He tore through the Holy Grail War, and you still call him a dragon?

"Otou-san! Otou-san! Help me!"

As soon as he answered the call, the panic in the caller's voice made the man frown. "Explain clearly. What's going on?"

"It's the Shu family! It has to be them... they're ignoring all the rules, Otou-san! They sent a bunch of genetically modified mixed-bloods whose Genrei (Word Command) works like actual magic! Shouin Rai (Palm Thunder of the Tao Sect), Enkei Xingyiquan (Flame Form Fist), Mujin no Chi (Dustless Rebound)... these are definitely illegal bloodline modifications!"

"What are you saying?!" The father couldn't make sense of the mess.

"A-and more! They're bombing our cargo warehouse with tactical missiles! Hahaha, they've gone mad, the Shu family has lost it!"

The voice sounded half-crazed with panic, almost drunken in its frenzy. But the background gunfire and blaring alarms made it clear this wasn't some drunk call.

"Calm down! Hold out a little longer. Victory is almost ours... I'll arrange backup from the family. We also have reinforcements from Gattuso. The Shu family wouldn't dare go too far in the open—"

"It's useless, Otou-san! Everything is against us!" The other side nearly broke into a sobbing scream.

"Let's retreat while we still can! The outer park is full of people from other clans! I tried contacting help but they're being blocked outside. They're ready to cut off reinforcements and silence the aftermath! They're joining forces to devour us whole! Otou-san, check if there are already enemies near the house!"

Realizing the severity of the crisis, the father tensed up. He quietly summoned a sturdy mixed-blood guard responsible for estate security. The man understood immediately and rushed to prepare a defense.

Then the father asked the caller, "Has the Shu family breached the testing and inspection center?"

"What?" The voice was clearly confused.

"I asked if the Shu family has broken into the inspection center near the medical lab and warehouse! If they haven't entered the underground layer, hold it at all costs until reinforcements arrive!"

"N-no, no enemies detected there... but why, Otou-san? Why must we guard that place? What's in that underground—"

The father didn't wait for more. He cut the call. His children weren't qualified to know what was down there, even if they shared his blood.

He had to focus now on mobilizing family forces scattered elsewhere. He had no time to chat with the Gattuso people.

They only cared about one thing... that cargo, Nono.

One by one, he sent out orders through his comms device. But even that didn't ease his anxiety. What lay in that underground layer was far too important...

He began ordering a driver and guards to be on standby. If the outer blockade could be broken, he would head to the park base immediately. No matter the unexpected danger, that would be the safest place.

A sudden gust behind him.

A sound like something sharp tearing through the air.

A chilling sense of death gripped him—but before he could move, pain burst through his chest. A short blade, styled like a Japanese wakizashi, pierced him from behind and exited cleanly through the front.

Blood sprayed.

"You... you actually..."

He turned with a weak, trembling voice and saw Nono, face cold and expressionless. Her strike had been swift beyond belief, too fast for even the hidden guards to respond.

Her golden eyes blazed with fury and hatred. Her pale cheeks shimmered with glowing white holy scales under the night lights.

Underground Level, Medical Research Facility, Chen Family Base

Zhou Minhao's fists glowed red with heat and fury. He unleashed a blazing Paoquan (Cannon Fist) from Xingyiquan, slamming it into a fleeing mixed-blood brute. The impact erupted in fire and swept outward, engulfing nearby enemies in a storm of flames.

Having landed a clean hit, Zhou Minhao vanished back into the shadows.

Gunfire still echoed from Chen family troops, but the lighting was destroyed—only patches of flame and darkness remained.

Worse, their own comrades were burning, and the intense heat confused their infrared sensors.

Zhou Minhao wasn't worried. In the dark, all he needed was enhanced hearing and magic to dodge and strike with deadly precision.

One more to go.

The enemy's continuous firepower was clearly a cover, revealing a lack of reinforcements.

Estimating reload intervals, Zhou Minhao boosted his legs with Mahō (magic) and struck like a shadow just as the enemy changed magazines.

A surprise Bengquan (Crushing Fist) burst forth, flames roaring as it took another life in a flash of fire.

"Sector B secured."

He returned to the stairwell, hearing other team reports of clearing Sectors A and C.

Everything seemed to be going smoothly. Time to move deeper into the facility—the next level housed dangerous experimental zones and possibly mutated Shinshi (Dead Apostles). Full force was required.

But scanning the group, he noticed someone missing—a certain always-grinning, ever-joking guy.

Wait, where was Old Tang?

Meanwhile, in the Testing and Inspection Center's Lower Levels

A king of fire had arrived.

Invisible heat radiated from Norton, melting heavy locks and alloyed doors with ease.

Automatic turrets hidden in the walls spewed bullets, but they disintegrated mid-air. The trap systems fried one by one under the heat.

Norton walked calmly through the dim underground corridors, not like an intruder but like a sovereign walking his own dragon palace.

He melted another archway—human fortifications were nothing to him—and was met with a coiled, hulking serpent Shinshi.

It had no chance. Fire engulfed it before it could react, reducing it to silent ash.

Other Shinshi nearby, terrified, screamed like infants and scrambled away, fleeing deeper into the tunnels, desperate to escape the burning god of death.

(End of Chapter)

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