"Who's there?"
The three men were shocked and whipped around immediately.
They had endured all kinds of rigorous training and life-and-death struggles. For someone to approach them silently meant the newcomer was definitely extraordinary. They suspected it might be an operative sent by a rival company.
Yet when they clearly saw who it was, they froze in surprise.
Standing before them was a young man not even twenty years old, dressed in ordinary clothes with nothing remarkable about him, merely looking at them with a smile.
"It's him," one of them said, recognizing the newcomer as the owner of this farm.
The other two breathed a sigh of relief as well.
If he was merely an ordinary person, there was nothing to worry about.
The reason they had failed to notice him just now was probably that all their attention had been focused on the meteorite.
"Kid, I advise you to pretend you didn't see anything tonight. Maybe then you can keep your miserable life," said Captain Zhao, the leader, his tone somewhat hostile. Although the company had ordered them to keep the operation discreet, he did not want to cause unnecessary fatalities.
If the kid would just leave, he could let it slide.
"You're preparing to steal something on my property, and you expect me to just walk away?" Lu Yuan looked at the three and chuckled.
He had not struck immediately because he wanted to find out who they actually were.
He had naturally noticed the compound crossbows in their hands and was mildly startled. After all, those weapons were extremely powerful, expensive, and strictly prohibited by law. Clearly, their background was anything but simple, so he had to get to the bottom of it.
"Your property?"
One of the men sneered upon hearing this. "This is a meteorite that fell from the sky—how does that make it yours? Get lost right now, or don't blame us for getting rough."
Their patience was limited. Unwilling to waste words, he quietly moved his hand to the quiver on his back, menacing Lu Yuan to leave at once.
"Since it landed on my farm, it belongs to me." Lu Yuan shook his head, showing no intention of departing.
"Boss, stop wasting your breath on him," the short man muttered, his eyes dripping with murderous intent. "Just take him out."
"Fine, but keep it clean." Captain Zhao nodded. Since the kid was asking for death, he had only himself to blame.
Having said that, Captain Zhao paid him no further attention and prepared to secure the meteorite with the other man to avoid any complications from delay.
As for Lu Yuan, in his eyes, the youth was already a corpse.
Receiving the order, the short man licked his lips. With lightning speed, he pulled several sharp bolts from his quiver and loaded them onto the crossbow in one seamless motion.
The crossbow could fire in rapid succession and packed tremendous destructive force, entirely incomparable to an ordinary bow. The moment he finished reloading, the look in his eyes toward Lu Yuan held not only cruelty, but pity.
Pity that an ordinary person had no idea what he was dealing with—he could have walked away alive, yet insisted on throwing his life away.
The next instant, without the slightest hesitation, the short man unleashed a rapid volley at Lu Yuan.
*Whir, whir, whir—*
The sharp bolts shot forth with tearing winds, gleaming with a frigid glint.
Yet Lu Yuan did not flinch in the least. He had just been looking for an opportunity to test how this physical body felt in a real fight.
Facing the flying bolts, he stood rooted to the spot, simply raising a hand.
The man sneered at the sight.
*Too stupid.*
Not even thick-skinned beasts like wild boars or black bears could withstand the bolts of a compound crossbow, yet this guy actually tried to catch them with his bare hands.
In the next second, however, his smile froze.
The bolts he had just fired had been caught directly in Lu Yuan's hand...
*How is that possible?*
The short man was shaken to the core, as if he had seen a ghost.
Lu Yuan casually tossed the bolts aside and took a single stride forward.
A distance of dozens of meters was bridged in the blink of an eye. Facing an enemy who had not yet reacted, Lu Yuan executed no superfluous movements, merely delivering a light slap.
He had no choice; with his current physique, ordinary humans simply could not endure his strikes. Any more force, and the man's head would have shattered to pieces.
*Smack.*
Lu Yuan's palm struck the short man on the head.
Instantly, blood gushed wildly from the man's nose and mouth. Staggering backward, he crashed to the ground.
"Damn it, he's tough! Take him together!" Seeing this, Captain Zhao realized at once that their opponent was extraordinary. He barked an order to the other man beside him, and together they raised their crossbows, firing volleys from two different angles.
*Swoosh, swoosh, swoosh—*
Dozens of bolts whistled through the air.
Lu Yuan did not even glance at them. With a few casual sways of his body, he dodged every single one.
Even though the distance was merely a dozen meters, his physical faculties had already transcended human limits.
To his eyes, the bolts were moving far too slowly.
"Damn it, he's too fast! Close in on him!"
Captain Zhao clearly possessed ample combat experience. Realizing that the crossbows were ineffective, he changed tactics at once, drawing two daggers from his waist alongside his teammate before charging forward. By then, the short man had also come to his senses; though dizzy and disoriented, he joined the fray to help resolve the fight as quickly as possible.
"Quick reactions, at least."
Lu Yuan smiled. Facing the three men closing in, he no longer held back.
The next instant, he stepped out and appeared right beside the short man.
Forming a fist, he hammered it straight toward the man's chest.
*Boom!*
*Crack, crack—*
The power was so monstrous that the short man's ribs shattered completely. His body flew backward a full twenty meters, his head lolling to the side, all breath extinguished.
Having done this, Lu Yuan turned immediately to face the remaining two, feeling no hesitation whatsoever about delivering lethal strikes.
In his previous life, he had struggled bitterly for over a decade in a new era governed by the law of the jungle, having witnessed true brutality.
What did the scene before him count for?
"Something's wrong with this guy!"
Watching his subordinate get killed in a single strike, Captain Zhao instantly judged that they were no match for him and prepared to retreat. After all, survival came first.
Lu Yuan gave him no such chance. He was so fast that he closed the distance to the other operative in an instant.
He raised his hand and punched once more.
*Bang.*
The blow landed squarely on the man's shoulder, smashing him into the ground and creating a large crater. He never got back up.
In less than three seconds, two men were dead.
Lu Yuan then turned his gaze toward the sole survivor, Captain Zhao, and asked quietly, "Speak. Who sent you, and what is your objective?"
"You want intel out of me? Keep dreaming!" Captain Zhao's expression shifted, showing no intention of talking.
"Quite the stubborn mouth."
Lu Yuan smiled, advancing rapidly.
Clearly, they had come for the meteorite, but he was uncertain whether they knew about the extraterrestrial sword core.
Otherwise, there would have been no need to keep the last one alive; this matter was of paramount importance.
If they did know, he would have to be far more vigilant in the future.
After all, having people keeping tabs on him was never comfortable.
Lu Yuan moved so swiftly that the air around him whipped with tearing sounds, a boundless reservoir of power visibly brewing within his body.
"I'll stake it all!"
Captain Zhao's body trembled, but he quickly composed himself.
He immediately retrieved a white pill from his waist and swallowed it down.
*Gurgle, squelch—*
It was the sound of flesh and bone squirming and contorting.
In an instant, Captain Zhao's height shot up dramatically, reaching a towering two meters.
At the same time, his right arm began to swell, its muscles bulging thicker than a millstone, veins popping out violently. Wisps of white vapor drifted from his body, and the whites of his eyes were laced with dark red capillaries.
He had transformed into an utterly inhuman state!
Chapter 21