102: Chapter 102 Kneel Down

"Hmm... it doesn't affect anything, right?"

"Haha, it really doesn't. But... you actually defeated City Lord Zhang Hao and even successfully survived the beast tide! That's amazing!"

She paused, looked at Zhou Yun, and said earnestly:

"My top scholar."

When she said those four words, she seemed to feel a bit embarrassed herself; the tips of her ears turned slightly red, and she quickly changed the subject: "So, are there really no apples? I came all this way just for them!"

"There really aren't any. Come back tomorrow; my dad is restocking today, so there will be some tomorrow—"

"Yo!"

A voice came from the back room.

Zhou Tianhao had returned, though no one knew when.

He stood at the back door carrying a crate of oranges, wearing a smile that only... someone who had been through it all would have!

"A classmate, right?" Zhou Tianhao set the oranges down on the floor and walked over with a chuckle. "Come, come, come inside and sit! Don't just stand there! Want some water? Want an orange? They just came in, they're sweet!"

"No, no, no, there's no need, Uncle!" Chu Xinran's face turned bright red instantly, and she waved her hands repeatedly while backing away. "I was just passing by... to buy apples... If there are no apples, I'll get going!"

"What's the rush! If there are no apples, there are oranges! Come, take a few, no charge—"

"No thank you, Uncle, thank you Uncle, goodbye Uncle!"

Chu Xinran practically trotted out of the shop.

Zhou Yun stood behind the counter, looking at his father with a helpless expression.

"Dad, can you not do that?"

Zhou Tianhao raised his eyebrows, feigning innocence: "What did I do? I just invited her to sit down."

"That smile of yours—"

"What smile? I was smiling normally."

"Was it really normal..."

"Stop talking nonsense and come help me move the oranges."

Zhou Tianhao hoisted the crate and walked into the shop, humming an old song from some unknown era, with the pitch fluctuating wildly and the tune completely off.

Zhou Yun sighed and followed him to move the crates.

Outside, Chu Xinran walked out of the alley where the fruit shop was located and stood still at the alley entrance.

She lowered her head and looked at the message she had just sent on her phone screen— "Congratulations, Zhou Yun! Global Number One!"—along with the thumbs-up emoji.

She locked her phone and tucked it into her bag.

Then, she raised her head, patted her face gently, smiled at the empty air, and continued on her way.

...

This was the third day since returning to Jianghai City.

Zhou Yun was in a good mood when he went out to buy groceries.

The morning sun was warm, and the vegetable market was just two streets away from the fruit shop.

His dad had made a list—tomatoes, eggs, a bunch of green onions, and a block of tofu. He would make tomato and egg soup for dinner, along with cold tofu with green onions.

The auntie selling vegetables recognized him— "Oh, Global Number One!"—and insisted on giving him two cucumbers for free.

He smiled and thanked her, then walked back carrying the bag. On the way, he was wondering whether to stir-fry some greens, as his dad hadn't been eating enough vegetables lately.

He turned into the alley where the fruit shop was located.

His footsteps stopped.

There was no one in the alley.

It wasn't just "few people."

There wasn't a single person.

No matter how quiet it usually was, there were always elderly people out for a walk or parked electric scooters.

Now, there was nothing. It was completely empty, as if someone had cleared the area.

Zhou Yun's fingers tightened around the handle of the plastic bag.

He took out his phone.

No signal.

In the top left corner of the screen, all the signal bars had disappeared.

It wasn't a weak signal; there was absolutely none.

He looked up.

The surveillance camera at the alley entrance had its lens twisted to point at the sky.

A black van was parked at each end of the alley, their doors open, but no one was getting out.

Zhou Yun placed the plastic bag on the ground and walked quickly toward the fruit shop.

When he was halfway there, he heard a sound.

It was coming from inside the half-rolled-up shutter door.

First was a voice—young, filled with amusement, one he recognized.

City Lord Zhang Hao.

"You want me to let Zhou Yun go? Sure."

City Lord Zhang Hao's voice was unhurried, as if he were teasing a dog.

"Kneel down and beg me!"

Zhou Yun's footsteps paused.

Then he heard a second sound.

It wasn't speech.

It was a dull thud, the sound of bones hitting the concrete floor.

The sound of knees hitting the ground.

He knelt down.

His father knelt down.

In that instant, something snapped in Zhou Yun's mind.

It wasn't anger—anger has warmth.

What flooded his mind in that instant had no temperature; it was a complete and utter void.

He couldn't hear anything anymore; all that remained in his ears was the sound of his own heartbeat—thump, thump, thump—each beat as heavy as a war drum.

He rushed in.

The motion of stooping to crawl under the shutter took less than a second.

The scene inside the shop exploded before his eyes—

Seven or eight men in black.

City Lord Zhang Hao stood beside the counter.

And his father was kneeling on the ground.

There was blood on his forehead, his old jacket was torn, and his knees were pressed against the concrete floor.

The moment Zhou Yun saw this, the men in black moved.

These men were well-trained.

Three of them lunged at Zhou Yun, while simultaneously—the other two grabbed Zhou Tianhao's arms and held a knife to his throat.

A club smashed against Zhou Yun's shoulder and bounced off.

A fist struck Zhou Yun's chest, and the wrist of the person who threw the punch shattered.

Kings Army.

One hundred and twenty thousand people shared the damage.

All attacks against Zhou Yun were equal to zero.

But Zhou Yun paid no attention to any of this.

His eyes were fixed intently on the knife at his father's throat.

The two men in black held Zhou Tianhao, the blade pressed against his skin, already leaving a white mark.

Zhou Tianhao's mouth was moving; what was he shouting?

"Run"!

He seemed to be shouting "Run"!

Telling him to run!

But Zhou Yun couldn't hear anything.

He couldn't move.

It wasn't that he couldn't move—with the protection of Kings Army, no one present could hurt him even if they combined their strength.

But if he left, his father would die!

City Lord Zhang Hao saw this scene and laughed.

"What? You can't be killed, right? It doesn't matter." He tilted his chin toward Zhou Tianhao. "Your father doesn't have that ability."

As he spoke, he took the knife and moved it closer to Zhou Tianhao's throat.

Zhou Yun's pupils instantly contracted to the extreme!

"Lei Lie!!"

Golden light instantly burst forth.

The sound of air being torn apart exploded in the fruit shop, cardboard boxes on the shelves were blown away by the shockwave, and the shutter door clattered as it sprang upward.

Lei Lie appeared out of thin air.

Fully armored, holding a long blade, the aura of a Silver Rank warrior pressed down, making it hard for anyone in the small fruit shop to breathe.

He did not appear beside Zhou Yun.

He appeared beside Zhou Tianhao.

Because when Zhou Yun shouted "Lei Lie," he had only one thought in his mind—save my dad.

Lei Lie didn't need any explanation.

His Silver Rank perception allowed him to read all the information the moment he appeared.

A flash of a blade.

The knife held to Zhou Tianhao's throat snapped into two pieces.

The wrists of the two men in black shattered simultaneously; before they could even scream, they had already been kicked away.

Then Lei Lie turned to face the remaining men in black.

It took less than three breaths.

All the men in black had fallen to the ground.