Chapter 22

In the midst of the explosion, two figures flew over and arrived almost simultaneously with the blast. If there were a high-speed camera, and the footage was played back in slow motion, it would be clear that they arrived only a few tenths of a second after the explosion.

Just a few tenths of a second, but it was still too late. They blocked most of the shrapnel and shock waves, and the remaining bits were shared by the bodyguards, leaving very little to surge towards the two sisters and Du Qian.

The old man waved his hand, and a green light spread, creating an indescribable beauty. The green light flashed, and the dust and debris were swept away.

The scene was in chaos. The steward Li, who was holding a paper bag, was reduced to a pile of flesh and bones. The bodyguards closest to him were covered in blood, some lying on the ground, their bodies still twitching, their clothes torn and their flesh mangled.

The bodyguards a bit further away were in much better condition, mostly just covered in dust, with cuts on their hands and faces. The martial cultivators reacted very quickly, but before the explosion, they had no preparation, and almost no time to react.

Another middle-aged man supported the two sisters, one in each hand, and after a few quick glances, he finally felt relieved.

The distance was some distance away, and their bodies were on the ground, so the area of attack was relatively small. They had some preparation beforehand, so apart from some torn clothes and a few black marks on their faces, they were fine.

"It was a kinetic fragmentation grenade. Fortunately, it was a medium-sized one with a sea gel casing, so the destructive power wasn't too great." The old man cleared the dust in just a few seconds and identified the type of bomb.

"Not good..." The middle-aged man's face changed after checking the sisters. Before he could take any action, a flash of light from a distance blinded everyone, followed by a loud explosion and the ground shaking.

A thick plume of black smoke shot up into the sky and, after a few seconds, was scattered by the strong sea breeze. Even from a distance of at least ten kilometers, the group could soon smell the strong energy.

'Swoosh, swoosh, swoosh...' Figures flashed, and the green light illuminated the sky. The old man and the middle-aged man moved the fastest, turning into two green streaks and disappearing in the blink of an eye. The other bodyguards also transformed into green figures, not running but flying low.

The two sisters were not slow either, even running ahead of most of the bodyguards.

Du Qian's head was worse than a pig's head, one side of his face swollen, and the two sides combined made it impossible to distinguish where one ended and the other began. His eyes were squeezed shut. The darkness and stars had faded, and he could only see blurry light.

Then he felt his collar tighten, and he was lifted as if riding on a cloud, the wind howling in his ears. His swollen, translucent skin was cut by the fierce sea breeze like a knife. He wanted to shout, but as soon as he opened his mouth, a full gust of sea wind filled his stomach, making him feel as if his belly was bigger than a pregnant woman's.

"Kid, where is the smoke coming from?" An old voice came from his ear, strangely clear amidst the howling wind.

"Can't see." Du Qian squeezed out a sentence, his mouth deformed.

"**? You can't see such a big plume of smoke? Oh, I wronged you."

The next moment, the wind stopped, and his feet touched the ground. The sound of people talking filled his ears.

"Sixth team, sixth team, what's the situation?"

"Report the casualties."

"Sir is safe, the fifth team has already been dispatched."

"The city guard will arrive in ten minutes."

"The field army will enter the scene in half an hour, the low-altitude flight team will arrive in two minutes."

"The bulletproof car has entered the scene. Teams one, two, and three, assist in the escort and take Sir away."

"The target is dead, a total of seven."

"Two deaths and six injuries in the city lord's guard."

The voices were chaotic, and Du Qian felt his hearing was several times stronger than usual, able to clearly distinguish the jumbled sounds.

The city lord had a guard? The police, city defense army, and field army didn't seem to have such a designation. Of course, the city lord must have a guard. Du Qian felt his mind was a mess.

"Old Luo, what's the background of this kid?"

"Are you the patrol officer at the dock? How's the situation here?" The old voice asked in return.

"Not bad, a bit chaotic, but no major problems. A total of thirty or so assassins, none alive. Why did you bring a patrol officer? Is he a survivor?"

"Uh! No, this patrol officer... is quite brave, yes, very brave and quite clever."

"Brave? Clever? Why did you bring him?" The logic seemed off.

"This kid should be reliable. I was unfamiliar with the area and wanted to bring him to guide, but it turned out to be unnecessary."

"Ha ha, the work of the two young ladies?"

"An accident, really just an accident." The old man didn't want to say that when Du Qian tackled the second young lady, not only did the two young ladies attack, but he almost did too. Fortunately, he reacted quickly and saw the problem. Otherwise, just a small finger would have turned the patrol officer into minced meat.

"Alright, let's not talk about this. Let's head back to the city lord's residence. Is everything fine with the young ladies?"

"Yes, no problem. Xiao Bian has taken the Iron Guard there."

