Chapter 195 Fording

With a smirk, Han Xiao had purchased a type of mind toxin before notifying Morning Star. He’d smeared it on the statue. This substance was a poison specifically designed to affect the mind. Once externalized mental energy touched the toxin, it would suffer a backlash, and mental resistance would plummet. It was effective against mental ability users, mages, and psychics.

Morning Star was already injured, and he’d absorbed the statue in one go, making his mind vulnerable. He was also contaminated with the toxin. With all these factors combined, his resistance was greatly reduced, and the three mental shocks directly crushed his consciousness, causing a severe backlash.

Morning Star had a Grade B level of power, but psychics were relatively fragile. Han Xiao didn’t dare use Will Burning, fearing he might get lucky—or unlucky—and kill him instantly.

Blood spilled from his mouth and nose, splattering on the ground like shattered roses. Morning Star had basically lost the ability to resist. He stared at Han Xiao, his face filled with unwillingness.

In a daze, Morning Star’s expression seemed to become calm for a moment, but upon closer inspection, it seemed like an illusion.

“Why are you dealing with me…” Morning Star gritted his teeth. “Did you accept a commission to assassinate me?”

Han Xiao didn’t answer. He grabbed Morning Star’s hair and slammed his head against the ground, knocking him unconscious.

*——Explanation is the villain's job, we're proper people!*

“Old Mei, come back, we’re retreating!”

“Thanks to you, I might be a bit busy right now…” Mellows’ gritted voice came from outside the door. He was holding off wave after wave of guards, fighting intensely, with clanging and banging sounds.

Han Xiao grabbed Morning Star’s clothes and threw him to the Volga brothers. Then, he put his hands together and aimed at the hotel wall, unleashing a fully charged [Void Burst].

*Rumble!*

The gray shockwave blasted through the wall, bricks, and steel bars flying everywhere, with a choking smell of dust. A large hole had been blasted in the hotel’s exterior wall, hundreds of meters above the ground, with the flowing traffic of hovercars more than a hundred meters below.

Han Xiao seized the opportunity and jumped, smashing through the roof of a hovercar and landing inside. The driver looked terrified. Before he could say anything, he was knocked unconscious with a slap and thrown into the back seat.

Quickly taking the driver’s seat and grabbing the steering wheel, Han Xiao immediately felt a sense of familiarity. He immediately ascended, leaving the planned aerial trajectory and stopping next to the hole in the hotel.

*Clap clap.*

The car door popped open.

“Everyone, get in!”

Everyone crowded in. Before Mellows could get into the car, the sound of警铃 (jǐnglíng) sirens approached from far away. Han Xiao looked in the rearview mirror and saw a team of police hovercars chasing after them.

This was an upscale hotel with a large number of guards patrolling the area. The commotion had already attracted attention, and the hotel had called the police.

Han Xiao didn’t dare wait any longer. He directly manipulated the vehicle and drove away, shouting, “Hurry, jump!”

With a whirlwind of strikes, Mellows used the back of his blade to create a blade storm, sweeping away all the guards. He hurriedly turned around, ran towards the hole, and leapt out with a leap of faith. The ground cracked where he landed. His entire body flew over a hundred meters in the air, landing on the roof of the hovercar with a thud, falling into the car through the hole Han Xiao had made.

“That was close, that was close…”

Mellows was still in shock when he suddenly felt something soft under his butt. He looked down and realized he was sitting on a stranger’s face. He asked in surprise, “Who is this guy?”

“A kind driver who offered us a car… Hey! Don’t sit on his face, show some gratitude.”

Looking at the rearview mirror, seeing everyone was present, Han Xiao didn’t say anything. He accelerated, and the hovercar charged wildly like a rhino.

Not only were there police hovercars chasing from behind, but there were also cars surrounding them from the front. However, aerial vehicles could fly up, down, and diagonally, in addition to forward, backward, left, and right. The difference between two and three dimensions meant they couldn’t stop him at all.

