“What?”
Xu Qiliang turned his head with a ferocious expression. He felt that in a situation that required such a display of dominance, his subordinates were making him look like a fool by playing around.
Consumed by rage, he couldn’t listen to any explanations. He kicked the man directly, sending him flying across the room, and then wiped the sole of his shoe on the floor in disgust.
“Useless trash. If you can’t use it, go die.”
Unlike the panic among Xu Qiliang’s group, Luo Shaoran’s eyes lit up upon seeing this. She immediately turned to look at Su Su, knowing that all of this was thanks to the hotel boss.
Su Su sensed her gaze. Turning her head, she was met with Luo Shaoran’s eyes, which were filled with gratitude. Su Su remained expressionless and did not respond.
Even without Luo Shaoran, she would have done the same. This was the apocalypse; the existence of the lighthouse would inevitably attract attention—be it well-meaning, malicious, inquisitive, or skeptical. Regardless of the kind, she would have to face it sooner or later.
According to what Luo Shaoran said earlier, this arrogant and punchable guy was a Base Leader, and there were even more powerful people behind him?
Su Su felt a surge of joy. This played right into her hands. By dealing with this guy, the hotel and the lighthouse would surely become famous. When that happened, guests would be lining up in droves. She might even be able to buy that large sofa sooner than expected.
Su Su’s lack of response made her seem even more mysterious and in control to others. Luo Shaoran knew she had gambled correctly, and her aura shifted instantly.
“Xu Qiliang, this isn’t your house. If you want to cause trouble, get out.”
“Also, your men have stained the lobby wall. Remember to pay compensation.”
She’s like a mind reader!
Hearing Luo Shaoran’s words, Su Su cast an appreciative glance in her direction. Her pristine hotel lobby had been stained with blood; it wouldn’t be too much to ask for a few extra points in compensation, right?
Still in a fit of rage, Xu Qiliang let out a cold snort. After this ordeal, he was in no mood to continue arguing with Luo Shaoran and impatiently issued a final ultimatum.
“Luo Shaoran, I’ve given you enough face only because you are Shaoxing’s sister. Don’t push your luck. You know that if I wanted to kill you, it would be as easy as crushing an insect. I’ll give you five minutes to hand over Luo Shaoxing. If you do, I might spare your lives.”
If it had been before, Luo Shaoran might have been afraid. She knew that many of Xu Qiliang’s subordinates were high-level ability users, and no matter how strong her group was, they couldn’t defeat so many.
But things were different now. She had felt it herself and seen Xu Qiliang’s men lose their abilities one after another. This was clear proof that the hotel boss’s power was far superior to theirs.
Recalling the “Absolute Safety” notice on the board, infinite courage welled up within Luo Shaoran.
“Don’t make me laugh. Keep those words for yourself. I advise you to pay the compensation quickly and take your men as far away as possible.”
“You… are looking for death!”
Xu Qiliang lost all patience. With a wave of his hand, he signaled his combat-oriented ability users to launch a collective attack on Luo Shaoran’s group.
He stood back with his arms crossed, a malicious look on his face, waiting for them to be beaten until they wept and begged for mercy.
Upon receiving Xu Qiliang’s instructions, four people stepped out from the crowd surrounding him. They lined up and launched an indiscriminate attack toward Luo Shaoran’s group, not even sparing Su Su, who was sitting behind the checkout counter.
Just as Xu Qiliang thought everything was under control and the hotel was about to be reduced to rubble, the men he sent out all struck their poses, yet nothing happened.
Sweat broke out on their foreheads in frustration. They could clearly feel the power within their bodies, but no matter how hard they tried or what methods they used, they couldn’t release it.
“What are you guys doing?” Xu Qiliang asked in confusion after waiting for a while with no action.
“B-Base Leader, our abilities won’t come out.”
“Yeah, there’s absolutely no response.”
Xu Qiliang didn’t believe the first person, and he ignored the second. But now that they were all saying it was impossible, no matter how skeptical he was, he had to take notice.
His triumphant expression vanished, replaced by a grim look as he spoke to the rest of the group.
“The rest of you, try together!”
Then, just like the others before them, the remaining men fearfully reported that their abilities could not be released. Only then was Xu Qiliang forced to believe that they were telling the truth.
To verify this, Xu Qiliang began to gather his own internal power, intending to release it with all his might. However, his power felt like a surging wave that suddenly hit an invisible barrier; the moment it touched his skin, it flickered out.
He stared at his hands in disbelief, as if trying to see through them. What was going on? Why couldn’t he use his ability?
“It’s you! What kind of trickery did you use?”
Xu Qiliang suddenly remembered something. He looked up at Luo Shaoran with a face full of fury. This had to be her doing. If he could still use his ability, he would have loved to burn her to a crisp right then and there.
“Trickery?” Luo Shaoran laughed aloud.
The angrier and more pathetic Xu Qiliang looked, the happier she became. After the attempts by Xu Qiliang’s group, she was certain that everything the Boss had written on the notice board was true. Her admiration for the hotel boss grew even deeper.
“It’s clearly because you think too much of yourself and forgot that there is always someone better out there. If I were you, I would kowtow and apologize immediately, pay for the damages to the shop, and leave without looking back.”
Xu Qiliang couldn’t listen to a word of Luo Shaoran’s “kind advice.” When had he ever suffered such humiliation in his life? Even after the global marine apocalypse, his standard of living hadn’t dropped much; instead, his arrogance had only grown because of his abilities.
Luo Shaoran’s words sounded like pure insult to his ears. Losing all reason and disregarding the fact that he couldn’t use his abilities, he clenched his fists and lunged at Luo Shaoran.
Then, an unbelievable scene unfolded. Xu Qiliang, who had just taken a single step, was suddenly suspended in mid-air by an invisible force. He tried to scream, but he couldn’t make a sound.
The crowd froze for a moment, and then everyone looked up in unison at Xu Qiliang in the air. His mouth was wide open, and his face was distorted with terror, yet from beginning to end, not a single sound escaped him.
“Boss…”
Luo Shaoran was the first to react. She turned her head quickly to see Su Su standing up from her chair and walking out from behind the checkout counter.
By this time, Xu Qiliang’s men had also snapped out of it. They hurriedly reached out, trying to pull Xu Qiliang down. Unfortunately, despite several of them using all their strength, they couldn’t budge him an inch. On the contrary, their excessive force caused Xu Qiliang to grimace in agony.
As they stood there at a loss, Su Su walked up to them and pointed expressionlessly at the patch of blood on the wall.
“Ten thousand points. Who’s paying?”