The long-armed alien reacted first. He lifted his huge arms, trying to block the golden flash that shot toward him. But the moment the golden blade light touched him, everything changed.
Boss Ma's thick arms, which even he could not break with full strength, were sliced clean in half like soft tofu.
The golden slash did not stop there.
It passed straight through the alien's body.
For a second, the long-armed alien wore a mocking smile, looking confident and sure of victory. But the next moment, his expression froze. His eyes widened with shock and fear, as if he suddenly remembered the terror of being hunted by professional fighters. The fear of death returned like a nightmare.
And then, darkness swallowed his sight completely.
His arms and upper body hit the ground with a dull pat.
Blood sprayed everywhere, drenching Boss Ma from head to toe.
Boss Ma blinked hard.
"...Huh? What... happened? Am I hallucinating?"
He touched the blood on his face, but the sudden pain shooting from his injured hand reminded him that this was definitely not a dream.
He sucked in a sharp breath.
"Hiss—!"
He turned around, expecting to see the other members of his team still fighting.
But he froze instead.
"!? They're all… dead?"
Every alien lay on the ground, lifeless. Boss Ma's eyes widened. He couldn't believe it.
"Did the support team I called arrive? That fast?"
While he was stunned, the other members quickly gathered around him, taking out medicine to treat his arm. But Boss Ma didn't care about his injuries. His mind raced as he pointed at the corpses.
"Who did this? Was it you? Did you kill these aliens?"
The team shook their heads instantly.
"It wasn't us! Don't you know what level we are?"
One member added, "I only saw a shadow. Every time it attacked, an alien fell instantly. Then the shadow disappeared again."
Boss Ma frowned.
"A shadow… an assassin?"
But that didn't make sense.
"Stealth assassins lose their invisibility after attacking. They shouldn't be able to chain-kill like this."
"No, I saw it clearly," the team's scout said. "It wasn't a person. It was a summoned beast."
Boss Ma turned sharply.
"A summoned beast? Are you sure?"
"Of course. It looked like a huge praying mantis. I'm confident. My passive skill 'Absolute Sight' never makes mistakes. I can draw it right now if you want."
The scout was the most reliable sensor in their group. His words held weight.
"Then… was it sent by the organization to support us?"
"Could be. That summoned beast is way stronger than you, Boss Ma. Killing these aliens looked like child's play for it."
"Yeah, I didn't even realize the aliens were dying until they were already on the ground!"
While the team whispered, several crystal wall worker ants suddenly marched over, moving around the wild monsters' bodies. Each ant grabbed a corpse and began dragging it away.
"???"
"What's happening?"
The Dragon Cave team instantly tightened their grip on their weapons.
"Hey! They're trying to steal our loot!"
While these worker ants were tough against wild monsters, the team could destroy them easily if they wanted. Their only problem was the ants' large numbers.
But just as they prepared to charge forward, Boss Ma raised his hand sharply.
"Stop! Let them go."
His teammates panicked.
"Boss Ma! Those are our spoils!"
"We need the alien corpses! They're worth a lot!"
"We didn't get any good drops all day — we need the military merit!"
"One more mission like this and I can trade for a new sword!"
Boss Ma forced a bitter smile.
"You still don't understand? All those aliens… were killed by Ethan's summoned beast."
"WHAT!?"
"That's impossible! His summoned beast wasn't even close to these giant ants' level!"
Another chimed in:
"If that mantis was really that strong, wouldn't it destroy Ethan's mind? Students don't have the spiritual power to control such powerful creatures!"
"He already controls so many giant ants. How can a student control an even stronger mantis without getting backfired?"
Their disbelief was clear.
But Boss Ma explained calmly:
"Then tell me — why did those ants come here immediately? How did they know the aliens died? Ethan controls them. They sensed the deaths through him."
The team fell silent.
Slowly… reluctantly…
They accepted the truth.
"No wonder he's ranked as our leader…"
"This guy—what monster family raised him? He's insane!"
"At his level, why would he even bother with university? Most mentors can't compare!"
Boss Ma shook his head.
"We should be grateful he came here. Without Ethan, the Scarlet Secret Realm might have exploded."
He sighed.
"You all really underestimate top universities. The stronger the school, the scarier the students."
The team nodded vigorously now.
"Yeah… true. We're lucky he's on our side."
Without Ethan, they would probably be dead by now.
With the medicine applied, the teammate nicknamed Old Wang had his fingers restored. They still felt uncomfortable, but at least he could move them again.
Boss Ma clapped his hands.
"Alright, stop staring around. The aliens are gone — now let's finish off the remaining wild monsters!"
With their confidence restored, the team quickly cleaned up the remaining beasts. After all of Ethan's giant ants and mantis had done the hard work, the leftovers were nothing.
Soon after, everyone headed toward Ethan, planning to thank him properly and greet their young leader.
But the moment they approached—
They froze.
Ethan was standing in front of a treasure chest, opening it… with a completely dark and angry expression.
A wave of pressure washed over everyone.
"What… what did we do wrong?"
"Why does the leader look like that?"
"Are we finished? Will he punish us?"
Boss Ma's heart dropped. He admired strong people, and Ethan had now gained his full respect — especially after saving his life.
So seeing Ethan's dark expression made Boss Ma extremely nervous.
He walked over, removed his mask, bowed slightly, and whispered:
"Leader… have we offended you somehow? Did we do something wrong?"
Ethan didn't look at him.
He only said coldly:
"Don't fight monsters near me next time. Understand?"
He turned his head slowly.
"Don't you know my level is low?"
Boss Ma blinked.
"...Eh?"
The entire team stared blankly, their brains as empty as a blank sheet.
That was the reason!?
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