Chapter 90: A Devastating Defeat

Nikola placed Long Tian in front of himself, gripping his throat with his left hand. He stuck out half of his head and sneered at Ye Feng, “Everyone, stay still! If you move, I’ll kill him! Ye Feng, take that thing from your hand and throw it to me!”
Long Tian struggled, shaking his head at Ye Feng, unable to utter a sound due to the pressure on his throat. He could imagine what would happen once Ye Feng handed over the photon cannon.
Hank, standing nearby, watched Ye Feng with concern. He knew that if the weapon that had injured Nikola in that way were used against him and the others, they would likely be destroyed instantly. He had no confidence in surviving a single shot from the photon cannon and could only hope that Ye Feng wouldn’t make a mistake!
Luo Li stared at Nikola with a cold expression, her little mind seemingly lost in thought.
“What? It seems Long Tian’s life isn’t important enough after all!” Nikola continued to provoke, “I know you can kill me, but I guarantee I’d be happy to use Long Tian as a scapegoat before dying.”
“I’ll count to ten. If you still refuse to hand it over, I’ll have to kill Long Tian!” Nikola threatened, “One, two… eight…”
“Alright, you win!” Ye Feng interrupted Nikola’s counting. The steel armor on his right arm instantly disappeared, and he grasped the photon cannon in his hand.
Ye Feng glanced at Nikola, a barely noticeable smirk appearing on his lips. He threw the photon cannon to the left, aiming it between Nikola and Luo Li. This would force Nikola to release Long Tian and chase after the cannon.
As expected, after Ye Feng threw the cannon, Nikola dropped Long Tian and rushed toward it. Almost at the same time, Luo Li also moved.
Her target wasn’t the cannon but Nikola’s heart in his left chest.
After being thrown, Long Tian managed to steady himself. He realized his practical combat experience was still far too lacking. Even with Nikola’s injuries, he had been captured so easily, yet Luo Li could fight him evenly.
After Luo Li and Nikola started fighting, Hank finally acted too. Having worked with her for decades, he knew her goal wasn’t the cannon at all—it was to distract Nikola so he could seize it.

Ye Feng naturally couldn’t get that close to such a chaotic scene. Even Long Tian could be captured with a single lapse in attention, let alone a half-baked expert like himself. He simply watched quietly from the side, arms crossed, with a sly smile on his face.

Seeing Hank rush to seize the photon cannon, Long Tian also knew what he had to do. He leaped forward to help Luo Li block Nikola.

Nikola was indeed a master on par with those at the Yuan Ying level. Despite being severely injured, he could still fight one against two, completely blocking Luo Li and Long Tian’s attacks. Every time Hank was about to reach the photon cannon, Nikola would shoot out a finger strike to change its trajectory before it landed.

Seeing that Hank hadn’t made any progress after a while, Long Tian took advantage of the moment when Nikola focused on Hank. He shot up, grabbed the photon cannon, and immediately left the battle group.

When Nikola saw the photon cannon in Long Tian’s hands, he let out a fierce roar. With his damaged wings, he pushed aside Luo Li and Hank, ignoring their subsequent attacks, and rushed after Long Tian.

Long Tian’s speed couldn’t compare to Nikola’s. In just one breath’s time, Nikola caught up from behind him, followed by a heavy blow.

Long Tian threw the photon cannon in Ye Feng’s direction, and his own body was also flung by Nikola’s strike, creating a huge hole in the castle wall with a loud crash.

Nikola accelerated again. He knew what would happen if Ye Feng got the photon cannon back. In such a life-or-death situation, his speed was even faster than when his body was intact. Before Ye Feng could reach for it, he snatched the cannon and smiled triumphantly at Ye Feng, who was passing by. “You’re done!”

Ye Feng changed direction and rushed straight toward Long Tian. He pulled Long Tian out from behind the wall and then sped toward Hank and the others.

Nikola was extremely proud after getting the photon cannon. “Gahahaha… You damned guys! I’ll use your own weapons to kill all of you!”

Hank looked at Ye Feng anxiously. “Is there any way to stop him?”

“Just stand there and watch!” Ye Feng said indifferently, seemingly unbothered at all that the photon cannon was in Nikola’s hands.

Sure enough, two minutes passed, and the photon cannon in Nikola’s left hand showed no reaction at all. Hank and Luo Li watched Nikola curiously, unsure what was going on.

“You brat, you actually tampered with this!” After fiddling with it without success, Nikola glared angrily at Ye Feng.
“How can I be blamed for this?” Ye Feng helplessly spread his hands. “When I got this thing, it could only be used by me—just like game equipment that’s bound to the user; no one else can use it!”
“Damn it! You knew all along! How dare you trick me!” Nikola glanced back at the castle and threw the photon cannon into it through the hole Dragon Tian had created earlier.
Nikola stared coldly at Ye Feng and his group. His damaged bat wings trembled slightly before recovering at a visible speed, as if they had never been attacked. Flapping his wings twice, he raised clouds of dust from the ground. To their surprise, Ye Feng and the others saw Nikola’s feet lift off the ground—he had flown!
“Let me show you what a true vampire is!” Nikola’s two black bat wings fluttered gently as he hovered in midair, looking down at Ye Feng and the others with an icy gaze. With a sudden push of his wings, he vanished.
Ye Feng heard the screams of Dragon Tian and the others, along with the sound of heavy objects hitting the ground. He turned to look—Dragon Tian, Hank, and Luo Li were all gone, with only clouds of dust rising from the three deep pits that had just formed not far away.
A deep voice came from behind Ye Feng as well. “To be honest, if it weren’t for that thing in your hands, I would have dealt with them already!”
“You killed them?” A sense of powerlessness surged in Ye Feng. He knew he had no chance of winning in a direct confrontation.
“How could I let prey I’ve caught die so easily? You see, three Golden Core-level warriors—if they were to submit to me, I could gain three earl-level subordinates! And it might even allow me to rise to marquis rank…” Nikola wasn’t in any hurry now. Without the photon cannon, Ye Feng was nothing but an easy target, posing no threat at all.
“Ye Feng, do you know? Actually, compared to those three, I’d prefer you to become my subordinate…” Nikola placed his left hand on Ye Feng’s shoulder. Ye Feng couldn’t move at all. Nikola revealed his two sharp fangs and whispered softly in Ye Feng’s ear, “Be loyal to me…”