Amidst the dust and smoke. Li Mingzheng watched the kicks and punches of nine Quasi-Martial Masters land squarely on Qin Fen. These blows, capable of shattering iron and stone, failed to leave even a scratch on him. It was as if the attackers were merely going through the motions, their strikes lacking any true intent to harm.

Completely unharmed! Qin Fen’s entire musculature subtly contracted inward before violently expanding outward. The nine Quasi-Martial Masters instantly felt a fierce surge of power impact them. This solid force was like a steamroller; their own expelled Zhenqi was instantly compressed into powder, the overwhelming strength piercing through their fists and feet. Ferocious internal energy erupted from Qin Fen’s body, blasting against their chests mid-air.

Substantial Liqi, visible to the naked eye, radiated outward from Qin Fen as the epicenter, spreading wildly. Its power could pierce metal and stone. One after another, the nine Quasi-Martial Masters spat out jets of blood. Their bodies, capable of withstanding intense impacts, were instantly lacerated with countless bloody gashes. The projected Zhenqi acted like real blades and swords, tearing through their protective Zhenqi shields, slicing through their divine protective arts, and causing direct physical damage.

Nine thuds echoed as heavy objects struck the ground. The nine Quasi-Martial Masters, who had just unleashed devastating power, collapsed simultaneously, convulsing violently, their bodies drenched in blood. Their eyes, wide with unconcealed terror, fixed on Qin Fen.

For Qin Fen, who had slain the Martial God of Fuzhou, Pei Chengjun, almost no one in Hanzhou held any affection for him. Most of the Quasi-Martial Masters among Hanzhou’s martial artists had, at some point, received instruction from Pei Chengjun.

The instant Qin Fen appeared at the doorway, the overwhelming pressure emanating from the Martial Master level instinctively made everyone feel their lives were threatened. Hatred immediately fused with this sense of crisis, exploding into their strongest possible attack.

In that single moment, the nine Quasi-Martial Masters unleashed the strongest martial arts strikes of their entire lives! Facing any other Martial Master, they would have been confident in forcing a retreat! If the opponent refused to retreat, they were certain to inflict injury.

Yet… he never moved! From the moment Qin Fen entered the room, he hadn't even lifted a hand to throw a punch! The nine Quasi-Martial Masters were instantly and collectively crippled. Forget having the strength to fight; even a martial artist who had just entered the One-Star realm could now easily kill these quasi-masters who were usually so arrogant.

Qin Fen didn’t spare a glance for the nine masters on the floor. He had just released his gathered and condensed Zhenqi externally, mixing it with intensely hot Zhenqi. This instantly destroyed the meridians of the nine opponents. In the next few seconds, the Zhenqi would begin to violently collide within their defenseless bodies.

In Qin Fen’s eyes, these fallen Quasi-Martial Masters were already dead men. The searing Haoyang Zhenqi destroyed them as easily as crushing an ant.

Qin Fen walked into the room with his hands quietly clasped behind his back, looking as if he were leisurely strolling through a courtyard. He did not look at the people on the ground, nor at those beside him, not even casting a glance at Li Mingzheng. He simply walked forward with profound calmness.

The deathly silent room held no screams, not even muffled groans. The only sounds were the dull thuds of what sounded like sacks filled with heavy cargo striking the floor.

Li Mingzheng stood aghast, his eyes filled with disbelief. The generals seated on either side of the long table collapsed heavily onto the floor without even having a chance to react. Until the moment of death, their eyeballs were still etched with the burning hatred to kill Qin Fen.

In just a few breaths, only Li Mingzheng and Qin Fen remained alive in the conference hall; everyone else was dead. Almost the entire high-ranking general corps of Hanzhou was annihilated.

Is this man insane? Li Mingzheng wondered if he was dreaming. Even if Qin Fen was a Martial Master, such an action was unbelievably reckless, wasn't it? Wiping out an entire state’s military leadership—even a madman wouldn’t attempt something like that, given the infinite subsequent repercussions.

“Do… do you know what you are doing?” Li Mingzheng spoke with difficulty, feeling as if a massive stone was crushing his chest, “This is… this is…”

Qin Fen stood before Li Mingzheng. The gaze emanating from his eyes finally locked onto him.

At that moment, Li Mingzheng felt that in Qin Fen’s eyes, he wasn't a living person, perhaps not even human. It was as if he were looking at a pig, or perhaps a worm.

