349: Chapter 349 The Eye of the Storm Before Dawn

The voice emanated through a vocal cord simulator in the jaw, carrying a strong metallic texture.

"Tartarus gave you the right to live, yet you turned your blade against the organization." The Craftsman put his glasses back on.

His gaze passed over Nightingale and rested on Chen Mo's silver left arm, which was dripping coolant.

"Third-generation civilian mechanical arm, illegally modified with a high-frequency vibration module. Crude." The Craftsman offered his assessment.

He pulled a metal-cased, cigar-shaped syringe from his trench coat pocket.

"Yet this pile of junk dismantled an entire platoon of my combat vehicles."

Chen Mo pointed his blade diagonally toward the ground. "Zhou Jianguo can barely protect himself now; you came here for the original data."

The Craftsman pressed the button on the end of the metal syringe.

The probe popped out.

He plunged the needle into the vein on the side of his neck, and the pale purple liquid was pushed into his bloodstream.

"That piece of trash Zhou Jianguo, his ledger of cowardice no longer matters."

The Craftsman pulled out the probe and tossed it casually into a puddle at his feet.

"I have come to reclaim Chen Changhe's legacy."

As the drug entered his bloodstream, the scar on The Craftsman's cheek flushed a sickly purplish-red.

The muscle texture under his trench coat expanded rapidly, stretching the fabric taut.

The system panel's alarm continued to blare in Chen Mo's mind.

[Target's sin frequency is spiking extremely high.]

[High-concentration biological enhancement agent injection detected.]

The Craftsman moved.

The asphalt under his feet cracked from the immense explosive force.

He brought up a wave of wind pressure, crossing a ten-meter distance to appear in front of Chen Mo.

Nightingale raised her dual blades to block in an X-shape.

The Craftsman's right hand transformed into a hand-blade, chopping down on the intersection of the dual blades.

Sparks flew everywhere.

The refined steel blades let out a wail.

Nightingale was knocked back by the immense force, her feet plowing two furrows into the road surface as her back slammed into the alley wall.

A mouthful of blood spilled from the corner of her mouth.

Chen Mo reacted at the exact moment The Craftsman struck.

He cranked the high-frequency vibration of his left arm to the maximum setting and smashed his mechanical fist into The Craftsman's side ribs.

The Craftsman did not dodge.

He raised his left hand, fingers splayed, and caught Chen Mo's mechanical fist head-on.

The dull sound of the impact caused the air to ripple.

A layer of black stratum corneum emerged on the surface of The Craftsman's left hand.

The tearing force of the high-frequency vibration left white scratches on the stratum corneum but could not cut through the bone.

"Is this your trump card?" The Craftsman tightened his fingers, locking onto Chen Mo's mechanical fist.

He gathered strength in his right knee and slammed it toward Chen Mo's abdomen.

Chen Mo slashed downward with the tactical dagger in his right hand.

The blade sliced toward the femoral artery in The Craftsman's thigh.

The Craftsman was forced to retract his knee strike.

He slid back half a step, opening up the distance.

A cut was torn in the thigh of his suit pants.

The stratum corneum blocked the blade's lethal cut.

"Good intuition." The Craftsman twisted his neck, his joints popping loudly.

"But intuition cannot make up for the gap in strength."

The servo motor in Chen Mo's left arm emitted a harsh whine.

The previous collision had caused irreversible deformation to the already severely worn mechanical joints.

Siren sounds were approaching the block.

The encirclement was shrinking.

"404." Chen Mo called out over his headset.

"Brother Mo, the safe house at the south gate of Jiang University is ready." 404's voice was accompanied by the sound of keyboard clacking.

"Cut the power to all the streetlights in this block."

Chen Mo looked at The Craftsman's heart area. That was the only weak point not covered by black scales.

"Power cut in ten seconds."

Nightingale stood up from the base of the wall and wiped the blood from the corner of her mouth with her thumb.

Holding her dual blades in a reverse grip, she formed a pincer formation with Chen Mo.

The streetlights flickered twice, and the light vanished completely.

The street plunged into absolute darkness.

