Old White chuckled. "Don't try to fool me."
Xiao Feng glanced around. Some townspeople were watching them curiously. He leaned toward Old White and said, "Let's talk at home."
Once they returned, Xiao Feng poured a glass of water for the old man, then carefully laid out on the table a dozen glimmering magic crystals, harvested from G-class beasts.
"Uncle White, take a look—what do you think these are?"
Old White froze, eyes wide. "Magic cores? From G-class beasts? You truly killed this many?"
Xiao Feng nodded. "I couldn't carry back their bodies, so I took only the magic cores."
"But how did you cut through their hides? Even I have to struggle with those."
"I used a dagger," Xiao Feng replied casually.
Turner gave a dry laugh. "Don't lie to me. You don't have that kind of strength."
Xiao Feng smirked. "Believe what you want. But these magic cores—are they enough to cover the medical expenses?"
Turner gave a slow nod. "They should be. Add that to what I've saved, and even without help from others, it's enough. Kid, Uncle White is truly grateful."
"Come on, don't thank me. I'm your kid, aren't I? This is what I'm supposed to do."
Old White's eyes grew misty. "Yes… you are my child." He placed a calloused hand atop Xiao Feng's head and gently tousled his black hair.
Xiao Feng fingered the F-class magic core in his pocket and grinned slyly. He was saving it—his future weapon fund. He knew the sniper rifle he currently wielded was insufficient against F-class beasts, let alone the more formidable E-class. Only with superior weaponry could he face those threats.
He was still dreaming of the future when a knock thudded on their wooden door.
"White! White!" A woman's anxious voice rang out.
Xiao Feng opened the door to reveal a woman wrapped in a tattered cotton coat—the same beautiful, helpless woman from before.
"What do you want with Uncle? He's drunk and asleep."
"Please… I beg you… let White help me. I can't take it anymore!"
Under the dim glow of the cabin's lantern, Xiao Feng saw the bruises marring her face. He frowned. "What happened?"
"It's Locke. He's been beating me for days. I'm terrified he'll kill me. If I died, I wouldn't care… but I have a child!" Her voice broke into sobs, her grief as raw as the wounds on her skin.
"Locke, huh?"
As if summoned, Locke's drunken voice boomed down the road. "You filthy ***, came crawling here again? Looking for another man? Get back here before I kill you! Hah!"
The bulky figure of Locke staggered into view, reeking of liquor. He lurched forward, hand outstretched to seize the woman's wrist.
"No, please! I won't go back!" she cried, unable to imagine the torment that awaited.
Xiao Feng slapped Locke's hand aside. "Are you even a man?"
Locke sneered. "You little punk, trying to play hero? Want to die?" He reached for the P2 pistol at his waist.
Without hesitation, Xiao Feng lashed out with a savage kick to Locke's chest, sending the 200-kilogram drunkard sprawling. Locke collapsed with a groan, clutching his ribs in agony.
"B*st*rd, I should kill you," Xiao Feng growled, trembling with fury. But he restrained himself—he knew killing a military officer from the Alliance would have dire consequences.
Locke wheezed, then laughed spitefully. "Go on, think of her kid. If you don't come back with me, I'll kill the brat myself!"
The woman turned her tear-streaked face toward Xiao Feng. "Please… kill him. I can't endure this anymore."
Xiao Feng shook his head. "I'm sorry. I can't."
She stared at him, stunned, then said nothing more. With her last ounce of dignity, she turned and walked away—shaking, sobbing, but with no choice left. If White wouldn't help, who in this godforsaken town would?
Locke dragged himself off the ground, cackling like a madman. "You remember this, you little rat—I'll deal with you sooner or later! But for now, I'm going home to enjoy that woman. D*mn, what a body she's got—those curves—hah!" He staggered off laughing.
Xiao Feng's brows furrowed deeply. He loathed the man to his very core. Slowly, he drew his revolver and trained it on Locke's back.
His finger hovered over the trigger.
Then, with a sigh, he lowered the weapon and closed the wooden door with quiet resignation.
Kerry's lips curled into a faint smile—one laced with a chilling, lethal intent.
Even when she smiled, this woman exuded an icy allure that sent shivers down the spine.
Her gaze drifted inadvertently to White. She halted abruptly, and her sunglasses displayed a rotating image of White's body, accompanied by streams of fluctuating data. Clearly, these were no ordinary lenses.
Her high-tech eyewear was scanning White's physiology. Within seconds, a crimson glow flickered across the glasses.
"Alert: Level 1 Esper detected. Ability type—Strength. Unregistered. Unregistered!"
Kerry turned to Rock and asked coolly, "Is that burly man the Esper you mentioned?"
"That's him. The other big guy with him might be one too."
Kerry cast a glance at Turner—her glasses showed no reaction. "He's not one."
