It happened without warning. Beyond the sheer shock of an unexpected assassination attempt, the prevailing emotion in the room was pure bewilderment.
The reason for their confusion was simple—it came down to a single fact: the man being targeted was named Han Qingyu.
Even if Major Qing, having just walked downstairs, bore no obvious signs of wearing a device, the situation would not have been any different.
This was not a question of whether he was armed, nor was it a gap between top-tier and super combat power; this was an insurmountable chasm between a mere top-tier fighter and someone who might very well be humanity’s strongest.
*He’s going to get slapped to death,* was the thought crossing nearly everyone's mind.
In the world today, insiders well-versed in the hierarchy of source energy military might certainly still recognized the unreachable supremacy of Chen Buer and the unfathomable mystery of Ne.
Yet for the broader public, the greatest battle they had ever witnessed in their lifetimes was not Chen Buer's cosmic interception, but the Zenith War along the Australian coast—the strike where Major The Qing had cleaved Daie in midair, that arc of magma-red light slashing open the heavens.
Daie, the mightiest Great Spike humanity had ever confronted, had fallen beneath his blade.
"So what gives a mere top-tier combatant the nerve to strike at Major Qing?"
If a hostile force had genuinely sent operatives to assassinate Wen Jifei or Yang Qingbai, people could at least wrap their heads around it.
With those targets, an assassination stood a realistic chance of success, and both men were undeniably vital.
Even He Tangtang, rumored to be the weakest fighter on the team, might reasonably be targeted—though most believed that killing him served little purpose other than incurring the wrath of Stream Vanguard.
"Why Major Qing, of all people?!"
Throughout the hall, the disbelief, uproar, and screams remained trapped in everyone's chests.
The guard detail by the entrance had only just reacted, activating their devices.
Over the past two months, wherever they went, Azure had extended the highest courtesies and deepest regard to Han Qingyu and his entourage, tending to their every need with meticulous care.
Yet there was one thing Azure had not provided at all—security.
Azure simply had no security force capable of protecting Major Qing's circle. Not unless they dispatched that old man named Chen Buer.
Furthermore, Azure did not believe that anyone in this world, short of Ne arriving in person, would dare lay a hand on such a super team.
Did the assassins truly think they could bypass Rusty Sister's iron armor or Wu Xu's long spear?
Even if every elite operative from the hostile factions had gathered, and even if they somehow got past those two, who—who on earth could parry the blade with which Major Qing had once torn through the clouds?!
...Yet regardless of how sound the reasoning was, the impossible had occurred right here today.
And the enemy's target was none other than Major Qing himself.
It all unfolded in a fraction of a second. Amid the sudden chaos, the assassin's short blade had already lunged from beneath the steaming bamboo baskets straight toward Han Qingyu's face.
The distance was microscopic—so close that within the realm of source energy, it was almost immeasurable.
*Crack!* A white porcelain plate shattered on impact.
Han Qingyu had thrust up the plate of food in his hands, using it as an impromptu shield.
The parry was essentially futile.
At the same time, his heels kicked off the ground and he leaned backward. *Whoosh.* His entire body shot into a backward retreat.
He pulled back with tremendous speed.
His strike having missed, the assassin’s device roared with a secondary surge as he lunged forward to pursue.
Yet the moment his figure shot forward, it abruptly froze in midair.
He Tangtang had been standing closest to Han Qingyu and was the first to intervene. His tall, burly frame stood rooted in place, one arm hoisted aloft, his grip clamped tightly around the assassin's throat, arresting the man's momentum completely.
Right then—*Bang! Bang!*
Another chef flanking them sprang into action, a short-barreled firearm suddenly discharging.
The distinctive howl of a source energy firearm rang out, accompanied by the sharp sound of the gun’s frame fracturing.
Major Qing whipped his head around, caught sight of it, and snapped his body laterally in a sharp evasive dodge.
...And with that, the assassination attempt drew to a close.
***
By the time the onlookers gathered their wits, a shadowy black figure at the center of the hall was gradually solidifying. Wu Xu, who had originally been seated in the dining area, was already standing in the middle of the room.
The two bullets fired by the second assassin hung motionless in the air a short distance before him. They did not advance, nor did they fall to the floor; they simply hovered, suspended as though trapped in amber by the very atmosphere.
This was the source energy gravity field of Lieutenant Wu Xu—Stream Vanguard's second-strongest combatant and one of humanity’s top ten combatants. At least some of the military officers present recognized it.
Meanwhile, the shooter stood roughly a dozen meters away.
Wu Xu had neither touched him nor moved in his direction; he simply fixed his gaze on him.
"Alive," the Little Prince shouted.
"Mm," Wu Xu answered.
