Thinking of all this, Zhuihun quickly stopped talking and said solemnly, "Even if you're impressive today, I still can't agree to let my daughter do such a dangerous thing. Just give up on that idea!"
Volume 3, King of the City, Chapter 635: A Sky Full of Fire and Rain
Hearing Zhuihun reiterate his warning against Emily doing anything dangerous, Zhou Ziwei, too lazy to waste words with the old man, simply shrugged at Emily and said, "There's nothing I can do. Your dad won't let you go, so you'll just have to stay home!"
Upon hearing this, Emily immediately raised her little neck haughtily, snorted, and said, "I've already promised the big brother, so of course I have to go. If Daddy insists on stopping me, then I'll... then I'll climb to the top floor of this hotel..."
Upon hearing this, Zhou Ziwei smiled wryly and said, "What are you doing climbing to the top floor? Trying to jump off and commit suicide?"
Emily rolled her eyes in dissatisfaction and said, "Do I look like such a stupid person? Why would I commit suicide? I'm planning to climb to the top floor and set off fireworks from there."
"Where can I buy fireworks here? ...These things are banned in Washington, right?" Zhou Ziwei had already guessed something from Emily's expression, so he tried his best to cooperate with Emily and continue the conversation. Even a comedian needs a straight man, right?
Emily's eyebrows immediately shot up, and she chuckled, "Can't I make my own fireworks? Hehe... For example, the fireball spell you taught me, little brother... When you throw that thing around, the flames it creates after exploding are much prettier than fireworks... Don't you think so, little brother?"
"Uh... this... that..." Zhou Ziwei was completely stunned by Emily's words. You're just messing around with the fireball spell your brother taught you, like fireworks? This... is just too much! With Zhou Ziwei's continued guidance, Emily's fireball spell has become even more powerful than the first time. If she really dared to randomly throw fireballs in all directions from the hotel's rooftop... it wouldn't be long before downtown Washington was reduced to ruins.
"Emily, you..." Upon hearing this, Zhuihun's eyes turned blue with rage... It seems his eyes were originally blue too. In any case, the old man trembled with anger, really wanting to slap his disobedient precious daughter twice, but after hesitating for a moment, he ultimately couldn't hold back and could only sigh helplessly, then said, "Fine, fine... You can do whatever you want! I'm old, and you've grown up now. Even if I watch over you now, how many more years can I actually watch over you... Sigh, but... that... you little brat surnamed Zhou, let me make this clear beforehand, if you let my Emily get hurt even a hair on your head because of your bullshit, this old man will fight you to the death... Even if I can't beat you, but... if I risk these old bones and fight head-on, I believe you little brat won't get away with it."
Hearing this, Zhou Ziwei smiled wryly and said, "Look at what you're saying... Emily is your daughter, but isn't she also my... my good friend? If something really happens to her, do you think I'd be able to let it go? Don't worry... I definitely won't let her get hurt in the slightest. If anyone hurts her, I'll destroy them. If that president hurts her... I'll wipe out the entire United States."
Zhou Ziwei's words were so concise and to the point, without any beating around the bush. Clearly, he not only said it, but he also thought it in his heart.
After these words were spoken, even Zhuihun was shocked. As a father, he was very concerned about his daughter, but he wouldn't dare to challenge a superpower for her sake! Yet Zhou Ziwei dared to say such a thing... Zhuihun trusted Zhou Ziwei completely and definitely didn't think that Zhou Ziwei was just talking casually... This meant that... if Emily really suffered some loss when she met that president... Zhou Ziwei might actually destroy the entire country in a fit of anger... That would truly be a taboo subject.
Thinking of this, Zhuihun immediately felt a pang of regret, regretting that he shouldn't have spoken so sharply, forcing Zhou Ziwei to make such a serious vow.
