Challenge

  They patched in the surveillance cameras and started a live feed of what was happening at the Sakura Casino just after they had raided the Tower of London. The tech agent who was responsible for the equipment had just adjusted the signal and opened all twenty-four monitors when M and several other high-ranking officials saw Sakura behead the ninja with one swing of her sword.

  All the agents looked at each other in dismay, not knowing what to say. David had already started shouting loudly: "Boss, this is murder, this is naked murder, and on this basis alone, we have the right to go in and arrest them, and then thoroughly search their residence." The person in charge of surveillance was one of David's subordinates, and he himself was the head of MI6 Europe, so he should naturally be present, after all, this was something that happened at his own doorstep.

  "Come on, David, don't get too worked up. Yes, it looks like a murder, but the way we're going about getting evidence is all wrong, got it? Maybe we can arrest them, but the media will have a field day saying we're abusing our power. Surveillance in one of London's most affluent neighborhoods on ordinary citizens? No way. You want to lose your job over this? You want to be done with your career? No, we can't do that."

  David was taken aback for a moment, nodded slightly and turned back to instruct: "Pull the camera in closer, let's see what happened."

  The camera zooms in, and the ninja's corpse is carefully lifted by four other special ninjas, revealing a large cross-shaped scar on his abdomen. Several high-ranking agents shake their heads: "Boss, it looks like we can't get a handle on them. This kid committed hara-kiri, and that red-clothed kid helped him."

  M muttered in a low voice: "Under British law, what they did is also considered a violation of our laws and regulations, but we can't openly sue them, damn it..." She raised her voice: "Keep monitoring, 24 hours a day, I hope to find something useful."

  "Boss, I suddenly thought of something. Even if we really get a hold of their evidence, how are we going to deal with them? We're not Superman, we can't take on a group of monsters... Do you want our agents to die in vain?"

  Looking at him, he nodded slightly and said in a cold voice: "Yes, we can't cope with it, but the military has a way... I don't mind telling you some top-secret intelligence, because I think it's necessary to boost our confidence. A top-secret research institute under the Ministry of National Defense is studying superpowers, and I don't think the land of our great British Empire can be trampled on by people with certain abilities at will."

  David was taken aback: "Boss, how did you know?"

  He shrugged his shoulders, and in the grey eyes was that playful glint again: "Three years ago, I used to be in charge of this department... They're not very willing to expose their situation because it's their last secret weapon... Fortunately, their funds are often insufficient, while ours seem to be more than sufficient, so if necessary, I'll ask them to make a move."

  David muttered to himself for a moment, then showed the same shocked expression as his colleagues, and like any diligent agent, began to urge his subordinates to get things done. Of course, he had already made up his mind: "This intelligence should be told to Yi, he should be interested in it, such confidential information will always have someone interested internationally. It's just unknown what price is suitable for opening."

  Not to mention David's secret thoughts, M was standing in the center of the surveillance hall discussing matters with several other department heads when two special agents suddenly burst in through the door. M quickly turned around and asked with a sense of foreboding: "What happened?"

  "Boss, the Tower of London has been attacked. The entire complex has collapsed. The British royal family's treasures have been looted. Prince Arthur and three friends from the Vatican who were on the scene are seriously injured... There are many bodies left at the scene... Hmm, many of the traces are very strange."

  M's head buzzed with a loud noise, and like David, his face turned pale, almost stumbling. But M, having weathered many storms, quickly calmed down, gripping his fists tightly as he gave orders: "Notify the Ministry of Defence, Scotland Yard, and other intelligence agencies to seal off all sea, land, and air transportation, not allowing those treasures to have any chance of leaking out... God, where has Great Britain offended You?"

  Two agents were about to rush out of the surveillance hall to pass on orders when a young man wearing a colonel's uniform rushed in, waving a printed paper: "Ministry of National Defense emergency order, all military intelligence departments are deployed to investigate the London Tower incident... Your people, cooperate with clearing and blocking all sea, land and air traffic lines."

