"I'm in the Dragon Clan, what the heck is the Naruto Counterattack System?"

In the living room of the villa, Qi Xiuyuan and Wan Tao sat at the table, neither of them speaking.

Only Liu Xing was lying on the ground, holding a rag, carefully washing away the remaining bloodstains while muttering complaints to himself.

Looking at the young and inexperienced face in front of him, Wan Tao knew that the other party was waiting for him to speak first. He also knew that this was a negotiation tactic that could put both parties in a proactive and passive relationship.

But even knowing the other party's methods and intentions was useless. The three corpses had just been moved out and disposed of by Liu Xing, and the air was still filled with the stench and ferocity left by wild beasts after their hunt.

Wan Tao had to admit that he was indeed under some psychological pressure, after all, while he was killing one person, the other party had already cleanly and efficiently taken care of three armed hunters.

Is this time zero?

No, time zero alone is not enough. The opponent has only recently awakened the Word of Power, yet already possesses such strength. It is because someone with time zero is strong enough.

After a long silence, he spoke first: "Let me answer your first question."

"Before we met you, our purpose in seeking you out was to issue the necessary warnings and punishments for the killing of four innocent civilians, and to place you under certain restrictions on your personal safety..."

After he finished speaking, Qi Xiuyuan didn't say anything, but simply wiped the gun in his hand and glanced up at him slightly.

The two stared at each other in silence. Liu Xing, who had been lying down and whispering, stopped what he was doing. The blood-red floor seemed to reflect the chilling murderous intent within the villa.

After a moment, Qi Xiuyuan lowered his eyes and said calmly, "Continue."

"After seeing you, I took it upon myself to change my mind."

Wan Tao gazed at the young man before him and continued smoothly, "I hope to invite you, in my capacity as the captain of the first squad of the third military region of the National Special Armed Forces, to join the third military region's training this year."

"Or, in my personal capacity as Wan Tao, I'd like to be your friend."

To make friends?

As if he'd heard a rather unfunny joke, Qi Xiuyuan's laughter turned chilling. He stopped cleaning his gun and looked up at Wan Tao: "What about those four 'innocent citizens'? Aren't we going to seek justice for them?"

"What 'innocent citizens'? What 'innocent citizens'?" Wan Tao looked at him with some doubt. "Weren't they just four habitual idiots who hadn't been out of prison long enough to notice and ended up robbing a wanted criminal from another province, only to get ripped off?"

This time, Qi Xiuyuan genuinely smiled.

What a flexible and adaptable man! If those four unlucky souls could hear this, they'd probably be so angry with Wan Tao that they'd die again.

"Actually, I was quite surprised."

Qi Xiuyuan placed the cleaned pistol on the table, looked at Wan Tao in front of him, and said with a slight smile on his expressionless face, "I thought people like you were all rigid, rule-abiding, and single-minded types."

"I thought I would see a man holding a wine glass, with countless mixed-race axemen lying in ambush in the shadows, ready to smash the glass as a signal if I dared to resist in the slightest, and have them jump from the second floor and chop me into mincemeat."

When Qi Xiuyuan uttered such a joking remark, the previously oppressive atmosphere seemed to ease considerably, allowing Wan Tao, whose body was tense, to finally relax.

"Maybe it's because I have a little unruly younger sister."

Wan Tao smiled in agreement and said frankly, "It's just that some controlling and outdated old guys like to make a mountain out of a molehill. Most of the time, we are more lenient with people like you who have no background and have suddenly awakened their bloodline."

"Most of the mixed-race people in our Third Military Region are like you, but this is the first time I've seen someone so fierce."

Faced with Wan Tao's words, which were neither praise nor resentment, Qi Xiuyuan simply held up two fingers in a calm tone: "Considering your honesty and frankness, I'll consider the first question passed."

"So, the second question," he pointed to the bloodstains nearby, "Where did these three people come from, and what is their connection to you?"

Qi Xiuyuan's tone was somewhat cold when he said this.

He is by nature a man of strong principles, and he would never let go of anyone who tries to threaten his life.

"No." Wan Tao shook his head without hesitation and explained, "Although we have tried our best to cover up the fact that you killed four people, some wild dogs have a keen sense of smell and are even better at getting information than we are."

