To Zhou Ziwei, Emily was almost like his daughter, and at the same time... Emily was also Zhou Ziwei's disciple. Zhou Ziwei had imparted almost all his insights about natural energy to Emily without missing a single detail. It was because he felt that Emily was a life he had created with his own hands, and that there was a most fundamental connection between them on a spiritual level, that Zhou Ziwei would never hold back anything as long as Emily could learn it. In fact, if Emily could learn the Six-Syllable Mantra, Zhou Ziwei would teach it to her without hesitation.
However... to Zhou Ziwei's utter surprise, the apprentice he had painstakingly trained would one day turn around and use the skills he had taught her against him. Of course... the main reason Emily used fire to burn Zhou Ziwei was because she didn't recognize him at all.
However... it was precisely because of this that Zhou Ziwei became even more aware of Emily's arrogance.
If the two were truly strangers, and Zhou Ziwei hadn't provoked her at all, yet Emily indiscriminately used natural energy to try and kill him... then... who knows how rampant she'll become when her abilities grow even more... she might even kill someone if they just glance at her on the street. And when Zhou Ziwei created her, he made her appearance and temperament too perfect; if that happened... wouldn't she cause bloodshed wherever she went? Zhou Ziwei didn't want his first human creation to be a ruthless killer... if that happened, he would kill her without hesitation to prevent her from harming innocent people further.
Although the flame that Emily was controlling with her fingertips looked very small, Zhou Ziwei could clearly feel the enormous power contained within it.
If Zhou Ziwei were truly just an ordinary mortal, then this tiny flame would have been enough to burn him to death several times over.
Zhou Ziwei stared intently at the flames flying towards him, a hint of seriousness in his expression.
Because right now, Zhou Ziwei discovered that the small flame released by Emily actually contained a trace of wind energy. This made the flame's fire energy much stronger by taking advantage of the wind energy. It was precisely because of this that this tiny flame possessed such terrifying high temperature, making Zhou Ziwei feel at first glance that he couldn't withstand it.
Of course... feelings are feelings, but Zhou Ziwei would never show weakness in front of his only disciple. He snorted coldly and then suddenly raised his hand, actually catching the wisp of flame that Emily released with his bare palm. However, Zhou Ziwei's seemingly bare palm was actually covered with a thin film of alloy armor that could not be seen with the naked eye.
With a "sizzle," Zhou Ziwei, despite being prepared, was still burned by the intense heat of the flames, causing his whole body to convulse.
Even the thin film formed by the alloy armor was burned through by that wisp of flame, creating a hole.
Fortunately, Zhou Ziwei was most adept at absorbing thermal energy, and through a serendipitous encounter, he gained a more fundamental understanding of fire energy. Therefore, when the terrifying flames directly burned the flesh of Zhou Ziwei's hands, all the pores on his skin immediately opened, and his muscles writhed repeatedly, unknowingly forming a mysterious suction vortex that absorbed all the magical energy contained in the flames into his body...
It has to be said... the little flame that Emily created was really something else. Even with Zhou Ziwei's strong meridians, when he absorbed the essence of this flame into his body, he still couldn't help but feel a burning sensation.
"No... how is this possible?" Emily watched in disbelief as Zhou Ziwei grabbed her usually invincible flame in his palm, squeezed it a couple of times, and then it vanished into thin air. Emily was so shocked that her big eyes almost popped out of their sockets.
You must know that the flame that Emily improved was incredibly hot. It could melt a lump of iron into a pool of molten iron in an instant if it hit it. So how could this flame be taken down by a person's bare hands and extinguished so easily?
Zhou Ziwei snorted coldly, forcibly suppressing his admiration for Emily's terrifying innovative ability. Then, he glared at Emily and said, "You're quite remarkable... Hmm... You're so young yet possess such an incredible skill... So... do you just use this special ability to burn anyone you don't like to ashes?"
"She..." Chu Qiutang could tell that Zhou Ziwei seemed to be truly angry this time, and she was startled. She quickly stepped forward, wanting to explain for Emily, but Zhou Ziwei immediately glared at her and said in a low voice, "Don't meddle in other people's business. Just take care of your own business."
Chu Qiutang was slightly taken aback upon hearing this, and could only respond with a wry smile.
Emily, who was standing to the side, couldn't stand it any longer. She immediately put her hands on her hips, glared at her, and shouted, "We sisters are as close as family. What's it to you? My business is my sister Xiaotang's business. I like letting my sister Xiaotang meddle. So what?"
