Chapter Twenty-Four: The Master of Verbal Sparring

Wenzhe still couldn’t move. He stared intently at the images on the lightbrain, teetering on the edge of collapse. “Stop him! Don’t let him speak any further. Doesn’t anyone understand his intention? He wants to single-handedly destroy the reputation of our Free Zone!”

“Stop him!” The man had lost all composure. Slamming his hand on the table, tea splashed everywhere, shards and debris scattered on the floor. His glasses had fallen off, yet he remained oblivious.

Even though he might possess the ability of absolute development, he couldn’t stay calm. The Free Zone was their only foundation. If this “spark” named Xia Yan were to ignite a disaster, it would spell doom for them.

Perhaps the lower and middle ranks would never realize how devastating the words of this insignificant spark, this humble ant, could be to the Free Zone.

It was like the butterfly effect: a butterfly flapping its wings in South America could, through a chain of events, trigger a typhoon in Asia.

Xia Yan was that butterfly setting the storm in motion.

Wenzhe understood now—Xia Yan intended to bring the Free Zone down with him!

Maybe decades or centuries after Xia Yan’s death, the Free Zone might still stand, but the damage he caused would never be erased. Eventually, Xia Yan’s goal would come to fruition.

It was madness—purely pathological. He actually wanted to trade himself for the entire Free Zone!

Wenzhe stared fixedly at Xia Yan, and if he wasn’t mistaken, Xia Yan’s next words would be:

“Though I’m a wanted man in the Free Zone, it’s only natural you want to kill me.” Xia Yan squinted. “But I recall that anyone who wins an item through a diamond currency auction is a VIP in the Free Zone. Their safety is paramount, above all treaties, to the point that the Free Zone must even deploy personnel to protect them.”

This clause was one the Free Zone had to admit. It was originally imposed to underscore the extreme value of items auctioned through diamond currency—a legally binding rule.

“But now, Free Zone,” Xia Yan glanced challengingly at the woman in the cheongsam, “you’ve willfully broken the rules and tried to kill me in secret. Does that mean that the trust you spent centuries building up is now worthless trash starting today?”

“Silence!” The woman in the cheongsam’s eyes flashed coldly.

“I won’t be quiet. You can kill me if you want!” Xia Yan chuckled lightly. “I won’t even resist or move. Hurry up, kill me, take back this Purity Chain, and the one hundred and fifty diamond coins are yours.”

From Wenzhe’s perspective, killing Xia Yan now would only escalate matters further. It would increase the likelihood of Xia Yan’s goal being achieved.

To die together, to perish together—that’s what this utterly deranged madman wanted!

The woman in the cheongsam wasn’t foolish; she couldn’t kill Xia Yan, nor could she lay a finger on him.

All she could do was endure, forcing herself to hold back.

“It’s true that this matter hasn’t been made public and is still hidden by the authorities,” Xia Yan smiled. “But none of you here are fools or blind. If you let even one person escape, this matter will leak out. Your attempt to kill me in the Free Zone will be exposed to the world.”

This statement finally stirred a commotion among those present. Though Xia Yan’s words might be somewhat exaggerated, these veterans knew there was truth in what he said. The Free Zone’s intention to kill Xia Yan, carried out in a subtle manner, was an open secret.

“Or why not try killing everyone here and bury the matter completely?” Xia Yan’s expression turned serious.

As soon as he said that, someone reacted—the clearest was the angelic Xize. The cautious angel rose, his eyes full of hostility toward the woman in the cheongsam, ready to fight or flee at any moment.

He wasn’t exactly the sharpest, but he was certainly the most afraid of dying.

Xia Yan’s words didn’t fool many, but scared men were easy prey.

At Seat Three, Taolu laughed heartily. She hadn’t expected Xia Yan remained much the same—first seizing the moral high ground, then relentlessly pressing his opponent.

Just like in his fight with Darren before—though Xia Yan killed Darren, he shifted all blame onto Darren himself.

“The Free Zone is truly despicable. Trying to kill someone who won the Purity Chain at auction—stealing under the watchful eye of the guards?” Taolu was the second to speak up.

Others were reluctant to provoke the Free Zone at such a critical moment, but not her. Taolu feared no one in the Free Zone!

What was there to fear?

Their winged race was above the Free Zone. And given her relationship with Xia Yan, wouldn’t it be heartless not to speak up now?

Though she had been angry before—she disliked that gloomy woman—after Xia Yan broke ties with the cheongsam woman, her anger had cooled.

The other four winged race members understood Taolu’s meaning and quickly chimed in agreement.

Once the conversation opened, opportunists began to add fuel to the fire. The scene erupted into chaos, with the angelic Xize’s voice ringing loudest.

“Well? Why not explain?” Xia Yan looked at the woman in the cheongsam. “Come on, clear your name. Tell everyone you never intended to kill me!”

The woman froze.

“If you say nothing, even if you’re innocent, you’ll still be thought of as a murderer!”

Her face darkened. Her mission was to kill Xia Yan by any means within the rules. She couldn’t refute him.

She was a combatant, not a politician. Inept at words, she never managed to counter Xia Yan’s accusations.

Xia Yan was right. She had tried to exploit loopholes during the handover to kill Xia Yan, and intended to use the Free Zone’s rules against violence to justify it—only to be seen through so easily.

She was terrified. If she argued back, she might fall deeper into Xia Yan’s trap. She already sensed this boy was terrifying—a foe not to be taken lightly.

The situation had tilted in Xia Yan’s favor. He had even won many here to his side.

That invisible power made the woman in the cheongsam all the more wary.

“Well then!” Xia Yan smiled. “As leader of the Free Zone, Lord Wenzhe, will you come out to talk to me? Or will you let things unfold? After I leave here, you’ll secretly send a dozen or so humanoid mutants to kill me, then shift all blame away from the Free Zone. The disappearance of the Purity Chain will become a mystery.”

Xia Yan knew that at this point, he should have forced Wenzhe to appear. The earlier skirmishes were all warm-ups aimed at this goal...