  Like ants whose nest has been blown up, the entire London strong department's personnel were mobilized, leaving only necessary duty personnel behind. All others, including clerks who could fire guns, put on bulletproof vests and went into action.

  Yi Chen finally developed the good habit of meditating for a short while every day, forcing himself to lock "Guangming Mountain" in the safe and setting up more than a dozen deadly curses around it before carefully sitting down to meditate. As for Feili and others, they spent the whole night checking those jewels, not relaxing for a moment.

  "Damn, damn, God, so many jewels, if they all come out, the world's jewelry market will shake a hundred times... This life's food, drink, prostitution, gambling and smoking won't have to worry anymore."

  Yi Chen was currently struggling with the re-emerging heteromorphic true yuan. These true yuan were not causing any harm to Yi Chen at the moment, but he couldn't shake off the feeling of unease in his heart. Who knew what they planned to do after absorbing so much stray stellar energy? Would they turn against him once they grew stronger? What was the ultimate purpose of these true energies? Were they meant to form a spell array? If Yi Chen could be at ease, that would be truly strange.

  Helplessly, Yi Chen's divine sense deeply sank into his body, almost scanning cell by cell. Normally, he could complete the internal scan in an instant, but today, to be sure, Yi Chen spent a full half hour scanning his own body. The result was that there was still no discovery.

  "Staring" at those few strands of true yuan that were absorbing the star power that was wandering freely within his body, which had been transformed by himself. Yi Chen's flames were burning fiercely. It was as if he was fighting against a top-notch master, and Yi Chen was sinisterly driving the pure true yuan force around his stellar core, setting up a black hole-like whirlpool that was constantly rotating, and then driving those wandering star powers to slowly flow towards his stellar core.

  Yi Chen's ingenious abacus is excellent, this is fishing, once these heteromorphic true yuan take the bait, the rapid currents around the star core can immediately sweep them in, and then use the powerful true yuan that has been condensed to the extreme within the star core to trigger a true fire to burn them.

  But these heteromorphic true yuan actually seemed to have wisdom, let alone approaching the star core of Yi Chen, they didn't even approach the meridians of his star power's great circulation, and instead wandered freely in those meridians filled with thin star power that Yi Chen didn't have true yuan guarding, wholeheartedly absorbing the star power, then following the fine threads to transmit it somewhere unknown.

  The long-dormant heart of Yi Chen suddenly erupted in fury, and the star core shook violently. Over a hundred ping-pong ball-sized true yuan balls shot out, emitting dazzling silver light that was visible to the naked eye. They swept through the body's major and minor meridians, and these weak and pitiful alien true yuan were no match for them - a single true yuan ball could annihilate them completely. The true yuan balls whizzed back and forth, slowly stirring up the stray star energy in the meridians. If Yi Chen's body was like a small universe, then at this moment it was as if a cosmic storm had been unleashed.

  Something unexpected happened to Yi Chen, those true yuan threads suddenly disappeared silently when the violent energy flow was about to arrive. Yi Chen's anger was ignited. A true yuan ball rushed along the Hand Shaoyang meridian, and Yi Chen didn't notice controlling this true yuan ball, resulting in a slight numbness at the fingertips. The true yuan ball transformed into a meteor-like object and crashed onto the wall of the practice room.

  Yì chén měng de yī jīng, xīng hé zài shén niàn de yùn zhuǎn xià sàn fā le wú qióng de xī lì, tǐ nèi suǒ yǒu yóu lí de lì liàng mǎ shàng guī yī zhèng tú, huí fù le qīng jìng.

  Looking at the silent and soundless appearance on the wall, a deep hole of three meters in diameter, Yi Chen was slightly stunned. His own Star Finger required full force to produce such a result, but an insignificant True Yuan Ball had achieved the same outcome... Yi Chen was perplexed, although Tian Xinzi told him that Xing Dian was the highest secret art of his sect, it was impossible for something like this to happen, his unintentionally used move had actually surpassed the power of his commonly used Star Finger.

