Chapter 232: Bodyguard Hummingbird
With Hummingbird now under her control, Fang Xiaocao finally relaxed a little.
At the moment, neither of her two strongest fighters—Taotie and Tom—were by her side, and Wan Xiaozhou’s fate remained unknown. Recruiting Hummingbird, who had decent combat skills, to protect her was a stroke of luck.
In a one-on-one fight, Fang Xiaocao could still rely on her hypnosis for self-defense. But against multiple opponents, her hypnosis became far less effective.
Those familiar with hypnosis knew:
A single person’s emotions were easy to grasp.
But a group’s emotions? Much harder.
Even the most precise supercomputer couldn’t accurately calculate what every individual was thinking—let alone a human.
If they were just ordinary people, Fang Xiaocao could attempt a mass hypnosis to briefly immobilize them.
But the duration would be extremely short.
And what if they were trained to resist mental influence? Forget the difficulty of mass hypnosis—even if she succeeded, the effect would last even less time than with normal people.
So short that Fang Xiaocao wouldn’t even have time to escape.
Or do anything meaningful!
Thus, while her hypnosis was godlike in one-on-one situations, it became far less reliable against multiple opponents.
“Hummingbird, I need to go here.”
“Find me a safe route.”
Fang Xiaocao pulled out her terminal, displaying the route Tom had planned earlier.
Hummingbird studied it and nodded.
“Princess, please follow me.”
Fang Xiaocao gestured for her to lead the way.
As she followed, she sent a message through the terminal: “All safe. Heading to the rendezvous point.”
She dared to send this openly because Wan Xiaozhou’s terminal had already been cut off by Tom after they realized she might have been captured and was feeding them false intel.
Now, only Tom and Taotie could receive her messages.
_______
Tom, who had been frantically searching for Fang Xiaocao, finally breathed a sigh of relief when he saw the message.
“Hah…”
“I really underestimated Her Highness…”
Now that he knew she was safe, he no longer needed to rush.
“Time to deal with the tail behind me.”
He stopped moving forward and instead climbed an ancient tree, perching on a thick branch as he waited silently.
The mercenaries didn’t keep him waiting long.
Five minutes later, a squad of ten fully armed men appeared in his line of sight, advancing in a tactical formation—clearly professionals.
The insignia on their uniforms marked them as members of Ragnarok.
“Heh.”
Tom smirked coldly.
“Ragnarok, huh?”
“Brought quite the party.”
He reached into his pocket and pulled out a custom-made metal pumpkin grenade.
With a light press, the timer activated.
Tom watched the countdown, then—with five seconds left—tossed it directly at the mercenaries.
“GRENADE!”
One of them shouted, but it was too late.
Before they could react, the grenade exploded, sending shrapnel flying like a storm of deadly petals.
Every single mercenary was torn apart instantly.
Not one survived.
Tom sneered.
“Serves you right.”
People from Dahan were as annoying as chickens in a basin.
Few in the world had any respect for them.
After waiting a while longer to confirm that no reinforcements were coming, Tom jumped down from the tree.
Without sparing a glance at the corpses, he turned and resumed his search for Fang Xiaocao.
_______
Moving swiftly through the forest, he soon picked up Fang Xiaocao’s trail again.
“Hm?”
“There’s another set of footprints beside Her Highness’s… Was she captured?”
He frowned, studying the tracks.
“Doesn’t quite look like it…”
Puzzled, he quickened his pace.
Before long, Fang Xiaocao and Hummingbird came into view.
Unsure of Hummingbird’s identity, Tom didn’t approach immediately. Instead, he silently shadowed them, observing.
_______
After walking for a while, Hummingbird suddenly stopped.
She turned sharply, her gaze locking onto the bushes behind them.
“Shing—!”
Her katana flashed out of its sheath.
Fang Xiaocao tensed—had her hypnosis failed?
But then she realized Hummingbird wasn’t aiming at her.
“Who’s there? Show yourself!”
Fang Xiaocao quickly stepped aside, following Hummingbird’s line of sight.
Hidden in the shadows, Tom blinked.
“She noticed me?”
But he stayed put.
It could be a bluff.
After scanning the surroundings and confirming no one else was nearby, Tom still refused to move.
“So what if she did?”
“If I don’t come out, it’s like she didn’t.”
A tense silence followed.
Fang Xiaocao glanced at Hummingbird.
“Are you sure? Maybe you misse—”
Before she could finish, Hummingbird dashed forward, katana raised.
Then—
“Hah!”
She leaped, her blade slicing through the air straight at Tom’s hiding spot.
“Well, damn.”
“She really did spot me.”
Amused, Tom drew his black dagger and blocked the strike.
Hummingbird recoiled instantly, spinning into another slash.
Recognizing Tom, Fang Xiaocao sighed in relief.
“This is just allies clashing by mistake.”
Tom dodged the katana and countered with a swift cut toward Hummingbird’s wrist.
But Hummingbird was fast—far faster than expected.
She twisted away, then pivoted into a brutal kick aimed straight at Tom’s crotch.
(End of Chapter 232)
