"My God, is that... Shendu?"
Looking at Shendu perched on the desk, even the specially trained special forces soldiers were momentarily flustered.
Dealing with a monster of this caliber would likely require missiles. Compared to that, the guns in their hands were no different from firecrackers.
Incidentally, to ensure the safety of Valmont and his group, Bai Qi had had Cleven and a few others take Valmont and his subordinates away by helicopter before the Zone Twelve forces arrived.
Although Valmont and the Black Hand Clan had become increasingly insignificant as Bai Qi's influence expanded, Bai Qi, adhering to the principle of "every little bit helps," had not abandoned them. He chose to protect them first, planning their future once the situation stabilized.
Back to the main topic.
After a brief standoff, whether due to a misfire or the effects of the intensely oppressive environment, the trembling SWAT officer actually fired a shot at Bai Qi.
The bullet burst from the barrel, striking Bai Qi directly.
As Shendu, one of the Eight Inner Demons, Bai Qi was of course unharmed by a mere bullet. Upon contact with the dragon scales, the bullet's tip deformed severely from the impact and, as expected, was deflected.
However, this shot was like a drop of water falling into boiling oil, a spark landing in a powder keg, instantly triggering a chain reaction.
Both the soldiers, special forces, and SWAT officers opened fire on Bai Qi almost simultaneously.
The effect, however, was obvious. The bullets could not pierce Bai Qi's dragon scale armor. Without the ability to penetrate his defenses, any amount of attack was futile.
Facing the continuous barrage of gunfire, Bai Qi felt a strange annoyance for the first time, like a maggot crawling on a person. Even though one knows a maggot cannot cause harm, a person would still instinctively try to brush it away or crush it.
Bai Qi felt the same way.
The emergence of this feeling indicated that Shendu's body and the dark energy were influencing Bai Qi himself, turning him into a true demon.
Bai Qi had no intention of resisting this change in mindset.
Even though he had been human before, his current identity was that of a demon, Shendu, the Fire Demon, a powerful being born at the beginning of the world. There was no need to deliberately change to appease humans. On the contrary, the world needed to change because of his arrival.
It was not Shendu adapting to the world, but the world adapting to Shendu.
Having realized this, Bai Qi cast aside his final reservations. After Zone Twelve launched their initial assault, Bai Qi slowly rose from the desk.
His scarlet dragon eyes sent a chill down the spines of everyone present.
Just as they were about to launch a second wave of attack on Bai Qi, he slowly raised his right hand.
All the bullets hovered in mid-air as if controlled. With a slight turn of Bai Qi's finger, all the bullets reversed direction and shot out at an even faster speed.
In an instant, the number of soldiers in the office was reduced by half.
Of course, this was far from over.
Bai Qi used the power of the Chicken Talisman, and immense gravitational force was exerted on everyone. Whether soldiers, SWAT officers, or Zone Twelve agents, they felt as if a mountain had been placed on their backs.
As Bai Qi gradually increased the force, some could no longer endure it. Their legs buckled, crashing to the ground with the sound of cracking bones. Their bodies were pressed flat against the ground, being compressed at a visible rate. Blood was forcibly squeezed from their pores, and they were finally reduced to meat patties thinner than paper.
This was just the beginning.
More and more people were crushed into meat patties under the relentless gravity.
Fear filled the eyes of everyone present. They wanted to flee but couldn't, because any slight relaxation would result in them being crushed into the next meat patty. Despair enveloped everyone present.
"Is this what a demon is?"
Looking at her colleagues falling one after another, Quinn felt utter terror. She wanted to turn and run, but under the demon's scarlet gaze, her body was frozen with fear, unable to move.
That's right, Bai Qi's gravity affected everyone present, but Quinn was the only one not caught in it. It wasn't that Bai Qi didn't want to, but this woman still possessed some minor utility.
"Human, come here."
These simple four words sounded like they came from the deepest abyss to Quinn, making her sweat profusely just by hearing them.
"You... are you... calling me?"
After a brief hesitation, Quinn pointed at herself in disbelief, then looked around. She realized she had asked a foolish question.
There was no one else alive in the room except her, so the demon must be calling her.
Quinn wanted to move her legs, but they felt as heavy as lead. Every step forward consumed a large amount of her energy.
When she finally reached Bai Qi, Quinn realized that this dragon demon was even taller than she had imagined. She barely came up to his ankle.
Bai Qi's intentions were simple. If he did nothing but kill so many soldiers and then the Zone Twelve director before leaving, it would be tantamount to declaring war on the US government.
If this were the US of Jackie Chan Adventures, Bai Qi wouldn't have much to worry about; it would at most cause him some trouble, not be fatal.
However, this world was different. With the crossover of Marvel and DC, if he truly offended the US, and they managed to persuade Superman to deal with him, even with the Dog Talisman and the Ox Talisman, Bai Qi's future would be anything but easy. Therefore, a carrot and stick approach was the best way to control those in power.
So, Bai Qi extended an olive branch to the US high command. Of course, all of this would rely on Quinn as the messenger.
"You mean... you're willing to help the US develop magic?"
Quinn's mind was struggling to keep up.
One moment he was disregarding human life, and the next he was proactively proposing cooperation.
Was this the mindset of a demon?
However, Quinn quickly recovered from her brief shock and shrewdly seized this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.
After all, who knew when strange occurrences began to happen more frequently. Farmers reported seeing werewolves and vampires, and more absurdly, one claimed to have been abducted by aliens, offering to act as an intermediary between the US and aliens for a thousand dollars.
Although these were later proven to be false and fabricated for attention and fraud, the one who claimed to have been abducted by aliens was currently receiving treatment at Arkham.
However, as the head of Zone Twelve, Quinn had encountered many real magical oddities. Take, for example, the legendary ghoul, the mirror spirit that possessed humans, or the paper figures that could fold themselves into various shapes like paper. While Quinn leaned more towards genetic mutation for the last one, the first two were undeniably real.
Not to mention the live dragon demon before her.
Perhaps the age of magic was truly dawning. If she could hitch a ride on this express train, promotion and a higher salary would no longer be just dreams.