Chapter 51: Speed

The patrol officers stared at the completely sealed underground passage, momentarily stunned, then each team leader turned pale.

“This…!”

“Bad! Why did Team Leader Lin go in alone?!”

“What’s going on? Team Leader Lin…?”

“Alert rescue immediately!”

Earlier intelligence had warned that the armed forces beneath the Yanhong Society’s underground arena were extremely strong; anyone daring to force entry, even at captain level, would likely face grave danger.

Reports claimed dozens of highly trained archers, a group of brutal, battle-hardened fist fighters, and even a "Master" whose strength approached captain level and who had mastered combat techniques! Such a den of vipers—even a captain-level fighter entering alone was an act of extreme recklessness.

Too reckless.

“Don’t panic. Team Leader Lin excels in speed—he still has a chance.”

Xiao Pei frowned and said sternly: “Notify the branch immediately. Send specialists to breach the door—fastest possible!”

Inside, he sneered.

“Youngsters are so bold—daring to charge in like that? If you want to die, no one can stop you. But to grow arrogant just because you’ve mastered two combat techniques? Perfect. You kill yourself, and I’m rid of a threat…”

Xiao Pei knew full well how powerful the armed forces beneath the Yanhong Society’s underground arena truly were.

Moreover, Zhou Yang, as one of Yanhong Society’s managers, was herself extremely formidable—though not his equal, she still possessed captain-level strength!

By the time this thick metal plate was breached, Lin Qing might already be dead! “Hurry!”

The patrol officers immediately began urgently calling for backup.

Zhao Jiayi glanced at the floor and muttered under her breath: “This shabby little arena actually has Star Wisdom’s Hyper-Sense serum? Lucky bastard…”

…

In the blink of an eye, Lin Qing had raced through the long staircase passage like a gust of wind and entered an empty rest room.

Instantly, he halted his motion.

Behind him, the heavy metal plate sealed shut with a clang.

Lin Qing swiftly scanned the rest room, his right hand simultaneously drawing a lightweight yet sturdy telescopic baton from his waist.

The enemy surely hadn’t expected him to charge straight down—they hadn’t had time to deploy here.

Besides, his escape route was cut off; the enemy could now lock the door and… damn it.

“Still…”

Lin Qing felt something odd: “Why did I just instinctively suspect this underground arena held what I needed?”

With his current strength, he had no fear of the armed forces in this one underground arena, and Chu Tianyao was already occupied—he had nothing left to dread.

He’d originally intended to follow the patrol team and just claim a share of the credit.

But he was genuinely curious—what exactly in this underground arena was so vital to him? There was no real danger, just the risk of exposing most of his strength.

“Can intuition really be this strong?”

Lin Qing narrowed his eyes slightly. “Is this even intuition…?”

But now wasn’t the time to ponder this. He’d ask the Chief after he got out.

At that moment—

【Current Order Level decreased by 0.5】

【Current Order Level decreased by 0.6】

The rest room’s door hadn’t opened, yet two lines of blood-red text suddenly appeared before Lin Qing’s eyes. “Oh?”

Lin Qing raised an eyebrow. “This underground arena really has some power…”

The degree of Order Level drop represented the theoretical maximum threat—or danger level—he could face.

But it was only theoretical—for example, when he slept, unable to dodge or counter, he couldn’t respond to danger at all.

A normal person trying to kill him would only drop his Order Level by 0.1.

A professional assassin from the Dark Star Guild, fully equipped, could only manage 0.3.

Each 0.1 increase meant exponential growth in threat.

0.5, 0.6—this was already very high.

Still, nowhere near Chu Tianyao’s absurd level, which eased his mind somewhat.

“The Master of the Yanhong Society’s underground arena?”

In an instant, Lin Qing had his guess.

And he hadn’t even seen the person yet—yet they’d already generated a clear threat.

“Surveillance?”

Lin Qing’s gaze swept the room and immediately spotted the surveillance cameras—one lens, deep and unblinking, locked onto his own.

…

Inside the underground arena’s surveillance room.

A sultry woman in a vintage black silk qipao embroidered with gold thread stared coldly at the monitor showing the young patrol officer who had suddenly burst from the secret passage. Behind her stood a middle-aged man with a chilling aura, watching the screen and smirking.

“Sister Yang, this is the new patrol officer you mentioned? So impulsive?”

The chilling middle-aged man clicked his tongue. “The patrol system must be desperate—using raw recruits like this?”

“He’s eighteen.”

Sister Yang, holding a jade pipe, said coldly: “Zhang Zhu, go down and assist the archers in killing him. Once Kangaroo has destroyed all surveillance and data, evacuate immediately—leave behind a few men. Otherwise, this patrol won’t get any credit, and Xiao Pei will come under suspicion.”

“This loss is too great…” Zhang Zhu narrowed his eyes.

Sister Yang’s expression remained calm: “It’s still salvageable, as long as… hmm?”

Her words cut off as her gaze changed.

…

“BANG!!”

Lin Qing suddenly kicked the rest room door—both panels slammed open violently, revealing everything beyond.

In that instant, time seemed to freeze.

Lin Qing’s gaze swept the scene outside the door, imprinting every detail into his mind.

—This should be the arena interior, like a stadium; beyond the rest room door lay the fighting platform, commentary seats, spectator stands…

—Thirty meters outside the door, on the platform, ten archers stood in two rows: the front row crouched, the rear standing, each holding super-hunting compound bows…

—From the shadows cast by the spectator stands on either side of the door, more archers were clearly hidden among the crowd…

In an instant, Lin Qing had assessed the situation.

Simultaneously—

【Current Order Level decreased by 0.2】

【Current Order Level decreased by 0.2】

【Current Order Level decreased by 0.2】

…

A string of blood-red prompts flashed before Lin Qing’s eyes.

At the moment he opened the door, his Order Level plunged into negative territory—in theory, if he stood still, these archers could kill him many times over.

But it was only theoretical.

“Shhhhh—!!”

The arena’s archers reacted swiftly—upon the door’s opening, they released their arrows without hesitation.

Dozens of arrows, each traveling faster than 180 meters per second, shot into the rest room in unison!

Yet—

“Ding ding ding ding—!!”

Lin Qing vanished from his spot; amid a rapid succession of clashing sounds, the high-speed arrows exploded outward, scattering everywhere.

The first volley of ten arrows, dense as rain, didn’t strike a single target.

“Huh?”

“Where’d he go?!”

“What just happened?!”

“Impossible…”

The archers on the platform froze.

In their eyes, the target had merely flickered into a blurred afterimage—before they could make sense of it, every arrow had been flung away, and the blur had reappeared not far below the platform.

“What kind of speed is this?!”

At that moment, the archers on the platform were stunned.

Too fast!!

Even the arena’s Master, who could knock out a champion with a single strike, was nowhere near this fast!

“Swoosh!”

Before the archers could draw another arrow, the blurred afterimage leapt onto the platform!

Then it became a ghostly trail, darting swiftly through the archers like a shadow.

A streak of terrifyingly fast baton-shadow struck repeatedly atop each archer’s head.

“Bang Bang Bang!!”

Ten sharp, crisp strikes rang out on the platform in rapid succession.

Each archer struck on the head showed no blood, no skull fracture—but collapsed instantly, never rising again.

If their skulls were opened, it would be found that the brains of these people had almost all been shattered into pulp by invisible force! (End of chapter)