Chapter 171: Battle in the Cramped Room

The splashing sound continued. Worried that "Hammer" Ait had a certain sense of danger, Lu Mian only slightly distinguished the height before pulling the trigger.

Bang!

The bullet passed through the curtain, leaving a scorched mark.

Before this, "Hammer" Ait's hair was already standing on end. He couldn't care that he was still urinating and threw himself to the side.

The yellowish liquid splashed everywhere. That bullet grazed "Hammer" Ait's arm and hit the wall, rebounding and almost hitting Lu Mian.

Lu Mian, who had missed, threw down the handgun, grabbed both sides of the curtain, and pulled it down violently, covering "Hammer" Ait.

"Hammer" Ait hadn't recovered from the pain brought by the contraction when his vision went dark, and he was wrapped inside the off-white shower curtain.

He didn't panic. He rolled, hid beside the bathtub, and then grabbed the shower curtain with both hands and pulled, swinging it forward like a weapon.

With a thud, Lu Mian's heavily smashed fist was deflected slightly by the bundled curtain and failed to hit "Hammer" Ait's head.

Ait took the opportunity to stand up and tore his pants with a rip.

He threw a heavy punch, smashing toward Lu Mian like a hammer.

Lu Mian hurriedly raised his arm to block, only to feel the opponent's strength was surprisingly great, and he was somewhat unable to bear it.

He had to take a step back to stabilize his figure, and Ait, having regained the situation, immediately pursued, throwing punches alternately with both hands.

Relying on his height and long arms, and strength that surpassed his opponent, he didn't use any other techniques; it was just straight punch after straight punch, like cannonballs bombarding Lu Mian.

Only then did he see the attacker's appearance clearly:

Hair black with gold, eyes bright and light blue, white paper balls stuffed in his nose—very strange.

Xia Er? The Xia Er who killed Margot and seriously injured Wilson? Ait was first startled, then filled with joy.

He's not that strong either; I can completely kill him!

The washroom space was very cramped. Lu Mian, enduring the stench, only blocked two punches from the nearly 1.9-meter "giant" and retreated two steps before being forced to the place right next to the door.

At this time, the gang thugs outside heard the gunshot and rushed over one after another. One of them grabbed the handle and pushed the door inward.

Lu Mian, who was about to dodge "Hammer" Ait's low kick, suddenly kicked his left leg backward, slamming it heavily against the door.

With a clatter, the wooden door that had just opened a crack closed again, almost hitting the nose of the gang thug outside.

Those gang thugs saw they couldn't open the door for a while, so they all drew their handguns, aiming at the wooden door from high and low, but they didn't dare to actually fire.

They still had some brains, knowing the washroom was very small and they didn't know who was blocking the door now. If they fired blindly, it would be easy to accidentally injure or even kill "Hammer" boss, changing the battle situation.

At this time, Lu Mian, taking advantage of that backward kick to the door, lowered his body, dodged "Hammer" Ait's straight punch, and got to his side.

Fists, elbows, knees, feet—he continuously made short strikes, each one aimed at interrupting the enemy's attack before they could fully exert force.

This was like making a fighter who was used to exhaling and exerting force with a "Heh-Ha" sound only able to "Heh" each time, unable to "Ha," being blocked by the opponent before the force was even half exerted.

After Lu Mian changed his fighting strategy, the strength gap between the two sides was greatly leveled. He not only regained a bit of the situation but also, relying on his own stronger flexibility and ability to make unconventional movements, tried to move his body and change his position.

Not long after, it was "Hammer" Ait who was blocking the washroom door with his back to it.

"Hammer" Ait was worried that his subordinates didn't have enough IQ and would fire a volley from outside, killing him, so he hurriedly shouted while distracted:

"Don't, fire!"

Although he had been leveled by Xia Er relying on technique, "Hammer" Ait wasn't frustrated at all and was extremely confident.

As long as he performed normally, given the washroom environment, he had enough confidence to beat the opponent to death directly. The only problem was how long it would take.

Of course, "Hammer" Ait wasn't careless either. He exerted force continuously with his fists and feet, trying to force Lu Mian close to the window position to leave space for his subordinates to open the door and enter.

He was worried that the opponent had some Beyonder abilities and felt that someone using a handgun to harass him would help him solve the enemy faster and better.

Bang bang bang, clang clang clang—facing the all-out attack of a "Fighter," Lu Mian, although he didn't show signs of defeat, also felt the strain.

During this process, "Hammer" Ait's peripheral vision constantly scanned the surrounding situation, afraid that the opponent had set some traps or buried powerful helpers.

His gaze swept across the edge of the bathtub and saw an open small metal bottle.

What is that for? "Hammer" Ait had just had such a thought when Lu Mian already revealed a mocking smile and cursed while struggling to block:

"Useless, thing!

"Still waiting for, the people outside, to come in and help!"

With a buzz, "Hammer" Ait's anger exploded.

He couldn't care about anything else and launched an exceptionally violent attack.

"Provocation"!

Lu Mian had attached the "Provocation" ability to those two sentences just now!

Facing the violent "Hammer" Ait, facing those incomparably powerful hammer blows, he struggled to hold on, occasionally relying on the flexibility of a "Dancer" to change his position.

