Chapter 204: I Am Not Human

Yang Chen's seemingly random remark about making a phone call left everyone stunned. What was he up to? Calling for help, let alone the police, seemed futile. Even if he notified the army, they were so close to the border that any help would be too late to make a difference.

"Is he really Hades?" Judy asked Blade, eyeing Yang Chen skeptically from head to toe.

Blade nodded, saying, "I've confirmed it. He is indeed Hades, but he goes by Yang Chen now that he's back in China."

"One of the Twelve Olympian Gods? He doesn't look like much. I don't see anything special about him," Andy said doubtfully.

"Hey, I told you to restore the signal, not chit-chat," Yang Chen interrupted, looking a bit impatient.

Blade's eyes flashed with a dangerous light. "Hades, you'd better watch your tone, unless you want your woman to end up in a vegetative state."

Yang Chen smiled indifferently, "We can discuss everything after I make my call."

"Fine, if you're so keen on making a call, go ahead," Punk said casually, rolling up his sleeve. His bulky watch was covered with various complex buttons. After pressing a few, he said, "I've disabled the electromagnetic interference in this area. You can make your call. I'm curious to see what you can change."

"Thanks," Yang Chen said, leisurely dialing a number and putting it on speaker.

The phone rang once before being picked up immediately.

"Yang Chen! Is that you? Where are you? Are you okay? When are you coming back?" A worried and frantic woman's voice fired off a barrage of questions.

The moment this voice came through, Blade and Yezi reacted instantly. Blade looked panicked and puzzled, while Yezi was overwhelmed with joy, tears welling up in her eyes.

"Xiao Qianqian, don't worry. I'm quite far from you right now, but I think I can resolve this matter soon. Just eat well, sleep well, and wait for me to come back," Yang Chen replied calmly.

The woman on the other end was Mo Qianni.

Mo Qianni responded with an "Mhm" and, confirming that Yang Chen was fine, she breathed a sigh of relief. "Be careful yourself. I'll be waiting for you here with mom. She's worried too. I need to tell her you're okay."

"Haha, let mother-in-law rest assured. I'll bring her some yak meat when I get back!" Yang Chen joked nonchalantly.

"Annoying, can't you be serious? I'm hanging up now. Come back early!" With that, Mo Qianni hung up the phone.

Seeing that it was indeed Mo Qianni on the other side, Duan Ren's face turned ashen, not knowing what to make of it. "How could she wake up?!"

Seeing Duan Ren's expression, Judy and several other Blue Storm members asked, "Duan Ren, what's wrong? Who was that woman?"

Duan Ren frowned and turned to ask Danzheng Shangren, "Danzheng Lama, did you give her the wrong medicine?!"

"Impossible," Danzheng Shangren was also puzzled. "If that woman was poisoned, without the antidote, her mind would never recover after ten days. And as far as I know, there's hardly anyone in the world who can counteract it."

Leaf and the others looked equally confused. They knew the main reason Yang Chen had come with them was that Mo Qianni and her mother were poisoned and needed an antidote. But now, Mo Qianni was apparently fine. So what was Yang Chen playing at?

"Do you feel like things aren't going the way you expected?" Yang Chen pocketed his phone and looked at Duan Ren with a faint smile. "Now do you think I need to keep showing you any respect?"

Duan Ren swallowed, calming himself, realizing that they still had an absolute advantage in numbers, while Yang Chen seemed to be the only one on the other side, so he wasn't too worried. "Hades, even if your woman is okay, don't think you can escape from the eight of us today."

"Duan Ren, is your bargaining chip to threaten him no longer valid?" Judy seemed to understand and asked.

Duan Ren nodded, "Even if it is invalid, it doesn't matter. The outcome is already decided; he alone can't change anything."

"You're right, we were planning to fight him anyway. Now it's eight against one, which is perfectly fine," Punk said.

Yang Chen couldn't help but laugh, "You all keep saying things that I still don't understand. Why did you drag me into this?"

"Stop pretending. You know better than anyone what we want," Duan Ren said with a sinister smile.

"Why don't you just tell me," Yang Chen shook his head and said.

"The Divine Stone! We want the Divine Stone!" Duan Ren shouted.

At the mention of the "Divine Stone," the eyes of the Blue Storm members, and even Danzheng Lama, lit up with fervor. Their gazes towards Yang Chen were filled with greed.

On the other hand, the members of the Yanhuang Iron Brigade looked at Yang Chen with some surprise. It seemed they knew something about the Divine Stone, but they had no idea that the stone was in Yang Chen's possession.

Yang Chen scratched his head in frustration. "Why do you guys, like those from Little Sakura Country, always think the Divine Stone is with me?"

"Although the Divine Stone vanished after the old Zero's destruction several years ago, anyone who has studied that incident knows it's in your hands. Only someone who understands the Divine Stone as well as you do could know how to keep it safe," Duan Ren said.

Carlos sneered. "Duan Ren, it seems you intend to bring not only that statue but also the Divine Stone back to Uncle Sam's country. Looks like you want to earn as much credit as possible before completely leaving Yanxia."

"This is my loyalty to Blue Storm and a testament to my capabilities," Duan Ren said with a proud smile.

"I must admit, Duan Ren, I'm growing more and more impressed with you," Judy chuckled seductively. "Hades, it's eight against one. You have no hope of winning. I advise you to hand over the Divine Stone. If it's not on you, we have all the time in the world to help you retrieve it."

Yang Chen reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out a small medicine bottle. He turned and walked over to Yezi, saying, "Hold this for me. I might need it later."

