Chapter 22

"It wasn't the Factory's doing."

Uesugi Toru looked at the dumbstruck Foreman, hearing him subconsciously ask: "Banruo Xiansheng, could it be you know the inside story?"

"Of course."

Uesugi Toru nodded, extending his five fingers; the blood-stained Firewood Knife fell with a slap into his hand.

"Because, it was done by me."

Amidst this silence filled only with the Factory's rumbling operation, Uesugi Toru deliberately waited Two Seconds, yet did not see the emotions that should have been there in the Foreman's eyes.

The Foreman merely gazed at him calmly, his eyes carrying a trace of realization: "So it was you......"

Uesugi Toru tilted his head: "Not strange about the reason?"

Actually, if the Foreman could have taken the Workshop with him when moving, then Uesugi Toru wouldn't necessarily have had to kill the opponent; after all, the blacksmith just wanted the noisy Workshop to disappear.

And facing a Yokai with rare personal aspirations, Uesugi Toru didn't mind losing a few dozen or Hundred Soul Ash.

But after Communicating with the Foreman, Uesugi Toru had already understood that the contradiction between them could not be resolved.

——Sorry, Foreman-san, please go die for my new Weapon!

The Foreman sighed; he took off the safety helmet atop his head, revealing a ferocious, bloodthirsty Expression for the first time in a long while: "The reason, is no longer important."

Shizuku nodded in deep Agree, revealing a smile.

"Huu——"

Accompanied by a sound like a whale's exhalation, in that same instant, the falling leaves drifting in mid-air and the Foreman's chest and abdomen were simultaneously sliced open.

Grayish-white fresh blood splattered.

"One Slash is not enough."

Uesugi Toru's Palm was numbed by the shock of the Foreman's sternum; this Half-Star elite's HP was clearly not on the same level as a Monster; even with a successful Ambush slash, he could not heavily injure him.

In the gap while he withdrew his blade, Uesugi Toru could already clearly see the Foreman's arm moving.

It seems the Fear Smile against same-level Enemies can at most give him the First Strike Advantage of One Slash.

However, this is already enough.

Proficient Level Kiai Technique would not show decline after an all-out strike; a far more vast Qi flowed through Uesugi Toru's body than before.

Under this Advantage, he could wear down the bare-handed Foreman to death just by Light Consumption......

Just as Uesugi Toru thought this, the Foreman suddenly raised his hand without warning; a heavy cold light pierced through his Waist.

The intense pain of flesh being torn apart made Uesugi Toru's brow twitch; he rapidly circulated Kiai Technique and retreated violently, looking toward the Foreman once more.

——What is that in the opponent's hand? He can't have a Storage Backpack like myself.

Uesugi Toru saw clearly the Weapon held in the Foreman's hand.

It was a long strip-shaped stick, one section thicker, the other end thinner.

Crowbar?!

He actually forgot this thing; Uesugi Toru had only paid attention to sharp weapons before, so for this kind of Cold Weapon biased toward tool use, he hadn't paid much attention.

After all, he is a Foreman; carrying a Crowbar on his person is also a very Reasonable thing.

Uesugi Toru glanced at the wound roughly two fingers wide at his Waist; after transporting a large amount of Qi there to successfully stop the bleeding, he said blandly: "The Foreman is truly meticulous in thought."

The Foreman kicked the safety helmet beside his Foot to the side: "Is Banruo Xiansheng not the same?"

Drag, just hard Drag!

Chatting idly with the Foreman, Uesugi Toru's mind was exceptionally clear under the effect of Heart Like Still Water at this moment.

Right now the Foreman has no way to stop the bleeding, so as long as time is Dragged out, even without him acting, the Foreman will bleed to death alive.

And this time, because of the wound's size, is destined not to be too long.

If he fails to kill the Foreman this time, then Uesugi Toru believes the opponent absolutely will not give him a second chance; then, not to mention the strategy time would be greatly extended, he might not even get the Weapon forged by the blacksmith.

So, just hold steady.

Do not show even a fraction of a Flaw to this insidious Foreman.

Time slowly passed; Uesugi Toru watched the Foreman Weaken Little by Little, while the Qi in his body had even Recovered to peak state.

This waning and waxing, one could almost say the law of Victory is already determined!

But Instinctively, Uesugi Toru felt something was wrong.

The Foreman who nearly dealt him a critical blow with a Crowbar, could he not know what choice is correct in a desperate situation?

Uesugi Toru gripped the Firewood Knife tight, deciding to take the Active and attack.

With a Bang, a large amount of Qi escaped from Uesugi Toru's body surface.

His whole person shot out like an arrow leaving the Bowstring; the Firewood Knife's chopping speed was faster than any previous time.

"Come on!"