  Could it be that the ancestors were afraid that their sect's kung fu was too powerful, so they deliberately fabricated some rubbish kung fu to restrict the destructive power of their disciples? Yi Chen hastily shook his head, where would there be such an absurd thing, maybe even the ancestors themselves didn't think of this kind of attack method. After all, cultivators usually use magical artifacts to attack, for example, the "Shattered Star Finger" is a rare true yuan external release attack technique, let alone deliberately studying how to purely use true yuan to emit powerful moves.

  In any case, this is an unexpected gain. At least Yichun understood that he can have even stronger attacking power under his current circumstances. Although those few strands of exotic true essence are still nowhere to be seen, Yichun said frankly that sometimes he's a careless person. After all, you haven't caused any harm yet, right? So I'll just ignore you for now and deal with you when you show up again.

  Fei Li's footsteps came in, Yi Chen was stunned. Fei Li should still be holding those jewels and staring blankly at this moment, how could she come to the practice room?

  Yi Chen hastily jumped up, opened the door of the training room, and Feili smiled and pounced into his arms. Around her neck was still wrapped a necklace made of hundreds of thumb-sized pearls, and she said with a smile: "That Japanese kid came to find you, boss... He looks just like a doll that's been run over by a car, so pitiful..."

  Yi Chen laughed, pinched her ear, and carried her upstairs, whispering: "Don't often speak ill of others behind their backs, they're pitiful too. They worked hard all night, lost so many subordinates, and didn't even take down one person, it's no wonder his face is ugly."

  Fei Li burst out laughing, messing around with Yi Chen for a while before finally listening to his orders: "Put all the things in the safe, remember the way I told you to open it, if you forget, be careful of being struck by lightning... Alright, go! This matter will definitely make a big fuss, we can't be too arrogant. After giving 'Guangming Mountain' to that fake Earl Bai Jia De, we can slowly wait for the opportunity to strike."

  Fei Li nodded obediently and said, "Boss, I only picked out twenty or so, not a single one more." Yi Chen nodded and smiled, saying, "No problem, just hurry up." Twenty or so? That's nothing, and Fei Li must have only considered the color, keeping only the ones with beautiful colors, as for how precious they were, that wasn't something she was concerned about.

  Yi Chen walked into the living room, and Xing was sitting on the sofa by the window, dealing with Jester. Jester lay on the adjacent sofa, insisting that Xing share a large cannabis joint with him, muttering: "Treat me as a friend, we should share our blessings together, this is what Boss taught me, cannabis is good stuff, come on, have one."

  Sakura's eyebrows were furrowed in distress, and he shook his head repeatedly with a polite but firm "no thank you". However, Jester seemed determined to bully him into it today, and the pure gold-plated lighter of the female angel was thrust right under Sakura's nose. Sakura rolled her eyes heavenward, lamenting inwardly: "God, are there really such scoundrels in this world? Forcing someone to take drugs? What kind of nonsense is this?"

  Yi Chen walked into the living room, clearing his throat softly. Jester rolled his eyes and lit a fire for himself, taking a drag on his marijuana before closing his eyes without saying another word. Yi Chen smiled as he sat down beside Sakura, chuckling to say: "Sorry about that, Mr. Jester is just really enthusiastic... He can't help but want others to share in the things he enjoys... Unfortunately, the things he likes aren't exactly what normal people would enjoy."

  Jester hummed a few times, turned over, and lay with his face against the back of the sofa, holding a large hemp cigarette in his mouth, ready to sleep. Yi Chen looked at Jester discontentedly, thinking: "How much did this sofa cost? If it gets burned through, I'll just deduct it from your dividend... As for your mouth, if it gets burned, I won't care."

