ACSP: Chapter 221: You Think You Can Kill Us?
"This kid is finished," a voice scoffed from the edge of the crowd. "He actually has the audacity to dine and dash here? Doesn't he know that Wang Mang of the Wang family oversees this dungeon?"
"Wang Mang? That guy is notoriously tyrannical in Magic City," another onlooker whispered, shaking his head. "Falling into his hands is nothing short of rotten luck. The kid is as good as dead."
"The Wang family itself isn't the real nightmare," a third chimed in, lowering his voice drastically. "It's the Southern Pavilion of the Zhao Family backing them. They are not to be trifled with."
"Don't speak too soon. Look at his composure—I think this kid might be a hidden tycoon. Maybe he has a powerful backer of his own."
"Hilarious! A backer? In Magic City, is there any power greater than the Zhao family?"
A high-level Awakened stepped forward, squinting at the group. "Wait a minute... why are the faces in this kid's team so unfamiliar? Aside from the Nangong sisters, I haven't seen any of the other three before."
"Haha, give it a rest! There are nearly twenty million people in Magic City," a nearby Class-Holder laughed, slapping his comrade's shoulder. "Even though high-level Contractors and Level 51+ Class-Holders only make up a tiny fraction of that, it's not like you're a walking database. You can't recognize everyone."
"No, I'm serious. I've definitely seen this kid somewhere before," the man insisted, scratching his head. "He looks incredibly familiar, I just can't place it right now..."
"Damn, you didn't see him in some leaked domestic adult film, did you?"
"Get lost! I only watch high-quality Japanese and Korean imports. I don't touch those blurry, voyeuristic domestic ones."
"Shit, if you don't watch them, how do you know most domestic ones are voyeuristic?"
A wave of crude laughter rippled through the onlookers. They cast gloating gazes toward the center of the square, openly mocking Jiang Chen and his party, their eyes gleaming with malicious amusement.
In Magic City, Wang Mang was infamous for his selective cruelty. When standing before the core members of the Zhao family, he was a textbook sycophant—bowing, scraping, and wagging his tail. But when facing those he deemed weaker? He became a ruthless tyrant.
And to the crowd, the math was simple.
Jiang Chen was currently walking with the Nangong sisters. If he actually had a formidable background or an influential faction supporting him, why would he be associating with a minor, struggling family like the Nangong clan? He was clearly a nobody.
Hearing the crowd's murmurs and knowing that Zhao Quan was watching from just a short distance behind him, the sneer on Wang Mang's face widened, full of greasy arrogance.
Seeing that Jiang Chen remained silent, Wang Mang took his silence for paralyzed fear. He let out a sharp, grating laugh.
"Kid, I'm a reasonable man, so I won't bully you," Wang Mang said, taking a step forward as his aura flared slightly. "How about this: hand over 200 Silver Chests as compensation, and then let the Nangong sisters behind you accompany me for a few days. Do that, and we'll call today's little stunt even. Otherwise... I'll make sure you taste the exact consequences of dining and dashing on my turf."
As the words left his mouth, his greasy, predatory gaze began to wantonly sweep over the Nangong sisters, stripping them down with his eyes.
Hearing Wang Mang boldly claim the Nangong sisters, Zhao Quan's lips curled into a meaningful smile. "I've heard rumors that the Nangong twins are quite the legendary beauties in Magic City. Seeing them in the flesh today... they really are something spectacular."
Wang Mang instantly caught the underlying hint. He turned back toward him, his face instantly morphing into a sycophantic grin. "Young Master Quan, if you're interested, why don't you let the Nangong sisters keep you company for a few days first? Once you've had your fun and grow tired of them, you can just toss them my way for a turn!"
"Oh?" Zhao Quan raised an eyebrow, a smirk playing on his lips. "You still want them even after I'm done with them?"
"Haha! Anything that catches Young Master Quan's eye is bound to be top-tier. How could a guy like me possibly mind?"
Listening to the vulgar back-and-forth between Wang Mang and Zhao Quan, Jiang Chen's expression gradually darkened into a icy stare. Originally, he had thought he could simply settle this minor dispute with money and move on.
But looking at the situation now... he had clearly underestimated their sheer arrogance.
What genuinely surprised him, however, was the identity of the backer. To think the man pullings Wang Mang's strings was none other than Zhao Quan from the Southern Pavilion of the Zhao Family.
Jiang Chen recalled a conversation with Zhao Xuansu, who had mentioned that a prominent figure in the Zhao Family's Southern Pavilion had successfully contracted Uchiha Izuna. That man's name was Zhao Quan.
Presumably, this was the very same person.
"Is that guy really Zhao Quan from the Southern Pavilion?" Jiang Chen turned slightly, directing his question to Nangong Fei.
By now, the Nangong sisters were thoroughly terrified by the casual, predatory remarks of Wang Mang and Zhao Quan. They had instinctively shrunk back, hiding behind Ronan's imposing figure. Hearing Jiang Chen's question, the two of them could only nod with pale, panicked expressions.
"Kid, are you tired of living?!" Wang Mang roared, his sycophantic loyalty flaring up the moment he heard Jiang Chen refer to his backer as 'that guy.' "How dare you speak so disrespectfully of Young Master Quan!"
Acting as Zhao Quan's attack dog, Wang Mang didn't waste another second on words. He balled his hand into a fist, his figure blurring into a violent afterimage as he lunged directly toward Jiang Chen.
However... the moment he closed the distance...
Ronan, who had been standing silently behind Jiang Chen, shifted. In a fraction of a second, his form blurred and intercepted Wang Mang. Before anyone in the crowd could even blink, Ronan unleashed a brutal kick. The impact resounded like a thunderclap, sending Wang Mang rocketing backward across the square, tearing through the air for several hundred meters before crashing into the dirt.
"You want to lay a hand on my boss? You'll have to go through me first," Ronan said, his voice dropping to a freezing register. He turned a piercing, cold glare directly onto Zhao Quan. "You're that Zhao Quan from the Southern Pavilion, right? Let me give you a piece of advice: others might live in fear of your Southern Pavilion, but we don't give a damn about it. If you keep looking for trouble, don't blame us for being impolite."
Li Dala stepped forward alongside him, cracking his knuckles with a heavy sigh. "Ronan, why are you even wasting your breath talking to a guy like him? This punk is clearly rotten to the core. Just slaughter him right here and be done with it."
Ronan crossed his arms, a disdainful smirk touching his lips. "Killing him would be easy enough. But whose heads roll depends entirely on the boss's orders. That's not our call to make."
"True enough," Li Dala chuckled. He turned his gaze toward Jiang Chen, his eyes gleaming with casual indifference toward the elite family. "Boss, what's the play? This guy just insulted you. Do we put him down?"
—Hiss!
The nonchalant, terrifyingly casual exchange between Ronan and Li Dala caused a collective, sharp intake of breath to ripple through the entire surrounding crowd.
They never imagined in their wildest dreams...
That in this sprawling metropolis of Magic City, there would actually be someone bold enough to say such suicidal things right to Zhao Quan's face.
Weren't these people just begging for death?
"Very good. In this city, it has been a long, long time since anyone dared to speak to me in that tone..." Zhao Quan's lips curled into a cold, venomous smile. It was an expression so utterly freezing it seemed capable of frosting over the very air, sending a collective shudder down the spines of the onlookers.
Just as his threat hung in the air...
A deafening roar erupted from the edge of the square. Wang Mang, who had been sent flying by Ronan's initial kick, came charging back through the scattering crowd. His presence was wrapped in an even more majestic, violent aura than before.
"Damn it, you actually dared to strike me! I'm going to slaughter every single one of you today!"
The spectral image of a heavy-set man with a mohawk materialized over Wang Mang's body, which was now rapidly becoming entwined with dense, ominous black patterns. Under this manifestation, his spiritual aura surged several times over, warping the air around him.
"So he's the Contractor of that trash Jirobo..."
Jiang Chen cast a faint, indifferent glance at the grotesque phantom hovering over his attacker. He recognized the contracted spirit at a single glance.
A worthless, bottom-tier failure under Orochimaru.
Even with the empowerment of the [Cursed Seal of Earth], the creature couldn't even stand against an ordinary Tokubetsu Jonin from Konoha Village. For a minor character like this to actually dare to flaunt his borrowed power here—he truly didn't know the meaning of death.
"Courting death," Ronan muttered.
Stepping forward the exact millisecond Wang Mang lunged, Ronan vanished into a flicker, reappearing instantly in the tyrant's blind spot.
Wang Mang caught the blur of movement and tried to react, but Ronan's speed was on an entirely different echelon. With lightning precision, Ronan's hand shot out, clamping around Wang Mang's throat like an iron vice. With a single, effortless motion, he hoisted the man's two-hundred-plus-pound body entirely off the ground, cutting off his roar into a pathetic choke.
"You think you can kill us?" Ronan asked, staring into the man's bulging eyes. "Who exactly gave you the courage?"
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