Chapter 375: A One-Punch Problem—What's with All the Fuss?
"Oh? Who are you waiting for?"
Captain Wu asked curiously.
Across from him, Liu Jianming didn't answer directly but asked in return, "According to your Reincarnation Bureau's rules, shouldn't this area fall under 'Tiger Descends the Mountain'? Why are you guys here?"
At the mention of that name, Captain Wu's expression soured.
Liu Jianming was sharp-eyed and seemed to notice the change in Wu's expression. He immediately chuckled and said, "Looks like you two have offended someone, huh? So even the Reincarnation Bureau managed by the Sword Immortal isn't free from infighting?"
Bullseye.
Captain Wu's face grew even darker. He said coldly, "Since you know our Bureau's rules, I can't go back empty-handed today. So, Liu, are you going to surrender willingly, or do we have to beat you into submission?"
"With just you lot?" Liu Jianming sneered.
He was extremely confident in his strength.
As long as it wasn't one of the top-ranked experts, no one could easily take him down.
"If you won't drink the wine offered in respect, then you'll drink the one offered in punishment. Looks like I'll have to add two more lives to my tally."
As he spoke, Liu Jianming put down his beer, clapped his hands, and stood up.
Captain Wu's face turned grim.
He had, of course, heard of the infamous "Red Oni" from the Lord God's space—a truly dangerous figure.
It was said his Armament Haki had reached an advanced level and could coat his entire body. Impervious to blades and bullets, like an indestructible Vajra.
That move alone made him difficult enough.
Not to mention, this man also possessed the Mera Mera no Mi, granting him powerful fire abilities.
Fwoosh!
As if sensing Wu's fear, Liu Jianming lit his hands ablaze, illuminating the entire cafeteria.
Then he said, "I'll give you one more chance. Leave behind some special gear as compensation for disturbing my drinking mood, and you can leave…"
Captain Wu looked at the flames on Liu's hands, his face full of apprehension.
But Chen Ye simply muttered, "So much damn talking."
The moment those words left his mouth—
Both men's expressions changed.
Liu Jianming's face instantly darkened. Locking eyes on Chen Ye, he growled, "Kid, got a death wish? Fine, I'll grant it!"
With that, he threw a punch.
A massive flaming fist formed in the cafeteria, roaring toward Chen Ye.
Fire Fist!
The exact same move as Ace's.
It had to be said—Liu Jianming's attack was indeed powerful. His strength was befitting a veteran A-rank Reincarnator.
Feeling the intense heat rushing toward them, Captain Wu's face changed.
Without hesitation, he roared and began transforming into his "Hulk" form. Stepping forward, he intended to block the blow with his body.
But Chen Ye moved faster.
Whoosh!
A Fire Fist shot out from Chen Ye's hand as well.
And Chen Ye's Fire Fist, in terms of temperature, size, and sheer presence, completely overwhelmed Liu Jianming's.
In an instant, the entire cafeteria felt like it was being scorched by the blazing sun.
The next moment—
The two fire fists collided.
A shocking scene followed.
Liu Jianming's fire fist was instantly vaporized upon contact with Chen Ye's, as if a snowflake had dropped into molten lava.
Chen Ye's fire fist didn't slow down one bit, pushing forward like an unstoppable bulldozer with overwhelming force.
Seeing how fragile his own Fire Fist was, Liu Jianming's eyes widened in disbelief.
Though he sensed Chen Ye's terrifying flames, at this point, it was too late to run.
He wasn't fast enough.
In that split second, all he could do was activate his Armament Haki in an attempt to tank the hit.
Boom!
When Chen Ye's Fire Fist exploded—
The entire back half of the cafeteria was obliterated.
It looked like a missile had struck the building, carving out a massive chunk.
As for Liu Jianming—he was burned to a crisp, barely retaining a human shape…
Keep in mind, Chen Ye's spiritual stat was already over 6,000.
That meant his flame temperature exceeded 6,000 degrees as well.
At such extreme heat, even diamond could melt. Liu Jianming's Armament Haki might have been tougher than steel, but it still couldn't withstand it.
So—
This capture mission ended… just like that.
