Dragon Fist.
The momentum was like a galloping horse, the force like a rainbow!
A fist smashed into Fyren's chest.
Fyren didn't move, merely staring calmly at Iron King.
Iron King was shocked!
He slowly raised his head and saw a completely expressionless face.
Not only Iron King, but his four followers - even Otto - were too shocked to speak.
Everyone present except Fyren were practiced martial artists who understood exactly how powerful that punch had been.
This wasn't to say Iron King's punch represented the absolute peak power in the ancient martial arts world.
Rather, such a fist strike against an ordinary person would be like using a cannon to kill a mosquito - certain to be fatal!
Even an average martial artist, or an expert like Otto at his peak trying to withstand this punch directly, would likely suffer internal injuries.
At the very least, they'd need to retreat several steps to regulate their breathing and suppress the powerful force.
But Fyren simply said, "That's it?"
Then, looking slightly disappointed, he nodded encouragingly: "Not bad at all."
Iron King involuntarily retreated two steps.
He suddenly felt the young man before him was utterly bizarre!
He clearly appeared to know no martial arts, yet... his Body Protecting Kung Fu was astonishingly powerful!
This was while standing still and taking the hit - what if he retaliated?
Wouldn't that mean Iron King could be crushed like an ant?
Sherry said gruffly, "Young Lord, Fyren is an expert! He's using Acala Kung Fu that appears even more advanced than yours - so profound we can't discern his tier! I estimate his Acala Kung Fu has reached the sixth layer!"
Otto turned sharply toward Sherry, his face grim.
"Are you my escort or Fyren's propagandist?"
"Young Lord, did Iron King's beating damage your memory? I am your escort!"
Otto was livid.
Iron King kept mistaking Fyren for him while attacking him instead.
Sherry, this brainless woman, kept revealing their hand and humiliating him.
And having just endured Iron King's punch while injured, he now felt the aftermath - his chest so tight he could barely breathe.
And Fyren!
This bastard was actually a hidden expert!
After playing with eagles all his life, was he to be pecked by one today?
Sherry said earnestly, "Young Lord, Fyren's kung fu is unfathomable. I fear you may die here today!"
Otto glared at Sherry. "You shut up!"
Iron King remained dumbfounded.
Fyren looked at him. "Now do you know who the Young Lord is?"
Iron King was shocked:
"No way! In this world, the strongest practitioner of Acala Kung Fu has only reached the seventh layer, and your Acala Divine Kung Fu..."
Fyren raised an eyebrow, "It's definitely above the fourth layer."
Iron King immediately dropped to one knee, "Young Lord's divine power is unparalleled! Your subordinate admires you completely!"
Sherry noticed Otto had begun stealthily retreating and said urgently, "Young Lord, are you trying to escape now? Your subordinate will accompany you!"
Iron King stood up and pointed commandingly, "After them! Leave Otto to me!"
Fyren sighed in relief.
Victory.
FUCK! I'm not completely without some protagonist aura!
If I had three or five hundred of these Acala Experience Cards, I could strut through this world from now on, and Otto couldn't do a thing about it.
Unfortunately, there was only one.
He'd already used every trick in the book to maximize this experience card's effectiveness, and hoped everything would proceed as planned.
Otto and Sherry fled, with Iron King and four assassins pursuing them to claim credit for the capture.
Fyren remained alone in the factory, sitting in the empty hall when suddenly his legs felt weak.
A wave of fear washed over him.
Every link in this plan - one small mistake and he'd be dead.
Every conversation - one wrong word and it would be over.
Fortunately, that Mighty Syndicate was bizarre and clumsy, with a bloated organization where only a few divisions actually functioned, and this Iron King was merely the leader of the red faction.
The Mighty Syndicate's structure was complex.
It was divided into:
Several major branches including the principal one, the scheming one, the guiding one, the strategizing one, the red one, the white one, and the black one.
The principal branch constituted management level.
The Tacticians served at this level, responsible for single-line communication with various departments, assigning specific tasks, and administering rewards/punishments based on performance.
The scheming branch referred to internal logistics, responsible for intelligence analysis and providing information/solutions to the "principal." Essentially, they were office-based think tanks who only communicated directly with their "master."
The guiding branch consisted of external intelligence officers who gathered information for the "master," solely responsible for intelligence collection and operational observation.
The strategizing branch handled assassination aftermath.
