[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"origin-player-reboot":3,"chapter-player-reboot-player-reboot-chapter-25":6},{"origin":4,"title":5},"chinese","Player Reboot",{"chapter":7,"nextChapterSlug":19,"prevChapterSlug":20,"totalChapters":21,"novelImage":22},{"id":8,"novel_id":9,"title":10,"slug":11,"index":12,"content":13,"wordcount":14,"created_at":15,"updated_at":15,"volume":16,"translator":17,"content_hash":18},2271990,4438,"Chapter 25: Grease","player-reboot-chapter-25",25,"\u003Cp>No words were needed; both sides determined each other’s intent through movement and gaze alone.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Cai Zixuan grinned silently, arms wide open, ready to bring his palms together.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Thud!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Li Cheng kicked off the stairs with both legs, launching himself like a cannonball, then lightly tapped the ground, leaping slightly, as the mantis bone blade spun with his swinging arms and lunged forward in a slashing strike.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Cai Zixuan knew he couldn’t block it head-on; he stepped back half a pace, snatched up the car door lying nearby, and held it before him like a shield.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Clang! Clang! Clang!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The mantis bone blade spun so many times that the metal car door bore as many deep cuts until it finally shattered into two pieces.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The remaining momentum of the bone blade carved two deep gashes across Cai Zixuan’s arms, spraying a torrent of blood.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Cai Zixuan sneered, twisted his hips, and delivered a whipping kick.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The strike was swift and sudden; Li Cheng, having just halted his forward momentum, had exhausted his forward force and hadn’t yet gathered the next, so he retracted his bone blade, crossed his arms before his chest, palms open and loosely clenched, intercepting the kick.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Boom!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Li Cheng felt as if a speeding car had slammed into him; his feet screeched against the floor as he was thrust backward over ten steps, dissipating the force.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As for Cai Zixuan, his arm muscles swelled, forcibly compressing his blood vessels to halt the bleeding. He casually snapped off a nearby metal streetlamp pole and weighed it in his hand.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>No fighting techniques mattered—his massively enhanced body was the ultimate weapon.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Cai Zixuan swung the streetlamp at him; Li Cheng dodged repeatedly, and when he couldn’t evade, he blocked with his bone blade, shearing off the lamp’s top.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>They fought their way through the hospital ward, overturning wheelchairs, sending stretchers flying, reducing countless bystanders to ash—bodies shattered beyond recognition, only to reform long after.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Had this not been the Shadow Realm, the floor would already be littered with corpses.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Whoosh!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The corridor was too narrow for sweeping strikes; Cai Zixuan thrust the streetlamp forward, its severed metal pole now like a spear aimed at Li Cheng’s shoulder.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Li Cheng tilted his head aside, letting the metal pole graze his neck; his left hand shot out like a venomous snake, slithering up the pole’s length, gripping Cai Zixuan’s left wrist tightly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Simultaneously, he planted his right foot, leaned his upper body backward, curled and tensed his left leg, toes slightly inward, sole facing forward.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>His torso, thigh, calf, and heel aligned in a straight line; he twisted his waist, rotated his hips, drove his thigh to propel his calf, and kicked out with explosive force.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The side kick struck Cai Zixuan squarely on the hip, lifting his feet off the ground; since his left wrist was held fast by Li Cheng, his entire body tumbled helplessly toward the floor.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As the ground rushed closer, Cai Zixuan slammed his right palm against the floor—his inhuman strength propelled him upward, releasing the streetlamp, then reversed his grip to seize Li Cheng’s wrist, preventing escape. He thrust his head upward, smashing it into Li Cheng’s.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Thud!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Both men’s foreheads spattered blood, recoiling from the impact.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Cai Zixuan staggered upright; Li Cheng’s vision swam with golden stars, his bloodshot eyes barely making out his opponent’s silhouette.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Murderous intent surged, ferocity boiling—he didn’t retreat, but advanced. He stepped his left leg forward, bent his knee to close the distance, shifted his center of gravity backward, raised his right leg, and slammed it hard into Cai Zixuan’s knee.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Leg technique: Intercepting Kick.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Cai Zixuan’s left knee shattered with a crack—his patella fractured, his patellar and prepatellar bursae ruptured, his meniscus torn.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>His patellar ligament and anterior cruciate ligament ripped apart.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Yet he did not fall. Aside from his body’s inexplicably enhanced strength, his center of gravity rested on his right leg; his right fist clenched, swung like a whip—simple, unadorned, slashing diagonally.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Their left hands remained locked together; Cai Zixuan’s reach was longer. Even if Li Cheng leaned back to dodge, the whip punch would strike his left arm, snapping it.