The Majesty of Black Feather

That was everything confessed.

Both Cheng Shuili and Su Rui were somewhat silent. This guy was just too cowardly; they hadn't even done anything yet, and he had already spilled his guts.

And it was no wonder Christmas Sock had turned on him—he had only given the other guy two hundred out of the five hundred game coins.

Cheng Shuili didn't even know what to say; they had handled this whole affair far too sloppily.

After dealing with this person alongside Su Rui, the two continued to follow the trail, eventually killing their way to Shadow.

This person was somewhat smarter and didn't try any funny business. He was kneeling on the highway wearing nothing but his underwear and a gas mask, looking quite like someone begging for mercy while carrying a bundle of thorns.

If not for the toxic mist outside, he probably wouldn't even have wanted to wear the gas mask.

The moment Cheng Shuili's vehicle appeared, he started kowtowing and shouting: "Boss Crow, spare me! Boss Crow, spare me! It was my greed that blinded me! My heart was covered in pig lard! I shouldn't have taken this job, and I certainly shouldn't have dumped it on that good-for-nothing waste Wild Ghost to disturb you! I was wrong! I truly know I was wrong!"

"As long as you spare my life, I'll tell you everything. No, no, no! I'll tell you right now!"

Shadow shouted, his small eyes quietly gauging the expressions of the two. Seeing no signs of displeasure on their faces, he hurriedly continued:

"This job was given to me by my cousin! He's successful and made it to a deputy position in Dragon Soul. He told me to contact you, and after getting the bounty, one thousand game coins would be mine, while the rest had to be turned over to him for the organization!"

"You already know what happened afterward. As soon as I heard it was your name, I knew I couldn't handle it myself, so I found someone else—but I didn't expect the person I found to go and find yet another person!"

By this point, he was nearly biting his own teeth to pieces, but he endured it and continued: "The player ID you put the bounty on is 1566! But I don't know what happened between you two. My cousin didn't tell me anything; he just told me to go collect the reward..."

He rambled on, saying much more, not even realizing he was repeating himself.

Cheng Shuili raised a hand, stopping Shadow’s incoherent, repetitive pleas for mercy.

"Enough."

Her voice was not loud, but it instantly silenced Shadow, leaving only his heavy, terrified breathing hissing through the gas mask.

Cheng Shuili looked at his disheveled, pathetic state and paced forward slowly, stopping a few steps in front of him. Su Rui stood guard to the side with her pistol raised, alert for any potential sudden moves.

"I have recorded everything you said."

Cheng Shuili pulled up the system panel to show him, "Including your identification of Li Changyou’s deputy in Dragon Soul."

Shadow’s body shuddered, and his head hung even lower.

Cheng Shuili continued: "Considering you confessed quite readily and saved me a lot of trouble, I can let you live."

Upon hearing this, Shadow jerked his head up, an incredible, wild joy erupting in his eyes behind the mask. He was just about to kowtow again to thank her, but her next words pinned him in place.

"However," Cheng Shuili’s tone turned abruptly cold, "the death penalty can be waived, but the living penalty cannot. You, Wild Ghost, Christmas Sock, and that cousin of yours who is a deputy in Dragon Soul... since those on your side dared to reach out, you must be prepared to have your claws chopped off. None of you are getting away."

A blood-curdling scream echoed on the highway.

Cheng Shuili wiped the blood splattered on her face and didn't continue down that line to find the Dragon Soul deputy; instead, she went to find the assassin, 1599.

At first, Cheng Shuili and Su Rui were extremely vigilant, until they kicked open the door and saw the dying figure lying on the ground.

His mouth was full of blood, and his limbs appeared to be broken.

Cheng Shuili had no doubt that if she had arrived even a moment later, this person would likely be dead.

She stared at the person on the ground. The vehicle’s lights caught her eyelashes, casting a small shadow that masked the emotions churning in the depths of her eyes.

Su Rui stepped forward quickly and crouched down to check. When she looked up, her expression was grave: "Boss, his tongue has been cut out, and the tendons in his hands and feet have been severed... The work was clean; they were afraid he would talk."

He seemed to sense someone approaching and struggled to roll his eyes, his unfocused gaze meeting Cheng Shuili’s.

In that instant, a hoarse, rattling sound escaped his throat, and his body convulsed violently, whether from fear or something else.

"Dragon Soul did this?"

Cheng Shuili’s voice was very soft, as if she were asking the person on the ground or merely talking to herself.