"What is this?"

"Don't ask. Just keep it safe. I'm afraid I might accidentally break it later."

Yang Chen handed the bewildered Yezi the medicine bottle, then turned and walked towards Danzheng Lama, Duan Ren, and the other Blue Storm members. He said, "Since last night, there's been something I've wanted to say to Duan Ren. At that time, I hadn't figured everything out, so I kept it to myself. But now, I can tell you."

Duan Ren felt a chill run down his spine. He stared at Yang Chen, puzzled, and asked, "What is it?"

"I hate being threatened the most..."

As soon as he finished speaking, Yang Chen's figure, like a flash of lightning, left only an afterimage as he shot straight towards Duan Ren!

Duan Ren had been on guard, but even he was startled by this terrifying speed, which was almost impossible to track. He barely managed to discern that a hand was coming to seize his throat!

"Don't underestimate me!"

Duan Ren raised both arms horizontally, intending to block Yang Chen's strike. However, as soon as his hands made contact with Yang Chen's, the bones in his arms, as fragile as eggshells, shattered upon impact!

"Ahhhh…!"

With a skyward scream, Duan Ren's arms were bent nearly ninety degrees, broken, while Yang Chen's hand swiftly clamped around his throat!

Everyone watched in shock, unable to react in time. The four Blue Storm members, instead of rushing to Duan Ren's aid, instinctively took three steps back, nervously watching Yang Chen.

Yang Chen lifted Duan Ren with one hand. Duan Ren struggled to breathe, his face turning beet red. The bones in his broken arms caused him excruciating pain, so intense that he teetered on the edge of unconsciousness, only to be jolted awake by the agony!

"Let me tell you a secret," Yang Chen said, holding Duan Ren aloft, his tone casual, with a faint smile. "From the moment you poisoned and coerced me to act, I suspected that this might be a plan you devised on your own. If it had been the leaders of the Yanhuang Iron Brigade, they would have known how much I despise being threatened. That is almost like touching my reverse scale.

And they wouldn't have underestimated my abilities as you did. I pretended to accept your threat only to confirm that this was indeed a personal scheme of yours, and not an actual declaration of war from the Yanhuang Iron Brigade.

Later, I discreetly asked other team members and found out that you were the only one in contact with headquarters. All the intelligence, even the information about the Blue Storm members arriving, was relayed solely by you. How did you get this intel that even reconnaissance couldn't uncover?! These were all loopholes. How could such an important plan be entirely in your hands?

It turns out I was right. The leaders of the Yanhuang Iron Brigade aren't foolish enough to confront me in such a manner. As for eliminating a pest for them, I'm more than happy to oblige."

As he spoke, Yang Chen began to exert more force. Duan Ren's throat emitted a grinding, grating sound, like gears locking up, his eyeballs started bulging, and blood vessels burst at the corners of his eyes.

"In addition to telling you I hate being threatened, I also want to tell you, you're annoying, and I've wanted to kill you for a long time."

Crack... With a crisp sound of cartilage, Duan Ren's head tilted, and he breathed his last.

From beginning to end, including Danzheng Lama and Er Fawang, as well as the members of the Blue Storm, no one dared to interfere with Yang Chen.

At this moment, Yang Chen wore a smile on his face, as if nothing had happened. But this image, reflected in their eyes, made them unable to move their legs.

As Huilin, supporting the unconscious Yun Miao Abbess, saw this scene, she couldn't bear to watch and closed her eyes. But then she peeked through a gap and saw Yang Chen casually tossing Duan Ren's corpse out of the main hall. The posture was exactly like the one he had adopted in front of the severely injured Huopao.

The members of the Yanhuang Iron Brigade showed signs of relief. Tianlong and others even breathed a sigh of relief. Duan Ren's death made them feel much better. Their gaze towards Yang Chen also became somewhat admiring.

This man had considered so many things from the very beginning, and yet showed no traces of it. In a way, he was even more terrifying than Duan Ren, who had meticulously planned everything.

Yang Chen turned to smile at them, "Don't look at me like that. You were misled, which is normal for those who are too deeply involved. But I hold grudges. Although you unwittingly became Duan Ren's accomplices, I still want you to suffer a bit to make myself feel better. Look, Yun Miao Abbess, who has always been against me, is the most severely injured. But don't worry, you won't die. Only Duan Ren deserved to die."

Tianlong and the others smiled bitterly. No wonder he had been sitting at the door watching the show all along. He had deliberately let them get injured.

"Alright, it's your turn," Yang Chen turned back, looking at Danzheng Lama with a sinister smile. "Monk, hand over the Buddha statue and then go to jail obediently. It's boring to stay on the plateau every day. Whether you want a nun or a Daoist, you can't find one. I'll give you a nice plain cell. Maybe you'll have a more enjoyable life. Nowadays, there are so many people pretending to be nuns."

"Danzheng! Don't hand over the Buddha statue! He's just one person, and we have seven. Even if Duan Ren was killed by accident, his strength can't compare to ours! If we join forces, we might not fear him. This is the best opportunity to get the Divine Stone. We can't let it slip!" Carlos yelled.

Danzheng Lama's eyebrows furrowed deeply as he folded his hands. "Lord Hades, one person is unlikely to change the current situation. Please don't force me to join forces with them to seek guidance from you."

Yang Chen's smile slowly turned cold, his eyes dimming, and his voice sounding hollow as he sighed softly, "It seems like you don't quite understand. Indeed, one person can't change the current situation. But I am not a person."

"I am a god!"