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>With no other choice, Li Cheng gripped his own left wrist with his right hand to prevent dislocation. He pushed off the ground with his left leg and kicked the wall with his right, launching himself into Cai Zixuan.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The superhuman jumping power granted by cricket genes erupted fully, unleashing immense force, hurling them both out of the building.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The sensation of weightlessness stirred a terrible memory. Cai Zixuan instinctively released his grip, curling into a ball to protect himself.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This spared Li Cheng the effort of breaking free—he let go, adjusted his descent midair, bounced several times on the ground, dissipating his momentum.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Cai Zixuan, having crashed hard onto the ground, slowly rose from the flowerbed, blood streaming from his forehead, tracing down his eyes like tears of blood.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Li Cheng’s forehead bled too, but in the Shadow Realm, external objects faded over time—so he needn’t fear his hair or blood staining the floor and being discovered by the Special Affairs Bureau.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He raised his hand, smoothed his blood-soaked hair, pressing his bangs flat against his scalp.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Both were badly wounded; the next move would likely be the final one.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A sudden clarity rose in his mind; Li Cheng leaned forward, every fiber of his thigh muscles distinct, separated.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Whoosh—\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>His form shot forward like an arrow, vanishing from his spot—not rushing Cai Zixuan, but bouncing and accelerating off the outer walls of the four buildings surrounding the flowerbed.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Speed increased until only a blur remained.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Cai Zixuan clenched both fists, timed his strike, and suddenly launched his right fist.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He hit—but missed.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A coat hung on Cai Zixuan’s fist, fabric tearing, snatched away by the gale.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Li Cheng himself, hidden beneath the coat’s shadow, closed in rapidly, scaling Cai Zixuan’s back like a monkey, wrapping his legs around his waist, his left arm constricting his neck.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This was not a Brazilian jiu-jitsu rear naked choke.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Li Cheng raised his right hand high; the mantis bone blade snapped out beneath his forearm, then drove straight down, aiming for the crown of Cai Zixuan’s head.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Plop—\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The bone blade pierced clean through Cai Zixuan’s skull; his body lurched violently, the left fist already swinging toward Li Cheng’s temple lost all power and slumped uselessly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He staggered forward a few steps, knelt beside the corridor window, and slowly clasped his hands together.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He could draw strength from slaughter; as long as he kept killing, he could heal, grow stronger.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He needed to dissolve the Shadow Realm.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He needed more blood.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Where is my son? Where is my son?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A middle-aged woman in a coat, face frantic, burst into the hospital lobby.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Her face was heavily made up, well-maintained; a brand-new wedding ring adorned her index finger; she dragged a suitcase—its handle still bearing the United Airlines baggage tag, unremoved.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Madam, please calm down.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A nurse approached and asked: “What’s your son’s name? What illness is he being treated for?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Cai Zixuan. Cai from Cai Lun, Zi from son, Xuan from Xuan Yuan.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The woman cried out: “He fell from upstairs, fractured bones, hospitalized. I just landed; I called his father nonstop on the way, but no one answered. I shouldn’t have left him with his father—I should’ve taken him with me.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Cai Zixuan stared at the woman beyond the glass, listening to her familiar yet alien voice, and suddenly halted his expansion of the Shadow Realm, only staring blankly, pressing his forehead against the window, motionless.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>His breathing gradually ceased.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Two trails of black tears slid from his eyes, falling to the floor, forming two half-solidified globules of grease.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Li Cheng slowly released his grip; he didn’t understand what had happened to the giant, so he closed the man’s eyes, picked up the black grease and the torn coat, and hurried back to the first-floor restroom.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Seconds later, the Shadow Realm, deprived of its sustainer, gradually dissolved. Li Cheng had already changed into spare clothes and stepped out of the restroom, leaving the hospital swiftly before Cai Zixuan’s corpse was discovered.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>(End of Chapter)\u003C\u002Fp>",1371,"2026-06-19T22:31:22.154Z",1,"Qwen3-Next 80B","2363830842a574b90b9cd6604fa364fe0ea6afed51aad6beb982e03bd462d282","player-reboot-chapter-26","player-reboot-chapter-24",612,"https:\u002F\u002Fnovelzhen.com\u002Fimages\u002Fcovers\u002Fplayer-reboot-cover.jpg"]