The red branch was the combat division, with Gold, Silver, Copper, and Iron Kings representing its elite ranks. They primarily handled direct combat missions.
The white branch served as combat support, sometimes operating as red or black. Most frequently as red, rarely as black.
The black branch was the most crucial department. All other departments revolved around "black." This most mysterious division remained unknown to all except the "Lord" - their identities, numbers, and locations were completely secret.
They are responsible for assassinations that remain unseen by the public.
To ensure that the various departments remain unaware of each other—unable to contact or recognize one another—they share no passwords, no contact information, and do not even know of each other's existence.
You just do your own work. Beyond that, you need not concern yourself with anything else, nor ask questions.
You need not worry about anything outside your duties, nor inquire further. You kill when you must, you drink when you wish, and everything is orchestrated by the "Lord" behind you.
Otto only knew a few of the Men in Black—he had no knowledge of those in Northlandia, let alone the Men in Red.
Fyren exploited the loophole in their system—their mutual isolation, lack of communication, and complete ignorance of one another—and took a gamble.
Fortunately, he won.
Dingdong!
System: "Congratulations, Host, for completing your metamorphosis and successfully repelling the main protagonist once! Sending you hearts! ♥"
Fyren swirled his wine glass, then raised his head, his eyes blazing fiercely. "I'm officially at war with the male protagonist now—aren't you guys worried?"
System: "Not at all! The executives are all very impressed with your performance!"
"Really?" Fyren said. "They just enjoy watching the drama, don't they?"
System: "Uh-huh! The Host is truly clever. Everyone bet that Otto would slap you to death, but not only did you survive, you even made Iron King beat Otto up instead! This was an unexpected twist! However... there's one not-so-great thing."
"What's not so great?"
System: "We've discovered a major problem!"
Fyren smirked. "Do tell."
System: "Judging by how things are going, the original storyline of this world has completely collapsed, ya know!"
Fyren immediately stood up and clenched his fist. "Didn't it fucking collapse ages ago? What the hell are you guys doing? Say something useful! Reward! Reward! Reward! I want a reward!"
System: "Okay then! This time, we'll offer you three rewards to choose from."
"Go ahead."
System: "Reward #1: The Peak Experience Card—two Acala Experience Cards!"
*"Reward #2: The Growth-Class Reward—The Great Sage's Tiger-Subduing Fist Beginner's Card! Using this card will immediately grant you Level 1 proficiency in The Great Sage's Tiger-Subduing Fist, which can be strengthened as the Host continues to train."*
"Reward #3: The Superpower Holding Card—by keeping this card, you will permanently gain a random superpower."
Fyren pondered.
The Acala Cards are tempting, but there are only two of them.
That means I'd need constant renewals, relying on this reward to keep getting new cards to defend myself against Otto.
But there's a problem here!
What if Otto gets mad and punches himself three times?
You can't just pick a civil fight with him every time, right? One punch per person, then go home afterward?
This kind of card can't be played indefinitely.
Growth Cards are a good thing, but they take time to cultivate and upgrade—they're almost useless at first.
Level 1 of The Great Sage's Tiger-Subduing Fist... really?
As for the Superpower Card... random?
Oh, come on, don't mess with me.
Haven't I suffered enough from you guys already?
There was one time I crossed over, and the superpower I got was "my poop must always be in the shape of a spiral!"
Who the hell am I supposed to show that to?
How am I supposed to go out in public with a superpower like that?
"Oh, you wanna see my power? Hold on, let me bring out my toilet—check out this masterpiece!"
Completely. Fucking. Useless.
"I choose The Great Sage's Tiger-Subduing Fist!"
System: "Congratulations, Host! You have successfully obtained The Great Sage's Tiger-Subduing Fist! May you enjoy your new power!"
The moment Fyren received The Great Sage's Tiger-Subduing Fist, his body surged with newfound strength!
He threw a couple of experimental punches—damn, this feels good!
With this skill, an average person wouldn't stand a chance against him.
Think about it—other martial artists train for years, relying on talent and luck just to step into the realm of ancient martial arts.
And here he was, getting it handed to him instantly.
Gotta admit, that's pretty damn cool.
Just then, Iron King and his four men returned, dropping to one knee before Fyren.
"Young Lord, we chased Otto to the cliffs outside the city! I delivered a Black Tiger Steals the Heart strike and knocked him off—he fell to his death!"