What if… Emily goes to see the President and something minor happens, and she loses a few strands of hair… well… the consequences would be unimaginable…
That would be the destruction of a nation... Moreover, in a way, he, Zhuihun, is half American. Even though he has some dissatisfaction with the rulers, he has never thought of such a crazy thing as destroying the United States.
Of course... he would have to be that capable to do it.
An assassin is, after all, just an assassin. He only faces relatively independent individuals. If he could easily destroy a country, then he wouldn't be an assassin, but rather a legendary demon king.
Could Zhou Ziwei be that kind of terrifying demon king? Zhuihun frowned slightly. In his heart, he still felt that even if Zhou Ziwei's strength was slightly greater than his own, it should be limited. He thought that to destroy a country single-handedly was just a pipe dream. However... when he thought of Zhou Ziwei's miraculous medical skills that could bring the dead back to life and heal wounds, he was suddenly shocked...
If Zhou Ziwei were fearless of injury and death, then... if he truly wanted to destroy a country, he could simply grit his teeth and slowly slaughter his way through until he had wiped out the entire population. As for himself... even if he were surrounded by countless people, even if he suffered the most severe injuries... as long as he had a moment to breathe, he should be able to quickly recover to his pre-injury state. Moreover, he possessed an almost abnormally powerful divine artifact protecting him. There was probably very little in this world that could truly harm him!
Moreover, Zhou Ziwei possesses the art of earth-遁 (earth-遁 is a type of magical ability that allows one to burrow into the ground and sink for tens of kilometers upon seeing an enemy throw a weapon of mass destruction... So even if someone attacks him with nuclear weapons, wouldn't they be utterly futile? Since no one can kill Zhou Ziwei, and Zhou Ziwei can kill indefinitely, then... wouldn't this lead to...
Upon realizing this, Zhuihun was greatly surprised to discover that Zhou Ziwei actually possessed the ability to destroy the United States, a superpower that was incredibly powerful in the eyes of ordinary people. His expression turned even more grim.
In the gloomy night, Zhou Ziwei and Zhuihun flew one after the other to the airspace above the army base on the outskirts of Washington City mentioned in the intelligence. Seeing the pitch-black military base below, Zhou Ziwei sneered inwardly.
Since they've already laid out such an open scheme, why not just openly expose the forces lurking here as well? Why bother making it all so mysterious? Do these guys really think I, Zhou Ziwei, am a fool who can't even see through this little trick?
In fact, Zhou Ziwei and Zhuihun had essentially come over in a very open and undisguised manner, without any disguise. Zhuihun was still riding his magical artifact, Baibian, which had transformed into an iron cage shape, while Zhou Ziwei was riding a very stylish alloy greatsword that stretched out to be more than five meters long and nearly half a meter wide, flying all the way here on his sword.
Since the Alloy Armor absorbed enough black gold essence and underwent a qualitative transformation, it could function similarly to a magical artifact. However, unlike ordinary magical artifacts, the metallic substances contained within the Alloy Armor were enormous and stored in a very mysterious way. When Zhou Ziwei needed to use it, he could transform these metallic substances into various shapes at will. This ability to transform was essentially equivalent to directly molding a metal weapon from liquid metal, unlike the Hundred Transformations which used steel bars to weave weapons on the spot.
You must understand... no matter how flexible those steel bars are, or how exquisite the weaving techniques are, the small magical artifacts they create will naturally have some unavoidable flaws, and they can never be as perfectly formed as the small magical artifacts directly shaped by the alloy armor.
However, the metal strength of the Alloy Armor is currently slightly inferior, so it is at a slight disadvantage when confronting the Black Gold Sword that has been transformed by the Hundred Transformations. But it is believed that as long as the Alloy Armor has the opportunity to absorb more different metals and further enhance its metal properties, it will be just around the corner to catch up with, or even surpass, the Hundred Transformations in terms of hardness and sharpness.
This was Zhou Ziwei's first time using a magical artifact for flight, and he naturally thought of the immortals in ancient Chinese legends who flew on swords. So... this time, he simply used an absurdly large alloy greatsword for flight.
