A car sped down the highway, moving at a dangerously fast pace. Inside, two people were locked in a furious brawl, while the small boss-level Dalmatian on the side decided to jump in to defend its owner.
The dog chomped down on Qin Ming's arm, contorting his face in pain and finally forcing him to release his grip. Glaring at the canine menace, Qin Ming didn't hesitate—he bit the Dalmatian right back...
Hearing her dog yelp, Mary looked up in alarm to find Qin Ming actually gnawing on her pet. Furious, she tightened her leg lock around Qin Ming's neck, twisting with all her strength and crashing him into the car interior, shouting as she did so:
"Don't bite my dog!"
Qin Ming, ever obedient, loosened his hold on the dog... only to bite Mary on the thigh, which happened to be the closest thing to his mouth.
As the car zipped away, bystanders on the sidewalk exchanged shocked glances, wondering what kind of twisted fun young people got up to these days. From their angle, they only saw a man seemingly burying his head somewhere on the woman's lap in a very... compromising position.
Hours later, the car finally pulled to a stop at the airport on the U.S. border. The door opened, and a visibly agitated Qin Ming stepped out, a footprint clearly visible on his face. From the other side of the vehicle emerged a disheveled Mary, clutching her dog, who bore several small bite marks.
Rubbing his face, Qin Ming turned to point at Mary and shouted, "Stop! Following! Me!"
With that, he stormed off and boarded the plane bound for Japan. Moments later, as he took his seat, the last thing he wanted to see happened—Mary walked down the aisle after securing her dog in cargo, took the seat next to him, and buried her face behind a newspaper.
As the plane took off and reached cruising altitude, Qin Ming spent an annoyed few minutes glaring at her. But eventually, having nothing else to do, he started scanning the cabin casually. Then he froze, his face tightening with suspicion.
After glancing left and right, he leaned over and kicked Mary's foot. She lowered her newspaper with an annoyed expression.
"What? Stop bothering me. I'm tired of looking at you," she snapped, before lifting the newspaper again, only for Qin Ming to poke a hole through it, forcing her to listen.
"We might have a problem," he said in a low voice.
"What problem?"
Qin Ming's face remained serious as he continued in a quiet tone. "See that man on the left? And the two seated together across the aisle, plus the two women at the back? They're terrorists."
"What?!" Mary's eyes widened as she sat up straight, re-evaluating the situation as she covertly glanced around the cabin.
Qin Ming kept his voice low. "And they're not here for the plane—they're here for you."
"Me? Why would anyone target me?"
"How would I know? But I noticed them glancing at you multiple times—looks like they're making their move soon."
In reality, these people weren't terrorists but other adventurers. Qin Ming had no idea how they'd tracked Mary down so quickly, but the fact that there were five of them in total indicated they were dangerous. He confirmed they were adventurers by using his dinosaur glasses to check their stats. If they were confident enough to take on a boss-level character like Mary mid-flight, they were not to be underestimated.
The most pressing issue was the plane itself. If he and Mary couldn't deal with these intruders quickly, things could spiral out of control. In a fight, adventurers wouldn't hesitate to go all out, and if they damaged the plane... Well, Qin Ming had no desire to test if he could survive a freefall from thousands of feet.
As he considered the options, Mary discreetly assessed the situation too, noticing that Qin Ming was right—the group did seem to be watching her closely, and one of them kept his hand suspiciously hidden.
Taking a deep breath, she whispered back, "So, what's the plan?"
"We take them out before they do anything stupid. You handle the three in front—I'll take care of the two behind. We need to act fast."
Mary nodded in agreement, her body tense as she pretended to resume reading her newspaper. But she didn't have to wait long. Soon, the two women in the back stood up and swapped seats with the passengers directly behind Qin Ming and Mary, smiling sweetly as they made small talk.
As they chattered cheerfully, one of the women produced a black needle and stealthily pierced the back of Mary's seat, carefully inching the needle toward her back.
Bang!
A loud noise erupted. Before the needle could make contact, Qin Ming shot up from his seat, turning sharply to strike. With a sweeping motion of his arm, he unleashed a powerful airblade that sliced through the seat, striking the woman directly.
B-Rank Skill: True Sonic Hand Slash!
Caught completely off guard, the woman had no time to react. The sharp blade of air sliced across her, severing part of her skull in a single, lethal blow.