I, Lord of Prayer

In the training ground, a cramped space. ✎🎉 ➅9𝓢𝓗ⓤx.匚𝑜𝓂 🎃💜

Nineteen metal dummies raised their right arms, their hands rapidly transforming into training pistols, the dark muzzles aimed at Zhou Chen dozens of meters away.

As Xiao Yan tapped the start button on the screen, an invisible signal was instantly transmitted to each dummy, initiating the operation.

—Fire!

Inside the unseen dummy, countless intricate parts operate under the control of the system, each performing its function and responding to each other, culminating in a momentary explosion as rubber bullets shoot out from the muzzle.

But even earlier, Zhou Chen had used his extraordinary sensory abilities to perceive the transmission of electrical signals and listen to the operation of tiny parts, thereby "predicting" the firing scenario and roughly determining the bullet's flight direction.

Then, his muscles bulged, unleashing a terrifying burst of power in an instant. His blurry figure weaved through the gaps in the hail of bullets, covering dozens of meters in a flash, and charged into the dummy crowd with a whistling wind.

Xiao Yan's vision blurred as he saw the metal dummies that had just fired a few shots come to a standstill, and the "death buttons" on their necks were pressed.

Finally, the strong wind stopped abruptly, and Zhou Chen appeared next to the last dummy, pressing the death button on the dummy's neck.

"36 seconds." Xiao Yan glanced down at the timer on the tablet.

In that short time, Zhou Chen killed nineteen armed metal dummies.

Of course, this is not his limit, because metal dummies cannot be killed, while real flesh and blood bodies are extremely fragile. A simple slit in the artery or throat, or a knife plunged into the heart, spleen, or lungs can turn a vibrant life into a cold corpse.

If he wanted to be even more brutal, Zhou Chen could punch them all, even spitting out their brains.

"Shall we try the rifle again?" Xiao Yan asked.

"Rifles are out of the question. I can't possibly dodge the firepower of nineteen rifles unless there's terrain to cover me or I have better equipment."

Zhou Chen shook his head. He was still somewhat aware of the situation. Unless the number was reduced by half, they would be suppressed to death by firepower. Automatic rifle bullets were not easy to dodge, let alone more than ten of them.

"Then I'll double the number of pistols this time, and give it another try." Xiao Yan manipulated the control system to reactivate the metal dummies, while simultaneously manipulating their left hands to transform into training pistols.

Training resumed.

In the fractions of a second before the metal dummy fired, Zhou Chen's enhanced senses fed back a vast amount of complex information, which his brain began to analyze at high speed: the timing and direction of the firing of the thirty-eight pistols, the speed and trajectory of the bullets...

As he moved, the first wave of bullets crisscrossed the area. He dodged left and right, escaping the hail of bullets unscathed, while simultaneously analyzing the gaps in the second wave of bullets, followed by the third, the fourth…

He quickly charged into the dummy group and began a "massacre," but this time the dummy AI system was a level higher; more than a dozen dummies twisted their bodies, ignoring their allies, and opened fire on him relentlessly. ღ(¯`◕‿◕´¯) ♫ ♪ ♫ ❻9s𝓱ù𝐱.ℂσⓂ ♫ ♪ ♫ (¯`◕‿◕´¯)ღ

In the confined space, bullets flew everywhere, dense as a net, while Zhou Chen, like a master dancer, darted and weaved among the dummies, like a butterfly fluttering among flowers, leaving only afterimages. Before long, he had "killed" all the dummies.

"77 seconds, not bad." Xiao Yan praised, "Seven or eight seconds faster than a normal Ascended Being, and without taking any damage."

"Any more won't do," Zhou Chen said.

"Then, next we'll test your neural reaction ability and muscle coordination." Xiao Yan tapped on the tablet, and the metal dummy slowly sank into the ground, while a platform with many items on it slowly rose up.

  

Knives, wooden sticks, spoons, beakers, billiard balls, beer bottles... all sorts of ordinary items.

Zhou Chen stepped forward and tossed the items into the air one by one. He grabbed the wooden stick and held it horizontally in his hand. As the items fell, he caught them one by one with the stick, just like a circus master, and arranged them in a row on the stick with great skill.

Even the most easily rolled billiard ball maintains its balance on the wooden stick.

Then, Zhou Chen flung everything away, stood up a wooden stick, and used the top to catch the falling knife. Then came beer bottles, spoons, beakers... Finally, he stacked all the items into a dangerously tall tower, swaying precariously but always maintaining mechanical balance.

"Awesome, awesome." Xiao Yan clapped his hands. "That way, even if you lose your job, you can still make a living at the circus."