Then, with a sickening *snap*, the assassin's rigid legs buckled as both kneecaps violently broke, sending him crashing onto the floor.
*Ding!*
*Ding!*
The two hovering bullets clattered to the ground one after the other.
A moment of absolute hush followed.
"Aaaah!"
A woman's scream pierced the quiet at the worst possible moment. Heads turned, and everyone witnessed a truly horrific spectacle.
On the other side of the room, the assassin caught in He Tangtang's grip remained suspended in midair, but... his entire body had withered away into a desiccated husk.
Dried out entirely. Like a once-vibrant tree trunk that, in the span of an instant, had endured death followed by decades of merciless, baking sun.
"He...?"
"Stream Vanguard's core... He Tangtang."
The onlookers finally realized they needed to re-evaluate this name, along with all the rumors surrounding him.
The weakest member?
No. He wasn't merely strong—he was terrifying in the extreme.
"I knew it! How could there ever be a weakling in Stream Vanguard's core squad?"
"Yeah. We probably never heard of him before simply because his methods of slaughter are far too monstrous."
"Then why today?"
"They probably felt the need to make a statement. To keep any random trash from daring to cross Major Qing."
It was He Tangtang's first battle as a top-tier combatant, his very first display of power, and it had unfolded in a manner both gruesome and bizarre. The officers in the hall kept their composure, conversing in hushed, trembling whispers.
Around the corners of the dining hall, the faint chattering of teeth could be heard.
"Tangtang!" Wen Jifei quickly called out.
He Tangtang, however, was lost in thought. He had just devoured a human. He hadn't known the precise technique; he had simply wanted to test it out of curiosity, and the process had unfolded naturally.
Now that the experiment was over, He Tangtang finally understood why that old dog Alphonse, despite being able to devour directly, had insisted on using massive apparatuses to harvest life source energy.
*Because doing it this way, damn it, costs more than it pays. It won't even cover the electric bill.*
In other words, by unleashing his special trait for the first time, He Tangtang had drained the life source energy of a top-tier combatant, but the conversion efficiency was terribly low, while his own expenditure of life source energy had been massive.
*Guess from now on, only guys like Wu Xu and Qingzi are worth eating.*
He Tangtang thought gloomily. It wasn't because he wouldn't be able to eat people in the future, but rather because it looked like devouring anything below a Red Shoulder Great Spike would be a net loss.
Except that it looked cool as hell!
"Tangtang!" Wen Jifei called out once more.
This time, He Tangtang snapped out of his daze and turned a bewildered look toward Wen Jifei.
"Let go... let go of him!" Wen Jifei urged, his eyes carrying a mix of exasperation and urgency.
"Oh." He Tangtang released his grip, and the shriveled corpse clattered stiffly against the floor with a dry *thud*.
It didn't shatter.
Thank goodness it didn't shatter.
Everyone present breathed a collective sigh of relief. If that husk had shattered and showered the room with human ash, how was anyone supposed to finish their breakfast?
Combat boots clicked rhythmically against the concrete as a flurry of hurried footsteps approached. "Investigate! Turn this place upside down!" Clad in a lieutenant general's uniform, an officer from the Maple Leaf Nation's field army sprinted into the hall, shouting in frantic distress.
Major The Qing had actually been targeted for assassination right here on their turf. If this was pinned on them...
Flustered and desperate, the lieutenant general could do nothing but bellow orders, having no idea how to even begin offering an explanation to Stream Vanguard. Naturally, he didn't dare approach the living captive Wu Xu had spared.
He didn't even dare get close.
If he touched that man and the prisoner died, his career would be finished on the spot, and he would spend the rest of his life under endless investigation.
Besides, Stream Vanguard would almost certainly want to handle the man themselves.
"That captive?" Yang Qingbai whispered to Wen Jifei.
"A live one? Let's hope so, but he's probably already gone." Anyone with the guts to carry out an assassination against Qingzi in a setting like this wouldn't harbor the slightest illusion of walking away alive. As Wen Jifei spoke, he glanced over.
Sure enough, the Little Prince, standing beside the assassin, turned and shook his head at him.
Just as Wen Jifei had anticipated, the captive was already dead—suicide.
The entire encounter had lasted only moments, and throughout the second half, nearly everyone in the room had unconsciously overlooked one specific person: the intended target, Han Qingyu.
Han Qingyu was scared nearly out of his wits.
He was Major Qing, yes, but in reality, he was still just nineteen, a high school graduate carrying the mindset and background of an ordinary village boy. He had no clue that the blade and the bullets couldn't actually hurt him, or that he could take the gunfire head-on without flinching.
Even if he had known, he probably still would have felt fear and dodged, because that was simply the primal instinct of an ordinary human being.
Chapter 734