socalfunplaces Page 89
Page 89
A slow but clear clapping sound suddenly rang out in the empty dock.
Amidst the applause, a voice, laced with mockery and chilling murderous intent, echoed from the shadows at the dock entrance:
"How touching, my dear 'Empress'! Even in this dire situation, you still haven't forgotten to tidy up your 'little toys'?"
Angelica whirled around, her silver hair flying, her amethyst eyes instantly sharpening like knives as she stared intently at the source of the sound.
Liu Jiu slowly turned around, his expression still calm.
Five people walked slowly into the dock entrance.
The leader was a middle-aged man dressed in an elegant black suit and carrying a slender cane. He was handsome with a gentle smile on his lips, but his gray eyes held no warmth, only a cat-and-mouse teasing and absolute coldness.
He was followed by four people of different appearances.
There were burly men with towering figures, wearing metal gauntlets; and thin men who twirled several poisoned throwing knives between their fingertips.
There was a seductive woman dressed provocatively, with a glazed look in her eyes, surrounded by pink mist;
There was also a mysterious figure shrouded in a wide black robe, whose face was obscured, revealing only a pair of eyes that gleamed with an eerie green light.
These five men exuded a calm and collected aura, their steps were steady, and they were clearly skilled fighters, far superior to the previous ragtag soldiers.
“Derek…” Angelica spat out the name through gritted teeth, her voice filled with deep-seated hatred, “You traitor!”
The man in formal attire named Derek gave an elegant bow and smiled, “Traitor? No, no, Your Majesty, I simply made a wiser choice. To follow a king destined to fall is not loyalty, but foolishness.”
His gaze swept over the items at Angelica's feet, a hint of greed flashing in his eyes, but he quickly regained his composure and finally fixed his gaze on Liu Jiu.
“This gentleman is quite unfamiliar.” Derek raised an eyebrow. “It seems His Majesty, even on the run, hasn’t forgotten to find some… amusement? What a fine mood.”
The insults in his words were undisguised.
Angelica's face turned ashen, and she was about to speak when the skinny man who was spinning a throwing knife on his fingertips suddenly moved!
"Why waste words with a dying man! Take him down first!"
With a flick of his wrist, three streaks of dark light shot out like venomous snakes, not towards Angelica, but directly towards the items at her feet! Clearly, he intended to destroy or seize her reliance on something!
The speed is amazing!
Angelica, severely injured, reacted a beat too slowly, and just as the poisoned throwing knife was about to strike her item—
Liu Jiu, who had been as silent as a stone, moved.
His movements didn't seem fast; he simply took a step forward, which happened to block Angelica from the throwing knives.
Then, he raised his right hand, and a knife appeared in his hand without him even noticing.
"Ding! Ding! Ding!"
Chapter 105 One Strike to Defend
The three poisoned throwing knives, powerful enough to pierce steel plates, were mercilessly deflected by a single blade and fell to the ground with a crisp sound.
The thin man's pupils contracted sharply, and an expression of disbelief appeared on his face.
Derek's smile froze slightly, and for the first time, a serious scrutiny appeared in his gray eyes.
Liu Jiu stood with his knife in hand, still in front of Angelica, calmly looking at the five people opposite him, as if he had just casually swatted away a few flies.
Angelica stared, stunned, at the tall, silent figure blocking her way.
A complex mix of emotions welled up inside me. There was surprise, confusion, and even more so, a long-lost feeling of being protected.
She had assumed the man would stand by and watch indifferently.
After all, it was already quite good that they were able to escort her to this place.
"Who are you? Why get involved in this mess?" Derek's voice turned colder. "Leave now, and I can pretend nothing happened."
Liu Jiu did not answer Derek's question.
He didn't even look at Derek.
He merely turned his head slightly and spoke to Angelica behind him in a calm, even voice:
"Go do your thing."
Angelica was startled.
Go do your thing.
These five simple words, without any encouragement or promises, carry a strange power that seems to calm people's hearts.
He... was going to shield her from these people?
But now, there's no time for her to understand.
She took a deep look at Liu Jiu's broad back, gritted her teeth, and without further hesitation, turned around abruptly, grabbed all the objects on the ground, and staggered towards the dark waters at the deepest part of the dock!
"Stop her!" Derek's face darkened, and he shouted sharply.
The towering man roared, and his massive gauntlets, covered in Armament Haki, whistled through the air as they slammed into Liu Jiu like cannon fire! He was going to crush this troublesome man along with the woman behind him!
The alluring woman chuckled softly, and the pink mist around her suddenly spread out, coiling around Liu Jiu like a living thing, carrying a mental fluctuation that bewitched the mind and weakened his power.
The man in black robes raised his withered fingers, chanting incantations, and a cold, corrosive, eerie green light gathered at his fingertips.
Despite the fierce attacks coming from three directions, Liu Jiu remained standing in place.