The man could not answer. He merely used his final strength to glare at her, his eyes filled with despair and a near-maniacal resentment.

Was he actually blaming her? It wasn't as if she were the one who had reduced him to this state.

Could he be hating her for not dying?

That would be truly unreasonable.

Cheng Shuili watched him quietly for a full half-minute. Then, she smiled faintly, slowly crouched down, and took the Vial of Eternal Life at Both Ends from the Abyss Ring.

Using this item on him was truly a waste, but it only cost one hundred energy stones to refresh its charges.

Energy stones weren't valuable anymore, so Cheng Shuili didn't feel the sting.

A single drop of liquid slid into his throat. 1599’s body jolted violently, as if pierced by an invisible force. The hoarse, rattling sound in his throat stopped abruptly, and his unfocused pupils contracted sharply, centering on Cheng Shuili’s calm, waveless face.

Immediately following, a bone-chilling sight unfolded.

The flesh and blood inside his mouth began to squirm and grow at a speed visible to the naked eye. At the root of his severed tongue, new tissue sprouted wildly, reshaping into form in the blink of an eye.

Simultaneously, his limp limbs emitted an ear-piercing "crunching" sound as dislocated bones automatically snapped back into place and severed tendons reconnected and healed like living things.

In just a few breaths, a person who had been on the verge of death was lying there completely intact.

Except for the bloodstains covering him, which proved the recent tragedy was no hallucination.

1599 sat up abruptly, subconsciously touching his throat and limbs, his face filled with the bewilderment and disbelief of someone who had just survived the grave.

But when he looked up and met Cheng Shuili’s bottomless eyes again, the bewilderment was instantly replaced by overwhelming terror.

Cheng Shuili observed the changing expressions on his face and spoke slowly, her voice still very light: "Now, you can speak. Tell me, why did Dragon Soul try to silence you?"

1599 opened his mouth, and a hoarse, raspy sound came from his dry throat. His eyes flickered, as if he were weighing the pros and cons, or perhaps fearing something.

Su Rui’s gun barrel silently pressed against the back of his head.

"Our boss is asking you a question."

Su Rui’s voice was colder than the barrel, "Or would you like to experience that feeling again? We can take our time. A friendly reminder: I’m even more professional than those people. Would you like to try?"

1599 shuddered all over, his last shred of hope shattered completely. He collapsed on the ground, his voice filled with sobbing and total breakdown: "I'll talk... I'll talk... It was Li Changyou! The leader of Dragon Soul! He was the one who sent me to assassinate you! He never gave me the reward he promised, and he wanted to silence me! That old fox! A beast!"

He cursed incoherently, spilling everything: how Dragon Soul had sought him out, how many resources they had promised if he used that special Silver Piercing Bullet for the assassination, how they had turned on him without mercy after he failed, as well as the business with Ling Yun and the promises made by Li Changyou.

Cheng Shuili listened quietly until he could no longer offer any new information, then nodded slightly.

She checked the recording once, then refocused her gaze on 1599. He was still staring at the healed wounds on his own body, seemingly still finding it unbelievable.

The room was quiet, save for the faint sound of fabric rubbing together.

Cheng Shuili suddenly spoke: "I will settle the account with Dragon Soul, but now, it is time to settle our account as well."

1599 looked up sharply, the color drained from his face, and his newly healed body seemed to begin aching once more.

He looked at Cheng Shuili in terror, his lips trembling: "I... I told you everything... I told you everything I knew!"

"You told me, which is why you are still breathing right now."

Cheng Shuili’s voice was matter-of-fact and devoid of ripples, yet more chilling than any threat, "I healed you, so you were obligated to tell me this information. But the fact that you opened fire on me is a separate matter."

She took half a step forward, her shadow engulfing the 1599 who was slumped on the ground.

"You know very well what that bullet meant. Ignore defense... If I hadn't been lucky, the one lying here—or the one who wouldn't even have the chance to lie here—would be me."

1599 was frozen stiff by the icy killing intent in her words. His survival instinct drove him to scramble backward on his hands and feet until his back hit the cold wall of the vehicle, with nowhere left to retreat.

"I... I was forced too! Li Changyou forced me! He threatened my family! And... that special item is in his hands now! That item has a cooldown period; it can only be used once a week and consumes a massive amount of materials. I really had no choice but to cooperate with him!"

He tried to make a final struggle, though the words likely sounded incredibly hollow to the woman before him.

Cheng Shuili chuckled softly, a sound devoid of any warmth.