"Villains always die from talking too much…" Chen Ye quipped, then turned and said, "Captain, all done."
Beside him, Captain Wu still wore a stunned expression on his green face.
Only now did Chen Ye notice that Captain Wu's transformed appearance was… hard to describe.
Aside from his facial features becoming more menacing and his skin turning Hulk-green, his physique barely changed at all!
No wonder when Captain Wu had proudly declared he had Hulk's bloodline, Li Fang couldn't resist mocking him…
This version of the Hulk was really… off-brand.
…
Moments later.
When Chen Ye and Captain Wu walked out of the school, the captain still looked shell-shocked.
It was as if he couldn't believe that the infamous "Red Oni" of the Lord God's space had been one-shotted by his own subordinate.
Like a damn dream!
"Captain? Old Chen? You're out already?"
"I think I just heard a huge explosion. What happened?"
"Captain, what are you carrying?"
Li Fang, Lao Zheng, and the others rushed over, surprised to see them so soon.
Captain Wu glanced at the calm Chen Ye, then at the surrounding special forces support team, and told his teammates, "Let's go! Mission's over. We'll report back first."
"It's over?"
The three were stunned.
But since the captain had spoken, they had to obey.
Despite the casual banter and teasing in private, when it came to missions, all three gave Captain Wu full respect.
Soon, they all got into an MPV van, driven by Lao Zheng.
"Captain, where to?" Lao Zheng asked.
"Back to HQ to report in," Wu replied.
Since there were no outsiders in the car, Li Fang immediately asked, "Captain, what about Red Oni?"
Wu pointed to a bag by his feet.
"All in here."
Everyone: "???"
"It's hard to explain. See for yourselves."
As he spoke, Wu removed his law enforcement body camera and handed it to the team.
Li Fang immediately took the recorder, connected it to her phone, and began watching the footage from the cafeteria.
When she saw Chen Ye one-shot Liu Jianming with a single Fire Fist, Zhou Tao couldn't help shouting, "Holy shit!!"
Then—
Aside from Lao Zheng, who was driving, the other three all turned to stare at Chen Ye in utter shock.
The vehicle suddenly fell into complete silence.
Apart from the engine's hum, not a single sound remained.
As if he couldn't stand their gazes anymore, Chen Ye muttered, "I just one-shotted a wanted criminal. You don't have to look at me like that."
"'Don't have to'?" Li Fang retorted, "My god, Chen-ge! Do you even know who you just killed? That was the infamous A-rank fugitive Red Oni! Even in the Lord God's space, I've heard his name!"
Captain Wu directly asked, "Old Chen, be honest. What kind of flame do you use? How can it cause that much damage? Liu Jianming's Armament Haki was completely useless against it!"
"Uh…" Chen Ye thought for a moment, then casually made something up. "It's just an enhanced version of flame ability…"
"Seriously?" Zhou Tao blurted. "If you hadn't told me, I would've thought your flame was the same as 'Fire God's'—the legendary Samadhi True Flame from a mythological instance!"
Fire God.
A well-known A-rank Reincarnator on the expert rankings, globally ranked seventh—an absolute powerhouse.
Captain Wu shook his head. "I've never seen Fire God's Samadhi True Flame, but I think Old Chen's flame isn't any weaker than his."
Chen Ye's eyes lit up slightly at that.
'So there really are monsters among Reincarnators who can get their hands on things like the Samadhi True Flame?'
"So that means…" Li Fang suddenly lit up. "Now that we have a powerhouse like Old Chen in our sixth squad, we're going to rise to the top?"
Captain Wu chuckled, "If it weren't for the Bureau's rules, I'd gladly step down. Honestly, Old Chen, you should be the captain now."
Chen Ye quickly waved it off. "It's just that my flame power is a teeny bit strong, Captain. You're overhyping it."
"Whether I am or not, who knows," Wu said, chuckling mischievously. "But someone's definitely going to lose sleep tonight."
Zhou Tao asked, "Captain, what do you mean?"
From the front, Lao Zheng chimed in, "Anyone who can one-shot Red Oni is strong enough to hold their own anywhere. The person the Captain's referring to… must be Director Yang, right?"
