Chapter 405: Blood Brain

【Warning!】

【Warning!】

【Warning!】

On the surface of the eyeball, rows of blood-red capital letters were reflected.

At this moment, Li Cheng, in his insect transformation form, was still wearing the 【Information Integration Glasses】, and on the inner side of his face armor, two small, exquisite oblique inner lenses were installed, much like a car's central rearview mirror,

allowing him to use the lenses to observe himself and read information.

Intra-arterial injection of Xuanlei Qilin plasma 300ml, third second,

【Myocardial contractility increased 510%, heart rate accelerated 400%, myocardial oxygen consumption increased 430%】

Thump thump thump thump—

His heart pounded violently at high frequency like a war drum, surging blood slammed against his blood vessels, triggering needle-like stings of pain all over his body.

The crimson beetle came charging with a blazing tail trail; Li Cheng slammed out a palm,

The howling hurricane generated by 【Tide-Riding Wind, Rushing Waves, Overturning Clouds】, inside the enclosed tunnel, raised visible shockwave air currents like a high-power wind tunnel.

The crimson beetle swiftly tucked its six limbs together, lowered its head slightly, and at the same time the chimney-shaped vector nozzles on its back also changed direction, hugging close to its streamlined spine to minimize wind resistance as much as possible,

ultimately using its bullet-shaped head to break through the oncoming air currents, speeding forward against the wind like a Concord high-speed train.

Li Cheng did not retreat but advanced, kicking off to charge forward,

At the sixth second of the intra-arterial injection of Xuanlei Qilin plasma, he repeated the old trick, slamming out a fist, using the steel flag-spear in his palm to strike the beetle's scythe forelimb.

The upper half of the giant scythe actively detached, and was then sent flying by the 【Counter Moment】 special effect of the steel flag-spear.

The remaining lower half of the scythe transformed into a great axe, its momentum undiminished as it hacked toward Li Cheng.

Hiss!

The exoskeleton mechanical arm on Li Cheng's back fired a bat-style grappling hook, driving it into the ground behind him. The steel cable contracted sharply, yanking him flying backward,

The few steps he had charged forward just now bought enough strategic buffer for this moment.

【β2 receptor activated, relaxing smooth muscle, dilating airways, improving respiratory efficiency, enhancing muscle strength, explosive power, endurance】

【Pupils massively dilated, eyeball mixed congestion】

It was not just the eyeballs that were congested,

As the heart rate exploded upward, capillaries all over his body were blown up by the pressure.

Beneath the Grey Rain brand silver armor, blood sprayed from every pore of Li Cheng's body, and the nails of his fingers and toes were all forced open and blown off.

His right hand gripped the steel flag-spear, deflecting the beetle's giant scythe,

His left hand held the power skull-crushing hammer brought by Grey Rain, smashing the beetle's second pair of limbs off course, causing the plasma cannon in its hand to misfire.

Zzzt zzzt—

The plasma sank into the soil, the flashing electric light illuminating the dim tunnel like a meteor tearing through the black night,

Li Cheng's two-meter-eight frame was actually still growing taller, and clear sounds of bone cracking came from beneath the armor.

At the ninth second of the intra-arterial injection of Xuanlei Qilin plasma, the crimson beetle swung its scythe to send the steel flag-spear flying, slashing toward Li Cheng's head,

while its long tail at the rear whipped forward at the same time, spraying out a massive amount of acid.

The mechanical arm on Li Cheng's back was splashed by a bit of acid, and in an instant melted into liquid iron.

But before it was completely destroyed, it still completed its final mission—plugging the 【Skill Transfer USB Drive】 into the back of Li Cheng's neck.

【Stubborn Rock Rooting Art】 activated a second time, a stony luster lit up all over Li Cheng's body, forcibly withstanding the scythe and acid slashing at him head-on.

Ten seconds, eleven seconds, twelve seconds.

The crimson beetle's continuous attacks were like a raging storm,

Even with the defensive boost of the Stubborn Rock Rooting Art, the silver liquid metal armor and the black insect-transformed armor ultimately could not contend with pure power.

Fragments of armor plates exploded and splattered, the liquid metal scattered and re-gathered, gathered and scattered again.

