………

Blood, blood, blood, blood, blood, blood, blood, blood, blood, blood, blood, blood, blood, blood, blood, blood, blood, blood, blood, blood

…………………………………………………………………

Blood, blood, blood, blood, blood, blood, blood, blood, blood, blood, blood, blood, blood, blood, blood, blood, blood, blood, blood, blood

…………………………………………………………………

Blood, blood, blood, blood, blood, blood, blood, blood, blood, blood, blood, blood, blood, blood, blood, blood, blood, blood, blood, blood

Disorderly, mangled limbs—at a glance, there were no fewer than a dozen corpses.

“—Guugh.”

An overwhelming nausea surged from the pit of his stomach.

Even after experiencing what he considered the brutality of business warfare and commanding a company of tens of thousands, in this instant, Wang Changming felt his own weakness.

And—an instinctive terror for the masked man!

Wang Changming collapsed to the ground like a heap of refuse, vomiting before the pile of corpses, while the masked man released him and watched coldly.

“I… let me go… ugh… anything you want… I beg you… gu… why did you come for me… I’m just an ordinary businessman… there are so many rich men across the country… around the world… ugh… ugh…”

It was as if his spirit had broken; Wang Changming pleaded, crawling on the ground, vomiting as he begged.

The masked man, before his breakdown, spoke coldly:

“Give me all the assets you can offer.”

So it was for this reason?

A sliver of his dread for the unknown faded.

Wang Changming stopped vomiting for the moment, looked up and forced a fawning smile at the masked man.

“Alright.”

…

Wang Changming staggered, leading the masked man into the villa’s hall and up to the third floor.

Along the way, the corners of his eyes caught sight of cracks and holes everywhere—though he hadn’t witnessed the battle firsthand, the damage spoke volumes.

Yet this was his own house. Now, as he led the masked man upstairs, he dared not glance around. Even though the masked man did not restrict his movements, the monstrous aura emanating from behind made him fearful to move a muscle.

They reached the third floor, the master bedroom, which was relatively intact.

Once again, he put on a flattering smile for the masked man, took down an oil painting from the wall, and pressed several points in sequence—an entrance appeared in the gap between wall and floor.

“I’ve stored most of my assets here, sir…”

“Lead the way.”

The masked man replied coldly.

Wang Changming swallowed, guiding him into the passage, which sloped downward, narrow and long, stretching thirty meters until a secret room appeared at the end.

Under the unwavering light, a safe rested against the wall.

Wang Changming stepped forward and opened it.

Inside, surprisingly sparse: just a few cards, some documents, and a USB drive.

With stiff hands, Wang Changming took them out and offered them to the masked man.

His smile was bitter, his expression utterly defeated:

“Most of my net worth comes from stock appreciation and fixed assets; these are my emergency funds—these cards are anonymous Swiss bank accounts, each holding twenty million euros; those documents are credit assets of shell companies overseas, structured to avoid taxes, allowing access to around two billion in funds including two tons of gold and various currency bonds; the USB drive contains a virtual currency wallet currently worth about one and a half billion.”

“—now, all these are yours.”

He did his best to plaster a smile on his face, looking at the masked man, showing no sign of dissatisfaction.

It was as if the man before him was not the demon who had slaughtered dozens and driven him to desperation, but a stepfather from whom he collected his monthly allowance.

The masked man took the items casually and tossed them aside.

As if they were not worth billions, but mere receipts.

He fixed his gaze on Wang Changming and spoke quietly:

“Wang Changming, do you know who I am?”

“I…”

Wang Changming shook his head, dazed.

“…Hmm, you shouldn’t know. After all, I was once just a lowly employee in your company.”

With that, in the despair in Wang Changming’s eyes, the masked man took off his mask.

Facing Wang Changming’s trembling body, Yang Luo gave a faint smile.

“Now, I think you’ll remember me well.”