46: Chapter 46 This is a test

Captain Huo Xiao threw the empty potion bottle on the ground and looked at the site of Su Wan's severed arm.

The wound began to heal, and new granulation tissue slowly grew.

Bones were rebuilding, blood vessels were extending, and muscles were knitting together.

A few minutes later, a brand-new arm had grown out.

Su Wan moved her fingers and clenched her fist, her complexion finally easing up a bit.

"Thank you, Captain." Her voice was somewhat hoarse.

Captain Huo Xiao didn't speak; he simply stood up, turned around, and walked into the cabin.

Su Wan scrambled up after him and boarded the helicopter as well.

The cabin door closed, the propellers accelerated, and the helicopter slowly lifted off.

Captain Huo Xiao leaned back in his seat with his eyes closed, replaying every detail of what had just happened in Wang Dashan's room over and over in his mind.

Although they had already escaped the gates of hell, there was no guarantee they wouldn't have to deal with Mr. Chen Long again in the future, so he had to learn more about Mr. Chen Long's preferences.

At this moment, Su Wan's words interrupted his deep thoughts: "Captain, what did Mr. Chen Long mean by his last sentence?"

He, of course, knew which sentence Su Wan was asking about:

"You are a smart person; do you know what to do and how to do it after you go out?"

Captain Huo Xiao looked out the window: "He meant for us to protect Wang Lin well after we go out and not let him die."

"If he dies, then we, including the entire Dark Blade, will die."

Su Wan was silent for a few seconds: "Since Mr. Chen Long is so strong, why didn't he send a member of the Twelve Zodiacs to protect him personally? Wouldn't that be better?"

Captain Huo Xiao had thought about this question before.

The strength of any member of the Twelve Zodiacs was far above theirs, and logically, having those people protect Wang Lin would be the safest choice.

"I don't know."

"It must have something to do with the selection system of the Twelve Zodiacs, or perhaps Mr. Chen Long has some other ideas of his own."

He didn't voice another guess: perhaps Wang Dashan didn't want Wang Lin to live under the wings of the Twelve Zodiacs at all.

That young man bore traces of having been deliberately cultivated, a kind of sharpness polished by being placed in danger.

Su Wan was clearly still digesting the recent experience: "Then why let us protect Wang Lin? Does he trust us that much? Isn't he afraid that we…"

Captain Huo Xiao's gaze became sharp:

"From the moment we first walked through that door, he was testing us."

"Testing whether we had the ability to protect his son."

Captain Huo Xiao's voice was devoid of inflection, as if he were reviewing a military exercise.

"The pressure from the very beginning was to demonstrate his strength, forcing us to submit to him,"

"letting us know that our lives and deaths were only in his thoughts."

"He deliberately controlled the pressure so that it suppressed my Regeneration, limiting me to only growing seven arms,"

"which, added to the original one, made eight arms."

"He was testing our reactions and adaptability."

"What we would do if the ninth arm couldn't regenerate."

"If I had knelt down to beg him to withdraw the pressure, or begged for mercy to let us go, we would basically be dead already."

Su Wan's breathing hitched for a moment.

"He wanted subordinates who could survive in desperate situations, not those who would only beg for mercy and wait for death when faced with a desperate situation."

"When I cut off my own right hand and then went to cut yours…"

Captain Huo Xiao's gaze landed on Su Wan's face: "That was to see if I was ruthless and decisive in my actions,"

"and whether my subordinates listened to me, and whether I had the means to manage people."

"If I had hesitated then, or if you had run away or resisted, then neither of us would have walked out of that door."

"It's a good thing you didn't run, otherwise, we both would have died."

Su Wan's throat moved.

She remembered that she had indeed wanted to turn and run for a split second; it was just an instinctive fear response.

But she had understood the look the Captain had given her: "This is the only way to survive."

"These were just his tests for us," Captain Huo Xiao continued,

"testing whether we were qualified to protect his son."

"If we had done even one thing poorly, make no mistake: not only us, but the entire Dark Blade would no longer exist."

"Do not doubt the capabilities of the Twelve Zodiacs."

This sentence made a layer of cold sweat break out on Su Wan's back.

She hadn't expected that this meeting would hide so many twists and turns.

She had originally thought it was just a one-sided crushing.

The opponent was too strong, they were too weak; being able to come out alive was already considered lucky.

But now it seemed that every step and every detail had been designed.

They were like pieces that had walked across a chessboard, without the pieces themselves even knowing they were playing a game.

If she were the Captain… then…

Su Wan silently imagined herself in his shoes and discovered that she likely would have failed at the first hurdle.

But the Captain not only withstood it but also made one correct judgment after another under those circumstances.

She had thought that by following Captain Huo Xiao through life and death all these years, she had grown strong enough.

But now she knew.

In front of a true powerhouse, Dark Blade was nothing.

That feeling was like a bird that thought it flew very high, suddenly looking up and seeing how high the sky was, seeing the falcons circling even higher up, and seeing that there were existences above the clouds that she couldn't see.

At this moment, Captain Huo Xiao's voice broke the silence.

"Dark Blade might be one of the best in the camp, but in front of a true powerhouse, we are still nothing."

"We must always maintain the heart of the weak, even if you are already a powerhouse."

"But that bastard Captain Han never listens, and almost caused our entire team to be wiped out…"

Captain Han believed that might makes right; if he met someone who didn't submit, he would fight, and if he couldn't win, he would fight to the death.

This personality might work in the camp; no matter how strong the opponents in the camp were, they weren't that strong.

But today's events rang an alarm bell for Su Wan: there were some existences in this world that couldn't be dealt with just by risking one's life.

If Captain Han's style of doing things were placed in front of Wang Dashan, he probably wouldn't even have the chance to speak.

The helicopter continued to move forward through the night sky.

Captain Huo Xiao leaned back in his seat again and closed his eyes.

But his brain was not resting; instead, it was operating at high speed.

Wang Dashan was satisfied with them, but this did not mean they were safe.

On the contrary, this might just be the beginning.

...

On the other side.

Wang Dashan wrapped his arms around Li Xiulan's waist: "Wife, did you hear that?"

"My son killed Commander Leí Héng, who was nearly Level 4, at Level 2, and there were four other Level 2 members nearby—a one-on-five!"

"You say he's so strong, who does he take after?"

Li Xiulan rolled her eyes at him: "Look at you, showing off."

"Last time, I don't know who it was that said the main account was ruined, so they started an alt account instead."