42: Chapter 42 This kick resulted in a twenty-year prison sentence

The wild wind whipped up by the propellers tore chunks of turf from the ground, and the sand and gravel stung his face.

Facing the dark muzzles looming overhead, Manager Zhang's hand gripping the skinning knife stiffened for only a moment.

From the corner of his eye, he scanned the System panel on his retina.

[S-Rank Task Countdown: 30 seconds.]

[Task Reward: Lifespan + 50 years, all attributes + 100, acquire skill "God-Speed Escape".]

Immense greed instantly overwhelmed his fear.

This was fifty years of Lifespan!

As long as I eat this meat and have the System's God-Speed skill, what can this bunch of people flying planes do to me?

This is deep in the mountains and old forests; once I dive into the woods, even the gods would have a hard time finding me!

"Mind your own business!"

Manager Zhang suddenly looked up, the veins on his neck bulging, and let out a hysterical roar at the behemoth in the sky.

"I caught this game with my own ability! I have the System backing me; not even the King of Heaven can control what I eat!"

After shouting this, not only did he not put down his weapon, but he gripped the hilt with both hands and, using all his strength, stabbed fiercely towards the Qilin's tender throat!

That was the madness of a desperate gamble.

The comments in the live stream froze instantly, and countless viewers covered their mouths in horror.

"Stubborn and foolish."

From a thousand meters above, Gu Changan's voice descended coldly through the loudspeaker.

The next second, the black figure at the cabin door moved.

No parachute, no ropes.

Gu Changan stepped out of the cabin door, his entire body plummeting straight down like a meteorite.

Just as his body was about to lose control, four micro-plasma thrusters behind his pitch-black exoskeleton armor suddenly erupted with dazzling blue light.

"Boom!"

The immense counter-thrust instantly corrected his posture, converting the falling gravity into terrifying forward kinetic energy.

Chen Beixuan lay at the cabin door, watching this scene, his pupils trembling.

Without needing to ride a sword or drive a cloud, he could achieve this level with mere mortal machinery?

On the ground, the tip of Manager Zhang's knife was less than a centimeter away from the Qilin's skin.

The Qilin closed its eyes in despair.

Just at this critical moment, a black afterimage slammed down, accompanied by a sonic boom.

"Bang—!!!"

The earth shook violently.

The spot where the barbecue grill had been instantly exploded into a deep pit, hot charcoal mixed with soil splattered everywhere, and the bottle of cumin powder that hadn't been used yet exploded into a yellow mist in the air.

Manager Zhang only felt his vision go black, as a terrifying force, like being hit head-on by a high-speed train, slammed fiercely into his face.

It was Gu Changan's right leg, covered in high-strength titanium alloy armor.

This whip kick was precise, brutal, and without any frills.

"Crack!"

The teeth-aching sound of bone breaking clearly reached everyone's ears.

Manager Zhang didn't even have time to scream; his mouth full of teeth, mixed with blood, sprayed out, and his entire face instantly caved in.

His two-hundred-plus-pound body, like a ragdoll kicked away, traced a miserable parabola in the air, flying a full dozen meters away.

"Thud!"

With a dull thud, Manager Zhang slammed heavily into a pine tree as thick as a washbasin; the tree shook violently, and pine needles fell like rain.

He lay limp at the roots of the tree, his body still twitching unconsciously, and the skinning knife in his hand had long since flown off somewhere.

The dust settled.

Gu Changan knelt on one knee, then slowly stood up.

He didn't immediately look at the streamer, whose life or death was unknown, but instead lowered his head to flick nonexistent dust off his pant leg, and then calmly straightened his slightly crooked tie.

His movements were as elegant as if he had just finished attending a high-end banquet.

Behind him was the Qilin, which had narrowly escaped disaster.

The little one was clearly terrified by this sudden turn of events; it huddled on the obsidian, not daring to move, its big eyes filled with tears.

Gu Changan crouched down, flipped his right wrist, and a pitch-black tactical dagger slid into his palm.

A flash of the blade.

The "God-Beast Capture Rope" that was tightly strangling the Qilin's flesh snapped in response.

This kind of System item, which even ordinary blades could hardly damage, was as fragile as a noodle in front of the nation's newly developed molecular vibration dagger.

"It's okay now, little one."

Gu Changan put away the dagger, took off his tactical glove, and extended his palm.

The Qilin stared blankly at the human before it, who exuded a cold aura but inexplicably made one feel at ease.

It sniffed Gu Changan's fingers.

There was no greedy scent of cumin, only a faint smell of mechanical lubricant and cold, clean soap.

"Awoo~"

The Qilin tentatively rubbed against Gu Changan's palm, then, as if it had found a patron, used its still-tender horns to nudge his hand, letting out a whimper of extreme grievance.

A large tear fell with a plop onto the back of Gu Changan's hand.

This scene was clearly broadcast across the entire internet through the undamaged live streaming equipment.

The comments, which had been frantically flooding the screen with abuse, paused for a second, and then were met with an even more violent explosion.

"Holy crap! So cool! That kick went straight into my heart!"

"Who just said the national team wasn't good? This presence! This force! This is the real Deus ex Machina!"

"Wuwuwu, the Qilin is so aggrieved; that streamer just now really isn't human!"

"Serves him right! That kick sounded painful; his teeth must all be shattered!"

"Director Gu! I am your dog! Arrest me, please!"

Gu Changan gently patted the Qilin's head, signaling it to be quiet.

Then, he turned around, his black trench coat tracing a cold, hard arc behind him.

A dozen meters away, Manager Zhang was struggling to get up.

His face was covered in blood, his vision blurred, and the System in his mind was frantically sounding alarms.

[Warning! Host has suffered a fatal blow! Physical functions have dropped by 80%!]

[Warning! Force majeure factor detected; task failed!]

"Don't... don't come over..."

Manager Zhang spat out a mouthful of blood and foam, shouting incoherently, and finally, true fear appeared in his eyes.

The System he was so proud of didn't even dare to make a peep at this moment.

Gu Changan, wearing tactical boots, walked step by step to him; the steady sound of his footsteps was like the countdown of the Grim Reaper.

He stopped two meters away from Manager Zhang, looking down from a height at this "protagonist" who had just wanted to defy the heavens and change his fate.

The sunlight was blocked by Gu Changan's figure, casting a huge shadow that completely enveloped Manager Zhang.

Gu Changan took a dark blue identification card from his bosom, opened it with a snap, and held it up in front of Manager Zhang.

The national emblem on the ID card shone brilliantly in the sunlight.

"Manager Zhang, right?"

Gu Changan's voice was terrifyingly calm, completely lacking the violence of that kick just now.

"According to Article 341 of the Criminal Law, anyone who illegally hunts or kills precious or endangered wild animals under key state protection shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not less than five years but not more than ten years, and shall also be fined."

"In especially serious circumstances, the sentence shall be fixed-term imprisonment of not less than ten years, and shall also be fined or have property confiscated."