“Chiz…”

Li Mingzheng suddenly felt a powerful impact rising from the ground. This overwhelming Zhenqi surged into his body through his feet, akin to hundreds of armored mechs charging through the meridians of his body. This Zhenqi felt like burning mechs, leaving behind scorching heat everywhere it passed, as if he could spew out flames of intense heat just by opening his mouth.

Li Mingzheng could no longer utter a sound. Blood mixed with intense heat erupted from his throat, and his body slowly slumped. Within his eyes, beyond the murderous rage, was an overwhelming sense of disbelief. As a high-ranking military general of the Federation, how could someone dare assassinate him, and do so by walking into the room so openly, disregarding everyone present, and killing without even uttering a single word of explanation?

Regret flickered in Li Mingzheng’s eyes. He truly believed that if he had been given a few more minutes to speak, he could have convinced Qin Fen.

The leading military figure of Saturn! That was a specialized leader eligible for massive resource support from the military command—a position always reserved for true generals!

This time, in the military’s final struggle for Saturn, they had abandoned previous seniority requirements. If you possessed the strength, even a second lieutenant had a chance to become Saturn’s military leader.

To become Saturn’s military leader required the support of various factions. Li Mingzheng was certain that if he could reason with Qin Fen, explain that he could fully support him becoming Saturn’s leader, Qin Fen would not have attacked before receiving his endorsement. If he could just hold out until that support was voiced, Qin Fen wouldn't have time to trouble him later; he would make Qin Fen’s life miserable.

Just a few minutes, mere minutes! Li Mingzheng never imagined that Qin Fen would enter and immediately begin killing without exchanging a single word, his decisive intent almost impossible to accept.

“He…” Li Mingzheng’s body slowly slipped from his chair to the ground with a heavy thud that kicked up dust. His eyes, perhaps due to the intense heat, had turned crimson, fixed rigidly on Qin Fen’s feet.

He could only see Qin Fen’s feet. Even if a dead man’s eyes were open and staring at the ground, he would only see the feet of the person standing above him.

Qin Fen scanned every corner of the room, confirming everyone was dead. He let out a soft sigh and murmured to himself, “I don't enjoy killing, but if someone intends to kill me, then my apologies.”

The Military Conference Hall fell into a profound silence. The corpses lying on the floor, with their eyes filled with anger and disbelief, seemed to whisper how impossible it was that Qin Fen, who defeated Pei Chengjun at Mount Hanna, shouldn't be this powerful. From entering to killing the last person, he hadn’t even needed to move, slaughtering everyone as casually as taking a sightseeing tour.

“All dead?”

Outside the door, Song Jia cautiously peeked into the hall. She linked her arms with Qin Fen as he emerged and looked up, asking, “What next?” Qin Fen reached out and grabbed the large black backpack he had tossed outside the door, shrugging slightly. “I guess I’ll have to ask the terrorists to take the blame for me again.” The super-powerful high explosives he bought from the special online black market had been abnormally refined by Qin Fen, increasing their destructive potential even further, and they were strategically placed in the building’s most crucial locations.

Song Jia flipped through the paper she held. “Will the outside world believe it?”

“It doesn’t matter,” Qin Fen laughed carelessly. “As long as the general populace believes it. As for the others? I sincerely hope they don’t believe it,” he paused, “and I sincerely hope they know I did it. Having people constantly watching my back is truly uncomfortable. Being a madman once in a while, even if it brings some unforeseen troubles, might bring some people a sense of security.”

Two minutes later, the Hanzhou Military Headquarters office building, accompanied by a thunderous roar and a massive pillar of fire soaring hundreds of meters into the sky, was utterly reduced to black scorched earth. The rubble of the office building was pulverized into dust by the violent explosion; not even the remnants of the bodies could be found.

Fifteen minutes later, Hanzhou Military Headquarters’ other reconnaissance special forces units, mobilized by the remaining “highest” military command, arrived at the blast site for investigation.

Fifteen minutes after the explosion, the air around Hanzhou Military Headquarters was still heavy with the smell of heat; the high temperature of the explosives still permeated the atmosphere of the compound.

“This…”

The Lieutenant Colonel leading the special forces team, along with the dozen or so soldiers accompanying him, were stunned into silence by the sight of the devastated area.

