His Highness Yangqian, the Four Cornerstones

Outside the Mechanical Forest alleyways.

Five towering Kamans stood at the entrance to the labyrinthine district, watching in silence.

At their head was a Kaman close to four meters tall, encased in gleaming white battle armor. Two warriors flanked him on each side. Driven point-first into the ground beside him was a purple-gold battle blade over three meters long. Nearby, a Kaman in flowing ceremonial robes clutched a violet scepter.

The robed one spoke:

"Your Highness, only eleven mice remain inside. It shouldn't take much longer. Our people are steadily tightening the search perimeter."

The lead Kaman's gray-white stone-patterned face carried a cold killing intent. He spoke without inflection:

"Though these little mice managed to pilfer only a negligible fraction of what is mine — everything that belongs to this prince is mine to give or withhold. No one takes it without permission. Since they chose to reach for it, they can pay with their lives."

The scepter Kaman glanced at his Communication Crystal. "Your Highness — two more eliminated. Both were Gnolls."

The tall Kaman gave a single nod. He said nothing more.

Inside the maze of alleyways, things were growing desperate.

Lin Xixi pressed forward with Alice on her back, expression carved from ice. Alice was deathly pale. The dark-haired girl at their side looked no better — all three were drenched in blood, their auras thin and fraying, stamina pressed to its absolute limit.

"We keep running into pursuers," the dark-haired girl said, voice tight. "The space we can move through keeps shrinking. At this rate, we're not making it out."

"We've already exposed ourselves. They'll be on us any moment." A breath. "There's no way out."

Alice managed a strained smile. "There never was one, really. All we can do now is hope Lei Feng really is as strong as Miss said."

"Worst case, we fight." Lin Xixi's voice was cold. "If we go all-out, we can take down one or two of their squads."

The dark-haired girl muttered under her breath, "I really don't want to die..."

Catching Lin Xixi's look, she straightened immediately. "Of course — if it actually comes to that, I'll give everything I've got!"

A beat of grim silence. "For now, we can only wait for Lei Feng."

Then, without warning —

"Found prey! Over there! Three humans!"

Four Kaman warriors rounded a corner, faces alight with predatory satisfaction. Lin Xixi's group wheeled to face them.

She bit down. Her longbow materialized in her hands. She drew the string, condensed a white light arrow, and fired.

**Clang!!**

The arrow met the lead Kaman's blade in a burst of force that hurled him off his feet, blood spraying from his mouth, body slamming into the three behind him. The other three vaulted their fallen companion and kept coming.

"Go!"

Lin Xixi's group plunged into the next alley.

High above the district, a dark silhouette leaped from rooftop to rooftop — fast, relentless, eyes sweeping the maze below.

Lu Yuan's mood had grown heavy.

He had Amy's rough coordinates for Lin Xixi, but rough was all they were. The district was a nightmare: steel towers packed so densely you could barely see the sky between them, alleyways that twisted in every direction. He could search for hours and still find nothing. From his vantage up here he could already see Kamans hunting other Gene Warriors through the corridors below.

He had no good options. He drew a breath and shouted:

"Lin Xixi!! Where are you?!"

He waited. Nothing.

*Has she already moved? Or...* He cut the thought off.

Maybe she hadn't heard. He cupped his hands and tried again, louder:

"Lin Xixi!! Say something if you're there!! I'm coming to rescue you!!"

The shout carried across the entire zone — not just Lin Xixi's group, but every Gene Warrior being hunted, every Kaman in the labyrinth, and even the powerful warriors stationed outside heard it clearly.

At the district's edge, four sets of Kaman brows furrowed. One face — the one in white armor — remained perfectly unmoved.

Inside the alleyways, Lin Xixi's group froze mid-stride.

"...That voice." The dark-haired girl's voice came out oddly. "Is that — Lei Feng??"

Lin Xixi blinked, equally thrown. "It... sounds like it might be?"

The dark-haired girl's expression shifted in a way she couldn't quite name.

Yangqian — the one in white armor — turned to the scepter Kaman at his side.

"Yangnan. Is there any record of this human in our files?"

Yangnan fixed his gaze on the distant rooftops, his brow deeply creased. He shook his head.

"My Lord, there is nothing on him. According to our records, the most formidable human male genius taking part in this expedition should be Huo Tianhua — son of the Extreme Fire Battle Emperor. But Huo Tianhua is Elemental Type. This is not him."

The blade warrior standing nearby — black long sword in hand — could barely contain himself. His eyes locked onto the distant Lu Yuan, battle-hunger burning openly in them.

"This guy is seriously something. I actually want to fight him."

Yangqian's gaze settled on two of his warriors: one with a long blade, one with a bow and war axe. The two exchanged a glance — they knew that expression from their prince.

"Liuyu. Nuola. Go test him. Bring him into my command if you can. If he's sensible enough, release his companions."

The two erupted into motion, becoming streaks of light as they scaled the side of a building and bounded toward Lu Yuan.

Back in the alleyways below, Lin Xixi gritted her teeth and drew her bow again. She aimed upward and released.

A white light arrow screamed into the sky and detonated in a brilliant flash above the rooftops.

Anxiety crept over her face the moment it left the string — the signal revealed their position to every enemy in the area.

Lu Yuan saw the flash. His eyes lit up. He turned and ran.