The bumps and recoil made the car like a shaking sardine can. Mellows originally wanted to question Han Xiao’s reasons for doing this, but he quickly dismissed the thought—he was afraid he would throw up.

Aroshia immediately transformed into an energy body and immediately felt much more comfortable.

Sylvia, who had been knocked unconscious by psychic power, slowly woke up. The world was spinning before her eyes, and she thought she had a concussion. Less than thirty seconds after waking up, a feeling of nausea arose, and she vomited before passing out again.

“Stop immediately! Or we’ll open fire!” The police hovercar’s loudspeaker issued a warning.

Han Xiao slammed the steering wheel and crashed into the back of the police car, sending it spinning wildly in the air like a top. Shouts of alarm came from the loudspeaker.

Han Xiao felt no pressure dealing with these cops. He downloaded the city’s map from the mechanical database, and the auxiliary intelligence quickly planned a route, displaying it on the analysis screen.

More than ten minutes later, he shook off all the pursuers, and the dilapidated hovercar stopped in a gap between two buildings.

…

“Ugh—”

Mellows leaned against the car window and vomited for a while. He finally regained his strength, took a few deep breaths, glared at Han Xiao, and said angrily, “Dear leader, I wonder if you have the time to explain the reason to us wage slaves now?”

He was feeling very distraught. He was promised a normal commission payment, but how did it turn into a city-wide police chase? And they kidnapped a star. If it was a woman, that would be one thing, but it was a man! Was he trying to go to heaven?!

Han Xiao changed his posture and looked at the back seat, where a pile of people were crammed together. He pushed away the second Volga brother’s thigh and pointed to Morning Star’s head with congealed blood. “My target is this guy. He’s not a simple character.”

“…Thanks for the reminder. Otherwise, I wouldn’t know that a Grade B psychic wasn’t a simple character!” Mellows gritted his teeth.

The third Volga brother looked worried. “He’s a big star. We’ll definitely be wanted by the local police, and it might even be reported to the New Fellan Union’s direct security bureau. This will tarnish our mercenary reputation. And the Rhein Star System is New Fellan Union territory. What should we do?”

“Don’t worry.” Han Xiao nodded towards the unconscious Morning Star. “That guy will speak for us. As long as he, the person involved, comes forward, we’ll be fine.”

“You want to threaten him? I don’t think that will work.” Mellows was skeptical.

“Threaten? No, there’s no need to do that.” Han Xiao smiled. “He’ll choose to help us himself.”

Saying that, he dragged Morning Star out of the pile of people and threw him into the passenger seat. After thinking for a moment, he took out a tissue and wiped the blood off Morning Star’s face.

Morning Star’s face was covered in bruises and swelling. Where was the gorgeous appearance from his concerts?

“I hit him a little too hard. Alas, he was a handsome young man. What a pity…”

Han Xiao sighed.

*Slap slap slap…*

Since it had come to this, he simply slapped him back and forth as a wake-up service.

Morning Star’s eyelashes fluttered, and he slowly opened his eyes. His pupils slowly focused, and his eyes were clear. He sat up straight.

His entire demeanor had changed greatly. If he seemed more like a charming woman before, now he was like a pure man. He turned to look at Han Xiao, revealing a calm and composed smile, without any of the agitation from before.

“Hello, I’ve been watching you the whole time. Although you attacked me, maybe to kidnap me, I’m still grateful that you gave me a chance to get some fresh air.”

His voice was mellow and gentle, completely different from the feminine tone he had always used. It was almost as if he wasn’t the same person.

“You, you…” Mellows looked surprised.

“Morning Star” nodded, smiling gently.

“Nice to meet you. My name is Audrian Kevinson Fording. Just call me Fording… Don’t be surprised. I am the real owner of this body. The Morning Star you saw was… um, how should I put it… let’s just say an unfriendly guest.”