Zhou Ziwei paid almost no attention to Chu Qiutang's pleading expression, and said to Emily with a straight face, "Please answer my question, is it true that you can burn anyone you don't like or hate without caring? Is that right?"
As Zhou Ziwei spoke, he had already accumulated a powerful soul force within the alloy suit. If Emily answered "yes," Zhou Ziwei might be able to directly unleash the alloy suit's ultimate move, a thousand-blade slash that would wipe out everyone within a certain range.
However, to Zhou Ziwei's utter surprise... Emily pouted and replied naturally, "Of course not... There are just too many people in this world that I hate. Even if I really want to kill them, how can I possibly kill them all? So... I simply won't pay any attention to these hateful people. But... you make me feel a sense of familiarity from the bottom of my heart... so... I must kill you."
Volume 3, King of the City, Chapter 649: Nine-Fold Impact Bullet
Zhou Ziwei originally thought that Emily had unknowingly become a selfish, arrogant, and unreasonable girl under his and Zhuihun's pampering, so he had already harbored murderous intentions.
If Emily really did kill anyone she didn't like on the spot, then... such a person really couldn't be allowed to live. Even if it meant offending Zhui Hun, or even becoming enemies with that guy, Zhou Ziwei wouldn't hesitate.
Emily's answer was truly baffling. It turned out that Emily wanted to kill him not because she disliked him, but because... she felt a sense of familiarity with him, and that's why she wanted to kill him. What kind of logic is that...?
Originally, Zhou Ziwei could have directly searched Emily's memories through the mysterious soul connection between himself and the independent soul entity, so he would have known exactly what Emily was thinking just now.
In fact, Zhou Ziwei had already planned to do this, but Emily's strange answer made him stop in his tracks and abandon the idea.
If he were to recklessly use the connection between their souls to search through Emily's memories, the mysterious relationship between them would be immediately and completely exposed, making Emily fully aware of it.
Originally, Zhou Ziwei did not want Emily to know this. As long as he did not reveal it, Emily might never know that she was just an artificial life form created by Zhou Ziwei until the day she died.
This would be an absolutely unbearable thing for an intelligent being, and Zhou Ziwei would not want to do such a cruel thing unless absolutely necessary.
Normally, independent soul entities created by Zhou Ziwei need to be regularly supplied with soul power in order to continue to survive. However, perhaps because too much soul power was inputted during creation, neither the artificial intelligence Xiaoxin nor the beautiful Emily in front of them need Zhou Ziwei to replenish their soul power to survive normally.
Therefore... as long as Zhou Ziwei doesn't use the mysterious connection between the main soul and the independent soul to communicate, Emily might never know her true origin.
Just moments ago, Zhou Ziwei, driven by anger, had secretly harbored murderous intent towards Emily. This led him to consider using soul connection to examine Emily's memories. After all, if he was already prepared to kill her, there was no need to consider her feelings. However, Emily's words completely changed Zhou Ziwei's mind. He dared not act rashly for the time being, lest he make a mistake and cause something he would regret for the rest of his life.
Actually, although Emily's words were a bit strange, Zhou Ziwei believed that she was not lying. Because of the subtle connection between their souls, no matter what Zhou Ziwei looked like now, even if he was a super ugly monster, Emily should still feel an innate sense of familiarity with him and would never feel any disgust.
Zhou Ziwei was so enraged by Emily's spark that he forgot about this point. Only after Emily mentioned it did he suddenly realize: Yes... she shouldn't hate me no matter what... so why did she say she had to kill me?
This inexplicable question left Zhou Ziwei somewhat confused. He quickly put aside his dissatisfaction and anger towards Emily and asked humbly, "This is really strange. Since I make you feel a sense of closeness, it proves that we are destined to be together... You should get along well with me, so why did you say you wanted to kill me?"
Emily's murderous intent wasn't initially very strong, but when she heard Zhou Ziwei say, "We two should still be destined to be together," her expression changed drastically, and an unimaginably intense murderous intent suddenly erupted.
He then bit her plump, red lips tightly and said, word by word, "No... I don't want to be with you... I don't want to depend on you for the rest of my life... I... I only want my little brother, so... I have to kill you before I develop any more feelings for you... I'm sorry, handsome little guy."
As Emily finished speaking, a hint of helpless apology appeared on her face, but then she launched a series of extremely crazy attacks on Zhou Ziwei without hesitation.
Whether it was fireballs, wind cones, flashballs, or even ground spikes... basically any skill that Zhou Ziwei had taught Emily, a natural energy technique that could be used to kill, Emily used it all to its fullest extent, and all these killing moves were aimed at Zhou Ziwei alone, bombarding him relentlessly.