"This afternoon, a bounty was posted on the 'Hunter Website,' requiring you to be taken to a certain place. These three people are the 'Hunters' who accepted the mission."

Qi Xiuyuan raised an eyebrow, recalling some information, but still asked with doubt, "A hunter?"

"Since you know about the existence of hybrids and dragons, you should also know about the so-called 'bloodline summoning,' where hybrids and dragons, being of the same kind, tend to unconsciously come together."

Wan Tao explained, "The Hunters are a complex and loosely organized group, whose members include assassins, outlaws, wanted criminals, artists, artsy youths, and members of the underworld, most of whom have some dragon blood..."

"They would take on bounty missions on a website called 'Hunter Market,' which included murder, arson, theft, grave robbing, and looting of artifacts. A significant portion of these missions were related to dragons."

As he spoke, he looked at Liu Xing, who was lying on the ground with his butt sticking out: "Liu Xing used to be a hunter. The first thing this brat did after awakening his Word of Power was to hide and spy on the married woman next door taking a bath."

Upon hearing this, Liu Xing raised his head and said with dissatisfaction, "Captain, this is slander. What do you mean by peeping? I was looking openly, it's just that she couldn't see me."

Wan Tao ignored him and continued, "However, he is an exceptional case among exceptional cases. Very few people can awaken the power of words, let alone the power of words like Mingzhao."

Upon hearing this, Qi Xiuyuan turned to look at Liu Xing, who grinned at him. Despite his formal military training, he still carried a roguish air about him.

Word of Power: Illumination, Sequence 69, from "King of the Sky and Wind", with a medium level of danger, is an extremely rare Word of Power that has been rarely observed to date.

The releaser creates a small field centered on themselves, where light refracts in strange ways, creating an effect similar to invisibility.

However, this invisibility is merely a manipulation of light and shadow. People within the area cannot be exempted from or have any harm reduced. Information such as smells and sounds cannot be shielded by the invisibility and will leave faint ink-like traces in the air.

This Word of Power ability is somewhat lackluster, but it excels in safety and stability, with almost no risk of going out of control. It can also be upgraded to Word of Power: Vajra Realm, possessing a certain degree of defensive and offensive capabilities.

"Most hunters have low blood purity and their physical abilities are only slightly stronger than ordinary people. They almost never awaken the power of words in their lifetime. Even if we keep recruiting and recording them, there will always be one or two that slip through the net."

Wan Tao said with a hint of apology, "So, we still need some time to investigate who hired them to kidnap and kill you. But I should warn you, there may be more than one person targeting you."

Where there is light, there will inevitably be shadow, and within the shadow, there will inevitably be much filth.

An orphan with no background, a genius hybrid who is suspected of possessing the power of words, instantaneous power, or time zero, and has a talent for swordsmanship, is a handy "tool" for many people.

Whether you use it yourself or sell it for a good price, it's fine.

"Then let them come," Qi Xiuyuan said coldly. "Hanging a weapon over their heads might wake up those overconfident fools."

Wan Tao simply shook his head and didn't say anything more.

Young and spirited, decisive and ruthless.

The boy in front of them certainly had the confidence to back it up; no matter how many rats came from the sewers and gutters, they were useless against him.

However, those ruthless rats and wild dogs are different from these "regular troops".

Even if you are incredibly strong, don't you have any weaknesses?

If coercion doesn't work, try bribery. If bribery doesn't work, start with the people around you. Those guys are capable of anything, and rats and cockroaches are impossible to eradicate completely.

However, Wan Tao was also well aware that he couldn't say these words himself, as they could easily be misunderstood as threats, so he only felt a little regretful.

"In the end, he's just a hot-blooded, ambitious young man," Wan Tao thought to himself.

Click click.

Just then, a short, crisp sound came.

Distracted from his thoughts, Wan Tao subconsciously looked up and saw Qi Xiuyuan pull the slide to chamber a bullet, then place the gun between the two of them.

"The third and final question is very important."

Qi Xiuyuan lowered one middle finger, leaving only his index finger separating them, and stared into Wan Tao's eyes, saying, "Regarding this so-called 'invitation,' and for me sitting in front of you right now, how much are you willing to wager?"