Translator: Larbre Studio Editor: Larbre Studio
“Number 4 and 6, finish the battle in five minutes.”
As the voice of the mysterious expert ended, the expert’s robot companions underwent strange transformations. The short, fat man, who seemed to have blended into the darkness, began expanding like a balloon. Every muscle on him had silvery snakes sliding through them and a terrifying lightning lance formed in his hand. Suddenly, the surrounding grass was swaying erratically.
In one stride, he blocked Lou Cheng’s route to retreat. Stretching his back and opening his arms, he readied to throw his lightning spear.
Pa pa pa! The muscles and tendons of the one-eyed man released. His right arm expanded to the size of an artillery barrel making it look disproportionate to his body.
His pace was slower than expected, and as he approached Lou Cheng, he maintained control of the distance between them. Emulating the firing motion of a rocket launch, he threw out his fist.
As for the mysterious expert with blonde hair and blue eyes, he was standing opposite to Lou Cheng. Raising both arms and pressing each of his fingers against each other, he formed a circle to make Cannon Muzzle.
Bzzt bzzt bzzt! Dazzling light gathered within him and rotated at high speed. Lou Cheng felt a heightening sense of danger.
This was even stronger ability that he had not used while fighting in the Ginwale bar!
At this moment, a crisp sound rang. A coin flipped into the skies and the three people surrounding Lou Cheng instinctively looked. As a result, their hand movements were slowed.
As they were distracted, Lou Cheng shifted his joints and took a step back.
He moved to the side, lowered his body, and bent his back.
Bzzt! The bright and exaggerated lightning spear pierced several inches into the position where he previously stood. Upon impact, electric circles spread outwards.
Rumble! The dazzling white light moved like a laser beam through the night skies, through the afterimages left behind by Lou Cheng, and landed on a place far away, resulting in a strong explosion.
Bam! The man with a single eye punched into the empty space above Lou Cheng. The airflow collapsed and tumultuous wind raged on.
As he narrowed his vision, the man with a single eye pulled back his shoulder, wanting to change his smashing attack to a slash against his opponent.
However, just as Lou Cheng bent down, the temperature dropped and the surroundings grew darker than darkness. Spots of stars surfaced as they warmed the area.
Pa! Straightening his back, he swung his left arm in the direction of his momentum and landed ruthlessly on the fist of the man with a single eye. The cosmic skies that reflected on the ground instantly enveloped his opponent.
Unique core skill, “Cosmic Phantom!”
Layers and layers of ice formed, sealing the one-eyed man within. Even his expressions were frozen.
Swish swish swish! Star after star shot over from all directions at an insane rate.
Rumble! Rumble! Rumble!
Rows of flames intersected, creating a large mushroom cloud that extended outwards in all directions.
Lou Cheng made use of the chaos to turn and close the distance between him and the short man. Amidst the thick smoke and explosions, Lou Cheng covered his right fist in faint purple flames and struck out heavily.
The short, dark-skinned man didn’t panic at all and looked as though he had long lost the ability to have such emotions. He lifted his left arm, smashed sideways with his elbow, and struck towards the approaching fist of Lou Cheng with the sputtering silver snakes. The man with blonde hair and blue eyes didn’t look at the outcome of the man with a single eye. Aiming diagonally to his opponent, he pressed ahead with a straight punch. Dazzling light shone as they formed a pincer attack.
At this moment, the coin that was flicked into the sky fell down and entered the boundary covered by Lou Cheng’s mind.
With a simple trigger, the “Emperor Yan” force within it exploded.
Rumble!
Sparks flickered again and the vision of the blonde hair man was filled with patches of dazzling light. All he felt was shrapnel shot towards him at high speed. Instinctively, he lowered his head, extended his left arm, and shielded his vital spots. As for the dark-skinned man, his body shivered uncontrollably, as reflexive as a knee jerk.
Rumble!
Lou Cheng’s fist, still covered in faint purple flames, landed on his elbow as the electric snakes shattered and scattered. His skin was instantly burnt as his body shivered violently.
Facing a recoil of power, Lou Cheng suppressed the numb feeling. He twisted his waist and glided agilely behind the dark-skinned man. The blonde, blue-eyed man was a step behind and ended up hitting the empty space where Lou Cheng had been.
Pa! Lou Cheng strode forward and raised his knee to stop the short, dark-skinned man from having the opportunity to kick back. At the same time, he extended his right arm forward and firmly pressed onto the other party’s joints.
Bam! Lou Cheng swung his left arm and threw out a punch with faint purple flames hidden within, leaving only a thin layer on the surface of his fist.
The dark-skinned man couldn’t defend himself against it and tried to leap forward to avoid the lethal strike. But how could his last-minute speed be faster than Lou Cheng’s fist?
Rumble!
