Chapter 753 - 702
Ever since the trip to Japan, Hua Xiaotian had never doubted Qin Fan’s formidable power. But for him to be so strong as to make both Earl Geman and the Wolf King vanish without a trace—the word ’shocked’ was no longer sufficient to describe his state of mind. Like most people, he had originally assumed Qin Fan would not escape his fate, as he was facing two of the four titans of the Dark World.
Across the entire globe, not even the four God Realm old powerhouses under his master, Demi Immortal Qilian, could have easily contended with them. And that was before considering that the Wolf King and Geman were joining forces! Yet now, Qin Fan had charged into the Dragon Pond alone, made the Wolf King and Geman disappear, and then calmly reappeared at the airport to board a flight home. If not for the precise intelligence from the airline, Hua Xiaotian would never have dared to believe it was true.
In contrast to Hua Xiaotian’s shock, Wang Anshi and the others felt fear—an unprecedented fear.
"Master Hua, what do you mean by ’vanished into thin air’?" Wang Anshi’s voice trembled, his expression utterly grim as he spoke. He knew all too well what those words implied; he was merely hoping, through self-deception, that it wasn’t the truth.
"Barring any surprises, the Wolf King and Geman are already dead! They died at Qin Fan’s hands!" Hua Xiaotian’s facial muscles twitched. He paused for a moment before finally letting the words out.
CLANK!
CLANK!
CLANK!
As his words fell, a series of clanks rang out. It was the Forbidden City elders, swaying so unsteadily they bumped into their chairs.
"Aren’t the Wolf King and the Vampire titans of the Dark World? How could they... How could they fail to even subdue Qin Fan?" one of the elders blurted out, his mind thrown into chaos by the overwhelming shock and fear.
"Yes, the Wolf King and the Vampire are strong! Strong enough to kill me in a second! So strong that, looking across the entire Huaxia Martial Arts World, I can think of no one who could stand against them! And when they joined forces, even a God Realm master could have perished! As for why they fell at Qin Fan’s hands, I can only say that there is always a higher mountain. We underestimated Qin Fan, grossly and ignorantly so! Myself included. I always thought I had some insight into his strength, but I see now that it was just the tip of the iceberg! We were wrong. Terribly wrong!"
By the end of his speech, Hua Xiaotian himself had begun to tremble. It was a clear sign of his panic and fear. When he said "terribly wrong," he was referring to their decision to leak the secret of Qin Fan’s Green Light. They had thought it would increase the chances of the Werewolves and Vampires succeeding in their hunt. But in their conceited ignorance, they had only lifted a rock to drop it on their own feet.
"What should we do now?" Wang Anshi’s hands, resting on the conference table, were visibly shaking as a rare panic spread across his face.
"Back in Japan, Qin Fan took me from the surface of the sea all the way back to Huaxia in less than an hour, walking on waves! Yet now, he has chosen to take a flight openly. This can only mean he knows I betrayed him. He knows the secret of his Green Light was spread through me! By traveling without concealing his identity, he is making a show of force—a demonstration aimed at the entire Forbidden City! If we handle this matter poorly, the endless repercussions could spiral into a disaster! We originally wanted him to account for the Jinling Mansion incident, but now it seems that if we don’t give him an explanation for leaking the secret of the Green Light, the consequences will be unimaginable!" Helplessness and irony twisted within Hua Xiaotian as he spoke with powerless self-mockery.
"This is a socialist society! Not Qin Fan’s personal society! An explanation? Since when does the Forbidden City need to give an explanation to a commoner? Give in once, and it will happen a second and a third time, until the demands are endless! If that happens, what becomes of the Forbidden City’s authority? Who will respect it then? Master Hua, let him be as strong as he wants; no one in this world is truly invincible. We don’t need to boost his ego at the expense of our own prestige! Even if he were invincible, he’s still a mortal of flesh and blood. Can he withstand a nuclear strike?" Upon hearing Hua Xiaotian’s derisive words, one of the trembling elders slammed his hands on the table and roared. Years of holding a high position allowed him to instantly convert his fear into fury.
"Elder Li, what do you mean?" Startled by the mention of a nuclear strike, Hua Xiaotian flinched, his eyelids twitching uncontrollably as he asked the question.
The other titans seemed to understand Elder Li’s implication. None of them, including Wang Anshi, said a word.
"He wants to flex his power before the Forbidden City, doesn’t he? He wants to flaunt his might by taking a commercial flight, right? If so, this is a perfect opportunity for us! At an altitude of ten thousand meters, a nuclear missile can achieve a precise lock. With one strike, even an Immortal would be reduced to dust! Given the myriad threats he poses, we absolutely cannot allow him to return to Huaxia alive. Absolutely not!" Pounding the conference table again as if to draw courage from the sound, Elder Li roared out his utterly insane proposal. To use a nuclear missile just to eliminate one person—such madness was truly unprecedented!
"I agree with Elder Li’s proposal!"
"I agree as well!"
"It’s the best way!"
"Although it’s an insane, unprecedented act, we must use this chance to cow the Martial Arts World!"
"Be it Qin Fan, Zhang Fan, or Li Fan, under our system, everyone must respect the Forbidden City as supreme. That is the bottom line!"
"If we don’t eliminate Qin Fan, this will set a precedent. Who in the Martial Arts World will ever take the Forbidden City seriously again? Qin Fan must be eliminated!"
One by one, the six elders voiced their agreement with Elder Li. They all seemed resolved to carry out this mad plan that would shock the entire world.
At this, Hua Xiaotian subtly shook his head and sighed. He then turned to Wang Anshi. "Elder Wang, is this what you think too?"
"Master Hua, what do you think?" Wang Anshi countered, his words hinting that he was already leaning toward the plan.
"A commercial airplane carries hundreds of people! Setting aside the foreigners, whom you might manage to pacify, what about our own citizens? Can you give their families an explanation? Aren’t you afraid of chilling the hearts of our people with this act?" His own heart turning to ice, Hua Xiaotian cast aside all restraint and posed the question with mocking sarcasm.
The entire Qin Fan incident was a threat they had imagined from the very beginning. Had Qin Fan, from start to finish, ever committed any heinous act to provoke universal outrage? No! And yet, based on this imagined threat, they were now preparing to sacrifice hundreds of innocent people as collateral damage in a nuclear strike. This could no longer be described as madness. It was sheer lunacy! It was absurd! It was ignorant! When Qin Fan had wreaked havoc in Japan, the Japanese had chosen to grit their teeth and swallow their pride. Yet now, the Forbidden City was planning to use such a method to eliminate him? Besides, was this method even guaranteed to work? After witnessing the disappearance of the Wolf King and Geman, Hua Xiaotian had massive doubts. Taking it ten thousand steps back, what if this insane plan was actually carried out, but it still failed to kill Qin Fan? What would the consequences be then? Hua Xiaotian didn’t dare to imagine it. He didn’t dare to think about it in the slightest.