"Heh… Chen Fan, you may be a rising star on Mars, but don't forget—I'm a Level Two ability user myself. If you want to arrest me, you'll have to rely on real skill.Expect me to surrender quietly? Impossible!"
A twisted grin stretched across Wang Yong's face, savage and deranged.In that moment, he looked less like a man and more like a maddened beast—a tiger baring its fangs at its hunter.
Then, without warning, a brilliant beam of laser light erupted from the gun in his hand.The deep-blue bolt—powerful enough to pierce half a meter of steel—tore through the air with a shrill hiss, streaking straight toward Chen Fan's chest.
Chen Fan only shook his head.
"I already told you—that toy in your hand does nothing to me."
A streak of violet lightning flashed across his eyes.The next instant, his figure blurred, dissolved—vanished.Electric arcs danced across the ground beneath his feet, and in the blink of an eye, Chen Fan had disappeared right under Wang Yong's nose.
"Damn it!"
Wang Yong cursed as flames began to erupt from his skin—But before he could even form a proper defense, a streak of purple exploded in front of him.
A crushing blow smashed into his face.Pain detonated through his skull, and his body was flung upward like a ragdoll.
Bang. Bang. Bang.
For a full minute, his body was pummeled through the air like a sandbag being beaten senseless in a training room.When he finally crashed to the ground, he couldn't even lift a finger.
A lifeless gray settled into his eyes.
"So… this is the power of lightning. Terrifying…"
Electrical currents still crackled across his skin as Chen Fan stepped forward, shaking his head in pity.
"You're a brilliant scientist—why not stick to your research?Why insist on doing stupid crap like this?"
He kicked lightly at Wang Yong's chained body.
"And even at this point, you still resist? What's the point? Just accept your fate."
With a cold smirk, Chen Fan dragged the limp Wang Yong back toward his sapphire ship.Moments later, the ruined wreckage of another vessel in the distance erupted in a blaze of fire—And Chen Fan was already gone, vanishing into the vast sea of stars.
Several days passed.
The sapphire spacecraft descended once again onto Martian soil.This was Flame City, the most prosperous metropolis on Mars, where skyscrapers pierced the clouds and countless ordinary aircraft zipped between steel towers like schools of luminous fish.
In this age of technological explosion, flight vehicles had become everyday transportation.But compared to Chen Fan's sapphire craft—capable of faster-than-light travel, equipped with orbital cannons—those civilian ships were nothing more than toys.
With a low hum, Chen Fan's starship arrived at Mars' Alliance Headquarters.
This was the Martian branch of the Detective Alliance.Every detective was required to report here after completing a mission, and the staff had been expecting Chen Fan for days.
After all, the message had already been received:
Wang Yong captured. Mission rating: Three Stars. Successfully completed.
Landing smoothly on a designated platform atop the tower, the hatch opened.Chen Fan descended with Wang Yong in tow, inhaling the familiar Martian air.
"Let's go," Chen Fan said coldly. "After everything you've done, prison is the only place left for you."
"Hehehe… Chen Fan," Wang Yong sneered as he was pushed forward, "catching me will get your detective agency promoted…But do you even know what kind of consequences you'll face after sending me into that prison?"
陈凡 ignored the threat.
Ahead lay the towering Alliance Headquarters.The upper floors served as offices, while the subterranean levels housed a massive, heavily reinforced prison built from materials even Level Five abilities couldn't break.
Countless criminals were locked beneath this building—many far more dangerous and powerful than Wang Yong.None had ever escaped.
"You're still not giving up?" Chen Fan snorted. "You're not the first person I've dragged here, and you won't be the last. Anyone who dares violate the Alliance Treaty ends up the same."
Wang Yong only laughed, low and sinister.
"Hehehe… you'll regret this. They've already set their sights on you."
The metal doors hissed open.
A young woman stepped out—professional attire, heels tapping crisply against the floor, a faint trail of perfume drifting behind her.
She walked up to Chen Fan with a bright, practiced smile.
"Chen Fan, you did well. I knew you'd be the one to catch him again."
"Sister Zhao Ying, compared to the reward I'm getting, this little effort is nothing."Chen Fan grinned shamelessly, eyes blatantly trailing over her curves with a hint of wicked amusement.
Zhao Ying—Alliance staff.She handled task verification and reward distribution, and Chen Fan was a frequent visitor to this floor.
Which meant she was very, very familiar with his… gaze.
"Put away that perverted expression," she snapped, feeling exposed under his stare. "Why are all you men the same whenever you see me?"
Chen Fan only chuckled, offering no defense.
With a sigh of helplessness, Zhao Ying turned to the security personnel behind her."You two, take Wang Yong to Dungeon One. The interrogation team will handle the rest."
Two expressionless men in black stepped forward, seizing Wang Yong and dragging him inside.Only when Wang Yong disappeared from sight did Chen Fan finally relax.
The mission was officially handed over.
And what awaited him now—
Was the glorious reward.
Smiling with anticipation, Chen Fan waited for Zhao Ying to announce his promotion.
But as she spoke, that smile slowly froze on his lips.
"Chen Fan, the Alliance has reviewed your work. You'll receive fifty-five Star Source Stones as your mission reward—they'll be deposited into your account soon.However… your agency's star rating cannot be upgraded yet."
Zhao Ying hesitated before delivering the decision, already finalized by the higher-ups.
Chen Fan's expression stiffened—then darkened completely.
"…Why?""I don't care about the reward. I care about the star-level upgrade.Give me a real explanation."