Just a few days ago, he had still been a living, breathing man — and now he was dead, right in front of Su Jie.

Su Jie had rarely seen a dead person. Even in this war-torn land, although he had encountered stray bullets, gunfire, and grenade explosions, he hadn’t actually witnessed death. Overall, order here was gradually being restored.

But Daru’s death chilled him to the bone — the shadow of death could descend at any moment.

He lifted the white sheet and saw that Daru’s body was battered beyond recognition, like a sandbag beaten hundreds of times. Most horrifying was the caved-in section of his forehead — the imprint of a fist was clearly visible, the skull shattered by sheer force.

Just how much power did that fist contain to inflict such devastation?

Staring at the fist mark, Su Jie suddenly remembered someone.

“Feng Hengyi?”

He had fought Feng Hengyi before. Even though the man had been wearing gloves and had finished Su Jie in two punches, Su Jie still remembered vividly the size of his bare fists afterwards. They matched perfectly with the injuries before him.

“Could it be that Daru was killed by Feng Hengyi?”

Su Jie knew Daru was even stronger in a death match than he himself. To kill him and walk away unscathed, only a top-tier expert could manage it.

That meant only Feng Hengyi.

Such a man must have been subjected to the highest forms of prenatal and postnatal training, drilled relentlessly from the womb to adulthood. What a terrifying thought.

Su Jie, by contrast, had only trained under Typhon Training Camp’s strongest instructor, Odell, for one month. Adding his own self-discipline and hard work, he had managed to reach his current level in under a year.

But if he had enjoyed the same conditions as Feng Hengyi, with training beginning even before birth — he couldn’t imagine what level he’d be at now.

Su Jie and Masters Ma and Luo had studied fetal development extensively.

Data showed that when a mother’s nutrition is optimized during pregnancy, combined with targeted regimens to nourish, protect, and strengthen the fetus, the child’s physical foundation could be vastly improved.

This was what people called an “innate foundation.”

How to ensure a baby was born strong and healthy was a deep field of knowledge.

And research also showed that babies with prenatal training were significantly stronger than their peers throughout life. Mainstream institutions had not studied this in depth — but Typhon Training Camp had.

Su Jie knew his own physique wasn’t particularly strong. First, he missed the prenatal stage; second, he missed training during the tooth-changing stage at age seven. Only in the third stage, at sixteen, when he was still growing, had he encountered Odell — barely catching the last train.

Feng Hengyi had completed every stage.

Even now, Su Jie felt that against Feng Hengyi, he had no chance.

“You seem to have figured something out?” Zhang Manman leaned in to whisper.

“Likely Feng Hengyi.” Su Jie nodded.

“General, several more of our officers have been killed.” At that moment, several vehicles pulled up. Intelligence officers got out, handed over a tablet, and played a video.

Several officers were patrolling a rural town with their men.

The town was untouched by war, bustling with people and markets. The officers moved with soldiers guarding them, so no one could get too close.

Then suddenly, one officer seemed to suffer a seizure, collapsed slowly, and lay still.

No one had touched him. No gunfire. No wounds.

He simply died.

Moments later, more officers fell the same way.

The scene was chaos.

The video replayed the moment again and again.

Su Jie and the others watched. His intuition told him these officers were murdered, but how, he couldn’t discern.

“It must be a blowpipe dart coated with neurotoxin,” Zhang Jinchuan explained. “A trace amount piercing the skin, contacting bodily fluids, paralyzes the nervous system instantly. Within seconds, the paralysis spreads throughout the body. They can’t even speak — and then the heart stops. If I’m not mistaken, the killer was that old peddler. In truth, he’s disguised — likely a young man pretending to be elderly. When he covered his mouth and coughed, he fired the dart.”

Indeed, in the video, an inconspicuous old man was hunched at his stall. At one moment, he coughed into his hand — and at a distance, an officer froze and fell.

After coughing a few more times, the old man vanished.

Now Su Jie saw it too.

But he couldn’t tell it was a disguise.

Modern prosthetics and makeup could transform someone into an entirely different person, even with polymer masks — like the “Painted Skin” of old ghost tales. Such techniques were used in big-budget films, though expensive.

