Shen Cong's killing intent never broke loose.

Luo Shouhai and Zhang Qi pulled back as fast as they had lashed out. They reined in their pressure, and everything settled back into the same... chill as before.

Shen Cong showed nothing on the surface, but inside he had already tagged both men with a "warning." If they provoked or threatened him like that one more time, he would simply wipe them out and be rid of the threat for good.

He didn't like killing.

But once someone crossed the line he'd drawn, that person had to die. No negotiation.

Luo Shouhai had no idea a particle-grade iron person now had him marked. Having made his show of force, he laughed again. "Not bad. Yes, this emperor is going through an unusual kind of evolution. According to what this emperor's research team has told me, for us knights, evolution ends with becoming one with our battle-trucks."

Zhang Qi suddenly cut in. "Boss Hu is a knight too?"

"Yes."

"No wonder. Only a knight could cross all that open wilderness." Luo Shouhai didn't sound surprised. "Once you're one with your battle-truck, you're not just free of a weak, scrawny body. You also find room to grow. This emperor asked Boss Hu's grade just now because this emperor can sense that Boss Hu's grade is exactly what he's after."

"And what grade am I?" Shen Cong raised an eyebrow.

"A more powerful grade," Luo Shouhai said. "If it were a beast, it would hunt lava monsters as easily as—"

He broke off and changed the subject, awkwardly. "This emperor is after that grade. Once this emperor becomes one with his battle-truck, he'll break free of the body's limits and reach a stronger grade. It's the road forward for all of us knights, and it could be just as useful to Boss Hu. Boss Hu might grow even stronger."

"Maybe."

Shen Cong's face gave nothing away.

Inside, though, he was reeling. In the few sentences before Luo Shouhai changed the subject, he had caught something explosive: Luo Shouhai had definitely seen an evolved beast that…