Profitable Confrontation

Chapter 39

The look of the other party aimed at him was extremely annoying as if making fun of him. Alex naturally didn't want to be belittled, but he was also wary of discovering that other people had power in this world.

As the immense energy continued surging from the other party's hands into Alex's body, he finally had a thought on how he could avoid being exposed and not suffer defeat due to the other party's actions.

With this in mind, Alex directed the energy that the other party was flowing into him to try to absorb it. Initially, he thought his idea was too risky, and he regretted it right away. However, to his surprise, the aura was absorbed, and it made his body stiffen up a bit.

The figure of the red bear who saw this continued to smile, feeling proud inside, thinking that Alex must be in trouble by now. Initially, Red Bear doubted whether Alex was the one who stole from his people's base. This would be very detrimental, as the items inside had been collected over several years for massive expansion. Moreover, Alex displayed astonishing strength, defeating his men, which made him worry whether the other side had some kind of backer or if he was just naturally strong.

However, after arriving and shaking hands, Red Bear couldn't sense any aura and noticed that Alex's breath was calm. With this, he thought that Alex was an ordinary person. Thus, he was deliberately being domineering in front of the other party, trying to emphasize, "Don't mess with me in the future."

While the Red Bear thought that way, Alex was facing a different challenge, one that the Red Bear could never have imagined.

Alex was struggling to conceal his breakthrough! Yes, Alex had achieved a breakthrough after absorbing the energy tsunami the other party sent out. Although he didn't absorb a significant amount of the other party's energy, that forceful surge managed to break through the bottleneck Alex had been facing.

Now, Alex was in a dilemma. He was afraid to release the final movement of his aura and form a second layer of onions. This was because Alex knew the other party was someone of his ilk, who might possess the ability to detect the strength in his body.

With this, the two individuals shook hands for a prolonged period, with one person channeling energy and the other receiving. Each of them had their misunderstandings about the situation.

The brown bear, who watched from the side, frowned slightly, extremely confused about what these two individuals were doing.

After a while, the Red Bear finally came to his senses. He initially believed that the energy he had released was insufficient, which was why the other party didn't yield. However, even after he had depleted all the energy in his body, Alex still stood firm.

"What's going on? Why is this person still standing even though I have already depleted all my mana?" wondered the brown bear, feeling perplexed.

Red Bear then began to rethink whether he had misunderstood the situation, wondering if the other party was someone similar to him. Despite his doubts, he continued to channel mana into Alex's body while carefully observing the response.

However, after a few moments of observation, Red Bear couldn't find any signs of resistance or reaction from the mana he sent into Alex's body. Even though Alex should have exploded from the overwhelming amount of mana, there was no such reaction.

As Red Bear pondered over this, he came to a realization. "Could this child have a special physique?" he questioned, feeling hesitant.

Continuing to contemplate, Red Bear eventually became convinced of his conclusion. "Indeed, this body shows absolutely no trace of aura, so he is an ordinary person. However, this body possesses unique characteristics; otherwise, how could an ordinary person be so powerful?"

With this realization, the red bear nodded and released his grip on Alex's hand.

Alex, whose hand was finally released by the other party, let out a sigh of relief. Beads of sweat were hanging from his forehead, and his back was drenched in perspiration.

This wasn't because Alex was afraid of the other party's strength; rather, he was concerned about his power going out of control. You see, Alex had just achieved a breakthrough to become a level 4 practitioner.

The breakthrough happened thrice thanks to the mana boost provided by the other party. If the other side had continued to channel mana for even ten seconds longer, Alex might have broken through yet again, and the overwhelming pressure from his new strength would have been unleashed uncontrollably.

This occurred because his body hadn't yet fully adapted to the newly acquired power, causing it to leak out and affect the surroundings. To avoid any accidents, Alex quickly shifted the excess pressure into the ring room within him.

"Heheheh, the King of War lives up to his name, so strong at such a young age," the Red Bear complimented.

"Thank you for your kind words, Master Red Bear. May I ask what brings you to my humble abode?" Alex inquired politely.

The Red Bear responded, "Nothing much, I heard from my men that they were beaten by someone, and some of my belongings were stolen."

