Chapter 377

"Bang"

The black-haired youth, seemingly battered and limp, suddenly stirred within the steel mesh, seized it with one hand and tore free, then kicked out with a single leg—lightning-fast—at the iron man's chest.

The iron man, caught completely off guard, barely crossed his arms in defense—next instant, he felt as if both arms had been struck by a colossal force.

A muffled crash!

His body flew backward, crashing heavily to the ground, skidding several steps back.

At the same time, the black-haired youth rolled to his feet and sprinted away again—but this time, dark mist curled along his legs, each step launching him three to four meters forward, and within a few dashes, he had vanished dozens of meters away.

Seeing this, the blonde woman's face darkened; she raised her arm again, ready to activate her ability—when the black-haired woman beside her spoke:

"Captain, No. 1 seems partially immune to lightning. Let me try—I can only activate my ability at B-rank, and at this distance, I'll only get one shot."

As she spoke, Du Xiaohong crouched down, pressing both palms flat against the nearby ground. Her cheeks flushed red as an invisible force surged from her hands and sank into the earth.

The next instant, the black-haired youth, still sprinting far ahead, suddenly stepped into empty air—the ground beneath him collapsed in a vast crater.

He tumbled headfirst into the pit; the surrounding earth rolled over, torrents of dirt and rocks cascading inward, burying the youth alive in an instant.

"Got the kid!"

Du Xiaohong rose to her feet again, her face pale, but her eyes gleamed with quiet triumph.

For her, this was finally revenge for being tricked by No. 1 during the hypnosis earlier.

The iron man, now steadied, beamed with joy and rushed toward the crater.

But the blonde woman frowned—somehow, she couldn't shake the feeling that No. 1 couldn't possibly be captured so easily.

Just as the iron man reached the crater's edge, a thunderous "Boom!" erupted from within—dirt and stones exploded outward, and a figure shot out like a projectile.

"Still trying to run?"

This time, the iron man, now wary, roared and lunged forward with both fists clenched, grappling the black-haired youth at close range, refusing him any chance to escape.

"Bang!" "Bang!"

The two figures neither dodged nor retreated, each absorbing the other's heavy, powerful blows as if they knew nothing of pain.

The iron man grew more and more alarmed.

He knew that after activating his ability, his body's hardness rivaled real steel—without weapons, no ordinary person could withstand his strikes; even if he stood still and took no counterattack, their fists would be shattered, bones broken, flesh torn to pulp.

Now, with every punch he absorbed, though he felt no pain, he clearly felt each blow shake his entire body—the force behind them was just as crushing as his own steel fists.

And every punch he landed on the youth, though it didn't rebound, felt strangely like striking thick cowhide—as if the youth's body, too, was not flesh and blood.

During this brief delay, the blonde woman and Du Xiaohong walked forward calmly; now that they'd located their target, they weren't worried he'd escape again.

The blonde, blue-eyed woman halted, studied the black-haired youth—who, even as he grappled with the iron man, remained expressionless—and suddenly frowned.

"Something's off."

"What's off?" Du Xiaohong asked, startled.

The blonde woman didn't answer. Without hesitation, she raised both arms and slammed them together sharply in front of her.

A sharp "Zzzt!"—then thunder roared!

Jagged arcs of electricity erupted from her body; amid the thunder, several massive lightning rings circled her frame, and her feet slowly lifted from the ground.

The air within a radius of several meters bristled with dense, flickering threads of electricity, and the air carried a faint scent of burning.

Now her eyes had turned silver-white; even each strand of her hair crackled with lightning. Her face was utterly blank—as if she had truly become a thunder god.

"Iron Man, run! The captain activated the Ultra Electromagnetic Field!"

The instant the blonde woman transformed, Du Xiaohong bolted sideways, screaming a shrill warning to her battling companion—like a startled white rabbit.

Ultra Electromagnetic Field!

No good!

The iron man glanced at the blonde woman's eerie form, his face paling instantly. He punched twice, knocking the black-haired youth back two steps, then turned and ran without looking back.

After regaining his footing, the black-haired youth didn't pursue the iron man—he spun around and kept sprinting away.

At that moment, the blonde woman, hovering with feet off the ground, her silver-white eyes flashed with lightning. She reached out a hand into empty air—and a thick arc of electricity materialized before her, rapidly coalescing and growing until it became a lightning spear over three meters long.

A deafening crack!

The lightning spear vanished from its origin, flashed once—and struck the black-haired youth squarely in the back, then exploded. Countless thick arcs of electricity flared wildly around him.

The black-haired youth staggered. Under the relentless barrage of lightning, he held on for only two breaths before collapsing, his body riddled with countless holes.

Seeing this, the blonde woman raised a single finger and pointed silently toward him.

Lightning flickered around the youth's body—arcs flashed one after another, hammering him ceaselessly, as if they would never end.

At first, the black-haired youth tried to rise again—but after being struck by over a dozen lightning bolts the thickness of a bowl, he silently collapsed once more.

A soft "Puff."

Under the relentless bombardment of lightning, the black-haired youth's ruined body suddenly dissolved into a cloud of black mist, rapidly dissipating.

In an instant, only a translucent, gleaming white skeleton remained, lying motionless on the ground—utterly eerie.

"What is this?"

"What the hell is that?"

The iron man and Du Xiaohong, having turned and stopped, stared at the sight—both cried out in unison, faces filled with disbelief.

"Boom!"

Lightning flickered and vanished from the blonde woman's body; her feet slowly descended to the ground, her eyes returned to their natural blue—but her gaze toward the white skeleton held a flicker of shock.

…

A soft "Whoosh!"

Wang Yu emerged from beneath a dune, white bone flag in hand. As if sensing something, his face paled as he turned to look back toward a direction near the desert's edge.

The fragment of spiritual awareness he had embedded in the White Bone Demon had been scattered—though such spiritual fragments could regenerate once cultivated, in this world of Lanxing, devoid of spiritual energy, it would take a very long time to recover.

As for the White Bone Demon puppet, he could only leave it in the hands of the Englishmen for now, and retrieve it later—right now, he must expend every ounce of spiritual power to put as much distance as possible between himself and these Englishmen.

Thinking this, Wang Yu formed a hand seal. Faint blue spiritual runes flickered across his body, and wisps of cool wind wrapped around him entirely.

He strode deep into the desert, each step light as air, covering over three meters with every stride—as if his body had no weight at all.

In moments, his figure, flag in hand, vanished among the endless, overlapping dunes.