Chapter 453: A Hair's Breadth Apart

Zelk's parents were both from the Eastern lands; from a young age he had grown accustomed to the food and customs of the Eastern lands, and so, over these years, Zelk set aside half an hour every morning to cultivate.

And this cultivation was something very few people knew about.

This Zelk was indeed formidable enough — after cultivating for so many years, he had already reached the peak of Upper Ninja, only a hair's breadth away from that legendary realm.

This hair's breadth, for ordinary martial arts masters, could be said to be harder than ascending to the heavens; indeed, some people spent their entire lives unable to break through, let alone take that final step.

Along the way, Zelk often suffered all manner of attacks, yet every time he managed to withdraw unscathed — a fact that made people marvel at his extraordinary ninjutsu skill.

Not only in the Eastern lands, but in America as well, Zelk's fearsome reputation was extremely well known; many wealthy tycoons believed that, in this world, there were very few experts who could defeat Zelk.

However, during one mission, Zelk suffered heavy injuries and fell into a coma for over two months; during that period, after he woke, his strength had greatly regressed, which brought Zelk no small amount of trouble.

Over the past two years, he had been both recuperating and searching for a powerful method to restore his strength.

And that injury back then was the very thing that drove him onto this dangerous and arduous path.

In Zelk's view, that matter had to be settled.

Otherwise, his conscience would never be at peace.

Zelk's figure had already vanished around the corner of the stairwell, his heart heavy with a crushing sense of oppression.

"All these years, Zelk has been secretly protecting me, never mentioning it to anyone…" Kuchiki Senya shook his head: "He really is a foolish child."

"Zelk, I hope we can meet tonight, share a drink, and chat for a while." He smiled, a blade-like glint seeming to flash in his eyes: "You should still remember — back when I was in Huaxia, this was the perfume I used."

Zelk did not know exactly what the Huaxia words Kuchiki Senya had spoken meant, but he could tell that his boss's mood did not seem all that bad.

…………

On the streets of Seattle in North America, two cars were speeding along, leaving clear tracks in their wake.

"We've been tailing them for two days straight — these two girls can't have gotten far, we have to take them down fast!" said the man in the driver's seat.

He wore sunglasses and was dressed all in black, his entire person exuding a gloomy, somber air.

His companion in the passenger seat said: "These two Misses are quite pretty — once we grab them this time, why not sell them to those wealthy merchants in the Eastern lands? We'd definitely make a fat stack."

"…Heh, these two girls really have rotten luck. This mission was originally to wipe out a mercenary band — who would've thought they'd run right into the line of fire? The payoff is way bigger than wiping out a few hundred mercenaries." The fellow in the front cackled, looking extremely excited.

"Old rules — take a turn first, then finish them off." The fellow in the back seat added.

They were two men from a mercenary band from some country in South America, and their usual line of work was violent crimes like kidnapping and extortion.

However, just as the two of them were chatting about the enormous fortune they were about to make, suddenly, two beams of light shone over.

On the windows of both cars, a large hole appeared.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Three muffled cracks in quick succession!

Three bullets passed through the car windows with pinpoint accuracy and drilled into the head of the driver in the front!

Blood mingled with brain matter as it sprayed out!

The fellow in the back seat was so terrified his whole body went rigid, his face written full of horror!

"The enemy is here!" he shouted!

Then Wo.