He had barely crossed three rooftops when two powerful auras closed fast from his left. His gaze sharpened.

Two silhouettes burst from a nearby rooftop edge and planted themselves directly in his path.

Both were Kamans — well over three meters each. One carried a massive battle blade. The other had a longbow, with a war axe slung across her back.

Lu Yuan studied them.

*Their auras are a notch above the Mechanical Warrior I ran into before.* He narrowed his eyes. *Close to the peak of First-rank Boss Grade. With Black Steel Force fully detonated, that brings their effective output up to Chief Grade. These two are the real deal.*

Nuola, axe and bow at her sides, showed a flash of teeth — a vicious grin.

Liuyu held his ground with quiet authority, blade in hand. When he spoke, his voice came out flat and measured.

"Human. I am Liuyu — one of the Four Cornerstones under His Highness Yangqian, Sixth Prince of the Purple Cloud Empire. State your name."

Lu Yuan looked at him.

"..."

*Quite the introduction.*

A pause. Then Liuyu continued:

"You should count yourself fortunate. His Highness has taken notice of your talent. We are not here to kill you."

"I don't care who you are," Lu Yuan said. "You're in my way."

Both Kamans' expressions darkened with fury.

Liuyu's voice dropped. "Human... it seems no one has taught you basic manners. Allow us to remedy that."

*I will not allow anyone to out-posture me.* A flicker of grim amusement. *I genuinely cannot believe these two are being more theatrical about this than I am.*

No more words.

Liuyu's Spirit Power surged through him; he launched forward, blade raised. Nuola drew her longbow at the same instant, two arrows materializing on the string, both aimed at Lu Yuan.

**BOOM!!**

Lu Yuan gripped the Dark Red Blade and stamped the ground.

He was gone.

He reappeared at Liuyu's side — Black Steel Force detonating at full power, the Dark Red Blade driving toward Liuyu's throat with a shrieking wake of blade-wind.

**CLANG!!**

Liuyu roared and threw his blade up to meet it.

The sword wind raked across his face — a burning line of pain. Then the force arrived. His body was hurled backward, blade spinning out of his grip, his whole form sailing off the rooftop edge into open air.

Nuola was already moving. She dropped her bow and lunged.

The moment her hands caught him, her expression crumpled.

The full force of Lu Yuan's strike — still surging through Liuyu's body — transferred into her the instant they made contact. A choked grunt. Her face drained white. Both of them were driven backward and off the rooftop edge, falling.

Nuola snarled with effort, pouring everything she had into slowing them. They landed hard some distance below, skidding another twenty meters before finally stopping.

Liuyu's arms hung at his sides, shaking, unable to rise.

**Crack. Crack.**

He looked down at them.

The corners of his mouth pulled tight. "My arms are broken," he said quietly. "From that one strike."

Nuola stared at his arms, face stricken. "One blow — and he broke both your arms?!"

Both of them were bleeding from the mouth, breathing hard, eyes fixed on Lu Yuan with wide, uncertain expressions.

*He survived,* Lu Yuan noted, mildly surprised. He held his gaze on Liuyu, frowning slightly. *Close to the peak of First-rank Boss Grade — and with a Boss Grade gene and a Chief Grade gene both tempered to completion, his real output reaches Chief Grade. He actually has something.*

He glanced at Nuola. *Even catching him — absorbing only the residual force through contact — nearly wrecked her. I can only imagine what the direct impact felt like.*

He didn't say anything else. He jumped off the rooftop.

Liuyu and Nuola watched him drop, exchanged a stunned look, and made no move to follow.

Far off at the district's edge, the five Kaman powerhouses had seen everything.

The blade warrior stood frozen.

"How is he *that* strong?"

"Belo and Bere," another said, voice hollow. "Both low-level Boss Grade. And he dropped both of them with a single kick?"

Yangnan's expression was grim. "Belo is probably already dead."

Silence.

"*Dead?!* He *killed* Belo with one kick?!"

The shock rippled through the group. Even the four Cornerstones combined would find a feat like that nearly beyond reach.

The blade warrior turned toward Yangqian, something strange threading into his voice.

"When I watched that human fight... I felt like I was watching you, Your Highness."

Every eye shifted to Yangqian.

He said nothing for a moment. Then, to Yangnan:

"Yangnan. Is there truly nothing in our records about him?"

"My Lord." Yangnan shook his head, his frown deepening. "Nothing. The strongest known human male genius present here is Huo Tianhua — son of the Extreme Fire Battle Emperor. Elemental Type. That is not who this is."

All of them were taut and unsettled. Only Yangqian's face remained unchanged — perfectly still, perfectly unreadable.

Lu Yuan was already moving through the alleyways below, following the direction of the arrow.

*If Yangqian is as powerful as his subordinates suggest,* he thought, a weight settling in his chest, *I may not be able to hold him off and protect Lin Xixi's group at the same time.*

He had to reach them first.

In the middle of a narrow passage, three exhausted, blood-soaked girls were still talking when a dark blur materialized before them — instant, soundless.

All three flinched back.

Lu Yuan looked at them: blood head to foot, auras barely flickering, faces drained of color.

One of them had just been saying, "...all we can do now is wait for Lei Feng."

He blinked.

"Wait for me to do what?"

Lin Xixi stared at him.

"...You're not Lei Feng?"