  Ying didn't know about the improper thoughts in Yi Chen's mind, and found it a bit hard to speak up, looking at Yi Chen with a hint of embarrassment, she said: "Mr. Yi, I've encountered a small problem."

  "No big deal, no big deal. You've got trouble? Small matter, we're friends, aren't we? A friend's trouble is my trouble, of course I'll help you deal with it. Besides, in London, I still have a bit of power and face to spare, so I can also offer some advice. What kind of trouble is it? Your underling killed someone? Too easy, where do their family members live? We can just wipe out the whole family and be done with it."

  Sakura stared at Yichun with a dumbfounded expression. Although he was born into the Yamaguchi-gumi, most of his time had been spent in the training camp on Mt. Fuji, where had he truly seen the vicious tactics of the underworld? Especially since Yichun spoke so casually and comfortably about it, Sakura felt a strange misconception that this was normal behavior. Was she just too inexperienced to know better?

  Sakura shook her head and said: "No, if it was a subordinate who killed someone, then let him take the blame. But... You see, I got myself into this trouble."

  Yi Chen furrowed his brow, feeling a sudden realization in his heart. Kid, you have no experience, do you? When it comes to killing people and setting fires, it's always been about covering your face, wearing tight-fitting clothes from head to toe, so as not to leave behind fingerprints, sweat, hair, or anything else. But you just recklessly charged into the Tower of London, and didn't even manage to finish off your target. Now you're scared? Scared that it'll affect the smuggling business of your Mountain Pass gang, and feeling guilty in your heart?

  With a sincere expression, he said seriously: "So, tell me, what's the problem? I'll definitely help you get through this, after all, we're friends and collaborators."

  Sakura smiled wryly, silently organizing her words in her heart, thinking of how to phrase it tactfully without shocking anyone. After a long while, Sakura slowly said: "This... the cause of this matter is very complicated, I think you wouldn't be interested anyway, so let me just talk about last night's events... Last night, I went to the London Tower." He blinked his beautiful big eyes, secretly glancing at Yichen, looking like a mischievous child afraid of being scolded by their kindergarten teacher.

  "Good heavens, have you stolen all the treasures of the British royal family? This is a big trouble, the British will go crazy... If it's true, I suggest you leave Britain immediately, I can help you find a way to escape." Yichen was very black and casually put the black pot on Sakura's head.

  "We didn't do that, actually we can't. To be honest, if I had the ability, I would love to get my hands on the British royal family's treasures. But yesterday when we went to the Tower of London, it wasn't for that... I was there for revenge. There are a few people in the Tower of London who injured my subordinates, and I went to challenge them to a sword fight."

  "Ah, yes, you little brat compares swordsmanship with others, but his first move is to sneak up on people, and in the end, he even arranges for 27 top-notch assassins to ambush them. Is this what you call a comparison? Don't pretend to be a pure-hearted young man in front of me!"

  "So, it's strange, how could such a thing happen?"

  Sakura blinked and smiled wryly, "Unfortunately, I was too careless. I thought it was just a formal match, so I didn't bring my mask to the Tower of London. And I severely injured those three people. But as soon as we left, the Tower of London was blown up, and the British royal family's treasure was also stolen. This is really a great injustice, we didn't do it."

  Yi Chen nodded solemnly, exclaiming: "So that's how it is... Damn it, who dares to open a grave on my turf? Which family has such great power that I didn't even hear a whisper about it?"

  Looking at Sakura's slightly frightened expression, Yichun comforted him saying: "You're just afraid that the person you severely injured will tell the police about your situation, and then our plan won't be able to work out, right?"

  Sakura nodded solemnly and said, "This time's action was my own oversight. I shouldn't have openly sought them out for revenge; arranging for someone to assassinate them would have been enough to achieve my goal. Who would have thought that a formal challenge in the spirit of a warrior would bring me so much trouble?"

  Yi Chen tilted his head and thought for a moment: "What identities are those who duel with you?"