“A blowpipe dart—impossible to guard against.” Su Jie grew wary. He remembered Huang Dingyi saying that Typhon trainees could assassinate from afar in ways even coroners couldn’t detect — usually with blowpipes.

Silent, swift, effective. With special crafting, range and accuracy improved too.

With his lung capacity, Su Jie could fire such a dart far and fast — impossible to dodge. If tipped with poison, it was unstoppable.

But this wasn’t martial skill — it was assassination. Ordinary people could learn it with practice.

This killer’s movements were so natural that even Su Jie missed them at first. His disguise and sleight of hand were flawless.

Not once did Su Jie spot the blowpipe itself.

Against such assassins, his martial prowess felt fragile. Iron-body training could resist fists and kicks, but not nerve toxins, nor even a small blade — let alone a tiny needle.

“We need to leave here quickly,” Zhang Manman said. “Clearly this mysterious evil force is retaliating with murders. We’re flesh and blood — we can’t defend against it.”

“I agree,” Zhang Jinchuan said. “Against such a vast dark force, we have no chance. The more chaotic the region, the stronger they are. Back home, they can’t penetrate as easily.”

At home, national security bore the burden.

Su Jie realized the truth: domestically was like a “safe zone” in a game — untouchable.

But here, offending a powerful family like the Fengs could mean instant disappearance.

Back home, even the Fengs would find it hard to eliminate him physically.

And in this war-torn land, he also realized he wasn’t as strong as he thought. A few soldiers with rifles could mow him down in seconds. This content belongs to novel✦fire.net

“Let’s return,” General Awasi said grimly, ordering his troops to withdraw.

Su Jie and the others said their goodbyes to Gale.

Though Gale was reluctant, he didn’t press them to stay.

“When I have time, I’ll go to China to study,” Gale said bluntly. “But since you’re leaving, I’ll send escorts. Things are chaotic now, and I suspect those people may target you too.”

“We’ll handle it. But be careful,” Su Jie patted Gale’s shoulder. “Don’t go out these days — assassins like these are impossible to guard against.”

“I understand.” Gale nodded, then hurried off with Awasi to crack down internally, bolster defenses, and hunt assassins. They no longer had the capacity to protect Su Jie’s group.

The three of them drove their van back to their compound.

“Tomorrow we leave,” Zhang Manman told Uncle Xi and the others. “Stay behind for backup. What’s the situation with the Xu family?”

“Here’s the news I just got.” Uncle Mang handed over his phone. Even though the signal was poor, he had downloaded relevant reports.

Su Jie scanned through the domestic news:

“The Xu family’s goods passed inspection with no contraband. Customs cleared them for on-time delivery. Contracts signed with local authorities — expected to greatly increase annual foreign trade profits. Stock price of their listed company is rising.”

“The Xu clan, together with several major groups, reported Haoyu Group for malicious acquisition and monopoly.”

“Authorities launched investigations into Haoyu. The company claimed it was only normal investment, no hostile takeover, and said they welcomed joint development.”

“After investigation, Haoyu was found guilty of malicious acquisition and monopolistic practices. Heavily fined. Main executives banned from securities markets for three years…”

Su Jie studied the reports carefully.

As expected, though Xu Qiaomu was old and frail, once he caught his breath his counterattack was ruthless.

“Haoyu really took a heavy loss,” Zhang Jinchuan mused. “Interesting. Xu Qiaomu truly is a wily old fox. Even Haoyu can’t swallow him whole.”

“Not so simple,” Zhang Manman said. “If I were Feng Shoucheng, I’d wait until Xu Qiaomu was dead to move. Even if Xu Zhijie inherited, he wouldn’t have the clout to rally so many big names to his side. These tycoons respect Xu Qiaomu personally, not Xu Zhijie.”

“In truth, the turning point here was us,” Zhang Jinchuan added. “We played one move — and the whole board lit up.”

“That’s one way to see it,” Su Jie said. “But ultimately, it’s the strength of the nation that matters. Awasi treated us fairly because of that. Otherwise, he wouldn’t hesitate. As for Feng Hengyi—killing Daru, then assassinating officers as a warning—we’d better come up with a plan. Otherwise, we’ll be next.”

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep