Dual wielding volcanoes, killing through the west

“Ha… now… now you’ve seen it.” His tone was a mix of laughter and tears. Finally, old Mike let out a long sigh, his eyes becoming somewhat cloudy for the first time. “Twenty years, damn it, twenty years ago… it feels like a lifetime ago.”

"Stop sighing all the time. It's just a missing hand. In my old tribe, people with missing hands and feet were everywhere. It didn't stop them from living." Zhuo Ge was very open-minded and comforted them in his uniquely rugged way. "It's the old people who sigh all the time who are really nearing the end."

“Yeah, Mike,” Alana chimed in. “We still have Anna living at our house in White Torch, and she doesn’t even have a whole arm left.”

"Tao had a robotic arm custom-made for her, and after repeated adjustments, it can already grasp things in a simple way. It's not that we necessarily have to cut off her hand... I mean, we can definitely use other means to assist her in her future life..."

"Even if things don't go well, you still have us. We'll take care of you!"

……

Alana spoke from the bottom of her heart. She was born in Scarface Village, and from a young age, the harsh environment forced her to hone her lock-picking skills. To have the life she has today is a stroke of incredible luck.

Like Xiaomei, she didn't "view the gang as family." Rather, besides the members of the Red Center gang, she genuinely had no other relatives. In her eyes, Old Mike was like the elder in this family, and now that the old man's health was failing, it was naturally their generation's responsibility to take care of him.

Mike's feelings were complicated. After a long while, he let out a long breath, and a trace of tenderness flashed across his usually expressionless old face.

At least, these past few years haven't been wasted.

"Don't worry, little girl, I'm not that easy to kill." Mike regained some strength and said in a deep voice, "Right now, I'm more worried about Lu's situation."

"Lu...you mean Mr. Callaway?"

“As you probably already know, ‘Mike’ and ‘Calloway’ are both aliases. We used to belong to the Jack Gang, and we were both wanted criminals throughout the United States of America.” Mike finally began to reveal this past. “Twenty years ago, we were probably the largest and most elite gang in the country, because most of our members were skilled marksmen, and we were unparalleled for a time.”

"In 1859, in Titusville, we planned a robbery of a company, with Lu and me in charge of the backup. But that night, forty minutes past the agreed time, the gang members still hadn't shown up..."

"I sensed something was wrong, and after wandering around the nearby towns all night, I decided to go with Lu, disguised as men, to gather intelligence. When we arrived in Titusville, we heard that Jack's gang had been 'wiped out'."

"In just one night, all the gang members disappeared without a trace... as if they had never been there at all. Only Lu and I were lucky enough to escape the center of the incident and survive... at least that's what we thought at the time."

“Now it seems that this is not the case.”

"Our former leader, the infamous Jack A. Elfelt, also survived by surrendering to the enemy. And for decades, he has been working for the Illuminati, doing all sorts of dirty work."

"And now..."

"...If you're so worried about him, why did you still let him duel Jack?" Theon couldn't help but ask. "You should have stopped him just now."

"Regardless of the outcome, it's Lu's own decision, and as a free agent... I shouldn't stop him."

Mike sighed and muttered, "That's the essence of the Western cowboy."

"Freedom or honor, the moment you draw your gun, it's a win-win situation, no matter what."

Chapter 854: The Tribulations of the Year of Yichou, the Millennium, and the Year of Dingyou

Paladin Palace, high up, in a room.

The door was gently pushed open, and Zhang Renfeng made no attempt to conceal his footsteps, walking in calmly as if visiting a neighbor.

It was the middle of the night, and Lu Aniu wasn't asleep either. In fact, it was uncertain whether someone at his level would need to rely on sleep to recover his strength.

The city outside was already in turmoil. Meteora received the signal and led his troops in a surprise attack, instantly breaking through Oak City's defenses. However, the quality of the defending soldiers was not as bad as expected. After all, they were Samuel's personal guards, and their combat skills were undoubtedly guaranteed.

After being ambushed, they decisively cut off the outer city section, and using the large, spectacular buildings within the city as cover, they quickly organized their forces and engaged the enemy in a fierce battle.

Gunfire.

Screams.

Crying to kill.

Raging flames raged at the four corners of this miraculous city, leaving no place safe.

Lu Aniu stood by the window, gazing at the chaos and flames below, and poured hot water over his tea set.

Scattered around his feet were large stacks of paper, on which were drawn with strong strokes, intermittent horizontal lines, six lines forming a group to create a shape.

There were even more papers, crumpled into balls and tossed aside. It wasn't hard to tell from the contents of the papers that he was deducing something.

"Even earlier than I expected... He's finally back." Seeing the man who had fallen into the sea once again, standing before him full of life, Lu Aniu seemed neither surprised nor afraid, and calmly asked, "Guapian or Pu'er?"

"When in Rome, do as the host says." Zhang Renfeng stepped inside and gently closed the door behind him. "You decide."

"crunch..."

The wooden door slowly closed.

There was a stool standing not far away, as if it had been prepared especially for him.

Zhang Renfeng didn't start fighting loudly. Instead, he sat down quietly, his toes slightly touching, positioning himself in a posture where he could exert force at any moment.

After gaining enlightenment from the Lesser Formless Skill, his temperament began to become more refined and restrained, as if he were carrying a mountain on his back—steady, calm, and unshakeable. Even in a simple sitting posture, he resembled an old monk in meditation, his eyes half-open, his face serene, making it impossible for anyone to see through his thoughts.

"You're becoming more and more like him," Lu Aniu remarked sincerely as he handed over the porcelain cup.

"Is this a good thing?" Zhang Renfeng took the porcelain cup and asked calmly.

"...I don't know. I haven't seen him in a long time, and I guess I'll never have the chance again in this lifetime." Lu Aniu's tone was also very calm, and it was impossible to tell whether he felt regret.

The two looked at each other in silence for a moment, then simultaneously took a sip of the hot tea in their cups.

----

"boom-----!!"

Separated by a window and a wall, it feels like two different worlds.

Outside the walls, war raged, threatening to engulf the entire city in flames.

Inside the walls, the key figures from both sides of the battlefield sat facing each other like old friends who hadn't seen each other for years, drinking tea brewed from the same pot.

……

"So, how do you plan to wrap this up?" Lu Aniu asked casually, as if he were asking about something that had nothing to do with him.

"You kill me, or I kill you." Zhang Renfeng's reply also had a calm madness to it. "There is no other choice."

“Indeed, very fair.” Lu Aniu took a sip of tea, half-closing his eyes, swirling the teacup with his fingertips, examining the patterns and cracks on it. “Between you and me, there really is no third way.”

"However, I am two hundred years older than you, so before we start fighting, allow me to take advantage of my age and give you a few pieces of life experience, how about it?"

"If you've drunk my tea, surely you can't even listen to me say a few words?"

"..."

Zhang Renfeng remained silent for a moment, then gestured for him to proceed.

This battle was inevitable; there was no way to avoid it in any way. Since that's the case, there's no harm in listening to what he has to say.

“Ever since you fell into the sea, I have been deducing the zodiac signs and analyzing words and phrases to deduce your past, present, and future… What I finally obtained astonished me.”

Lu Aniu slowly stood up, holding the porcelain cup in his hands, his eyes wide open, staring straight at him like a tiger or leopard walking upright.

The index finger, middle finger, and ring finger are raised in succession.

His expression and tone cast an invisible, terrifying shadow over what he was saying.

"You are destined to face three great calamities in your life."

"..." Zhang Renfeng's expression remained calm.

"Heh, looking at you like this... He's already told you, hasn't he?" Lu Aniu suddenly realized, then teased, "He's really good to you."

“My master said that I am ‘happy at the sight of red, sad at the sight of white, and destined to die at the sight of green.’” Having reached this point, when life and death were about to be decided, Zhang Renfeng had nothing left to hide and told him directly, “This is my destiny.”

"So that's why you named all your companies 'Sanyuan'? Haha... Hahahaha!"

Lu Aniu seemed to have figured out some secret, and laughed heartily, shaking his head. "Unfortunately, kid, what I'm talking about is not the same thing as what you're talking about. What I'm talking about are the three great tribulations, which are all your destiny's tribulations. Just like Tang Sanzang's journey to the West to obtain the scriptures, he had to go through eighty-one tribulations, except you only have to go through three."

"Are you considered one of the difficulties?" Zhang Renfeng asked suddenly.

"Me? I'm nothing." Lu Aniu sneered. "You should be happy that you can catch up with me now. At least you have someone to fight."

"...What do you mean?" Zhang Renfeng asked, puzzled.

"The first hardship was... in the year of Yichou, when dragons fought in the wilderness, their blood turning black and yellow. A father and son fought for supremacy in the world, spilling blood within the forbidden palace, and millions of lives were destroyed in an instant..."

Zhang Renfeng was stunned.

The shouts of battle outside the window had never been so loud as thunder, pounding against his eardrums!

Lu Aniu slowly withdrew his second finger and said in a deep voice, "The millennium will bring another calamity. Dragons will roam the four seas and soar in the sky! A flying star will descend upon the world, the sky will collapse, the earth will overturn, the seas will boil, and chaos will reign throughout the four seas. This is a great natural disaster."

He finally withdrew his ring finger and said in a deep voice, "The year of Dingyou brings another calamity. The dragon will regret its overreaching will be defeated, metal and wood will clash, the autumn wind will be bleak, and the world will be changed... This battle has no beginning and no end, no limit... You must fight to the last second, the last moment, the last breath to obtain... peace."

At this point, Lu Aniu finally revealed a strange smile, and his eyes even carried a hint of sympathy as he looked at him.

"Of course, supernatural phenomena are nothing to fear. You can also take what I'm saying as nonsense, it doesn't matter."

"However, even if there's only a one in ten thousand chance that what I've said will come true over the next two hundred years, rather than watching everything you cherish turn out like this..."

"Killing him cleanly and efficiently now is also a good option, don't you think?"

Chapter 855: The Will to Charge into Battle, Even at the cost of death!

"Thump—!!"

A figure descended from the heights, twisting its waist in a perfect 180-degree spin, landing precisely in front of the fleeing crowd.

Amidst the smoke and dust, the stranger slowly straightened up, remaining silent just as his name suggested, as if he were merely a perfect vessel for the will of death.

The moment Theon saw him, his pupils twitched involuntarily. During the defense of the city, this guy had caught up with him and killed him in a single glance. When he opened his eyes again, he was already in the bunker's prison, and he didn't even see what had happened to him.

"..." Upon seeing him, Silver Frost couldn't help but gasp. As a fellow swordsman, she knew very well what this intense pressure meant. The gap between her and the person before her could not be bridged by curses or spells.

"Zheng————"

Without a word, he drew his twin swords, their sharp, cold light flashing with a clear, ringing sound, as if two pieces of moonlight had been plucked and solidified on the blades. The stranger's expression was utterly calm; to him, chasing and killing were as trivial as eating and drinking.

"What should we do now?"

“…There’s nothing to hesitate about now.” Peregrine let out a long breath, drew his bow, nocked an arrow, and said in an extremely heavy tone, “Fighting against this kind of guy and hoping to escape is simply unrealistic.”

"Well said." Zhuo Ge stretched his shoulders and neck, making a clicking sound, his eyes gleaming with excitement. "Let's do it!"

----

"when!"

"when!"

"when!"

"Still the same old problem, Jin of the Kenkawa family." Kusaya Kari Masaru crouched slightly to dodge Jin's high sweeping kick following his slash, and casually remarked, "You always like to make some unnecessary little moves during battle. Is that the essence of a 'war demon'?"

"Meteor hammer, chains, kunai, throwing knives, blowguns... Attacking in unexpected ways to distract the opponent and then delivering a fatal blow—this kind of technique might be a sure thing against those small fry. But if you consider me an opponent of the same level, you're in for a world of trouble!"

"when---!!"

A semi-circular slash came from below, and in Jin's sight, the katana even briefly disappeared from the hand of the grass-dwelling katana.

His attack was changed from a slash to a thrust, and the change of move was so fast that he couldn't react at all!

"laugh!"

The blade broke through the defense, like a slippery eel, and slapped Ren hard across the face. Luckily, he retreated in time, barely managing to save his life by tilting his head back—the blade only grazed his cheek, not piercing his head like a skewer of candied hawthorns.

Even so, a vertical scar remained on his face.

Blood flowed.

He clutched his wound, swung his knife repeatedly, and stumbled backward, crashing into a wall.

"How pathetic, Kenkawa. If you hadn't suddenly decided to break free of your restraints and had just obeyed, you wouldn't have had to suffer like this."

Grass-dwelling Karimasa, holding his sword in one hand, shifted to a lower stance, slowly approaching like a cat stalking a mouse, and sneered, "But now... to prevent you from having any more wicked thoughts along the way, such as jumping into the sea to escape, I have no choice but to cut off your limbs and take you back."

"Heh..." Despite being at a disadvantage, Ren was not afraid at all and still sneered, "How do you know we can still take a boat back?"

“This is a foregone conclusion.” Kasaya Karimasa observed his posture and said in a deep voice, “Your Kenkawa family’s proud ‘four-stage transformation’ is, in my opinion, just a child’s game… Of course, among all the games of making up, it’s not bad.”

“Your strength is exhausted, and even the hand holding the knife is trembling slightly. I don’t see any chance of you winning.”

With a compassionate tone, he sighed and lamented, "If you had simply followed the path I laid out for you, you would have lived in peace. Why are you so stubborn? Do you really understand what you are fighting against?"

"Look at you now, you look like a stray dog."

"..."

"Om-!!"

Ren gritted his teeth, brandished his sword again, struck his chest with his fist, shouted, and stood up once more.