  Sakura shook her head: "I don't know, but what they call chivalry might be a clue?"

  "In his heart, Yi Chen cursed: 'If I hadn't recognized those four brats, what kind of lead would your knightly spirit be? Damn it, nowadays Europeans still gather to play knight games every day, full of gentlemanly demeanor and knightly spirit. What the hell is this lead of yours?'"

  However, Yi Chen and Yan Yuese smiled and said to Sakura: "Don't worry... Hmm, they didn't die?"

  Sakura said with certainty: "My subordinates have reported back, they are not dead, but three of them are seriously injured and should have been sent to the hospital by now... Ah yes, one of them is extremely powerful, he actually directly ordered the police to seal off the streets within a 500-meter radius around the Tower of London, so as not to disturb our duel. Does this count as..."

  "So, it'll be even easier to find them. There are only a few people in all of London who can directly command Scotland Yard. Hmm, they've got three seriously injured, so now they're probably busy saving lives and nursing the wounded. If what you say is true, with their identity and status, the police won't have a chance to question them for the time being. So don't worry for now... Of course, once they recover, things will be hard to say, they won't let you off."

  Sakura coldly said: "I won't let them off either, but I'm just afraid they'll use their official powers to deal with me. Otherwise, what do I have to worry about? This time I can heavily injure the three of them, next time I can take them down... If they're willing to fight one-on-one with me."

  Yi Chen was also muttering to himself, wondering how he could get Arthur and the others to shut up. Should he threaten them? No way, threatening them would only lead to the Pope descending upon England once again. Get rid of them? That would mean being hunted by the Church for the rest of his life, not a good idea... How about letting Sakura take care of them? Now that was a great idea! Last night, he hadn't been willing to finish off Arthur and the others when they were already heavily injured, and Murphy still had some fight left in him. He didn't want to resort to force... Letting Sakura take care of them would be perfect, otherwise, he wouldn't be able to get a share of the profits from the Yamaguchi-gumi's smuggling operation.

  Yì Chén's evil smile made Sakura's scalp feel numb, and she carefully asked: "Mr. Yì, have you come up with a plan?"

  Yi Chen nodded: "Based on what you've told me, and my understanding of British high society, someone who can appear at the Tower of London in the middle of the night with such great authority, and also has excellent swordsmanship, is not more than three people in London (Yi Chen thought to himself: I knew it was Arthur, but who are the other two? )... They all have the boring medieval knight spirit of idiots, so if you give them a challenge letter, they will keep their mouths shut and prepare to take revenge on you."

  Yi Chen smiled and said: "They have a rule that if they are defeated, they must use the enemy's blood to wash away the shame. If they use official power against you, it would be an insult to them, so they will not reveal any information about you to the police. So, on this point, you can rest assured... Of course, I'll send someone out to gather intelligence and see which poor devil had a conflict with you."

  Sakura Dai Xi: "So you're saying that my worries were for nothing? They really won't..."

  Yi Chen interrupted him: "That's right, I can now confirm my speculation. They will absolutely not leak any news. Yes, they absolutely won't. However, you must be prepared. Once you issue a challenge to them, it's a matter of life and death. Are your subordinates reliable? Can they withstand the pressure? Perhaps you should find some skilled swordsmen to assist you."

  Sakura was unaware of why Yichun said that, and excitedly said: "Then, no problem, I will seek help from the Japanese headquarters... In two days, they will arrive..." Sakura muttered to herself: "This is also good, the more masters of Fenglin Huashan are in my hands, the better. Hmph, I won't let them return to Japan and be controlled by you old men, I want their loyalty."

  Yi Chen smiled: "So, you'd better... hmm, I suggest that in your challenge book, you explain this matter as a private duel between you and them, understand? Private... don't involve each other's organizations if possible."

  Sakura nodded lightly, stood up quickly, and walked out in big strides, saying loudly: "Then I'll go back and write the challenge letter. I hope Mr. Yi can help send it over."

