"The last one," Zhang Menglong told the final pilot through the broadcast, "I'll spare your life. Go back and tell the person who ordered this that I, Zhang Menglong, am patient, but that's no reason for them to endlessly annoy me. This is your final warning. Scram!"
The pilot was utterly terrified, with hundreds of hover cannons surrounding him, each dark muzzle aimed at him, feeling like a sword hanging over his head.
As for his comrades, Zhang Menglong's hover cannon all targeted the fuel tanks—none of the other 59 pilots survived; they all perished.
They had thought this would be an incredibly easy battle, yet the battle was indeed effortless, but the ones mercilessly slaughtered were them.
Who the hell knew this Huaxia person could whip up an AT field, a solar furnace, and hover cannons? Did you get that stuff from aliens or what? If you tell us now that the dimensional barriers have broken, we'd believe it!
He trembled all over, vanishing into the distance as if he had just escaped from hell.
"Meng... Menglong... did you kill people?"
Everyone had lived in peaceful times; not to mention scenes of warfare, even squabbles among children were rare. When had they ever seen such a bloody scene?
Though there was not a drop of blood, with the planes exploding like that, how could anyone inside survive? Even if Zhang Menglong's actions constituted self-defense, it was difficult for them to accept it for the time being.
Zhang Menglong's recent command was very harsh, making them suddenly realize that the Zhang Menglong they knew before seemed somewhat one-sided; they had only seen a part of him.
"Fellow disciples, you don't think I'm a murderer, do you?" Zhang Menglong saw everyone's reaction and wasn't surprised; the first time he saw Ye Yin kill someone, he felt nauseated too, but after overcoming that psychological barrier, it wasn't something he couldn't accept.
Everyone remained silent but conspicuously avoided meeting Zhang Menglong's gaze.
"Fellow brother, let me ask you something. If decades ago, during a war, you saw someone looting and pillaging our country, what would you do?"
"Of course I'd grab a weapon and fight them to the death!" Zhu Mengchao said. "But Menglong, this is different; they were only attacking our economy, and moreover, these were 59 human lives, they..."
"Fellow brother, I don't think it's different," Zhang Menglong said. "Do you know how much it would have affected our economy if they had succeeded one day?"
"Let me give you a number," Zhang Menglong said. "Between 1929 and 1933, during the Great Depression, America saw 7 million unnatural deaths, whereas normally, it would be only one or two hundred thousand. That's a five-fold difference!"
"If our currency system collapsed, with currency severely devaluated, have you thought about the ripple effects? How many people would kill themselves over the inability to repay car loans or mortgages, how many families would be destroyed? Have you considered how many people would die unnaturally in a year? They weren't just wrecking our economy; they were killing our people!"
"Do you think I'm cruel?" Zhang Menglong continued. "I'm untouchable with this high-tech plane, they can't hurt us, so there's no need to kill them, right?"
This statement silenced everyone; they indeed thought this way. Since they posed no threat, wasn't it enough to just drive them away? Why exterminate them? Plus, they had families too. How many people would grieve forever if they died?
"But think about it, if today I was flying a normal plane and we encountered them, what would have happened?" Zhang Menglong asked. "Would they spare me because I posed no threat? Would they show mercy because we have families too?"
"So, for these people, mercy is meaningless," Zhang Menglong said. "Even though it's a civilized society now, whether in primitive or modern society, some things may seem far away from you, but the law of the survival of the fittest is an eternal rule!"
"Menglong, we are sorry, just now..."
"Ha ha ha, what is there to be sorry about," Zhang Menglong said. "Actually, I should be the one apologizing. If it weren't for us, you wouldn't have encountered this today. However, I believe once we've landed, they won't dare to mess with us anymore."
By then, the plane had already left the Indian Ocean, and beneath them lay the vast African Plate!
"Alright, fellow brothers and sisters, let your graduation trip begin!"
"First stop, South Africa, here we come!"
In an African base, a group of people gathered in an office, watching the only piece of video data brought back by the lone fighter jet.
They watched the video, their expressions growing increasingly grave.
"AT fields, solar furnaces, floating cannons..."
"It's incredible that these things have all been invented by the people of Huaxia."
"I remember their Dragon Hidden fighter jets haven't been equipped with these items so far, have they?"
"I never believed in geniuses before, but now I do. Others used to describe people as geniuses, and now I think the term 'Zhang Menglong' needs to be used to describe a genius!"
Despite this, none of this affected their evaluation of Zhang Menglong.
"If this man doesn't die, Huaxia will become the wealthiest and strongest nation in the world!"
"He must die now, we can't let him return to Huaxia no matter what!"
"But you saw it too, our weapons couldn't harm him at all, whether physical attacks or energy weapons. In front of his field, they were just like scratching an itch."
"So what do we do, just sit and watch him be so arrogant? A month ago we failed to crush him, and now we are desperate, with no choice but to fight. If he gets a chance to deal with us, how much chance do you think we stand?"
"Exactly, last time we just wanted his wealth, this time it's his life we're after. If we could bear this, he wouldn't be Zhang Menglong."
"Not to mention other methods, just considering him managing to get a few Dragon Hidden... no, with his wealth, if you now told me he had a squadron of Dragon Hidden fighter jets under his command, I wouldn't be the least bit surprised."
"Then we only have one last option now!"
"We must use the power of the Second World!"
"But we don't even know if there's anyone protecting Zhang Menglong," someone immediately said. "You saw it, this time Zhang Menglong has revealed new tricks. If we don't have a foolproof plan, sending people after him would just be sending them to their deaths!"
"Don't worry, this time I'm prepared!" Brutus said. "Isn't it just people from the Heavenly Origin Realm? I have several of them here!"
"What? Have a few of your psychics broken through?"
"No!" Brutus shook his head. "Have you heard of Realm Island?"
"I've heard of it, are you talking about that mysterious island in the Pacific Ocean?"
"I heard it's populated by immortals practicing their arts, but so far no one has ever actively found the island."
"It certainly is a mysterious place, but there are no immortals there, only a bunch of ancient martial artists!" Brutus said. "Recently, it seems there was some kind of upheaval on Realm Island, splitting into several factions. A group of ancient martial artists have actually come to us and joined our Superhuman Alliance!"
"How powerful are they?"
"Two sixth-order Heavenly Origin Realm! Two fifth-order Heavenly Origin!"
"Hahaha! This is truly heaven helping us!"
"Zhang Menglong, your death is sealed!"