He didn't even adopt any defensive or offensive stance.
Just moments before the burly man's fist was about to strike, the pink mist was about to swirl around him, and the eerie green light was about to burst forth—
He gently swung his knife forward.
The slash Liu Jiu delivered was simple and unadorned.
There was no earth-shattering momentum, no dazzling brilliance, and it didn't even cause much of a stir.
Just like an ordinary person casually waving a willow branch in front of them, it's natural and effortless.
However, it was this seemingly casual wave—
The Armament Haki gauntlets, powerful enough to shatter giant rocks, seemed to have struck an invisible, intangible, yet indestructible wall when they were still half a foot away from Liu Jiu's face.
A deep, muffled thud.
The burly man's ferocious charge came to an abrupt halt. A sickening cracking sound came from the domineering gauntlets covering him. He was as if he had been struck by an invisible giant hammer. He groaned and staggered back seven or eight steps, each step leaving deep footprints on the rotten wooden floor. His face was filled with horror and pain.
Almost simultaneously, the pink mist that was swirling around Liu Jiu melted and evaporated as soon as it touched the invisible barrier around him, just like ice and snow meeting the blazing sun, without penetrating even a little bit.
The seductive smile on the glamorous woman's face froze, turning into incredulous astonishment.
The eerie green corrosive energy that the black-robed man condensed at his fingertips was, at the moment of its release, forcibly twisted and deflected by an invisible force, grazing Liu Jiu's clothes and shooting towards a thick wooden stake to his side and behind.
"Shoot-"
The wooden stake was instantly corroded into a huge hole, emitting pungent blue smoke, but Liu Jiu himself was unharmed.
With just a seemingly casual slash, which could hardly be considered a move, he effortlessly neutralized the deadly attack launched by the three of them together.
The dock was deathly silent.
Derek's composure vanished completely, replaced by an unprecedented solemnity. His fingers, gripping his slender cane, tightened slightly, his knuckles turning white.
The thin man instinctively took half a step back, the throwing knife in his hand feeling as heavy as a thousand pounds, and he could no longer twirl it nimbly.
The burly man clutched his twisted and deformed wrist, drenched in cold sweat.
The glamorous woman and the man in black robes stared intently at Liu Jiu, their eyes filled with apprehension.
This man... is ridiculously strong!
Who is he? !
Liu Jiu sheathed his sword and remained standing in place, as if he hadn't done anything. His gaze calmly swept over the five people opposite him, without the smugness of a victor or the contempt for the enemy, only a bottomless indifference.
"Your Excellency... what exactly is your intention?"
Derek took a deep breath, forcibly suppressing the turmoil in his heart, and asked in a deep voice, "With your strength, why would you protect a woman who is at her wit's end? What she can give you, our 'Dark Tide' organization can offer double, no, ten times!"
He was trying to recruit, or rather, testing the waters.
Liu Jiu did not answer.
He didn't even bother to glance at Derek again, turning his gaze to the dark waters deep within the dock. Angelica's figure had vanished there, leaving only a few spreading ripples on the surface of the water.
His task, or rather, his choice at this moment, was simply to stop these people.
Seeing that Liu Jiu completely ignored him, a flash of shame and anger crossed Derek's eyes, but more than that, there was a fear stemming from the unknown. He suppressed his anger and gave a wink to the four people beside him.
It would be unwise to fight head-on; this man's strength is unfathomable.
But they can wait, they can procrastinate.
"Her Majesty entered the backup entrance to the 'Abyss Corridor.' It's riddled with traps and mechanisms, and in her current state, it's questionable whether she can even activate the core alive."
Derek chuckled coldly, “We’ll just wait here. Until she runs out of her last bit of strength, or… gets torn apart by what’s inside.”
He calmly adjusted his dress tie, regaining his feigned elegance.
"Let's see how long this gentleman can keep up his protection."
Upon hearing this, the skinny man and the burly man calmed down and each found a place to sit down. They appeared relaxed, but in reality, their energy was locked onto Liu Jiu and the entrance to that body of water.
The glamorous woman licked her red lips, her gaze lingering on Liu Jiu, lost in thought.
The man in black robes, like a true shadow, silently blended into the darkness of the corner.
Time passed second by second in the oppressive silence of the abandoned shipyard.
Only the sound of seawater lapping against the wooden stakes echoed rhythmically.
Liu Jiu remained standing, like an ancient reef, unmoved by any probing or verbal provocation. His very existence became an insurmountable chasm, standing between Derek and his group of five and the depths of the dock.
Derek's expression grew increasingly grim.
His anticipated offensive, maneuvering, and negotiations... all failed to materialize.
The other party simply wouldn't take the bait.
This feeling of being completely ignored and treated as a background character made him feel more frustrated and uneasy than the intense battle.
He even began to wonder if this man was simply unable to maintain that powerful defense for long, or if he had some other weakness.