Chapter 3539

As the only adult among this group of teenagers, Bruce Brown was now furious.

In the past eighteen years, he had never endured such intense humiliation—not only in broad daylight, but also in front of his own underlings, making him feel that the ruthless image he had painstakingly cultivated and his standing in the martial world were instantly destroyed.

Anger had already made him lose his rationality.

He refused to believe, refused to believe that the man before him was truly this strong—strong to the point that he could not budge him in the slightest.

It must be that he had not used enough force; it must be that his heart was not ruthless enough!

Thinking this, he gritted his teeth tightly, exerted all his strength, and swung the baseball bat again, aiming for Ye Chen's head.

This time, Bruce Brown had already harbored murderous intent toward Ye Chen.

He did not want to consider what consequences swinging this bat down would bring; he only wanted to give his extreme inner anger an outlet, so that his damaged image could be restored.

The other kids nearby were already stunned, because everyone had played baseball and knew how damaging a baseball bat could be, and they could clearly see that if Bruce Brown's swing truly landed on a normal person's head, it would definitely smash his skull open, even splatter his brains.

Even if one tried to block it with a hand, it would likely be more than just a fracture—it could very well smash the entire palm and arm into a pulp.

The baseball bat swung with immense force and a howling wind, straight for Ye Chen's head; the two younger kids dared not open their eyes to watch, their hearts already filled with panic, for they feared causing a loss of life.

Although he had previously been taken to the police station several times without receiving any real punishment, once involved in a case concerning human life, his parents would probably not let him off easily either.

Yet what no one expected was that Ye Chen merely lifted his hand lightly and once again firmly gripped the baseball bat—even though the bat's tip was now less than half a centimeter from Ye Chen's forehead, the bat still could not harm him in the slightest.

Bruce Brown could not understand.

Even though his arms ached as if they were about to break, he did not bother to shout, merely staring at Ye Chen like one would stare at an alien, his entire being now in a dazed and confused state.

Ye Chen then handed the baseball bat back to Bruce Brown, his gaze fixed on him, and spoke coldly, word by word: "From now on, do not bully those defenseless honest people again. You must forever remember the state of anger you were just in, remember that reckless, consequence-ignoring mindset. From today onward, you must apply that state and mindset to deal with the worst, most ruthless, most deserving-of-death people in this city. Only then can you replace them. Do you understand?"

As he spoke, Ye Chen mixed spiritual energy into his voice, delivering a strong psychological suggestion to Bruce Brown.

Ye Chen's psychological suggestion was like using spiritual energy to brand a mark deep into the soul—something he would never notice in his lifetime, and never be able to rid himself of.

And the reason Ye Chen gave him such a psychological suggestion was to punish his actions with an old saying from the Huaxia Laozu Sect: "Evil people will always be ground down by other evil people."

Bruce Brown's kind of teenager has no goodwill deep in his soul; he is no different from those teenagers who, in their early teens, incite other kids to jump from buildings or deceive children under ten into their homes to kill them—he is a natural-born bad seed.

The fact that he had already developed murderous intent toward himself without Ye Chen's psychological suggestion proves that this person is already evil to the marrow, beyond redemption.

The reason he has not killed anyone so far is not because he is not evil enough, but because he has not yet encountered something that would trigger his murderous intent; once he does, he will hesitate not at all to strike with lethal force.

Letting such a person return to society is a tremendous threat to society, but Ye Chen considers himself a true gentleman and does not wish to, nor does he deign to, lay a hand on such a greenhorn.

Giving him a psychological suggestion can, on one hand, prevent him from recklessly bullying honest people again, and on the other hand, enable him to voluntarily choose to oppose evil people.

If he punishes other evil people, it counts as merit offsetting his sins; if he is punished by other evil people, then he deserves his misfortune—either way, it is a good thing.

And the reason Ye Chen repeatedly provokes him with words and actions is to make him personally experience that hysterical state; if he has never entered or experienced that state, mere psychological suggestion would be useless.

But my previous layered, progressive provocations have already allowed him to precisely experience that feeling of wanting to put someone to death; at this moment, pairing it with the psychological suggestion to oppose the worst, most ruthless, most deserving-of-death people will enable him to immediately find that state.

As expected, Bruce Brown's eyes are now bloodshot and reddened, his fists clenched so tightly that veins bulge from his arms to his neck to his forehead.

He gritted his teeth hard and said with killing intent: "I understand!"

Ye Chen then turned and pointed at Bruce Brown, asking the kids: "Is he your boss?"

Several of them nodded, somewhat flustered.

Ye Chen said satisfied: "Good, you must remember: on one hand, you must obey your boss's words and follow his commands; on the other hand, you must learn from your boss, take him as your role model. Understand?"

Several of them immediately sprang up with spirit and shouted loudly: "We understand!"

Ye Chen smiled and nodded: "Good, finally, you all remember for me: we have never met before; in five minutes, Bruce Brown will begin to think, who is the worst, most ruthless person in this neighborhood, and then act on it. Got it?"

Bruce Brown, leading his gang of little brothers, shouted loudly: "Got it!"

Ye Chen smiled, said nothing more, and turned to leave.

After Ye Chen returned to the car, these youngsters were still standing there, dazed.

Hong Wu and Chen Zekai saw him return, their expressions all puzzled; Hong Wu, being impatient, could not help but ask: "Master Ye, that dogshit bastard swung a baseball bat at you so many times—why didn't you beat him? He should already be over eighteen, right?"

Ye Chen smiled and said: "Even if he is over eighteen, he is still just a greenhorn. Fighting him—let alone saying that a little force could kill him—this matter alone would lower my Ye Chen's standing. Just wait and see; someone will properly deal with him for the victims."

The psychological suggestion Ye Chen gave Bruce Brown is an endless path of leveling up and slaying monsters.

Even if he wins a few battles, establishes and raises his status in this area, stronger targets will still appear later—so this is like forcing Bruce Brown into a gamble where he can only go all-in once; he might win a few rounds, but he cannot keep winning forever, and moreover, he can only lose once.