The crimson beetle raised the petrified Li Cheng high, its two scythes clamping firmly around his neck like hydraulic pincers.

Crack crack. Cracks spread across Li Cheng's neck; just one more step and his head would be severed.

In his pitch-black vision, crimson text lit up.

【Progress 100%】

【Blood-Brain Barrier Breached】

Li Cheng suddenly opened his bloodshot eyes; he could not see clearly, nor did he need to.

His de-petrified arms gripped the edges of the giant scythes, slowly prying them apart.

The compound eyes hidden beneath the crimson beetle's carapace suddenly contracted, its bio-hydraulic joints straining with all their might, dense cracking sounds erupting from the joint connections.

Li Cheng in midair pried apart the giant scythes with both hands; the armor on his body was battered and broken. Especially the faceplate section, half of it was missing, exposing his bloodshot eyes.

Boom!

He kicked out a strike, hitting the crimson beetle's head dead center.

The heavy beetle was sent flying backward, its rear legs covered in barbs plowing long, narrow furrows into the tunnel floor.

Before it could regain its footing, Li Cheng, who had just landed, tilted his body forward, stomped the ground, and launched his entire body like a cannonball.

The iron hammer and flag-spear gripped in both hands, swung with berserk tremendous force, their shafts even showing slight bending.

Clang!

Weapons collided against the giant scythes; both sides possessed the same level of nerve reflex speed and muscle reaction speed, exchanging dozens of blows in a single breath.

The beetle was covered in pits and craters, its chest armor caved in, spraying green sap,

Li Cheng was no better off either—his entire right arm was gone, the runaway Xuanlei Qilin plasma causing excessive regeneration of flesh, dense flesh tumors like mutated grapes sprouting from the shoulder stump.

Apart from the shoulder stump, the seams and joints of the armor on his body also sprouted large numbers of tumors composed of cysts, abscesses, and granulomas.

Of the same bloodline, the same fate, the two fought a desperate battle to the death in the narrow tunnel, utterly heedless that the entire tunnel was on the verge of collapse.

The final hammer blow, Li Cheng swung backhand and smashed into the crimson beetle's chest; the shockwave pierced through its entire body, and the smokestack vent on its back sprayed out dark-green pulp and fragments of viscera.

But the second sharp long tail that the beetle had kept hidden all along, serving as its killing move, also pierced straight through Li Cheng's helmet.

Along the central axis between the two glowing red eye-orbs, it punched through from the back of the helmet.

"'It's over, the eighteenth one, fellow clansman.'"

In that instant, the beetle's distributed nervous system gave rise to emotions called "relief" and "gratitude."

Puchi—

A faint sound came from within its body. The beetle's compound eyes looked down and saw that Li Cheng's torso, whose head had been burst open, was still moving.

Its only remaining left hand, wielding an ordinary-looking meat-cleaver, easily sliced open the chitinous armor, tendons, bones, blood vessels, and viscera.

Why?

The distributed nervous system rose with confusion. Only now did the beetle notice the detail that had been overlooked during the high-speed combat.

Inside Li Cheng's helmet, where a human head should have been, there were only dense fleshy tumors and two eye-orbs.

He had used the hyper-regenerative overgrown tumors caused by an overdose of Xuanlei Qilin blood plasma, along with two eye-orbs plucked off by 【Assembled Rag Doll】, and with the closed helmet as cover, disguised them as a head.

During combat he deliberately damaged the faceplate to expose the bloodshot eyes, luring the beetle into attacking.

Riiip—

The incomparably sharp 【Blade of Confession】, like a butcher dismembering an ox, sliced open the beetle's chest and belly. Its massive body crashed to the ground, dust billowing.

Li Cheng stepped back half a pace; his two eye sockets were empty, blood gushing out,

He hoisted the beetle's head up with one hand, drew in a deep breath,

Then—Dragon's Breath

A blue dragon phantom materialized above his head; the thunderstorm lightning spewed from his mouth poured entirely into the beetle's gaping maw, traveling along flesh and blood straight to the tips of its limbs, destroying every node of its distributed nervous system.

(End of Chapter)