Chapter 838
“It seems this shop’s owner has changed?” Chen Xiaolian sat down on a chair positioned directly opposite the man in the tailcoat suit. “Where’s Phoenix?”
“Looks like you really are her friend. No wonder you would care so much about her.” The tailcoat man took a leisurely puff of his cigar. “Don’t worry, she is still alive for now. At present, though, you should worry more about yourself.”
“I don’t think there’s anything to worry about.” Chen Xiaolian shook his head. “Just tell me where she is.”
“You don’t need to know, since I will be sending you there.” The tailcoat fellow shook his head. “Judging by your looks, you are not an European Awakened. If so, I will give you two choices – become our member or become cellmates with Phoenix.”
“Heh!” Chen Xiaolian gave an involuntary chuckle. “How unexpected. To think that I would encounter a kidnapper here. However… given Phoenix’s strength, she should not be that easy to kidnap.”
“In the face of our Starfall Guild, no one can brag that they are strong.” The tailcoat fellow laughed. “Originally, she thought the same thing as you. But now, she must be regretting it.”
“Starfall Guild… why do I keep seeing you fellows everywhere?” Chen Xialian sighed. “I’ve had dealings with your guys in the Asian region before. So, you are from the European region?”
“I’ve heard that the Asia branch is very weak. It has been so long, but they have yet to fully unite all the Awakened ones in the region. What a bunch of trash.” The tailcoat fellow sneered disdainfully.
“Alright, I’ve more or less understood what’s going on.” Chen Xiaolian nodded. “You fellows in this European region are quite overbearing.”
Ever since splitting off from Thorned Flower Guild, Starfall Guild had been constantly expanding. Jiang Long, who was in charge of the China branch, had chosen the path of mediation and brought the various Awakened guilds into his team’s orbit.
This European branch, on the other hand, was clearly going with the hard approach. They would directly request the Awakened ones and guilds that had caught their attention to join them. Those who reject or resist would be eliminated.
“You guys want to unite all the Awakened ones in Europe and become the only guild. Those who are unwilling to submit to you guys will be captured?” Chen Xiaolian turned towards the tailcoat fellow. “And finally, you’ll fight for the position of master for all of Starfall Guild, is that it?”
“To be precise, only strong individuals would have that opportunity. Those that are too weak, it doesn’t matter if they join or not. We’ll just kill them if they’re unwilling to join.” The tailcoat fellow flicked away the cigar ash off him and revealed a confident smile. “Our manager thinks very highly of Phoenix’s strength. That’s why she has some extra time. As for you…”
As the tailcoat fellow spoke, the door behind him swung open and five men in combat suits walked in.
“Now, it’s time for you to choose. I hope that you do not refuse, since I really don’t want to kill you.” The tailcoat fellow stood up. “As I said, our manager thinks very highly of Phoenix. If you can join us and convince her to change her mind, it might help elevate your status.”
“Wait. Don’t be in such a hurry.” Chen Xiaolian shook his head as he continued to sit on the chair. “Sit down first. Let me finish my questions.”
“You’re not panicking at all. However… in order to show confidence, you must possess strength.” The tailcoat fellow raised a glass of wine in an elegant manner. “When standing before Starfall Guild, you don’t have the qualifications to do so. The moment you walked into this bar and meet me, your fate was already sealed. The Grim Reaper has spread open his arms, preparing to embrace you. Unless… you show me submission.”
The tailcoat fellow finished drinking the wine in the glass. Then, he raised his head. With his eyes closed, he raised his right hand high up and released the glass, letting it shatter against the floor into countless fragments. “You have 10 seconds to kneel and beg me for your life!”
Bang!
A heavy fist smashed into the tailcoat fellow’s face.
Without even knowing what just happened, the tailcoat fellow was smashed backwards, leaving a big hole on the wall behind him.
“You know.” Chen Xiaolian straightened himself and cast a cold stare at the hole in the wall. “The look you give off when putting on airs is very disgusting.”
Only then did the tailcoat fellow’s five subordinates react. Quickly, they brought out their weapons.
Several beams of light shot towards Chen Xiaolian simultaneously.
Chen Xiaolian did not move at all. Strangely, though, when the beams arrived before him, they all bounced back.
News of Phoenix’s capture had greatly displeased Chen Xiaolian. Even so, he held himself back.
He did not bring out the Flashbow of Ketu-Rahu. He did not even pull out the Sword in the Stone. He simply raised up the chair that he was sitting on. Gently breaking it, he then pulled out one of the legs of the chair.
Chen Xiaolian raised the chair leg and his body shot into action. Next, he appeared before the five subordinates.
Bang!
The chair leg smashed furiously against the leg of the first subordinate. Snow-white bones immediately poked out from the man’s thigh, penetrating even his protective suit.
The five Awakened ones did not get the chance to utilize their skills. They did not even get the chance to change to melee weapons before both their thighs were broken. And so, they rolled on the floor and cried in pain.
At the very same moment, the tailcoat fellow had gotten up. His figure was still behind the broken wall.
Dust and dirt covered his body and his tailcoat was torn in several places. There was a look of utter disbelief on his face.