Fyren's eyes lit up. "Are you sure he's dead?"
"Without a doubt!"
"No chance he survived? Did you see his body stop moving?"
"No."
"Where exactly did he fall?"
"A sheer cliff—extremely high. He was already badly injured. The fall alone would've killed him! He didn't escape!"
Fyren's excitement instantly turned to dread.
This idiot just knocked the protagonist off a cliff?!
Isn't that basically handing Otto a free power-up?!
"Have you never watched a damn movie in your life?! Since when does the main character die from falling off a cliff?!"
Either there's a beautiful woman waiting to nurse him back to health,
or a hidden cave full of secret martial arts manuals,
or some supreme master trapped down there, ready to teach him the Nine Suns Divine Technique so he can come back for revenge!
Fyren barked, "Take me to the cliff—now, now, NOW!"
"What's the point of going there?"
"That bastard isn't dead! We need to get to the bottom of that cliff, find him, and finish the job!"
Iron King laughed loudly. "Young Lord worries too much! That cliff is deadly—no one could survive that fall."
Fyren gritted his teeth. "I'm telling you—he's not dead! FOLLOW ME!"
Fyren huffed and puffed as he marched toward the cliff, grinding his teeth in frustration:
Playing games with me!
Do I look like an ordinary villain?
Too bad for you, Otto - you had to meet a villain like me!
If you're not dead today, I'll make sure you die!
Cliffside.
Fyren peered over the edge.
Sure enough, it was terrifyingly high - just looking down made him dizzy.
Iron King said from the side: "Young Lord, don't bother looking. A cliff this high, with nothing but rocks at the bottom - anyone who falls would die for sure."
Fyren shot him a glare. "We need to go down and search for his body."
"Is that really necessary?"
"Absolutely necessary," Fyren snapped. "Hold onto me while I check if there are any caves or anything down there."
Fyren searched desperately, clinging to a sliver of hope in his heart.
If he could find Otto himself and finish the job properly, then Otto would truly be dead.
If he could actually eliminate Otto, then this story would have no protagonist!
Haha! Then he could do whatever he wanted!
No more rejecting heroines! No more squandering family fortune for self-preservation! No more keeping a low profile!
With hundreds of billions in family wealth and no natural enemies in this world, he could truly live freely!
Fyren stood at the very edge of the cliff, gripping a crooked tree as he strained to see below. No bodies, not even clear rock formations were visible.
Iron King yawned: "Young Lord, he's definitely dead. Surviving a fall from this height would be completely unreasonable - nothing short of a miracle."
Fyren stepped onto a protruding rock and leaned out as far as he could.
"Young Lord, you're not thinking of jumping down to look for his body, are you? Let me remind you - no lightness skill would work from this height. Don't overestimate yourself."
Fyren glared back at him and was about to retort when - CRACK! - the small tree suddenly broke. Fyren grabbed at a branch but plummeted straight down.
Iron King had turned away to light a cigarette when his four men's eyes widened, pointing frantically at the cliff.
Iron King rushed to the edge, looked down, and nodded approvingly as Fyren's figure disappeared from view. Turning back, he declared:
"Young Lord is truly divine! His body protection kung fu already amazed me today. I thought his Acala Kung Fu was unmatched in the martial world! Who could imagine his lightness skill has reached such heights? This cliff makes my legs weak just looking at it, yet Young Lord jumped without hesitation! What does that tell you?"
The four men pointed unanimously at the broken tree.
Iron King nodded: "Exactly! Well understood. Young Lord is our mighty tree, and we shall cling to its branches! Rejoice, brothers! With Young Lord as our patron, our futures are assured! Hahaha!"
"What's the point of being Red Guards in the Mighty Syndicate? The pay's lousy and the work's hard. But Young Lord is filthy rich - just crumbs from his table would set us up for life! Hahaha!"
One of the men wailed: "Iron King... you weren't looking... Young Lord... he fell."
"What?"
Iron King glanced down and laughed: "Impossible! Absolutely impossible!"
"Young Lord is godlike - how could he be dumber than us? Fell to his death? If he's dead, we're as good as dead too!"
The four men cried: "Iron King, let's go down and look. Maybe... we can still recover the body."
Iron King's legs suddenly gave way: "He... really fell?"
"And screamed horribly on the way down."
Iron King turned and howled in despair:
"YOUNG LORD--!"