The Villain Who Stole Hearts

Chapter 106: The Devious System

The newcomer was none other than Casper Voss, who had rushed to Veyport City the moment he received the news!

His expression was dark, and he didn’t say a single word.

What he’d heard from the men he dragged out—he didn’t want to believe any of it.

He knew exactly how powerful his beloved disciple was. How could a small city like Veyport possibly harbor someone capable of threatening him?

But now, the moment he laid eyes on Veil, he realized something was off.

He couldn’t see through him.

The young man before him looked completely ordinary, like any other guy on the street... yet something about him was shrouded in an impenetrable mist. Casper’s years of instincts, honed from countless brushes with danger, screamed at him that this was no ordinary opponent.

"Senior, there’s no time to explain! Run!"

Veil urgently pushed Anna away, panic written all over his face.

His frantic tone caught Anna off guard. She momentarily forgot all about being groped and grabbed Veil’s arm tightly, her teeth biting down on her lip.

"Junior... I..."

She instinctively assumed that Casper Voss was the powerful enforcer sent by that young master.

It was too much of a coincidence. That driver’s warning was still ringing in her ears, and Veil’s misleading setup only reinforced the illusion.

But what truly sealed the misunderstanding... was that Casper wasn’t saying a word.

Her anger and confusion welled up in her chest. In her eyes, this lined up perfectly with what that young master would do—sending someone to retaliate after his plan failed.

Everything made sense!

"Don’t worry about me! Go! I’ll hold him off!" Veil growled through gritted teeth, the words sounding like they were forced out with immense effort. His hand, hidden behind his back, gave Anna’s hip a sharp push.

Before she could respond, he had already stepped in front of her and shouted toward Casper Voss.

"I did it! If you want revenge, take it out on me!"

With a cold snort, Veil shielded Anna behind him and charged directly toward Casper, trying to buy her a window to escape.

Casper’s expression darkened further. His foot slid half a step back, and a sudden gust of wind spiraled around him, lifting a few scattered leaves into the air.

A warrior’s strength stemmed from their mastery of combat techniques—what some called martial skills.

Caden Voss had trained his Qi Pulse Fist to a level most would consider perfection. Even among seasoned martial artists, few could match it.

But in comparison to Casper Voss, even Caden’s mastery was lacking.

The Qi Pulse Fist was a legendary technique not just because of its explosive power—but because of its mystique. Once someone grasped the secret of controlling the flow of qi itself, the technique’s destructive force would skyrocket far beyond what ordinary fighters could ever hope to achieve.

And Casper Voss... had clearly stepped into that realm.

Veil launched his fist forward.

Whoosh!

It sliced through the air with a sharp whistle, heading straight for Casper Voss’s chest like a thunderbolt.

"Arrogant brat!"

Casper’s expression darkened with fury. His hands extended like flowing clouds and coiling serpents—soft and fluid—morphing into twin snakes that wrapped around Veil’s arm. In an instant, he twisted the tremendous force within Veil’s punch using the core essence of the Qi Pulse Fist.

It had been years—decades even—since anyone of his generation had forced him to take action. And now, standing before him, was a boy young enough to be his grandson, daring to strike first?

To him, it was nothing short of an insult.

How dare a junior come at him so boldly?

There was no hesitation, no mercy in his counter. With a surge of strength through his fingers, Casper gripped Veil’s arm tightly, aiming to shatter the bones while redirecting the blow’s force.

Boom!

Then, something unexpected happened.

The result Casper had envisioned—crippling Veil’s arm—never came to pass. Instead, that punch, like a dragon emerging from the sea, slammed squarely into his chest. At the same moment, the serpent-like hands that had latched onto Veil didn’t pull him down—instead, it was as if Veil’s momentum had driven Casper’s own hands straight into his torso.

Splurt!

The impact sent Veil flying backward, spitting out a mouthful of blood mid-air before crashing down several meters away. He landed hard, stumbling into a seated position with a groan.

"Impossible..."

This couldn’t be real.

Casper Voss stood frozen on the spot, staring in disbelief. His chest had caved in from the blow—a large, sunken dent marring his ribcage. If not for the years he’d spent soaking in the rarest, most expensive medicinal elixirs, his body would have long since crumpled like paper. Anyone else would’ve been blown clean through by that strike.

It wasn’t an exaggeration.

Even for someone like him, taking Veil’s punch head-on meant only one thing—his internal organs had been reduced to a mess of shredded meat the moment the blow landed. His life force was rapidly slipping away.

For the first time in his life, there was confusion in Casper Voss’s eyes.

Even as death loomed, he had no idea what had just happened.

Veil lay sprawled on the ground, a cold sneer playing on his lips.

The breathing technique he’d fed Casper—"Breath-Holding Qi Cultivation"—was fake. What he’d actually activated in that final instant was his real strength: the "Solar Overdrive Body," amplifying all his physical functions, and even the third stage of the "True Dragon Sutra."