Speaking of Emily, although she is incredibly intelligent and often has ingenious ways of using natural energy, creating many amazing tricks that would impress Zhou Ziwei.
However, the cultivation and combat techniques of natural energy were originally created by Zhou Ziwei himself. Emily has only been learning them for a few days. No matter how proficient she becomes, she can't compare to Zhou Ziwei, the pioneer. So... it's actually quite simple for Zhou Ziwei to break through Emily's killing moves. Even if he might be a little embarrassed when implementing them, it's ultimately unlikely that Emily can hurt him.
However... in fact, Zhou Ziwei was completely stunned after hearing Emily's words. Although Emily's words were still somewhat inexplicable, and others might not understand them at all, Zhou Ziwei, as the person involved, naturally understood their meaning.
And so he stood there dumbfounded, as if struck by lightning… So… this little girl was actually worried about falling in love with me, which is why she insisted on killing me. And she… actually had already fallen in love with the original me… Is that it? Oh… no… or maybe it’s just because her soul was created by me, which is why she has this intimate and dependent feeling towards me. Perhaps… this isn’t true love. She’s still naive and doesn’t understand any of this.
But... it seems this little girl is unusually persistent... To avoid falling in love with someone else one day, she actually tries to kill anyone she might like... Heavens... how could this be?
While Zhou Ziwei was stunned and speechless, Emily's series of powerful attacks had already reached him. The fastest one was naturally the flashbang, a ball of light composed entirely of light energy. It didn't need to hit a person directly; as long as it was aimed directly at a person's eyes and released all the light energy it contained in an instant, it could very likely blind the person.
Even if they don't go blind, being exposed to this light will inevitably cause them to feel a white blur in front of them for a short period of time, making it impossible to see anything clearly. As a result, even the most skilled person will find it difficult to dodge Emily's subsequent series of deadly attacks.
"Bang, bang..." Besides the flashbang, the fastest thing to launch was the wind cone. Emily raised her hand and released two wind cones, which accurately hit Zhou Ziwei's left and right chests. The parts attacked were exactly the two points on Zhou Ziwei's chest.
If a man used this tactic on a woman, he would definitely be called a shameless pervert. But when a woman uses it on a man… it becomes a humorous and funny scene, and no one would call her a female hooligan… well, men only have a little muscle there, after all…
Zhou Ziwei was completely stunned. He didn't even think about escaping. He just stood there and let the two wind cones hit his chest hard.
Fortunately, his alloy suit was no joke; its incredibly powerful defense immediately became apparent.
While Emily's Wind Cone Technique was powerful, the close proximity between the two meant there was no room for acceleration, so the attack didn't have much impact. It was completely blocked by the alloy armor, and Zhou Ziwei barely even felt it.
However, the following fireball and ground spike spells were not so easy to withstand. Emily's real killing move was hidden in this fireball spell. The fireball she released this time was almost the size of a football, and the fire energy condensed inside was extremely surging. Moreover, it was of course condensed using the six-fold shockwave method that she had comprehended when she first practiced the fireball spell. In fact... this time, Emily's fireball spell had undergone a qualitative improvement and refinement after this period of practice.
So… the fireball spell she's unleashing now isn't just a six-wave shockwave, but a nine-wave shockwave! This thing… a small fireball contains nine different shockwaves, one after another. Once it explodes, all the fire energy will overlap and collide, resulting in each shockwave being more ferocious and ruthless than the last… The destructive power of six shockwaves is already quite astonishing, but as for nine shockwaves… this is the first time Emily has used it, and we should soon see how effective it is.
But Emily wasn't finished after unleashing such a powerful weapon. She secretly manipulated a marble floor tile beneath Zhou Ziwei's feet, causing the drill to twist and deform, solidifying into a spike about the thickness of an arm at the base, but sharp as a needle at the tip. This spike then silently rose upwards… and the direction the tip pointed was clearly between Zhou Ziwei's legs. It seemed Emily's plan was to cut off his lifeline; even if she couldn't kill him, she'd at least castrate him. That way… a beautiful young woman like Emily wouldn't be involved in any unspeakable affair with a transvestite.
Under the powerful protection of the alloy suit, the ground spike could not exert much power. Even if it directly pierced Zhou Ziwei's vital area, it wouldn't matter. After all, the alloy suit has the ability to distribute the external impact to all parts of the body. So as long as the ground spike was blocked by Zhou Ziwei's alloy suit, it would make no difference to Zhou Ziwei whether it pierced his groin or his chest.