"Still, be careful. Things have been unstable lately. See you later."

Old Luo looked at Du Qian in his hand, feeling a bit awkward. Throwing him here didn't seem right, and carrying him wasn't appropriate either. A car drove up behind him, and he casually threw Du Qian into the back seat, telling the driver, "To the city lord's residence."

At this moment, Du Qian's head was still dizzy. In this short time, his eyes couldn't see, but his ears were working well, and the information was overwhelming, impossible to digest in such a short time.

Fortunately, he knew he was safe now, though he didn't know who these people were, their combat strength was incredibly high.

Half an hour later, in the large conference hall of the city lord's residence, a middle-aged man sat in the main seat, his face calm.

On his left, a row of well-dressed gentlemen sat, with the city lord of Pingchuan, Zhu Zhenqing, at the head. The city lord was not sitting in his main seat but willingly gave it to someone else, indicating that the middle-aged man in the main seat had a much higher status than the city lord.

Below Zhu Zhenqing, the three vice city lords of Pingchuan, Zhang Yu, Kuai Peng, and Ming Ren, sat in order.

Opposite them stood a man like a black iron tower, the leader of the Iron Guard, Guo Qingtian, a 45-year-old battle master with a combat strength of 5.55 million, standing at a height unimaginable to ordinary people despite his young age.

As for the man sitting in the city lord's chair, he was none other than the empire's heavyweight figure, Sikong Yi. In fact, there was no need to guess; in the Zhou Shan Empire, being called "Sir" was already a form of recognition, and not just anyone could have the qualification to be called "Sir."

In the Zhou Shan Empire, the emperor was at the head, followed by the Three Dukes and Nine Ministers. The emperor managed the military, while the parliament managed the people's livelihood. Imperial power and political power checked each other, ensuring that the emperor would not be corrupted by power. In any era and any political system, if a person with absolute power appeared, it would be a disaster for the country.

The empire adopted a standard imperial system, with the separation of military and political power. Having the military in hand ensured the dignity and continuity of imperial power, while the government managed the people's livelihood and checked the military and imperial power. This ensured that the emperor could not make arbitrary decisions, creating a chaotic system where a word could mean life or death.

The Three Dukes were direct subordinates of the emperor, representing the royal army, with each of the three dukes commanding a varying number of military units. The empire's twelve standing military units were under their control.

Typically, the selection of the Three Dukes required not only high moral standing and strong military talent but also a close relationship with the royal family. Even if one had no prior connection to the royal family, to sit in the position of the Three Dukes, one had to establish a relationship.

For example, through marriage.

The Nine Ministers were the representatives of the empire's aristocracy, also known as the Nine Councilors, each managing one of the empire's nine most important departments. Their every word and action affected the lives of millions of citizens.

With the progress of society, both the Three Dukes and the Nine Ministers had an important criterion: combat strength. With sufficient combat strength, even if one was not very smart, one could still become one of the Three Dukes or Nine Ministers. Conversely, no matter how smart one was, it was useless without combat strength.

This might seem unreasonable, but as the saying goes, existence is reasonable. Such a tradition naturally had its reasons.

Human history is a history of bloody wars, where every means was used. Assassinating the high-ranking officials of enemy countries, though despicable, was highly effective.

Thus, strong combat strength became a necessary condition. If one's strength was not strong enough, it was easy to be assassinated, and no matter how smart one was, it was useless. The philosopher who lived thousands of years ago once said: A living person is smarter than a dead one.

Based on this principle, the high officials of the three major countries were all among the strongest, though not necessarily the top martial cultivators, at least they stood in the second tier.

This created a rather absurd result: the bodyguards of important figures had combat strength far inferior to those they protected. This was indeed awkward and helpless.

A few minutes later, the sisters walked in. In this short time, they had changed their clothes and even taken a bath, emitting a fresh scent.

"Father, city lords, Uncle Guo is well." The sisters bowed respectfully and sat behind Guo Qingtian, their posture elegant and their demeanor calm, clearly having received specialized training from a young age.

Who would have thought that such a pair of sisters, beneath their gentle appearance, were full of violent tendencies. Unfortunately, due to their environment, they rarely had the chance to act. These past two days, they had their fill.

"Who wants to speak? I'm listening." Sikong Yi, sitting in the main seat, said.

"Sir, I think the people from the Flying Tiger Team know more about this than I do." Zhu Zhenqing thought for a moment and said. Originally, a captain of a second-level city lord's Flying Tiger Team would not have the qualifications to report to Lord Sikong, but since Zhu Zhenqing did not know the details, he did not dare to speak casually.

"Alright, bring him in." Sikong Yi nodded.

A moment later, a group of people came in, with the captain of the Pingchuan City Flying Tiger Team, Fei Xue, at the head.