And you know what... if you use your soul power to control a magical artifact for flight... although the consumption of soul power is a bit greater, the speed is quite terrifying. As long as the magical artifact itself is of good quality, if you use your consciousness and spiritual power to drive it, you can almost reach the speed of light.
Of course, no one can reach such a terrifying speed when using a magical artifact for flight. Even if they could, no one would dare to risk their life like that. Otherwise, a single mishap could mean certain death. But even so, this speed is still beyond what Zhou Ziwei could achieve when riding the whirlwind in the past.
The wind is indeed very fast, but compared to the speed of light... it's clearly not even in the same league.
The two flew over the army base one after the other, then looked at each other. Zhuihun snorted and said, "Looks like they're trying to trick us. How about... I rush down and test them out first?"
“No need…” Zhou Ziwei smiled coldly and said, “I’ll just set off a couple of fireworks here first, let them enjoy them. If they can still hold their temper… hehe… then we can talk about something else. Otherwise, if you keep probing like this, you’ll just run into a trap they’ve already laid…”
"You're setting off fireworks here?" Upon hearing this, Zhuihun was slightly taken aback, then remembered that Emily had mentioned setting off fireworks on the hotel rooftop. He immediately realized that this brat actually wanted to play with fireballs and self-destruct! No wonder his precious daughter had become increasingly violent; it was all because of this brat… Oh dear… His decision back then was truly a mistake… While letting his daughter follow this brat had taught her some impressive skills, at the same time, she was becoming less and less like a woman. What was he going to do…?
Zhou Ziwei was unaware that Zhuihun was secretly criticizing him. After speaking, he stood in mid-air with his feet on the huge alloy sword. Then, with a gentle rub of his hands, a fireball the size of a football rose from his palms.
As Zhou Ziwei's understanding of natural energy deepened, he became increasingly adept at manipulating it.
Previously, it would have taken Zhou Ziwei quite some time to slowly form such a large fireball, but now... he can easily condense a large fireball directly outside his body with just a thought. Moreover, this large fireball is an improved version, a shockwave-style fire rain technique that Zhou Ziwei re-researched based on Emily's fireball technique with six-fold shockwave characteristics.
This time, Zhou Ziwei's fireball was no longer an ordinary fireball, like a bomb that could only explode once and then be gone. Now, after his fireball exploded, it could form layers upon layers of continuous shock waves, instantly turning the small flames into a rain of fire that fell over an area of at least several hundred meters in radius.
This type of explosion has a smaller explosive force, but the destructive range is dozens of times larger. It is especially suitable for killing and arson. A fireball thrown out will turn an area of hundreds of meters into a sea of fire. Although the area of this army military base does not seem small, Zhou Ziwei estimated that if he threw a dozen or so fireballs in succession, he could burn the entire military base to ashes.
Of course, Zhou Ziwei wouldn't really go around killing and setting fires recklessly. Even if he didn't mind killing and injuring some M soldiers, he was still worried about accidentally harming the families of those special agents.
Therefore, after he condensed the fireball, he did not throw it down immediately. Instead, he first used his soul power to scan the buildings below. Only after finding no trace of the people he was looking for did he resolutely throw the fireball down...
Zhou Ziwei's control over fireballs was far superior to Emily's. Because Emily lacked powerful soul energy, she couldn't control a fireball for long after condensing it. The only way to be safe was to throw it out as quickly as possible. Moreover, Emily had no control over where the fireball would explode after it was thrown. Everything was up to fate, or the fireball would simply explode upon hitting a person or building.
However, Zhou Ziwei's fireball was completely under his control, tightly enveloped by a layer of his soul power. As long as he didn't actively remove the soul power, the fireball would not explode even if it burned for another day and night.
As long as it's within the range that Zhou Ziwei's soul power can scan, the fireball can naturally reach it at will.
