The blond man's gaze rapidly dissipated, his body falling powerlessly to the ground, with the bullet heads of sniper rifle rounds in each of his dangling, limp hands!

Ten bullets fired, nine blocked, the last one claimed his life!

Ratatat!

The Fire God Cannon and submachine guns didn't cease firing, their flames of gunfire continuing to spray even as the blond man's body hadn't hit the ground, tearing it to pieces with the powerful momentum of the bullets!

"Impossible!"

Mu Si had been vigilant ever since Jiang Chen arrived, playing defense over offense, waiting for the blond man to take care of Chen Jiantao and the others before coming to his aid.

But he never expected that the blond man, with the strength of a Paladin Knight, would truly be killed by a group of Three-Star Knights wielding guns, prompting an incredulous exclamation!

And in that moment of distraction, Xing Fei's eyes flashed with a cold light, and a small, delicate dagger suddenly appeared in her hand, quickly sweeping across Mu Si's throat.

In a clash of the mighty, the slightest mistake could be fatal, especially to Xing Fei, who had grown up in a life and death environment. Once she caught an enemy's flaw, it could directly determine life or death.

Thump!

Mu Si's body fell powerlessly to the ground, his eyes losing their luster.

"Long Yan has truly risen," the Dark Night Queen spoke calmly.

"Thank you for your praise, my Queen."

Jiang Chen stared straight into the Dark Night Queen's eyes, his own filled with deep wariness. He felt an unprecedented danger emanating from her and was certain that if the Dark Night Queen were to make a move against him right now, he would likely be the one to die!

"I look forward to your growth."

The Dark Night Queen gave Jiang Chen a complex look before turning and walking towards Changlan City, with Luo Sha and Mo Rin casting equally complex glances at Jiang Chen and following her lead.

Jiang Chen was momentarily stunned; he had actually seen a profound expectation in the Dark Night Queen's eyes, which left him somewhat puzzled.

"Dragon King!" Chen Jiantao and the others gathered around Jiang Chen, with the Feng Lang and the rest automatically on guard.

"I'm alright!" Jiang Chen spoke softly.

Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!

Three figures rapidly approached from a distance, and everyone's expression chilled, guns raised. But upon recognizing the newcomers, they lowered their weapons and resumed their vigilant stance.

"Dragon King!"

"Dragon King!"

Calls of greeting arose as Jiang Chen turned to look at the arriving Xuan Long, Yan Mo, and Kuang Shi, saying with a light chuckle, "Has the battle in the valley ended?"

"It's over! None of our brothers have been sacrificed, though two were hit by stray bullets, it's nothing serious!" Xuan Long replied.

Jiang Chen smiled slightly, "Now is the time to be excited and happy!"

Xuan Long met his smile with one of his own and nodded emphatically.

"Alright, when the brothers have finished cleaning up the battlefield, we'll head back to Changlan City together. This time, we'll properly reward them: a hundred thousand international currency each, and after we've cleared out the Flame Mercenary Corps' den, we'll hand out additional rewards based on their contributions!" Jiang Chen said with a light laugh.

"Yes!" Xuan Long and the others replied loudly.

Chen Jiantao and the other Long Ya warriors, however, did not respond.

Jiang Chen glanced at them, smiling gently, "You'll have your share too. I know you have your discipline, and I'll discuss this with Old Shen and that Commander Zhang.

I won't give you cash, to avoid causing you trouble. After Yi Chen Group was established, I set up a security company, initially so that Xuan Long and the others would have a legitimate identity upon returning to the country.

"For now, let's save up your rewards, and when we return to our country, I will convert them into shares of the security company and transfer them to you."

"Dragon King, we..." Chen Jiantao and the others looked at Jiang Chen with surprise, about to refuse.

"Shut up! It's settled, whoever the hell has a problem with it, go back to our country right now!" Jiang Chen interrupted everyone abruptly.

Chen Jiantao and the others felt a warmth in their hearts, closed their mouths, and looked at Jiang Chen with eyes full of gratitude.

...

After a major battle, Jiang Chen and the people of Long Yan returned to Changlan City.

"The people of Long Yan are back!"

"Holy shit! Does that mean Lie Yan was taken out?"

"I think I saw Mu Si, the sworn brother of the Fiery Bird, also leaving the city with people. Those were four Paladin Knights, right? Is Long Yan really so strong that they took down five Paladin Knights?!"

"This... it's really hard to say!"

"So strong."

Seeing the people of Long Yan return to Changlan City, the mercenaries in the city erupted with excitement.

Changlan City.

After Jiang Chen and the others returned to the city, they went straight back to the hotel.

Once inside the hotel, Jiang Chen thanked Yan Mo and Kuang Shi, then asked them to rest, while calling all of Xuan Long's and over a dozen other captains to his room.

When everyone was seated, Jiang Chen spoke with a solemn face, "We've fought two major battles now. What have you all noticed?"

"Paladin Knights aren't invincible at their level!" Xuan Long and the others replied in unison.

Jiang Chen nodded slightly, "Besides that, what else?"

"This..." Xuan Long and the others looked at each other, at a loss for words.

"The victory and defeat of a war are not just about comparisons of superficial strength, but also about strategic competition and the tacit cooperation of the combatants!" Chen Jiantao pondered for a moment before speaking softly.

Jiang Chen spoke again, "What else?"

The others blinked and looked at Jiang Chen, puzzled.

"Do you all think that Long Yan is very strong now?" Jiang Chen looked directly into the eyes of the Long Yan captains like Xuan Long and An Long.

An Long spoke softly, "Dragon King, although we, Long Yan, still have some gaps compared to the top ten Mercenary Corps, compared to other mercenary groups, we are already quite strong, aren't we?"

"Strong? Strong my ass!"

Jiang Chen swept his gaze over everyone and saw that Xuan Long and the others had looks of agreement on their faces. He then scoffed,

"Where are you strong? Do you really think that winning these two battles means you are strong? It is precisely because I was worried that you would have such arrogant thoughts that I called you here. I didn't think you would actually believe it!"

After a pause, Jiang Chen spoke sharply, "In the battle against Dark Spider and the recent one against Lie Yan, can't you clearly see who played a leading role? Aside from the Paladin Knight's field, didn't the brothers from Long Ya Special Forces take a core position in the battles you were involved in? Without the brothers from Long Ya Special Forces, do you think you could have won just with your own strength?"

An Long and the others were stunned. Their time spent with Long Ya Special Forces and treating Chen Jiantao and the others as part of Long Yan had made them overlook the fact that Chen Jiantao and his team were definitely going back to their country, and they had only a month left.

Suddenly, including Xuan Long, all the members of Long Yan fell silent.

"Got it? Then let me add one more thing,"

Jiang Chen spoke calmly, "The current situation of our Long Yan is like a miniaturized Dark Spider, except for Xuan Long and the Snake Woman, you only have the strength of Earth Grade Peak. What? Were those Elixirs I gave you all a waste?"

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