Chapter 38: The Lonewolf In The Dark

Chapter 38: Chapter 38: The Lonewolf In The Dark

Several hundred meters from the academy entrance, inside a hotel room overlooking the street, two men were watching him.

One of them lowered his binoculars and picked up his phone.

"Boss, Xavier just left the academy through the main gate," he reported.

"Is he alone?" the voice on the other end demanded.

"Completely alone," the man replied with a smirk.

"He’s either extremely confident, or he has no idea how dangerous his situation is."

A brief silence followed on the line.

"Don’t make a move yet," the voice ordered. "Follow him, and I’ll join you shortly."

"Understood," the man growled, his expression hardening.

"This is our chance to make up for what happened this morning."

"We cannot afford another mistake," the voice snapped.

Then the call ended.

The burly man lowered his phone and raised the binoculars again. Through the window, Xavier’s figure was already moving farther down the street.

He did not know it yet, but the trap he thought he was setting was already being prepared behind him.

Night had settled over Valemont, but the city was far from quiet.

The streets remained crowded with cars, pedestrians, and people stopping at roadside restaurants for a late meal, because for most residents the hours after work were simply another part of daily life.

Xavier blended into that crowd as he left Arcadia Academy.

He did not head straight for the auction house. Instead he walked without any obvious destination, glancing at the shops and passing pedestrians as though he were simply enjoying an evening stroll.

On the surface he looked completely at ease, but internally every sense remained alert.

It did not take long before he noticed something unusual. Someone was following him.

Xavier’s expression remained unchanged, though his eyes narrowed slightly.

He recognized the two men immediately, because they were the same Foundation Establishment bodyguards who had accompanied Ethan earlier that day.

So the Carter family really has decided to make a move.

Perhaps they had underestimated him because they still believed he was only a low level Body Tempering martial artist.

Whatever the reason, their surveillance was far from subtle, and they had made no serious attempt to conceal themselves.

If Xavier had not already been watching for trouble, he might have missed them.

But there was no need to shake them off. These men were not strangers anymore, and they were exactly the people he had been waiting for.

One is at the third star of Foundation Establishment, while the other is at the fourth.

Xavier quietly assessed them. Neither opponent was overwhelmingly stronger than he was, and with his current strength, coupled with the abilities he had acquired from the system, dealing with them should not be difficult.

A faint smile appeared at the corner of his mouth.

The bait had taken, and now all he needed to do was lead the fish somewhere convenient.

He gradually moved away from the busier streets and turned down several quieter roads before eventually reaching an abandoned construction site.

The area had been cleared years ago, but construction had never resumed, and broken concrete, weeds, and piles of debris covered the empty lot. It was the perfect place for an ambush.

Just as he expected, the two men finally stopped pretending to follow him.

The brothers had already discussed their plan while tailing Xavier.

They were not interested in fighting him here, because their objective was to capture him alive. Once Xavier was in their hands, they could use him to force Mira out of Arcadia Academy.

The larger of the two men glanced at his younger brother.

"Rivers, knock him unconscious and hide him somewhere nearby, and I’ll bring the vehicle around," he ordered in a low voice.

"Got it, Sandy," Rivers replied, rubbing his fists together as he began walking toward Xavier.

He had barely taken a few steps when a fist slammed into his chest with a deafening boom.

Rivers’ eyes widened. He had not even seen Xavier move. The man he had considered a helpless Body Tempering martial artist had suddenly appeared in front of him and delivered a blow with terrifying force, and there was not even enough time to raise his guard.

The punch drove straight through his defenses and shattered his heart.

Blood rushed from Rivers’ mouth as his body staggered backward and collapsed onto the ground. He was dead before he could understand what had happened.

"Rivers!" Sandy cried, spinning around.

His eyes widened when he saw his younger brother lying motionless on the ground, and then his gaze slowly shifted toward Xavier.

The prey he had been hunting was standing several meters away, calmly looking back at him.

For several seconds Sandy’s mind went completely blank, and he could not understand how this had happened.