Zhou Tao suddenly understood.
With Chen Ye's strength, once the footage reached higher-ups, he'd inevitably be promoted.
That Director Yang, who had been targeting Chen Ye, would surely lose sleep when she found out!
"She didn't know how strong Chen-ge is and still dared to target him?" Zhou Tao exclaimed. "That's just stupid."
"It's not stupidity," Li Fang said with a smile. "It's just that Chen-ge's too low-profile in the Lord God's space. She never expected it. Just like me—if I hadn't seen the footage, I wouldn't believe he's such a monster."
Chen Ye felt a little awkward.
He wasn't even a Reincarnator, so of course, he wasn't famous in the Lord God's space.
Well… not exactly right.
He was technically a wanted criminal there.
"I never talked about my strength in front of her," Chen Ye said calmly.
"Exactly." Captain Wu grinned. "If she knew how powerful you were, she'd be trying to curry favor with you."
Li Fang asked worriedly, "But what if the Bureau Chief helps her cover it up and doesn't report your strength?"
Wu laughed, "Honestly, I hope he tries…"
Noticing his words could be misinterpreted, he quickly added, "Old Chen, don't get me wrong. If the Bureau Chief dares to hide your strength and gets caught, it'll be a death sentence. And with power like yours, it's only a matter of time before you shine. If you make it onto the expert rankings, no one will be able to hide it anymore."
Chen Ye smiled nonchalantly. "I don't care about any of that. I don't want to leave our squad either. We haven't known each other long, but I already like working with you all."
"Haha! That's what I like to hear!" Li Fang laughed. "Chen-ge, I'm sticking with you from now on!"
Captain Wu pretended to scold her, "Hey, hey, hey! Li Fang, am I invisible to you?"
Everyone laughed.
Then Zhou Tao asked with anticipation, "Chen-ge, which team are you in within the Lord God's space? Can I join your team and follow you around?"
Before Chen Ye could respond, Captain Wu frowned. "Zhou, did you forget our Reincarnation Bureau's rules? The Lord God's space is the Lord God's space—real life is real life. Don't mix the two! Besides, Old Chen is a lone wolf!"
"Huh?" Zhou Tao was stunned.
Li Fang and Lao Zheng were equally surprised.
Choosing the lone wolf route and still making it to A-rank meant he was a terrifying figure!
There were two modes in the Lord God's space.
Solo mode, and team mode.
Most Reincarnators chose team mode because of its many advantages. Teammates could evolve in different directions, complement each other, and collaborate to complete missions more easily.
Solo mode was known as the lone wolf path.
While the rewards were greater due to not needing to share them, the difficulty also spiked dramatically.
After all, a person's energy is limited.
No lone wolf could match the efficiency of a well-oiled team.
And once a mode was locked in after the first three instances, it couldn't be changed starting from the fourth.
"Let's not talk about that anymore," Chen Ye said, deliberately changing the topic. "Something's been bothering me. When I fought that guy Red Oni—he's supposed to be a Mera Mera no Mi user, right? So why didn't he use Logia intangibility to dodge my attack?"
Hearing that, Captain Wu laughed. "Old Chen, looks like you've never been to a One Piece instance. The Devil Fruits from that world don't come with full powers right after you eat them. The Lord God's space isn't that generous. To reach Logia elementality, you have to upgrade the ability to level 4. That takes a huge amount of Reincarnation Points."
Chen Ye nodded. "Makes sense. I really don't know much about that stuff."
At that moment—
Lao Zheng, driving up front, suddenly asked, "Old Chen, wanna hit that Yang woman where it hurts?"
His face clearly showed deep resentment toward Yang.
Chen Ye blinked. "Lao Zheng, what do you mean?"
Captain Wu followed up, "Yeah, what are you thinking? Just say it."
Lao Zheng proposed, "Simple. Captain, Old Chen—when we get back to HQ, don't submit your enforcement recorders. Just give a verbal report."
As Reincarnators, they had considerable freedom in how they reported missions.
They weren't required to turn in their body cam footage.
Hearing this, Captain Wu and Chen Ye immediately understood Lao Zheng's idea…
(End of Chapter)
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