MIGHT AS WELL BE OP

Chapter 1072: Black Sheep

”Anthony, I remember asking how strong Vivian and everyone else is at the moment, but you did not reply,” Rider said, reminding Anthony of a question he had asked earlier which he had not answered.

Personally, Anthony did not know, so he simply asked his OP system swiftly and received an answer almost instantly, the information flowing into his mind with seamless ease.

”You might be too shocked at the answer I will give you,” Anthony stated with a calm smile, his expression betraying nothing of the weight behind his words.

”Well, with that smile of yours, I can already guess they are above the Emperor Mana Rank,” Bringer stated as he sighed, already bracing himself for whatever revelation was about to come.

”Just tell us, you have already shocked us with the list of ridiculous things you did today, what could a mere cultivation rank add?” Bryan added as he gazed at Anthony, his curiosity outweighing his patience.

Anthony shook his head as he spoke, ”Well, everyone is at the Apexus Mana Rank,” his tone flat, as though he was speaking about something entirely normal and not something that could overturn their understanding of growth.

Silence tore through the control room as everyone sat dumbfounded, their expressions frozen in disbelief as the weight of his words settled heavily upon them.

”You... you have to be kidding... right?” Tiara asked, her shock evident, her voice slightly trembling despite her attempt to remain composed.

Anthony did not reply, he simply remained silent and allowed them to process what he had said, his calm demeanor only making the situation feel even more surreal.

”But that is impossible,” Rider added from the side, his brows furrowed deeply as he tried to rationalize what he had just heard.

”I thought you were the only abnormal one, but it turns out they are all abnormal,” Bryan spoke with disbelief, shaking his head slightly as if trying to wake himself from a dream.

”Is the Planetary level so easy to reach now? I thought people needed thousands of years to get to that level, and now Anthony and those guys got to that level at twenty years of age,” Bringer added in disbelief, his voice carrying a mixture of astonishment and frustration.

Tiara thought for a moment and spoke, ”Maybe it is the Military, after all, they are all at the Military,” she spoke as she tried to make sense of what she had just heard, grasping for any logical explanation.

”Tsk, if it is the Military, then surely the Demon race would have been wiped out by now and the Military would be filled with only Planetary-level soldiers,” Rider stated with a click of his tongue as he disputed Tiara’s words, ”Sigh, if I knew, I should not have asked,” he sighed, clearly overwhelmed.

”What is Evelyn doing now?” Bryan asked, still in shock that she had touched the Planetary level while he was still stuck at the King Mana Rank, the gap between them now feeling almost insurmountable.

The moment Bryan asked that question, it clicked in everyone’s mind that Bryan once had a thing for Evelyn; it did not take a genius to know he was probably going to try to meet her during his time in the Military.

Anthony stared at Bryan as he spoke, ”She is now training under my grandmother, as she is now her disciple, so at this moment she is probably training and learning about healing techniques and all that,” he answered truthfully without hiding anything, his tone casual.

Bryan fell into his thoughts for a moment, then nodded slowly; he would still try to see her, and if she rejected him, then he could only try again when he had gotten to the Planetary level, no matter how long it would take.

Anthony did not need to read Bryan’s mind to know his thoughts, but he did not comment, he simply kept silent, Evelyn and Bryan’s romantic complications had nothing to do with him, and he preferred to stay out of it entirely.

If possible, one of them should marry and give birth already; Anthony loved the idea of being the rich uncle spoiling people’s children rotten with gifts and such, a smile appearing on his lips at the amusing thought before he shook it off, returning to his usual composure.

Bringer was about to speak, but before he could, he, Rider, Bryan, and Tiara felt their soul, mind, and body ring in deathly alarms, an overwhelming sense of danger crashing into them like an invisible tide.

Before they could even react, a titanic explosion rang out in their ears like a thunderclap, the sheer force of it reverberating through the aircraft and beyond.

They stood stunned for a moment, confused, before their minds snapped to a singular conclusion; assassins.

They did not need to guess to know that Anthony had blocked the attack that was made against the aircraft, although the aircraft was using cloaking technology, it was useless in the face of power of this scale, rendering its concealment meaningless.

Anthony rose from his seat, ”I will handle them, you are welcome to watch if you want to,” Anthony stated calmly, his face shifting into another identity, after all, if the assassins saw his face, they would run away immediately, and Anthony wanted to have a bit of fun with them.

With that, he floated towards the ceiling of the aircraft, his body phasing through it effortlessly as he landed atop the air itself, standing as though the sky were solid beneath his feet. The Storm Brothers and Tiara’s bodyguards were already present; the moment they saw Anthony, they were confused as they did not recognize his face, but they had seen him in this particular set of clothes previously, Anthony simply spoke to them telepathically, telling them to retreat, which they immediately did without hesitation.

Anthony’s eyes landed on the four figures floating before him, their presences steady and oppressive; they were all at the Origin Mana Rank, each of varying levels, yet all undeniably powerful.

”Step aside, Human,” one of them spoke, an Elf who held a bow with calm confidence, her gaze sharp.

Within Blue Planet, assassins did not always mean someone with a dark cloak running around in the shadows with a dagger and poison and all that; anyone who was a contract killer was an assassin, regardless of appearance or method.

”Aren’t you all too old and strong to be bullying children?” Anthony asked with an amused tone, his lips curling slightly as he regarded them without the slightest hint of fear.

They could tell Anthony was strong; the strong recognized the strong, after all, the other guards had retreated at his presence, and he had created the barrier that blocked their earlier attack, but at the moment, they still believed they held the advantage.

”I will not repeat myself,” the Elf stated as she raised her bow, ready to fire, her killing intent subtly leaking into the air.

The other three simply prepared themselves to move, their auras flaring faintly; one was a Zombie, the other a Werewolf, and the last a Fairy, an unusual and almost contradictory sight.

Anthony had to admit the truth, this was the first time he was seeing a Fairy that was a contract killer; after all, they were known as a peace-loving race and the world hardly ever saw them, but it seemed that amongst every white sheep, there was bound to be a black sheep, and this one stood right before him.