If a lion uses full force to hunt a rabbit, how could he afford to hold back against an old snake like Casper Voss?

What, was he supposed to trade blows and play tactical games with this ancient schemer?

What kind of idiot does that?

With monsters like this, you don’t play tricks—you end it in one strike.

In other words, just bulldoze through.

"Veil! Hang on, I’ll call an ambulance!" Anna rushed over in a panic, crouching beside him. In her haste, she didn’t even fix her tight skirt, leaving her pale, glowing skin exposed to the air.

Even her tone had changed—no longer calling him by that teasing "junior" nickname. Now, it was just "Veil."

Veil raised a trembling hand, his face pale, his voice faint as a whisper. "Anna... cough... I’ve got someone I trust. I’ll call her to handle this. You should leave before you get dragged into something messy."

"How could I just leave now? This is all my fault! If it weren’t for me, you wouldn’t be caught up in this!"

Anna turned, her eyes burning with anger as she glared at Casper Voss, who was still standing—barely.

"How could that old man be so vicious? He beat you like this!"

Casper Voss, clinging to the last thread of life, felt like the world had turned upside down.

Vicious? Me?

He had clearly seen Veil pull a blood pack from his pocket and shove it into his mouth mid-flight.

And he hadn’t even landed a proper hit on Veil. The bastard had thrown himself into it on purpose! That punch? That was bait!

And now the girl was calling him the villain?

His internal organs were in ruins, his throat dislocated—he couldn’t even speak to defend himself.

Who was really the victim here?

Who the hell was actually suffering?!

He didn’t know whether it was the sheer force of Veil’s punch or Anna’s unjust accusations that dealt the final blow, but his legs buckled, and he collapsed backward with a loud crack as his skull hit the pavement.

Blood pooled from the back of his head.

All signs of life vanished.

"Anna, staying here will only cause more trouble," Veil murmured, barely conscious. "I’ll be fine. It’s not fatal... just need time to heal."

With a shaking arm, he pulled out his phone, pointed to Kai’s number, and hit dial.

Just then, a mechanical voice echoed in his ears.

"Ding! Congratulations, host, for slaying Caden Voss’s mentor, Casper Voss. Villain Points +50,000!"

"Ding! Congratulations, host, you have obtained the martial art skill ’Aether Vortex’!"

"Ding! Due to extreme overexertion and severe damage to your blood and meridians, a forced repair is being initiated. Villain Points -50,000."

As the voice faded, Veil blinked, reached up, and touched his lips.

His fingers came away soaked in blood.

"Veil!" Anna cried out, her voice trembling with panic.

And with that final sound echoing in his ears, darkness swallowed his vision.

...

No one knew how much time had passed when Veil finally came to. The moment consciousness returned, an overwhelming pain tore through every inch of his body—like someone had taken him apart, piece by piece, and reassembled him wrong.

His first thought?

He cursed the system in his heart.

That damn system!

What kind of bullshit was the "True Dragon Sutra" anyway?

Sure, the explosive power was insane—but it was so overwhelming that even with a physique stat of 385, his body couldn’t handle it. The surge had forced the system to burn 50,000 villain points just to stop him from dying.

How was that fair?!

"You never told me this technique had side effects!" Veil muttered angrily. "What if I’d used the ninth stage? Would I have just exploded into a puff of dust and gone straight to meet God?!"

The system’s cold mechanical voice rang out in his mind.

"Ding! The host did not inquire beforehand. This martial art was obtained as a critical bonus from defeating a Child of Destiny, and was not sourced from the system’s standard inventory. Therefore, side effect information could not be disclosed. As for the ninth transformation of the ’True Dragon Sutra,’ based on the host’s current condition after utilizing the third transformation, survival probability upon activation is estimated at less than 10%."

Even Veil, upon hearing that, couldn’t help blurting out:

"Fuck!"

"Then tell me this," he gritted his teeth. "Given my current physique, what happens if I only use the second transformation? Will it still trigger forced repairs?"

"Ding! Based on calculations of blood flow velocity and increased muscle and bone density, the host can utilize the second transformation of the ’True Dragon Sutra’ without triggering forced repairs. As the host’s physical attributes improve, the technique’s compatibility and safe output threshold will also increase accordingly."

Got it.

So this overpowered technique wasn’t fixed—it scaled with his physique.

The stronger his body became, the more safely he could use the later transformations without suffering the backlash.

For now, if he didn’t want to pass out after every fight, the limit was clear: he could only safely use up to the second transformation, with a 2.25x boost. That was the current cap.

Veil let out a heavy breath.

Even that small motion sent a sharp, burning pain through his chest. He clenched his teeth, face contorted in agony, and mentally cursed the system all over again.