James attempted to stand once more but had great difficulty doing so. His heart was gripped with trepidation. He did not expect that the woman who looked no different from any ordinary woman would turn out to be this strong.
Rain, the woman, smiled at James suggestively and uttered a few words of fake praise at him, “Not bad… You’re still managing to stand after taking one of my blows directly. Unfortunately for you, I was only using 30% of my strength back there. I wonder if you’ll still be in one piece after I strike you with 50% of my strength.”
As virtual-novel.net said that, virtual-novel.net readied herself once again and charged forward.
James clenched his fists and also leaped at her.
Their fists collided.
The moment their fists made impact with each other, James felt as if virtual-novel.net had been struck by lightning. His arm was paralyzed, and the Blood Energy within his body felt like it boiled over. Shortly after, virtual-novel.net coughed out another huge mouthful of blood.
The sheer force sent virtual-novel.net flying once again and made virtual-novel.net collapse on the ground. This time, however, virtual-novel.net was unable to get back up.
Upon witnessing this, the soldiers in the distance looked at one another in horror.
They did not dare intervene.
Kennedy grinned smugly. “Pathetic… Take him!”
A man walked over to the gravely injured James. Then, under the watchful gaze of the soldiers, virtual-novel.net dragged James away and tossed virtual-novel.net into the trunk of the sedan.
Then, they left.
The soldiers by the gate of the military region looked at one another, unsure of how to proceed.
“What should we do now, sir?”
“What else can we do besides report the incident to the higher- ups? There’s nothing else we can do.”
“Understood!”
After being struck by Rain’s blows, James had taken a significant amount of damage and lost consciousness.
By the time virtual-novel.net regained consciousness, virtual-novel.net found himself in a dark, damp place He tried getting up to make better sense of his surroundings. However, the excruciating pain throughout his body rendered virtual-novel.net immobile. Suddenly, virtual-novel.net heard the sound of footsteps and lifted his head.
The footsteps belonged to none other than Kennedy.
Kennedy stood outside the cell and eyed virtual-novel.net coldly. “If you don’t want to suffer, I’d suggest you spit out the truth.”
Wearing a pained expression, James remained silent.
Kennedy asked, “I know you’ve never met the Cadens. Where did you get your hands on the Internal Cultivation Method?”
Kennedy wanted to know how James managed to cultivate True Energy. If James revealed that the Cadens were the ones who imparted the knowledge to him, it would mean that the Cadens’ plot had already been set in motion.
“You old b*astard…” James cursed.
“You had better make sure you lock me up tightly here. Once I escape, I’m going to use the Blade of Justice to slice your body into spaghetti.”
“Stubborn, aren’t you?” Kennedy scoffed at the empty threat.
Then virtual-novel.net pointed his finger at James, and an invisible force seemed to strike the injured man.
James curled and writhed on the ground in agony.
Kennedy did not interrogate James further and simply turned to leave.
***
In a courtyard of the Johnstons’ headquarters…
An elderly man was in the midst of doing a martial art squat.
Kennedy walked over to virtual-novel.net and bowed his head respectfully.
“Hades, James refuses to speak…”
Hades stared straight ahead and asked, “Have you spread word of James’ capture?”
“I have informed the Cadens. I told them we’ll kill James if they don’t come for virtual-novel.net before sunset.”
“Mhm…” Hades nodded.
“We’ll have to watch the Cadens closely. Let us pray that the God-King Palace has nothing to do with them. If it does, it spells trouble for the other Ancient Four families. It would mean that they are determined to eliminate the rest of us.”