In the system radar on Chen Mo's retina, The Craftsman's red dot remained clear.

The moment the power went out, Chen Mo and Nightingale launched their attack simultaneously.

Nightingale slid along the ground, her dual blades aiming straight for The Craftsman's knees.

Chen Mo charged from the front, feinting with his left arm while thrusting his right-hand dagger straight at The Craftsman's heart.

The Craftsman relied on his hearing to capture the attack trajectory.

He raised his right foot and stomped heavily onto the road surface in front of Nightingale's sliding path.

Gravel was blown away by the shockwave, shooting toward Nightingale's face.

Nightingale was forced to swing her dual blades to block the gravel.

Using the reaction force from the stomp, The Craftsman launched his body into the air.

Avoiding Chen Mo's dagger.

Twisting his waist in mid-air, he whipped a leg kick toward the side of Chen Mo's neck.

Chen Mo calculated the parabola of The Craftsman's mid-air trajectory.

He leaned his body backward, bracing his hands on the ground.

He kicked his right leg upward, the instep hitting The Craftsman's waist and abdomen while he was in mid-air.

Both landed at the same time.

The Craftsman retreated three steps, clutching his abdomen.

The stratum corneum had absorbed most of the impact, but the vibration to his internal organs still caused his breathing to pause.

Chen Mo flipped up from the ground.

"Jiang Hong!"

The gunshot of the Thor sniper rifle tore through the night sky.

The special armor-piercing round tore through the darkness, heading straight for The Craftsman's back.

Jiang Hong had waited for this opportunity for a full two minutes at the high point of the water tower.

The moment The Craftsman heard the gunshot, he forcibly twisted his body.

The armor-piercing round punched through The Craftsman's right shoulder.

The immense kinetic energy tore away a chunk of flesh along with the black stratum corneum.

The Craftsman's right arm hung limply.

Chen Mo rushed in front of The Craftsman.

His left arm's high-frequency vibration emitted a burnt smell.

Chen Mo grabbed The Craftsman's crippled right shoulder blade.

His mechanical fingers applied force, and the sound of bone shattering spread through the darkness.

The Craftsman swung his left hand, aiming a punch at Chen Mo's temple.

Chen Mo did not dodge.

His right-hand tactical dagger followed the gap in The Craftsman's left-arm defense, plunging into the nerve plexus under The Craftsman's left armpit.

The blade sank in to the hilt.

The Craftsman's left arm instantly lost control.

Chen Mo pulled out the dagger and raised his right foot to kick the back of The Craftsman's knee.

The Craftsman's legs gave out, and he knelt on the asphalt.

The streetlights were powered back on at this moment, illuminating the scene.

Both of The Craftsman's arms were ruined, and he looked up at Chen Mo.

The arrogance on his face faded away.

"You are not Chen Mo." The Craftsman gritted his back teeth. "The Cold Case Unit cannot raise a monster like this."

Chen Mo walked up to The Craftsman.

His blade pointed toward the ground.

"I am Chen Changhe's son."

Chen Mo sheathed his tactical dagger back into its holster.

He raised that completely ruined, black-smoke-emitting mechanical left arm.

"Nightingale, tie him up."

Chen Mo turned around. "Keep him alive; the formula for the antidote to the Zero Agent is in his head."

Nightingale stepped forward, pulled out tactical straps, and bound The Craftsman's hands tightly behind his back.

The alternating red and blue light of the police sirens illuminated the street corner.

The SWAT Officer's riot vehicle had already blocked the intersection.

"Retreat, take the B-point air-raid shelter tunnel." Chen Mo pressed his headset.

He strode into the shadows of the street corner.

The hem of his trench coat fluttered.

A greater storm was gathering toward these ruins.

But in his radar network, all evil would have nowhere to hide.

...

The iron door of the No. 2 air-raid shelter was pushed open.

Chen Mo walked in the front.

The air-raid shelter was filled with the dampness of never seeing the sun for years; water droplets fell along the arched ceiling, hitting the moss-covered concrete floor.

Chen Mo's metal left arm hung at his side, its casing severely deformed, and black lubricating oil mixed with coolant dragged a broken trail along the ground.

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