Chapter 281 Shall we go for another stroll?

"Heh, they're actually taking the initiative to provoke Captain Kuroda Hikari? He has an SS-Rank Talent, after all..."

"These people from Huaxia are truly confident; the two of us must keep a close eye on them."

The duo from Sakura Country watched their captain attack without the slightest concern.

After all, they trusted Kuroda Hikari implicitly.

Before the apocalypse, this guy was an underground kickboxer. The moment the apocalypse descended, he was smashing a wine bottle onto his opponent's head, the shards stained with his opponent's blood.

His Talent is called [Blood Boil]. When fighting, he slices open his own palm, causing the blood throughout his body to boil.

His strength, speed, and reaction time all skyrocket.

The more blood he loses, the stronger his combat power becomes, and the closer he is to death, the more frenzied he gets.

But no one has ever lasted long enough to see Captain Kuroda Hikari in his true frenzied state.

"Careful!" Chen Muqing warned. "His energy is rising crazily!"

"Understood!" Zhang Lieyang slammed his palms together in front of him, and a shockwave of air bursts exploded from his palms!

Kuroda Hikari advanced instead of retreating. The shards of Glass spun between his fingers. The first slash cut through the air pressure of the explosion, the shockwave sliding past both sides of his body, while the second slash went straight for Zhang Lieyang's throat!

Zhang Lieyang clapped his palms repeatedly, and air burst after air burst exploded between the two!

Kuroda Hikari's figure wove through the shockwaves, the shards of Glass flashing continuously through the gaps in the air currents!

In the end, Zhang Lieyang took a slash to his right shoulder and another to his left forearm; blood dripped down from his cuffs!

But he also seized the opportunity to blast Kuroda Hikari's shoulder, sending him flying!

The two clashed back and forth on the stone steps, the muffled sounds of Glass shards and air-burst punches exploding alternately, and for a moment, neither could gain the upper hand!

"What strong opponents. Even with 10 points of constitution and Agility reduced, they're still this strong..."

"But that guy on the other side must also have an SS-Rank Talent. Thank goodness it's not SSS-Rank."

Song Xingmian wiped the sweat from her forehead and let out a slight sigh of relief; at least their combat power was currently evenly matched, and neither side had broken the balance.

But Chen Muqing shook his head. "Don't be happy too soon. Look at those two..."

"Hm?" Song Xingmian looked over in the direction Chen Muqing was pointing.

She saw that the two men in suits from Sakura Country had moved. One of them suddenly clapped his hands together, and a grey light shield appeared out of thin air above Zhang Lieyang's head, enveloping him completely.

"Caught!" the man shouted coldly. "Suppress him for me!"

Zhang Lieyang's movements slowed down abruptly under the suppression of the light shield, and the impact of his air bursts was also weakened.

The other person from Sakura Country was not to be outdone; he formed hand seals, and streams of green energy flowed onto Kuroda Hikari, causing his whole body to emit a green glow...

"Heh, this is the end, you Huaxia bugs."

Kuroda Hikari did not let this moment pass! He sliced his right hand's web between thumb and index finger with the Glass again, another line of blood appearing!

He instantly closed in—slashing open Zhang Lieyang's left shoulder!

Zhang Lieyang didn't dare to be arrogant and used an air burst to force himself to retreat dozens of meters!

"Officer Zhang!" Song Xingmian struggled to stand up quickly. "Are you alright?"

Zhang Lieyang nodded, the wound on his left shoulder still oozing blood. "I'm fine, but... that guy has two support users; I'm no match for him!"

Song Xingmian pursed her lips and looked up, just about to say something!

"Um..." Chen Muqing, who had been silent, suddenly spoke up.

Song Xingmian and Zhang Lieyang both turned their heads to look at him simultaneously.

Chen Muqing coughed, his expression showing a rare hint of awkwardness.

"How about... we go back down for another stroll?"

"Maybe if we take a stroll and come back, these people won't be guarding it anymore?"

Song Xingmian and Zhang Lieyang looked at each other in confusion.

"Go back down for a stroll?" Zhang Lieyang's voice raised, tugging at the wound on his left shoulder, making the corner of his mouth twitch in pain.

"Owner Chen, it's not your Perception that's been suppressed; it's your brain that's been suppressed."

He shook his head. "You and Miss Song... can barely even stand right now. If you go down and climb back up, Kuroda Hikari won't even need to lift a finger; the gravity on this level alone would crush you all flat."

Chen Muqing bit the bullet and continued to explain, "Uh... Miss Song must still have medicine!"

"I do have some, but it's not a long-term solution." Song Xingmian shook her head.

Zhang Lieyang looked at the light point ahead. "Miss Song, I can hold them off; you rush past."

"No!" Song Xingmian was the first to refuse. "When experts fight, if it's a fair duel, there's room to maneuver, but if you're just trying to stall for time... by forcibly holding him off, you're very likely to..."

Chen Muqing interrupted, "I suggest we all go back down and find Lu Heng; his pet has high defense, maybe it can hold them off!"

Only then did Song Xingmian look down the stairs. "But there's no sign of him now. Even you can't find him. He couldn't have failed to clear the level and returned to the waiting area, could he?"

In fact, failing to clear the level and returning to the waiting area... was actually the outcome she thought would be better for Lu Heng.

What she feared most was that Lu Heng was on his way to find the Origin Mark...

Song Xingmian shook her head, trying not to think about it.

Chen Muqing coughed. "Um... I still think we need to go look for him now!"

Zhang Lieyang said speechlessly, "There's been no movement for so long; Lu Heng must have..."

"Okay! I agree!" Song Xingmian said earnestly. "Since Owner Chen says so, it means... there's still hope in finding Lu Heng."

As she spoke, Song Xingmian and Chen Muqing had already started walking down the stairs.

Zhang Lieyang was speechless, but he followed, clutching his wound.

Kuroda Hikari stood above, looking down at the backs of the three Huaxia people as they moved down step by step.

Behind him, the two spoke in low voices: "They've gone down, Captain Kuroda. Should we follow them for a bit?"

"Why don't we just finish them all off?"

Kuroda Hikari spun the shard of Glass between his fingers. "No need to follow. There's only one road. If they're willing to give up the clearance rewards, then they can stay down there forever."

"We'll just guard here. The light source is getting dimmer and will eventually go out... Hehehe."

Behind him, the two support users chimed in: "That's right. When it's about to go out, they'll either crawl back to hand over their supplies or stay on this level forever. Time is on our side!"

"People from Huaxia just take themselves too seriously. So what if they were first in the first level? Now they're still blocked outside the extraction point by us, not even daring to show their heads."

"It's right for them not to show their heads; it saves us from having to collect their corpses."

Listening to the conversation, Kuroda Hikari sneered. "That's right. There are only three of us left from Sakura Country. If we can block all the Huaxia members, that would be a great achievement!"

At the end of the spiral staircase, Song Xingmian, Zhang Lieyang, and Chen Muqing disappeared completely.

A cold voice came abruptly: "Collect corpses? Have you decided how you're going to collect your own?"

"Who is it?" Kuroda Hikari and the two behind him said in unison, startled, as they looked toward the shadows below.