Noticing Kerry's lingering gaze, White's instincts as a seasoned hunter flared. He turned to Xiao Feng and said grimly, "Hide. Now."
"Why?" Xiao Feng asked, surprised.
"No questions. Just go."
Without another word, Xiao Feng slipped into a narrow alley.
Meanwhile, Kerry's eyes shifted to Ivy. Her scan showed no unusual readings—no Esper energy. Relaxing slightly, she dismissed Ivy. A solitary Level 1 Esper with weak physical enhancements was no threat.
Kerry approached the trio, swaying gracefully, her stiletto heels striking the earth with sultry confidence.
Rock's leering eyes were fixed squarely on her curvaceous figure, a glint of vulgar delight in his gaze.
She stopped before White and looked up at him with a cold, piercing stare.
Though she stood nearly thirty centimeters shorter and was strikingly slender, in that moment, she exuded dominance.
"You're the Esper Rock spoke of?" she asked icily.
White chuckled. "An Esper? That's laughable." He turned to Turner. "Am I an Esper?"
Turner shook his head in perfect sync.
White looked to Ivy next. "Am I?"
She, too, shook her head.
"See? No one thinks I'm an Esper."
Kerry's eyes remained cold as steel. "It's not up to them. If I say you are, then you are. Come with me."
White folded his arms. "And why should I do that?"
"The Alliance does not tolerate unregulated Espers. You will come with me and submit to the judgment of the Esper Regulatory Bureau."
"I refuse. I pose no threat to anyone—you have my word."
"Then I have no choice but to subdue you," Kerry said, her tone glacial.
White smirked. "I could beat you with two fingers."
He hadn't finished speaking when her fingers struck his abdomen with lightning speed. Zzzrak!
A violent surge of electricity surged through his body. White collapsed with a strangled groan, his body convulsing uncontrollably on the ground.
Turner lunged forward, throwing a powerful punch, but Kerry twisted effortlessly out of its path, seized his wrist—and struck again.
Zzzrak! Turner crashed to the ground, twitching violently.
In under a minute, the two most formidable fighters of Sector 64 had been effortlessly incapacitated.
And Kerry had held back. Had she unleashed her full power, the two men would've been roasted alive.
She turned her gaze on Ivy. "What? You want to try your luck too?"
Ivy clenched her jaw, staring at Kerry with fire in her eyes, but didn't move.
Without another word, Kerry pivoted gracefully and called out, "Cuff them. Lock them up. I'll escort them to headquarters after I've eaten and rested."
"At once, Envoy!" Rock replied, gleefully ordering the men to shackle White and Turner and drag them back to the barracks.
Rock shot Ivy a gloating look. "Hope your brother survives. Hah!"
From the shadows of the alley, Xiao Feng had witnessed everything. Fury surged through him, and for a moment he nearly sprang into action.
But then, White's voice echoed in his mind: "Use your head."
Clenching his fists, Xiao Feng pressed deeper into the shadows.
Moments later, Ivy appeared, her eyes red. "Xiao Feng, they took my brother too."
"Don't worry—I'll get them out," he said, though in truth, he hadn't the faintest idea how.
"How?"
He glanced toward a jeep parked at the end of the alley. "I've got a plan. Go back."
"No. I'm coming with you. I'm saving my brother."
"Give me your pistol."
He took her weapon, then handed her his sniper rifle and White Wolf. "Wait for my signal—and take care of my little one."
Ivy stared at him in silence. Somehow, the boy she first met had disappeared. In his place stood a man.
Xiao Feng hid in a vacant house nearby, watching the jeep intently. He still didn't fully grasp Kerry's identity, but he knew this: she was an Esper—and a dangerous one.
Watching how easily she'd taken down White and Turner had shaken him. For the first time, he tasted the bitterness of helplessness.
But she was human. She'd traveled far from the city, driven for hours. She would need to rest.
So he waited—like a leopard stalking its prey—silent, patient, poised to strike.
As night fell, Xiao Feng seized a moment of distraction among the soldiers and slipped beneath the jeep, pressing himself flat against the cold metal.
"Envoy, it's dangerous to travel so late. Why not wait until morning?" Rock's obsequious voice slithered through the stillness.
Then he saw her heels—slender, deadly—and her graceful legs approach with click-click steps.
"Fear is your burden, not mine," Kerry replied coldly. "These beasts are no threat to me. I must report back to HQ. I've already wasted a day—any further delay, and I'll be reprimanded. They won't believe I needed a full day to detain a Level 1 Esper."
"Then we won't detain you, dear envoy. Just a token of our appreciation for eliminating that dangerous man." Rock handed her a small paper package.
Kerry glanced at it. "Trying to bribe me?"
"No, no, you misunderstand. It's merely a gesture of gratitude—from all of us in Sector 64."
"Leave it in the car," she said curtly. "Now bring me the prisoner—I'm leaving."