But there was one thing he understood immediately. Rivers was his younger brother, and the man standing before him had killed him.

"You bastard!" Sandy roared, his voice cracking with fury. "I’ll kill you!"

He released every bit of his Foundation Establishment power and launched himself forward, crossing the distance almost instantly like a cannonball fired at point blank range.

But Xavier had already anticipated the attack.

His Chaos Body allowed him to perceive every movement with astonishing clarity, and even though Sandy was a fourth star Foundation Establishment martial artist, his movements were nowhere near fast enough to catch Xavier off guard.

More importantly, Xavier now possessed Phantom Step at its perfected level.

The moment Sandy entered striking distance, Xavier vanished.

His body blurred with a soft whoosh, and for an instant Sandy saw what appeared to be Xavier standing directly in front of him. It was only an afterimage.

The real Xavier had already slipped around his side.

Before Sandy could react, Xavier drove his fist toward his neck.

Sandy barely managed to notice the attack, and he could not dodge, so he instinctively raised his elbow to block.

He was confident that his Foundation Establishment body could withstand a strike from someone he believed was only at the Body Tempering Realm, and he was already thinking about how he would counterattack the moment the block succeeded.

Then the two forces collided with a sickening crack.

Pain exploded through Sandy’s arm, and his expression changed instantly.

The force behind Xavier’s punch was far beyond anything he had anticipated, and his elbow felt as though it had been struck by a steel hammer.

Impossible!

"You’re not..." he began, his eyes wide with disbelief.

He never finished, because Xavier’s second punch landed with a heavy bang.

The blow slammed into Sandy’s head and sent him flying several meters before he crashed heavily onto the ground.

His vision spun, and every part of his body screamed with pain. For the first time, genuine fear took over.

I have to get away.

He no longer cared about revenge or about Rivers, and he did not even care about the reward. He simply wanted to survive.

Sandy struggled to his feet and tried to flee, but before he could take more than a step, a faint red glow appeared behind him.

Xavier raised the Life and Death Talisman, and a thin streak of crimson light shot out and pierced directly into Sandy’s mind. His body froze.

The fear in his eyes vanished, and his resistance disappeared as though someone had switched it off.

The talisman’s power had completely overwhelmed his consciousness, and from that moment onward Sandy could no longer disobey Xavier.

He had become Xavier’s absolute subordinate.

* * *

Xavier stared down at him.

"What is your name?" he demanded coldly.

"Sandy," the man answered in a flat, empty voice.

"And the man I killed?" Xavier pressed.

"Rivers. My younger brother," Sandy replied without a trace of emotion.

"How long have you worked for the Carter family?"

"Nine years," Sandy droned.

Xavier continued questioning him without wasting time.

"How many members are in the Carter family?"

"Seventeen," Sandy recited.

"Tell me everything you know about them," Xavier commanded. "Their strength, their influence, Ethan’s parents, their security, where they live. Don’t leave anything out."

Under the control of the Life and Death Talisman, Sandy answered every question honestly.

Xavier had deliberately saved him for this reason, because information was power.

He knew almost nothing about the Carter family, and if they were already hunting him, remaining ignorant about their capabilities would be extremely dangerous.

Sandy and Rivers had served the Carter family for nine years.

Because of their long service, Ethan’s parents trusted the brothers and allowed them access to a considerable amount of family information, and what Xavier learned soon exceeded his expectations.

The Carter family was extraordinarily wealthy, with a financial influence even greater than the Hart family’s.

They controlled a massive business empire with operations spanning three cities.

Ethan’s parents were not the heads of the entire family, and they merely managed the Carter branch in Valemont.

There were seventeen members in the family altogether, although only Ethan and his parents currently lived in Valemont.

Neither of Ethan’s parents possessed much talent in martial arts, since they were businessmen, but they had surrounded themselves with powerful protection.

Their private security force included numerous martial artists, and among them was even a martial artist at the ninth star of Foundation Establishment.

That alone was enough to make Xavier take the Carter family seriously.