Chapter 158: Flame Sword (Part 3)

The morning light was faint and hazy.

A corner of the rising sun peeked above the horizon, painting the earth in a brilliant crimson hue. A gentle breeze drifted by. When Lu Fei woke up, he discovered that the Dragon Girl was already gone. She left without a word, coming and going like a phantom—truly something else.

Lu Fei got out of bed, brushed his teeth, washed his face, changed his clothes, and went downstairs. He saw that breakfast was already prepared, while his parents were watching television, chatting and laughing cheerfully.

"I heard the Li family has fallen, and a young man named Lu will become the guardian of the safe zone. That must be you, right?"

Lu Haoran smiled as he looked at his son. No one knew a son better than his father; he guessed it right away. After all, in Jiuzhou City, the only people with the surname Lu were him and his son.

"Haha... You guessed it, Dad."

Lu Fei smiled and replied, pulling out a large bag of Body Tempering Fluid and placing it to the side. "You both need to keep cultivating and growing stronger. In this apocalyptic era, only by becoming strong will I not worry about you. Remember to practice the cultivation technique I gave you; don't neglect it."

"Got it, you brat," Lu Haoran scolded with a smile.

"I heard a television station wants to interview you," Li Lian said, looking at Lu Fei.

"Oh, an interview won't be necessary. I'm not going anyway." Lu Fei walked over, finished his breakfast, and then stood up and walked toward the door. "I'm heading out for a bit."

"Alright, be careful," Lu Haoran said, then resumed watching TV. Li Lian walked over to the bag of Body Tempering Fluid and asked, "How does our son have so many of these?"

"I'm not sure. Probably stored in his spatial ring," Lu Haoran pondered aloud.

"Oh, never mind. Let's try one first to see what it tastes like," Li Lian said.

"It's sweet. I wonder if eating too much of this will give us diabetes," Lu Haoran joked with a smile.

"That joke wasn't funny," Li Lian glared at Lu Haoran.

……

……

Lu Fei arrived at the place where Zeng Hongsen and the others were staying, and together with them, headed toward the casino owned by the Li and Chen families.

"Boss, if we were stronger, you wouldn't have to trouble yourself with this," Zeng Hongsen said somewhat sheepishly.

"You will become stronger. Keep it up." Lu Fei patted Zeng Hongsen on the shoulder, then continued walking forward.

"Actually, you didn't need to come at all. I could have handled it," the Dragon Girl said.

"I could have gone just as well," Liu Mengyan told Lu Fei earnestly.

"No need, I can go," Lu Fei said with a smile as he looked at Liu Mengyan and the Dragon Girl.

"Hmph... You're just going there to bully them," the Dragon Girl gave Lu Fei a sideways glance.

"Exactly," Liu Mengyan echoed.

"It's fine, I just like bullying people," Lu Fei said with utter confidence, then continued forward until they reached the entrance of the Li and Chen families' casino.

"This casino is still operating out in the open?" Lu Fei asked, somewhat surprised.

"With the Li family backing it, who would dare shut this place down?" Zeng Hongsen shook his head and replied.

"Who the hell are you guys? Don't hang around here, get lost!" Several fierce-looking men covered in tattoos walked out from inside, holding guns as they advanced toward Lu Fei and his group.

"Who are we? Do you know who Lu Fei's subordinates are? The Li family has already been wiped out, and we are going to clear out all of the Li family's assets and bring them under the Lu family's name. It's as simple as that. You better kneel down and beg for mercy right now," Zeng Hongsen declared solemnly. He wasn't joking around; if they wouldn't kneel willingly, he would beat them until they did.

"Heh... This is getting interesting. The Li family may have fallen, but our Chen family won't go down. You have to beat the dog while looking at its master!" The leader roared as he charged forward, slashing a blade directly toward Zeng Hongsen.

"Courting death."

Zeng Hongsen swung the giant blade in his hand fiercely, unleashing a wave of fiery blade energy that blasted those men backward. They shattered the casino doors and flew crashing inside.

"Elder Chen, someone's here to smash the place..." The man who crashed into the casino spat out a mouthful of blood, managed to choke out those words, and passed out cold.

"Interesting. To think someone actually dares to smash my Chen family's establishment."

A man in his sixties walked out from the interior of the casino, his hands clasped behind his back, followed by several ferocious-looking subordinates.

"I really wonder who has a death wish to dare wreck the Chen family's joint."

"That's right, with Elder Chen stepping in personally, those bastards are going to die a miserable death."

As they walked out and caught sight of the crowd, a cold sneer hung on their faces. But once they recognized who the group was, their expressions completely crumbled. That group had fought against zombies and desolate beast hordes; every single one of them possessed peerless strength. Only Elder Chen could possibly match a few of the weaker ones among them; anyone else stepping forward would simply be throwing their lives away.

"Y-Y-You... are Lu Fei?" Elder Chen had initially remained calm and leisurely, but the moment he saw who had arrived, all his composure vanished. Naturally, he couldn't remain calm after running into such a terrifying monster. That was the guy who had repelled two zombie and desolate beast tides, the guy who had completely obliterated the two most powerful families in the safe zone—an absolute freak of nature.

He was no match for this young man at all. His eyes widened in sheer, unadulterated terror and panic.

"Thud..." Suddenly, Elder Chen dropped to his knees. Without any warning whatsoever, he hit the floor. His subordinates behind him wore expressions of utter bewilderment—single, double, and multi-layered confusion. None of them had expected Elder Chen to lack any backbone and simply kneel on the spot. Following his lead, they all dropped to their knees as well.

When faced with an invincible entity, the only logical choice was to beg for mercy on your knees, unless you wanted a one-way ticket to the grave.

Just the thought of it was terrifying.

"My word, I thought we were in for a massive brawl. I never expected these spineless cowards to drop to their knees like that. It's completely jaw-dropping."

Zeng Hongsen wore a dumbfounded look as well, though he knew that if he were in their shoes facing someone as powerful as Lu Fei, he would have been scared into kneeling too.

"We'll leave immediately! This casino is no longer ours," Elder Chen said in a frightened voice, his words trembling visibly.

"Very well, leave," Lu Fei said indifferently, not even bothering to look at Elder Chen. Lu Fei was simply here to go through the motions; those who knew what was good for them would clear out, saving him the trouble. Anyone who didn't could be wiped out with a flick of a finger.

It was as simple as that. Zeng Hongsen and the others then stepped inside to clear the premises, chasing away all the gamblers. Shutting down the casino was a given; having them run some other legitimate business in the future wouldn't be a bad idea either.

After that,

Lu Fei began his walk back home. "You guys carry on."

"Understood..."

Zeng Hongsen and the others nodded.

It wasn't until Elder Chen had walked a long distance away that he finally drew in a cold breath. He hadn't even dared to breathe heavily earlier, drenched in cold sweat from head to toe, before scurrying away like a stray dog.

Lu Fei returned to his neighborhood and stopped right in front of Qin Bailing's house, raising his hand to knock on the door.

Chen Qi opened the door, a warm smile on her face as she said, "Oh, Lu Fei! Come on in and sit for a while."