His left hand swiped out to bring forth five flying knives, which spread out from the palm on his hand like a fan of blades.
A silvery beam of light pierced through the air like a meteor, shooting towards Chen Xiaolian.
A thick and seemingly tangible combat energy enveloped the outer layer of the flying knife, giving it a power that far exceeded that of a battle tank’s main turret.
Chen Xiaolian, however, simply extended his hand to catch the flying knife before tossing it onto the ground.
“Is this all you got?” Chen Xiaolian chuckled mockingly and walked towards him.
A bead of sweat rolled down the tailcoat fellow’s forehead. He swiftly swung both his hands and tens of silvery beams appeared at the same time.
But the tens of silvery beams all became like ox figurines thrown into the sea, disappearing without a trace.
An expert!
Alarm bells instantly rang within the tailcoat fellow’s heart and he jumped back with all his might as he tried to put some distance between himself and Chen Xiaolian.
Both his foot had only just left the floor when he seemingly lost control of his own body, which abruptly flew forward instead.
Chen Xiaolian stretched his right hand forward to grab his neck. Next, he slammed the tailcoat fellow down the floor.
The heavy slam caused web-like cracks to spread across the concrete floor.
The protective suit that the tailcoat fellow was wearing was not some low-grade item. Even so, it was still incapable of withstanding such a formidable impact. As a result, the tailcoat fellow ended up spraying out a mouthful of blood.
“You… who are you?!”
Looking at Chen Xiaolian, his eyes were now full of dread.
Originally, he had assumed that this was just a minor character who had thrown himself into the net. He could kill him or capture and send him to the headquarters. A person whose life and death depended on his whims.
Unexpectedly, he had kicked the iron plate this time.
Until now, this youngster from the east had yet to even take this seriously and use any skill. But despite that, he had been incapable of fighting back at all?
“Argh!”
A pained cry rang out.
Chen Xiaolian did not answer him. Instead, he simply pinched the tailcoat fellow’s right thumb. It was a light pinch.
The sound of bones cracking rang out clearly and the tailcoat fellow cried out wretchedly.
“Stop… stop pinching! My bones have broken!”
Chen Xiaolian, however, was seemingly oblivious to his wretched cries and his two fingers moved on to the index finger.
Another pinch!
Wretched screams rang out again and again as all five fingers on the tailcoat fellow’s right hand had their bones crushed to bits.
After he was done crushing them, Chen Xiaolian finally spoke up.
Releasing his grip, he looked down on the tailcoat fellow, who was lying on the floor. “Phoenix is my friend. And you guys, you guys captured my friend. Because of this, I am in a very bad mood. From now on, I will be asking the questions while you answer. If you refuse to answer…”
Without waiting for the tailcoat fellow’s reply, Chen Xiaolian gripped his left hand and cast an icy stare at him. “The human body has a total of 206 bones. You have 201 chances to refuse.”
“I… I won’t…” The tailcoat fellow hastily replied with a hiss.
“Very good.” Chen Xiaolian nodded. “Where is Phoenix right now?”
“In… Paris…”
…
Closing the iron door, Chen Xiaolian walked out of the underground bar.
He was in a very bad mood.
The tailcoat fellow had been very obedient. Once he realized that his life could end in a most tragic manner at any moment, he chose to not hide anything from Chen Xiaolian.
Around two months ago, Starfall Guild’s European branch had sent a member to find Phoenix. They had hoped that she could give up her Coffeehouse Guild and join them.
Phoenix firmly refused. More, she even chopped a hand off the arrogant fellow.
But while Phoenix was quite skilled, she was alone while her opponent was the colossal Starfall Guild.
Three weeks ago, the European branch of Starfall Guild dispatched a small team consisting of 20 men, which successfully completed an attack mission against Phoenix. Even though Phoenix was able to kill six of them, she was eventually overwhelmed by their numbers and was captured alive.
The Coffeehouse Guild was a fairly famous guild in Europe, after all. Additionally, Phoenix was also known as Bucharest’s Queen of the Underworld. Those two factors, and the combat power that she displayed in battle made the European branch of Starfall Guild view her as a potentially good powerhouse, should she choose to join them.
Due to that, the manager of the European branch gave Phoenix one month’s time to change her mind.
Should Phoenix insist on refusing their offer even after the time was up, death would be the only thing that awaited her.
There was still one week left.
Still, for the present Chen Xiaolian, time was not a serious issue. He could reach Paris at any time to rescue Phoenix.
He was simply feeling slightly unnerved. If he hadn’t – by chance – come to find Phoenix today, he could have lost a friend for good.
The matter that truly bothered him was how he should deal with the European branch of Starfall Guild.
Given his current level of strength, simply breaking in, trampling the whole place down and rescuing Phoenix was not difficult. He did not even have to worry about Phoenix being used to threaten him.
But his ultimate goal was to unite all the Awakened ones.
This was quite a headache.
If it were simply a few minor characters like earlier, breaking all their limbs or even killing them would not affect the big picture. However, the European branch of Starfall Guild had almost united all of Europe. Chen Xiaolian could not just kill them all.
Right!
As Chen Xiaolian was pondering the issue, his mind suddenly lit up.
How did I forget about him?
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