Chapter Forty-Five: Never Have I Seen Such an Outrageous Mage!

Whose child could deal over a thousand points of damage in a single second? Surely, this was them holding back; otherwise, they wouldn’t even have had the chance to speak!

“It was Zhao Zhilong who sent us. Zhao Zhilong told us to come. He didn’t tell us to hurt you, just to bring you back,” the long-faced, chubby man was the first to surrender.

Their job was to capture people, and that was what they were paid for—there was no need to risk their lives over it.

“Zhao Zhilong? Who is he? What’s his status?” Yi Shen pressed further.

“He’s the head of East District Three in Peach Blossom Dock, newly appointed. That’s all we really know. You can ask me anything, I’ll tell you. We’re just errand boys—you don’t need to do anything to us,” the long-faced man very directly sold out his superior.

“People from Peach Blossom Dock?” Yi Shen’s brow furrowed slightly. He had indeed been prepared to kill, but upon hearing the name Peach Blossom Dock, he worried these might be people his father had arranged to protect him.

“Why does he want to bring me back?”

“No idea, really. Our task was only to bring you back.” Yi Shen’s dagger was already close to the man’s throat, and the long-faced man caved easily. The round-faced man beside him just stared intently at Yi Shen, not uttering a word.

“What level is he now?” Yi Shen asked.

“Not sure, maybe over level forty. You have to be at least level forty to be in charge.” The long-faced man shivered as he spoke.

“Then why are you using Blood Butcher’s car?”

“That was Zhao Zhilong’s arrangement. He said no one could know we were the ones taking you. Even if someone saw, they’d think it was Blood Butcher’s men...” The long-faced man was clearly terrified, his voice shaking.

He lay on the ground, gasping for breath, while the round-faced man remained silent and dumbfounded. Yi Shen nudged him with his foot, and only then did the round-faced man reveal a foolish grin. Yi Shen noticed his hand was moving for something—he stepped down on it.

The man cried out in pain, and a communicator slipped from his pants—the man had been sending messages to the outside world!

Yi Shen’s frown deepened, but before he could act further, the round-faced man suddenly rolled and vanished on the spot, melting into the night!

A stealth specialist!

That such a large man would choose to be a stealth class—who would have guessed?

Earlier, when Yi Shen had inspected him, he’d only checked his health, not his class!

“He’s just a level twenty-three mage, let’s take him together!” came a voice from the void—the round-faced man’s shout to his companion.

The long-faced man hesitated, knowing full well the kind of damage Yi Shen could deal. If it hadn’t been for that healing spell, he might have been dead already. And someone who could cast both fireballs and healing spells was clearly not just a mage.

On hearing this, Yi Shen instantly made up his mind. He blinked into the air, landed on a high perch, and unleashed a massive Blizzard spell in the direction of the shout.

Yi Shen’s Blizzard was not merely for clearing monsters! The skill was just as effective at revealing stealth specialists.

Whereas others’ Blizzard might only cover a few meters, Yi Shen’s stretched as far as forty or fifty meters.

Countless shards of ice fell, illuminating the damage numbers across the lawn—each hit was nearly a hundred points.

The target tried to crawl out of the Blizzard’s range, but the spell slowed him down. Already weakened by Yi Shen’s earlier attacks, the round-faced man never made it out before his health dropped to zero, leaving only a corpse and a glowing green orb.

Yi Shen: “...”

Long-faced man: “...”

The air was suddenly thick with awkwardness. The long-faced man stared at Yi Shen, his eyes filled with bewilderment and shock.

He had met mages before, but never one as outrageous as this!

Just now?
Was that a Blizzard?
He attacked without hesitation?

Thank goodness he hadn’t chosen to fight—otherwise, he’d have ended up just like the round-faced man, sprawled on the ground!

“Let’s continue.”

All was quiet around them; no one seemed to have noticed the fight. After picking up the orb—just a worthless piece of equipment that he promptly dismantled—Yi Shen pressed on.

“Even if I don’t know why he was so bold, the fact that he dared to attack me must mean Zhao Zhilong has no good intentions, right?”

“You can say three more things. If I’m not satisfied, you’ll end up just like him.”

Yi Shen killed the round-faced man as if he were just another monster, without the slightest ripple in his heart. Oddly, he almost enjoyed the feeling.

He knew this was wrong, but right now, he was seriously considering killing the long-faced man as well.

“I...” The long-faced man knew his situation was dire. His mind raced as he spoke: “Zhao Zhilong was promoted by Anqing. He wants to capture you, probably to use you as leverage against your father.”

“Blood Butcher is likely involved too, but I really don’t know the details.”

“We’re just supposed to wait here—Zhao Zhilong said if we caught you, or even provided a lead, we’d get a hundred thousand contribution points.”

“That’s really all I know. I have elderly parents, a child, and a five-year-old daughter. I only came because I was ordered to. I tried to get out of it, but I couldn’t. I’m also from Peach Blossom Dock—I swear I’m not lying.” There was a pleading tone in his voice. He sensed Yi Shen’s killing intent and spilled everything he knew.

“Call him now. I need to confirm it’s him.”

“When you call, tell him you found me, but I’ve already been taken away by people from Jingbei Industries,” Yi Shen said.

The long-faced man nodded frantically, trembling as he dialed. Forcing himself to stay calm, he made the call.

The answer came quickly. The long-faced man addressed the other party as District Chief Zhao and relayed the information as Yi Shen instructed.

The next moment, Yi Shen grabbed the phone, cut the connection, and severed all contact with Zhao Zhilong.

“Get in the car.” He had learned what he needed. As he hesitated over whether to eliminate the long-faced man, the mention of a young daughter swayed him. The man didn’t seem like someone who posed a real threat—killing him would serve little purpose.

“Drive. We’re heading outside the city.”

Time slipped by. At the city’s edge, Yi Shen found an abandoned, half-built structure and told the long-faced man to wait for him there, warning him not to contact anyone. If he disappeared, Yi Shen would hunt him down anywhere in the city.

Yi Shen intended to use the long-faced man to establish a new base outside the city. If the man proved useful, he could work for him; if he turned traitor, then Yi Shen would set a trap and discover who was truly after him.

As for Zhao Zhilong—

He was most definitely Yi Shen’s next target.