"Everyone must take responsibility for their own choices. You chose to accept the mission, and you chose to pull the trigger; now you must bear the corresponding consequences."

She stopped, looking down at him from her height, "You should also get a taste of what it's like to have a bullet pierce your heart. If you can survive that, too, then your life can belong to you."

The moment the words fell, Su Rui’s gun barrel shifted, and she pulled the trigger without a moment's hesitation.

"Bang!"

A gunshot echoed within the cramped vehicle.

1599’s pupils dilated abruptly, and he looked down at his chest in disbelief.

A blood hole was gushing crimson.

Excruciating pain washed over him. He opened his mouth but could emit no sound, his body convulsing violently as he fell backward.

Cheng Shuili watched this scene with no expression, and only after receiving the system’s kill notification did she turn and leave.

All the evidence was in her hands, and now, since Dragon Soul wouldn't take the initiative to declare war, Black Feather would!

Sneaking around and pulling dirty tricks, then wanting to act as if nothing happened once finished? Did they think Cheng Shuili wouldn't come knocking just because they didn't declare war?

Returning to Black Feather’s territory, Cheng Shuili issued a notice in the group chat once more, calling all members to assemble at the territory.

Because there was a victory banquet that evening, most members had treated today as a holiday and had stayed within the territory without venturing out, so they arrived very quickly after receiving the order.

Cheng Shuili stood before them. She said nothing, instead uploading all the evidence to the group chat.

From the confessions of Christmas Sock and Wild Ghost to the video of Shadow kneeling to beg for mercy, and finally the full record of 1599 identifying Li Changyou after being healed.

As the members began to read, the air seemed to solidify.

At first, there was silence—dead, heavy silence—where only the sound of a faint wind blowing through the distant fields could be heard.

Then, like a boulder thrown into a calm lake, the murmurs erupted into a roar.

"Dragon Soul?! It was Li Changyou who ordered it? That old geezer?"

"Silver Piercing Bullet... ignore defense... they really wanted our Boss’s life!!"

"Those bastards! Hitting us with such dirty tactics in the dark!"

"Boss! We can't let this slide! We have to hit back!"

The waves of anger grew higher and higher. Everyone’s face was stained with fury, and their eyes burned with the fire of provocation. It was unknown who shouted it first: "Declare war! Wipe out Dragon Soul!"

Following that, the voices merged into a uniform, deafening roar:

"Declare war!"

"Declare war!"

"Declare war!"

Cheng Shuili raised her hand, and all sound instantly subsided.

Dozens of eyes fixed tightly upon her, awaiting her decision.

Her voice was clear and calm, carrying across the entire grounds: "It seems everyone’s thoughts are the same as mine."

"Dragon Soul first tried to turn Ling Yun, and after failing, they resorted to such low-down means to attempt an assassination."

"They thought that if they didn't formally declare war and just pulled small tricks, we would swallow our pride or just treat this as an ordinary conflict."

"Today, they could use a Silver Piercing Bullet to kill me; tomorrow, they could use even more insidious methods to deal with any brother or sister of Black Feather."

"For an enemy like this, compromise and warnings are meaningless."

"Only by completely crushing them can we make everyone understand—"

Cheng Shuili’s gaze turned suddenly sharp as a blade, her voice rising abruptly with icy killing intent: "The majesty of Black Feather does not allow anyone to provoke it!"

Her response was a deafening roar. The emotions of every Black Feather member were thoroughly ignited, their battle intent soaring to the heavens.

Cheng Shuili said no more. She directly pulled up the system panel, facing everyone. Her finger hovered over the declaration of war option. Her gaze swept across the impassioned crowd below, and then, without a moment's hesitation, she pressed it.

【System Prompt: Please select the target of your declaration of war】

Input: Dragon Soul

【System Prompt: Please confirm the declaration of war. After declaring war, your faction 'Black Feather' and the target faction 'Dragon Soul' will automatically enter a hostile state, continuing until one side is disbanded or both parties agree the war has ended. Confirm?】

Cheng Shuili’s finger tapped heavily on 'Yes'.

【Faction 'Black Feather' has declared war on faction 'Dragon Soul'!】

The bustling, noisy world channel instantly fell into a brief, dead silence.

"What the f***?! Black Feather declared war on Dragon Soul?!"

"What’s going on? Why are they fighting again? Black Feather has been fighting all day! Didn't they say they were exhausted? Didn't they say they were going to recruit new members? Why declare war again?"

"I don't get it, I don't get it at all."