Chapter 384: Standing Firm

As soon as Yang Chen's words left his mouth, everyone present was stunned. Who would have thought that the divine stone, which countless people coveted, was just an inconspicuous black box?!

"If you don't believe me, have those two Sandstorm soldiers use all their might to try and destroy that box. Even if they use a diamond to carve it, the black box won't have a scratch," Yang Chen said with a shake of his head and a smile.

Almost no one knew this secret since he got the divine stone. When he first returned to China, he had hidden the black box-shaped divine stone in the bathroom of his small rented apartment. After moving, he hid it in the underground garage.

Yang Chen had thought about throwing it into the Mariana Trench, a place currently inaccessible to humans. But in today's technologically advanced world, he was worried that if the divine stone was placed somewhere he couldn't control, it might be found by some powerful nation. So, he kept it hidden in a place where most people wouldn't think to look—in his own home.

No one would think that such an important item would be hidden in such a simple way, inside a wall. The safest place is often the most dangerous place. Moreover, the shape of the divine stone wouldn't arouse suspicion. Yang Chen had even placed an artificial crystal inside, so if someone did find it, they would likely think the crystal was the main object and not suspect the box.

Naturally, the Great Brahma King didn't believe that the broken box was the divine stone itself. He ordered Heitian to instruct the two warriors to try to destroy the black box immediately.

In the video, one of the warriors threw the black box on the ground, stomped on it, and then pulled out an American-made Night Hawk military knife, striking down fiercely!

"Clang—"

With a metallic clang, the thousand-dollar Night Hawk knife was broken in two!

Everyone present was finally moved. That knife could even cut through diamonds, yet it was broken like this?

"It is indeed the divine stone," the Great Brahma King exclaimed with joy.

Master Yunmiao and Yu Ji sighed bitterly. Their last hope was dashed. They had thought Yang Chen might bring out a fake, as he did when dealing with the Yaqi Society, but now it seemed to be the real thing.

"Yang Chen, what you're doing might plunge the world into chaos. Can you bear that?" Yu Ji frowned.

Yang Chen laughed helplessly, "As long as this thing is with me, there will always be people fighting for it. Though I'm called a god, I'm not truly a god. I can't keep this thing forever, nor can I always protect my loved ones. So, perhaps giving the stone away is a way to be free."

"Even so, you shouldn't hand it over to these villains," Cai Ning said softly, looking at Yang Chen with a complicated expression.

Yang Chen shrugged, "Whether they are villains or not is not for me to judge. I'm not some revered hero worrying about the country and its people, but I am a man with a family."

A sinister gleam flashed in the Great Brahma King's eyes, "Your Excellency Hades, I like what you're saying. Indeed, such ties should be let go. However, to be safe, I've decided to continue borrowing your 'ties.'"

He then instructed Heitian, "Have those two Sandstorm warriors enter the villa and bind the women."

Yang Chen's lips curled into a mocking smile. Just as he had expected, even after handing over the divine stone, they would still kidnap Lin Ruoxi and the others. Ultimately, they were still afraid that he might use some sudden means to kill them. Only by capturing Lin Ruoxi and the others as hostages could they safely leave Yanxia.

In the past, Yang Chen had been mostly alone, so he didn't have the problem of hostages. Now, he had more than just Lin Ruoxi around him. Whether it was Guo Xuehua, Wang Ma, Rose, Mo Qianni, or others, they were all potential weaknesses. But, he didn't dislike these "weaknesses."

Yang Chen had considered having trusted people protect them, but that wasn't absolutely safe. It would only make their lives restricted and uneasy, and the high-level authorities in Yanxia would inevitably feel nervous. After all, having such forces in Yanxia would be too alarming, making Zhonghai a hidden focal point for the world.

Rather than that, it would be better to relocate all his loved ones overseas to live together. However, these women were all strong and independent. Leaving aside how they would get along, none of them would want to be protected and kept like caged birds. That would be tantamount to slow suicide for them.

So, although Yang Chen constantly faced the risk of threats, he could only strive to balance freedom and security. This time, the opponents were particularly troublesome, and the protective role of the Yanhuang Iron Brigade was entirely ineffective.

