Chapter 153: Power Collision

Immediately, he walked step by step toward the grass, approaching 173, until the distance to it was still a hundred meters,

Yao Yang snapped his fingers.

Instantly, a black qi swirled outward, centered on him.

After everything settled,

A blurry figure appeared beside Yao Yang.

It resembled a bizarre creature built from flesh and blood, its entire body pixelated, and its appearance did not carry much presence.

"Captain, what is this horrifying thing? Why have we never seen or heard of it before?" a squad member asked doubtfully.

Cao Tianyin himself was also puzzled.

Not to mention that most of those present were inexperienced rookie soldiers,

Even he, a veteran with over a decade of service, had never witnessed such a scene.

"Although I don't know exactly what this thing is used for, the data shows that Yao Yang's summoned object is Super X‑class—Paint Skin Ghost!"

"That's right, it's the Paint Skin you've seen on TV; it can copy the appearance of most living beings."

"It can also copy the power of other beings."

That indeed sounds formidable.

But now there is a crucial problem.

173's ability is to kill anyone who looks at it and then looks away.

If the Paint Skin Ghost copied 173, wouldn't they just be unable to harm each other?

Just stand there staring at each other?

Isn't this just messing around?

"I feel things aren't that simple," Cao Tianyin thought, a doubt arising in his heart.

Just then,

A guard suddenly shouted:

"Not good!"

"Hey, look! Another terrifying creature is attacking Yao Yang!"

Everyone's gazes snapped over!

On the originally empty grassland, a strange figure suddenly appeared out of nowhere!

It is not human!

It is more like a monster.

Overall it looks like a lion, but its fur is all black, and a skull hangs from its tail.

Its eyes are blood‑red, its claws sharp, its muscles incomplete, with bare white bone showing in places.

It dropped to all fours and charged at Yao Yang with lightning speed!

When the distance had shrunk to a hundred meters,

It leapt suddenly!

It opened its huge mouth and let out a low roar.

"Oh no!"

"Fire quickly!"

Cao Tianyin immediately operated the gun turret, aimed the muzzle at the monster, and fired with a bang!

The dark cannonball shot out, slicing the air with a deafening roar.

Boom!

The shell struck the lion‑shaped monster.

The powerful impact sank one side of its belly into a large crater.

Then,

Boom boom boom——

The lion‑shaped monster was actually blown away.

It rolled several times on the grass; though unharmed, it looked rather frail.

Is it an illusion?

The lion‑shaped monster got up, shook its head, and once again locked its fierce gaze on Yao Yang.

It charged forward like an arrow!

"These damned bastards, why are they all so thick‑skinned and tough?"

"Is it really that outrageous?"

"I don't believe it!"

Cao Tianyin persisted all along.

All horror stems from insufficient firepower.

If the first shot doesn't take out the enemy, fire another; if that still fails, switch to a laser cannon.

Boom boom boom!

The shells rained down on the lion‑shaped monster like a storm, but it had learned from the previous hit and adapted on the fly.

It nimbly dodged each incoming shell one after another.

This time, it raised its huge paw and slammed it down toward Yao Yang!

At this moment, Cao Tianyin shouted: "That thing's taken to the air—quick, blast it with the plasma cannon!"

Bone Lion: "????"

No way.

Never ending!

You specifically take advantage when I'm not paying attention to mess with me?

However, the Bone Lion relied on the explosive power of its waist, and at the moment the plasma beam attacked, it did a 360-degree flip in midair.

It narrowly avoided the plasma beam.

"Ao!"

The Bone Lion was smug, wanting to fight me?

You foolish humans, you're still too naive!

However……

Just as I thought that,

A huge paw slapped its forehead.

It was slapped several meters away, fell onto the grass, and rolled over a dozen times before barely stabilizing its body.

Upon closer inspection,

Turns out it was the Paint Skin Ghost making a move!

It took on the Bone Lion's appearance and successfully slapped its own true form away with one palm; saying it out loud would make anyone laugh.

The Bone Lion stared at the Paint Skin Ghost that had taken its form, eyes wide, head tilted, as if three big question marks sat on its forehead.

Bone Lion: "???"

Hey, brother, who are you!

How do you look exactly like me?

Could we be long-lost twins?

The Bone Lion is a terrifying creature sent by an alien species from one of the three major planets.

Its strength is extraordinary, its speed swift as the wind, a single palm strike can reach tens of thousands of kilograms of force; even an adult mammoth would be reduced to blood mist under its hand.

It is a powerful monster, but!

Its brain isn't very sharp.

It also loves to show off.

"Die!"

The Paint Skin Ghost shot forward like an arrow.

