At this moment, one of the "cavalrymen" next to Chen Xiao jumped off his horse, and Chen Xiao finally saw that the guy's braid was fake and was hidden under his hat.
"Brother, you've been reading too many time-travel novels, haven't you?" The "cavalryman" had a strange smile on his face: "We're filming a movie."
"Killing someone is just a matter of beheading them"—although Chen Xiao's sudden intrusion greatly annoyed the director of the film crew, after seeing Chen Xiao's horrific injuries, he assumed that Chen Xiao was a tourist who had accidentally fallen from the hillside, and kindly called the police.
About half an hour later, Xu Ershao arrived with a group of his men and the police, and quickly put Chen Xiao into an ambulance and took him away.
"My God, I almost thought you were dead!" In the ambulance, Xu Ershao seemed to be smiling easily. Chen Xiao, lying there, asked him, "How is your old man?"
"There's no danger, everything's fine now." Young Master Xu sighed, glancing around—this ambulance was the Xu family's private vehicle, and the guards inside were all Xu family subordinates, so he spoke without restraint: "Yesterday you chased after them, and that woman engulfed in flames chased after you too… Soon, a man with long hair came into the lobby. That guy threw down a bottle of medicine, saying it could cure the poison. He also said…" Young Master Xu paused, a strange expression on his face as he looked at Chen Xiao: "He also said that this was to give the service agency face, to be polite first and then resort to force… I don't know what he meant by that. But that woman engulfed in flames… Chen Xiao, although I don't know exactly what happened, it seems like all of this is related to you, isn't it?"
Chen Xiao smiled wryly, speechless. Other things were easy to explain, but Zhu Rong, engulfed in flames and casually launching fireballs, resembling a fire mage, was simply beyond the comprehension of ordinary logic…
"Xiao Xu," Chen Xiao forced a bitter smile, "This matter is indeed a bit complicated, I'll explain it to you slowly later. Anyway... if you're a friend, trust me!"
"Nonsense. Of course I believe you." Young Master Xu answered readily, then frowned: "That woman disguised as a doctor at the banquet. And that woman who appeared later, her whole body engulfed in flames... they weren't human, were they?"
"...They are humans, just a special group of humans." Chen Xiao thought for a moment: "That woman who was covered in flames, she is my friend, she came to help us."
Chen Xiao sighed... After listening to Xu Ershao's description, the antidote must have been sent by that "Qiu Yun".
As for... giving the service agency some face, using courtesy first and then resorting to force... what does that mean?
Xu Ershao was silent for a moment, then smiled strangely: "And... your friend, the woman who sets fires. She has quite a temper. We couldn't find you anywhere, and she was almost going crazy. If it weren't for the fact that I'm your friend, she probably would have burned the whole hotel down... Also, when we rushed to the terrace afterwards, it was a complete mess! What on earth happened? Did they use a bomb? The terrace was almost blown up..."
The car drove directly to a private hospital in K City, which was also owned by the Xu family. Chen Xiao was admitted to a VIP ward. The doctor hadn't even finished his examination when Zhu Rong rushed over, accompanied by Lao Tian.
The two entered the ward. As soon as Xu Ershao saw Zhu Rong, his face turned pale, as if he was somewhat wary of this woman.
“Xiao Xu… could you please step outside for a moment? My friend might have something to say to me.” Chen Xiao hesitated. Xu Ershao simply smiled: “Why are you being so polite? Speaking of which, if it weren’t for your quick thinking yesterday, this old man would probably…”
After saying that, he quickly walked out. Zhu Rong's face was indifferent, but Lao Tian nodded to him kindly.
"Tell me, what exactly happened?" Chen Xiao sighed, enduring the pain in his body, and barely managed to sit up: "This time, it doesn't seem to be aimed at Lu Bancheng, right? Also, I encountered a master, sigh... I got beaten up pretty badly."
“It’s Qiu Yun.” Old Tian said with a serious expression. He walked to Chen Xiao’s bedside, checked the injury on Chen Xiao’s arm, and frowned. “It’s an blast injury, but he showed mercy. Otherwise, with your current strength, if he really wanted to kill you, you wouldn’t have had a chance at all.”
"That strong?" Chen Xiao frowned, then sighed, "Indeed, he is very powerful."
Zhu Rong curled his lip: "Amazing my foot! We just weren't prepared!"
Chen Xiao sensed the resentment in Zhu Rong's tone. Old Tian smiled and explained, "Zhu Rong and they are old acquaintances, and she has some personal grudges with one of them."