The luxuriously decorated Hanzhou Military Headquarters, viewed from the outermost perimeter, still possessed its grand outer walls, seemingly undamaged.

Passing through the gate and the walls, the once most prominent and lavishly decorated office building had completely vanished from where it once stood, as if it had never existed. The pitch-black scorch marks left by the high explosives on the ground, and the dust covering everything, confirmed to the investigation team that an office building had indeed once stood there.

The next day, the front pages of every newspaper across the Federation were completely dominated by the news of the destruction of the Hanzhou Military Headquarters.

“Terrorist Attack Strikes Again!”

“When Will the Terrorist Attacks Stop?”

“Where Will the Next Target of Terrorism Be?”

“Hanzhou Military HQ Blown Up, All Senior Generals Perish.”

“You bring me this newspaper, what are you implying? A terrorist attack?” Atop a skyscraper in Shengjing that seemed to pierce the heavens, Zuo Lin casually tossed the paper into the waste bin. A look of profound mockery and disdain crossed his handsome face. “The courtyard walls of the military compound are completely intact. Only the office building where they held the meeting was razed to the ground. Have today’s terrorists become gentlemen who care for the populace? Has their bombing technology reached the level of military demolition aces?” Zuo Lin leaned back against his desk with a half-smile. Several Hanzhou officers stood respectfully before him. Though they were all administrative staff, they technically held the rank of Major General. However, in front of Colonel Zuo Lin, they didn't even merit a seat.

“We inquired. This was done by a top-tier demolition expert. Lord Zuo, you must also realize this wasn't the work of terrorists; it must have been Qin Fen, right?”

“So what if it was?” Zuo Lin leaned casually back in his chair, tapping his fingers lightly on the desk, his lips curled in disdain and mockery. “Your Li Mingzheng wanted to kill him; Qin Fen was merely acting in self-defense. What does that have to do with me?”

“Lord Zuo,” a general ventured, “you should know that Saturn is currently in a state of flux. If Qin Fen…”

“There are no ifs,” Zuo Lin waved his hand dismissively. “I won’t be your blade to deal with Qin Fen. He isn't worth my effort. This kind of person, frankly, is a talent. He’s qualified to be one of my subordinates. I need errand runners on Saturn, don't I? Qin Fen is quite good. He has the qualification to work under me. That would be excellent. Then, no matter what merits he achieves, the primary credit will go to my effective leadership—it’s all my credit. And I can suppress the Du family while I’m at it…”

“But if…”

“No more discussion,” Zuo Lin stood up, gently spinning his chair. “Qin Fen—it’s best if he becomes my subordinate. If not, then we kill him.”

“But he even killed our Hanzhou Martial God…”

“Don’t mention Pei Chengjun to me.” Zuo Lin turned and clapped the shoulders of the two soldiers standing guard behind him. “So what if Qin Fen is a Martial Master? Both of my personal bodyguards are Martial Masters. Two against one, who do you think would win?”

The Hanzhou officers looked at the two soldiers flanking Zuo Lin. They lacked any sign of the stern discipline of soldiers; instead, their eyes radiated the pure aura of martial artists.

“Furthermore,” Zuo Lin spread his arms slightly, a look of absolute confidence on his face, “if I wanted to kill Qin Fen, I wouldn’t need to use my bodyguards. I’d just deploy my secret weapon.” Kill Qin Fen? Zuo Lin gently raised his right palm, abruptly flipping it over and commanding, “For me, it’s as easy as turning my hand!”

Secret weapon? Confusion flickered in the eyes of the Hanzhou officers, overshadowed by deep disappointment. Their attempt to persuade him to kill Qin Fen had clearly failed this time.

The Zuo family! A power in the East Asian Military Region no less formidable than the Du family. If they expressed a desire to take Qin Fen on as a hired enforcer, that prospect wasn't impossible...

“Terrorist attack… Qin Fen did this, right?” In the Shengjing Military Headquarters, Zhao Huzi sighed repeatedly while looking at the newspaper. Although this incident removed a threat, the method was far too extreme, perhaps even breaking the unspoken rules everyone had followed.

“A little interesting,” Du Hen put down his newspaper, coldness flashing in his snake-like eyes. “Very good, decisive enough. I was worried you weren’t ruthless enough to establish authority on Saturn. It seems I worried needlessly. As for the consequences it causes, that’s completely irrelevant.”