Zhou Ziwei simply scanned the area below with his soul power, identified his target, snorted coldly, and without bothering to give any prior notice, threw the large fireball in his hand directly at the tallest building in the center of the army military base.
With a loud "boom," the fireball exploded immediately after hitting the military base building. The powerful shockwave instantly destroyed almost the entire top floor of the building, nearly reducing its height by one floor.
Immediately afterwards, the tenacious flames that had been rippled by the shockwave began to spread in all directions.
These flames are not ordinary flames; they cannot be easily extinguished even in the wind. Even if they land on non-flammable materials such as soil or bricks, they can stubbornly continue to burn for a while before slowly going out.
After all, this flame is something made of pure energy matter, and as long as the energy is not completely consumed, it can keep burning.
A single fireball spell was clearly insignificant in the context of the entire military base. Zhou Ziwei showed no mercy, throwing out the first fireball, then the second, then the third, and so on. After throwing out eight fireballs in a row, Zhou Ziwei suddenly noticed a small gas station ahead... This was obviously a gas station used by the military base itself, with a lot of gasoline stored in the underground oil depot below.
However, under Zhou Ziwei's soul power scan, nothing could hide.
Zhou Ziwei originally intended to throw a fireball at the oil depot to cause a massive explosion.
However, it then seemed that this was not very meaningful, because the gas station was obviously built in a very remote corner, and there was not a single building within a few hundred meters of it except for some cars.
So even if the explosion here is incredibly loud, it's completely meaningless...
Zhou Ziwei turned his head to look at the raging fire spreading in the distance, and the American soldiers rushing around trying to put it out. Suddenly, a thought struck him...
Volume 3, King of the City, Chapter 636: Little Yi Yi
Zhou Ziwei glanced at the raging fire spreading all around him, and then, incredibly, he leaped straight down, landing on the ground of the gas station below…
"Bang bang bang..." A series of gunshots came from all directions. Seeing Zhou Ziwei appear, the surrounding M soldiers didn't care that this was a flammable and explosive place, and continued to fire at this place.
Zhou Ziwei didn't even bother to pay attention to the gunfire, letting the bullets from those small guns clatter and pound against his body, but they didn't even penetrate the layer of his alloy armor.
"Get out of here, all of you." Although Zhou Ziwei wasn't afraid of their gunfire, he was worried that if they continued to cause trouble, they might accidentally blow up the entire oil depot. In that case, even with his alloy suit protecting him, he would probably still get injured.
Impatient, he roared, a roar imbued with sonic and mental attack characteristics. Though not a soul-shaking roar, it had a similar effect. Those struck by the roar suddenly felt an unprecedented, intense terror from the depths of their hearts. They completely disregarded the usual orders from their superiors, instinctively sensing that the military base was doomed. Staying there meant certain death. Continuing like this... they'd better escape!
So, in the blink of an eye, all the M soldiers near the gas station had fled without a trace.
"Sink—" Zhou Ziwei lightly stomped his foot on the spot, and then a loud "boom" was heard. The ground beneath his feet sank down, forming a huge circular pit in the blink of an eye.
The old general, observing all this from an inconspicuous building several kilometers away using satellite imagery and synchronous transmission technology, frowned deeply. He then turned to his adjutant beside him and said, "This kid seems even more capable than he was at the dock last time... What do you think?"
Upon hearing this, the adjutant immediately bowed respectfully and said, "General, you are right... or perhaps it's not apparent in other aspects, but his ability to throw fireballs is indeed much stronger than what he showed at the docks. And... this ability to split the ground and create holes... is terrifying. He never showed this skill at the docks."
The old general nodded slightly, then asked with a worried look in his eyes, "Since he's so powerful, can those people really stop him? Besides, Soul Chaser came with him too... Heh... I never thought that the King of Assassins who once shocked the world and made every rich person tremble with fear at the mere thought of him would now be reduced to a child's follower... This... truly shows how unpredictable life is!"
