The Ultimate Devil's Magnificent CEO

Zhou Fan slumped to the ground, staring at the two men he'd killed. He took a deep breath and walked over to the one who had gravely wounded him. A cruel smile touched his lips.

"The Mad Wolf Mercenary Corps? How's your boss, Mad Wolf, doing?"

Zhou Fan's voice was low and hoarse. Combined with the way he loomed over him, it was enough to make the man faint from fear.

"I... We didn't know you were here!" Staring at the face before him—a face that had once struck terror into the hearts of countless Mercenary Corps leaders—the man stammered, desperately trying to explain.

"Don't worry about it." Zhou Fan gave an odd smile, then crouched and frisked the man. He pulled out an unusual-looking phone and dialed the first number in the contact list.

"Hello? If the mission's done, get your ass back here. Don't call!" The moment the call connected, a gruff, impatient voice came through, accompanied by the sounds of a woman in the background.

"Don't worry, I'll be back," Zhou Fan said calmly. At the same time, he knocked the poor bastard on the ground unconscious with a single slap. He then moved to the side, his thoughts turning to how to stop his own bleeding.

Hearing Zhou Fan's voice, the other end of the line fell silent. Only the sound of Mad Wolf's ragged breathing remained.

"Nether King... so you're not dead after all. If I said what happened a year ago was a misunderstanding, would you believe me?" A long moment passed. By the time Fan had finished off two other men and was dragging his wounded body over, Mad Wolf's voice finally came through the phone again.

"I believe you. Why wouldn't I? After all, it won't be long before I pay you a visit, wipe out your Mercenary Corps with my own hands, and then tell you *that* was a beautiful misunderstanding."

Zhou Fan took the cigarette Fan offered and took a deep drag, his voice remaining utterly placid.

"Fuck! Don't push it, Nether King! Don't think for a second I'm afraid of you! You dare come, and I'll dare to kill you!" As the leader of a Mercenary Corps, Mad Wolf immediately started shouting curses before slamming the phone down.

"How did you know they were Mad Wolf's men?" Fan asked, confused.

"Their fighting style. The leaders of all the major Mercenary Corps are high-ranking targets on the assassination lists, with massive bounties on their heads. To stay alive, they all have a squad of Deadpools for protection. I remember the fighting style of the Deadpools assigned to every single Mercenary Corps leader. They're all trained as a unit, so each group has a unique method of attack. It makes them easy to tell apart."

Zhou Fan pointed to the longsword and dagger on the ground. He explained it all casually, but his words left Fan utterly stunned.

'He actually remembers all that in such detail!'

'No, wait.'

Fan suddenly whipped his head around, his voice trembling with shock as he asked, "What about you, then? If I remember correctly, before your assassination, the Netherworld King's Hall was one of the top five Mercenary Corps on the African Continent. Did you have Deadpools too?"

"Of course. A guy as handsome as me—if everyone else has them, how could I not?" Zhou Fan looked at Fan with a cryptic smile, making him feel uneasy. "But mine weren't called Deadpools. They're called the Ying Yi. As it happens, I had sent them away on a mission right around that time. It gave Ye Fei and the others the opening they needed."

The "Ying" in Ying Yi means "shadow." They never step into the light, only standing in the darkness, appearing whenever Zhou Fan needs them.

"Then why aren't they here?" Fan glanced around nervously, half-expecting someone to materialize out of the shadows.

"Who says they aren't? You just can't see them." Zhou Fan smiled enigmatically.

For some reason, Zhou Fan's smile sent a chill down Fan's spine.

"Master, don't move! I'll bandage your wounds!" Just then, Xu Ruonan and her group arrived. Seeing how badly the two men were injured, she rushed forward to check on them.

Xu Ruonan carefully tore away the fabric of Zhou Fan's clothing. She disinfected the wound, stopped the bleeding, and finally used the torn strips of cloth to bandage the gash left by the triangular bayonet.

Fortunately, Zhou Fan's physical condition had greatly improved since he'd recovered from his past injuries. His healing abilities were enhanced as well. Otherwise, an injury like this could have been enough for him to bleed out.

"Xiaojiu, look at her! You're a girl too, can't you bandage my wounds?" Fan said, looking at Zhou Fan with no small amount of envy as he complained to Xiaojiu.

"They're master and apprentice. We're not," Xiaojiu said, giving Fan a look of disdain before turning to direct three Wolf Fang members to clean up the scene.

"Don't worry. Your master is as tough as a cockroach, and my healing ability is second to none. I'll be fine after a little rest," Zhou Fan said, reassuring Xu Ruonan when he noticed her eyes were turning red.

"Master, don't worry. I'll train as hard as I can, so that one day, I can be the one to stand in front of you and protect you from danger!" Xu Ruonan nodded emphatically. Then, she suddenly stole a glance at Zhou Fan. "Master... this dagger is a gift for me, right? You can't take it back. It feels really natural to use!"

At that, Fan burst into a fit of laughter, so hard that his wounds began to bleed again. Zhou Fan could only look to the heavens, rendered speechless.

Little did they know that at this very moment, a kilometer away, a lone figure was watching their every move.