Feng Yaxian looked the Iron Armor Man, Qi Suian, up and down, filled with curiosity.
She was representing the Xuan Empire, sent to make contact with Qi Suian, a man of mysterious origins.
Of course, this was a secret mission.
The goal, naturally, was to get Qi Suian to continue his attacks on the Eternal United States, thereby weakening them.
They could have just continued to watch from the sidelines, but Qi Suian had suddenly vanished after causing a major ruckus.
Without Qi Suian to keep them occupied, the Eternal United States immediately recovered and intensified its counterattacks against the Xuan Empire.
That was why they decided to find Qi Suian and have him continue taking the pressure off the Xuan Empire.
Of course, they couldn’t say that officially. Instead, their offer was to fund Qi Suian’s revenge.
Qi Suian, however, watched Feng Yaxian’s expression with a sinking feeling. ’Should I make the first move and get rid of this woman now?’ he wondered.
He knew the whole routine. ’First, she gets curious. Then, she gets to know me better. And then, she falls madly in love.’
It was then he recalled that it had been a long time since his ’protagonist aura’ had tried to gift him a new harem member.
’Probably because the previous Doomsday Worlds were either desolate wastelands or I just killed everyone. Even if there were potential candidates, I slaughtered them all before anything could even sprout.’
This Feng Yaxian only managed to reach him alive because she was representing the Xuan Empire and bringing him resources.
Without that status, she would have been deader than dead long ago.
So, to prevent any cliché drama from unfolding, Qi Suian decided he should act first.
’Am I being narcissistic or paranoid? Maybe both,’ Qi Suian thought. ’But for my own safety, I definitely have to get rid of her.’
’Killing an innocent? Whatever. The number of natives from the Sacred Artifact World I’ve killed is too high to count. What’s one or two more?’
’I can’t just let her go because she’s a woman and happens to be good-looking.’
’That makes no sense.’
’What’s that? She’s here to bring me gifts? That’s true, but she comes with ill intent.’
Qi Suian would, of course, take the sugar coating and... as for the cannonball, he couldn’t throw it back just yet, so he would just keep his distance.
Better to not get blown up himself.
"Say something," Qi Suian finally said. The woman had been staring at him for a full minute without uttering a single word, and it was giving him the urge to attack.
"What... do you look like?" Feng Yaxian asked, completely off-topic.
Qi Suian was speechless. ’Of all the times to ask that...’
"Sigh. If I continue my slaughter in the Eternal United States, what will the Xuan Empire give me?" Seeing her behavior, Qi Suian had no choice but to get straight to the point himself.
A question like that almost made him lose control of his murderous urges.
’Anyone who asks such a bizarre question has to be a little unhinged, just like me.’
’My psychological and spiritual illnesses are from stress and dying too many times. Those are acquired conditions.’
’But this woman... her issues seem to be congenital.’
"Let me see you first, or else..." Feng Yaxian said with a spoiled, demanding air.
Qi Suian’s blood pressure shot up.
He was a protagonist, but not the kind who let the little head do the thinking for the big one, endlessly tolerating someone just because of their looks.
He especially disliked people who so obviously had personality defects.
And especially not in a situation like this.
Qi Suian erupted. He lunged forward and crushed her to death on the spot.
’I gave her a chance, and she still dared to threaten me. She can’t blame me for being lethal.’
"Alright, let’s have someone else do the talking. I hope you’re a little more sane," Qi Suian said, turning to the other person.
The man was Feng Yaxian’s secretary, a grim-looking, middle-aged man whose name he didn’t know yet.
He was probably supposed to be the one negotiating with Qi Suian, but she had cut in and taken over.
When he saw Qi Suian kill Feng Yaxian, his eyes bulged in utter disbelief. He raised a trembling hand to point at Qi Suian, completely speechless.
"Can we talk or not? If not, I’ll send the rest of you on your way," Qi Suian said.
From the man’s reaction, it was clear that Feng Yaxian, the woman he’d just killed, held a high position in the Xuan Empire.
Otherwise, the middle-aged man wouldn’t be reacting like this.
"She... she was the legitimate eldest daughter of Duke Feng, and also..." The middle-aged man began rattling off a string of titles.
Of course, aside from being the Duke’s legitimate eldest daughter, the other titles were likely just a result of her status.
"Seriously? Given how she acted, how does that fit the status of a Duke’s legitimate eldest daughter? Did you not hear the things she said? She sounded like a common pervert," Qi Suian shot back without hesitation.
"I’m not going to argue about this bizarre crap with you. Can you negotiate or not?"
Qi Suian said impatiently. ’So what if one person died? Does her special status make her immortal?’
To be honest, Qi Suian had already predicted how things would have played out. If he hadn’t killed her, it would have led to some bizarre plotline like secret feelings developing, lovers being forcibly separated, or even a dramatic wedding-crashing.
But now that she was dead, everything was much simpler.
He just had to kill anyone who tried to kill him.
The middle-aged man glanced hesitantly at Feng Yaxian’s body, then nodded with great difficulty. "We can talk."
