"Wow, what a monster." Gu Xiechen pulled out a cigar, bit off the thick tip with his canine teeth, and spat the butt heavily onto the ground.

After a few puffs of disgust, he sighed again, "This kind of monster!"

The images of Qiao An and Du Lang reappeared before Gu Xiechen.

", those two old bastards."

Jack leaped lightly into the air, hovering as if unaffected by gravity.

He looked quietly at Siren and gave a slight beckoning gesture with his finger.

Siren looked at Jack in surprise, then glanced down at the rippling silver light beneath his feet, and couldn't help asking in astonishment, "What kind of ability is this?" Jack’s keratinized face twitched, revealing a bizarre smile. He spoke in a low voice, "It's not an ability, it's instinct! Heh heh, a Boundary Master? The Federation’s strongest warrior?"

Shaking his head dismissively, Jack suddenly transformed into a black whirlwind and charged toward Siren. His speed in the air was at least three times the speed of sound. His fists, feet, and even his head, from which several sharp points sprouted, tore through the air with tremendous sonic booms, relentlessly pouring down attacks of crushing force upon Siren.

The massive roar continued to echo as Siren barely managed to block Jack's initial assault with his fists. The silver Gang Jin and the black Jin Qi swirling around Jack collided and dissipated, occasionally erupting in fierce flashes of light.

In just a brief moment, Siren's fragile defense was utterly shattered by Jack's blows. Siren’s left arm, from fingertip to shoulder, was pulverized by Jack's punch. Jack’s knee, now sporting a foot-long sharp spike, rammed viciously into Siren's soft underbelly. The pitch-black spike, emanating a chilling, ghostly glow, suddenly erupted from Siren's back.

Arediya shrieked, snatching Hestia's magic wand from the air. Red flames violently spewed forth from within her.

Gu Xiechen grabbed Arediya's shoulder, barking in a low voice, "Have some faith in Siren, alright? Men don't like women interfering with their business!"

Arediya’s face twitched. She spun around abruptly and swung Hestia’s magic rod, smashing it viciously into Gu Xiechen’s nose bridge. Gu Xiechen’s vision instantly darkened, as if seeing dozens of golden stars flash; his nose felt tingly, as if hot blood were about to gush out. Arediya roared in a low, furious tone, "I hate male chauvinism!"

Reaching up to touch his nose awkwardly, Gu Xiechen obediently stepped to the side. A furious Arediya? Better not provoke her further. Still, it truly hurt. It had only been a few days since the Corpse Emperor bestowed that Fire Dragon Pill upon Arediya? Her physical strength seemed to have skyrocketed dozens of times. That one swing had landed with real force!

"Heh, heh, heh!" Siren, whose left arm was broken and whose body was pierced with transparent holes, gasped deeply. Jack had retreated nearly a hundred meters, standing with his arms crossed, mocking Siren.

A silver light flashed in Siren's eyes, and more than a dozen Boundary Puppets armed with long sabers roared as they swarmed out from beside Jack. These alluring Boundary Puppets swung their long blades toward Jack's body, but the moment they moved, Jack dissolved into a hazy blur of wind in the air. A series of dense impacts of flesh against steel rang out; the dozen Boundary Puppets didn't even have time to detonate the bombs planted on them before Jack smashed them into fragments. Siren also couldn't remotely detonate those bombs in time, as sharp blades, like cutting edges, extended from Jack's claws, slicing all the explosives into shards.

Drawing in a sharp breath, a dazzling silver pillar of light suddenly shot out from Siren's brow.

A Silver Winged Angel, nearly ten feet tall and wielding a massive silver greatsword, stepped out of the silver light, shouting Siren's name. Accompanied by shouts of "Long live the Master! Long live Lord Siren!", the expressionless Silver Winged Angel flapped its wings and charged toward Jack. The colossal silver light sword trailed a hundred-meter-long silver arc, emitting a dull thunderous roar as it pierced straight toward Jack's chest. Jack extended the palm of his hand, which was covered in black carapace, and casually caught the Silver Winged Angel’s light sword. A bright halo erupted between the sword and his palm. Amidst the grating screech of friction, the light sword advanced barely three inches before Jack grasped it firmly in his hand. "Strength at the mid-stage of the Jupiter realm? Truly surprising... you are far too weak! Although you are a Boundary Master, it seems you haven't utilized your full potential!"

After chuckling mockingly a few times, Jack sent a fierce roundhouse kick slamming into the Silver Winged Angel’s head.

With a deafening crash, the Angel’s upper body was shattered by Jack’s kick, and Siren spat out another mouthful of blood.

"Your counterattack leaves me quite helpless; it's just too weak! If you don't have a stronger move, then I shall continue?" Jack grinned wickedly and beckoned to Siren again, then transformed once more into a black storm, sweeping toward Siren. A faint black mist permeated the surroundings, as the black Jin Qi released by Jack coalesced into a cloud over a hundred meters in diameter, gradually obscuring their bodies.

This black mist possessed excellent absorption properties for all scanning waves, rendering the movements of the two figures inside invisible to reconnaissance satellites above Easter Island and observation instruments near the arena.