However, the fireball spell is a different story... This is Emily's unique and ultimate move. After Emily comprehended the method of condensing the Ninefold Impact Fireball, she hadn't had a chance to put it into practice yet. But this time, she directly gave Zhou Ziwei a taste of its power. She really thinks highly of Zhou Ziwei...
If Zhou Ziwei were in a conscious state, it wouldn't matter. Even if Emily only released one powerful fireball of unknown power, or even if she threw ten or eight in a row... Zhou Ziwei could easily dodge it even if he didn't dare to take it head-on.
But now... Zhou Ziwei was stunned by Emily's words and completely forgot to dodge...
Chu Qiutang, standing to the side, was glared at by Zhou Ziwei. She knew that Zhou Ziwei did not want her to expose his identity. Although she did not know what Zhou Ziwei was thinking, she had never had the courage to disobey his orders. So she could only silently step aside and remain silent, only feeling anxious in her heart.
But now, seeing this scene, seeing Emily recklessly and viciously attacking Zhou Ziwei without any attempt to dodge, she finally couldn't hold back any longer and shouted, "Emily, stop... He... he's your little brother!"
Unfortunately, Chu Qiutang's call came a little too late. By then, Emily had already recklessly detonated the fireball that was about to reach Zhou Ziwei... The super fireball, which had gathered nine shockwaves, exploded with a "boom," right before Emily's shocked and regretful eyes. Zhou Ziwei, however, was still in a daze, completely unaware that an energy weapon no less powerful than a small nuclear bomb was detonating right in front of him...
"Damn it...Are you all insane?"
Fortunately, just then, Soul Chaser, who had been hiding in his room drinking red wine, sensed that something was amiss outside. He hurriedly came out to check and saw the huge fireball suddenly light up, about to explode less than half a foot in front of Zhou Ziwei's head...
Zhuihun was terrified. In desperation, he quickly sent out a beam of dark light that swept Zhou Ziwei's body towards him. At the same time, he split off more beams of dark light, forming a dense light shield that completely enveloped the fireball.
Zhuihun had no choice but to do this because Emily's attack was simply too insane. She dared to use such a terrifying fireball technique when she was so close to Zhou Ziwei. You should know that she had never tested the explosive power of this fireball before. In fact, once this thing exploded, not only would Zhou Ziwei be the first to suffer a terrible fate, but she and Chu Qiutang, who were also relatively close, would probably also be blown to pieces.
Emily might not be unaware of the consequences of her actions, but... Zhou Ziwei's gaze just now gave her an extremely dangerous feeling, making her feel that even if she said just one more word or looked at this man again, she might lose control of her emotions and fall in love with him without hesitation.
But this was not what she wanted... So... Emily didn't dare wait even a second longer, and immediately launched her strongest killing move. Anyway, as long as she killed this man, she would never have any more wild thoughts.
Emily never expected that... the man who seemed so close and likable to her was actually the same person as the boy she had decided to spend her life with. It was truly unbelievable—one a tall, young man, the other a five or six-year-old child who only reached her waist. How could these two be the same person? But for some reason, after hearing Chu Qiutang's shout, Emily completely believed it.
Unfortunately, she was powerless to retract the fireball that had already exploded.
The deafening explosion, like thunder from the heavens descending to earth, resounded across the top floors of the most prestigious national hotel in the entire M country. Instantly, everyone in the city of Washington saw a small mushroom cloud rise from the ninety-plus-story building. The deafening explosion echoed for miles, leaving everyone in Washington stunned and then fleeing in panic and aimless abandon.
Especially those inside the building and nearby people, they immediately fled as far away as possible. In their view... these eight floors were just another instance of the upper echelons of the US acting like world police for no reason, meddling in other people's business. They wondered which terrorist tycoon they had offended this time, forcing them to resort to this desperate suicidal attack again. But strangely enough... why didn't they see any planes flying by in the sky just now...
Zhou Ziwei and his group had a special status, so they were arranged to stay in the best room of this most luxurious hotel... The best rooms in this hotel are ranked from top to bottom.
Zhou Ziwei and his group were arranged to stay on the third floor below the top floor. This floor contained some of the most luxurious suites in the entire hotel, but it was not a true presidential suite with strict regulations that only a head of state could stay in.
Fortunately, they were placed near the top floor, so after Zhuihun used his magical artifact to shield them, the fireball only destroyed the top three floors of the hotel. Otherwise, if Zhou Ziwei and the others had been randomly placed in ordinary rooms on the lower floors of the hotel... the entire building would have collapsed by now.
Volume 3, King of the City, Chapter 650: The Humiliation of Country M
Under the protection of Zhuihun, Zhou Ziwei and the others escaped unharmed in the explosion. However, Zhuihun's precious magical artifact was damaged.