Inside, Alex felt a jolt of shock. He feared that the other party somehow knew he was the culprit behind the theft. However, upon reflection, he realized that nobody had witnessed him stealing anything. Moreover, if the Red Bear knew, he would directly accuse or take action against Alex, rather than just casually mentioning it.

Luckily, Alex managed to maintain a composed expression. "Oh, really? Your men were attacked and robbed?" he asked, feigning surprise.

The red bear, observing the interaction, nodded, satisfied that Alex's expression seemed genuine.

"Yes, indeed, there are some rats to deal with. Mr. War King, what brought you to this remote village?" the red bear inquired.

"Hahahaha, master Red Bear, it's not like I enjoy coming back here. But this place is my hometown, and after several years of traveling around, I felt compelled to return. Unfortunately, my hometown has changed a lot. Many troublemakers disrupt my peaceful life, and I just want to live in peace. So, whether I like it or not, I have to teach them a lesson, as they didn't learn their lesson when I warned them before. I believe you know that rats can be quite annoying; they can cause harm and even be deadly," Alex responded with a mixture of openness and hidden implications.

The two peculiarly exchanged words, openly discussing certain aspects while keeping their true intentions concealed.

The brown bear, standing on the side, felt a tinge of anger towards Alex for his apparent ridicule. He also found Alex's boldness in speaking to the red bear quite surprising.

While the brown bear grumbled with himself, the red bear seemed intrigued.

"Hohoho, master Warlord, now that you're back, are you interested in joining the underworld? If so, you can join our side," the red bear offered.

The brown bear was taken aback by this unexpected turn of events. He had expected the red bear to teach Alex a lesson for his impertinence, but instead, the red bear was extending an invitation to him. It was a puzzling and unreasonable offer.

Not only was the brown bear confused, but Alex was also feeling uncertain. He couldn't help but be wary of the other party. Even though the gang had trapped and used Russell's body, Alex knew how dangerous it was to be manipulated in such a way.

"No, Mr. Red Bear, I naturally want to return home and live in peace. I've washed my hands of any wrongdoing," Alex firmly stated.

Both the brown bear and red bear's expressions immediately turned slightly ferocious.

"Lord Warlord, think again. Aren't you afraid that a lot of trouble will come your way? The Mad Dogs aren't to be trifled with, and we can provide you with a comfortable life and benefits. Otherwise, you might end up being killed by outsiders one day, and none of us would know," the red bear tried to persuade Alex, using a coaxing tone.

Alex, who was listening to this, couldn't help but scoff in his heart. "Are you trying to threaten me? It won't work!"

"Hahaha, Lord Red Bear, you're too kind. If anyone wants to kill me, they better be prepared to be killed themselves. Perhaps I did wash my hands in the golden basin, but I don't mind staining that water red," Alex retorted confidently.

With this, coercion of killing intent surged out from Alex's body. He did this not only to display his attitude but also to release the last traces of his increased strength, which had now leaped four levels.

Earlier, Alex needed just a drop of chakra energy to break through, and he had been continuously absorbing energy from the ring space since he removed the other party's hand.

With this, the intensity of Alex's killing intent was so strong that it emanated pressure from his body due to his recent breakthrough. However, to everyone else, it appeared as a thick killing intent without any other identifiable source of the suppression. They had no idea that another energy was contributing to this overwhelming coercion.

Feeling the powerful killing intent, Red Bear instinctively reached for a gun from one of his pockets, and his group became tense. They were taken aback by Alex's unexpected display of strength. Even the more sensitive Red Bear could sense the metallic scent of danger in the air. This is the smell of blood.

Seeing the other party's reaction, Alex decided to retract the killing intent that was emanating from his body. Everyone breathed a sigh of relief, but the situation became even more awkward. Even Red Bear hesitated to push Alex further, uncertain of the cards this seemingly confident kid was holding.

With the tension diffused, Red Bear's group engaged in some brief pleasantries with Alex before finally leaving. As they departed, Alex descended the mountain with his dog, contemplating the recent events in disbelief. He had thought that he was the only one with such power in this ordinary world, but now he realized that there were others with similar abilities, albeit with slightly different methods.

As Alex was lost in thought, he noticed Lilith and Rose sitting with pale faces. Concerned, he asked, "Hey, what's wrong with you two?"

Upon hearing Alex's voice, the girls turned to look at him with excitement and relief. They both exclaimed, "Brother!" and "Dad!" respectively.