Following a series of muffled, thunderous impacts, Jack's scream suddenly pierced the black mist.

Large splashes of pale green blood rained down, and Jack's mangled body, cleaved into eighteen pieces, fell out of the black fog. Siren, whose body now sported a dozen more transparent holes, crawled out of the mist, breathing heavily. He struggled to raise his injured right arm, spitting blood as he chuckled hoarsely, "Aren't you going to declare me the winner yet? This guy is sliced into so many pieces, he's definitely dead!"

Seven beautiful girls clad in black ninja uniforms jumped out of the black mist, brandishing long sabers. They stayed close to Siren, the faint traces of blood clinging to their blades seemingly serving as proof to all present that Jack had been killed by them. Only Gu Xiechen noticed a faint flicker of cyan light beneath Siren's sleeve; he suddenly remembered the bronze longsword gifted by the Corpse Emperor.

What a sharp sword. Jack's carapace had been completely unharmed during the earlier explosion, yet Siren had sliced it into more than a dozen pieces with surprising ease, revealing the sword's immense power.

Jin Bolei's expression in the light screen grew increasingly grim. He announced Siren's victory with a sullen countenance. While the crowd of demons and monsters from the Hard-Water Company’s entourage cheered loudly in excitement, the personnel from the other major defense companies were plunged into deep gloom.

Pursing his lips into a slight smile while watching Jin Bolei's sweaty face, Gu Xiechen was about to urge them to proceed with the next match when his communicator suddenly vibrated.

Seeing that it was the Bearded Commander’s number, Gu Xiechen quickly answered the call. The Bearded Commander rattled off a barrage of agitated words, which instantly changed Gu Xiechen's expression. He flicked a finger-wind toward Siren and commanded sharply, "Siren, can you withstand your injuries?"

The finger-wind grazed past Siren's face. Startled, Siren turned his head and quickly nodded, signaling that nothing was seriously wrong. To prove that his injuries were indeed insignificant, Siren even forcefully waved his broken arm, which vaguely shimmered with silver light. With a strange grinding sound of bone, the arm Siren had raised high suddenly bent at two points at ninety-degree angles. Arediya cried out in exasperation and rushed over to support Siren.

Seeing Siren's seemingly unconcerned demeanor, Gu Xiechen hurriedly called over Ling Hu, who was accompanying him.

"Ling Hu, I'm giving you two basic guidelines," Gu Xiechen instructed urgently.

Ling Hu knew the situation was critical and did not waste time with pleasantries, merely nodding repeatedly.

"The first is that no matter how much market share we secure this time, our final stake should not exceed fifteen percent!"

"The second is to form an alliance with the Kunlun Company and sign an agreement for comprehensive cooperation. Decide with Ms. Mei how much share to allocate to them. The other four major defense companies cannot be ignored either; we can transfer market share to them, but we must clearly tell them that we need their friendship. We can concede market share, but they must demonstrate sufficient friendship!"

Peng Hua gasped and interjected, cursing under his breath, "How can we just give away the feast we fought so hard to win?"

Gu Xiechen glared at Peng Hua and scoffed coldly, "With the Hard-Water Company's current capabilities, can we actually digest such a large market share? If we fail to fulfill the contracts later, we’ll be the ones suffering. If we cannot adhere to the quantity and timeline of those agreements, any single commissioning company can sue us in Federal Court and bankrupt us!"

Peng Hua blinked, then snorted in dissatisfaction, "Capabilities? Having so many fellow disciples helping you, isn't that strength?"

Shrugging, Gu Xiechen blew a thick smoke ring pointedly at Peng Hua. "My Eldest Senior Brother, I admit these seniors possess exceptional fighting prowess. However, can commercial contracts for defense companies really be resolved merely through fighting and killing? Take yourself, for instance. If you were tasked with building a security system for a low-gravity biological research lab on the Moon, do you possess that capability?"

Looking at Peng Hua's ashen face, Gu Xiechen sighed heavily, "Oh, I forgot. You could just be a researcher! The one being researched on!"

Peng Hua resolutely raised his middle finger toward Gu Xiechen, then turned away sullenly, ignoring him. Just as Gu Xiechen said, Peng Hua lacked the professional skill set for that kind of work. It wasn't just Peng Hua; no one in the Nine Nether Dao or its controlled subsidiary forces possessed those technical abilities.

The closest any of the Nine Nether Dao’s subsidiary forces got to advanced technology was probably the world's number one assassin syndicate, the Pluto Domain! They at least utilized some high-tech products!

Handing over his command authority to Ling Hu, Gu Xiechen wasted no further words. He swiftly took the strongest group of subordinates with him and boarded a high-speed assault craft, heading directly for Copenhagen.

The Bearded Commander delivered very bad news to Gu Xiechen: Belia Adams, Gu Xiechen's former subordinate and Deputy Manager of the Gu Group's Intelligence Department, had been ambushed and severely wounded, and his family had been kidnapped.

The kidnappers had yet to send any message, and Belia Adams was critically injured and near death.