Lou Cheng’s left arm landed right on the back of his enemy. Flesh and blood splattering in all directions while burning.
Plop! The short guy with dark skin fell to the ground, only his lower body still intact.
Pa pa pa! As the mushroom-shaped dust cloud dissipated, several pieces of charcoal flesh were the only evidence left to prove the existence of the one-eyed expert.
The man with blonde hair and blue eyes paused and turned to flee. Surprisingly, he didn’t hesitate, but appeared to have instantly assessed the situation and made the right decision.
At this moment, a low, solemn voice sounded his ears.
“Formation!”
The surrounding airflow shifted to become layers of restraints, trapping the man with blonde hair firmly to the ground.
A white light began to shine brightly as his body applied increasing pressure to break free from the restraints.
Lou Cheng caught up quickly. He shifted his arms, extended both of his hands into the air cage, and grabbed onto the shoulders of the blonde man.
He twisted his back, pulling one shoulder up and the other to the side.
Crack crack crack! The crackle of joints disconnecting and bones snapping sounded from within the body of the man. The white light dissipated helplessly.
The mysterious expert became a useless lump without the support of his bones.
And at this moment, the shrapnel of the coin finally landed across the floor. w
Without delay, Lou Cheng visualized the ancient word in his mind and traced out the bloodlust as he looked upon the man collapsed on the ground.
“Army!”
He opened his mouth solemnly and directed this sharp and terrifying sensation to the unguarded mind of blonde man.
Lou Cheng believed that he would instantly give in and answer whatever he was asked. However, on the contrary, he appeared unaffected. It was as though he didn’t know fear.
“It is indeed strange...” Lou Cheng cursed silently. He changed to the techniques of the Fire and Cultivation Sects, but they weren’t useful either. No matter if it was mind suppression or forced hypnosis, Lou Cheng felt like he was facing a corpse.
Seeing this, a thought flashed in his mind. He applied pressure between his eyebrows and used his own mind to directly break the man.
Lou Cheng repeated this nine times before hearing a breaking sound.
The blonde man finally revealed an expression of agony. He rolled with difficulty, moaning in a low voice,
“Let me out, let me out...”
“I am, I am...”
Lou Cheng looked on silently and squatted down. He took out a picture of Lin Que and held it to his face, speaking directly into his ear,
“Where did you take him to?”
The man clearly wasn’t in the right condition to answer his questions directly. Lou Cheng assumed right away that he had something to do with the disappearance of cousin-in-law. But this was a bold assumption to make and had to be verified carefully.
The man, who was still moaning in pain, comprehended the question and took a long look at the picture. He was shocked for a moment before answering,
“Number 16, it’s number 16 who did it. He, he was initially a Terror Grade expert...”
“I’m, I’m number 5. No, no, I’m not...”
His voice faded and his eyes were dazed. His brain had been dealt a heavy blow.
“Where have you sent him to?” Lou Cheng was exhilarated and pressed further.
The disappearance of my cousin-in-law has got something to do with this group of mysterious men who use numbers as codenames!
The blonde man panted and said,
“Base, Tignes North Base...”
Before he could complete his words, something inside him was triggered. Dazzling white light coursed through his body and exploded silently, giving Lou Cheng no time to stop it.
When the light disappeared, the man hairs curled up in misery. Every muscle seemed to develop its own will and began dancing on its own.
“Aaargh!” Amidst the terrifying scream, his waist shrunk while his back expanded. Soon after, two new arms covered in scales grew from his back.
“Genetic collapse,” Lou Cheng mumbled softly. He showed mercy by finishing him off quickly.
After the death of the man with blonde hair and blue eyes, there were still some lingering transformations in his muscles, tendons, and bones. However, in just a couple of minutes, everything had dissolved into a pool of flesh and blood.
...
At a condominium in Tignes, a man with well-parted brown hair was sitting on the sofa. He was staring at a blank TV screen, deep in thought.
He was wearing a green and white baseball uniform with a large number on the back.
“16!”
Suddenly, his eyelid twitched and a glow flickered, as though he had some form of communication device embedded within his retina.
“Number 4 and Number 6’s signals have disappeared.”
“Activate interruption system for Number 5.”
The seemingly frail man stood up suddenly and looked towards the suburbs.
“The signal source of Number 5 has also disappeared.” Squinting, the man walked to the windows. Pressing down with his palm, he leapt out. His incredible strength was clear.
He believed that he would have no one to fear in Tignes.
Even if he couldn’t win in battle, he could still escape from his enemies.
...
Lou Cheng looked at the flesh and blood on the ground. After thinking for some time, he took out the satellite phone from his bag and called old man Ji.
“Hello, Senior Ji, I have a lead on the disappearance of Lin Que. Can you guys come over?”
“Sure.” Ji Jianzhang didn’t ask for specifics, clearly trusting Lou Cheng.