"Hmm?" He suddenly looked surprised. "I connected to the diagnostic device on your Source Communication Device, and it shows that your brain is currently overloaded. Do you feel anything?"

"Feelings? I don't feel anything..."

Zhou Chen suddenly felt a burning sensation at the tip of his nose, and a trickle of blood flowed from his nasal cavity. A sharp pain shot through his brain, followed by a loss of focus and an inability to concentrate, as if he had been struck hard by an invisible hammer.

With a crash, the force was out of balance, and items fell to the ground, with a beer bottle shattering into countless pieces with a loud crack.

Amidst the excruciating pain in his brain, Zhou Chen hurriedly removed his blind man's sunglasses. Without the sensory enhancement, the world fell silent, and he felt as if he were sinking into a quagmire, losing the lightness of his senses and the sense of control he felt as if he had a godlike perspective.

It's like replacing a high refresh rate screen with a low refresh rate screen, a sports car with a tractor, or Infinite Power mode with normal mode.

I'm not used to it all at once.

However, the stinging sensation in my brain lessened slightly.

"You used too much brainpower just now. The amount of data you received and analyzed was too massive, causing your brain to overload," Xiao Yan said helplessly, looking at the real-time data analysis on the tablet. "Simply put, the CPU processor overloaded and burned out."

"It's not a big problem, I'll be fine after a good night's sleep."

"Does this mean I'll have to burn it every time I use it? Are even Ascended beings brainless?" Zhou Chen took the towel from the service robot and wiped the blood from his nose.

"It shouldn't be that bad. You just used too much force. Just be more careful and restrained in the future," Xiao Yan asked. "Can we continue testing?"

"I'm not going to test it anymore. My head hurts. I'm going back to sleep." Zhou Chen sighed, rubbing his temples.

"Sleep in the research department. You're completely blind now, so going back to the dorm will be a hassle," Xiao Yan reminded him.

"……Too."

·

·

The following day, at 3 PM.

In an office on the 66th floor of the Financial Building.

Qin Zewan, the director of the Financial Bureau of Jinzhu City, stared at the man in the 3D projection with a gloomy expression.

He was a middle-aged man dressed in an expensive suit, who looked gentle and refined, with a warm smile on his face that made people want to get closer to him.

—Fu Qing.

The richest man in Jinzhu area, a powerful figure who can control everything, and a great philanthropist in the eyes of the people.

But that gentle and refined smile made Qin Zewan feel extremely disgusted.

He admitted to having done many bad things, but compared to Fu Qing, they were nothing.

More than a decade ago, during a sensational political struggle, Fu Qing did shady things for a certain big shot, committing countless murders, arson, and massacres of entire families. His hands were stained with blood, and he was utterly wicked.

Later, under the protection of that powerful figure, he changed his identity and was cleaned up. With a powerful backer, he gradually took control of Jinzhu Shipping and swallowed up most of the black market industry. The methods he used were undeniably ruthless.

This utterly wicked man had to pretend every day to be a cultured upper-class nobleman or a kind-hearted tycoon who cared about the people. In Qin Zewan's eyes, that gentle smile was actually a hypocrisy that ran deep in his bones and even his soul.

It's disgusting.

"Qin Zewan, your time is running out. The Stars Society is conducting an investigation. Normally, we'll have to say goodbye in two hours." Fu Qing's holographic image leisurely sipped his afternoon tea.

"Did you sell the information of those smugglers to the Stars Society?" Qin Zewan slammed his fist on the table and demanded angrily.

"It's me," Fu Qing readily admitted. "I think it's best if only one person calls the shots in the black market."

"You're too greedy, aren't you afraid of overeating? The more you eat, the more you'll give yourself away, and those smugglers will expose you sooner or later." Qin Zewan's eyes were sinister. "Besides, just because you betrayed me, do you think I won't betray you?"

"Yeah?"

Fu Qing smiled and said, "First of all, Birdman and Snow White were both promoted by me and passed the multiple tests I set, so I have enough trust in them and enough precautions."

Birdman, in particular, is exceptionally capable and I trust him completely. I even consider grooming him to be my confidant.

Although the two of them didn't get along before, they've made up now. With them around, it's only a matter of time before they take control of the entire underground market, so you don't need to worry about that.

Secondly, before you sell me, please think about your wife and daughters abroad. Oh, and you have an illegitimate child, right? I went to great lengths to find him.

Click!

Enraged, Qin Zewan grabbed the teapot from the table and threw it at Fu Qing's image. The teapot passed through the projection and crashed to the ground, shattering into pieces mixed with tea.

