Chapter 220

The Two-Yin Blade sliced through skin, and the gushing blood tightly enveloped his entire body.

Li Cheng spun downward as his bones lengthened and thickened, muscle fiber density increased, and his heart pounded like a war drum.

Boom!

He crashed heavily into the center of the concrete pavement; flying shards of stone struck like bullets, shattering the windows of unmanned vehicles and even piercing their metal doors.

"WTF"

Cervantes' expression was utterly stunned; Li Cheng, now standing upright, bore no trace of his former appearance.

He stood over two meters tall, horns protruding from his skull, sharp spines jutting from his shoulders and elbows, his body sheathed in glossy black chitinous armor with no rivets or screws—perfectly fused, naturally seamless.

Cervantes felt that if he had a Dragon Ball-style power level detector, he would see his opponent's combat power surge like a stock market in freefall.

"Huh"

Beneath Li Cheng's facial carapace, a muffled breathing sound emerged, like a submarine's respirator. He flicked his arm and retracted the Two-Yin Blade into the void.

The simple motion made the Vanguard Corp armed personnel watching nearby stand on end.

They had never encountered a superhuman of this type, but their DNA-etched biological instincts screamed warnings of imminent danger.

"Mr. Cervantes."

"Shut up."

The Vanguard Corp specialist on the airship had just opened his mouth when Cervantes brutally cut him off.

The latter clenched his teeth—this mission's loser would face a punishment mission next time.

According to past cases, survival probability in punishment missions was extremely low; saying "nine deaths, one chance" or "ten deaths, no chance" wasn't an exaggeration.

He couldn't afford to lose—he had to gamble everything.

"Stop her."

Cervantes roared; in English, "he" and "she" sound different, so Dr. Strange instantly understood and opened a spatial gate directly across the Batwing motorcycle's path.

The angle of the spatial gate was cunning—exactly at three-quarters the height of the vehicle's body.

If the rider failed to react, she would crash straight into the gate and be severed at the waist, dying instantly.

If she reacted in time and drove into the gate, she'd be teleported into the concrete. Either way, he won.

It sounded perfect—but on the way here, Li Cheng had already warned Huiyu about spatial gates; she was prepared.

She immediately liquefied her legs, coalescing them into a mound beneath the tires, forming a steep ramp.

Whirrr!

The motorcycle shot upward along the ramp, soaring over the spatial gate, then drifted gently toward the bridge deck.

During the descent, Huiyu first gripped Carolin and Angelica tightly behind her, then extended her liquid-metal arms to grasp the bridge's suspension cables, swinging like a pendulum in a wide arc before landing steadily on the bridge.

That wasn't enough—the bridge was clogged with vehicles and civilians who hadn't evacuated yet.

"Whirlwind Charge Tornado!" Huiyu's cryptic shout twisted the throttle, turning sharply and driving the bike off the bridge, using the Batwing's built-in anti-gravity effect to race beneath it.

"I can't see her!"

Dr. Strange opened his eyes, voice trembling.

The spatial gate was powerful—but its only flaw was that he had to see the target and know its exact terrain to activate it.

Cervantes did not respond to Dr. Strange or issue further orders, because Li Cheng had begun to move.

He activated Instant Thunder; the smooth black armor shimmered with streaks of electricity, and in an instant, Li Cheng crossed half the street, lunging before Cervantes and slashing down with his mantis-bone blade.

Crack!

The mantis-bone blade lodged against Cervantes' neck, and a sound like cracking eggshell echoed from his body—

A one-time-use survival item stored in his backpack slot consumed one of its limited uses, blocking this lethal strike.

A chill swept through Cervantes' body; he had no time to think—he thrust both hands forward and unleashed 【Ride the Tide: Wind Whirls, Waves Roar, Clouds Churn】.

A super typhoon blasted directly forward, sending nearby sedans drifting and hovering backward.

Li Cheng swung his arm downward, driving the mantis-bone blade deep into the concrete to anchor himself, then kicked out with his left leg, aiming for Cervantes' waist, bracing against the gale.

With the terrifying enhancement of the Two-Yin Blade, that ordinary kick tore the seams of Cervantes' suit apart.

The eggshell-cracking sound echoed again; the survival item's remaining uses dropped by one.

Cervantes was forced to interrupt 【Waves Roar, Clouds Churn】, causing the typhoon to vanish prematurely—but instead of retreating, he stepped forward, planting his foot on the ground beneath Li Cheng.

