No Money to Divorce

Following his loud shout, it was like an explosion had been set off in the quiet manor. The sound of glass breaking and heavy things landing on the ground rang out before that voice could finish its sentence.

Adrian took this opportunity to open the door of the parlor room and pulled Zhong Yan to him before giving a short order to his guard, “Go!”

Outside the parlor room, several men wearing anti-detection camouflage uniforms suddenly appeared as if out of thin air in the once empty hall. Some of their bodies were even still covered with leaves and grass. All the windows were broken, so it was not hard to guess where they were hiding, and where they broke in from. All of them were holding knives in their hands that gave off cold glints.

When coming over from the Capital, one would have to go through frequent border checks. It was hard for guns or any other weapons to escape detection. Whether it was a laser gun or a traditional gun, they had sophisticated instruments to detect their traces after use. Then, it would be easy to find any clues afterwards. The only way to avoid detection was to go by the most ancient way: using cold weapons.

Even though the lethality and the attack distance was limited, and it required high technical skill, this was enough. After all, Adrian who had entered the manor through the normal way had already accepted the security check at the entrance. He did not carry any weapons on his body and was truly unarmed at this moment.

All the doors and windows were covered, and the number of people in the parlor room behind them were more than those in the hall. Clearly, they had been preparing to take action in the parlor room.

“Just dodge! Don’t initiate them.”

That was the only thing Adrian could warn Zhong Yan of. He raised his arms and warded off the blows of two of the assassins that had rushed towards him. He swept his eyes through the chaotic scene, and the only peace of mind he could get was the fact that this gang of people were doing just as he guessed: they were all aiming at him. Since his guard was covering his back, he also received their attention, but the heat on him was less than Adrian. Meanwhile, hearing his order, Zhong Yan practically received no attacks at all.

Zhong Yan was an extremely stable man when it came to big matters, and he was never controlled by his emotions. Adrian had always put faith in this point. Take for example, Zhong Yan must be feeling very anxious inside at this moment, but he was still very clear on why Adrian ordered him to do that. He wasn’t good at fighting in the first place. He never learned any of the techniques, and his strength was also lacking. If he ignored all that and tried to help, not only would he be of no deterrence to the assassins, he would even be done in by the assassins for being an obstacle. If that happened, Adrian would even need to spare some effort to save him. So, without a word of discontentment, he retreated to the walls and watched the fight anxiously while also scouting for an escape route.

There was an archway not far from here, and behind it was the dining hall. Zhong Yan found a gap and ran to the dining hall. Fierce fighting was heating up right behind him, and what he saw before him was a luxurious dining table. The long dining table was well-furnished with cutlery on both ends, as well as a wine bucket, and candles at the center. Zhong Yan rushed over without hesitation and pulled out the knives from the two dining sets.

There were two large bright windows in the dining hall that were still intact. This meant that none of the killers broke in through the windows from this room, which also implied that the outside was safe. As long as they escape from these windows, they’ll be able to leave this building that was filled with killing intent and live to see another day. Without even looking at the two windows, Zhong Yan took the knives and ran back to the hall without hesitation.

Since graduating and getting out of the training programs in the Supreme Institution’s military academy that sought to help individuals “break through their limits”, Adrian had indeed been rarely forced to this point in these recent years. He was already wounded, and due to him bearing the brunt of the attacks, his injuries looked to be much more serious than that of his guard’s. His high level of skill in close-quarters-combat enabled him to protect his heart and neck, as well as other vital areas, but his limbs were already bloodied up.

Being unarmed was really too much of a disadvantage. Sometimes when dodging was impossible, he could only block the blows with his body. And, this group of people were well-trained hardened assassins who would rather get hurt themselves than to lose their holds on their weapons and give him the opportunity to grab them.

He can still hold on at this point, but his guard was clearly strained. The longer this went on, the more serious the injuries of his body would become, and the more it would impact him. The battle was already at a deadlock. Adrian swept his eyes over to Zhong Yan who was at the wall. He was obviously staring at him with eyes that seemed to be hinting something. Both his hands were behind his back, and a cold glint could be seen at his back, which helped Adrian understand his intentions immediately.

Another life-threatening slash came. Adrian ducked under it and tumbled over the ground, avoiding another strike in the air. At the same moment when he was getting up, two shining silver tools slid quickly across the ground to him. Nimbly, he intercepted the two knives with each hand and got up to block the next wave of attacks.

Clink!

The sharp clash of two blades rang out within the hall for the first time. The young guard who had become downtrodden suddenly perked up, and looked over subconsciously just to see Adrian getting through the guard of one enemy to get closer to him, and shouting, “Catch!”

A knife came flying over. Adrian helped him stop one of the assassins who tried to intercept them, and the guard successfully caught the knife from the air. With the force of his anger, he thrust the blade down, and the dull dining knife dug straight into the neck of the killer that was temporarily caught under Adrian’s control from his exertions.

At the same time the knife was pulled out, blood spurted out like a waterfall; the first casualty finally emerged within this room.

Adrian had once been the leader of the military academy, but he was not the top of every battle category. However, the biggest contribution to his overall ranking was his solo combat capabilities.

Using only his body as a weapon, he was still able to fight against many other enemies by himself, much less with a blade in his hands now. A single dining knife was able to multiply his lethality considerably. After the first assassin fell, a few others fell into the pits of death under Adrian’s hands in just a few short minutes. No matter how well-trained they were when they were still alive, a dead person could not keep their weapons from being snatched away. Soon after, Adrian and his guard were able to exchange their dull knives to tactical blades. Bloodied blades that were made to kill.

