人人操人人爱人人

Chapter 311: In Rage

From Wang Yanyi\'s perspective, although Zhang Lie had been a nuisance, Wang Po had certainly been at fault. Trying to find out who Xia Na was wasn\'t a problem, but for him to continue investigating her despite knowing that she was a member of the special forces was a different matter entirely. If he protected Wang Po now, there would surely be suspicions that he was the mastermind behind the entire affair.

When he heard the governor\'s punishment, Wang Po slumped lifelessly to the ground. His position as captain of the Tianji Council granted him superior genetic resources; without those handy, he would have to hunt down genetic lifeforms on his own, or purchase their flesh for an exorbitant price. At that point, he wouldn\'t be able to keep up his life of leisure and women.

Of course, neither Xiao Zhengyang nor Wang Yanyi cared about his emotions. To them, he was a minor figure, nothing more.

"As you say, Governor Xiao," Wang Yanyi acceded somewhat reluctantly.

"Good. He\'s family, after all, you\'d better make sure this sort of joke doesn\'t happen again!" Xiao Zhengyang rubbed salt in his wound.

"Yes, Governor Xiao, I\'ll keep that in mind. Of course, I expect you\'ll do the same with your special forces." He stepped toward Wang Po, picked him up as though he were a little chick, then motioned for the Tianji Council hunters to leave.

Just as everyone thought that this fiasco was finally over, however, someone cried out.

"Hold it!" Zhang Lie stepped forward with a smirk on his face. "Do you think you can leave just like that, after insulting my authority and status? After trying to take me to task for a crime I didn\'t commit?"

Ever since he grew into power, Zhang Lie had responded aggressively to all provocations directed his way. To date, none had gotten the better of him—not the major clans of the Blacksteel settlement, nor those of the capital, nor the winged. He didn\'t plan on letting Wang Po and Wang Yanyi go so easily, either.

These were Zhang Lie\'s own thoughts; everyone else stared at him in stupefaction. Did he really think he could beat the head of the Tianji Council? Wang Yanyi was scarcely weaker than Governor Xiao himself!

Those hunters and elders of the Tianji Council thought that Zhang Lie was crazy, whereas those from the special forces believed that his strength had gotten to his head. It was true that Zhang Lie was very strong, especially for a newcomer to the second realm, and he had won both their approval and the governor\'s.

However, this didn\'t imply that Zhang Lie would be able to go face-to-face against someone like Governor Xiao or Council Head Wang themselves. After all, Wang Yanyi was an experienced hunter at least on Xiao Zhengyang\'s level, and there surely was no way that Zhang Lie could stand up to him at the moment.

On the other hand, when Xiao Zhengyang heard Zhang Lie\'s words, he grew visibly excited. He was the only person currently present, except for Zhang Lie himself, who had an accurate assessment of Zhang Lie\'s abilities. From their race to the capital during his first meeting with him, he knew just how frightening Zhang Lie really was. Now that Zhang Lie had finished acquiring his basic and mutated gene fragments from the second realm, his strength would only grow by leaps and bounds.

Xiao Zhengyang was very excited to see what a match between Wang Yanyi and Zhang Lie would be like; his strength was comparable to Wang Yanyi\'s, and it would be interesting to see who would win. In addition, he was very curious just what havoc Zhang Lie could wreak at full strength.

Wang Yanyi, who had turned around and was preparing to leave, wondered if he had misheard Zhang Lie\'s words. "What did you say? Surely I must have misheard you."

"You heard me right the first time, old man! Didn\'t you say that you were going to teach me a lesson? ?Let\'s have it right now, then!"

Zhang Lie\'s disdainful gaze caused Wang Yanyi\'s face to swell in anger, but instead of replying to the arrogant brat, Wang Yanyi turned to Xiao Zhengyang, expecting that Xiao Zhengyang would surely step forward now to protect Zhang Lie.

Surprisingly, Xiao Zhengyang did nothing of the sort. He stared back at Wang Yanyi, as if egging him on. Wang Yanyi had expected Zhang Lie\'s disdain to be born of ignorance, but Xiao Zhengyang\'s attitude made him doubt himself.

Did Xiao Zhengyang really think that this newcomer could stand up to him?