Chapter 28

Brian was truly terrified. He had been sleeping, and he had never even met He Ping; he only knew of the strange Tianhua youth from intelligence reports. But when he woke up, he suddenly found himself unable to use any strength and was locked in a strange little room. Even though Brian was an adult, he couldn't understand what was happening to him. This bizarre situation was almost as strange as when He Ping first arrived in the Military World.

Now, suddenly being tied up and then appearing in reality, Brian was doing well just to maintain his sanity. As for the Tianhua youth standing before him, whose smile was filled with murderous intent, Brian, who was not a fool, should have figured it out even if he had never met He Ping before. However, the answer he had almost confirmed in his heart was the one he least wanted to believe. If all of this was He Ping's doing, Brian had no idea how he could deal with him.

He Ping squatted down, smiled, and reached out to pat Brian's face, saying, "Mr. 'Poison Wolf,' you're not stupid. You figured out my identity so quickly. You're in my hands now. Do you have anything you want to say?"

Although He Ping was shorter than the seated Brian after squatting down, he still had to look up to pat Brian's face. But these seemingly tender hands had already killed countless Okland soldiers. Even though they were the hands of a young man, to Brian, they felt like a knife pressed against his face. Cold sweat instantly drenched his back, and beads of sweat appeared on his forehead and nose.

Brian swallowed, moistened his dry throat, and said, "Just name your terms. Money, power, status, treasures, beauties—whatever you want, I can offer. As long as I can manage it, I will do my best. Just spare my life, and you can take anything you want from me!"

Hearing this, He Ping looked at Brian with interest. When Brian began to feel uneasy and looked away, unable to meet He Ping's gaze, He Ping smiled and said, "Not bad, very smart, smarter than I imagined. I thought that after I killed your brother, you would lose your mind and perhaps curse me. I didn't expect you to suppress your anger and still be able to negotiate with me. I think I'm starting to appreciate you."

Mentioning his brother, Brian's face instantly twisted with a fierce expression, but it quickly disappeared, returning to the fearful and tense look from before. This fleeting change did not escape He Ping's notice. He had already learned that Brian was quite indulgent and partial to his brother, Chris. For the murderer who killed Chris, Brian must have harbored a desire to kill him. Now, it seemed his assumption was correct.

"Chris is Chris, and I am I. Chris is dead and can never come back, but I am still alive. I don't want to die, so the terms I offered earlier still stand. As long as I can manage it, you can take whatever you want, just spare my life," Brian's tone was very respectful, showing a pragmatic and wise demeanor.

He Ping did not respond to Brian's words but said, "We'll talk about the terms later. First, let me show you something good."

With that, he waved his hand, and beside Brian, a person who looked similar to him, also tightly bound, appeared. However, this person seemed unconscious and fell to the ground without sitting up like Brian. Seeing this person, Brian's eyes instantly turned red, and a flash of murderous intent appeared, but He Ping did not miss it.

"Father! Father! Wake up! What's wrong? He Ping! What did you do to my father? Why isn't he moving?" Brian immediately recognized that the person He Ping had released and who lay on the ground was his father, Wolf. Wolf had just been knocked out by He Ping and was still unconscious. However, at the sound of Brian's voice, Wolf's eyelids twitched, a sign that he was about to wake up.

Sure enough, after hearing Brian's voice, Wolf slowly opened his eyes. Like Brian, he was initially confused about his situation. In his memory, he had been in the military camp, surrounding He Ping, who had shown astonishing combat skills, kidnapped him, and escaped from the camp. After that? He seemed to have lost consciousness. Now, he was still in He Ping's hands, but why did he hear Brian's voice in a daze?

"Father! Father! You're finally awake. Are you okay? Is everything alright?" Brian called out again when he saw Wolf wake up.

At this moment, Wolf regained his consciousness. He immediately recognized his eldest son's voice. Could Brian have come to rescue him? Thinking this, Wolf turned his head to look. His heart sank to the bottom and turned cold when he saw that Brian was in a similarly wretched state, clearly also a captive. Seeing He Ping standing nearby, Wolf knew exactly what had happened.

Instantly, Wolf's face turned red, and his eyes were bloodshot as he shouted, "He Ping, you little brat! You not only killed Chris but also kidnapped Brian. I will never forgive you, you little—"

"Father!" Before he could finish, before he could say the word "brat," Brian interrupted him. After stopping Wolf's words, Brian did not explain but turned to He Ping and said, "The same terms as before. Spare my life and my father's life. Everything we have, everything we can do, you can have. As long as we can manage it, we will do our best!"

"Brian! You..." Wolf was shocked that Brian would make such a humiliating offer to He Ping. Having spent years in the military, he was not as adept at the intricacies of noble politics as Brian. Seeing the situation, Wolf wanted to scold He Ping, but Brian was already thinking about how to save both their lives.

"Father! We have no choice. You should also make the same promise to He Ping, guaranteeing that if our lives are spared, we will give him everything he wants!" Brian gave Wolf a significant look, the meaning clear: as long as they were alive and retained their noble status, they could regain what they lost and even take more, like He Ping's life!

[PS: First update of the day! More at 3 PM!]