Da-da-da...
A dense barrage of gunfire poured out in relentless, alternating bursts.
Compared to gang members spraying and praying blindly, the Shining Light terrorists could be considered well-trained.
Normally, this wouldn't have slowed Qi Li down for a second.
Except right now, he was shielding the cameraman behind him.
Though he had covered his bases legally beforehand and the man's survival wasn't his responsibility, well, if he could save him, he might as well lend a hand.
A bullet bounced off the corner of Qi Li's eye. Glancing around, he stomped his right foot down casually.
*Crack, crack, crack—*
A dense web of fractures instantly erupted outward from beneath him in all directions.
Under the violent tremor, countless pieces of shattered stone and spent slugs bounced into the air.
The bronze sword in Qi Li's hand moved like a racket. With a sharp snap of his wrist, he batted them repeatedly.
In an instant, those shards and bullets hurtled outward in every direction like a burst of shrapnel, carrying kinetic energy powerful enough to pierce steel.
*Thud! Thud! Thud! Thud!*
Clouds of bloody mist erupted across terrorist after terrorist.
Even those hiding behind large crates, couches, or walls were punched straight through, collapsing in gruesome heaps without making a sound.
The deafening gunfire inside the building abruptly collapsed into dead silence.
Drinking a beer while watching the spectacle, Butcher paused mid-sip, his eyes darkening with gloom.
Beside him, Hughie swallowed hard, Marvin rubbed his face vigorously, and Frenchie touched his own neck with a look of pure relief.
Watching member after member of the Shining Light die horribly, Kimiko's face was flushed with fierce satisfaction and joy. But when she looked at the killer—Qi Li, the man who had murdered her multiple times and coldly tortured her—dread, fury, and ferocity flashed through her eyes.
As her expression flickered, she suddenly saw a woman appear on the screen. A flicker of tenderness crossed Kimiko's eyes, but she immediately realized what was happening, and her face was swiftly overtaken by anxiety, heartbreak, and grief.
*Clang! Clang! Clang!*
The iron chains rattled violently once more.
"What's she throwing a fit about now?" Butcher glanced over, didn't bother pursuing it, and turned his attention back to the livestream.
By this time, Qi Li had reached the corridor. Sofia, the decent-looking young woman who had grown up with Kimiko in the Shining Light, burst out of an adjoining room. Her eyes were thick with despair as she charged at him with a short blade raised high, screaming in fury.
Qi Li never cared whose friend or relative someone about to die was.
Sofia, friendship, none of it mattered—she was just another dog on the side of the road.
He didn't even spare her a glance.
The two brushed past each other.
Qi Li walked on without the slightest change in expression, while Sofia froze in place, blood gushing from her chest.
Joseph held his camera high, transmitting the scene clearly to every viewer watching the livestream.
Kimiko shuddered violently, her gaze going utterly blank.
The raid pressed on.
"Ahhh!"
Along the hallway, terrorists from the Shining Light raised firearms, or, realizing firearms were useless, charged forward brandishing an array of traditional Filipino weapons—bolo knives, bastons, kampilans, krises, and barongs.
Qi Li glanced at the bronze sword in his hand, modeled after those of the Spring and Autumn and Warring States periods from Wu and Yue. He smiled faintly, stepped forward, and engaged them.
Sword light flowed like water. Instead of crushing them with sheer physical force, he displayed exquisite swordsmanship, putting on a dazzling, lethal spectacle before millions of viewers.
No doubt, once this broadcast wrapped up, kung fu schools and sword academies across America would see an explosive surge of enrollments.
As a superhuman, Qi Li didn't look down on traditional martial arts. He had learned plenty back in Los Angeles.
Granted, in actual combat, it almost always devolved into wild brawling.
Still, whether in a duel or killing someone, didn't it all come down to three principles: fast, accurate, and ruthless?
At the very least, training gave you hand-eye coordination. You wouldn't find yourself aiming your blade through a soda can tied to a tree only to stab empty air.
In real combat, that alone was enough to outmatch most people.
Unlike certain superhumans who couldn't control their own strength whenever they sneezed, twitched, or got nervous, causing all sorts of needless accidents.
A minute later, the fight—worthy of becoming a textbook Hollywood reference for melee combat—came to a close.
Standing in the corpse-strewn hallway, his hair perfectly in place, Qi Li flicked the beads of blood from his blade.
At that moment, he glanced into a room along the corridor.
Joseph stepped forward with consummate professionalism, panning his lens in the direction of Qi Li's gaze.
Inside the room, rows of iron cages stood packed together, holding scores of shivering women and children.
By the looks of them, they were also Southeast Asian.
"Whatever he did before, at least right now he's doing a good thing," Hughie couldn't help saying before the TV, seeing living people caged like animals for the first time.
Butcher shot him a sidelong glance.
This time, Hughie didn't back down.
He watched the live footage—even with Bronze's arrival, those captives were still trembling, hanging their heads in terror, especially the children who ought to have been at an innocent age, their eyes now completely devoid of light.
"Isn't it true?" Hughie said earnestly. "He really did do a great deed this time."
Butcher looked away, saying nothing more.
Hughie glanced at the others.
Frenchie gave him a chuckle, while Marvin offered a wry quirk of his lips and an approving nod.
There were countless others like Hughie—or even far more effusive in their praise of Qi Li—at that moment.
In particular, Anya Taylor-Joy and Lily Krug, who had been with him just hours earlier, were deeply moved.
Anya dug up an old photo of herself with Qi Li and immediately posted it online with the caption: "Paying tribute to my favorite superhero!"
Lily Krug, meanwhile, watched the broadcast while eagerly taking matters into her own hands.
At Godkin University, Kate—who was also watching the broadcast, surrounded by envious classmates—felt her phone buzz.
She unlocked it and instantly saw the latest update from Anya Taylor-Joy, whom she secretly followed on an alt account.
*Fuck! Shameless bitch!*
Cursing internally, Kate's thumbs danced across the screen as she fired off a volley of "polite" comments attacking Anya's post.
Back at the raid.
Having taken in the sight, Qi Li paused briefly, then spoke on camera for the first time:
"Human trafficking—the Shining Light's primary trade. The police will be here shortly. For now, leave them where they are to avoid any unnecessary accidents."
In fact, the broadcast director had just signaled for him to pry open the cages himself and warmly usher the innocent women and children out, which would have produced far greater visual drama and PR impact.
He chose not to.
When people endure prolonged terror followed by an abrupt shift in circumstances, they are prone to unthinking, completely uncontrolled reactions.
Without sufficient personnel on hand, letting so many women and children out at once could easily lead them to scatter in blind panic.
On top of that, the remaining terrorists hadn't all been eliminated yet.
Looking at the women and children, Qi Li made the most professional call.
Joseph gave Qi Li a surprised look, then panned the camera deeper down the hallway, showing his support through action.
From there, Qi Li cleared his way all the way to the heart of the factory.
"Ramon Santiago, Imelda Santiago, plus Juan and Isla posing as their children. Good, everyone's accounted for."
Qi Li looked at the final four. Ramon was the head of Shining Light's New York cell.
Just as he was about to make his move—
*Boom!*
A gaping hole was blown through the adjacent wall.
A furious roar erupted from within:
"Goddamn it! Who the fuck are you?!!"
Chapter 59