59: Chapter 59 The Murder Under the Neon Lights and the Slap in the Face

Three days later, the banquet hall attached to the field headquarters was brilliantly lit. Though not extravagant, it appeared solemn and warm. Soft music flowed, and the scent of food and wine permeated the air.

Invited female engineers from Dragon Country, local family ladies, and a few strictly screened female soldier representatives, dressed in appropriate gowns, chatted in groups of twos and threes. The atmosphere seemed relaxed and harmonious.

Zhang Cheng appeared at the venue wearing a crisp uniform. He didn't intentionally put on a high-and-mighty air, instead engaging in cordial conversation with several heads of the Dragon Country aid construction teams and respected local elders, occasionally exchanging polite pleasantries with female guests who came forward to greet him.

As the Chief of Civil Affairs, Li Lanzhi moved gracefully among the guests, but her peripheral vision never left Zhang Cheng's vicinity.

A figure—a young man in a waiter's uniform with a clean-cut face—bore the typical shyness of a newcomer and a trace of imperceptible tension.

His movements were standard and his procedures followed protocol, but under Old K's dynamic capture and pressure-sensing analysis, the subtle tension in his muscles and the minute changes in his heart rate showed an extremely slight deviation from his "role."

This deviation was undetectable to ordinary people or even ordinary elite soldiers.

Zhang Cheng was currently discussing technical details of a hydroelectric power station with a Dragon Country female engineer beside him, completely unaware.

"Phantom" was as calm as ice at this moment. She had absolute confidence in her disguise and assassination skills.

That cicada-wing-thin human skin mask not only changed his appearance but even simulated the subtle rolling of a male Adam's apple.

Carrying a tray filled with wine glasses, he walked with steady steps, his eyes filled with just the right amount of humility, gradually shortening the distance to Zhang Cheng.

An opportunity! Zhang Cheng seemed to turn slightly to take a glass of wine, creating a half-body gap between him and the person next to him. This opening was fleeting, but for "Phantom," it was enough!

As if practiced thousands of times, he appeared to stumble, the tray tilted, and the wine glasses looked set to fall. Amidst the low gasps of the crowd, the hand he had hidden under the tray moved with a speed difficult for the naked eye to catch—a flash of cold light!

That poisoned, willow-leaf-thin blade pierced with unerring precision deep into the position of Zhang Cheng's heart on the left side of his chest!

"Puchi!" A faint but tooth-aching sound of a sharp blade entering flesh.

Zhang Cheng's body suddenly stiffened, the expression on his face froze, and a flash of "incredulity" crossed his eyes. Then, his body swayed and he fell backward. The wine glass in his hand shattered with a crash.

"Ah—!"

"Commander-in-Chief!"

The scene instantly fell into chaos! Screams and cries rose one after another.

A cold sense of triumph flashed in Phantom's heart. Mission accomplished! The Sovereign is dead! He could even feel the resistance as the blade pierced the heart and the throb of life fading away at that moment.

He was preparing to use the chaos to withdraw like a drop of ink merging into water, his body already making the first evasive move.

However, within a thousandth of a second of his thought—

A fiercely sharp wind suddenly attacked from the side and rear! The speed was so fast it exceeded the limits of neural reflexes!

Every hair on Phantom's body stood on end! It was an instinctive warning honed from countless brushes with death!

He didn't even have time to look back; his body forcibly twisted in defiance of physical laws, his left arm blocking weirdly behind him as if it had no bones, while his right leg, like a scorpion's tail, kicked silently but viciously toward the attacker's groin!

"Bang!"

His left forearm slammed solidly against a wrist as firm as iron pincers, producing a dull thud.

Intense pain shot through him, but this block, which incorporated jujitsu and force-deflecting techniques, actually managed to slightly divert that grip which was strong enough to crush steel!

At the same time, his vicious kick was easily blocked by the opponent's other palm, as if he had kicked an indestructible alloy steel plate!

Only then did "Phantom" see the attacker's face—it was that cold man, Old K, who had been standing in the corner like a background prop!

Old K's His eyes remained completely expressionless.， as if“ phantom” Exquisite parries and counterattacks are like a gentle breeze..

His grip having missed, he flipped his wrist, turning the grab into a palm strike that carried the force of an overwhelming tide, striking directly toward Phantom's chest!

Phantom was horrified! This power, this speed, completely exceeded his understanding of human limits!

She didn't dare take it head-on, her body floating backward like willow catkins. Simultaneously, her hands flicked repeatedly, and several silver needles as fine as cow hair, coated with a neuroparalytic toxin, shot silently toward Old K's face and major acupoints!

This was one of his life-saving ultimate techniques, the "Shadowless Needles"! At such a close range, they were almost impossible to dodge!

However, Old K didn't even make any large-scale evasive movements. He just tilted his head slightly, his cold eyes seemingly able to capture the trajectory of every silver needle, and his free hand whipped up a blur in the air!

"Ding ding ding..."

A series of extremely subtle clinking sounds rang out. Those lethal silver needles were actually flicked away one by one with unerring precision by his fingertips! The collision of needle tips and fingertips even sparked a few microscopic embers!

