Qi Xu's gaze was sharp as she swept it across the room. A bald man sitting directly opposite suddenly laughed loudly. "Just because you've snagged a few server-wide announcements, you think you can act this cocky?"
The man's oily forehead gleamed, a cryptic smile hung at the corner of his mouth, and his Adam's apple bobbed as he swallowed. His eyes remained fixed on Qi Xu, even deliberately licking his chapped lips before letting out a frivolous whistle...
The others around him instantly erupted into raucous laughter—loud, hysterical laughter.
They laughed while pointing at Qi Xu, gesticulating wildly with exaggerated facial expressions. Filthy language and malicious taunts burst from their mouths like sticky, vile mud flying in all directions.
Qi Xu remained completely unfazed. She leaned back leisurely, utterly immune to these low-level tactics. It was like watching children fight, and she even wore a motherly smile as she met each of their gazes in turn.
Suddenly, their laughter died. Their expressions gradually turned serious.
Only one among them gave Qi Xu an inscrutable look, a flicker of appreciation flashing in his eyes—so brief, yet precisely caught by Qi Xu's keen perception.
Or perhaps, from the very beginning, Qi Xu had been observing him from the corner of her eye. Although he was laughing and joking along with the others... it was different.
Qi Xu casually sized him up: he was slouched lazily in his chair as if boneless, a cigarette dangling from his lips, puffing away...
Once sure she had reclaimed control of the situation, Qi Xu finally spoke. "What? You don't get server-wide announcements because you don't want to?"
A man opposite slammed the table and stood up. "You fucking bitch, I'll—"
Before he could finish, Qi Xu raised a hand with a smile. "You're just trash."
The moment the words left her mouth, the man's eyes went vacant. His entire body lost all support and he slammed face-first onto the conference table with a heavy thud, lifeless and still in a bizarre, dumbfounded manner...
The room fell deathly silent. Everyone stared, dumbstruck, at the scene, involuntarily rising to their feet and fixing their eyes on "Invincible Black Whirlwind"...
The previous looks of disdain, mockery, and malicious anticipation in their eyes vanished completely, replaced by nervous tension and unease. They even held their breath, afraid to make too much noise.
Why! She didn't even move... so how? An ability user? Words manifesting reality? Cursing someone to death? Holy shit, how are we supposed to fight that? Who would dare cross her now?
Seeing everyone silent and full of wary apprehension... Qi Xu was finally satisfied.
See? With power, you can avoid anything unpleasant. As for hiding your strength, catching others off guard, keeping trump cards, playing the fool to devour the tiger... all that was too stifling. Qi Xu wasn't willing.
A Level 2 ability user, possessing two divine weapons, "Sakura Fall" and "Sakura Illusion," 32 Death Protection Cards in her inventory, three powerful, all-around pets with maxed-out affection, resources in her backpack and spatial items that likely surpassed those of an entire district's players combined. On top of that, a group of trustworthy comrades she could rely on with her back turned—a team that, while not huge, was well-rounded and mature.
If even with all this she still had to act submissively, that would simply be unjust! So when she encountered someone annoying, it was better to just let them die.
After all, she was the Server Rank 1, currently the strongest player in the China server. Qi Xu was absolutely certain that, as long as no rule explicitly stated that killing was forbidden during the cross-district arena challenge meeting, she wouldn't face any life-threatening punishment for taking someone out.
As for fines? She had plenty of money, no fear there...
[Warning! Player Invincible Black Whirlwind for—]
Hearing this voice, Qi Xu's lips curled into a smile. Had the mighty S1 Qiu Qiu really been reduced to presiding over a cross-district arena challenge?
Qi Xu had heard from her own Qiu Qiu that this was the job of district-manager Qiu Qius. The major district Qiu Qius didn't handle such low-level, trivial matters.
So... before Qiu Qiu could finish the [Warning], Qi Xu spoke even louder.
"I wish to file an in-game report: I am game player Invincible Black Whirlwind. I am formally reporting an issue occurring within the current meeting scenario. The administrator Qiu Qiu is guilty of serious misconduct, malicious district partitioning, and targeting—"
[Stop! Stop right there! The meeting is now in session. During my announcement of the rules, any player who continues speaking will be disqualified from participating in this cross-district arena challenge. Everyone, shut up! No one is allowed to make a sound while I'm speaking!]
Qi Xu knew when to quit. This situation was different from last time.
A report might not necessarily succeed. After all, targeting strong players was something the survival game tacitly allowed and consistently engaged in.
Otherwise, with Dongfang Yuan's abilities, if he had just an average person's luck, he wouldn't have nearly been eliminated in the early stages.
Qi Xu sneered disdainfully, cleared her throat brazenly—I'm not talking, my throat just felt uncomfortable—and then, as if suddenly remembering a bad joke, let out a loud laugh.
She laughed while openly scrutinizing the remaining eight people with a mocking, dismissive gaze, looking them up and down, shaking her head, tutting "tsk tsk tsk," and occasionally rolling her eyes.
She was essentially returning every bit of what she had just endured. You all enjoy maliciously staring at others, right? How come it feels so uncomfortable when you're the ones being stared at?
Qi Xu's look of contempt was far too obvious, making the group's faces flush red then pale green in turn. Yet they didn't dare move, make a sound, or speak... It felt so satisfying.
Because every person Qi Xu looked at couldn't help but worry, worry to the point of their skin crawling. What if they ended up like District 02's Rank 1, dying inexplicably, instantly snuffing it? That would be the worst loss.
Even Qiu Qiu, regarding her act of killing without cause, hadn't dared to issue any punishment, ultimately only roaring in silenced fury. There was also a tinge of envy—was this the prestige of a server-wide announcement big shot? Openly defying Qiu Qiu on the spot!
They had lost count of how many times they'd been shocked today... This was Qiu Qiu, a district administrator, one who decided disaster types and dungeon difficulty! And she just offended them like that?! Can a server-wide big shot really be this badass? Directly and utterly disrespectfully standing their ground!?
Having had her fun, Qi Xu leaned back in her chair, propped her feet up on the table, crossed her arms over her chest, closed her eyes, and prepared to listen attentively to the rules.
You want to see who's tougher? Bring it on.
Qiu Qiu gnashed its teeth, so furious the entire sphere felt like exploding on the spot. It no longer had any desire to make Invincible Black Whirlwind an ally; it just wanted her dead.
This kind of arrogant, conceited player held no value for cultivation! They absolutely could not pin all their hopes on her! She would get everyone on the China server killed!
..........
