196: Chapter 196 Establishing Authority

"A game?"

Wang Pingan lifted his eyelids and lazily glanced at the One-Eyed Dragon before him, who was staring back with eyes full of "malice."

He felt a bit annoyed.

Why did he encounter these self-righteous types who loved to pull rank wherever he went?

Couldn't they just let him be a quiet, unremarkable handsome man?

"That's right, a game."

The corner of Old K's mouth curled into a cruel, bloodthirsty arc.

He extended a finger, as withered and thin as a chicken claw, and pointed to a table in the corner of the bar made of a special alloy.

"We'll arm wrestle."

"Simple and fair."

"If you win, from now on, I, Old K, and our entire 'Ghost' squad will follow your lead."

"But if you lose..."

A playful glint flashed in Old K's single eye.

"Then you'll crawl back to wherever you came from."

"Our 'Abyss' base doesn't support dead weight."

His words were forceful.

They were filled with an unquestionable dominance!

Behind him, the members of the Ghost squad all burst into jeering laughter.

They could already envision this fair-skinned Little White Face having his wrist snapped by their captain's terrifying strength—strength enough to crush alloy steel plates.

"Arm wrestling?"

After hearing this, Wang Pingan's expression became somewhat strange.

He sized up Old K's body, which was as scrawny as a monkey's, looking as if a gust of wind could blow him over.

Then he thought about his own fifteen thousand points of Strength.

He felt that if he actually played this game with this guy...

It would practically be an act of inhumane, cruel abuse against the "disabled."

"Um... uncle."

Wang Pingan's face showed an expression of "difficulty" and "reluctance."

"I'm afraid I might accidentally snap your hand."

"When the time comes, I'm afraid your old bones will have to retire early."

"How about... we switch to a more civilized game?"

"Like... Fight the Landlord?"

"..."

In an instant, the entire bar fell into a deathly silence.

The smiles on the faces of all the Ghost squad members completely froze.

Every one of them stared wide-eyed and open-mouthed at the lazy youth as if they had seen a ghost.

Their minds went blank.

Just now... what did they hear?

This kid actually dared to say he was afraid of snapping their captain's hand?

And he even fucking suggested playing Fight the Landlord with their captain?!

Crazy!

This guy is absolutely insane!

Does he even know what kind of existence he's talking to?!

That's Old K!

He's the notorious, cold-blooded Living Yama of the entire Abyss base!

He's the God of Slaughter who once single-handedly wiped out an elite squad led by a Three-Eyed Clan Seventh-Rank Grandmaster!

As for One-Eyed Dragon Old K, when he heard Wang Pingan's words...

His already hideous face became distorted beyond recognition at that moment.

A flicker of bewilderment passed through his clouded single eye.

Immediately afterward, it was completely filled with endless rage!

"Good... good! Good! Good!"

Old K laughed from extreme anger!

He said "good" four times in a row!

From within his scrawny frame, an indescribable, terrifying killing intent—filled with the aura of coldness and death—erupted!

Boom!

Seventh-Rank Mid-stage!

And he was the kind of Slaughter Grandmaster who had been honed through mountains of corpses and seas of blood, having killed countless people!

"Kid!"

"You asked for this!"

Old K's voice was cold and raspy!

"Today, I'll let you know!"

"What true despair feels like!"

The moment his voice fell!

His scrawny figure left a faint afterimage where he stood.

In the next second, he appeared before Wang Pingan like a specter!

His withered, chicken-claw-like hand...

Carried the power of the Law of Death, enough to tear through space!

He lunged viciously toward Wang Pingan's neck!

He wanted to take the head of this ignorant kid who dared to challenge his authority...

...and rip it clean off his neck!

However.

Facing this fatal blow that would make any Seventh-Rank Grandmaster of the same level turn pale with fright...

Wang Pingan's face still bore that lazy, half-asleep expression.

He didn't even bother to blink.

He only slowly raised his right hand.

Then, in the split second before that death-filled "chicken claw" was about to touch his neck...

He struck second but arrived first.

He gently grasped the other's wrist.

There was no world-shaking roar.

There was no world-destroying energy explosion.

There was only an imperceptible "crack."

It sounded as if a dry twig had been snapped.

Time seemed to freeze at this moment.

Old K's certain-to-win, cruel, and hideous expression completely froze on his face.

His clouded single eye was filled with indescribable horror and disbelief!

He stared blankly down at his wrist, which was now twisted at a bizarre, irregular angle.

He looked up again at the youth, who still wore that harmless, lazy smile.

His mind went blank.

"I told you."

Wang Pingan's voice rang out leisurely.

"I was afraid I'd accidentally snap your hand."

"See, now it's..."

...broken, isn't it?"

...

Half an hour later.

The Ghost squad received their first and only mission of the day.

To head to the G-7 asteroid belt for a routine patrol.

Only this time...

...their team had a new member.

A true "Demon God" whom they didn't even dare to look at twice.

Wang Pingan.

And their once-unbeatable Captain One-Eyed Dragon Old K, who had terrified the entire Abyss base...

...was currently acting like the most loyal old servant.

He followed behind the lazy youth.

On his broken wrist, which was wrapped in a thick plaster cast...

...several large words filled with "repentance" and "warning" were scrawled messily with an energy pen.

"Don't ignore the Captain's words, or you'll suffer the consequences."

"Act out against the Captain again, and he'll break my third leg."

This caused the other members of the Ghost squad to watch with racing hearts and tingling scalps.

They were now completely submissive toward their newly appointed "Overlord" captain.

Utterly submissive.

Submissive from the inside out, from body to soul.

The small, black, ghost-like patrol ship moved silently through the deathly and dangerous asteroid belt.

"Reporting, Captain!"

Old K held a tactical tablet full of sci-fi flair.

With a "fawning" look, he ran over to Wang Pingan, who was comfortably lying in the captain's exclusive massage chair, "resting with his eyes closed."

"We have entered the core region of the G-7 asteroid belt."

"According to the radar scan, everything is normal within the next three thousand kilometers; no abnormal energy fluctuations have been detected."

"Mm."

Wang Pingan didn't even bother to open his eyes, merely letting out a lazy grunt from his nose.

"Continue forward."

"Yes! Captain!"

Old K didn't dare to be the slightest bit negligent and immediately turned to relay the order.

However, just then...

...the youth, who had kept his eyes closed the whole time, suddenly spoke.

"Wait."

"What is it, Captain?" Old K hurriedly stopped, looking "nervous" and "respectful."

"The radar seems to have a problem."

Wang Pingan slowly opened his eyes.

A playful glint flashed in his pitch-black pupils.

"Why do I feel like..."

...we've fallen into someone else's encirclement?"

The moment his voice fell.

Zzzzt—!

A harsh, interference-filled static sound erupted frantically throughout the patrol ship's cockpit without warning!

All the light screens and instruments on the ship turned into a snowy darkness at that moment!

Immediately after.

Under everyone's horrified and incredulous gazes...

...three small Three-Eyed Clan assault ships, pitch-black and possessing a streamlined, sinister aesthetic like black blades...

...emerged silently from the void like ghosts!

They completely surrounded their tiny patrol ship right in the center!