The adjutant quickly reassured the old general, saying, "General, don't worry... With those guardians of the underground city here, even if this kid is ten times more powerful, it won't matter. They will eventually become our prisoners. I believe... this is a predetermined outcome."
"Let's hope so!" Upon hearing this, the old general did not become blindly optimistic. He simply sighed softly, then waved his hand and said, "It seems that the kid who went there to dig up the underground oil depot of the gas station definitely didn't have any good intentions. It's not safe here anymore... Let's leave first! Hmm... We can have them transmit the next developments to me in real time."
"Yes, General." The adjutant finally breathed a sigh of relief upon hearing this. After all, this was the battlefield where two powerful forces clashed. When gods fight, mortals suffer. The deaths of ordinary soldiers in this military base were nothing to them, and they wouldn't care about them, the higher-ups.
However, the old general's status was different. If he were to be harmed even slightly here, it would be a heavy blow to the entire military force of the M. When the old general initially said he wanted to stay and watch the show, his adjutant strongly objected. However, the adjutant had no choice but to comply with the old general's insistence. After all, the old general was known for his stubbornness, and changing his mind was extremely difficult.
Although the concrete layer paved with the road was over two meters thick, Zhou Ziwei forcibly tore it apart with the penetration of earth energy. However, the thick iron sheet that formed the underground oil tank gave Zhou Ziwei a headache. Cutting it open with an alloy knife should have been easy, but... it was full of gasoline... If even a spark were to fly during the cutting, the gasoline inside would probably explode instantly. And if he didn't use the alloy knife, smashing it with his fist would probably have the same effect; the instantaneous violent impact could also generate high heat and sparks.
Zhou Ziwei frowned slightly, then a thought struck him. He remembered that his alloy suit originally possessed a powerful ability to absorb metal, an ability that seemed to originate from some divine source. However, the inexplicable white light had stopped working for some reason and had never appeared since leaving the pilot plane.
Zhou Ziwei originally thought that the source of that divine power had disappeared, and the alloy suit no longer had the ability to devour metal.
However… in recent days, it has been discovered that the Alloy Suit still retains the ability to devour metal. The Black Iron Branch seized from the Sack Monster and the fact that it has been constantly stealing the ever-changing Black Gold Essence from Soul Chaser these past two days… all prove that the Alloy Suit still possesses the ability to devour metal. It's just that this guy's mouth has become exceptionally picky now; it simply won't open its mouth for anything that isn't truly good…
Zhou Ziwei was extremely dissatisfied with this, but... although Alloy Armor's independent soul body was also a very high-end one, it really took Zhou Ziwei a lot of soul power to construct it.
However... perhaps because its body is entirely made of metal, its soul is also cold and almost never actively communicates with Zhou Ziwei's main soul. Even if Zhou Ziwei takes the initiative to contact it, this guy never engages in soul communication with Zhou Ziwei.
This almost made Zhou Ziwei forget that the alloy suit he was wearing was a living thing... Fortunately, although the alloy suit was icy cold, it never disobeyed Zhou Ziwei's orders, and it had basically never disappointed him... And this... was exactly what Zhou Ziwei was most satisfied with... Moreover, the alloy suit's independent soul had another advantage that Zhou Ziwei had never expected—it seemed that it could also infinitely split itself.
The reason Zhou Ziwei was able to control 216 alloy knives so skillfully and effortlessly during his sparring session with Zhuihun today was partly due to his powerful soul force. However, the main reason was that each alloy knife that split off from the alloy armor seemed to possess a small soul entity. These small soul entities were not very intelligent and seemed to lack much autonomy. They were basically as stubborn and unreliable as the independent soul entities of the alloy armor. If Zhou Ziwei hadn't infused his soul force into each alloy knife while controlling them, he might not have even sensed the existence of soul entities within them.
