But the people of the Lingfeng Mercenary Group did not know that fleeing would only lead to their swifter demise.
Once they were separated from the Boulder Battle Group, Qin Shilei and An Qian could unleash their area-of-effect ultimate skills without restraint.
Lightning, carrying the aura of death, rained down from the sky.
Before those people could even let out a scream, they were reduced to charcoal by the immensely powerful lightning.
The phantom of a phoenix, along with countless fiery birds, ignited the enemies one by one, burning them to ashes.
A sense of despair began to spread through the Lingfeng Mercenary Group.
To fight was to be unable to even see the enemy's silhouette.
To flee was to be unable to escape.
The formation of four to five thousand people was reduced to a mere few hundred within five minutes.
"Spare our lives!"
"We surrender!"
One by one, members of the Lingfeng Mercenary Group threw down their weapons and knelt, begging for mercy.
Upon hearing the words of surrender, Qin Shilei and An Qian paused their actions, halting the ultimate skills that were about to be unleashed.
Unfortunately, the two ferocious beasts, the Vajra and the Golden Scarab Beetle, paid no heed to the pleas of surrender.
The Vajra swept its staff, instantly killing thirty to forty people. It then brought its staff down again, sending shards of stone flying and turning another twenty or so into bloody messes.
The Golden Scarab Beetle, like a tank, charged forward, knocking over and trampling dozens of people.
"Vajra, stop." By the time Qin Shilei called out the command to stop, another one to two hundred people had been killed by the two beasts.
Qin Shilei shook his head helplessly and then said, "Forget it, kill them all."
He no longer paid attention to the enemies who had scattered and fled again, assuming they could not escape the Vajra's pursuit.
Qin Shilei slowly walked up to Tang Gaoxuan.
Tang Gaoxuan stared blankly at the hellish scene unfolding before him, muttering, "Impossible, how can this be possible."
He still could not believe that such terrifying humans existed in the world.
The four to five thousand members of the Lingfeng Mercenary Group had been killed by just one man and one woman and their two pets in less than five minutes, leaving him as the sole survivor.
Those two mutated beasts were far more terrifying than any he had ever seen or heard of, and they were the pets of those two individuals.
The Tang family had only intended to recruit a few subordinates; why had they provoked such terrifying enemies?
"Speak, who ordered you to harm my people?"
Qin Shilei's icy voice pulled Tang Gaoxuan's attention back from his chaotic thoughts.
Tang Gaoxuan instantly realized the terrible consequences and quickly said, "This was just a whim of mine, I wanted to recruit them as subordinates and scare them a bit."
Qin Shilei sneered, "This is your Tang family's idea, isn't it? After you die, I will go to your Tang family to demand an explanation."
Tang Gaoxuan's face changed drastically, and he quickly argued, "This was purely my personal act, and it has nothing to do with the Tang family. I hope you will not implicate innocent people."
Qin Shilei coldly chuckled, "The moment you raised your blade against my people, your Tang family was no longer innocent. Rest in peace."
With that, he swung his sword, and Tang Gaoxuan's head flew off, rolling a considerable distance before stopping.
Tang Gaoxuan's wide, staring eyes were filled with regret. His only wish before death was that his Tang family would not fall into an irrecoverable abyss because of this man.
Jie Mingchen crawled up from the ground and said with lingering fear, "Boss Qin, it's fortunate you appeared in time, otherwise none of us would have survived."
Wu Xia also walked over from the crowd and said fiercely, "Even so, we lost seventy-six people, nearly one-tenth. Furthermore, thirty-six people betrayed us."
She paused and added, "Of those thirty-six traitors, five are dead, and the remaining thirty-one have been captured. Boss Qin, how do you want to deal with them?"
"Kill them!" Qin Shilei said in a deep voice, "For traitors, the Boulder Battle Group will show no mercy!"
Upon hearing this, the thirty-one traitors all began to beg for mercy.
"Boss Qin, spare our lives."
However, their former comrades did not let them utter any more pleas. With a swing of their blades, crimson blood spurted out.
Zhao Yueling also jumped down from Xiao Qiang's back and asked timidly, "Mr. Qin, how do you plan to deal with the Tang family?"
Qin Shilei pondered for a moment and then said, "Although the one who killed my Boulder Battle Group members has been dealt with, the mastermind is the Tang family. I will have to pay the Tang family a visit."
Zhao Yueling hesitantly said, "Mr. Qin, are you going to kill everyone in the Tang family? The Tang family, as one of the four great families of Junhai City, controls directly and indirectly the power of over a hundred thousand people. I'm afraid many of them are unrelated to this matter. I hope Mr. Qin can show mercy and not let Junhai City be drenched in blood. We humans are facing enemies on all sides right now; we shouldn't be engaging in such a large-scale internal conflict."
"Uh!" Qin Shilei said with a black line across his forehead, "You don't think I'm a murderer, do you? Do I look like the kind of ruthless person who would exterminate an entire clan?"
"I just said I'm going to seek an explanation from the Tang family. If they are sensible and offer some compensation, and guarantee they will never offend us again, I might not kill anyone else."
The Boulder Battle Group suffered minimal losses, and the Tang family had paid a price. If possible, Qin Shilei did not intend to pursue the matter further.
"Ah!" Zhao Yueling chuckled awkwardly, "It was Moon Spirit who judged a gentleman with a villain's heart."
Qin Shilei pointed at Zhao Yueling and said to Jie Mingchen and the others, "We owe our timely rescue this time entirely to Miss Zhao. You should thank her properly."
"Thank you, Miss Zhao. We will never forget your life-saving grace." Jie Mingchen, Wu Xia, and others stepped forward and bowed in thanks.
"You're welcome, my life was saved by Mr. Qin as well," Zhao Yueling quickly helped them up.
Qin Shilei ordered his men to collect the spoils of war, then set fire to burn the bodies of the Lingfeng Mercenary Group. Afterward, they got into their cars and headed back to Junhai City.
As they were driving back, Tang Lingfeng was still unaware that his Lingfeng Mercenary Group had lost a large contingent of elite forces. Instead, he was plotting how to take down the "Big Boss" Qin Shilei.
The crystal cores that Qin Shilei had released in the hotel represented a massive fortune worth hundreds of thousands of Level 1 crystal cores.
If he could obtain such a vast quantity of crystal cores, Tang Lingfeng could advance to Silver Rank 9, and perhaps even break through to the Golden Realm, becoming the third person on the rankings.
That was a ranking for the entire Blue Star, a dazzling honor.
At that time, it was too rushed, so he could only send Yang Hai to make a small probe.
Now, he was about to gather all his strength, determined to capture this extremely wealthy "Big Boss."
"Report, the trace of that person has been found again. He returned to the city at the same time as the Boulder Battle Group. After staying at the Boulder Battle Group's residence for a while, he is now staying at the Junhao Empire."
Just as Tang Lingfeng was lamenting his inability to find Qin Shilei, his subordinate suddenly brought good news.
"Heaven truly favors me," Tang Lingfeng said excitedly.
The Junhao Empire was a property of his Tang family.
This "Big Boss" actually staying at the Junhao Empire was like a lamb entering a tiger's den, destined to be devoured by him.