Chapter Sixty-One: The Madman of Metal

Chapter Sixty-One: Madman of Metal

The man landed lightly from the railing, facing Chen Xiao directly.

He was tall and straight, with long hair that gave him a slightly dissolute air. His eyes were blue, making it clear he was not of Asian descent, and within those eyes lingered a faint trace of melancholy. Judging by his looks alone, he was the very picture of the decadent, handsome type. Yet, the cigarette pinched between his fingers and the indifferent smile at the corner of his mouth made Chen Xiao extremely uncomfortable.

“Call your companion out,” Chen Xiao said, clenching his fists cautiously. “What, you want to play the same old trick? Planning a sneak attack from the shadows?”

The man suddenly laughed, his laughter tinged with a hint of ridicule. “Rookie, you really are a rookie. I bet you don’t even know who she is, do you? I really wonder how your agency trains its new recruits. Even a clueless greenhorn like you gets sent on missions?”

He flicked the cigarette away with a snap of his fingers, exhaled a long plume of smoke, and looked Chen Xiao up and down. “That woman’s name is Alice, nicknamed Viper. Hey, rookie, of all people, you just had to cross her. She’s the most vindictive person you’ll ever meet—never lets a slight go unanswered. From now on, you’d better sleep with one eye open!”

Chen Xiao snorted and was about to charge forward when suddenly a glint of cold light flashed toward his face. Looking closely, he realized it was the metal lighter the man had been holding a moment before.

Instinctively, Chen Xiao raised his hand to bat it away, but in that instant, he caught a fleeting sneer on the man’s lips. Something was wrong!

Halfway through the motion, Chen Xiao abruptly changed tactics, wrapping both arms around his head and hurling himself sideways.

Behind him—BOOM!

A violent explosion erupted, the blast wave so intense that even Chen Xiao, already prone on the ground, was sent flying.

A bomb?!

The man’s lazy laughter drifted over. “Nice reflexes. Let’s see what else you can do.”

With that, he crossed his hands, several lighters caught between his fingers. With a flick of his wrists, multiple projectiles shot toward Chen Xiao.

Chen Xiao slammed his fist into the ground with all his might. There was a muffled thud as his monstrous strength shattered the very surface of the terrace beneath him. Using the momentum, he sprang backward several meters, seized the fallen terrace door, and hefted it as a makeshift shield in front of him.

Another deafening explosion. In the inferno, Chen Xiao felt himself lifted off the ground by the shockwave, hurled through the air. The thick wooden door he’d used for cover shattered into splinters.

He crashed against the wall, a searing pain blazing along his arms. Looking down, he saw his forearms covered in blood and torn flesh.

Lifting his head, he met the man’s mocking gaze, and fury boiled within him. Seizing a section of the terrace’s metal railing, he ripped it free with a sound of rending and twisting metal—the stone casing and the rebar within torn out by brute force.

He hefted the chunk of railing and hurled it viciously at his opponent.

The man’s mocking smile didn’t waver; he didn’t even dodge. With a casual flick, he tossed another lighter. The little object struck the flying chunk of concrete midair, erupting in a blast of fire. The terrace windows on both sides shattered from the force, stone chips flying, smoke billowing.

The man’s voice came from within the swirling dust, cold and amused. “Useless. C-rank is still C-rank. With your strength, come back in ten years and try again.”

His silhouette emerged slowly from the haze, step by deliberate step, closing in on Chen Xiao.

“Don’t count on Zhu Rong to help you. One of my secondary abilities is environment manipulation. I’ve already turned the corridor into a maze. Zhu Rong’s still wandering in circles.” He stopped directly before Chen Xiao.

Chen Xiao panted, the pain in his arms so intense he could barely lift his hands.

“It must hurt,” the man said, towering over him. “Don’t worry, I don’t like killing. Besides, killing rookies isn’t really my style.”

With that, he grabbed Chen Xiao by the throat and effortlessly lifted him off the ground.

“Remember my advice, kid. Don’t think a little strength will get you far in this world. In the realm of supernatural powers, brute force doesn’t count for much.” Holding him by the throat, he added, “We don’t want a war with your agency. This was an accident, nothing more. But our forbearance goes only so far. Next time, we won’t be so forgiving. Even patience has its limits.”

He released his grip, letting Chen Xiao crash to the ground.

“You… who are you?” Chen Xiao gasped, staring up at the man with a chilling glare.

“I…” The man frowned, gave Chen Xiao a look. “You really are a stubborn rookie. Fine, my name is Qiu Yun—Qiu as in autumn, Yun as in meteorite. If you want revenge, you’d better train hard first!”

With that, he vaulted lightly onto the railing. “See you around, little rookie.”

Chen Xiao watched as he leapt off the terrace. Heart pounding, he struggled to his feet, staggered to the edge—only to be overcome by dizziness and collapse.

The section of railing he’d torn free now left a gap, and as Chen Xiao fell, he tumbled off the terrace.

