Chen Xiao looked up and suddenly said, "Wait a minute!"
Shi Gaofei's wheelchair stopped. He turned around, glanced at Chen Xiao, a peculiar smile on his face, and nodded: "Is there anything else you need..."
Then he suddenly remembered something and touched his shirt pocket: "Ah, I almost forgot. There's something important I forgot to give you—your new ID card."
After saying that, he took out a thin piece of paper from his pocket.
This thing is crystal clear, made of diamond polished into a thin sheet, shining with dazzling light. When you hold it in your hand, the pattern carved on it is a clown!
"This is your new keepsake... Lord JOKER!" Skofei smiled faintly. "Ah. Or, according to our custom, we may call you... Lord Heavenly King!"
Chen Xiao didn't look at the playing card in his hand, but asked, "Where are they?"
"who?"
“Phoenix, Lao Tian… and I believe Xiao Qing and the others who were waiting for us in the warehouse have also been captured by you.”
"...Don't worry, they're fine."
...
...
"Hey, Uncle Tian, what will that masked guy of yours do to Chen Xiao?" the fat man asked, scratching his head.
Old Tian pursed his lips and didn't say anything. He glanced at the phoenix beside him. The phoenix still seemed a little absent-minded. Seeing this, Old Tian suddenly felt a pang in his heart, as if he was reminded of himself back then.
How could Lao Tian have imagined that Chen Xiao and JOKER had that kind of relationship?
"Phoenix..." Old Tian began, but then stopped, unsure how to comfort the other.
Prince, however, crossed his legs and interjected, "Old Tian, I think we should worry about ourselves. But it seems the other side doesn't have any hostility, otherwise they wouldn't have arranged for us to wait here."
This place is like a laboratory.
Next to them were several huge transparent glass vessels filled with cell repair fluid. Zhu Rong and Gong Gong were placed in these huge vessels. Their bodies were wrapped in a thin film-like outer garment, and there were several thin wires and a small sensor attached to their heads.
The respirators were stuffed into the mouths of the two people, and bubbles were constantly coming out.
"Since they are willing to save Zhurong and Gonggong, they probably won't be a threat to us." Old Tian nodded.
"I just didn't expect that Skofei would actually be one of JOKER's men, hehe!" Prince clenched his fist: "Next time we meet, I'll definitely break his bones!"
Before he could finish speaking, a door behind him slowly opened, and Shi Gaofei's mocking voice came in: "Whose bones are you going to break, mine?"
The wheelchair slid, and Shi Gaofei sat on it, a cold smile on his face.
Prince was furious when he saw Skofei come in and was about to jump up, but Skofei’s cold words made him sit back down: “You’d better not ask for trouble. Do you think you’re still an S-class powerhouse? You should know that I’m not the kind of guy who can’t even kill a chicken.”
Even though Prince was insane, he knew it was a humiliating thing to do, but he still refused to do it. He knew that he had lost all his martial arts skills and was now just an ordinary person. He would only suffer in silence if he had to deal with a mad scientist covered in all sorts of strange equipment.
"Actually, you really don't need to be angry." Shi Gaofei sat there and smiled. "Think about it carefully. Although I did hide some things, have I ever harmed you?"
"...It seems like you really haven't." Old Tian smiled. "If you look closely, you haven't actually harmed us. However, you've led us down many detours. There are many things you understand, but we've been kept in the dark."
"It's the big boss's order." Shi Gaofei rolled his eyes. "What service expert? I'm just a high-level employee. If the boss really needs me to be this double agent, I have no choice. Besides, to ensure close observation of Chen Xiao and provide him with the latest information on his every step of evolution and growth, we need someone with professional knowledge by his side who can provide assistance in case of special circumstances... But he's the heir apparent, so the boss sent out me, his top research genius. You see, the big boss is really going all out to cultivate his successor."
At this point, Shi Gaofei slowly pushed the wheelchair closer to Lao Tian's side, suddenly patted Lao Tian, and his tone became serious, his voice low: "I... know, Lao Tian, you and JOKER have a deep grudge, but... he has a few words for me to pass on to you."
Old Tian's eyes twitched: "What did you say?"
“He said…” Shi Gao shook his head, and there was even a hint of sadness in his eyes.
"What he wants to say to you is... Remember the agreement we made: you and I would hate each other until one of us dies first. So now... Lao Tian, when you hear these words, our mutual hatred can stop."
The words weren't spoken loudly, but upon hearing them, Old Tian suddenly felt a jolt throughout his body!
He abruptly looked up, staring at Shi Gaofei in disbelief, his voice trembling: "What, what did you just say?! Say it again!!!"
In his haste, he even grabbed Shi Gaofei by the collar.
Shi Gaofei raised his eyelids and looked coldly at Lao Tian, his expression cool: "You're not deaf, you clearly heard it, so why do I need to say it again?"
Old Tian abruptly released his grip, then slumped back down, landing on the ground with a thud. His lips moved a few times before he finally managed to utter a muffled sound: "He...he's dead?"
Old Tian's expression was inexplicable; his face turned deathly pale, and his eyes were filled with intense sadness and heartache.
“It’s strange.” Shi Gaofei sneered in a sharp tone: “Don’t you hate him? You should be happy that he’s gone. Even if you’re here and can’t set off firecrackers to celebrate, you should still laugh triumphantly three times and say something like ‘You’ve finally met your match.’”
Old Tian opened his mouth, but couldn't utter a single word.
Gao Fei sighed: "Let me do it for you."
He leaned down, bringing his eyes close to Lao Tian's, and spoke slowly, word by word.
"Actually, you don't hate JOKER at all! Between you and him, neither of you actually hates the other! What you truly hate in your hearts is yourselves! The person you hate the most is yourself, and the same goes for JOKER! Two people who hate themselves! You are just two pitiful people who share the same misery."
Old Tian's body stiffened, but Shi Gaofei smiled, patted his shoulder, and laughed twice as if coaxing a child. Then, he said, "Alright, no matter what, now that he's gone, you're free too. Hmm... there's one more thing, I'm retiring too. I don't want to serve that Chen Xiao guy anymore. I heard you have quite a few empty shops on that unfinished street you own, right?"
Before Lao Tian could react, the fat man asked, "Uh, Mr. Shi Gaofei, what do you want to do?"
"Open a shop to retire, you idiot." Shi Fei snorted. "Yeah, I plan to combine your current coffee shop and Lao Tian's shop into one big coffee and food shop! Hehe! By the way, I've already thought of the shareholders. Lao Tian and the others will naturally be a part of it, and Prince, you've got enemies all over the world. Don't go running around anymore, you'd better stick with us! Oh, and me too. Besides, I have two old friends to introduce to you, consider it recruiting them, since they probably don't have anywhere else to go."
As he spoke, Shi Gaofei pressed a button on the armrest of his wheelchair.
With a hiss, the wall behind slowly parted, revealing another house behind it.
The house inside was like a huge training ground, except that the four walls were still metallic and the floor was covered with thick cork planks.