The Bone Lion had no time to react, almost instinctively raising its claw.

Bang!

The clash of power produced a violent sound.

Immediately, evenly matched, they tangled together, moving as fast as two light beams constantly colliding, sparks flying.

The Paint Skin Ghost and the Bone Lion fought to an indecisive stalemate.

On the other side, Horror Creature 173,

remained stationary.

Yao Yang stared intently at it, as did the thousands of guards behind him.

As long as their gaze left 173, even if they blinked and didn't see it,

they would suffer an attack.

But the key is,

everyone must blink at the same time to match 173's attack pattern.

But!

To have thousands of people blink simultaneously,

how low is that probability?

It's like you're a male graduate living at home, you go out and encounter a tall, beautiful mature woman who falls into your arms, saying, 'Dear, I've finally found you.'

Upon closer look, this woman is actually your favorite female character from the game.

She's beautiful and wealthy, and completely devoted to you.

Or,

you're a female graduate living at home, out for a stroll, when a fleet of luxury cars surrounds you and a group of tall men in suits and sunglasses step out.

The most handsome, best-built, most charismatic of them walks up to you and says, 'Come on, miss, it's time to go home.'

What does this metaphor mean?

Of course it shows the probability is low!

So low it's impossible to happen!

Having thousands of people blink at the same time is nearly impossible.

Moreover——

Cao Tianyun shouted, 'Brothers, we can't help the Paint Skin Ghost senior, don't cause trouble.'

'Focus your spirit, concentrate all firepower on Xiao Huasheng.'

'Right, remember to greet the person next to you before blinking, so you don't all blink together!'

What is this called?

Don't give 173 any chance!

173 has a blank expression, but actually feels helpless inside.

This is damn it.

You're using me as a fixed target, right!

Which genius set this up, forcing me to act only when no one's looking at me!

173's mindset collapsed.

It glanced at the Bone Lion beside it using its perception ability.

Over there, it was fighting the Skin-Painting Ghost with back-and-forth blows, sometimes even slightly at a disadvantage.

173 was even more helpless.

It racked its brains but still couldn't figure it out.

What a lousy thing, my true self can't even beat a counterfeit!

If it weren't for 173 being unable to speak, it would have started cursing long ago.

This heaven-defying rule power,

These damn teammates.

Exactly!

It glanced at the Dragon Nation Guard Army that kept bombarding it nonstop.

And there are these heaven-defying opponents.

Damn it, your ammo is unlimited, right!

It's clearly ineffective against me, yet you keep firing—have you lost your mind!

I don't know how,

The battlefield fell into a stalemate.

Both sides were locked in a stalemate, neither able to do anything to the other.

Skin-Painting Ghost: "Indeed, copying others' abilities offers no real advantage in actual combat."

"If there's a chance later, I should still apply to be a spy."

While fighting the Bone Lion fiercely, the Skin-Painting Ghost pondered, leaving itself an escape route.

The Bone Lion swung its claws again and again at the Skin-Painting Ghost, each attack using full force, but the Skin-Painting Ghost easily defused them.

There's no way,

They're all my own moves.

They simply can't be broken.

Break then establish, gaining insight to break through oneself in desperation,

These are all geniuses' tricks.

A dim-witted terrifying creature like the Bone Lion could never figure this out in a lifetime.

At that moment, the Bone Lion caught sight of 173 being used as a living target not far away in its peripheral vision.

Suddenly enlightened!

Exactly!

I didn't come here to single-handedly take on the Dragon Nation.

I'm here to join forces with 173!

"Roar!"

Accompanied by a roar like war drums,

The Bone Lion ceased entangling with the Skin-Painting Ghost, retreating several steps to open a safety distance of several hundred meters.

Then its eyes glowed red.

Taking a deep breath, it exhaled thick black smoke with a whoosh-whoosh-whoosh.

Aberrant Species—Bone Lion, action begins!

Pitch-black mist!

The Bone Lion's idea is quite straightforward.

Isn't 173 unable to act when being watched?

Since that's the case, let's make it invisible to everyone.

Moreover,

The Bone Lion happens to have this move.

Its belly stores a large amount of black mist; these mists are neither toxic nor odorous, their sole purpose being to block vision.

"Woooah!!!"

Thinking this through, the Bone Lion finally understood why the higher-ups sent it to assist 173.

Turns out they valued its ability to spew black mist.

A bunch of damned bastards,

nor do they speak plainly.

Made me fight a counterfeit for half a day, almost losing.

After muttering a complaint, the Bone Lion continued spewing black mist.

That vast reserve of mist, like heavy clouds descending from the sky, is enough to cover a radius of a hundred li.

……