In the small warehouse, seven burly men stood with pistols, and one person lay on the ground, barely alive, appearing close to death.
"What's going on?" John Li frowned.
Could it be that the man on the ground is Kai?
And the others were robbers who had plotted against Kai. They coincidentally encountered Kai, who had come out alone to surprise Leo and were killed.
John Li carefully considered this. He hesitated greatly—if he couldn't intervene, revealing his superpowers would jeopardize his peaceful cultivation.
He picked up his phone. "Kai, you're not in the warehouse, are you?"
He decided to investigate first, but he watched one of the brawny men skillfully take out the phone from his pocket, unlock it, and reply.
"Leo, we had an agreement. You said if I don't see you, you'll still make models for me, right?"
Upon seeing Kai's message, John Li lowered his head disappointedly.
"Kai, you lied to me. You're here with weapons. What's your intention?!"
Looking at Kai, who still held his gun at the door, and three men ambushing near the entrance, John Li's eyes turned cold.
He melted a piece of metal into a thin mask, which he gently pressed onto his face.
He threw aside his small schoolbag and strode towards the warehouse.
In the warehouse, a younger brother said to Kai, "Brother Kai, I'm feeling uneasy. What if he isn't alone?"
"Take out the others; I only want Leo. I want him to make a model for me. No one can stop it!"
"What if he refuses?"
Kai's eyes reddened slightly. "He has to give me what I want. Tie him up and bring him to me. I have a way!"
Clang!
The small iron gate slammed into the wall, raising a cloud of dust. Sunlight streamed through the gate, casting a long shadow.
Even though the two men near the door couldn't see clearly, they jumped up immediately. The remaining one quickly went outside and took a look around, confirming only John Li was alone.
In the smoke and dust, the two younger brothers who had intended to seize Leo misjudged his height and collided head-on with John Li below him.
With a thought, a piece of iron pushed the two of them back forcefully. They rolled several times before hitting the steel on the side, seemingly unable to get up.
John Li raised his hand gently, and the iron door suddenly closed.
Click.
With a soft sound, the door locked, leaving only a dim fluorescent tube hanging high from the ceiling.
One person behind and six in front surrounded John Li.
As the dust settled, John Li's small figure appeared before everyone. However, his 1.2-meter stature seemed frail amidst the group of men over 1.8 meters tall.
He looked at the large white man standing in the middle with a silver mask. "Kai?"
"Who are you? Where's John?" Kai looked at the small figure in front of him, bewildered. What was going on?
"I'm John, Kai. What's all this about?" A slightly distorted voice came from beneath the mask, but the youthful tone was clear.
"You're John? Can you make a gold model?" A somewhat deranged Kai said to those around him, "Haha, he claims he's John!"
"Kid, I'm not kidding. Where's John?" Kai aimed his gun at John Li's head.
"Kai, you disappoint me. I thought we could be friends. The model in your pocket is the last one I made for you!" John Li's voice was flat.
Kai stared at John Li but laughed. "Haha, you're a kid? No wonder you didn't want to meet. Haha."
Then, changing the subject suddenly, he said, "Tie him up!"
One of the men behind him immediately grabbed John Li, while several others surrounded him. Soon, they tightly bound him with a rope.
They dragged him in front of Kai without resistance. Kai gripped his head and spoke fiercely, "I don't care if you're John or not. I just want a model. And you're the best. You can make metal models, right? Otherwise..."
Kai seized John Li's head and grinned cruelly, "I'll melt you down and make you into a model, hehe!"
"Let's go. Boss Crow sent a message; time's running out." Kai took the lead to leave.
One younger brother stopped Kai. "Brother Kai, he's still breathing. Should we take him along?"
Kai looked at the brother lying on the ground and pulled out a pistol with a silencer from his waist.
"Let him die!" He was about to pull the trigger.
But a powerful force twisted his arm around several times. "Boom, boom, boom..." Several soft sounds, like knocks on a door, rang out.
Within two seconds, all of them had been shot in the heart by Kai.
The six younger brothers stared at Kai as he aimed and fired at them. Just before dying, they didn't understand how they had offended Brother Kai again or why he wanted to kill them.
Kai looked at the six men sprawled in front of him, his arms shaking.
"Why? Why did this happen? I didn't shoot them! I didn't!" His voice rose in panic.
John Li, standing to the side, pushed his arm forcefully. Two silver lights flashed from behind, and all the ropes binding him snapped, falling to the ground.
"It's you! It's you!!!" Kai turned his arm sharply, and a few clicks were heard. The pistol in his hand trembled, and the magazine fell out. As he pulled back the barrel, the chambered bullet flew out and hit Kai's forehead.
"You were trying to kill me first! Kai, I didn't want to kill you. You're my biggest customer!" John Li said sadly, "But you crossed a line today!"
"No, no! Leo, I didn't mean to kill you. I just wanted to take you with me to Africa, to make models for me. I didn't want to kill you!" Kai felt the barrel against his forehead, trembling as he spoke.
"A model? Kai, you're truly insane!" John Li's eyes filled with disappointment. He had hoped to make a new friend after more than a year of business transactions, but now his life was in danger because of a model enthusiast.
John Li turned to the injured man on the ground, turned him over, and gently slapped his face. "Hey, hang on! Stay conscious!"
Though he didn't know who the man was, he didn't seem to be associated with Kai and had been severely beaten.
Kai saw this, drew a knife from his waist, and thrust it toward the back of John Li's head. Before he could advance a few centimeters, he lost control of the knife in his hand, which was firmly pulled into the air.
John Li turned around, looking at the frantic and frightened Kai. "Who's he? An innocent bystander?"
"If you let me go, I'll tell you!" Kai released his grip on the knife, returned it to his pocket, and looked at John Li standing before him, looking shattered.
"Ah!" The man on the ground groaned weakly, barely audible.
John Li tilted his head to listen carefully.
Kai swiftly pulled out a metal model from his pocket and hurled it at John Li with all his might.
This action infuriated John Li completely. He turned to face Kai, and two dazzling golden lights suddenly emanated from his eyes, illuminating Kai's body.
Clothing and flesh turned to metal, starting from his chest and swiftly spreading up and down his body.
"Since you love models so much, stay with them forever!"
Five seconds later, a gleaming metal figure stood in the center of the small warehouse. The delicate metal face depicted despair and horror.
"Hey, man, who are you? How did you end up here?" John Li knelt down beside the injured man, dialing emergency services on his phone.
The man tried to speak, but his words came out as broken syllables.
"What did you say?" John Li leaned closer, listening intently.
"C...Crowe...Ulysses...Crowe." Before he could finish, his head slumped, and he stopped breathing.