The hotel was built halfway up the mountain; below the terrace was a wooded slope. As he blacked out, Chen Xiao plunged headlong into the trees.

From such a height, he crashed through countless branches, tumbling and bouncing down the slope, smashing through brush and foliage, his head battered and bleeding, until at last everything went black.

…

When Chen Xiao awoke again, he stared up at a sky already bright with daylight. He moved his neck a little and felt pain everywhere, nearly fainting again.

After a long while, gasping for breath, he managed to sit up, only to find his clothes in tatters, barely holding together.

Before him spread a sloping hillside, a dirt path three or four meters wide, with himself half-buried in the nearby undergrowth.

He dragged himself out with difficulty, poked his head up, and suddenly heard a rapid, pounding sound from the left side of the path.

Rain?

No… it was hoofbeats!

Hoofbeats?! In this day and age, who rides horses around like this?

But the next moment, Chen Xiao was stunned.

A large group of horsemen came thundering down the dirt road, all clad in ancient soldiers’ armor, brandishing gleaming swords and sabers, shouting as they rode.

What really made Chen Xiao want to cough up blood was that every one of these “cavalrymen” had a long braid trailing from the back of their heads!

Wait… only people from the Qing dynasty dressed like that!

Chen Xiao’s face went pale. He finally managed to crawl out of the bushes, just as the cavalry drew up before him, reining in their horses to stare at him in wide-eyed astonishment.

Could it be… that by falling down the mountain, I’ve…

Traveled through time?! To the ancient past?!

Chen Xiao felt on the verge of a mental breakdown. He struggled but couldn’t move, so he lay there, forced a bitter smile, and said weakly, “Excuse me, everyone… Where am I? What dynasty is this? Who is the current emperor?”

He cursed inwardly: Time travel? It actually happened to me?

As he was about to break down in despair, a furious, nearly hysterical shout came from the right.

“Cut!!!!!”

Turning his head, Chen Xiao saw, on the hillside to the right, a large crew: a tall camera crane, tracks for dollies, a big umbrella shading a bearded man in a vest bristling with pockets, sunglasses on his face, bullhorn in hand, leaping about in a rage and yelling, “Who the hell is that?! Crew! Where’s the crew?! What are you doing?! How did you let a random person onto set during a lockdown?! Do you know how much a roll of film costs?! Do you know how much we pay per hour to rent those horses?!”

At that moment, one of the “cavalrymen” beside Chen Xiao dismounted. Only then did Chen Xiao see the man’s braid was fake, tucked under his hat.

“Buddy, you’ve watched too many time-travel dramas,” the “cavalryman” said with a wry grin. “We’re shooting a film.”

…

A life is worth no more than a head pressed to the ground—even though Chen Xiao’s sudden intrusion had enraged the film crew’s director, when they saw the appalling state of his injuries, they assumed he was a tourist who’d accidentally fallen from the hillside. So, with good intentions, they called the police.

About half an hour later, Young Master Xu and his men arrived with the police, quickly loading Chen Xiao into an ambulance.

“Heavens, I thought you were dead!” On the ambulance, Young Master Xu managed a light laugh. Chen Xiao, lying there, asked, “How’s your father?”

“No danger anymore, he’s fine,” Xu sighed, glancing around—the ambulance was actually a Xu family private vehicle, and the attendants were all Xu family men, so he spoke without reservation. “Yesterday, after you took off, that woman who was all aflame chased after you too. Soon after, a long-haired man showed up in the hall, dropped off a vial of antidote, said it would counteract the poison, and told us… well, he said he was giving our agency some face, resolving matters civilly before resorting to force. I don’t know what that means. As for the woman on fire… Chen Xiao, I don’t know what’s going on, but this all seems to be connected to you.”

Chen Xiao could only smile bitterly—some things could be explained, but how could he possibly clarify Zhu Rong, who could set herself ablaze and hurl fireballs like a sorceress?

“Xu, this whole affair is complicated. I’ll explain it all to you in time. For now… if you’re my friend, trust me!”

“Of course I trust you,” Xu replied without hesitation, then frowned. “That woman disguised as a doctor at the banquet, and then the woman who was all on fire… are they not human?”

“They’re human, just a very special kind.” Chen Xiao considered. “The woman on fire is a friend. She was here to help.”

Chen Xiao sighed. From Xu’s account, the antidote must have come from this “Qiu Yun.”

As for “giving face” and “resolving matters civilly before using force,” what exactly did that mean?

Xu was silent for a while, then gave a strange smile. “Also… your friend, the one who can set herself on fire—her temper isn’t great. We couldn’t find you anywhere, and she was nearly going berserk. If I hadn’t been your friend, she might have burned down the hotel… And when we finally got to the terrace, it was a complete mess! What happened? Did they use bombs? The whole terrace was nearly blown apart…”

…

The car drove straight to a private hospital in K City, also owned by the Xu family, where Chen Xiao was placed in a high-level care ward. Before the doctors had finished examining him, Zhu Rong arrived in a whirlwind, accompanied by Old Tian.