"Bah! What personal grudge! That poisonous snake was my defeated foe! She's the one who's jealous of me, why would I hold a grudge against her?" Zhu Rong retorted stubbornly.
Old Tian coughed once, then his tone became serious: "Chen Xiao, the person you met is named Qiu Yun. He's quite a well-known figure in the international superpower community! He belongs to a small superpower organization called the Black Knights."
"Black Knight?" Chen Xiao found the name somewhat strange.
"Of course, they're not like medieval knights. This is a small mercenary organization, different from large organizations like our service agencies or clubs. They have fewer members, a looser organizational structure, and no fixed rules. They're similar to mercenaries… only more special in nature and more capable. Moreover, the members of this organization call themselves Black Knights, which has two meanings: First, they're willing to adhere to their own principles like knights, and they're very disciplined in their actions. Second… but it's quite contradictory, because they never consider the consequences of their actions; as long as the employer's demands are high enough, they'll take on any mission! I don't know how to describe them to you… or to use an analogy, if the conditions are right, they can act as a peacekeeping force to uphold justice for you, but at the same time, they can also transform into a group of ruthless terrorists!!"
Chen Xiao frowned: "So you mean..."
“A mix of good and evil.” Old Tian gave a wry smile. “There are actually many small organizations like this in our circle. Even, for example, a few of us retired old guys. Now, when we take on missions, we’re kind of small-scale mercenaries, except we’re all retired service members. We’re more principled and won’t take on just any mission. But they… are different!”
"Understood." Chen Xiao nodded.
"The Black Knights are a fairly well-known organization. And Qiu Yun is a very troublesome character! He's an A-level ability user, and his main attack ability is the explosive detonation of metal molecules. He can easily alter the arrangement of the metal molecules in any metal object that comes into contact with his hands, thus detonating it... In other words, if he wants, he can turn any metal object he touches into a bomb!"
Metal...bomb?
This superpower is truly terrifying!
In modern society, metal is indispensable everywhere! From small items like cell phones, lighters, rings, and necklaces, to household appliances, even cars... and even building structures! They all contain steel reinforcement!
So, Qiu Yun can be considered a human-shaped weapon and demolition expert!
"His second ability is the creation of illusions using the mental system, but according to previous records, his mental ability only reached level C. However, in the world of superpowers, most superpowered individuals are single-type. For example, the rest of us are combat-type superpowered individuals who specialize in attack. As for Qiu Yun, there are very few people like him who possess both offensive and supportive superpowers."
"Hmph, if I weren't bad at mental abilities, I wouldn't have been trapped in his maze." Zhu Rong's tone finally revealed a hint of helplessness when she said this.
"So... their goal this time is to assassinate... Lu Bancheng and Xu..."
“That’s unknown for now.” Old Tian shook his head. “However, I don’t think it was an assassination attempt. If it were, the venomous snake would have already killed all three of them. There would be no need for him to disguise himself as a doctor and try to get close to them. So, my personal guess is that he probably wanted to kidnap these three people.”
Old Tian's analysis made some sense. After listening, Chen Xiao frowned and said, "But they took the initiative to send the antidote back..."
"This is international practice," Lao Tian said, his tone far from relaxed.
He then explained that there is an unwritten rule in the international superpower community: when any superpower organization encounters its own kind during an operation, such as when members of other superpower organizations are involved in the incident, everyone will choose to back down in the first round.
Then... lay out your plans and go all out again!
"I guess it's what you call the spirit of fair competition." Old Tian smiled helplessly: "I have to admit that although the Black Knights do some absurd things, they really adhere to these traditions."
"Then... what about that venomous snake? And who is she?"
"She..." Old Tian glanced at Zhu Rong before answering, "Alice, nicknamed Viper, her main superpower is: poison. Actually... she's a very pitiful woman."
Pitiful? Chen Xiao was somewhat surprised.
"She is considered a gifted superhuman, meaning she doesn't need to awaken her abilities; she's born with them. Her superpower is that all her bodily fluids are abnormally toxic—saliva, blood, and all bodily fluids... are highly poisonous!"
Venom Man?
Chen Xiao was initially confused, but then he immediately understood what Lao Tian meant by "pitiful".
Imagine a woman whose entire body is covered in poison; she must be incredibly lonely! If a woman's entire body is poisonous—her saliva, her bodily fluids…—then she probably would never be able to find a man she loves!