Chapter 135

After having dinner at Su Xin’s home and sharing a moment of intimacy in her room, I stood up and left the C City government residential complex, walking out onto the brightly lit streets.

My conversation with Su Guohui, while not yet enough to make the Su family fully align with me, had at least tied our fates together like grasshoppers on a single string—inseparable. In truth, there was another reason I had buttered up Su Guohui that he hadn't considered: he didn't realize how deep Song Jie’s obsession with Su Xin truly went. Having met him and tested my skills against his, I alone understood that if that brat found out the Su family had unilaterally broken off the engagement, he would surely fly into a rage and lash out at them. When that time came, even if Su Guohui didn't want to, he would have no choice but to turn to me.

Having fully achieved my goal for the visit, I strolled through the city in high spirits, admiring the nightscape of C City. The winter night was draped in a thin, white mist, and under the glow of colorful neon lights, the city possessed a unique and enchanting beauty. I had considered calling Li Dabiao to pick me up, but I dismissed the thought; he had been exhausted lately, busy restructuring and expanding the Tianying Company. Actually, I had intended to buy that Audi A8 for myself, but since I was currently busy getting my driver’s license, I couldn't drive it, and seeing how much Li Dabiao loved it, I simply gave it to him. Once I got my license, I would just buy another one.

If I was avoiding Li Dabiao out of consideration, then my distance from Zhang Jing was purely due to awkwardness. Ever since she confessed her feelings that night, we had been in a cold war. Lately, she seemed to come home very late and leave early, treating me as if I were invisible. I was perfectly content with that; not having to face the temptation of such a delicate, flower-like beauty that I couldn't touch was, quite frankly, a good thing. As for the situation with Chu Qitong, I had made up my mind to confess to Su Xin, but with the Xia family matters still pending, the timing wasn't right. Over the past few days, I had decided on the name for my new conglomerate: Eternal. Firstly, because the company would focus on engine products powered by Helium-3 and other heavy industrial machinery, and secondly, because Helium-3 is the most durable and powerful energy source in existence, so the name "Eternal" was hardly an exaggeration. With Sunshine Group focusing on digital technology and Eternal Group on industrial tech—plus my own "Judgment" organization still in its infancy—in the foreseeable future, I would become a figure who would make the entire nation of China tremble. The extraction of Helium-3 was undoubtedly the cornerstone of Eternal Group; if we couldn't extract it, the company could never be born. Since that night, I had tasked Xiao Kai with focusing on Helium-3 extraction equipment, and with the help of extraterrestrial technology, I trusted the blueprints would be ready within a week. Constructing such a massive device would require strenuous work from myself and my androids, Unit 1 and Unit 2; after all, such core high-tech secrets could not be left to outsiders. That was precisely why I had built the robots in the first place.

Lost in thought while admiring the beautiful night, I unknowingly wandered into a less populated area. The cold wind didn't bother me; thanks to the Ziyang Divine Art within me, my body temperature remained in perfect equilibrium, and I barely felt a trace of the chill. Perhaps this was one of the benefits of practicing internal martial arts.

Walking along the street, a sudden, inexplicable feeling washed over me. In just over two months, everything had developed so rapidly—so fast that even I felt overwhelmed. I had become more mature; I was no longer the blind, arrogant fool I had been after my rebirth. I now understood that success in this world was no simple feat. I realized why my past life had ended in such a miserable failure: I had been driven by a blind pursuit of wealth, not realizing that money wasn't everything. It was that very obsession that had made my previous existence so pathetic.

"Ah, the me of the past failed, but in this life, I must live brilliantly." I clenched my fist, silently encouraging myself. Just then, a sudden, inexplicable sense of crisis struck me! Instinctively, I jerked my head to the side, and a cold glint whistled past my face like a shooting star!

"Sshhh..." A faint sound of friction grazed my cheek, and a bead of blood slowly welled up from the skin. A cold sweat broke out on my back. That was close! If my sixth sense hadn't warned me, that hidden weapon would have taken my life. In the split second of my reaction, I dove behind a wall.

"Swish, swish, swish!" Sure enough, the attacker fired three more unknown projectiles, all embedding themselves into the wall. This time, I saw clearly—they were thin needles shimmering with silver light! If I had been hit, there would be these razor-thin steel needles lodged in my skull right now!

Who was it? Who was following me? Who wanted me dead? I had no enemies in C City other than Xia Guomin and Xia Fugui. And for someone to use such advanced assassination techniques while remaining completely undetected by me, they had to be a martial arts expert! There was no way those two could know such a person. Could it be... could this be a killer sent by Song Jie? The more I thought about it, the more likely it seemed. But now that I was on guard, the assassin’s mission was effectively a failure. With my reflexes, it would be nearly impossible for these needles to strike me again. My priority now was to capture the attacker. This person had made me feel, for the first time since my rebirth, just how close death could be.

"Hoo..." In an instant, I moved with high speed, the sound of air whistling in my ears. A silver light appeared in the distance, and this time, I hurled a piece of broken glass I’d snatched from the ground directly at the darkness where the assassin was hiding.

"Ding." A crisp sound rang out as I blocked with a piece of wood I held in front of me, while the glass shard in my other hand sliced through the air into the darkness behind.

After a few more dodges, the assassin stopped firing, likely wounded by my glass shard. For safety's sake, I didn't play the fool by charging in. We remained in a standoff, both waiting for an opening to take the other down.

"Damn that Song Jie, where did he find such a lethal assassin?" I cursed while wiping the blood from my cheek. This person was clever—knowing I wore the Photonic Armor, they had aimed for my head. The armor could withstand three bullet strikes, making steel needles trivial, but it couldn't protect my head. One direct hit there, and not even a god could save me.

I began to test the waters, darting from one corner to another. I wanted to force them to move; only then could I pinpoint their exact location. Though the glass shards were no match for professional weapons, with my strength, they would be enough to strike true.

The street was deserted. I regretted taking this route; I had grown too comfortable, forgetting that Song Jie would never let things go. I hadn't expected such a swift retaliation. What a petty, vindictive brat.

"I can't go on like this. They are in the dark, and I am in the light. How long can this last?" I realized that delay was only to my disadvantage. I hatched a plan, gritted my teeth, and, clutching a piece of glass, lunged out from behind the wall.

"Whoosh..." At that exact moment, another steel needle whistled toward me. A smile touched my lips. I intentionally stood tall, charging straight into the path of the needle, allowing it to strike exactly where its master intended!

"Thump..." Hit by the needle, I collapsed heavily to the ground, falling instantly unconscious. By all logic, the force of such a needle, capable of piercing three inches into a wall, would be fatal to a mere mortal.

Everything around me fell into a terrifying silence.