Starforce Warriors

Chapter 430: How Could It Be You

The sight of the two girls sent a shock through Su Wanqing’s mind.

How were they captured?

Her Dragon Group training had taught her how to respond if her comrades were taken hostage. But these two girls weren’t comrades. They were innocent civilians; the kind of people her oath had sworn to protect.

This was Su Wanqing’s first mission, and her heart wavered for a moment. But then she thought of the significance of the Corpse Emperor Sacred Crystal. Su Wanqing forced herself to steel her heart, letting it grow cold.

“What lovely, innocent girls.” The silver-masked figure murmured, looking at the helpless Lin Wan and Ding Rong. He inhaled deeply as if savoring the air. “I can almost smell the sweetness of their youth, like fresh buds ready to bloom. Their lives are only just beginning...”

Lin Wan and Ding Rong’s faces were pale with terror as they struggled, muffled sounds escaping their gagged mouths. The cyborg experts’ metal-like hands held them firmly in place.

The silver-masked figure turned his gaze to Su Wanqing. “You must know well that while flowers are beautiful, they’re also fragile. I have countless ways to completely ruin their youthful innocence.”

Su Wanqing scoffed. “Shameless.”

The silver-masked figure chuckled. “However, if you think that I’m planning to torment them as a way to threaten you, then you’re mistaken.”

Su Wanqing’s gaze sharpened as she looked at him.

The silver-masked figure spoke calmly, “I simply want to see whether the Dragon Group’s oath is truly unbreakable. Is the Corpse Emperor Sacred Crystal more important, or does the Dragon Group’s vow hold greater weight?”

The Dragon Group oath: to protect the weak. Yet the Corpse Emperor Sacred Crystal was of monumental significance. Which carried more weight? It was a test of conscience.

Inside, Su Wanqing’s heart churned in turmoil.

“Strip them.” The silver-masked figure ordered coldly.

The simplest and most direct tactic to break a woman’s resolve.

Rip.

The sound of fabric tearing echoed in the room as the outer sleeves of their robes were ripped away. At that moment, a figure lying nearby hesitated. Finally, just before the girls were completely stripped, he slowly pushed himself up.

“Wait.” He spoke with a hint of regret.

As a man, perhaps he could have waited a little longer. But as a Dragon Group member, delaying any further would mean losing the essence of his duty.

His voice shocked everyone, especially the silver-masked figure. If he remembered correctly, the dosage of Absolute Anesthetic administered to this fool should have ensured that even a Five Spirits Realm expert wouldn’t awaken for an entire day and night without the antidote.

The cyborgs under his command did not make mistakes. Yet somehow, this fool had woken up.

“You seem quite surprised,” Li Xiaofei said, glancing at the masked man with a slight smile. “But you’re surprised too soon.”

He glanced at Su Wanqing and said, “Now, I’m going to fulfill what I said the first time we met.”

Su Wanqing was momentarily stunned.

“I told you, I’m here to protect you,” Li Xiaofei said, one hand in his pocket as he confidently snapped his fingers. “So there’s no need to worry; I’ve got this under control.”

Su Wanqing’s mind raced as she rapidly processed the situation. Meanwhile, Lin Wan and Ding Rong looked on in astonishment, their muffled sounds of surprise growing louder.

Li Xiaofei raised his hand and gestured as if he was pulling something away.

Pop. Pop.

The objects gagging them were suddenly pulled out.

“You can talk now,” Li Xiaofei said with a smirk. “Come on, be good, and say something I want to hear.”

“It’s really you?” Lin Wan asked, both shocked and delighted.

“What’s going on?” Ding Rong looked utterly confused, not understanding her friend’s words or Li Xiaofei’s sudden display.

The masked man’s pupils narrowed. The situation was slipping out of control. He didn’t like this growing sense of unpredictability, even if Li Xiaofei’s premature awakening was only a minor disruption.

“Number Four, kill him.” The silver-masked figure ordered.

One of the cyborgs lunged toward Li Xiaofei, wielding an energy blade. This warrior possessed peak Meridian Expanding Realm combat ability. He was a formidable opponent indeed.

Li Xiaofei merely smiled and threw a punch.

Boom!

Air pressure roared through space like a rising tide as his chilled fist punched clean through Number Four’s body, emerging from the warrior’s spine without a single drop of blood. His fingers remained pristine, like flawless white jade.

“Too weak,” Li Xiaofei said, withdrawing his fist.

He leaned closer to the hole in the cyborg’s chest and peered into the chest cavity, where metal components replaced the organs of a normal human. He looked at the silver-masked figure through the hole.

"Your little modified toys seem a bit fragile," Li Xiaofei grinned.

He raised his hand and lightly pushed the frozen corpse in front of him. A freezing aura spilled from Number Four's mechanical body.

Crack.

The warrior’s body toppled over and shattered into shards as it hit the ground. Even the modified metal components inside had grown brittle under the freezing aura.

The silver-masked figure felt a chill in his heart as he issued another command through the team channel. Four more cyborgs sprang into action.

Rat-a-tat-tat.

Four streams of fire shot out from their power guns at Li Xiaofei. The combination of mechanical precision and martial skill meant that their marksmanship was perfect. Their energy bullets sealed every path of escape around Li Xiaofei.

But in the next instant, something bizarre happened. Li Xiaofei stood still, yet his figure flickered in and out of sight. The Immortal Seal Technique had revealed its splendor. Li Xiaofei’s Thousand Illusions Body had reached a level of mastery where reality and illusion blended seamlessly.