Fortunately, Zhuihun didn't foolishly use his Hundred Transformations to desperately withstand the fireball's explosion. At first, he used Hundred Transformations to completely envelop the about-to-explode fireball, thinking that this would limit the explosive power of the fireball to the space imprisoned by Hundred Transformations.
However, Zhuihun quickly realized something was wrong. The fireball Emily conjured this time was significantly more powerful than any fireball he had ever seen before. Even Zhou Ziwei couldn't create such a monstrous fireball.
Of course... Zhuihun had never seen the highly concentrated blue fireball that Zhou Ziwei had created. If he had been fortunate enough to witness the power of that blue fireball, he would definitely not have thought that way.
However, although the fireball created by Emily was far less powerful than Zhou Ziwei's Blue Fireball, it was still not something that Zhuihun could easily suppress. Feeling that the magical artifact, Baibian, was trembling more and more violently under the shock wave of the fireball's explosion, Zhuihun was shocked and decisively opened a large gap in Baibian, which was completely suppressing the fireball, so that the power of the explosion could be sprayed upwards. He used Baibian to firmly protect the position where he and his group were, and that's how they managed to withstand the shock wave of the fireball's explosion and not be injured by it.
Because the change was not suppressed to the end, it was able to survive, only suffering some minor scars.
Although the damage to the Hundred Transformations wasn't very serious and wouldn't normally have a significant impact on its use, it still made the old man so distressed that he almost vomited blood. He was so angry that he didn't care that the place was filled with smoke and broken stones and bricks flying everywhere, and he grabbed Emily's ear and scolded her incessantly.
Originally, in Zhuihun's eyes, the magical artifact, Hundred Transformations, was practically his wife, even more so. It was his lifeblood, and even the slightest damage to it would drive him completely mad. If someone else had broken it, he would probably have torn that person to pieces without feeling any satisfaction. However... now, his precious magical artifact had been destroyed by his beloved daughter. At first, he was scolding Emily with great fervor, but under the onslaught of his daughter's pitiful gaze, he quickly gave in. His scolding grew softer and softer until he could only sigh helplessly, release Emily's ear that he had pinched red, and silently retreat to the side, stroking the cratered and battered Hundred Transformations. His face was even uglier than if his father had just died.
Emily didn't have time to comfort Zhuihun. As soon as she was free from Zhuihun's clutches, she rushed to Zhou Ziwei, her eyes wide, and asked incredulously, "You...you really...you're really my little brother?"
Even if Zhou Ziwei was completely disoriented, the earth-shattering nine-fold impact bomb had already woken him up. Seeing the place in such a state, he couldn't help but give a bitter smile.
Although Zhou Ziwei knew that Emily had almost killed him, he couldn't feel even the slightest bit of hatred towards her.
Even if Emily really wanted to kill him, it was because she loved him, and that's why she wanted to kill him... The affection involved was something that even Zhou Ziwei couldn't help but be deeply moved by.
Zhou Ziwei then reached out and gently stroked Emily's hair, saying with a face full of affection, "Of course it's me. If it weren't for me, why would you feel that inexplicable sense of closeness to me the moment we met?"
Zhou Ziwei's words sounded extremely narcissistic, but they were also true. Because there was a mysterious connection between the two of them from the depths of their souls, no matter what Zhou Ziwei looked like... even if Zhou Ziwei turned into a pig or a dog, Emily would still feel close to him. This was determined by the essence of their souls and could not be changed by their appearance.
"It really is you!" Upon hearing Zhou Ziwei's words, Emily chose to believe him without hesitation.
However, despite her belief, she still found it hard to understand Zhou Ziwei's tall figure and asked, "But... big brother... how... how did you grow up so fast all of a sudden?"
Zhou Ziwei really didn't know how to answer this question. Helpless, he could only shake his head, touch his nose, and say perfunctorily, "Well... people always have to grow up, don't they?"
The bombing at the Washington Hotel quickly attracted the attention of media outlets around the world. Many people speculated that it was a terrorist attack, and some even said that the notorious terrorist mastermind was not killed by the US military at all, and that this was a slap in the face to the US for spreading false information. In addition, there was the rumor that had spread throughout Washington that someone had taken control of the thirteen nuclear weapon launch sites that the US military had deployed at various military bases in the country. So anyone with a brain would know that the US government must be facing an unprecedented crisis.
However, the official statement from the United States was that it was a gas explosion. As for the sound that echoed throughout the city of Washington that night, it was just a prank by a mentally ill person.