But who knew the Foreman would roar in Anger, his body surface instantly turning scarlet red; he raised the Crowbar and blocked this strike.

Uesugi Toru's whole person was knocked back two steps by this tremendous force; his right arm also transmitted bursts of intense pain, likely a bone fracture.

Because at this time, a red tag 【Jade Shatter】 suddenly appeared atop the Foreman's head; the mist atop his head also transformed from white-yellow intermingled into scarlet red symbolizing vicious danger.

【Jade Shatter: Gradually Consume life force to accumulate power; the more life force consumed, the more power accumulated. Life force cannot Recover.】

Uesugi Toru thought: So he was waiting for me here.

Just now, if he had been a bit steadier, Dragged for three to five Minutes, he might have been directly smashed to pieces by the Foreman's Crowbar.

He really doesn't want to experience the feeling of his Upper Body exploding open.

Uesugi Toru looked at the Foreman who was clearly powerless after swinging one stick, seized this fleeting opportunity, and immediately stepped forward.

Advancing, he likewise roared: "The winner will be me!"

The Tennen Rishin-ryu thrusting technique Shizuku had once demonstrated swiftly flashed through Uesugi Toru's Brain at this moment.

He followed Instinct and thrust out the Firewood Knife.

The rusted sword blade deftly passed through the wound, effortlessly piercing the heart.

The foreman's originally rainbow-like aura instantly stagnated, then abruptly dispersed like mist.

After Uesugi Toru withdrew the sword blade, the foreman fell with a thud into the mud.

The outcome was decided.

In the silence, the foreman's weak voice transmitted with difficulty.

"Banruo Xiansheng..."

He exerted all his strength to turn his body, gazing at the half dusky sky: "That factory..."

Before the foreman's eyes flashed phantoms of the past — once, golden rice fields covered the mountains and wilds of Arakawa Village, and people laughing as they worked in the fields.

Alas, the past times have all shattered and dispersed like bubbles.

He closed his eyes, murmuring softly: "Please, you must eliminate that factory which brought impurity and oppression."

Uesugi Toru looked down at him, pupils pitch black.

Even if the foreman didn't say it, he himself would absolutely not let off that factory which gathered a large number of Yokai.

But after thinking it over, Uesugi Toru still nodded lightly, agreeing: "I promise you."

So the foreman smiled happily, relieved of a heavy burden.

"Thank you..."

The foreman said.

The Jade Shatter affix above his head dispersed little by little, until nothing remained.

A prompt timely appeared before Uesugi Toru's eyes.

【You killed the Half-Star Obsession "Worker Leader", gained 75 Soul Ash.】

【You gained, the foreman's crowbar (Precious).】

【You experienced battle, Kiai Technique Fragment proficiency +25!】

【You experienced battle, gained slight insight, Tennen Rishin-ryu proficiency +76!】

Uesugi Toru let out a heavy breath, sat on the ground, gazing at the gradually brightening Double Moon, thinking it was truly perilous in the extreme.

Fear Smile was used up at the very start, Qi was exhausted at the last two slashes, even physical strength was nearly depleted...

It can be said, this was a complete and utter narrow victory.

Ridiculous that at the time he still thought a mere Half-Star, same as a sturdy farmer, was just a matter of killing in two or three slashes.

Now it seems, there are differences even among Half-Stars.

Still have to thank the foreman for giving him a lesson.

After resting a while, Uesugi Toru then remembered to carefully check the prompts from just now.

Soul Ash is quite a lot, nothing much to say about this, it does match the foreman's strength.

But what Uesugi Toru didn't expect was that the crowbar on the opponent's body actually dropped.

【Foreman's Crowbar】

【Quality: Precious】

【Effect: Abnormally sturdy, damage against all categories of objects greatly increased.】

【——Since I am the foreman, carrying a crowbar on my person is also quite reasonable, right?】

Special category weapon, can also be called a prop.

Uesugi Toru looked at this "abnormally sturdy" effect, no wonder just now when clashing blades his firewood knife chipped several notches, yet this crowbar remained unscathed.

But fortunately, with the foreman dead a new weapon has arrived, the tattered firewood knife can just roll into the warehouse to gather dust.

Besides that, there's also the Tennen Rishin-ryu proficiency which actually surged this much at once, almost comparable to practicing sword twice with String Hun Xiang Hui.

"Battle truly is the shortcut to becoming stronger..."

Only pity Uesugi Toru rarely encounters this kind of evenly matched battle, either he instant kills the opponent, or gets instant killed by the opponent, not a bit of game experience.

After sitting on the ground a while longer and recovering some physical strength, Uesugi Toru stood up, and just happened to see that in the withered farmland not far away there seemed to be something.

He fixed his gaze and looked, discovering that it was actually a twisting white shadow.

(End of Chapter)