【Skill Name: Glue the Ground】

【Type: Universal】

【Effect: Sticky World. Step on a flat surface to coat an 8-meter by 8-meter square area with an extremely adhesive temporary glue. Lasts one minute.】

【Cost: 80 Spirit Points】

【Cooldown: 30 seconds】

【Requirement: None】

【Note: User is not immune to the glue's stickiness. The glue vanishes automatically after the time limit; it cannot be removed before then.】

【Note: No one? Glue it first.】

Vast amounts of glue erupted inexplicably from the ground, simultaneously sticking both Li Cheng and Cervantes in place.

The Vanguard Corp sniper, long hidden in a high-rise room nearby, seized the moment and pulled the trigger.

The Barrett M107 rifle fired a 12.7mm MK211 high-explosive armor-piercing round; upon impact, the tungsten alloy penetrator pierced the target while compressing incendiary and explosive agents to detonate, amplifying the kill radius.

It could easily penetrate car doors and even the frontal armor of infantry fighting vehicles.

To guarantee mission success, Cervantes had mobilized Vanguard Corp resources and deployed three sniper teams—each stationed atop one of three high-rises at the bridge's entrance.

All three teams fired simultaneously—but unfortunately, Li Cheng had already seen this scene through his Death Notes.

The appearance of glue signaled the arrival of the armor-piercing round.

He had already drawn the rusted cleaver from the void and plunged it into the ground behind him, shielding himself like a barrier.

Three high-explosive armor-piercing rounds slammed into a broad, door-panel-wide cleaver mottled with rust.

The bullets, twisted and deformed by the tremendous impact, were firmly embedded in the blade.

One strike missed—Li Cheng would not give them a second chance.

His right hand gripped the cleaver's hilt as he swung it down at Cervantes; his left hand swept back, pulled the Avenger autocannon out of the void, and squeezed the trigger toward the high-rise room from which the armor-piercing rounds had come.

The three sniper pairs' eyes went wide—their 12.7mm anti-materiel sniper rifles against a 30mm autocannon was a gap exactly like Li Gui meeting Li Kui, Sadako meeting Donnie Yen (Guan Gong form), or a scavenger meeting Adolf.

Before they could withdraw, a stream of autocannon rounds tore the room apart.

As for Cervantes, he was not faring well either. The unremarkable cleaver came crashing down on his head; he threw everything he had into crossing his metal-vambraced arms in front of his body, barely escaping the fate of being split in two.

Dr. Strange hurriedly opened a portal and teleported Cervantes away, out of the glue terrain.

The latter clenched his jaw hard; his trembling hand pulled a red detonator from his inventory and slammed it down.

Boom—

A muffled roar sounded from somewhere very far away.

The Pioneer Corporation attaché standing on the airship froze for a moment, then snapped back, rushing to the window to look down.

One by one, the various spans of the entire sea-crossing bridge began blowing up and collapsing, starting from the direction of Angel City.

The rolling thunder of explosions was deafening; the sturdy bridge deck crumbled and plunged into the sea like dominoes, and the vehicles and pedestrians on it were swallowed by the water.

"It's over."

The attaché's mind went blank. Of course, Pioneer Corporation's relationship with the Washington politicians was quite good—the latter could help cover up a great many scandals.

But a sea-crossing bridge like this, together with the tens of thousands of dead on it, produced a shock no less than another 9/11.

The political fallout would be without parallel; there was no way to cover it up.

Someone would inevitably have to bear the corresponding price—or rather, serve as the scapegoat.

The attaché's ears rang; he could never have imagined Cervantes being so reckless as to bypass the company and plant a massive amount of explosives on the bridge.

The attaché instinctively turned his head and shouted to the employees on the airship: "Forget all this, get out of here! Don't let anyone link the bombing to Pioneer Corporation."

"."

No one answered. These ordinary people were all being controlled by Professor N at once, each busy at their own post, completely ignoring the attaché's words.

The airship lowered its weapon pod; rows of densely packed ground-attack rockets fired in unison at Li Cheng, who was trapped in the glue, burying him in a sea of explosive fire.

One second. Two seconds. Three seconds.

Cervantes stared tensely at the fire ahead, his lips constantly mumbling as he chanted a high-powered spell. Once the incantation was finished, he could unleash a destructive force comparable to a meteor strike and utterly annihilate his opponent.

Tap, tap.

Amid the deafening chain of rocket explosions, a faint rustling sound rang out.

From behind him.

Cervantes instinctively turned his head, only to see a paper crane perched on his shoulder at some unknown moment.

(End of chapter)