423: Not one left

Santorinoya Hotel.

"Zhang Qing! Bring 5 more cases!" Liu Yan's slurred voice came from the private room.

"Uh... yes!" Zhang Qing wiped the sweat from his forehead.

The waiter nearby also looked worried upon seeing this.

"Manager... he seems to have been drinking non-stop for the past few days... if this continues, will he..." The waiter looked around and then mouthed, "Drink himself to death?"

Zhang Qing sighed and then waved his hand to signal the waiter not to talk nonsense.

After walking away, Zhang Qing looked worried.

"I wonder what happened to Young Master Chen; did he get dumped?"

"If he drinks himself to death here... how am I going to explain this to the boss..."

"Should I... tell the boss?"

"Forget it. I'll go try to persuade him first. If I still can't convince him, then I'll go find the boss..."

Zhang Qing casually grabbed a cart, set up five cases of various alcoholic beverages, and pushed it towards the private room where Liu Yan was.

"The customer traffic is quite good today; it's doubled compared to usual?" Looking at the guests continuously streaming into the entrance, Zhang Qing nodded with satisfaction.

"Xiao Zhao! Tell those two idiots at the door not to be short-sighted and ask customers for tips today!"

"Got it, Manager Zhang!"

"Sigh, not a single day goes by without causing me trouble." Zhang Qing shook his head and pushed the cart to knock on the private room where Liu Yan was.

Knock, knock, knock.

"Come in." A slurred voice came from inside.

Zhang Qing pushed open the door, and his brows instantly furrowed.

A pungent smell of alcohol rushed towards him.

Anyone who didn't know better would think hundreds of people had been drinking here.

Clatter.

Liu Yan's head poked out from among hundreds of wine bottles, flashing a silly grin at Zhang Qing while beckoning repeatedly.

"The alcohol is here, give it to me quickly."

"Young Master Chen..." Looking at Liu Yan's appearance, Zhang Qing felt an indescribable sensation.

The first time they met, the impression the other party left on him was a cold, detached, and aloof demeanor.

But last time, the other party appeared out of thin air in front of him, and whether it was his aura, his eyes, or his tone, all revealed an indescribable sorrow and despair.

This contrast made it hard for Zhang Qing to accept it even now.

Zhang Qing didn't give the alcohol to Liu Yan immediately; instead, he kicked the wine bottles aside to clear a space.

Then, Zhang Qing moved a sofa chair over and helped the drunken, limp Liu Yan onto it.

"Young Master Chen, you can't keep drinking like this. At the very least, you need to rest for a few days."

"Stop fucking yelling in my ear!!!" Liu Yan roared suddenly, making Zhang Qing tremble in fright.

"Sorry, I wasn't yelling at you..."

"In my head, hehe, there are two... little people." Liu Yan pointed to his own head, then tapped two fingers together.

"They want me to kill people. But I don't want to do that."

Seeing Liu Yan smiling foolishly and talking nonsense, Zhang Qing felt even more afraid.

Compared to the roar from before, this calm narration of madness made Zhang Qing's scalp tingle even more.

This damn thing is alcohol invading his brain! He's even hallucinating...

"Young Master Chen, you really can't drink anymore; this is for the sake of your life."

"How about this, I have some drinks prepared over there."

"You drink the non-alcoholic drinks, I'll drink the alcohol, and I'll chat with you?"

"People need to look forward; what kind of problem can't be overcome?"

While gently patting Liu Yan's back, Zhang Qing slowed his tone to the extreme.

Seeing Liu Yan's mood improve, Zhang Qing quickly stood up and grabbed a bottle of non-alcoholic drink and a bottle of brandy.

After pouring the drink for Liu Yan, Zhang Qing poured himself some brandy.

"Young Master Chen, what happened these past few days? Is it convenient to tell me?"

"Why did you suddenly..."

"Just... just just just! Why is this gun flying up?!"

Zhang Qing fell backward in shock, staring in disbelief at the few firearms floating in the air.

Liu Yan was just smiling foolishly and curling his fingers.

As Liu Yan's arm fell weakly onto the table, the few firearms flying in the air lost all kinetic energy and dropped to the ground.

Clatter—clatter—

Liu Yan laughed, took the brandy, and took a big gulp.

Gulp—gulp—

"Ah—"

"Zhang Qing, did you see that?"

Facing Liu Yan's question, Zhang Qing didn't answer; his brain had already been shocked by the scene just now.

This was the second time.

The last time, it was Liu Yan appearing out of thin air beside him.

That time, it had almost scared him to death too.

"You... you..."

"To tell you the truth, I'm not from this place."

Saying this, Liu Yan took another gulp of brandy.

In just two gulps, two-thirds of the wine in the bottle was gone.

"Moreover, I am very powerful, so powerful that I feel I don't belong to humanity either."

"I don't know where this power comes from, but I am just very strong."

While saying these two sentences, Zhang Qing could see that Liu Yan's eyes were very dim.

Even though what he said was arrogant, there was no sense of pride or wildness in it.

Immediately after, Liu Yan's eyes became even dimmer and more lifeless.

"But I still can't protect the people around me."

"I don't know what to do."

"People who get close to me always get implicated because of me."

"And I, every time, remain unscathed."

"Do you think I am, too much of a loser?"

Zhang Qing shook his head, emerging from the shock he had just experienced.

After sitting down beside Liu Yan, he picked up the drink and took a sip, barely managing to calm his nerves.

He couldn't tell anymore whether Liu Yan was drunk, acting like a teenager, or what.

