Chapter Forty-Four: Victory Is Everything

Terrifying speed. Terrifying strength.

At this moment, the serpent’s attack had reached an unprecedented peak—sonic speed. This was the serpent’s final trump card, a force so overwhelming that it rivaled the power it had once witnessed on the world’s battlefields a decade ago, facing the Path of Heaven itself.

Before such a monstrous foe, the morale of the remaining fighters collapsed like a flurry of snowflakes. Even Liu Zhengde’s face turned ashen; his hands, usually swift in reloading and exchanging fire, faltered, slowed by a heartbeat.

Disaster!

The thought flashed through his mind, but before he could decide his next move, a gunshot rang out. An attack he failed to block in time left two bloody holes in his hands, and his gun was knocked away.

“Ahahaha! Ahahaha! You’ve lost, damn it! You’ve lost!” Edward, now firmly holding victory, no longer bothered to reload his custom pistol. Instead, he laughed maniacally. “I told you—I would make you pay! I would make you pay for your arrogance!”

“Edward…” As a fighter, Liu Zhengde could staunch the bleeding and even retain enough strength in his hands to fight. But what did it matter? An injury was an injury. If, at his best, he and Edward were evenly matched, how could he stand against him now?

Without question, Liu Zhengde had been defeated!

And how could the monstrous serpent, along with the ever-calm Tiger and Ox, be stopped by these battered remnants?

“Look at your face—just look at that expression!” Edward, who had maintained a ruthless persona ever since his brutal defeat ten years ago, now shattered all pretense. He laughed so hard that tears streamed from his eyes. “This is a hundred times more satisfying than any climax!”

“The others must have been captured too. What’s your next move? Will you kneel and beg? Lick my shoes? Maybe, just maybe, I’ll spare some of your family?”

“You lunatic!” The tang of blood reached his nose. Liu Zhengde wiped his hand on his trousers, feeling the last fail-safe he’d kept hidden, and steadied his heart.

He hadn’t expected things to come to this, but years of military service had taught him always to leave himself one last path—a path called mutual destruction.

As a battle-hardened veteran, Liu Zhengde never believed that pleas or threats would sway an enemy. The only way to protect his dignity was with an equal threat.

But a question, an event, interrupted his plan—

“What are you laughing at, clown?”

A cold, razor-sharp flash. Head and neck parted in an instant.

The moment Edward relaxed his guard completely, Liu Tian arrived on the battlefield.

“Does your own death bring you so much joy, stranger?”

Just as Liu Zhengde’s momentary distraction had led to his defeat, Edward’s lapse brought his downfall. Unlike the mercy Edward showed by not killing Liu Zhengde, Liu Tian, who didn’t know him at all, had no such patience.

“Wh—” A voice rose from his throat, but the severed head, suspended in midair, could not speak without its windpipe. And so, Edward left this world without uttering a final word.

“Nephew? How did you get here?” Liu Zhengde asked. “How are things over there?”

“All enemies are dead—I came to check on you.”

Constantly shifting his position using phantom movements, avoiding the serpent’s lock, Liu Tian replied, “I never expected to find such a surprise—a fighter who relaxes before the battle is won?”

“And you, the one who calls yourself Serpent—are you human or ghost?”

He changed positions several times in the blink of an eye but found no good opportunity to strike. From any angle, a subtle sense of threat lingered. With little interest in a fight where he was evenly matched, or even at a disadvantage, Liu Tian probed, “Listen, your boss is dead, and you don’t seem particularly loyal. Why not just call it quits?”

“I’d wager the army will arrive soon. In a head-on fight, you can’t possibly stand up to rocket launchers and artillery fire.”

“Edward schemed endlessly, yet he fell here. Truly, fate is fickle. What do you think—should we keep fighting? Those cannon fodder won’t hold us off; we probably have less than twenty minutes to withdraw.”

“Do you know where Edward kept his money? He hasn’t paid us yet. Forget it—since he’s dead, the rest of the commission is gone. Let’s leave.”

Apparently never eager to fight, Tiger and Ox, who had been slacking from the start, decided their next move mid-conversation. Before anyone could react, they backed away and exited through the main door.

“They—really left?”

Decisive indeed. Once they made up their minds, they didn’t hide their intent; they departed at full speed, soon vanishing from Liu Tian’s awareness.

Surprised that a casual remark actually worked, Liu Tian was a little dazed. “That leaves you, Serpent. How about killing yourself?”

“Hey, sweetheart, why don’t you let me leave too?” Though Tiger and Ox had gone, Serpent showed no sign of leaving. Instead, he chuckled slyly. “Planning to spend a pleasant night with me?”

“I simply can’t let a pervert who’s been spying on me live,” Liu Tian replied firmly, though uncertain if Tiger and Ox had truly departed. But time was on his side, and since they’d left his range of perception, it was clear they hadn’t practiced any stealth techniques—making a surprise attack unlikely. He finally relaxed.

Thus, facing Serpent’s question, Liu Tian stood his ground.

“So you’re sure you’ve got me?” Serpent twisted his head in a full circle, tracking Liu Tian’s movements as though his neck had no bones. “Think you’re certain to win?”

“Of course. What, you think I’ll lose?” Liu Tian suddenly shouted, “Uncle, fire!”

At his call, Liu Zhengde, already primed for action, emptied his magazine within a tenth of a second. Though Serpent’s constant movement prevented a concentrated attack from breaking his defenses, it created the opening Liu Tian needed.

Monkey Sword: Heaven’s Martial Way—Heartbreaker!

Heartbreaker was a secret technique designed to seize a flaw and strike lethally. With the help of a razor-sharp blade, generously gifted by a nameless benefactor, Liu Tian carved ten deep wounds into Serpent’s body in a flash.

Clearly, with Liu Zhengde’s help, and his own composure, Serpent—without Tiger and Ox—stood no chance of victory.

“You, you, you! This is not honorable victory!” Serpent screamed, “Tiger, Ox, I curse you! Edward, why did you die so foolishly?”

“Idiot!” Liu Tian, with no sense of guilt for the ambush, said coldly, “In this world—victory is everything!”

“And in battle, the strong always dominate the weak!”

“Serpent, now—go die!”