Chapter 37: Save the Little Soldier Chi Tong

“You’ve made your decision, haven’t you?”

Jia Ji sat cross-legged before the group of Orberg assassins, his gaze as stern as an interviewer’s, scanning each one in turn.

Pfft.

Someone couldn’t suppress a stifled laugh.

“Hmm?”

His hawk-like eyes precisely caught the fleeting curve on a face—he lunged forward, seizing Chelsea, whose attempt to hide her expression had failed.

“It was you, wasn’t it!”

Before he could finish speaking, another laugh erupted beside him.

“Hah! No… hah, I can’t hold it in anymore!”

Miko joined in.

Like flipping a switch, laughter rose in waves—it wasn’t their fault; Jia Ji’s current appearance was inherently comedic.

His head was wrapped in layer upon layer of bandages, forming a lopsided rice ball; several stubborn strands of black hair stood upright through the white cloth, faintly revealing the bruised, swollen face beneath.

Damn it—if he hadn’t crossed the Sun-Moon Marsh yesterday and collided with some blind-eyed danger species halfway, he never would’ve been caught so easily by Esdes!

“Fine, laugh if you want.”

Jia Ji slumped back into the chair behind him, like a Saiyan captured by Sea-Stone, utterly resigned.

“Ha… cough, we accept your demands.”

Melard, the fang of Death Orberg and an assassin of the Shadow Blades, chose to place her organization under the command of this unknown boy.

Keep your name, keep your lives, no restrictions on taking contracts—only you must kill when required, and you cannot refuse.

Such lenient terms were no different from directly assigning them missions—why bother coming here and beating everyone senseless?

Of course, she didn’t know that “beating everyone senseless” had been their original goal—until they changed their minds.

As a woman, her sixth sense told her that if these two were involved, they truly could change the world—they had the ability and the will to realize their mad boast of ruling it.

And all five of them felt unmistakably: if they refused, they would suffer something far worse than death.

【Great Divine Moe: Too bad, the 3000x Pain Sensitivity Enhancement Acupoint can’t be tested】

【Yin-Yang Eye Jianzi: This kind of thing should never be tested!】

【Forever Seventeen: Oh, I’ve got a decent target here—when should we try it?】

【Great Divine Moe: By the way, how much vacation do you have left, @Ice Queen】

【Ice Queen: Uh… we’re sitting face to face right now—do we really need to chat in the group? …About a week left, but no one will care if I return late.】

Jia Ji knew it wasn’t that no one objected—it was that anyone who did would be eliminated by Esdes.

“Good. Then we still have time.” Jia Ji sat up straight and gave orders to the assassins cowed by Esdes’s might: “Your first mission: go to Longxi Mountain. There should be an Empire assassin training center there.”

Yes—he was going to save Chi Tong, the twelve-year-old girl!

“That place is tough—Barbara and Chelsea come with me… and take Miko too.”

“What about me?”

Esdes sharply noticed her name wasn’t among those chosen.

“You, Melard, Daniel, and others have another destination—the Empire’s Drug Assassination Unit base. That place needs someone with cleaner hands, someone better at eliminating traces.”

“Little Es, only you can handle this!”

“Hmph. Since you put it that way, leave it to me.”

The girl nodded, pleased—even though she knew he said it just to push her toward the other mission, it was rare for this unserious man to praise her.

There was a reason he had to go to Longxi Mountain himself—the former Hell Temple’s Rakshasa Ghost, “Gozki.”

He didn’t want Esdes to go because of this man—he was not only an expert in body-modification arts but also an Imperial Tool user.

He was the current wielder of “One Strike, One Kill: Murasame.”

This blade-type Imperial Tool infused poison into every wound it inflicted—no antidote existed, and victims died instantly… the very reason Esdes would die in the future.

So rather than risk Esdes facing a threat that could kill her, Jia Ji chose to go himself—he knew the plot and the man’s personality.

He possessed body-guarding battle qi, greatly increasing his margin for error, and was also the inheritor of Assassination Fist—under the element of surprise, he could minimize the risk.

After all, both main and spin-off stories are known as “Slaying Sisters”—sending Esdes there would be like planting a flag.

“There should be a little girl named Heitong in the Drug Enhancement Unit—don’t accidentally kill her… and search the labs thoroughly; the drugs inside are invaluable.”

Jia Ji closed his eyes and exhaled slowly. He didn’t know if splitting his forces was right—but it was the best he could do, given the plot’s trajectory.

As children, Chi Tong and her sister Heitong had been abandoned on the streets, bought by the Empire’s agency, and raised as “birds” to harvest the Rebellion Seed—becoming imperial assassins.

Though both sisters passed the brutal elite selection of the Shadow Division, blood relatives were forbidden in elite squads—so Heitong was taken from Chi Tong.

Chi Tong entered the Shadow Division’s Elite Decapitation Unit, trained by the head of the Empire’s Assassination Force, “Gozki,” alongside six other children, raised as his “children” in assassination and “loyalty!” indoctrination.

Heitong didn’t make the elite seven; instead, she joined the Empire’s Drug Enhancement Unit with others, injected with addictive drugs that forcibly boosted abilities, drastically shortening her lifespan and causing numerous side effects.

Four years remained until the plot began—neither their beliefs nor the drugs had yet reached irreversible stages.

But the two departments were connected; acting against only one would alert the other—like warning a snake, making future action far harder.

So they had to strike both simultaneously, catching them off guard.

“I told you, arriving early has its advantages.”

Save Chi Tong, save Heitong, save Night Raid, save the Hunters—I’m saving everything!

As long as he was here, no one in this world was beyond saving!

“Good!”

Jia Ji opened his eyes, a flash of brilliance—then strode forward, leading the group.

This blade must be secured!

The first step toward changing this world’s tragedy begins now.

“One-Kong Output Activated!”

ps: The acupoint “from neck down to fütū” is said to cause pain identical to Xin Xue Chou.

An acupoint that inflicts unimaginable pain. Ken Shi Lang used it against Dagaul, subjecting Lei to the same agony as Xin Xue Chou.

“Three thousand times” is figurative—no one knows the exact multiplier; perhaps the Demon Ninja might know.

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(End of Chapter)