The bullets from the power rifles were powerful enough to harm a Five Spirits Realm expert, but they passed through Li Xiaofei’s figure as if he were a phantom. After several seconds, the magazines were empty. But the trained and disciplined cyborgs didn’t panic at this bizarre sight. Their training and light core processors allowed them to reload within a second.

But having showcased his own version of bullet time, Li Xiaofei wasn’t about to give them a second chance. He vanished and reappeared in front of the four warriors with Graceful Step of the Waves.

A Great Strength Vajra Fist turned the closest cyborg into a cloud of sparks and ash as it disintegrated on impact. With a roar, Li Xiaofei unleashed the Dragon-Subduing Eighteen Palms, his energy forming the image of a wild dragon that tore through the air. The remaining three cyborgs were instantly reduced to fragments of ice that scattered across the floor. It was an instant kill.

Li Xiaofei’s figure flickered as he shot toward the silver-masked figure at astonishing speed. The masked man leaned back, and jets of force field energy erupted from his shoulders, waist, and knees, propelling him backward at jet-like speed. At the same time, a crimson death beam shot out from his left eye at Li Xiaofei.

The beam pierced through Li Xiaofei’s figure. However, before the masked man could show a hint of satisfaction, he heard the sound of other cyborgs disintegrating nearby. The beam had only struck an afterimage. In reality, Li Xiaofei had already reached the four cyborgs restraining Lin Wan and Ding Rong. Despite their cautiousness, he dispatched them with ease.

The four of them fell, two erupting in flames and two shattering into icy fragments. Li Xiaofei placed his hands on the delicate shoulders of the two girls, feeling the warmth and smoothness of their skin.

He brought them to Su Wanqing’s side in a swift movement. The girls let out startled gasps, but before they could fully react, Li Xiaofei positioned himself protectively in front of them and raised his right hand. An enormous ice-crystal shield, shaped like a sharp spearhead, appeared in his hand.

Pop, pop, pop, pop.

The Absolute Anesthetic Darts fired by the silver-masked figure embedded themselves in the surface of the ice shield and exploded, releasing the liquid anesthetic that quickly vaporized into gas, filling the air around them.

"Be careful," Su Wanqing quickly warned, having experienced its effects before. "This absolute anesthetic gas can work directly on the skin and muscles; holding your breath alone won’t protect you..."

Whoosh.

Her voice died away as golden flames ignited on the ice shield in Li Xiaofei's hand. The blaze consumed the blue gas and completely purified it.

“Who are you?” The silver-masked figure asked warily.

“Me? I’m just a worthless fool.” Li Xiaofei replied calmly, casually crushing the flames in his hand.

Realization dawned slowly on the silver-masked figure. “No... you’re with the Dragon Group.”

“Since you’ve figured it out...” Li Xiaofei smiled. He gave a slight bow, right hand sweeping outward courteously, and said, “The Dragon Group’s Jade Emperor sends his regards to your mother.”

“You’re the Jade Emperor?”

“Is that really you?” Su Wanqing and Lin Wan exclaimed almost simultaneously from behind him.

The silver-masked figure’s face contorted in shock. According to their latest intelligence, Mei Fusu had died at the hands of this mysterious Dragon Group powerhouse who was rumored to be at the Saint Realm.

Could the Jade Emperor really be Li Xiaofei? If I had known from the start, I would never have shown myself for this operation. Damn it. I’ve been tricked.

Li Xiaofei had stirred up the entire White Deer Academy. It was known far and wide that he was persistently pursuing Su Wanqing. Everyone had believed he was just a reckless playboy. In reality, it had been an elaborate ruse.

Pursuing a woman was the perfect cover to openly stay close to Su Wanqing without raising suspicion. Even the intelligence network of the Mechanical Eternity organization hadn’t suspected anything, and they hadn’t prepared any contingencies against him.

Confident in their plan, they had even brought the supposedly unconscious Li Xiaofei right to the silver-masked figure. Now, everything was exposed before the Jade Emperor. One wrong move had led to a cascade of errors. What a terrifyingly intricate scheme. The Jade Emperor was indeed too cunning.

The silver-masked figure immediately turned to flee. He had no confidence in facing a possible Saint. With the assistance of his advanced equipment, he was lightning fast. But as he had only made it ten meters when he crashed straight into a figure. It was Li Xiaofei, who had moved even faster to intercept him.

The silver-masked figure reacted swiftly. Six spider-like mechanical arms extended from his back, each arm fitted with the barrel of a power gun that was primed to unleash a hail of energy bullets. At the same time, his left hand drew a power pistol, while a chainsaw sword appeared in his right hand. He had deployed his entire arsenal. But in that instant, Li Xiaofei’s power dragon blade gleamed.

Slash, slash, slash.

He sliced through all the mechanical arms and severed the masked man’s hands in a few swift blows. The combination of the Immortal Seal Technique and the Graceful Step of the Waves was overwhelmingly quick, and far beyond the reaction capabilities of his opponent, who was only at the Golden Body Realm.

In the face of Li Xiaofei’s blinding swiftness, the silver-masked figure was nothing more than a lamb awaiting slaughter. A thin layer of silver frost crept over his entire body as the freezing energy locked the masked man in place.

Crack, crack.

The mask shattered, revealing a familiar face beneath.

“So, it’s you,” Li Xiaofei murmured in surprise.

And yet, it felt strangely fitting.

“How could this be?” Behind him, Su Wanqing and the other two girls stared, utterly shocked, struggling to rationalize the identity revealed before them.