Twenty minutes later, Liu Xiaoran arrived as promised, and Han Feng opened the door to let him in. Liu Xiaoran entered the villa with ease and plopped down on the sofa.
"What would you like to drink?" Han Feng walked towards the open kitchen, the cold light from the refrigerator casting a pale blue hue on his sharply defined face.
"Whatever." Liu Xiaoran's voice was as concise and cold as ever.
Han Feng smiled slightly, took out two bone china cups, and put in some fine Longjing tea. As the hot water was poured in, the tea leaves unfurled as if they were alive. He pushed one of the cups in front of Liu Xiaoran; the tea was clear and fragrant.
"Speak, what did you find?" Han Feng took a sip of tea, his eyes sharp.
Liu Xiaoran held the teacup in both hands, the heat transferring through the porcelain to his calloused palms, calloused from years of holding a gun. He looked down at his reflection distorted by the ripples in the tea, and finally spoke: "After the Qi City rescue mission, we recovered the fragments of the knight's body."
Han Feng's eyebrows twitched almost imperceptibly. The memory of that battle was still vivid: the shockwave from the knight's self-destruction, the flying metal fragments, and the scene of him shielding Liu Mengran with his own body at the last second.
"The base conducted a gene comparison." Liu Xiaoran took a sip of tea, his Adam's apple bobbing. "His gene arrangement... is different from other gene warriors."
Han Feng put down his teacup, the porcelain clinking against the glass coffee table with a crisp "ding": "More reasonable?"
Liu Xiaoran glanced at him with slight surprise, then nodded: "It's like... the difference between a deluxe edition and a paperback edition."
"Nonsense." Han Feng suddenly laughed. "That guy can self-destruct; I almost died there. Ordinary gene warriors don't have that ability." His smile faded, his eyes sharpening. "Besides, their weaknesses are different."
"Weaknesses?" Liu Xiaoran leaned forward slightly, the most obvious sign of interest Han Feng had ever seen him display since they met.
"The weakness of ordinary knights lies in the third vertebra." Han Feng gestured with his finger behind his neck. "But knights are different..." His expression suddenly turned strange, as if he had thought of something utterly absurd.
Liu Xiaoran frowned, waiting for what would happen next.
"His weakness is..." Han Feng paused, the decisive scene flashing through his mind: himself gripping the thick steel bar, precisely piercing the knight's groin from behind. A smile involuntarily crept onto his lips. "His rear end. That's why I gave him the nickname 'Chrysanthemum Knight.'"
A brief silence fell over the living room.
Liu Xiaoran's expression froze. The special forces soldier, known for his composure, began to twitch his facial muscles uncontrollably, eventually bursting into a rare laugh that nearly knocked over his teacup.
"Damn it!" Liu Xiaoran rarely swore, wiping away tears of laughter from the corners of his eyes. "So you used steel bars..."
"Straight to the heart of the enemy!" Han Feng made a thrusting motion, and the two burst into laughter again.
The laughter subsided, and Liu Xiaoran's expression turned serious again: "But with only one sample, it's impossible to determine whether other high-level gene warriors are also like this."
Han Feng nodded, the smile fading from his eyes: "I've been thinking about that too. If every 'deluxe edition' has such...unique weaknesses, then our combat strategies will have to be completely redesigned."
Liu Xiaoran took a deep breath, his knuckles tapping unconsciously on his teacup, as if carefully choosing his words. Han Feng noticed his unusual silence, but didn't urge him, simply waiting quietly.
"Actually..." Liu Xiaoran suddenly put down his teacup, crossed his hands and rested them on his chin, "When I was analyzing the knight's genetic sequence, I found its modification pattern... very familiar."
Han Feng leaned forward slightly.
"It's similar to the body modification methods of certain families..." After saying this, Liu Xiaoran seemed to have unloaded a heavy burden, his shoulders slumping slightly.
The air in the living room seemed to freeze. Han Feng's golden pupils narrowed to slits under the light, and he slowly and clearly uttered four words: "A reclusive family?"
Liu Xiaoran did not answer directly, but his taut jawline said it all.
Han Feng stood up and walked to the French windows, his back to Liu Xiaoran. His solemn face was reflected in the windowpane. The term "hidden family," only vaguely mentioned in Longyuan's top-secret files, represented an ancient power that transcended worldly rules. They possessed powers that modern science could not explain, lived in seclusion for generations, and rarely intervened in outside affairs.
Seeing that Liu Xiaoran did not answer, Han Feng continued, "Or perhaps it is an ancient martial arts family."
At this point, Liu Xiaoran completely lost his composure and asked, "How do you know about ancient martial arts families? Even Mengran, she..."
Han Feng interrupted Liu Xiaoran and said, "It has nothing to do with Mengran. Elder Lin told me. I also know that your Liu family was once one of the ancient martial arts families."
Liu Xiaoran's expression suddenly turned serious, even wary. Han Feng noticed this change and knew roughly what Liu Xiaoran was thinking.
At this moment, Liu Xiaoran spoke up: "So what are your intentions in approaching Mengran?" As he spoke, his body was already in a fighting stance; he would not allow anyone to harm his sister.
"Relax, I have no interest in your ancient martial arts families. And if anyone harms Mengran, I will never let them go." Han Feng's sudden burst of aura made Liu Xiaoran feel a little breathless.
Yes, if Han Feng wanted to harm his sister, he would have had countless opportunities; there was no need to wait for this moment.
"I'm just curious why the things from your ancient martial arts family have been scattered outside. This is also what Elder Lin is worried about, because the problem was caused by my former high school classmate. Logically speaking, she shouldn't be able to access this level, but she's behind these recent actions against me, and she's the one who's been deployed with these gene warriors." Han Feng stopped there.
Liu Xiaoran frowned: "Do you suspect that she has a powerful family backing her?"
"I only came up with this idea a couple of days ago after talking with Elder Lin. But Mu Xiaoxiao left China in high school, and when she first appeared, Blood Blade's first trip to the Northern Territory, a genetic warrior like Blood Wolf appeared. It's hard not to be suspicious."
"So we guessed it was related to a reclusive family," Liu Xiaoran said.
"Yes, but it doesn't seem to be from within China, since the research on this kind of thing is done by a genetic research lab in the US."
“That’s also related.” Liu Xiaoran said solemnly, “In fact, the cultivation methods of many hermit families and overseas families are quite different. It’s just that as you go further, it involves the family’s secret cultivation methods. The reason I said the knight’s abnormality is based on this. It’s too similar to the basic cultivation method.”
"Basic cultivation methods?" Han Feng was astonished. If the basic cultivation methods of these hermit families were this abnormal, then how strong must the big bosses of these families be?
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