The old man secretly prayed that he was hallucinating. He prayed that what he had heard was not true.
Unfortunately, it was all true. Heero did not hide from the old man.
"Yes, I killed the leader of the Ranker Alliance. Who was it again..."
"It was an old man, somehow he's surrounded by a gentle aura. Long hair and beard, about 1.8 meters tall..."
Hearing how detailed the young man described the old man he killed. Bai Xian Ming was sure that it was the leader of the Ranker Alliance, Ryong Chong-Shik.
Heero stopped halfway when he noticed that the old man in front of him was just staring blankly at a blank spot. He was somehow worried.
"Elder Bai, are you alright?"
Hearing the question, Bai Xian Ming moved his pupils to look at the young man. He noticed that the young man did not feel the slightest bit guilty.
"Hahh..."
The old man let out a long breath and powerlessly sat down on his chair.
"I thought you already knew..." Heero murmured in a low voice as he looked at the shocked old man.
"How would I know?" Bai Xian Ming snorted back.
"Didn't you come here to discuss this matter with me?"
"Like I said, how am I supposed to know that you killed Ryong Chong-Shik if you don't tell me about it?" The old man became more and more annoyed the longer he talked to Heero.
For the first time, he felt that the young man before him could be so annoying.
In fact, he had come here to talk to Heero about the Ranker business. He wanted to ask Heero to stop exposing the Ranker's crime.
He wanted to stop the war between them. But now he found out something he never expected.
At this point, war was inevitable. There was one way to stop the war, to give up Heero. But the old man threw those thoughts away immediately.
Ha...
For a second, the old man let out a sigh and looked directly at the young man.
"What else are you hiding from me? Spit it out!"
"Mnnn... I actually killed another old man besides the leader," Heero confessed honestly.
Badump! Badump! Badump!
As soon as he heard it, the old man's heartbeat quickened until he could hear it. His mind wandered, wondering who this other old man was.
An old man together with Ryong Chong-Shik. It was very much that old man... Again, Bai Xian Ming secretly prayed that his guess was wrong.
"Who was that old man again... Hang on, let me check!" Heero unlocked his smartwatch and searched for a file sent by Fatty Liang.
"Let's see... let's see," he muttered as he opened the attachment.
Soon, the profile of an old man appeared on the screen. The old man was Hanzo Keiji, Ryong Chong-Shik's best friend.
"Ah, he's Hanzo Keiji, Legendary Class Ranker..." Heero read the profile without looking at the old man.
When he raised his head, he saw the old man leaning back in his seat and staring dazedly at the empty ceiling.
He had not only killed the leader of the Ranker Alliance. Heero also killed the head of the Hanzo clan's big brother, Hanzo Keiji.
He could see how bleak the future was. Not only did he kill the current head of the Ryong family. He also killed the influential figure of the Hanzo clan.
"You really didn't know, Grandpa Bai," Heero changed the way he called the old man to please Bai Xian Ming.
He did not wait for the old man's answer and continued in a rather puzzled tone, "It's strange, but Xin Yue saw me kill the two old men. Shouldn't she inform you..."
The words trailed off as Heero realized something. The girls knew that the old man he killed was quite influential. So they covered it up for him.
Subconsciously, Heero smiled happily at what the two girls had done for him.
Slowly, Bai Xian Ming tilted his head to look at Heero. He blinked a few times and asked, "Xin Yue knew?"
"Yes, she even watched me kill Hanzo Keiji," the smile on Heero's face grew wider.
The helpless old man slowly showed a hint of anger. But Heero continued with a question.
"Before you jump to a strange conclusion or use your dull imagination, you should ask yourself what the two old men came here for, Grandpa Bai!" Out of the blue, Heero turned solemn and said.
'Ah!' Only then did the old man come to his senses. Yes, instead of worrying about the future, he should look into this matter first.
There had to be a reason why Heero had killed the two old men. After all, the guy in front of him was no mass murderer or criminal.
"I'm all ears!"
Then Heero told him what Ryong Chong-Shik had told him. About the kidnapping of his daughter in order to get hold of his secret technique.
"Even after knowing my position, they are fearless. They are so daring! Do you know why? Because you are too soft-hearted!"
"You worry about things that may not happen in the future. Can't you feel it? Not only the Ranker Alliance, but also the Hero League is starting to rot?"
"Besides, the Ranker Alliance has crossed the line. In order to overthrow the Hero League, they did not hesitate to betray humanity and collaborate with the specters! How can you still be soft-hearted with all this happening before your eyes?"
"The Ranker Alliance was needed as a necessary evil, but you must know when something necessary becomes unnecessary!"
Bai Xian Ming did not refute Heero's statement. Yes, he also knew that the Hero League was beginning to change direction, just like the Ranker Alliance.
But a change was impossible. If it were possible, he would have done it long ago. Despite his high position, he was in a helpless situation.
"All right, Grandpa Bai! Don't let this thing overwhelm you! If the Ranker Alliance comes to you, just tell them that you don't know anything. After all, if we don't tell them what really happened, no one will know that I killed their leader, right?"
Heero spoke as if killing the leader of the Ranker Alliance was nothing.
Bai Xian Ming found that the young man's words contained some truth.
"In any case, I will not stop what I am doing! Blame them for daring to touch my family! I will slowly root them out from the bottom up, and I will not stop until the Ranker Alliance disintegrates!"
Heero declared his stance, adding dramatically, "The flag of war has been raised, you can't stop it.
'Ah, I can't lead the change of the Hero League, but there is someone who can.'
Bai Xian Ming pretty much ignored Heero's words. Because he had another thought in his head.
His eyes shone as he looked at Heero.
The young man before him stood alone. There was no power behind him.
Nor did he seem to care about authority or fame or even wealth. He just did what he felt was right and never crossed the line.
it could be said that the young man was kind and benevolent. He had heard that Heero had built a home for the elderly and an orphanage to house the people who had lost their families in the attack.
Combined with his immeasurable power, the young man before him was the right person to lead the change, the transformation.
Out of the blue, Bai Xian Ming smiled brightly.
"Fine, do what you want. I will not stop you, but I have one condition! Not only the ranker, but I also want you to expose the hero's crime!"
With his mind made up, Bai Xian Ming immediately carried out the plan he had formulated a long time ago.
"In exchange, I will take care of the Ranker Alliance matter. Not only that, I will also use the Bai family name to protect your family. With the Bai family name, no one will dare touch your family!"
Bai Xian Ming offered his hand for a handshake and said, "Deal?"
Heero shook the old man's hand without hesitation, "Deal!"
Although confused by the sudden change, Heero readily agreed with the old man.
After the deal, Bai Xian Ming got up from his chair, but Heero did not let go of his hand.
"What's wrong?"
Heero smiled and held the old man's hand with both hands.
"Grandpa Bai, don't be too hard on Xin Yue, okay? She did it for me."
Bai Xian Ming rolled his eyes and pulled his hand away. He left the martial hall.
Once outside, he stopped for a moment and looked up at the bright sky.
"A storm is brewing! A storm that will sweep across the city" the old man muttered.