Unknowingly, he was forced close to the wall where the window was embedded.

This left space for the washroom door to open, but the gang thugs outside were worried that kicking the door hard would hit "Hammer" boss's back, so they only dared to push inward little by little.

Just at this time, Lu Mian, whose sense of smell seemed to have been destroyed by that stench, keenly perceived that "Hammer" Ait's strength had weakened and his attack speed had slowed down.

That anesthetic had taken effect! Lu Mian dodged sideways, planted his feet, used his waist to drive his arm, threw a punch, and launched a counterattack.

Bang!

"Hammer" Ait's arm, which blocked this punch, showed obvious trembling, and his eyes revealed a mixture of astonishment and panic.

Why, why has my strength weakened so much?

Why has my reaction slowed down?

Lu Mian grasped the opponent's state and threw two consecutive straight punches, forcibly opening the enemy's arms.

Immediately after, he got close, turned slightly sideways, and used his left elbow to slam into the opponent's chest.

"Hammer" Ait couldn't react in time and couldn't dodge. He was hit by the elbow, causing his bones to crack, his vision to go dark, and his chest to feel stuffy.

Lu Mian didn't give him a chance to adjust, took advantage of the momentum to spring his body straight, and let his right fist, which was ready to go, roar from bottom to top into the prey's abdomen.

He had never hoped that the bottle of anesthetic could make "Hammer" Ait faint directly. After all, the opponent could weaken some Beyonder ability effects purely with his body and spirit, and he should have quite high resistance to anesthetics. Moreover, no matter how small and semi-enclosed the washroom was, it was still a space that could hold a bathtub, toilet, and washbasin, which would greatly weaken the anesthetic's effect.

What Lu Mian hoped for was to use the anesthetic to weaken "Hammer" Ait's combat ability, making his reactions sluggish and his strength significantly reduced.

In that way, the scales of victory would tilt uncontrollably!

Thud!

"Hammer" Ait, who was hit in the abdomen by a punch, instinctively curled his body, becoming shorter than Lu Mian.

Lu Mian seized this opportunity, raised both fists, and smashed them toward the back of his ears on both sides.

Bang!

In the sound that didn't distinguish between first and last, Ait's vision went dark, and he fainted.

This was the dual effect of an effective strike and the anesthetic.

Lu Mian took the opportunity to squat down and support "Hammer," letting him block in front of him.

This was because that group of gang thugs had opened the washroom door for a few seconds, but because "Hammer" Ait was always facing away from them, blocking Lu Mian's figure, they didn't fire.

Now, they saw "Hammer" boss, who was as tall and strong as a giant, being knocked out cleanly by the attacker.

Lu Mian supported "Hammer" Ait and smiled at the group of people at the door:

"Fire? Why don't you fire?"

One of the gang thugs saw the opponent's iconic black-and-gold hair color and saw that rather handsome face, and suddenly a series of associations occurred.

"Xia Er? You're Xia Er?" he exclaimed in astonishment.

The Xia Er who killed Boss Margot and threw Boss Wilson down from the fourth floor?

The Xia Er of the Savages?

He's here again?

Lu Mian keenly perceived the momentary intense fear of those gang thugs and smiled, patting "Hammer" Ait on the shoulder, helping him brush off some dust.

Then, he supported "Hammer" Ait and walked toward the washroom door step by step.

At the same time, he curled the corners of his mouth and said with a smile:

"You have two choices: one is to exit this room now and go find your Poison Sting Gang boss for help; the other is to be killed by me one by one here."

As he spoke, he moved forward, his face wearing a smile and his eyes scanning the face of every gang thug coldly, as if thinking about how to kill them.

Those gang thugs couldn't help but tremble slightly, and a similar thought appeared in their minds at the same time:

Anyway, "Hammer" boss has already been caught by him. If we fire, we will only hurt him. It's better to go ask the boss for help!

"Hmm?" Lu Mian made a nasal sound, urging them to make a decision.

With a swish, as the first gang thug turned and fled the room, the others also gave up the confrontation.

When there was no one left here, Lu Mian breathed a silent sigh of relief.

If that bunch of guys could really harden their hearts and not let fear control their brains, given the cramped environment of the washroom and those ten handguns, it would be enough to shoot him to death.

Of course, "Hammer" Ait wouldn't want to live either.

It takes at least four minutes to run from here to 126 Market Avenue... I must finish the interrogation before "Black Scorpion" Roger and the others go out, leaving enough time to leave the scene and find Baron Brignais at the Breeze Dance Hall... Only four minutes... Lu Mian analyzed the current situation while squatting down, leaning "Hammer" Ait against the washroom door panel.

Then, he dislocated the prey's shoulder joints, tied his legs together with the shower curtain, and opened the window, letting the wind on both sides form a convection.

After doing all this, Lu Mian took off the paper balls in his nose, took out the small metal bottle containing the foul-smelling gas, and brought it to "Hammer" Ait's nose.

Achoo!

"Hammer" Ait sneezed and opened his eyes.

Lu Mian immediately withdrew the small metal bottle and tightened the cap, letting the opponent maintain a relatively powerless state.

"What do you want to do?" "Hammer" Ait asked with fear and urgency after seeing the person in front of him clearly.

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 172 =====