"Since you've messed with them, I'm even less likely to let this go! You can just wait to die!" Qin Zewan's forehead veins bulged, and his eyes were bloodshot.

"Anyone can go down in a fight to the death!"

"You can try, I have no intention of stopping you." Fu Qing's tone was relaxed and indifferent.

Qin Zewan turned on his phone without hesitation, ready to turn himself in, but the phone had lost signal at some point.

"Forget it, all other signal lines have been blocked except for this secret line."

"What exactly do you want to do?" Qin Zewan raised his head and stared intently at that hypocritical smile.

"You can think of it as..."

Fu Qing thought for a moment: "A final chat between old friends."

"I can't call you a friend." Qin Zewan's eyes were fierce, as if he wanted to tear Fu Qingsheng apart. He gritted his teeth and said, "Just wait, even if you really swallow up all of Jinzhu's underground businesses, you won't be able to cause trouble for long. The new head of the Special Operations Group will come knocking on your door sooner or later."

"I'm not worried about that." Fu Qing put down his teacup and said with a smile, "The situation in Jinzhu is about to change. You haven't heard the news yet, have you? The Eternal Flame has appeared in Jinzhu, and their traces have also been found in several nearby cities. They are definitely going to carry out some big operations, which is why they are making such frequent moves."

If I'm not mistaken, things will soon get chaotic in Jinzhu. That special operations team leader should probably start thinking about how to protect himself.

"Hmm... Alright, it's about time you died."

The cruel words came so suddenly that Qin Zewan was caught off guard and had no time to react.

Beside him, his trusted bodyguard, who had followed him for over ten years, suddenly drew his gun. A powerful alchemical bullet, accompanied by a flash of fire, erupted from the weapon, instantly blowing the head off another Ascended bodyguard, splattering his brains.

Bang bang bang!

The bodyguard fired several shots, killing everyone else in the room, leaving only a stunned Qin Zewan.

"You, you...why?!" Qin Zewan pointed at the other person, trembling, in disbelief. This was a trusted confidant who had followed him for more than ten years!

"It's very simple. He has been my puppet for many, many years."

Fu Qing said calmly, "Send him on his way."

3:13 PM.

Suddenly, large shards of glass rained down from the sky onto the pedestrian street below the financial building, crashing heavily to the ground and shattering into dust, causing countless passersby to scream in terror.

Immediately afterwards, a dark shadow plummeted from the sky and crashed to the ground, turning into a mangled mess.

In the office, Fu Qing's 3D image disappeared.

The bodyguard used brute force to destroy Qin Zewan's mobile phone, computer, encrypted communication device, and other equipment, making the secret call record from the dark web completely disappear from the world.

Finally, the bodyguard lit the fire, and amidst the raging flames, pointed the pistol at his temple.

boom.

·

·

Research Department.

Zhou Chen opened his eyes. The side effects of the blind man's sunglasses had worn off, and his vision had returned.

He yawned groggily, took out his phone to check the time, and realized that he had fallen asleep late at night.

Then, as usual, he started browsing the news feed.

[The largest marine aquarium in Jinzhu City officially opens! Grand opening special: tickets are only...]

Crazy Thursday is in full swing! Spicy chicken bones are only 20 pieces for just 19.9...

Damn, I forgot today is Crazy Thursday. I wonder if there will still be takeout available at this hour...

[A Night of Liquidation! Involving 30 People and 69 Billion Yuan, Cryptocurrencies Plunge Nearly 30%! US Stocks Plunge, Nasdaq Falls Nearly 5% Intraday, Countless Mining Bosses Take to Rooftops After Losing Money in Cryptocurrency Trading...]

Good riddance! I want to see aerial acrobatics! I want to see rivers of blood!

Thinking this, Zhou Chen actually saw a flying man in the air.

This afternoon at 3 PM, Qin Zewan, the director of the Financial Bureau of Jinzhu City, committed suicide. According to witnesses, Qin fell from the 66th floor of the Financial Building and died instantly. It is reported that Qin had been protecting smugglers for years, and after learning that the Qunxing Association would be investigating him, he committed suicide out of fear of punishment, destroying evidence of his crimes before his death…

This……

Zhou Chen was stunned. If he remembered correctly, this Qin Zewan was the backer of smugglers such as "Iron Python" and "Madam Gray".

Jiang Che was investigating him, and then he committed suicide out of guilt? Didn't he even consider trying to negotiate further? Wasn't suicide a bit... too quick?

Also, are all his Ascended bodyguards just sitting around doing nothing...?

Zhou Chen quickly realized that the news was probably just the official statement.

He quickly got up, ready to find Jiang Che and get to the bottom of things.