The West Mountain Club was a fortress of steel and concrete, hidden deep within the stormy mountains.
Tonight, it was the last sanctuary for the remaining nine tycoons of Beijing.
Outside, thunder roared like a furious dragon. Inside the VIP lounge, the air was suffocating.
"Mr. Shadow, are we safe here?" The head of the Li family asked, his voice trembling. He kept glancing at the heavy blast-proof doors.
Sitting on the main sofa was "Jiang Daolin"—the Shadow. He was cleaning his fingernails with a silver needle, looking bored. Beside him lay a black ruler, identical to the Corpse Suppressing Ruler.
"Relax," The Shadow smiled, a perfect copy of Jiang Daolin's expression. "I've deployed three hundred Kylin mercenaries outside. Plus, I'm here. If he dares to come, I'll stitch him into a rug for you."
"But... he killed Sun Caifu in his own bedroom..."
"Sun was an idiot. He relied on walls. I rely on power." The Shadow picked up his black ruler. "With this legendary weapon I replicated, I am invincible."
BOOM!
A flash of lightning struck the power grid outside. The lights in the club flickered and died.
"Ahhh! He's here!" The tycoons screamed, huddled together like frightened sheep.
"Finally." The Shadow stood up, his eyes glowing in the dark.
Creak—
The blast-proof doors didn't explode. They simply... opened.
A figure walked in from the rain. He was soaked, his white robe clinging to his body. He held a black ruler in his right hand.
"You chose a nice grave," Jiang Daolin said, his voice cutting through the thunder.
"It's your grave, brother," The Shadow sneered. "I have studied every move you made. I have your DNA. I have your skills. And now..." He raised his black ruler. "I have your weapon."
"Replica?" Jiang Daolin glanced at the ruler in the Shadow's hand and smiled. A genuine, mocking smile. "You really think you can copy a soul with a 3D printer?"
"Talk is cheap! Die!"
The Shadow moved. He was fast. Inhumanly fast.
Clang!
Two black rulers collided in the center of the room. The shockwave shattered the crystal glasses on the table.
The tycoons watched in horror as two "Jiang Daolins" fought. It was like watching a glitch in reality. They moved with the same rhythm, used the same footwork, and struck with the same deadly precision.
"See?!" The Shadow laughed maniacally as he launched a barrage of attacks. "I am stronger! I don't feel pain! I don't get tired! You are flesh and blood, you are weak!"
Jiang Daolin was forced back step by step. His shoulder was grazed, blood staining his white robe.
"Give up! I am the Evolution!" The Shadow roared, raising his ruler for a killing blow to Jiang Daolin's skull.
"Evolution?"
Jiang Daolin stopped retreating. He stood firm, looking at the descending weapon with pity.
"You are just a pirated copy."
He dropped his own ruler and clasped his hands together.
"Break."
Click.
The sound came from the Shadow's hand.
The black ruler the Shadow was holding—the "perfect replica"—suddenly cracked open mid-swing.
It didn't break apart. Instead, it unfolded. Hundreds of razor-sharp, black tungsten wires shot out from inside the ruler like the tentacles of a mechanical squid.
"What—?!" The Shadow's eyes widened.
Before he could react, the wires wrapped around his right arm, then spiraled up his shoulder, binding his neck and torso instantly.
"Argh!" The Shadow screamed. The wires tightened, slicing into his artificial skin and muscles. He couldn't move. The weapon he trusted had turned into a cage.
"Did you really think the blueprint Iron Leg 'accidentally' lost was real?" Jiang Daolin walked over, picking up his own ruler from the floor.
"That wasn't a blueprint for a weapon." "That was a blueprint for a 'Finger Trap'."
The Shadow struggled, but the more he moved, the deeper the wires cut. "You... you tricked me!"
"A Stitcher's tool connects with the heart," Jiang Daolin stood in front of the kneeling Shadow. "You have no heart. So the tool rejected you."
He looked at the face that was identical to his own.
"Stop wearing my face. It makes me sick."
WHAM!
Jiang Daolin swung his ruler. A brutal, horizontal strike.
There was no mercy. The Shadow's jaw was shattered instantly, twisting that handsome face into a grotesque mess of metal and synthetic flesh.
"Now," Jiang Daolin turned his gaze to the shivering tycoons in the corner.
The Shadow was twitching on the floor, bound by his own weapon. The "God" they relied on was now just a pile of scrap.
Jiang Daolin wiped the blood off his ruler.
"The copy is deleted." "Shall we continue our meeting?"