Chapter 35: Well-Read

Yang Chen once again flashed his harmless and warm smile, but this time he just said, "Don't be afraid, I'm not here to kill you."

This smile, this sudden change in demeanor, almost made the already frightened little maid faint in terror.

"Please... spare me..." She couldn't say anything else.

"Don't be afraid, I already said I won't kill you." Yang Chen furrowed his brows in annoyance and asked, "Since you're involved with Chen Feng, do you know where Chen Dehai is right now?"

Feeling slightly reassured that Yang Chen wasn't going to kill her, the little maid answered quietly, "I... I'm not sure, but usually, Boss Chen is in the study on the top floor."

"Hmm... seems like those idiots didn't lie to me." Yang Chen muttered to himself before heading towards the door.

Seeing this, the little maid, forgetting her fear for a moment, exclaimed in surprise, "Aren't you going to escape?"

"Escape? Why?" Yang Chen turned back.

"The commotion just now surely alerted those thugs, they'll be here soon!" The little maid seemed genuinely concerned for Yang Chen, even though she was still immobilized by the stockings tied around her.

Yang Chen shrugged indifferently, "It's even better if Chen Dehai comes personally." With that said, he walked out of the room and casually closed the door behind him.

According to his memory, Chen Dehai's study was located in the central area of the top floor of the entire apartment building, which was the central area of the fourth floor. After entering the corridor, Yang Chen headed straight for the stairs.

Sure enough, after just a few steps, he saw a group of people coming up and down the stairs ahead, all dressed in the same black uniforms as the ones at the entrance, but this time, they were armed, some with electric batons, others with steel-studded gloves.

Yang Chen naturally didn't believe that Chen Dehai's men wouldn't have firearms, but this was still within the country, and firearms control in the Yanxia Empire was famous for being strict worldwide. It was impossible for every henchman to be armed with firearms, so only a few elite ones would be the ones aiming guns at him.

The shrimp soldiers and crab generals in front of Yang Chen didn't entirely repulse him when he threw them all downstairs. After all, it had been a long time since he had a good fight, and having about twenty or thirty people rushing at him simultaneously was actually quite enjoyable for him.

As a group of thugs angrily attempted to beat the young man who was still leisurely strolling around, they soon realized that they couldn't even lay a finger on their target!

Yang Chen's movements were as fast as lightning, each step he took seemed like a special effect straight out of a movie—blurry afterimages. In what appeared to be simple movements, Yang Chen's body moved perfectly within the encirclement of a dozen or so people, each brief pause allowing him to grab the wrist of one thug holding a weapon, and then forcefully using that thug's hand to strike the nearest accomplice. Lucky ones were hit on the arms or legs, while the unlucky ones took a direct hit to the head!

There was no set pattern, no technique, just rapid movement, precise calculation, and straightforward effectiveness!

The area of the hallway, about twenty to thirty square meters, became completely chaotic. All they could see was a black figure continuously darting back and forth in front of them. They didn't dare to easily swing their electric batons, because one wrong move could injure their own men.

One after another, screams filled the hallway. In less than a minute, out of the more than thirty thugs who had rushed forward initially, only four or five were left cowering to the side, while all the others lay writhing on the ground in pain, too afraid to get up.

Yang Chen clapped his hands and looked at the remaining five thugs who didn't dare to approach, "Aren't you guys joining in the fun?"

The five men shook their heads hastily, their faces showing a smile uglier than crying as they tried to appease him.

Without any further hindrance, Yang Chen easily reached the fourth floor. He found the door to the central study without much trouble—it was a specially made steel security door, and if he wasn't mistaken, it was bulletproof too.

Glancing at the monitors in the corridor, Yang Chen chuckled with a hint of boredom. Chen Dehai was indeed a cunning old fox. He knew Yang Chen had entered the apartment, yet he wasn't in a hurry to kill him. Instead, he sent over thirty thugs to test and wear him down. Now, hiding in what seemed like a fortress-like room, Chen Dehai probably had every corner sealed tight.

Actually, if it weren't for himself, this move would have been quite effective. But he definitely didn't know his true strength. Otherwise, a wiser choice for him would have been to escape early.

The steel door in front seemed indestructible, but Yang Chen wasn't too concerned. If it were his self from two years ago, he might have had to put in more effort to force it open. But now, with the changes in the strange martial arts he had been practicing, such defenses were of little use.

Taking a deep breath, Yang Chen kicked the thick steel door straight on like a thunderbolt!

"Bang!"

After a heavy dull sound reverberated in the hallway, the steel door was kicked in, causing cracks to appear in the marble wall where it connected. Stone debris fell to the ground!

Satisfied, Yang Chen retracted his foot and approached, giving the door a gentle push...

"Boom!"

A cloud of smoke rose as the steel door fell into the room, forcefully pushed open!

Inside the brightly lit study, there were indeed quite a few people standing.

"Young man, impressive skills." A calm and slightly hoarse voice came from the man sitting behind the large oak desk in the study.

Yang Chen could recognize Chen Dehai at a glance. This man, besides having some gray hair, bore a striking resemblance to his son, Chen Feng, in facial features. He wasn't particularly tall, but there was a touch of vicissitude and shadow in his demeanor.

Behind Chen Dehai stood a row of over ten suited bodyguards. At the moment, each of them looked solemn, their hands already reaching into their inner jackets, obviously ready to draw out pistols or similar weapons at any moment.

What surprised Yang Chen was that the man standing closest to Chen Dehai was the muscular bald man he had encountered at the bar before. Now, this man was evidently one of Chen Dehai's most trusted subordinates, standing protectively by his side.

The bald man showed a hint of surprise upon seeing Yang Chen but didn't let it show too much.

"Sorry about breaking your door," Yang Chen said with a smile, strolling leisurely into the study.

Chen Dehai responded with a grin that didn't reach his eyes, "No problem. Out with the old, in with the new. It's just a door, it can be replaced as long as someone compensates for it."

"And if I don't compensate?"

"Then, young man, please first tell me why you're here causing trouble in my apartment, and I'll decide what to do next," Chen Dehai said calmly, tapping his thin fingers on the desk. "I've been in Zhonghai for thirty years. I'm not someone who acts unreasonably. You have impressive skills, and if possible, I hope we can be friends rather than enemies."

Yang Chen nodded nonchalantly, glancing around. The study was lined with large bookshelves filled with various books and periodicals from both domestic and international sources. On a small desk, there were the Four Treasures of the Study, indicating that Chen Dehai practiced calligraphy.

"It seems you've read a lot of books and are quite cultured," Yang Chen said, seemingly off-topic.

Chen Dehai frowned slightly, "Even in this line of work, you can't rely solely on brute force to succeed these days." He seemed unsure of what Yang Chen meant by that.

Yang Chen nodded in agreement, "What I'm saying is, if your son Chen Feng had even half your brains, then today you wouldn't have to die." He smiled brightly.