Qu Yongyi who was hiding behind the parlor room door watched as more than half of his men fell and felt the situation had turned for the worse. He shouted loudly, “Forget it! Use it now! It’s better to leave some evidence than to get killed by him here!”

These words woke Adrian up. With his sharp eyes, he was able to see one of the people near him put a hand into the bulging pocket of his combat trousers, and forcefully made a move despite the dangers of leaving his back open to severe the man’s arm with one strike.

That assassin who tried to produce something from his pocket but failed let out a pained cry. Blood poured out of his dismembered arm, and he quickly lost his ability to fight.

“Shut up, you coward!” One amongst the group of assassins shouted out. Qu Yongyi was so scared that he immediately returned to hide in the parlor room and didn’t dare to show his face any longer.

This voice emerged just a while ago. Zhong Yan looked towards the person who spoke. It was Qu Yongyi’s “assistant” from earlier. Of all the assassins in the room, he was the only one not in camouflage, so even if his face was easy to forget, it was hard to lose him. Zhong Yan stared firmly at the man’s face and turned on his terminal in the midst of the flashing blades and flying blood, quickly scrolling through the data in his terminal.

Found it!

“Kohler Lanz!” Zhong Yan yelled out, “Your parents and your wife are now under Bard Pearson’s control, did you know? Once you finish this task and return, he will use your child to force you to commit suicide. Did you know that? The assassin working under you last time, Ang Lake, that was how he killed himself, and his family didn’t receive the compensation Bard Pearson promised at all. Did you realize any of this?!”

The killer named Lanz was extremely determined and unmoved, but some of the assassins amongst them were affected, especially those who knew the man called “Ang Lake”. As soon as they heard that, they couldn’t help but be distracted, but they were stabbed straight through the heart by Adrian’s guard in the next second, thus ending their lives.

“Don’t listen to his nonsense!” Lanz yelled, “Use your emergency weapons!”

Of the few remaining assassins, there were people who immediately took out a small metal spray bottle. This person stood behind Adrian, and this time, he was unable to stop him, and could only hear his guard shouting, “Commander!”

Adrian had just repelled a deadly attack, only to feel himself being pushed fiercely away by someone, landing on the ground. He slid across the smooth ground from the inertia. He watched as his guard took the spray for him, which caused him to stop immediately. Without fighting back, he fell to the ground and started to squirm before his body stopped moving completely.

It can’t be poison. Adrian immediately judged that if it was poison, then they would definitely have to deal with the body, otherwise the autopsy would determine the cause of death. For a toxin powerful enough to be fatal with such a small dose, there were only several kinds in the world, and they were all strictly controlled. So, it would be very easy to find out who was behind this. This wasn’t the “bit” of evidence Qu Yongyi mentioned earlier.

Then it was most likely a powerful hallucinogen.

Only four killers were left. Fortunately, they kept their primary goal in mind, and didn’t waste their time giving the guard an extra stab to infuriate Adrian, and instead, all of them rushed towards him.

The ones who could persist till the end were all the elite amongst the elites. Three blades clashed with Adrian’s, but Lanz did not come forward, and instead took out a small metal vial from his pocket.

“Ade! Watch out!”

Hearing Zhong Yan’s loud and anxious reminder, Adrian subconsciously held his breath and dodged to the side. A colorless spray of mist dispersed right past his ear, and all three of the killers that were close to him were affected. After a sway, they all fell down. Adrian was able to receive a timely reminder, but a small amount of the gas had still entered his blood circulation through the exposed wounds on his body.

He had received a very strict anti-drug and anti-fainting training. Especially in tight situations, even if it was a strong hallucinogenic drug such as this, he could still force himself awake if you gave him a few seconds and if it was only a small amount of contamination.

But in an ever-changing situation, he didn’t have the privilege of time. Adrian’s body swayed, and he fell to one knee while his consciousness drifted from him.

Zhong Yan snatched a knife out of one of the corpses and tottered over the sea of bodies, crossing over to Lanz who was running towards Adrian. But in the next second, the knife was knocked out of his hands by the professional killer like a toy.

If Fayn or any of Adrian’s guards were here, they could help Adrian hold out for a few moments while he recovered, but unfortunately, it just had to be the Zhong Yan who had zero combat ability. From the looks of it, he couldn’t hold on for even two seconds.

Lanz had a smug sneer on his face as if he was simply dealing with a child. With one strike, he easily plunged his blade into Zhong Yan’s abdomen. Right after pulling out, he was going to cut Adrian’s neck next.

But that smile on his face went stiff on his face in the next second. Zhong Yan clung to his arm with all his strength, not allowing that knife to leave his body. He mustered every last bit of strength he had in his body, and Lanz was actually unable to tear away from him. Overcome with anger, he howled, “Damn it! Get away from me! Scram!”

Without any fighting abilities, he could only use the most foolish way of using his own flesh and blood as a shield.

Lanz couldn’t make any big movements with his arm, so he could only tear the blade halfway out and shoving it back in over and over again from different angles in an attempt to get rid of Zhong Yan by pain or death. In just a short few seconds, Zhong Yan’s body had already gone soft, and he was no longer clamped down on the man, falling down onto a pool of his own blood.

But this was enough.

At the same time that Zhong Yan went silent, the strongest warrior had awoken.