“Black, it really is a nine-star soul.” Grace Dawson fondly caressed the wooden plaque for a long time before finally placing it into a special box. “Seven Iron Guards, deliver it back to the The Dawson Family immediately.”

The one holding the box was a man of considerable stature. He and the seven imposing guards beside him responded in unison and dashed away at lightning speed. Watching the eight of them leave, William Carter was shocked—just how fit did they have to be to move that fast?

Having obtained the soul he had dreamed of, Grace Dawson was in an excellent mood. He turned around, beaming at Emily Brooks. Especially when he saw Emily Brooks’s pale face and look of disbelief, he felt even more pleased with himself. After admiring the scene for a while, he leisurely gave the order: “Emily Brooks stays, kill everyone else!”

As soon as the order was given, the fastest to react was William Carter. With a flick of his arm, the Glock 17 on his thigh was in his hand, and he fired a shot straight at Grace Dawson, the one who had given the order.

Bang! A bloody hole appeared right between Grace Dawson’s eyebrows. Grace Dawson’s face showed an expression of shock even more incredulous than Emily Brooks’s just moments before. He stood frozen for a second, then suddenly collapsed backward.

“Did you really think you were somebody?” Watching Grace Dawson fall, William Carter curled his lip and said, “Pah! What a joke.”

Chapter 2: Strange Ability

From drawing his gun to firing an accurate shot, William Carter’s record was 0.5 seconds. However, just now, William Carter felt he had made another breakthrough—he was even a bit faster than usual, probably around 0.4 seconds.

William Carter was not a bloodthirsty person. In fact, as a sniper on missions, he sometimes had to disguise himself to blend in with the target crowd, and he’d suffered some minor grievances before. But that was only ever minor grievances—he had never encountered a situation where someone openly declared they were going to kill him and he still had to play dumb. So the moment he heard Grace Dawson order everyone killed, William Carter acted immediately.

The guards reacted quickly. As soon as Grace Dawson gave the order, almost at the same instant as William Carter fired, at least five swords had already slashed across their targets’ throats. On Emily Brooks’s side, apart from Emily Brooks herself, only a man who looked to be in his fifties remained.

The older man moved swiftly. In the blink of an eye, he easily broke free from his restraints. When the guard watching him thrust his sword at his throat, he had already grabbed the sword’s hilt with one hand and smashed the guard’s throat with a punch from the other.

Equally quick was the seemingly delicate Emily Brooks. Still as a maiden, swift as a rabbit—when she moved, she was fierce and ruthless, like a completely different person. She also seized a guard’s sword, but her movements were even more graceful. She reversed the blade and slashed the guard’s throat in one smooth motion.

William Carter killed Grace Dawson, the old man killed a guard, Emily Brooks killed a guard—all of this happened within a single second after Grace Dawson gave the order.

But when the gunshot rang out, everyone—including Emily Brooks—stared in shock at the bloody hole in Grace Dawson’s forehead and watched him fall. All were dumbfounded. Every gaze was filled with disbelief as they looked at the now-dead Grace Dawson, then at the calm and collected William Carter who had just spat in disdain. The whole scene felt utterly unreal—how could this be possible?

Who was Grace Dawson? The young master of the Hexi The Dawson Family, the legitimate son of the current family head, and, barring any accidents, the undisputed next head of the family. He dared to kidnap Emily Brooks, the legitimate daughter and next-in-line head of the Tianhe Song family, without a second thought—just imagine how powerful he was. Several elders of the The Brooks Family knew exactly what was happening, yet they turned a blind eye and let him take Emily Brooks away, swaggering right into the The Brooks Family’s forbidden grounds. How could “immense power” even begin to describe it?

It had always been Grace Dawson killing others—who would dare kill Grace Dawson? It wasn’t that no one had tried, but those people hadn’t even gotten within a hundred meters of Grace Dawson before being taken out by The Dawson Family’s experts. The high-and-mighty young master of the The Dawson Family, the famous Lord Huan, how could he possibly be killed by an unknown wild barbarian? And right under heavy guard, no less?

The way William Carter looked now, to both the The Dawson Family and The Brooks Family people, he really did seem like a wild barbarian. Dressed head to toe in jungle camouflage, all sorts of garish colors—no one but barbarians would like that, let alone wear it. He wore a helmet, goggles, and a large, hard mask with a gas mask function. His face was smeared with jungle paint, making it look like he had tattoos. With such bizarre attire and what looked like massive facial tattoos, who else could he be but a barbarian?

Young master Grace Dawson had been killed by a barbarian—not only were Emily Brooks and the old man stunned, but the The Dawson Family guards went completely berserk. They were responsible for protecting young master Huan. Now that he was dead and they were unharmed, even a fool could imagine the consequences.

The guards who came to their senses didn’t hesitate. They dropped whatever they were holding, drew their weapons, and charged at William Carter. Not just at William Carter—their targets included everyone present, even The Brooks Family’s young lady and the surviving old man. With young master Huan dead, and The Brooks Family’s young lady being the woman he had his eye on, how could she be allowed to live?