"What?!" Phantom's pupils shrank, and a storm of shock surged in his heart! How was this possible?! Even the world's top special forces king couldn't have deflected his "Shadowless Needles" so nonchalantly!

In that moment when his mind faltered, Old K moved! His figure seemed to blur instantly, appearing abruptly behind Phantom's side in a way that defied the laws of physics, his speed so fast it left a faint afterimage!

"Crack!"

A crisp, tooth-aching sound of bone fracturing rang out!

Old K's hand, as if piercing through space, once again seized the wrist Phantom had just used to commit the act. This time, the power was unreserved, and the wrist bone shattered instantly!

"Ugh, ah—!" Phantom finally couldn't help but let out a suppressed cry of pain, his forehead instantly covered in cold sweat. The intense pain caused his movements to stall.

Old K gave him no chance at all. His other hand, like a poisonous dragon emerging from its hole, slammed a fist hard into Phantom's ribs!

"Crack!" Another clear sound of bone breaking; at least two ribs were snapped!

Phantom spat out a mouthful of blood, his body flying backward like a broken kite, slamming heavily into a decorative pillar behind him before sliding down limply, completely losing the ability to resist.

The disguise on her face was distorted by intense pain and extreme shock, her eyes filled with confusion, horror, and a sense of the absurd.

The mission had clearly succeeded, so why was this guard so ridiculously strong?! Who exactly was he?!

Old K didn't even look at the fallen Sovereign. His cold gaze fell on the assassin's face in his hands. His other hand roughly searched her face and neck before suddenly ripping!

"Sizzle—"

The human skin mask was torn off, revealing a cold and stunningly beautiful female face with exotic features! Pale skin, a perky nose, and eyes as cold as blue sapphires, which were now filled with shock and incomprehension. As expected, it was a woman—a woman as beautiful as an ice sculpture, yet utterly lethal.

"Take her away. Detention Room One."

He placed special magnetic shackles on the female assassin, ignored her attempts to struggle, and dragged her directly away from the chaotic scene.

Li Lanzhi had already commanded the guards to quickly control the scene and reassure the guests, but her own face was also deathly pale. Looking at Zhang Cheng, who lay motionless with a blade in his chest, her heart almost stopped beating.

The guests were quickly evacuated, and the banquet hall was completely sealed off. The news spread like a plague—the Sovereign Zhang Cheng had been assassinated at the evening party, stabbed in the heart, his life or death unknown! The whole of Pangkham was instantly shrouded in a dark cloud.

Bao Youxiang of South Wa received the secret report and, in wild joy, downed three glasses of strong liquor, believing the thirty million US dollars had been worth every penny.

...

In Detention Room One, the alloy door closed, isolating everything from the outside world.

"Phantom"—or rather, now that we know her gender—had all items that could be used for suicide removed and was changed into a white prison uniform.

She leaned against the cold metal wall, the intense pain from her ribs and wrist continuing to flare, but what made her even more uneasy was the bizarre reversal after the mission's completion. That man called Old K was too calm—so calm he didn't seem human.

Just as her thoughts were in turmoil, the door to the detention room slid open silently.

A figure she absolutely could not believe appeared at the door.

Zhang Cheng!

He was wearing a clean set of casual clothes, his complexion ruddy, his steps steady, and there was even a faint, mocking smile on his lips. The clothes over his heart on the left side were perfectly intact—where was there any wound?!

"This... is impossible!" The female assassin suddenly stood straight, her sapphire eyes filled with extreme shock and horror. The mask of cold arrogance she had maintained instantly shattered! She had seen it with her own eyes and done it with her own hands! The feeling of the blade entering the heart could not be wrong! How could he still be alive?! And standing here so perfectly intact?!

Zhang Cheng slowly walked into the detention room, looking at the expression of disbelief on her face with great interest, as if admiring a brilliant play.

"Surprised?" He gave a light chuckle, his voice echoing in the small space. "Did you really think your little tricks could kill me?"

The female assassin stared fixedly at him, her breathing becoming rapid, her brain working frantically but unable to find any rational explanation. Unless... unless the person she stabbed wasn't the real Zhang Cheng at all? But the appearance, build, temperament... they were exactly the same!

Zhang Cheng walked up to her, so close they could almost feel each other's breath. He reached out and gently tilted her smooth chin, forcing her to meet his gaze.

"Look, Miss 'Phantom,'" his voice was low and full of pressure, "what you thought was a killing blow is, in my eyes, nothing more than a boring trick. You, and the 'Blood Moon' and Bao Youxiang behind you, simply don't understand what you are facing."

He let go and took a step back, his gaze turning cold: "Now, I set the rules of the game. Do you want to taste something more painful than death, or... will you answer my questions obediently?"

The female assassin slowly recovered from her immense shock. Although her heart was still in turmoil, her professional training allowed her to forcibly suppress her fear. She straightened her back once more, and despite her wretched state, she tried to regain her coldness. Gritting her teeth, she squeezed out a sentence: "You... are you a man or a ghost?!"

Zhang Cheng smiled, his smile carrying a hint of playfulness: "That will depend on your performance from here on."