When they entered the room, Xu’s face went pale at the sight of Zhu Rong—he clearly had some apprehension toward her.

“Xu, could you step out for a moment? My friend needs to speak with me privately,” Chen Xiao said, awkwardly.

Xu just smiled. “No need for politeness. If you hadn’t acted quickly yesterday, my father might have…”

He hurried out. Zhu Rong’s face was cold, but Old Tian nodded to Chen Xiao genially.

“Tell me what happened,” Old Tian said. Chen Xiao sighed, gritting his teeth through the pain as he forced himself to sit up. “This time, it wasn’t aimed at Lu Bancheng, was it? Also, I ran into a real expert… and got trounced.”

“It was Qiu Yun,” Old Tian said gravely, checking the wounds on Chen Xiao’s arm. “Those are blast injuries, but he held back. With your current abilities, if he’d wanted to kill you, you wouldn’t have stood a chance.”

“That strong?” Chen Xiao frowned, then sighed. “He really was impressive.”

“Impressive, my ass!” Zhu Rong snapped. “We were just caught off guard, that’s all!”

Chen Xiao could hear the indignation in her voice. Old Tian smiled and explained, “Zhu Rong knows them from way back, and she has some personal history with one of them.”

“History? Hah! That Viper woman is just someone I’ve beaten before. She’s the one who holds a grudge against me, not the other way around!” Zhu Rong retorted stubbornly.

Old Tian coughed, then spoke seriously. “Chen Xiao, the man you met is Qiu Yun. In the international supernatural community, he’s quite a renowned figure. He’s part of a small organization called the Black Knights.”

“Black Knights?” Chen Xiao found the name odd.

“They’re not medieval knights. It’s a mercenary group—small, loose in structure, no fixed rules or hierarchy, unlike our agency or the big clubs. They’re more like superpowered mercenaries—more capable, too. They call themselves Black Knights for two reasons: first, they value their own code of conduct, striving to act with honor; second, and rather paradoxically, they don’t care about consequences. If the price is right, they’ll accept any job. People like this are hard to describe, but think of it this way: with the right incentive, they could serve as peacekeepers one day and become ruthless terrorists the next.”

Chen Xiao frowned. “So they’re…”

“Neither good nor evil,” Old Tian said with a wry smile. “Groups like this are common in our circle. Even us—retired old-timers taking on jobs—are a kind of small-scale mercenary, though as former agency members, we hold to our principles and refuse certain missions. But the Black Knights are different.”

“I see,” Chen Xiao nodded.

“The Black Knights are well-known. As for Qiu Yun, he’s a real handful—an A-rank superhuman whose primary power is ‘Metallic Molecular Explosion.’ Anything metallic he touches, he can rearrange the molecular structure and detonate it. In other words, anything metal he lays hands on can become a bomb.”

Metal… bombs? That power was terrifying.

In modern society, metal is everywhere: phones, lighters, rings, household appliances, cars—even the steel beams in buildings.

That meant Qiu Yun was a walking demolition expert.

“His secondary ability is mental—he can create illusions, though by the records, his mental abilities only reach C-rank. Most superhumans specialize in only one type of ability, like us—combat types. Qiu Yun is rare in combining both offensive and support powers.”

“Hmph! If I were better at mental powers, I wouldn’t have been trapped in his maze,” Zhu Rong muttered, a hint of frustration in her voice.

“So… their goal this time was to assassinate Lu Bancheng and the Xu family?”

“That’s unclear for now,” Old Tian shook his head. “But I doubt it was assassination. If it had been, Viper would have poisoned all three of them outright—no need for disguises or getting close. My guess is they were after a kidnapping.”

The logic made sense. Chen Xiao listened, brow furrowed. “But then they gave the antidote back…”

“It’s an international custom,” Old Tian replied, not at all lightly. He explained: In the global superhuman community, there’s an unwritten rule—if, during an operation, you encounter members of another organization, you yield the first round, then show your hand and fight it out properly.

“A kind of fair play,” Old Tian said, helplessly. “I have to admit, the Black Knights may be reckless, but they respect tradition.”

“And Viper? Who exactly is she?”

“She…” Old Tian glanced at Zhu Rong before answering. “Alice, codename Viper—her main power is toxins. She’s actually a rather pitiful woman.”

Pitiful? Chen Xiao was surprised.

“She’s a natural superhuman—born with her abilities, no awakening necessary. Her entire body’s fluids are laced with potent biological toxins: saliva, blood, every bodily secretion is deadly.”

A venomous woman?

At first, Chen Xiao was confused. Then, he realized what Old Tian meant by “pitiful.” Imagine being a woman whose every bodily fluid is a deadly poison—you’d be desperately lonely. How could she ever find a man she loved? Even a kiss would be fatal.

“Pitiful, my ass!” Zhu Rong suddenly exploded in anger.

(Brothers, throw me some recommendation votes!)

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