"Good. State your offer," Qi Suian’s tone softened slightly.
’They’re here to give me gifts. Even if I’m not friendly, I shouldn’t be too harsh.’
’Making money is nothing to be ashamed of.’
Especially since he had just killed the legitimate eldest daughter of a high-ranking Xuan Empire official. The fact that this man was still willing to negotiate spoke volumes about their sincerity.
"This is the aid we can provide," the middle-aged man said, handing over a list. He then continued, "And in return, you need to..."
Qi Suian took the list, looking over its contents while listening to the man’s demands.
"Did you bring the items?" Qi Suian suddenly interrupted.
To put it bluntly, the list offered peanuts, but in exchange, they wanted him to move heaven and earth.
’Even my boss from before I transmigrated wouldn’t dare exploit a workhorse like me this badly.’
’But the Xuan Empire dared.’
"No," the middle-aged man said bluntly. How could they dare bring it with them?
Given Qi Suian’s unbridled behavior, if they had brought the goods, he would have likely killed them and taken everything on the spot.
"This aid will be delivered in stages. You must first destroy one of the Eternal United States’ front-line cities as a sign of good faith. Only then will the Empire release the first stage of aid."
The middle-aged man had to force himself to say those words.
"Tsk..." Qi Suian clicked his tongue in contempt. "You’re the ones begging me, not the other way around."
"Do you take me for some country bumpkin who’s never seen the world?"
"You’ve given me nothing, but I’m supposed to provide a show of ’good faith’ first."
"The Xuan Empire wants me to take the pressure off you, but you’re unwilling to provide the resources."
"Forget it. I’ll just kill you all." Qi Suian thought it over. They weren’t just treating him like a fool; they even expected him to work at a loss.
They wanted all the benefits for the lowest possible cost.
Honestly, Qi Suian suspected the promised aid had already been embezzled.
Take Duke Feng, for instance. Judging by Feng Yaxian’s attitude, anyone with a functioning brain could see she was acting in a way that was guaranteed to make the deal fail.
"Wait a minute! Do you intend to make an enemy of the Xuan Empire?" the middle-aged man asked, shocked and enraged. He was gaining a much deeper understanding of Qi Suian’s volatile nature.
"The Eternal United States hates you to the bone. Right now, only the Xuan Empire can offer you protection."
"If you turn against the Xuan Empire now, there will be no place left for you in this world!"
He laid out the stakes for Qi Suian.
However, that was not how Qi Suian heard it.
"Holy shit, you’ve got some nerve."
"You’re about to die, and you still dare to threaten me."
"The Eternal United States is decadent and feudal; the Xuan Empire is feudal and decadent." Without another thought, Qi Suian reached out and crushed the man to death.
The man had, of course, tried to counterattack instantly with his own Sacred Artifact.
However, his pathetic level of strength was nothing in Qi Suian’s eyes.
Qi Suian had even taken out Sharp, the Chief Judge of the Eternal United States’ Seventh Execution Chamber. What was a mere nobody like this man in comparison?
If the man truly had any power, he would have been on a battlefield, not sent on a diplomatic mission.
"One... two... three..."
Everyone died, nice and neat. Not a single one was left. He stuffed them all into the Melting Furnace for fuel.
"Ever since I got this Melting Furnace, disposing of bodies has never been a problem," Qi Suian muttered, then promptly fled the scene.
Qi Suian didn’t fully grasp Duke Feng’s status, but he was certain of one thing: his actions had mortally offended the Xuan Empire.
It was tantamount to severing all ties.
Although their retaliation wouldn’t be as frenzied as that of the Eternal United States, they would still come at him with everything they had.
’And not kill them? They came here and tried to push me around. How could I possibly tolerate that?’
’He’d been a desperado since the apocalypse began. Spouting all that nonsense at him was just asking to die.’
’Besides, did he really think they would have let him go if he hadn’t killed them? They would have just used their schemes to try and force his hand anyway.’
One was a direct attempt on his life, the other was an indirect one. Either way, the end result was the same.
And now they were trying to get him to work for free. Naturally, they couldn’t blame him for what happened next.
If they had brought the resources, Qi Suian might have played along for a bit. Since they brought nothing, he naturally turned on them in a heartbeat.
"See? Just because they think I don’t have enough power to protect myself, they think I’m a pushover. They not only want me dead, but they also want me to work for free."
"If I had an ICBM, I’d just launch one at the capitals of the Eternal United States and the Xuan Empire. I guarantee they’d be perfectly respectful then."
"Instead of thinking they can just push me around," Qi Suian said, his voice laced with resentment.
As the Doomsday World grew stronger, the power of new survivors and natives was also constantly increasing.
The difficulty of the Doomsday Worlds he was experiencing now was completely different from what the Regressor had experienced in his past life.
At this point in the Regressor’s past life, survivors hadn’t even encountered the Extraordinary, let alone become proficient with firearms. Now, survivors were already capable of going head-to-head with Sacred Artifact-wielding natives.
All he could say was that the butterfly effect was a real bitch, completely knocking the original timeline off its tracks.