However, although these soul entities were very weak, they executed Zhou Ziwei's commands very thoroughly. Therefore, Zhou Ziwei did not need to expend much of his soul consciousness. He simply used his soul power to provide ample power to the alloy blades. Then, with just a slight thought, these alloy blades would operate freely according to Zhou Ziwei's will and attack the target.
Even if Zhou Ziwei's soul consciousness couldn't separate into so many parts to give specific attack commands to each alloy knife, the faint soul contained within these alloy knives would still instinctively perform certain attack actions.
This means that... even if Zhou Ziwei only issues a vague command, such as instructing these alloy blades to attack someone, and then as long as enough soul power is poured into these alloy blades, he can go to sleep. A lot of soul power can be poured into those alloy blades at once, and as long as this soul power is not completely exhausted, the alloy blades will have the power to support their flight attack.
These alloy knives will naturally attack relentlessly according to Zhou Ziwei's orders until they are destroyed or their target is killed. As for whether these alloy knives will surround and attack, or go one by one to fight one-on-one... Zhou Ziwei doesn't need to worry about that.
Zhou Ziwei felt that Alloy Suit's independent soul was really arrogant, and he would definitely have to teach it a lesson when he had time in the future.
Zhou Ziwei immediately pointed at the metal tank at the bottom of the nearly three-meter-deep pit... Then, a long metal wire shot out from his alloy suit and landed on the heavy metal tank with a "whoosh".
"Alloy suit, help me swallow this piece of metal."
Zhou Ziwei then mentally issued a command to Alloy Suit through their soul connection. Alloy Suit, who always executed Zhou Ziwei's orders flawlessly, surprisingly didn't immediately follow through this time, causing Zhou Ziwei's heart to sink. Fortunately, Zhou Ziwei quickly sensed, through their soul connection, an emotion akin to disgust and hesitation emanating from Alloy Suit.
Thank goodness, it turns out that the independent soul of this alloy suit wasn't entirely a lump of iron without any fluctuations. At least... it still had some emotional fluctuations, which was much better than no reaction at all. So when Zhou Ziwei sensed the emotional fluctuations of the alloy suit, he was not angry or discouraged, but instead immediately perked up.
Since there was hesitation, it proves that it's not that the alloy suit can't do it, but that it just doesn't want to... It seems this guy's palate has really been spoiled... Back in the pilot dimension, this guy would devour any metal he saw, as if he were a starving ghost reincarnated.
Now look what's happened! I'm begging it to swallow a piece of metal, and it's still acting reluctantly.
"I said... Little Yi Yi... please, help me eat this piece of sheet metal! Okay?" Zhou Ziwei saw that He Jin Yi was hesitant and unwilling to work, so he had no choice but to plead with her softly.
"Thump, thump..." Zhou Ziwei suddenly started trembling all over, but if someone were to observe carefully, they would find that Zhou Ziwei's body hadn't actually moved at all; what was really trembling was the clothes on Zhou Ziwei's body.
"No... I just gave you a nickname, even if you don't like it, you don't have to react this strongly!" Zhou Ziwei rolled his eyes in annoyance, and then continued to communicate with Alloy Clothes in his mind.
"I know you have rather high standards right now, and ordinary metals naturally wouldn't appeal to you. This scrap iron certainly doesn't look appetizing either. But... can't you just consider it helping me out? Hmm... you can just spit these things out later, okay?"
After Zhou Ziwei finished speaking, he suddenly felt that the independent soul of the alloy suit seemed to have made up its mind. Then, Zhou Ziwei saw that the large piece of dark iron sheet exposed at the bottom of the pit suddenly turned into a pool of molten iron and was sucked into the alloy suit by the thin metal wire with a "whoosh".
As a result, Zhou Ziwei's originally snow-white clothes were instantly stained a dark, murky color by the molten iron, and the originally extremely soft and close-fitting feeling disappeared, making them feel stiff and uncomfortable.