921 Leader of Kill Squad

Seeing the blank face on his master especially when this was a rather obscure technique, there was no need to ask as Kraft spoke out on the issue at hand. "A Chi Execution Promise is considered a taboo oath in which one party uses their own chi to basically 'program' it so it would kill them if they end up breaking their promise. It's basically the same as a death wish, and once it activates, the Dantian Core immediately shuts down."

"And if you think shutting the Dantian Core would bring you eternal death, you are so wrong. So dead wrong. If you have read about radiation poisoning from Chernobyl accidents, that is roughly what you are going to expect from it. You would feel fine at first, thinking that you just lost control of your chi. This is because there are other 'secondary' Dantian cores to generate chi during an emergency."

"However, you have to understand. The chi within the body had been programmed as such that it would attack those secondary cores by clouding and prevent them from making fresh chi. Instead, it would turn those fresh chi as part of the programmed chi, which eventually shut the secondary cores down because of the strain." 

"After which, the chi would be acting like foreign objects which would cause the bodies' immune system to continuously attack them while the chi disrupts the organs from within. Your organs would start to feel the pressure and eventually fail. Your skin will melt gradually, and your breathing will be difficult. If you try to expel that chi or even attempt chi infusion, it will further exacerbate the problem." 

"It's ultimately the kind of oath where the body and the entirety of one's soul judges the actions of the person who will be consistently monitored from that point onward. After all, the brain might be able to lie to oneself, but not the heart. Some might say that nurturing and bad experience could train a human to be extremely heartless, but no one is forever black nor always white." Kraft explained for Jin to understand the severity of what Kong Rong had just done.

"I am a Special Agent of the State, the First Son of the Royal Dragon Zodiac Clan Leader and of all things, your perceived enemy. All the more reason I have to do this to gain your immediate trust because of my personal agendas." Kong Rong iterated why he made such a dangerous move.

"For once, you are not very cryptic." Kraft sneered derisively.

"Well, I wanted a blood pact because I thought I had leverage in regards to my information. It pains me to admit, but you somehow clearly beat me to it." Kong Rong replied as to give one of the reasons why he performed this dangerous oath.

"I am actually surprised that you know that I know your stuff." Kraft did not act surprised at all despite his claim.

"Heh, I am a State Agent, so please don't underestimate me." Kong Rong added as he raised his half-drunk glass shot and Kraft joined him.

"I won't deny that your actions caught me off guard. After all, I figured you for the cautious intellectual type… What you just did was just hot-headed!" Kraft shook his head at Kong Rong's actions. "Seriously, I might never understand what the big deal is about such an archaic oath. You should go with the times, we have much better things at our disposal nowadays!"

"But sure, I will admit that I'm unable to read your thoughts freely. Whoever was the one to train you, I commend them for their efforts." Kraft acknowledged as he drank his shot. 

"However, it's just that I'm too lazy to do that. Too much of a hassle to bypass your defences without you realising it, plus I am a little more forgiving during the New Year." Kraft was not lying when he said he could not pass through Kong Rong's mental barriers with the usual subtle way as the barriers were unique enough that a 'subtle intrusion' was not possible. 

The Foxy V2 Virus might be able to get access to information from a database like the State Agent's, but the lock on the mind was an entirely separate challenge.

"Hah! Still… Damn! For you to dig so far without me noticing is still quite a feat." Kong Rong said before looking at Jin. 

"But compared to this panda guy, I was unable to go through anything at all. He might look empty in terms of defence, but there are actually plenty of layers of mental barriers up. Each time I tried to subtly go into his mind to look for a thought, I got bounced out of it." Kong Rong shrugged his shoulders in defeat and drank his glass only for Kraft to refill it.

"Erm, I got to ask. Why did you suddenly go all bad at me? Somehow, I got a little bit of déjà vu when you turned bad at me. Ke Loong did the same thing to me." Jin interrupted the whole conversation with an innocent thought.

"Hahahahaha!" Kong Rong suddenly laughed while holding on his stomach. "Ke Loong really did that? And here I thought he was lying when he told me that he tried to actually strongarm you into becoming his partner." The State Agent subsequently took out his notebook and started to strike something out from one of the pages.

"Please pardon us. To be honest, it's a silly game that both of us used to play when we were little, and neither one of us seems to have outgrown. Basically every so often we challenge each other to random dares." Kong Rong embarrassingly revealed to Jin. He even turned the notebook and faced it towards Jin. 'Threaten or frighten the Dungeon Supplier before making a deal, else pay 250 yuan. Confirm with Dungeon Supplier about the other's attitude' was being struck out from the book.

There were other stupid dares such as 'Give Father a lollipop and make him eat it. Can be observed from afar, need a screenshot to confirm, else pay 600 Yuan.' 

It seemed as if Ke Loong and Kong Rong were actually willing to work hand in hand with Jin rather than being a threat, even if their hobby seemed quite peculiar.

"Trust me, if anything, he wants you to succeed, too. Even if Mr Kraft disagrees about my method, I hope that after making this taboo oath you won't see me as an enemy either." Kong Rong asked for confirmation as he closed his notebook.

"Why are you so intent to help the sole surviving Royal Panda Member so much? Shouldn't your clans' objective be to eliminate them?" Kraft questioned, and Kong Rong's face turned serious.

"With the permission of my grandmother, I have gone through the records. I read through the memories of my ancestors and am therefore aware that it was actually the Jade Emperor's fault for being too greedy and craving absolute power." Kong Rong answered, and it made Jin recall back what the System had said about the origins of the Royal Panda Clan. Perhaps, he had the wrong impression that Kong Rong had no knowledge of the full story.

"According to the Heavens, all elders had been removed, yet somehow it made the Royal Panda an enemy to be reckoned with. Since then they seem to have been blessed with some sort of special power. From amazing martial arts to even drawing the most beautiful art one could ever behold. Yet ironically, from what I could gather, the Heavens seem to limit it, so that only one particular person each generation would gain that power, no matter how large their clan was."

"And the last official Royal Panda Clan Member, your grandfather Ming, made the greatest impression on my grandmother. She used to think that she was at the forefront of time manipulation. If not for that incident where the Banned Emperor Assassin killed your mother, there might have been a good chance for your grandfather to work alongside granny." Kong Rong implied that he knew about the time reversal without giving out the facts. When Jin heard his version, he knew that it was not true, and it was Grandma Yuan's Sub System Module that allowed time to be reversed for just that one particular time. However, he did not interrupt Kong Rong and allowed him to continue.

"After Ming passed away, the only generation left for the Royal Panda Clan was Jin. With his parents killed, you could only assume that he had to inherit no matter the circumstances. There was no clearer target since he was the last surviving Royal Clan Panda Member. In other words, an easy target which might guarantee that you would never ever have to worry about it again?" Kraft interrupted his conversation with Jin.

"Yes, and I shall be upfront about it. We have indeed assembled a kill squad within the State Agents to eliminate the last Royal Panda Clan Member." Kong Rong did not mince his words. "All because of the possibility that your grandpa's powers might have been passed down to you."

"So why haven't you taken action yet… Mr Leader of the Kill Squad?" Kraft interjected which inadvertently irritated Kong Rong, but it also showed the State Agent that Jin's comrade was indeed capable of reading him like an open book if he so wished. (Perhaps he should have thought twice about allowing Kraft to pour him a drink)