If Liu Yan hadn't displayed those floating guns just now, Zhang Qing would have unhesitatingly thought that Liu Yan was probably just drunk.

The sudden appearance that day might have been that he just didn't notice the other party at the first moment.

But looking at it now, it wasn't that he had seen it wrong back then.

"Young Master Chen... I... I don't know what to say anymore; I feel like my brain is all scrambled."

"It seems like the one who drank too much isn't you, but me."

"But looking at what you just said... from my point of view, you... why do you want to protect them?"

"Everyone has their own fate... even with all the ability in the world, it's useless..."

Zhang Qing spoke to himself, and Liu Yan, on the side, similarly drank to himself.

Zhang Qing didn't know if Liu Yan had listened or not.

However, compared to the last two days, at least today, he was able to talk to the other party in the private room.

For the past two days, he had been locking himself in the private room.

"As for what you said, that people who get close to you get implicated because of you..."

"Let me say something unpleasant: aren't you taking yourself a bit too seriously?"

"Of course, I don't mean to offend you; I mean..."

"Maybe without you, they wouldn't necessarily have a better outcome?"

"But if you are there, maybe it could be a little better, who knows?"

Zhang Qing's words made Liu Yan's murky eyes clear up for a moment, and he suddenly looked up at Zhang Qing.

"What did you... just say?"

Zhang Qing was first startled by Liu Yan's sudden reaction, and after seeing that the other party wasn't angry, he continued:

"I mean, they might not have had a good outcome to begin with, but your appearance might change that outcome."

"And the outcome you think is bad might already be the best one?"

"So..."

Sizzle—!

Before Zhang Qing could finish his sentence, a red laser pierced through the wall of the private room.

After the laser entered, it swept across instantly!

The moment it passed through Zhang Qing's head, it sliced his head open!

Under Liu Yan's gaze, Zhang Qing's body crashed heavily onto the dining table.

And that red laser finally stopped at Liu Yan's side profile.

Ding—!

At the same time, every 0.5 seconds, the sound of "heaven is round, earth is square" shattering would ring out.

Looking at Zhang Qing's corpse and the scorching laser above the body, Liu Yan's expression was stunned.

Immediately after, the panicked voices of waiters rang out outside the private room:

"What are you doing?!"

"Young Master Chen is in this private room, if you disturb him..."

"Woo! Woo!!"

The waiter hadn't finished speaking before being gagged and dragged aside by several Operators wearing plain clothes.

Immediately after, throughout the entire Santorinoya Hotel, from the first floor to the 8th-floor circular railing, gun barrels and various weapons simultaneously extended.

Without exception, all these weapons were aimed at the private room where Liu Yan was.

At the same time, the service staff in the first-floor lobby had all been controlled by the Operators.

Even outside Liu Yan's private room, besides the devices that fired the two lasers, there were several complex-looking devices and equipment.

"Lone Dragon is still too impatient; I felt something was wrong after the meeting ended."

"What if that Liu Yan isn't acting with Hafke? Wouldn't that be a disaster?"

"The result is, it's just as I expected."

"Everyone get ready; I don't know what method he used to dodge the laser."

"Don't rush in; wait for him to come out. I have already studied the structure here in advance."

"It's almost impossible for him to break through the wall and escape from inside."

"And I have also deployed personnel outside; everything must be safe!"

As this Operator finished speaking, everyone simultaneously heard a sound coming from the private room in front of them.

"Hahahaha..."

"What sound? Laughter?"

"Hahaha... hahahahaha!"

The laughter gradually turned from initial sorrow and helplessness to anger.

This eerie scene made many Operators' hair stand on end.

"Everyone, stay 120% alert!"

The next second, the door of the private room instantly blew off!!!

Bang—!

"Fire..." The Operator's voice became a bit dazed.

Because after the door flew off, what came out was not a human figure.

Instead, it was countless firearms, surging out simultaneously like a tidal wave!!!

Immediately after, in the tide formed by the firearms, a figure gradually came into their view.

Liu Yan was sitting with one leg on a gun floating in mid-air.

The other leg was hanging loosely, and at the same time, one hand was holding a wine bottle.

On his face, everyone could see neither anger nor sorrow.

All there was, was a calmness like the surface of a lake.

"What... on earth is this thing?"

"The guns are flying... he's sitting on a gun... flying together..."

"Fire!!!"

Bang, bang, bang, bang, bang, bang—!

Everyone could no longer stand this eerie scene. Accompanied by the first person firing, everyone simultaneously pulled the triggers in their hands.

In an instant, all floors of the entire Santorinoya lit up with gunfire!

Now, they no longer had the time to think about the issue of paying for the damages caused by firing guns in the Santorinoya.

Ding—! Ding—!

Bullets hit Liu Yan indiscriminately; small-caliber bullets couldn't even cause any damage to Liu Yan.

And large-caliber bullets, likewise, could not pose any threat to Liu Yan due to the existence of "heaven is round, earth is square".

Liu Yan sat on the floating gun, turning a blind eye to the bullets fired at him, and tilted his head back to take a gulp of the wine in his hand.

After drinking, Liu Yan raised his eyes to look at the trajectories of the bullets fired at him.

In his eyes, all the trajectories fired at him were marked with red dashed lines.

The dashed lines extended all the way to the targets and were finally framed by green boxes.

Under everyone's gaze, the hand Liu Yan freed slowly raised.

At the same time, Liu Yan's lips moved slightly, as if he were talking to himself, or as if he were talking to his guns.

"Leave none alive."