  Yi Chen smiled and said: "No problem, I'll definitely try my best."

  Yi Chen is naturally willing to make an effort, and can let Sakura deal with Arthur in a private duel, without having to take action himself, which is really wonderful. After all, Sakura and the others are now much stronger than themselves at this stage, Yi Chen has no interest in dealing with Arthur himself.

  They stole the treasure of the British royal family, and Arthur and his men would pursue it no matter what. It's better to divert their attention, which is more beneficial for themselves.

  Buckingham Palace, the Queen finally knew that all the treasures of the royal family had been stolen, and she fainted immediately. The whole palace was in chaos, with countless people rushing to and fro, fearing that something would happen to her. At the same time, countless curses were given to the thief, who was none other than Yi Chen, who was plotting various sinister schemes.

  In a luxurious sanatorium in the London suburbs, more than a dozen black-robed attendants from various religious tribunals stood guard indifferently outside the sickroom. They had been hastily summoned by Murphy and now seemed like tigers that had just been stabbed in the tail, their hearts filled with intense murderous intent.

  Murphy gritted his teeth, staring at the surgeons operating on his injured leg. Several tendons had ruptured and without suturing, his holy power couldn't heal them. The more Murphy thought about it, the angrier he became, his narrowed eyes gleaming with ferocity - where was the dignity of a noble knight?

  As for Arthur, he was paralyzed in bed with no strength, several doctors were treating the wounds on his feet, his external injuries were minor, but he had exhausted himself too much, and would not be able to move for three to five days.

  Schierke's internal organs were severely shaken and she is under observation. As for Hagen, about three jin of flesh was blown off his body, relatively speaking, he had the lightest injuries, but he suffered too much and his physical strength was greatly consumed, at this moment he also fell into a coma.

  A duke and three sacred knights, at this moment there isn't a single good one.

  Murphy's pain in his leg was getting worse and worse, the murderous intent in his heart was getting heavier and heavier, just as he was about to find an excuse to vent his anger, the referees outside transmitted a loud noise. Murphy suddenly let out a loud roar: "Shut up, be quiet!" Several doctors were startled, one of them's scalpel shook, almost cutting off a good ligament on Murphy's knee...

  A somber-faced clerk walked in, hesitantly handed over a letter, and reported in a low voice: "It was delivered by a remote-controlled toy airplane... We didn't find the person." On the envelope, written with a steel pen were several English words: "To Mr. Arthur".

  Murphy ignored those words and directly opened the yellowish envelope, pulled out the Xue Lang rice paper inside, and stared blankly at the Japanese characters on it.

  The attendant came over and took a look, whispering: "Sir, do you need an interpreter?"

  Murphy nodded heavily and said, "What script is this? Chinese?"

  The attendant shook his head: "Japanese... I'll be right back, please wait a moment."

  Lovely Sakura, he was not used to writing English with a brush, so he gave Arthur and the others a challenge letter, and suddenly used Japanese... So Murphy wasted a lot of time looking for a translator before learning that his wording was extremely rude.

  But after hearing Sakura's extremely arrogant, self-conceited and impolite challenge letter which also insulted Murphy and the others' honor, Murphy's forehead bulged with blue veins. He who could remain conscious even without anesthesia during an operation was made to faint by Sakura's one letter.

  Yi Chen sat on the sofa, thinking about everything that had happened recently. Generally speaking, all business was going smoothly, and there was nothing to worry about.

  Although it's a bit immoral to take advantage of cherry blossom viewing, after all, I'm not a gentleman, and as long as it benefits me, why not do more of it...

  The duel is set for two months later, and in his letter, he says: "In order to let you bunch of losers recover from your injuries and be slaughtered by my precious sword, I'll give you time to heal. As for those wretched low-ranking knights, I'm happy to follow the warrior's code and give you a fair chance at a duel." Yī Chén can't help but look forward to this destined-to-be thrilling battle.