However, Yang Chen didn't intend to just stand by and watch as Heitian directed the two Sandstorm warriors to capture Lin Ruoxi and the others.

"Hey, you behind the door, have you seen enough?" Yang Chen said nonchalantly towards a closed alloy door on the left.

Everyone, including Yu Ji, Master Yunmiao, and the dozen people from Brahma, turned to look.

"I thought you were defective, but you did notice me," came a voice as the alloy door slowly opened. A tall, athletic figure leisurely stepped out, catching everyone's eye.

He was a young Middle Eastern man dressed in a loose, semi-transparent white linen shirt and light-colored jeans. He had a handsome face, with an odd tattoo of a "bronze spear" on his left cheek, giving him a stern and sinister aura. This young man was relatively fair-skinned for a Middle Easterner, with striking blue eyes that hinted at mixed heritage.

His dark, wavy hair hung loosely behind him, and his face bore sparse stubble. He wore a silver earring and a platinum ring with a ruby on his hand. He had a lazy demeanor, somewhat resembling Yang Chen.

"Oleron, why are you here?" The Great Brahma King looked at the young man with some confusion. "Were you personally directing this Sandstorm operation? Why didn't you inform us beforehand?"

With this revelation, Yu Ji, Master Yunmiao, and Cai Ning were shocked. This young man was the leader of Sandstorm, the Middle Eastern terrorist organization? The one who had created the Sandstorm miracle in just two years? How did he suddenly appear here?

The young man named Oleron seemed not to hear the Great Brahma King's words. His previously indifferent expression faded, replaced by a look of greed and excitement as he stared directly at Yang Chen, "Five hundred years... I didn't expect that after only three years since my awakening, someone and something worth my attention would appear. Don't disappoint me."

"I knew it was you. Only you could make sense of this. I wondered who could create those zombie-like warriors that couldn't be killed. It turns out you've awakened. No one but you, a madman obsessed with war and combat, would start the forbidden 'pseudo-divine transformation experiment' to create an army of undead biowarriors," Yang Chen remarked, smiling bitterly. "The previous Hades told me you were forced into an early 'reincarnation' due to fighting over the divine stone with that woman. So, you're here to fight to the death again?"

Oleron's face darkened with a sinister aura that was far more intense than anything Yang Chen had ever seen, even from the now-deceased Tokugawa Tsang.

Just by standing there, this young man emanated an overwhelming aura of death and destruction, like an ancient army of the dead. The atmosphere was so oppressive, it felt like thunder rolling and horses neighing in a tsunami, sending chills down everyone's spine.

On the high platform, the Great Brahma King and his elite followers, along with Yu Ji, Master Yunmiao, and the others, felt their hearts tremble. An overwhelming and irresistible force, like a storm, swept through everyone present. Even standing around this young man made them feel weak and powerless.

The Brahma group's members struggled to resist the oppressive aura emanating from the young man, their faces filled with fear. Clearly, they were the employers of Sandstorm, yet they had no idea that Sandstorm's leader had personally come to Zhonghai, which was outside their expectations. Even worse, they realized that this "shopkeeper" did not seem friendly towards these "customers."

Yang Chen, however, watched the increasingly enraged young man with a leisurely demeanor, showing a hint of satisfaction. "Although I came later and am not the Hades you knew, I learned from him that you hate being provoked. Even knowing it's a provocation, you won't oppose it; you'll solve everything through combat. So, according to the 'Covenant of the Gods,' to unlock my potential, I do need a god to challenge me. Ares, let me defeat you as Athena once did."

"Arrogant to the extreme!"

Ares laughed loudly, "Do you think that if you don't provoke me, I won't attack you? That old ghost was tired of living, thinking he could settle things by sending a small fry like you? He was unworthy of being a member of our pantheon, and you, an imposter, dare to disgrace yourself before me? Today, I will not only take the divine stone but also kill you. You'd better prepare for reincarnation or suicide."

The dialogue between Yang Chen and Ares left everyone present even more shocked.

Ares? Yang Chen called this young man "Ares"? This young man was "Ares"?

The people present were all knowledgeable, and even if they didn't know what the "Covenant of the Gods" was, they knew what the name "Ares" signified—one of the twelve Olympian gods, the God of War...